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Business Guidance

2. Market research

Contents

Contents

2. Market research

When you have clearly articulated your tourism product and selling proposition, you will need to establish if your tourism product “fits” in today’s competitive tourism market and can become a viable sustainable business. This will require you to carry out in-depth market research. 

Keep an eye on changing trends in the tourism industry and to see which trend resonates both for your business and for your type of customers i.e. customers are becoming more concerned about sustainability and the environment. 
 
Economic and legislative trends also have an influence on your business and in turn - your customers. For example, how would a significant change in currency exchange rates impact on your regular customer base? Or how would a change in legislation open new opportunities or, conversely, limit your tourism product? By keeping up to date with current affairs, trade press or e-newsletters you can generally keep informed on any key trends. 
 
Key Considerations include:
  • Look at current market and customer trends to identify if there a demand in the market place. 
  • Carry out a competitive analysis to establish if there are other similar products/how does it compare strengths and weaknesses.
  • Consider your geographical location to ascertain the accessibility/fit with other tourism businesses and identify any opportunities to cluster and collaborate
  • Establish your products fit with NI Experience Brand. 
The internet is a valuable resource of information in the development stages, giving you quick and easy access to this type of information. 
 
Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland also provide detailed information through business insights and market profiles.
 
Key sources include: 

  • NI Tourism statistics and performance trends

  • Visitor Attitude Surveys
    Understanding the needs and attitudes of visitors to Northern Ireland can play a vital role in helping to create an exceptional visitor experience. Insights into visitor attitudes also helps us to better position Northern Ireland to compete in a global marketplace. Tourism NI regularly commission Visitor Attitude Surveys to gain an insight into leisure visitors’ overall Northern Ireland experience, as well as their attitude towards each stage of their visitor journey (from trip planning to eating out, accommodation used and attractions visited).

  • Tourism 360
    Is a regular e-newsletter highlighting key Consumer Insights relevant to the NI Tourism industry.

  • Consumer Senitment Analysis
    Is particularly important to recovery planning in light of the Covid-19 pandemic as it outlines visitor’s propensity to travel, key considerations and what they are looking for.

Work with others in your destination area

Although you may be able to enhance your tourism offer in isolation, a more effective approach will be to collaborate with other complementary tourism businesses to create visitor experiences that deliver more than the sum of their parts.

When identifying businesses to work with, you may want to consider those that have a natural fit (e.g. restaurateurs and producers in a fishing port working together to create a seafood experience); but equally it may be that the only linkage between you and potential collaborators is that you are located in the same destination (e.g. a rural hotel that works with a nearby activity provider to offer guests more to do during their stay).

The key thing in identifying collaborative opportunities for your business is to have a good knowledge of what’s on your doorstep:

  • What are the key selling points of your local area? Can you tie in with them?
  • Which businesses seem to attract most visitors?
  • What types of experience are other businesses offering? Have you sampled them? What is the quality like?
  • Do you share any local heritage / stories with other businesses in your destination area?

Collaboration as a way of working is not a new concept for tourism businesses in Northern Ireland. A spirit of collaboration has been emerging over the last number of years to jointly create visitor experiences that are accessible, bookable and compelling.

The recent Covid-19 pandemic and the strong alignment of tourism businesses behind the new experience brand, ‘Northern Ireland –Embrace a Giant Spirit’, has furthered interest in collaborative partnerships, and accelerated participation in forums and networks across Northern Ireland.

A guide to collaborating with other tourism businesses is available below.

Guidelines to developing tourism cluster groups

Developing Tourism Cluster Groups

Please download to access our guidelines to devloping tourism Cluster groups

PDF

This guide  is primarily aimed at those businesses who want to start an ‘experience’ cluster group to jointly create marketable visitor experiences,  but other groups should find it equally useful as the principles remain the same. This guide is divided into five steps. It will offer advice on gathering the right people who can work together through to developing an action plan with the right foundations in place. Each of the five practical steps will cover lessons learned in practice across a number of clusters.

The Collaborative Growth Programme via Invest NI offers 100 per cent funding up to £25,000 to SME-led networks requiring facilitation support to scope out innovative collaborative projects with the potential to increase business competitiveness. Find out more about it here.

The DAERA Rural Tourism Collaborative Experiences Programme is a pilot programme being administered through each of the 11 Councils. Find out more here.

Tourism Product

Describe your tourism product

Can you succinctly describe your tourism product in about 100 words. Think of that all-important 30 second elevator pitch in front of that important visitor or tour operator.

Vision and Motivations

  • What was your prime motivation for taking this step?
  • What is your vision for the future, where do you want to be (now, 1 year, 2-3 years and 5 years time?
  • Is this a full-time business or a part-time/lifestyle business?
  • How many dependents are there (direct/indirect)?
  • Have you any transferrable skills to bring to the tourism sector?

Business structure

  • No legal structure*
  • Sole Trader
  • Partnership
  • Limited Company
  • Social Enterprise
  • Other
* Do you have plans to formalise your business within the next 6-12 months. Y/N what type of legal structure do you envisage?
 

Define your unique selling proposition

Before you can successfully reach your customers, you need to identify what makes your product different or unique. Why should your customers choose your offering over your competitors? In other words, what is your unique selling proposition (USP)?
 
Pinpointing your USP often requires some soul searching and creativity. You must think like your customers think. Who are they? Why do they choose you? What more could you offer them? Who else is doing what you do and how could you be more unique?
 
Develop a SWOT analysis Think about the strengths and weaknesses of your business’s key competitors to establish where there is room for innovation or growth. What do you do better than your competitors? What do they do better than you? What are the opportunities for innovation and growth?
 
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Listen more to your customers. What do they love about what you offer, why do they choose you? Ask your customers what they would love to do that you don’t already offer? Step back from your business and carefully scrutinise what your customers really want. What would make them return again and again to your business and ignore your competition? The answer might be quality, convenience, reliability or customer service. Remember, price is rarely the only reason people buy.
 
Example of SWOT Analysis for a B&B can be found here.
 

Market Demand for your Experience

Who are your current customers? Where do they come from, are they couples, families or groups? What age group or dempgraphic profile does your experience most appeal to?
 

Other Questions to ask yourself:

To analyse your business, it is helpful to start with the following questions:
 
  • Which of my products / services are performing best?
  • What is my average spend per customer?
  • Which markets / segments are generating most revenue for my business?
  • What proportion of my customer base is repeat business?
  • During which times of the year does my business perform best / worst?
 
Remember to consider the opportunities that lie at your doorstep. What can you utilise in your surrounding area to add depth to your product offering? Does your business share a story with an iconic attraction? Is it located in an area of natural beauty? Is there an annual music event that you could tie in with?