10 successful tourism scenic spot marketing planning cases

When it comes to tourism marketing , whether it’s a scenic spot or a city, the key lies in market positioning and product quality. Products need to be integrated into culture, and culture needs to carry products. The explosion point is temporary and may not last long. Innovation, integration, leveraging and publicity are all means.

1. Zhangjiajie

Planning focuses on attracting attention

In 1999, the "Zhangjiajie World Aerobatic Grand Prix" was officially opened. The plane successfully flew over the Tianmen Cave, which not only created a miracle in human history, but also made Zhangjiajie "astonishingly famous". It quickly became a popular tourist attraction from a scenic gem "hidden in the boudoir and unknown to the world". For a time, tourists from home and abroad flocked to Zhangjiajie, and the number of tourists received by Zhangjiajie maintained a growth rate of more than 50% for several consecutive years, and tourism revenue soared from 1.26 billion yuan to 3.3 billion yuan.

In 2003 and 2005, the “Chess on the Land” World Go Championship held in the ancient town of Fenghuang was also a classic example of innovative event marketing. At the foot of the ancient Great Wall in the south, on the world's largest chessboard paved with red sandstone, the world's two top Go masters played against each other using martial arts children as chess pieces, which caused a sensation at home and abroad and set a new record for the ratings of the world Go broadcast competition. The ancient town of Fenghuang made a grand appearance through the event and once again caught the attention of countless tourists. For a time, tourists flocked to the county, and the annual comprehensive tourism income of Fenghuang County quickly exceeded 1 billion yuan, making it one of the first 17 "China's Strong Tourism Counties" in the country.

Having tasted the sweetness of event marketing, Zhangjiajie struck again at the end of 2009, taking advantage of the movie "Avatar" to rename the "Pillar of Heaven and Earth" to "Hallelujah Mountain", although this incident quickly attracted criticism from the media and the public. However, the attention to Zhangjiajie has also soared. Major domestic mainstream media outlets have been reporting on the name change incident one after another, and even CCTV's Bai Yansong personally interviewed the key figures in the name change incident, with the broadcast lasting more than an hour. With the help of this event, Zhangjiajie officially entered the European and American markets.

Comment: Event marketing is the driving force behind the increase in popularity. Only scenic spots that know how to market can survive. Zhangjiajie undoubtedly understands this well. Although it is always controversial and even criticized a lot, it doesn’t matter. What is important is the steady flow of customers it brings.

2. Hangzhou

Perfect combination of tourism and city marketing

The construction of Hangzhou city is a model for the construction of tourist cities in China. Unlike many cities that focus on ticket sales for scenic spots and tourist areas, Hangzhou abandoned its previous "ticket economy-based development model" in 2002 and opened various scenic spots, large and small, along the West Lake for free. By 2004, the total area of ​​the West Lake open to the public for free had exceeded 2,000 hectares. Although the free admission to West Lake has caused Hangzhou to lose tens of millions of yuan in revenue every year, it has brought about rapid development of tourism in Hangzhou. In 2004, the room rates of hotels and inns in Hangzhou increased by 11.4% over 2003, the occupancy rate increased by 5.8%, and the occupancy rate of star-rated hotels reached over 90%. The average length of stay of tourists in Hangzhou was extended to two days, and the average consumption of tourists reached 1,317 yuan, an increase of 12.95% over 2003. Although the ticket revenue was reduced by tens of millions of yuan, it attracted more tourists, prolonged their stay, and created new development space for industries such as catering, hotels, and retail, ultimately bringing Hangzhou a comprehensive revenue of over 100 million yuan.

In addition to the West Lake, Hangzhou has also opened six major museums and memorial halls free of charge, and has established a free distribution network for tourist promotional materials to provide tourists with free "personal tour guide" services. Nowadays, tourists can get beautifully printed, portable and practical travel brochures free of charge at three-star and above hotels, airports, stations and tourist information points in Hangzhou.

