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Your tourism business will be more compelling and distinctive if you understand your target audiences. Hoping to appeal to everyone is not a strategy for success.
Most tourism businesses will start by targeting visitors from elsewhere in Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and the rest of the UK. With support from TNI market intelligence and insights, you can tailor your offer to their needs and motivations for travel. This gives a strong base for eventually expanding into wider international markets, if appropriate.
Not all products and experiences will also be suitable for international visitors as expectations vary between key markets. Domestic and international visitors have different travel needs.
Before doing this exercise, familiarise yourself with the insights into the characteristics and interests of our priority visitor segments.
A good starting point for information on what our visitors want from their holidays is 'Our Visitors' and 'Key Trends'. This will help you see which visitor segments are most likely to be attracted to outdoor experiences and give you ideas for adapting your offer for these visitors.
For a more detailed approach to market segments, including research, insights and webinars, see:
Which of the following could you do to make your experience attractive to visitors?
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Preparing a successful experience for visitors will involve:
Visitors look for an experience that gives them something unique, authentic and enjoyable. They are time-limited and may only have a few hours to spend with you.
They want to book in advance and need reliable information about location, opening times and whether your experience is suitable for them.
Does, or could, your experience...
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Visitors are looking for great value for their time and money. You can appeal to them by harnessing your local landscape and environment to help your experience stand out.
Your outdoor activity is just one element of your customers’ trip. Think about whether you can link aspects of local culture and stories to the physical activity.
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Outdoor activities can provide powerful connections to the landscape, spirit and stories of Northern Ireland, past and present. This is particularly attractive for international visitors. They want to do things that create lasting memories of their time in Northern Ireland and seek out experiences that help them connect with the place and people.
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Visitors are often experienced travellers who expect high quality from their outdoor activity and may use international experiences as their benchmark. You cannot compromise on quality at any stage of the customer journey.
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To deliver excellent visitor experiences for all, it is vital that tourism businesses understand the opportunities and address the barriers and challenges for some customers. This can help future-proof your business and lead to increased revenue, loyalty, demand and customer satisfaction.
Your experience should aim to be accessible to as many people as possible, irrespective of their age and ability. Requirements to accessibility include cognitive, hearing, mobility and vision dimensions, but it also includes any person that needs to access places with ease, for example, parents with prams, as well as people experiencing reduced mobility.
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For more resources that may improve the accessibility of your experience see: Embracing the Disability Discrimination Act