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It may seem a very simple concept, but knowing how to market tourism, and how to market tourism successfully, are two very different and complex subjects. Tourism is a sector that has endless scope for reinvention and renewal, depending on the target market's preferences. The range of locations, activities and participants covered by the word "tourism" is huge, but this is often where many marketers run into problems. Knowing your target market and really understanding the types of tourism you are trying to promote are the keys to successfully marketing tourism.

Tourism is not a packet of cornflakes. It does not have a sell-by date, and although it has many competitors, it has more than a name or brand to make it distinctive. Tourism can also be incredibly fickle and at the mercy of the weather, financial instability, and over-use. Unlike a cornflakes seller who can buy in corn from elsewhere if the local crop is damaged, tourism cannot be bought in from elsewhere. Ideas can be borrowed of course, but one of the main features used in to market tourism is the unique aspect of whatever the attraction happens to be. Tourism has to ability to be all things to all men, unlike the cornflakes which are essentially a cereal eaten predominantly at breakfast time. If you like breakfast, you may not necessarily like cornflakes. Tourism marketing must appeal to as many individuals with differing preferences as possible, each as a segment of the whole population.

Tourism is an intangible product or service. You cannot say "Here is a tourism" in the same way that you can say "Here is a packet of cornflakes". If marketing is about matching the right product with the right client or customer at the right price, then marketing tourism must have a focused but flexible approach. This means setting out a marketing plan. A marketing plan is a way of maintaining the focus of your marketing activities, while identifying possible areas of expansion and/or change. It should include the objectives of the business or businesses involved in the marketing strategy; the available local resources and community profile; the segmentation of your market and how you intend to attract each group; a budget identifying how much you have to spend and any possible sources of extra income; and an implementation strategy of how the marketing will be carried out.

The objectives should clearly set out what you wish to achieve, how it will be measured, and what time frame you are working to.

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