Jay Resulo, then President of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, [he is now the Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts], spoke at a Keynote Address during The Marketing Outlook Forum for TIA in 2004. Here is some of what he had to say, taken directly from his speech which you can find in its entirety at TIA Speeches:
Reality #1: Value.
The first reality is that people are placing a greater premium on value. In business, you want a good return on investment. It’s no different when people spend money on vacations.
Meanwhile, the Internet has created unprecedented transparency. Not only do people have more choices…they are able to compare prices with the click of a mouse…and they are much smarter and well informed consumers.
Before you assume that I’m making a case for price-cutting to win consumers, let me quickly add that the transparency of the market actually makes it harder to differentiate yourself based on price.
In this market, we have found that you’ll have more success with a terrific experience that compels people to vacation with you…than by trying to break through with the lowest price.
People will pay more, but they want an extraordinary vacation in return. So how are we at Disney addressing this reality? By thinking creatively about how to reward our Guests with memory-making experiences that they will not find anywhere else.
Reality #2: Lifestyle.
The second reality has to do with the importance of lifestyle. Not only do people want extraordinary vacation experiences, they want them tailored to their unique habits and travel behaviors…which continue to evolve.
Cookie cutter vacations are a thing of the past. By the way, this reality is not limited to the vacation market.
In virtually every area of life, from clothes, to computers to homes, people expect products that are specifically tailored to their unique tastes and habits.
Think about the last time you bought a computer. With some companies - Dell, for instance - it’s impossible to buy a pre-made computer off-the-shelf anymore.
Instead, you build your computer, selecting memory, hard disk size, processing speed and monitor…all based on your own personal preferences. Increasingly, that level of control and flexibility has filtered out to the entire marketplace.
Lifestyle marketing…or connecting to under-served desires…addresses this trend by helping families build vacations that suit their evolving lifestyles. We’re aggressive about responding to changing travel behaviors, because we know that if we don’t - someone else will.
That reality places a premium on two things.
First, we have to constantly listen to our clients and guests, and put them in the drivers’ seat when it comes to building their dream vacation.
Second, we have to give people the path of least resistance, by eliminating the hassle factor that sometimes accompanies vacation planning.
Reality # 3: Experiences - Not Products.
The third reality we face today is that vacationers are looking for an experience, not a product.
The brand positioning of Starbucks is a good example of this. Some people go to Starbucks just for the coffee, but the brand’s success is based on promising consumers an experience they can’t find anywhere else.
The environment is set up to make people want to linger for a while.
They check their email, and read the paper. Again, it’s not just about the coffee, it’s about how people feel when they go to the shop.
And Starbucks does an excellent job of emphasizing that experience in its marketing.
The importance of selling experiences - not products - is especially relevant in the vacation industry - and it can be very important for companies that offer multiple vacation products under one brand.
Reality #4: Global Competition.
The previous three realities - value, lifestyle and experience - are consumer expectations that affect individual businesses within the family vacation market.
Now let me come to the fourth reality, which affects our entire industry. I’m referring to the increased competition from other countries for market share of international travel. This issue has always been important, but I believe never more so than today.
For many of us in the travel and tourism industry, international visitation can mean the margin between making and losing money.
You have to sell yourself to visitors and, as a country, we haven’t been doing that. If you don’t sell yourself, they won’t come - it’s as simple as that.
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Jay Rasulo’s message is just beginning to rise up through the consciousness of government stakeholders in the tourism industry. While their are many private sector stakeholders on the front lines battling for increased investments in tourism marketing there is much progress to be made here. I agree with Jay wholeheartedly, “It’s all about the experience.”