In order to build Hangzhou into an open and accessible international tourist city, Hangzhou has also launched an activity to transform urban social resources into tourism products, opening up urban social resource points such as public transportation, farmers' markets, specialty streets, courts, prisons, community families, etc., so that Chinese and foreign tourists can fully and truly understand and experience the city of Hangzhou. It fully demonstrates the charm of Hangzhou as a tourist city.

From opening the West Lake to the public for free to developing social resources as tourism products, Hangzhou tourism has achieved a transformation from a "ticket economy development model" to a "regional economic development model", and from "scenic spot tourism" to true "destination tourism". On this basis, Hangzhou is now moving towards becoming an international city of "Oriental leisure capital, city of quality of life, and paradise of happiness on earth".

Comment: Only by adapting can we develop. With the advent of the era of national leisure, "ticket economy" has become a bottleneck in the development of tourism. Free tickets not only stimulate consumption in scenic spots, but also improve and boost the entire tourism industry chain. Giving up the small income from the scenic spot will bring about great development of the region.

3. Lingshan Giant Buddha

Marketing focuses on cultural carrier support

In 1997, the first phase of the 88-meter-high Lingshan Giant Buddha was completed and officially consecrated to the public. This world-largest Buddha statue has become the biggest event in Chinese Buddhism in the past century and became famous overnight, attracting more than 2 million believers and tourists every year.

The reason for the success of the Lingshan Giant Buddha is not only the groundbreaking creativity that brings visual shock to people, but also the strong cultural carrier which is its fundamental guarantee. In its promotion, the Lingshan Giant Buddha in Wuxi has always used the concept of "Big Buddha" as a promotion entry point, and on the basis of in-depth exploration of the Big Buddha culture, it has extracted two major cultural endorsements. One is that Master Xuanzang believed that the Lingshan Giant Buddha in Wuxi was extremely similar to the Vulture Peak in India where the Buddha preached, and he sent his favorite disciples to Lingshan to preach; the second is that the late Zhao Puchu, the president of the Buddhist Association of China, believed that the Lingshan Giant Buddha represented the Eastern Buddha among the Five Buddhas among the big Buddhas in China. It was precisely because of these two cultural endorsements that the Lingshan Giant Buddha was given enough cultural space, and the promotion of the Lingshan Giant Buddha was able to be successful.

In order to enhance the subsequent development momentum, Lingshan Giant Buddha did not just stay at the stage of sightseeing Buddha worship, but promoted the transformation of Lingshan from sightseeing Buddha worship to leisure tourism by developing industries such as Lingshan brand cigarettes, Lingshan incense, and real estate, thereby driving the development of tourism in Wuxi as a whole.

Comment: Visual impact and concepts can attract attention instantly, but culture is the fundamental driving force for lasting development. The Lingshan Giant Buddha officially represents the tallest Buddha that has attracted public attention and achieved lasting development through cultural intervention.

4. Happy Valley

Marketing focuses on innovation

As China's first theme park brand, Happy Valley has been around for more than a decade, from a lukewarm state from 1998 to May 2001 to becoming today's Chinese tourism real estate brand landmark and China's first theme park chain brand. The success of Happy Valley not only created the myth of Chinese theme parks, but also the myth of Chinese tourism. Happy Valley's success is mainly due to the following three advantages:

First, the advantage of model innovation. Happy Valley has broken through the long-standing profit model of theme parks, formed a theme consumption chain of "tourism + real estate + leisure", and revitalized capital by using the overall profitability of theme communities. As a result, a breakthrough in development was achieved.

