TOUR 3004- Destination Positioning

• Destination Positioning 


  Positioning refers to the place, location and level of importance a destination occupies or holds in the mind of the consumer.
• Objective of Destination Marketing

  The objective of positioning is to create a distinctive place in the mind of potential consumers.
• Importance of Destination Positioning:

  • evokes images of the destination in the minds of the consumer
  • differentiates the destination from its competition 

  • portrays the destination as a place that can satisfy their needs and wants
• Positioning Analysis:

  • the present position occupied by the destination in the mind of the target market
  • the destination's desired position(s) within the marketplace
  • which competitor's positions must be neutralised
  • how to competitively and sustainably position the destination
• Tourism Destination


  Tourism Destination must look both internally at the product attributes and externally at the competitive set in order to effect strategic market positioning.
• Positioning seeks to safeguard the destination from the risks of:

  1. competing directly with a strong competitor thereby wasting finite resources
  2. being regards as generic; undifferentiated destination
  3. being associated with no particular identity or with a negative image in customers' minds
• Positioning Process:

  1. identify the target market and travel context
  2. identify the competitive set of destinations in the target market and the travel context
  3. identify the motivation/benefits of previous visitors and non-visitors
  4. identify the perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of each competitive set of destinations
  5. identify opportunities for differentiated positioning
  6. select and implement the position
  7. monitor the performance of the positioning strategy over time
• Positioning Criteria 


  is the position feasible? - ability of the local tourism industry and host community to deliver on promise

  can the position be communicated? - is the message reinforcing existing positively held associations of the destination?

  is the position sustainable? - how well can the position be defended against imitating rivals?
• Effective Positioning:

  • is a single-minded, cohesive efforts from which everything else flows
  • impacts upon the destination's marketing strategies (e.g. advertising, personal selling, PR, promotions etc.)
  • directly influences policies and procedures, human resource development, research and CRM (customer relations management)
  • effective positioning is determined who conditions simultaneously exist. Firstly, in the mind of the tourist, the position adopted by the tourist is a credible or believable one. Secondly, the destination must consistently deliver the consumer benefit promised.
• Outcome- An Attractive Destination

  According to Pike (2016), an attractive destination is one that achieves a distinctive top of mind awareness (ToMA) position, based on leadership in determinant attributes, relative to destinations in the competitive set, in the minds of a target group of consumers, who have an intent to visit within a given time period.
• Positioning Approaches:

  1. by price value
  2. by use or application
  3. by group or class
  4. by product class
  5. by contrast against competition