Do you want to attract new visitors to your city? In the digital era, attracting visitors' attention to certain places is easier to do. Developing a marketing plan and using social media and other promotional materials can help promote tourism in your city.
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Part 1 of 3: Creating a Marketing Plan
Step 1. Consider what makes your city unique
One way to do this is to make a list of the activities and attractions available in the city. Often tourists are attracted by the things to do and see in your city. They usually don't really care about the city's location. When searching for a tourist attraction on the internet, they will search first for the activity they want and then the location. For example, if you want to enjoy the scenery and the cool natural atmosphere, tourists usually visit Lembang. In addition, if they want to play on the beach, they will visit Bali.
- Focus your marketing plan on activities and attractions that characterize your city. Even small or unique attractions, such as Moko Hill in Bandung and Ampera Bridge in Palembang, can captivate visitors and draw their attention to your city. You should consider what makes your city a special tourist destination and what tourists can do and discover in your city.
- We recommend that you work with parties involved in tourism development, such as the Ministry of Tourism and the Center for Tourism Planning and Development of ITB, and focus your attention on only three tourist attractions owned by your city. The more specific the attraction developed, the better the chances of your city to attract tourists.
Step 2. Conduct a survey of the local community
Surveys are an invaluable tool in tourism planning because they help you gather information from the public and ensure they agree with the city's tourism image and marketing. You can conduct surveys by telephone or interview people in person. Ask the following questions:
- What do you think can attract tourists to our city?
- What kind of tourists should visit our city?
- How can we provide a memorable experience for tourists?
Step 3. Conduct a survey on visitors from out of town
You can directly interview visitors at malls or shopping centers. In addition, you can also ask visitors to provide an email address (electronic mail or email). After that, you can send them an email with the survey. Ask the following questions:
- Where do visitors live?
- What attracts visitors to visit the city?
- How do visitors find out about tourism objects in the city?
- What facilities and services are used by visitors while in the city?
- What accommodation and services do visitors need?
- Studying promotions delivered by past visitors or tourists visiting the city is a good method for determining how to improve tourist services in the future. You can open social media and see what tourists are saying while on vacation in the city.
Step 4. Create a marketing plan
Defining market segments is a good way to design a marketing plan. Determine the market areas (geographical zones that contain information about people who are expected to buy goods or visit places) that attract visitors the most, such as museums, historical zones, or forest parks. After that, categorize these attractions based on their duration and describe the types of visitors who will be interested in the place. Create a graph that is divided into the following categories:
- Geography of the market area which has a special section for day trips (day trips), overnight trips (overnight trips), and extended visits (extended visit).
- Outdoor activities, such as camping, hiking, fishing and picnicking.
- Places of entertainment, such as historical zones, festivals, fairs, shopping centers, and restaurants.
- Other travel purposes, such as business trips and visiting family.
Step 5. Create a unique slogan
When creating a slogan, make sure the slogan that is created reflects the uniqueness and is closely related to your city. Avoid using commonly used keywords, such as “explore”, “discover”, “hidden paradise”, “the amazing [city name]” “cultural center”, and others.
Learn about famous slogans, such as Bandung's “Paris van Java”, New York's “The City That Never Sleeps”, or Las Vegas's “What happens here, stays here”. These slogans use unique terms and avoid commonly used keywords so that they are memorable and easy to remember
Step 6. Create an action plan
This plan contains the steps that must be taken to realize the marketing plan. The action plan should include the following information:
- Recommendations from the Ministry of Tourism, such as proposed slogans and images.
- Budget for marketing plans, including all costs of promotional materials.
- Source of data to implement the marketing plan.
- The people responsible for executing the marketing plan.
- Timeline of the development of the implementation of the marketing plan which is prepared from start to finish.
Part 2 of 3: Using Promotional Materials and Local Media
Step 1. Create promotional materials
You can create T-shirts, topics, stickers, and flags that contain city slogans and images. We recommend that you use local human resources in creating this promotional material. Hire a local illustrator or designer to create one.
Sell these promotional materials at local gift shops near famous attractions
Step 2. Create radio and television ads
One of the best ways to promote your city is to create radio and city ads. Focus the ad on the city's slogans and concepts discussed in the marketing plan.
Step 3. Create a tourist map
Another efficient way to promote your city is to create a tourist map that contains detailed information about the places that tourists can visit. You can put the map in malls, restaurants and bars.
The map can contain a brief description of the attractions and activities that can be done in your city
Step 4. Hold a contest or raffle
You can attract tourists by offering free incentives to explore the city. You can invite tourists to take pictures at certain places and the lucky winner will get a prize. In addition, you can also hold sweepstakes for tourists who take surveys and sweepstakes. The lucky winner gets to stay at a famous tourist attraction for free.
Part 3 of 3: Using Social Media and Other Online Tools
Step 1. Create a website and fill it with blog posts
If your city doesn't have a website, you can create a website with a simple, easy-to-use template. Make sure to use high quality images and designs to make the website look professional and attractive.
A good way to attract visitors to your website is to create a blog on the website. Make sure the blog is filled with posts on a regular basis. Interview local people and publish the results of these interviews on the blog. In addition, you can also create articles that explain unique activities that are held on certain dates
Step 2. Create a Facebook page and post daily
Creating a Facebook page is easier than building a website and allows you to make lots of friends quickly. Uploading a picture of a new city or writing about an upcoming event will keep your friends up-to-date on their News Feed.
Step 3. Create Twitter and Instagram accounts
Promote your city on other social media platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram. Upload photos and posts regularly and follow users who are famous or have a lot of followers (followers).
You can also create hashtags that include your city's slogan. Include the hashtag in every Twitter post or Instagram post. This helps you to track whether your city is frequently talked about by users. In addition, creating hashtags can improve the quality of posts so that they can attract the attention of many users
Step 4. Create a YouTube channel
Creating a YouTube channel is a great way to promote your city and attract tourists. Fill the page with high quality videos and information. In addition, you should make sure the video title and keywords are easy to remember and search for, such as the name of the city, activity, and event.
Step 5. Use the app to promote events and attractions
You can work with developers to create smartphone apps and promote local events through the app. This application can be programmed to display hotels, restaurants, shopping centers and events. In addition, the application can contain various important information for tourists, such as directions, information center locations, public restrooms, and recommendations on travel plans.