Second, mature branding operation ideas. Compared with many theme parks in China, Happy Valley has risen from the tangible stage of "making products" to the intangible stage of "building brands". Through the creation of entertainment brands, the core competitiveness and recognition of the "Happy Valley" brand have been enhanced, thereby effectively differentiating its positioning from thousands of theme parks in China and forming a strong brand influence and identification system. Over the years, Happy Valley has always adhered to its core brand value positioning of "a happy place in a bustling city", and through various activities and public relations planning, it has continuously strengthened its brand positioning and conveyed the most positive message to tourists: Happy Valley can free you from the busy urban work life and free yourself. If you want to release yourself, go to Happy Valley.

Third, the multi-level marketing approach gives Happy Valley a special appeal. Happy Valley continues to launch new hardware projects, and each project strives to give visitors an immersive feeling. For example, the environment of the roller coaster is set during the American Gold Rush in the 18th century, and the rapids foreshadow the hardships of the escape process. On the software, performances with different cultural connotations are planned for different festivals. For example, some extreme sports and magic shows make "Happy Valley" more fashionable and avant-garde.

Comment: The success of Shenzhen Happy Valley fundamentally lies in innovation. It can be said that innovation has made Happy Valley what it is. For example: innovating theme park brands and building a prosperous urban happy place; continuously innovating, upgrading and improving products; innovating the business model from a single city theme park to a diversified urban entertainment theme park; innovating scenic area services, etc. Over the past decade, Happy Valley has explored and implemented a new model for the development of Chinese theme parks through continuous innovation.

5. Songcheng

There is a slogan that takes a different approach

There are dozens of "Songcheng" theme parks across the country based on the painting "Along the River During the Qingming Festival", but the most successful one is Songcheng in Hangzhou. The construction of Songcheng began in 1993, covering an area of ​​more than 40 hectares, and truly reproduces the legacy of the Southern Song Dynasty. Songcheng adopts "theme park + tourism and cultural performances" as its main business model, taking into account both experience and culture, satisfying tourists' ever-increasing demands for participation and cultural connotations in scenic area activities.

Vivid and rich experiential products are the basis for Songcheng to obtain a steady stream of customers. The product design takes "architecture as form and culture as soul" and focuses on Song culture. The city wall is built with thousands of special blue bricks, the Nine Dragon Pillar is carved from marble, the Rainbow Bridge, Yue Lao Temple and the Song-style snack street make tourists feel as if they have come to the Song Dynasty and the bustling streets and alleys of the Song Dynasty. There are also various folk art performances that tourists can watch, play, participate in and experience, which greatly satisfies tourists' requirements for leisure, experience and interaction of tourism products. The night show includes the indoor three-dimensional panoramic large-scale song and dance "Songcheng Eternal City", which is based on Hangzhou's historical allusions, myths and legends, integrates song, dance and acrobatics, and uses modern high-tech means to create a dreamlike artistic effect, giving people a strong visual shock. Visiting Songcheng can allow you to experience the cultural life of the Song Dynasty, and watching "Songcheng Eternal City" can allow you to experience the expression of Song culture. Thereby meeting the diverse needs of tourists.

However, what really triggers tourists' decision to visit Songcheng is the slogan "Give me one day, and I'll give you a thousand years". The phrase "Give me one day, and I'll give you a thousand years" embodies the "soul" of Songcheng and greatly inspires tourists' travel decisions.

The success of Songcheng ignited the theme park industry in Hangzhou, thus breaking the traditional pattern of Hangzhou's tourism industry that has been centered on the West Lake and sightseeing as the main form of tourism since ancient times. It also opened up a new era in the development of China's private tourism industry.

Comment: A touching slogan is comparable to a mighty army. No matter how good the resources and products are, they cannot be separated from its leverage. This is the power of a one-sentence strategy. Songcheng’s rapid breakthrough in communication is precisely due to the communication drive of “Give me one day, and I’ll give you the year before last”.

6. Wuzhen

Taking advantage of the situation

From an undeveloped and dilapidated ancient town in 1999, it has become a famous tourist town both at home and abroad in the early 21st century and was praised by the United Nations expert investigation team as the "Wuzhen Model." Wuzhen has created a miracle in Chinese tourism in just a few years.

