THE CINQUE TERRE TOURIST CONSORTIUM IN ITALY. Dr. Roberto Vegnuti Marketing, research and development consultant Consorzio Turistico Cinque Terre

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1 THE CINQUE TERRE TOURIST CONSORTIUM IN ITALY Dr. Roberto Vegnuti Marketing, research and development consultant Consorzio Turistico Cinque Terre 1

2 Cinque Terre The italian west coast In Liguria and near Tuscany Two airports (Genoa and Pisa), less than one hour A frequent service runs on the Pisa-Genova line and the train stops in each village Motorway France-Italy along the coastline (just behind) Boats from La Spezia (main town) 2

3 Cinque Terre: the landscape 20 kilometres of rocky coastline, bays and beaches, mountains behind, terracings cultivated with vineyards and olives, kept under control by old dry stone walls, five villages. A natural landscape by antropic origin. 3

4 Cinque Terre: the heritage World Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO since 1997 National Park since 1999 Five villages (Cinque Terre): Riomaggiore Manarola Corniglia Vernazza Monterosso Population: only residents 4

5 Riomaggiore la Via dell Amore (the Love path) 5

6 Manarola, one of the most colorful villages 6

7 Corniglia, on a rocky promontory above the sea 7

8 Vernazza, the little jewel 8

9 Monterosso, the biggest village and the Consortium headquarter 9

10 Cinque Terre: tourist products Main product: Walking and trekking in the nature and between the villages A big network of paths connects all the National Park territory 10

11 Cinque Terre: tourist products Other products: - Seaside and diving - Lifestyle and traditions in the villages - Wine and typical food 11

12 Why the Consortium? The problem: Enterprises too small (< 9 employees on average) They are on the market and are influenced by it, but they do not have enough resources (in terms of financial budget and human skills) to do a good marketing policy The solution: Doing network Transfer to an associated enterprise (the Consortium) of all functions and processes that a single member can t do itself First of all marketing policy (in this case territorial mktg and product mktg both) 12

13 The Consortium Established in 1996 To assist and support the enterprises operating in tourist sector of the Cinque Terre area. To protect and improve the image of the territory and the quality of hospitality services. The CINQUE TERRE trademark of the tourist products offered. 13

14 The Consortium A regular company with its board, staff, office 50 members: Tourist enterprises Hotels (biggest share), b&b, relais, restaurants, wine bars, shops and 1 Public administration (Municipality of Monterosso) 14

15 Consortium activities o Publishing (guide books, brochures, dépliant, maps) o Fairs and workshops in Italy and abroad o Educational trips for press and buyers o Web and social marketing (website, facebook, google+, twitter, etc.) o Broadband and wi-fi network o Multimedia information system in the area o Research, development and marketing analysis o Training and education to enterprises members o Service Centre for: - Info-booking - Back office - Direct mailing - Organization - Product and territorial marketing - Projects management - Wi-fi network management - Multimedia system management 15

16 Doing network results The problem 20 years ago: To reach long distance markets (USA, Canada, Australia) Our market research told us to have a good chance for the Cinque Terre tourist product in these markets The solution was internet, the only way to reach them: The Consortium website (since 1996) and the subsequent web marketing were very important for the success of the Cinque Terre destination in the USA, Canada, Australia and in a lot of other countries. It was also very important for firms (more tourists, new markets, good financial performance) 16

17 Changing foreign market In 1996: 1 GERMANY 2 SWITZERLAND 3 USA In 2010: 1 USA 2 AUSTRALIA 3 CANADA 17

18 Foreign market today The foreign market for the Cinque Terre had a share of 77% in the A share of 50% of this foreign market is generated from extra-european countries (especially USA, Australia, Canada). Foreign nights 77% Italian nights 23% The average of the foreign nights in Italy is 30%. Cinque Terre - Nights

19 The best result of Consortium website was from 2006 to 2009, when the level of new visitors per year had an important improvement At the present, in front of the great development of the web 2.0 and social marketing tools, the level of new visitors per year is units (medium value 2011) Anyway, the is the most important tourist website of the ligurian region

20 A co-marketing project At the beginning of 2005 the Consortium realized a co-marketing project with Norwegian Airline company to promote the Cinque Terre destination on norwegian market (small market, but rich and interesting for our product). Actions: - Presentation of the Cinque Terre in Oslo; - Educational press trip in the Cinque Terre; - Direct flight from Oslo to Pisa during the summer from april to october. As you can see the result was very interesting and the good effects going on today Cinque Terre Norwegian Market tourist trend (nigths) Norway

21 Services for tourists, enterprises and citizens The Consortium has invested on the territory to bring the broadband for internet access; It realized a wi-fi network for its enterprise members; Citizen and tourists can connect and use this network; The Consortium is the owner of this network; This project was financed by European Union (share of grant 50%). The Consortium has invested on the territory to promote its enterprise members and to give more information to visitors and tourists; It realized a coordinated road signs system on territory; These signs contain tourist information as monuments, paths, accomodation, restaurants, public services, etc.; This project was financed by ligurian regional government funds (share of grant 50%). 21

22 Another result: tourist trend Since 1996 the market has much improved and the result is an increased share of the nights (in italian presenze), 87% in the last year compared to But the best performance (absolutely) was on the foreign market, while italian market did not give good results. The Cinque Terre are a typical example of internationalization of a tourist destination. In the same time, the offer was increasing and the beds went from to units Cinque Terre - Nights trend Nights Italian Foreign

23 Good practice These business and organization results for tourist enterprises and for the Cinque Terre destination couldn t be possible without an organization such as the Consortium. Doing network along the production chain in a tourist district is a good solution for the destination management. 23

24 The tourism governance We must remember that the local governance of the Cinque Terre tourist destination is like an integrated multilevel system. We have key players who need to work in a coordinated way with each others. And this is not always easy! The Consortium, since 1996: Enterprises network level for best marketing and accomodation The National Park, since 1999: Nature and landscape public protection level The Public Administration: Government level The Chambre of Commerce: Economic government level 24

25 The future: work in progress We have many challenges to face in the future to improve the Cinque Terre destination. First of all we have to fight against the hydrogeological instability, that risks to destroy the whole landscape heritage. We need to study mechanisms of environmental protection, also financed by a better distribution of the income generated by tourism destination. By its the Consortium must to work for improving: Accomodation quality Technological innovation Operators and workers skills, with life long training and education tools Enterprises competitiveness Internazionalization of the product in emerging markets (BRICS countries) 25

26 Information For any information: Thanks for your attention And see you in Cinque Terre 26