|
Tourism:Finding
a Hook
By Michael Alan Hamlin
January 08, 2001
One of the questions we asked during
our research for Marketing Places Asia, which as I noted last week
is a joint effort between Northwestern University professors Philip
Kotler and Irv Rein and (I’m happy to say…) myself, is,
"What happens when a community lacks an obvious hook upon which
to build a strategy? The community may be small, isolated or unattractive.
The answer may be to promote an event that is not widely known or
to create some attraction that has media appeal. Varanasi and Sepang
are examples of how to generate a market.
Varanasi
In between the Varunasa and Asi tributaries of the
Ganges River lies one of the world’s oldest, continually inhabited
cities on earth, Varanasi, also known as Benares or Kashi. There
are many similar places competing for tourists with the city, but
Varanasi has managed to create a distinctive, global value proposition.
Being one of the oldest "living" and most holy cities
in India, Varanasi naturally attracts large numbers of domestic
devotees. Many of them come to take in the over 2000-year old history
of knowledge and culture that the city has to offer. Sensing an
increase in peoples’ need for spiritual renewal and increasing
acceptance of things spiritual, the small "City of Light"
has opened itself to foreign visitors, too. It has used advertisements,
incentives, and tour groups to market itself as a desirable tourist
attraction.
As a result of these targeted efforts, every year millions
of foreign visitors, pilgrims and non-pilgrims, come to the ghats
— steps which lead down to the Ganges River — of Varanasi
to participate in and view the annual bathing in the Ganges River,
a ritual devout Buddhists participate in to cleanse themselves spiritually.
Events such as special seminars on Buddhism and cultural festivities
are supported with travel packages. Events are designed to bring
in visitors from other countries and travel to the city has been
facilitated with tours by trains and additional airline flights.
Other than the centuries old culture and spiritualism,
it is the long series of ghats that draw visitors to Varanasi. Many
Indians believe that anyone who dies on the banks of the Ganges
in Varanasi attains instant "moksha" or enlightenment.
This mega-event is now being used in a value added manner to market
many more unusual offerings in the city and the region. For instance,
while the age-old Varanasi handicraft industries of Varanasi —
such as silk (saris and brocades) and carpet weaving — have
long been famous the world over, they have recently received substantially
more attention due to the many visitors who go shopping in the city
and market them by word of mouth. Silk exports alone from the City
of Light now account for 50% of total Indian silk exports.
What Varanasi has done is use its historical assets
to both widen and broaden their market for tourist consumption and
exportation of their products. Too often places fail to capitalize
on their natural advantages and as a result become self-limited
regional tourist attractions.
Sepang
The small Malaysian city of Sepang was little known
internationally before the creation of the world-renowned Sepang
Formula 1 (F1) Circuit in March of 1999. The area it occupies was
formerly a humble palm oil estate before serious investments were
made in this sporting facility. While many of Malaysia’s grandiose
infrastructure investments are of doubtful utility or financial
soundness, Sepang looks like an exception.
Today, Sepang is the venue for the FIA Formula One
Championship and FIM 500cc World Motorcycle Grand Prix, both of
which are among most prestigious sporting events in the world. It
is also the first track in Asia to be given the privilege of using
the F1 logo. The Formula One championship captures the attention
of over two billion people from 200 countries through print, television,
and radio reports.
The Sepang racing site can accommodate 130,000 spectators.
The inflow of these visitors significantly raised the income of
this place’s tourism sector (over $130-million in revenues
in 1999) and provided other indirect benefits as well. But the real
prize is the spin-off potential. According to Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad, who was present at the opening ceremony of the
circuit, the building and operation of this facility will usher
in other opportunities for Sepang. Apart from complementing development
in the area, it is creating a springboard for Sepang to become the
center of motor sports development in Asia as well as a center for
research and development for the automotive industry.
These two places do not have the attraction packages
of Hong Kong, Bali, or Sydney do. On the other hand, they show that
even a small place without obvious strengths can capture attention
in the global place market. The lessons for the Philippines and
places in the Philippines are two. First, the Philippines has an
awful lot of obvious, natural hooks waiting to be utilized. Second,
enlightened strategic place marketing can make most any place a
popular destination.
But it won’t happen without visionary, dedicated
leadership.
(Mr. Hamlin is managing director of the consultancy
TeamAsia and the author of two books on Asian economies and managing
in Asia. His latest book is The New Asian Corporation: Managing
for the Future in Post-Crisis Asia. His e-mail address is mahamlin@teamasia.com.ph.)
|