The model and experience of Wuzhen's development are typical. Its achievements in underground pipelines, river dredging, restoration, and controlling excessive commercialization have always been the first or successful examples of the protection and development of ancient towns across the country. During its development, Wuzhen adhered to the principle of "historical heritage protection and reuse" and implemented three major projects, namely, heritage protection, cultural protection and environmental protection. These projects have enabled Wuzhen to fully reproduce the style of an ancient water town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, thus forming a leisure and tourist area integrating eating, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping and entertainment.

In addition, Wuzhen has made creative breakthroughs in continuously improving and enriching the cultural connotation of the scenic spot's brand. In addition to showing the world Wuzhen's unique residential water pavilions, old houses and deep alleys, boat-fist shadow puppets and folk workshops, it has also deeply explored folk traditional culture, and brought many little-known folk festivals, birthday customs, etiquette customs, wedding customs, clothing customs and the colorful "silkworm culture" to the forefront of tourism, allowing the "Old Tongbao Hometown Customs" described by Mao Dun to walk out of the ancient town that has been covered in dust for thousands of years. Wuzhen also hosted the "Fifth Mao Dun Literature Award Ceremony" and held the "Wuzhen Fragrance Market" with rich folk customs for two consecutive years, which attracted great attention from the media and tourists.

From 2004 to 2005, when other ancient towns around the city were making a big fuss about increasing ticket prices, Wuzhen put more energy into cultivating the source market, thus catching up and successfully surpassing Zhouzhuang.

Wuzhen has increased its investment in marketing and communication, hiring film star Rene Liu as its image spokesperson. With the slogan "Same ancient town, different Wuzhen", it has differentiated itself from its competitors in communication and achieved breakthrough success.

Comment: The success of Wuzhen lies mainly in two points: First, it complies with the trend of tourism development. While other ancient towns focus on the development of "ticket economy", Wuzhen bases itself on the goal of "regional economy" development, cultivates the source market, and seizes the opportunity of tourism development. The second is to break through in terms of communication by taking advantage of the popularity of popular stars, inviting them to be spokespeople, and thus greatly increasing the attention paid to Wuzhen.

7. Emei

Tianxiaxiu's positioning is accurate

Among domestic tourist attractions and scenic spots with "mountain" as their product, the brand influence of "Mount Emei" is second to none in the tourism market and in the minds of tourism consumers. The Emeishan tourism brand has thus become a "golden signboard", attracting tourists in large numbers. With tourism as its pillar industry, Mount Emei City has achieved tremendous development in just a few decades.

"Emei is the most beautiful mountain in the world." It is famous for its beautiful natural scenery, long-standing Buddhist culture, rich animal and plant resources, and unique geological features. People praise it with such moving titles as "Fairy Mountain Buddhist Kingdom", "Plant Kingdom", "Animal Paradise" and "Geological Museum".

From the perspective of tourism products, "Emei" as a product has unique product strength. The products of Mount Emei's natural and cultural landscapes are mainly reflected in the following features: First, the gorgeous natural scenery. The natural scenery of Emei is famous for its beauty. The “Ten Scenic Spots of Emei” are unparalleled in the world, and the newly developed landscapes have added more beauty to Emei; secondly, there is the long-standing Buddhist culture. Mount Emei is known as the Fairy Mountain and Buddhist Kingdom and is one of the four major Buddhist holy sites in my country. Numerous famous temples, Emei Buddhist music and Emei martial arts are all products of Buddhist culture and treasures of Chinese national culture; thirdly, rich animal and plant resources. Mount Emei is evergreen all year round and is known as the "ancient plant kingdom". With more than 2,300 species of wild animals, Mount Emei is like a natural animal paradise, becoming a benchmark among domestic scenic spots; fourth, it is a magical geological museum. The topography and geological structure of Mount Emei has undergone many orogenic movements and has preserved a large number of sedimentary marks and biological fossils, making it a "living specimen" for global geological research and providing important geological history data.

