Destination Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Destination Marketing - Essay Example These DM initiatives in Vietnam have led to considerable improvement of tourist numbers with the number surpassing 5 million; this represents a 40% increase from 2009. However, Vietnam still lags behind other countries within the region for instance, Laos and Philippines which are smaller destinations. Vietnam marketers are also concentrated in promoting Vietnam as a cultural destination rather than focusing on other products like sports and eco-tourism which has gained much attention in the recent years. 1. INTRODUCTION Vietnam is the destination under focus and the country belongs to the greater Asia-Pacific tourism circuit. This report identifies the destination marketing organizations (DMOs) within Vietnam as well as giving a version of their structure and responsibilities. SWOT analysis is conducted to investigate the market’s competitiveness while also giving the challenges and constraints. Lastly, develop a two year marketing plan aimed at keeping the destination compet itive in a rapidly changing market place. We use the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism’s website to find information about their operations including their overall objectives, promotional activities; it also gives their structure and partner organizations in both private and public sector. This report analyses key destination markets while also gauging Vietnam’s competitiveness within the region; this assists in understanding trends of development in tourism industry while at the same time investigating threats and areas of opportunities that can be explored to improve performance in the succeeding 2 years. 2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT THE DMO The major DMO is the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) which is an institution under The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism that is tasked with marketing key Vietnamese attractions (Kozak, Gnoth & Andreu 2009). In terms of structure, this authority is headed by a Director General who coordinates f unctions falling under the following departments: travel, hotel, finance, international cooperation, personnel organization and  tourism marketing departments (Schweyer, Pi?amme?tta?wat 2011). The following are the activities that VNAT is involved in: Planning This is a management function that indicates the process of formulating and organising all the activities needed to achieve desired ends. In the DMOs, planning determines how, when and who is going to carry out specific tasks within the tourism industry to promote brand Vietnam. DMOs plan on how to utilize both human and physical resources including finances and other government incentives to encourage growth and competitiveness. Business development This is a long term process that the DMO’s undertake in order to introduce new products as a response to changing customer tastes or tap into new markets. It is always accompanied by extensive research that interrogates the holistic tourism industry in Vietnam (Ritchie, C rouch 2003). Public relations They carry this out by managing information flow between the government and tourism stakeholders. This is in an effort to maintain a favourable image of Vietnam in order to keep the tourists coming in. Vietnam has had a history of conflicts and human rights violations but these DMO’s have tried to market the new face of Vietnam through the internet and