Marketing Destinations, Not Products

Tourism Marketing is all about making a destination appear alluring to tourists by creating eye-catching slogans, creatives, organizing trade shows and enhance earnings..

- Prerika Gupta

Unlike any other marketing, Tourism Marketing involves marketing of a destination, not a product. For instance, till the early 90s, India used ‘India, a world unto itself’?’ as its slogan till the ‘Incredible India’ happened. It was in 2002 that the Ministry of Tourism launched the ‘Incredible India’ campaign which was an exceptional marketing strategy. Along with traditional marketing, the ministry implemented modern ideas like sustainable practices and ecotourism to boost India as a high-end tourist destination. The campaign was so successful that the country witnessed a 16 percent increase in tourist traffic in the very first year. That’s the power of right marketing!

Tourism marketing

Launching domestic campaigns like ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ which translates to ‘Guests Are Equal to God’ and promoting it nationwide with top Indian celebrities in pictures and videos is a classic example of tourism marketing. Not only this, every year various states organize festivals like the Nagaland Hornbill Festival, Goa Carnival, Rajasthan’s Desert Festival that attract a number of tourists from across the world. Dr. Mahesh Uniyal, Associate Professor (Travel and Tourism) at Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), Mullana, explains, “Tourism Marketing is about anticipating and identifying the wants and needs of a tourist, then satisfying those needs in order to make revenue and enhance the organization’s creditability in the minds of tourists. In the simplest way, Tourism Marketing is a business discipline of attracting visitors to a specific location.”

Courses in Tourism Marketing