The tourism products of Mount Emei are rich in connotation, which has become the "differentiated" characteristics and features that distinguish it from any other famous mountain in the country. Therefore, the "Emei Mountain" tourism brand was formed due to the unique characteristics of its products.

Comment: "Emei Mountain is the most beautiful mountain in the world", it is undoubtedly very appropriate to make "beauty" the core value of this tourism brand. However, there are huge problems in the development and operation of tourism resources, tourism marketing, and the commercial dissemination of the Emeishan tourism brand. First, the brand of Mount Emei has long been famous both at home and abroad, but the development of Mount Emei's tourism industry has only remained at the stage of "selling products"; second, in terms of profit model, Mount Emei still mainly relies on the ticket economy profit model; third, in the development of derivative products, Mount Emei's tourist souvenirs and local specialty products lack the unique sales power of the products, and cannot become the representative products of Emei tourism, leaving a deep impression on tourists and bringing unique product benefits; fourth, the core value of "show", in addition to being reflected in natural products, is not reflected in the entire Emei tourism culture. The cultural show in the brand connotation has not been effectively interpreted and managed, and ultimately cannot be implemented.

8. Changzhou Dinosaur Park

Thanks to integrated marketing

Currently, 70% of theme parks across the country are in a loss-making state, 20% are breaking even, and only about 10% are profitable. Changzhou Dinosaur Park is one of the 10%. In Changzhou, a city without dinosaurs and without many natural tourist resources, the China Dinosaur Park, which has been in operation for more than 10 years, receives nearly 2 million visitors annually, successfully breaking the life cycle of domestic theme parks: "one year of prosperity, two years of flatness, three years of decline, and four years of closure." It can be said that this is inseparable from the marketing of the dinosaur park. The success of Changzhou China Dinosaur Park is mainly attributed to the following four reasons:

First, effective self-positioning and comprehensive overall marketing planning.

At the beginning of the construction of Changzhou China Dinosaur Park, the theme positioning of "using science to stimulate entertainment and using entertainment to promote science popularization" was established. The two highlights echoed each other, enhanced the cultural connotation of the park, and embarked on a development path with distinctive characteristics. In addition, the Dinosaur Park has also made a detailed overall marketing planning strategy. Integrate the resources of "China Dinosaur Park", "Longcheng Travel Agency" and "Longtang Hot Spring" under Longcheng Tourism Holding Group to form a systematic tourism industry chain, thereby achieving large-scale impact.

Second, effective experiential marketing.

Changzhou China Dinosaur Park first focuses on its own themes of dinosaurs and popular science entertainment, and integrates the theme culture throughout the park, making visitors feel as if they are in the era when dinosaurs lived and experience the theme of the dinosaur park at all times.

Third, various marketing methods

In terms of target market, Changzhou China Dinosaur Park divides its target market by region, and each city or region has its own marketing manager. In terms of channel cooperation, we have established a benign interactive cooperation system with travel agencies, etc.

Fourth, the government promotes the path of integrated marketing

Under the comprehensive planning of Changzhou Municipal Government, the Dinosaur Park and its surrounding tourist areas will be supported as key projects to bring into play their radiating and driving effect on related industries. Through a series of government policies and measures, the interaction between various scenic spots in the region has been strengthened, forming a landmark industrial belt in Changzhou City.

Comment: At present, the main marketing problems of many theme parks in China are: lack of systematic marketing planning, backward marketing concepts, outdated content, single marketing methods, lack of application of new technologies, and independent marketing among scenic spots and lack of overall marketing synergy. It is these problems that have led to the failure of development, and Changzhou China Dinosaur Park is undoubtedly a model of successful breakthrough in these aspects.

