Chapter 8. Services Marketing
8.6 Bringing it All Together
The Role of Destination BC
Destination BC is responsible for marketing the Super Natural British Columbia brand to the world (British Columbia Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, 2020). As we learned in the last chapter, this provincial destination marketing organization has been mandated to fulfill several key marketing and leadership responsibilities critical to the long-term sustainable growth of the provincial tourism industry. This includes marketing British Columbia domestically, nationally, and internationally as a tourist destination (Destination BC, 2020a). Destination BC’s 2020–2023 corporate strategy articulates its aspiration to share the transformative power of BC experiences with the world by focusing on key markets, paths to purchase, visitor dispersion, and key partnerships (Destination BC, 2020b).
Take a Closer Look: Online Reputation Management
This guide from Destination BC’s Tourism Business Essentials series helps businesses understand how to manage their online reputation and includes tips for responding to reviews and other best practice. To get a copy of the guide, visit the Online Reputation Management Guide [PDF].
Market Segmentation
Tourism marketers, including the team at Destination BC, choose target markets for their efforts through market segmentation techniques, where potential visitors are separated by:
- Demographics
- Countries of origin
- Trip purposes
- Trip planning and arrangements
- Psychographics and lifestyles
- Special interests
- Technology uses
Destination Canada’s award-winning Explorer Quotient program provides tourism marketers with detailed psychographic and travel motivations information (Destination Canada, 2013). It allows destinations and experiences to market themselves to target audiences based on psychographic profiles (their psychological tendencies) rather than geographic segments.
Take a Closer Look: EQ (Explorer Quotient)
Destination Canada’s EQ tool allows businesses to segment their customers in a new and innovative way. EQ offers a range of online resources from an EQ Quiz (so you can identify what type of traveller you are) to business toolkits and more. Explore this new tourism marketing tool by visiting the Explorer Quotient toolkit [PDF].
BC’s Tourism and Hospitality Key Markets
BC’s key target tourism markets can be broken down into three main categories: nearby markets, top priority markets, and emerging markets (BC Ministry of Tourism, Arts and culture, 2020).
Nearby markets are BC, Alberta, and Washington State, which are characterized by high volume and strong repeat visitation. Marketing activities to these areas are led by the regions, communities, and/or sectors such as ski. Top priority markets of Ontario, California, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, South Korea, and Australia are characterized by high revenue and high spending per visitor. Marketing efforts here are led by Destination BC. Emerging markets, whic