Tourism marketing advice, tips and ideas
  • Ideas & how to...
  • Susan Briggs
  • Sign up
  • Profit Programme
  • Ideas & how to...
  • Susan Briggs
  • Sign up
  • Profit Programme

Using local distinctiveness

28/1/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a way to make visitors feel so enthused by your area that they want to stay for much longer, take loads of photos, share them with all their friends and tell everyone?

Ideally, it would be a way that costs very little, worked as well in Winter as in Summer. In an ideal world, it would also lesson the impact on the environment, perhaps encouraging visitors to explore on foot, and spend more money in local businesses too? For once the ideal isn't an impossible dream. It is possible. Let's take a fresh look at local distinctiveness and sense of place. 


I'll offer some practical tips on how you can actually use local distinctiveness later in this article.
First though, what does local distinctiveness actually mean and why is it important? 


It's what makes one place different from another. Major landmarks and famous sights can mark one place out against another but it’s not just big features that are important. It's often the small details that many of us take for granted. It's the 'essence' of a place, that tells you where you are. You can't feel it in a chain pub, even when they've put mass-produced pictures on the wall and bought in old books by the yard. It's hard to find in most newly built chain hotels. It's much easier to find in independent businesses. You can feel it in a forest, or at the top of a hill, in a tiny hamlet or a large town. Sometimes you notice local distinctiveness without really realising. Sense of place can be an instinctive feeling, which is all the more appealing to visitors once they've noticed it too. Survey after survey shows how much visitors enjoy 'savouring the ambience' of a place. This is largely down to local distinctiveness. 

Our impressions are formed through so many aspects of an area’s character. Local distinctiveness is the combination of aspects that makes each place special. It’s the essential details, large and small, natural and man-made, that combine to create a sense of place. Local distinctiveness can be experienced and enjoyed with all our senses. Everyone appreciates something different, whether it's drinking beer in a cosy pub, overhearing snatches of conversation in a certain accent, hearing birdsong in a hidden valley or the nostalgic feeling of cobbles underfoot. 

Features that you take for granted aren't necessarily obvious to everyone. They might be special and extraordinary for some visitors. So to take advantage of your local distinctiveness, you have to find it, describe it and make it more apparent, and easier to enjoy - without making it feel contrived, or taking away its authenticity. 

Changing markets - the time is right to use local distinctiveness

Visitors are certainly changing. There’s growing interest in all things ‘local’. Visitors want to understand more, to experience places in different ways and to meet “real” people. They are ready to buy locally made products. They want to do as well as see. Visitors are increasingly interested in anything that 
helps them understand and appreciate the essential character of a place. Today’s visitors are looking for ‘something different’ from their normal life. They look for places with ambience, atmosphere and soul. They welcome in-depth experiences, opportunities to participate and chances to meet local people.

An opportunity to offer a different type of information

Traditionally in the tourism industry we’ve offered visitors lists and directories containing lots of information. The focus has been on covering everything, being neutral and leaving visitors to make their own decisions. This no longer works. Visitors increasingly use social media and websites like TripAdvisor for second and third opinions. They want insider tips and specific ideas for things
 to do. They've started to shy away from "official" in favour of more in-depth, personal recommendations. 

How can you use local distinctiveness in your business or area, to attract longer staying, higher spending visitors? 

Most tourism marketing talks about the highlights, the well-known, the headline-grabbers. This is important but as these images become more familiar, visitors mentally tick them off their list. They start to move from one 'big name' to another, barely noticing what's in between. When we only promote the honeypots, there's a tendency for visitors to move quickly between them and then think they know an area, without feeling inclined to visit again.

We need to slow visitors down, to help them see the undiscovered gems, the places that are special but often hidden or less obvious. Visitors who enjoy a different experience are more likely to stay longer and spend more. They have more of a story to tell so they recommend the area to others. They also realise that neighbouring areas are likely to be equally interesting and may come back to explore other places. 


Here are 3 simple things you can do to use local distinctiveness right now: 
Please note: this content is available to members of the Tourism Network online community - Join FREE right now

0 Comments
    Sign up to receive weekly Tourism Knowhow in your inbox every Tuesday
    Please note: all articles are copyright Susan Briggs 2021

    Ideas

    All
    3 Things Every Visitor Wants
    5 Ideas For Good Tourism
    5 Must-do Activities For A Quicker Post-Covid Bounce Back
    6 Mistakes You Can Fix Now
    6 Ways To Use Trends To Benefit Your Business
    9 Easy Tips For Photography That Sells
    About Pages
    Advertising - Is It Worth The Money?
    Advice - Coronavirus
    Advice From My Mum And Isaac Newton
    Are You Saying The Wrong Things
    A Single Solution To Many Different Marketing Issues
    Ask For The Sale
    Bad Reviews - Good For Business?
    Bad Weather? No Problem!
    Better?
    Better Times - Beyond Covid
    Bigger Bolder Braver
    Brushing Teeth & Tourism Marketing
    Building Anticipation
    Build Trust To Generate Revenue
    Chrysalis Or Butterfly?
    Colour Counts
    Colour Psychology
    Copywriting Counts
    Design Tips
    Direct Mail
    Down With Discounts!
    Duvet Days?
    Easy Ways To Use An Emotional Appeal
    Easy Way To Get Media Coverage
    Encourage Recommendations And Repeat Visitors
    Essential Marketing Tips
    How To Be An Expert & Benefit Your Tourism Business
    How To Use Local Distinctiveness
    How To Use Optimism & Positivity To Boost Your Business
    Is Social Media Effective?
    Keep Going
    Last Impressions
    Lessons From Low Cost Airlines
    Lessons From My Window Cleaner
    Maintenance Marketing
    Make Money While You Sleep
    Making Progress In Your Business
    Marketing Collaborations
    Marketing Mind-reading
    Membership?
    Millennials
    Niche Marketing
    Not For Everyone
    No Time For Tourism Marketing?
    Off Peak Marketing
    One Simple Way To Make Your Business Better
    Pictures For Better Marketing
    Piggyback Marketing
    Planning For A Better Future
    Power Of Three
    PR Coverage For Your Business
    PR: Don't Upset Journalists
    Profit Through Generosity
    Promote Off-season
    Questions To Help Build Your Business
    Quick & Easy Marketing Tip
    Reassurance - An Essential Marketing Tactic
    Restorative Tourism
    Safe Won't Sell
    Say The Right Thing
    Scared Of Selling?
    Share Your Small Successes
    Simple Idea For Immediate Impact
    Small Steps Make The Most Difference
    Smile!
    Social Media Engagement
    Social Media For Direct Bookings
    Some Positive News
    Spring Clean Your Marketing
    Status Stories
    Stop 2-1 Discounts
    Targets & Witchcraft
    Telling A Good Story
    The Hole In Your Marketing
    Toilet Twinning
    Too Ambitious?
    Trends & Business Opportunities For 2020
    Using Local Pride As A Marketing Super Power
    Walking A Dog
    Word Of Mouth Publicity


Build your business, using my tourism expertise, energy & enthusiasm 

  • practical tourism marketing advice to raise your profile and increase your revenue
  • creation and implementation of marketing campaigns
  • public relations activities and copywriting, including content for websites
  • developing and using local distinctiveness
  • digital marketing, and help to understand search engine optimisation and social media
  • advice and support for visitor attractions, accommodation, food and drink producers, artists, craftspeople and small specialist tour operators

All articles on this site are copyright Susan Briggs, The Tourism Network Ltd 2021
Picture
Email Susan Briggs 

The Tourism Network Ltd, The Old Mill, Millgate, Masham, HG4 4EZ 
Tel: 07768 365591    
​​