9. Pingyao Ancient City

Break through with strength

Pingyao Ancient City is an outstanding example of a Chinese Han city during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It has preserved all its characteristics and presents a complete picture of the extraordinary cultural, social, economic and religious development in the course of Chinese history. Pingyao Ancient City, which was successfully nominated as a World Cultural Heritage, has provided a golden historical opportunity for the development of the tourism industry. Pingyao's tourism industry has experienced a development process from small to large, from weak to strong, and has maintained a sustained, healthy, strong and rapid development momentum. The number of tourists received, ticket revenue and comprehensive income have reached unprecedented levels. In the 14 years since its application for World Heritage status, Pingyao Ancient City’s ticket revenue alone has increased more than 70 times. It is also predicted that the number of tourists in Pingyao County will continue to grow at a high rate of more than 30% in the next few years. It is expected that by 2020, the annual number of tourists will reach 2 million.

Comment: The success of Pingyao Ancient City is due to its unique products and culture. It is a typical tourist attraction that sells resources and products. From a marketing perspective, Pingyao Ancient City still has many problems: such as the lack of sufficient modern marketing concepts, neglect of publicity and promotion of scenic spots and high-quality services, lack of attention to the marketing of the overall product, and neglect of brand building. If Pingyao Ancient City wants to break through and develop, it must implant grand strategies, ideas and plans in its future tourism development so that it can give full play to its own advantages in the fierce competition in tourism market marketing and go further and further.

10. Sanya

Integration of city and tourism planning and marketing

City Tourism Planning and Marketing Expert——Sanya

In China, if you want to find a place where you can vacation all year round, Sanya is the best choice. Of course, this is inseparable from Sanya's pleasant climate all year round, beautiful coastal beaches, tempting seafood, abundant tropical fruits, etc.

But the reasons for Sanya’s success are far more than these. Sanya’s natural conditions are the material basis and product attributes of Sanya’s city brand. Sanya’s greater brand value lies in its deep understanding and superb operation of urban marketing, which is the deep reason why Sanya has high visibility, influence and attractiveness.

First: beauty.

Sanya is rich in beautiful scenery and delicious food, but beautiful women are scarce. It doesn’t matter if Sanya doesn’t produce beauties. We can borrow beauties from all over the world to add luster to Sanya. Therefore, with the planning and efforts of Sanya City, the Miss World finals were held in Sanya, and various domestic and international beauty pageants were held in Sanya. Sanya has become a veritable capital of the beauty economy. Miss World Zhang Zilin, popular superman Chen Chusheng and other beautiful women and handsome men were also hired by Sanya as image ambassadors.

Second: Guanyin.

It took six years and huge amounts of money to build the three-in-one Guanyin of the Sea in the Nanhai Scenic Area. It is 108 meters high and majestic, the largest statue in the world. Its design and creation are in line with doctrines and rituals. Zhao Puchu, President of the Buddhist Association of China, personally selected the site and inscribed "Nanhai Guanyin of the Sea". At the beginning of its construction, he established the Nanhai Guanyin Merit Foundation to be responsible for its operation. On January 21, 2009, the world's largest indoor group of Guanyin statues was completed in Nanhai. At this point, Sanya’s Buddhist cultural genes and symbols have been completed.

Third: Olympics.

With the help of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Sanya won the opportunity and honor of being the "first city to host the Olympic torch relay." Huge investments were made in publicity, and a large number of celebrity torchbearers from the arts and media industries, including Jackie Chan, Zhang Ziyi, Yi Jianlian, Jin Jing, and Yang Lan, were invited to support the event, creating a timeless Olympic landscape and symbol.

Comment: Whether or not one has its own advantages is not the fundamental factor in determining the cost of competition. The key lies in whether one can take advantage of the situation. Sanya is a successful example of a city that can both leverage its own advantages and take advantage of the situation.

Author: Tourism Scenic Spot Marketing Planning

Source: Tourism Scenic Spot Marketing Planning (huitoutravel)