Presentation from Besten Lecture Series 2018 https://www.besteducationnetwork.org/BESTEN_Lecture_Series/15887

1. Marketing sustainable tourism
products - what tourism does well…
and does badly.
June 22, 2018
Presented by: Rachel Dodds
Professor, Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism
Management
©2018

2. Agenda
u How does tourism
marketing work?
u Key elements for marketing
sustainable tourism
products
u Conclusions

3. How does
tourism
marketing
work?

4. How do we
successfully (or
not) market
sustainable
tourism
products?

5. 9 rules

6. 1. They have to be truly sustainable
(i.e. they can’t lie about what they are doing)
See: https://planeterra.org/what-we-do/our-projects/jukil-community-lodge/

7. Closed loop

8. No greenwashing
u The consumer finds out
eventually and this
affects not just your
brand but your
reputation

9. 2. Don’t use sustainability as the lead
benefit

10. Burrowing Owl Winery, BC,
Canada

11. B/c sustainability isn’t always the key
attraction

12. 3. Credentials are indirect

13. Certification is confusing
STI

14. Cool first, sustainable second

15. 4. It’s all about the story
u Its about sharing an
experience and
doing good
u Sockmob UNSEEN
TOURS

16. Not just putting up a sign

17. 5. Positivity works

18. u Here is another example of positivity…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SByymar3bds

19. Negativity doesn’t

20. 6. Use social media & encourage
interaction
u #MEALSGONEWILD
u #PARKBUSGOTMEHERE

22. But don’t lie
u Finnish images used
on Facebook and
Twitter – not very ‘real’

23. 7. Educate, don’t preach
Iceland has learned its lesson with tourism
and now has innovative ways to educate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=aUXqmgTuNww

24. What happens when you are preachy

25. 8. Be unique
u Know your USP’s
u Know your
customers

26. Not like everyone else

27. 9. Build sustainability into your DNA
u It needs be holistic and integrated.
Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=JJHlQUEp7p0

28. Not sustainability as an afterthought

29. Conclusions

30. 1. All positive examples have
a direct or personal benefit
2. Citizens, residents, tourists –
we all take the path of
least resistance
3. It has to be easy
4. You have to be able to
find it!

31. What we might know how to do
it but we haven’t mastered it yet
1. Scale
u Our main focus and examples of success is on
small scale or one offs – we need to integrate into
the entire supply chain and scale up impacts
2. Segmentation
u We need to stop thinking that tourists behave the
same way each time they travel
3. We need to make it easy
u Most communication is confusing
4. Integration
u Lack of policy support, tourism is still very silo’d
5. We are still consumptive

32. 1. No greenwashing
2. Sustainability is not the lead benefit
3. Credentials help but are not primary motivators
4. The narrative sells the product/experience
5. Be positive
6. Engage your customers
7. Educate, don’t preach
8. Be unique
9. Must be holistic and integrated
Summary

33. ‘It’s not easy
being
green’
TWITTER:
@SustTourism
WEB:
www.sustainabletourism.
net
Email:
r2dodds@ryerson.ca
Thank you