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TSE Market Segmentation Exercise

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Tourism South East (TSE) carried out an extensive programme of visitor surveys in 22 destinations around the region that was designed to provide greater insight into visitor behaviour in the South East. What emerged was a clear, strong pattern of preferences that will have a major impact on the design of future marketing campaigns.

The aim of the study was to find a meaningful way of increasing the effectiveness of marketing by identifying clusters of related tourism product that appeal to defined types of visitors.

Working with TSE's Research and Commercial teams, Locum Consulting analysed the data from 5,000 visitor surveys across a range of variables including age, accommodation used and place of origin. Locum's system of analysis was to compare all 22 destinations in a "league table" format. This had the effect of showing very clearly the similarities and differences across the different destinations.

Two different market segmentation models were applied to the survey results. The first was CAMEO, which classifies every postcode in the country according to socio-economic status. The second was the ArkLeisure Model, a psycho-metric segmentation system developed on behalf of VisitBritain, which divides consumers into eight groups based on values and behaviour specifically relating to leisure activity and holidays.

Fig 1. ArkLeisure Segmentation Model

The surveys generated a very distinctive picture of the visitor profiles of different destinations. On the basis of the segmentation analysis, Locum was able to categorise the destinations into different groupings, according to the type of visitor experience they offer.

For example, the core audience for all of the "heritage" destinations - Oxford, Windsor, Winchester, Chichester, and Canterbury - came from the traditionals and functionals categories in the ArkLeisure Model. The people in these segments are independent minded and like the "explorability" of heritage cities.

Arundel is another illuminating example where the product seems to match the market. Almost 50% of the town's visitors were classified in the affluent and high spending cosmopolitan segment. Arundel provides an atmosphere and shopping experience that clearly appeals to cosmopolitans - the retail and food and beverage offer is almost entirely independent and positioned at the higher end of the quality spectrum.

In nearby Portsmouth, by contrast, cosmopolitans made up only 8% of the visitors surveyed, while almost half were classified as brand loving high streets and a further 15% in the associated followers segment. Two-thirds of these visitors reported visiting a "large retail outlet" in Portsmouth. This could only be Gunwharf Quays, an attractive and successful waterfront destination combining designer outlets, restaurants and bars, and other leisure facilities. The occupiers are almost entirely mid-upper range brands - exactly the type of offer that appeals to high streets and followers.

Some destinations proved to be more eclectic than others, appealing equally strongly to different segments. For example, some heritage destinations, such as Windsor and Canterbury are also attracting cosmopolitans alongside visitors with more traditional tastes, reflecting the value of their strong independent retail and food offers.
Locum's analysis emphasises that certain types of experience, across the entire spectrum of tourism products, appeal to certain types of customer. The most effective marketing campaign is thus a closely tailored one. Success depends upon identifying the right type of customer, finding the most effective means of reaching them, then packaging a desirable "bundle" of destinations, accommodation and things to do that will stimulate their interest. It is obvious, for example, that cosmopolitans like the type of experience that is typified by Arundel - a quality, independent-oriented retail offer, quality independent restaurants and gastro-pubs, and smart country house and boutique hotels. Many places across the region offer a similar type of experience and it makes sense that they should work together for marketing purposes.

TSE intends to follow-up the segmentation exercise by developing three focused marketing campaigns to target cosmopolitans/discoverers, functionals/traditionals, and high streets/followers. TSE also hopes to use the ArkLeisure Model to tailor purchase suggestions according to customer preferences, to make suggestions of synergistic activities and experiences in the same way that Amazon.com provides tailored purchase suggestions for "people like you".

Developing an increasingly refined understanding of the synergies between products and how the relevant experiences can be best presented to potential customers is possibly the main area of opportunity in destination marketing. The visitor economy has tended to lag behind other sectors in the field of marketing. By adopting the more discriminating and sophisticated approach embodied in the ArkLeisure Model, the industry has the tools to move thinking forward about the relationship between product and market.

In addition to the visitor assessment, Locum Consulting also undertook a "product mapping" exercise, plotting all attractions in the region onto a map and looking for particular concentrations. A number of ideas emerged from the product mapping that might form the basis of campaign activity and product development. These included England's Garden Route (from Kent, through Sussex to Surrey), Cathedral Crescent ( trail linking Cathedral Cities from Bath to Canterbury), and England's Culture Coast (Kent and East Sussex).

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