Rural Tourism - Not Just Sun, Sand Or Sea

Apart from direct sales to visitors, many indirect benefits are to be gained. Tax revenues influence the quality of life for community facilities such as roads, Sewerage & Water works or even shopping facilities. Ultimately, the visitor may become a permanent resident if the community is a pleasant place.

Indirect benefits of rural tourism include community job creating opportunities, and while these may not be high paying jobs, they satisfy the need of students and dual-income families - for part-time and seasonal work.

The constraints for developing and maintaining rural tourism include the added costs and pressure on public services for survey costs, impact analysis, insurance, promotion, fund raising and operations.

Given these dimensions a resounding vote continues to be shown by communities worldwide both for rural tourism as an idea and as a tool for direct economic development.

How about you, reader? If the thought excites you, let's plan your rural tourism resource management.

SIDEBAR:

If you have a rural tourism operation and would like to source visitors for FREE online, then fill in the form at the Bottom of this page to be part of the following website that offers you up to ten (10) pages to present your offers; Fiji on a budget: Fiji Rural Tourism Website

Planning Resource Management

1. Define Goals & Objectives,

2. Identify Existing Resources & Attractions,

3. Consult Outside Organizations,

4. Analyze Feasibility & Impacts,

5. Develop Marketing Plan,

6. Identify Alternatives,

7. Implement Plan,

8. Monitor & Evaluate Results

Many rural tourism communities can develop into major players by incorporating these additional tips and techniques:

a. See the potential for tourism development. Here you assess the potential for rural tourism, what businesses should serve travelers, how much revenues will be generated, are there enough of these services available to satisfy potential demands?

b. Inform and educate the community to create support. What are the goals and objectives of the community? Introduce rural tourism with community members, gain the support of the citizenry by educating them through Chambers of Commerce, Civic clubs, City councils, District and Provincial councils or other organized meetings.

c. Secure investments for public and private sources by enlisting above support,

d. Manage natural, human and financial resources. Communities having the following existing resources are well placed to commence their rural tourism ventures: historical or ethnic/cultural identities, natural settings, scenery, parks & recreation, volunteers, students, retirees, events, festivals, fairs, art galleries, shops, hotels or local industries.

e. Build an image for the community by conducting an inventory of the things your community has to offer tourists. Describe each attraction in terms of quality and quantity, and separate them by "core elements" (the primary tourist-attracting reasons) and "secondary elements" (supporting resources that contribute positively to the tourists' travel experience).

Take note of resources that could be enhanced or used more fully.

Let's do some modelling...

Surveys & Models

- community attitude towards rural tourism,

- define the recreational use-value and demand,

- tourism patterns,

- travel costs, and

- economic impacts.

Surveys methods include:

- telephone interviews which are low in cost and provide fast turn-around times. To simplify responses, offer a minimum number of choices to each question in the survey, and to yield a greater response rate, send letters before the call is made stating the date and time of the survey and ask for the customer's cooperation.

- questionnaires, used to identify the various types of tourists (market segments), where the surveyor lists responses to be checked off by the interviewee. Include questions that ask; where does the visitor live, what attracts them to the community, how does the visitor find out about tourist attractions, what type of facilities and businesses does the visitor use, the type of services and accommodations needed to make their stay enjoyable?

- and useful face to face interviews conducted at central locations, where visual aids are necessary.

If the surveys and modeling support the idea, let's plan the marketing..

Developing A Marketing Plan

The marketing plan is the central instrument for directing and coordinating the marketing effort. All businesses that want to improve their marketing effectiveness and efficiency MUST learn how to create and implement sound marketing plans.

But before we break the above down, let's look at the big picture of 'Value Creation and Delivery' to help understand what a marketing plan entails.

Value Creation and Delivery

Operational data is contemplated by; 1) producing the products and/or services, 2) price the value(s), 3) source and make the value.

Once it's operationally viable, figure marketing; distribution and service.

Finally we communicate the value by; 1) assigning a sales force, 2) promote sales, and 3) Advertise, to earn money.

Breaking it down...

To segment customers for our rural tourism then, we could divide the market into 'trip length' categories and define the clientele that will be attracted to the community. Use the list below as a guide:

Geographic market Areas:

1) Day Trips

- short - within 50kms, long - up to 200kms

2) Pass Through Visits

- day visits, overnight stays

3) Overnight Trips

- weekends, vacations

4) Outdoor Recreation Activities

- water recreations, camping, hiking, bicycling, hunting, horseback riding, nature study, birdwatching, etc.

5) Entertainments

- cultural heritage, historic sites, events, fairs & festivals, dances

6) Other Travel Purposes

- visit friends & relatives, business

Contents of a Marketing Plan

1. Executive summary - this presents a brief summary of the proposed plan for quick management skimming.

2. Current marketing situation - where relevant background data on the market, product/service, competition, distribution, and macro-environment are presented.

3. Opportunity and issue analysis - identifies the main opportunities & threats, strengths & weaknesses, and issues facing the product or service.

4. Objectives - defines the goals the plan must achieve in the areas of sales volume, market share and profit.

5. Marketing strategy - defines the broad marketing approach to be used to achieve the plan's objectives.

6. Action programs - answers the what, who, when, and how things will be done.

7. Projected profit & loss statement - forecasts the expected financial benefits from the plan.

8. Controls - shows how the plan will be monitored.

A Final Word

The Fijian tourism industry brings in around FJ$1 billion annually. What percentage of that goes to smaller locally owned and operated resorts, homestays and other tourism related businesses? Far less than it could be, I venture.

The reason for that is quite clear. Smaller resorts do not have the same internet presence that the larger resorts have. They either have no website at all, or have one that is so poorly designed they may as well save the money because their internet presence simply cannot get any meaningful traffic.

As visitors seek information they invariably use Search Engines (Google) with keywords based on their needs.

If you want to attract traffic to a website, there are certain fundamental things that you must get right. Put very simply, you must please Search Engines, as well as please your site visitors. These are certain things you need to get right. Things that most webmasters don't quite get.

If you want to increase bookings, you have to reach your potential customers before they reach Fiji. That means having an effective and highly visible website.

It means giving the people what they want. Good complete information, a polished and professional website, and an easy to use way to make further inquiries and/or bookings.

The tourist numbers to Fiji are growing at a steady rate friend. The higher they climb, the more potential customers for rural tourism operators. We just need to direct these people to the information they need. And the more business you get, the more money that flows into your local rural tourism communities.

If you have a rural tourism operation then and seek an effective communication medium, fill out the form below to be part of a group of websites that devote 5 - 10 pages to your offering. Where you can tell your story through videos, pictures and words.

Join us for FREE and have us take care of getting you more traffic! We'll pay it forward for our rural tourism okay?

Planned visitations to the Coral Coast will begin late November 2011 then, with the Mamanucas, Yasawas, Central, Sunshine Coast, and Northern region visits to follow thereafter.

As we can only handle ten (10) offerings per region I urge rural tourism operators to sign up early.

You have a lot to gain, yes?

Have your site shown to the world by entering your details on the form below

Have A Resort And Need More Traffic?

If you're a rural tourism operator and need help in getting more possible visitors seeing your offer, then fill in your details to be included in a website for Fiji's rural tourism and home stays.

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