Publications and promotion materials

“Within the tourism and hospitality industry brochures are a standard instrument of communication. They are considered almost a necessity for tourist destinations and for companies and individual attractions, especially for the many public agencies that wish to promote their facilities and places as tourist attractions.” (Getz & Sailor 1993).

Typology of brochures

Travel agencies and tour operators

• Catalogue

Hotels

• Hotel enterprises

• Hotel directory

• Brochure per unit

• Datasheets

• Brochures per product

Tourist destinations

• Fold-out maps

• Fold-out leaflets

• Travel guides

• Guides by products

Publication planning

• Analyse the starting point. That is, compare the image the company wants to offer with what its current publications offer and undertake the necessary changes if needed. It may also be convenient to compare our material with our competitors’ material.

• Identify the audiences our company should target. Determine whether it is possible to reach these audiences through brochures or other publications.

• Establish the aims for each of these audiences.

• Determine the publications to be published. By analysing audiences, aims and resources we should be able to define exactly the type of publications that are going to be drawn up.

• Order the material from a specialised company or an internal department if you have one. In order to do this it is necessary to hand over a document summarising each publication and specifying the aims and publics, the messages you desire to offer, the technical characteristics, languages, etc

• Establish the forms of distributing publications. It is absolutely useless to accumulate brochures in a company basement; therefore it is necessary, even before proceeding with the printing, to have planned distribution channels for the publications, whether at fairs, by post, at retail outlets, etc.

• Establish a calendar for producing publications. This will list the particular needs of each time of year in order to be able to manage the stock of specific publications at the necessary time. For instance, if in November you are attending the World Travel Market, the planning should provide for a stock of brochures in English for this event.

New technologies

• DVD

• CD-ROM

• PDF Brochure

Sponsorship

Patronage

• Patronage is considered to be the altruistic material, promotional or moral support given by an organization or person to a charity, cultural, social or public institution or individuals whose labour, activity or work place them in these same fields.

• Normally, there is no direct compensation for this aid to activities of public interest. Non-profit foundations and associations are the proper cannel for carrying out these activities, which, on the whole, are of a permanent kind.

Sponsorship

• Sponsorship is understood as any communication action through which a public or private organization obtains direct benefit from associating its brand image, its products or its services, to the activities, persons or institutions they are financially supporting.

• In this case, there is clear commercial or advertising compensation to the support provided. In the field of tourism, these actions are conducted by private enterprises or public promotion agencies.

Advantages

• With sponsorship, it is easy to reach different target audiences

• It makes it possible to associate the image of the event, person or institution sponsored to the sponsoring organization’s own image.

• Indirect impact is achieved which is generated by media coverage of the activity.

• It enables the constant permanence of the sponsor’s image in the sponsored event.

• In the case of tourism, event sponsorship enables the sponsor’s brand to be positioned, and helps improve the offer of the destination hosting the event.

Disadvantages

• Sponsorship involves many limitations in the message.

• It involves greater risk than other types of actions, as audiences are not guaranteed and may vary depending on the action of those sponsored.

• The difficulty in measuring the effectiveness of the sponsorship is also one of the drawbacks of this tool.

Types

• Cultural sponsorship

• Sports sponsorship

• Social marketing

Cultural sponsorship

• - Plays

• - Concerts

• - Television slots

• - Local festivals

Examples: Mallorca Opera Season, sponsored by

Spanair, a concert by José Carreras in Palma de

Mallorca, sponsored by TUI.

Sports sp-p

• Sponsoring sports teams: Real Mallorca sponsored by Ibatur and Viajes Iberia

• Sponsoring sports events: sponsorship by Turespaña of the Golf Open Championship, by TUI of the Beach Volley Championship

Social sp-p

Actions that are aimed at achieving the commitment of the company or consumers to a certain behaviour or activity of social interest, in such a way that this activity benefits at the same time the interests of the company in relation to its market position and its image.

Examples: Barceló, Eroski or Iberostar foundations

Planning sp-p

1 aims

Examples:

• Increase visibility

• Improve the image by linking the company to the values of the client.

• Motivation of staff or sales force

• Social acceptance

• Improvement in relationships with the press or other audiences

2 identification of Target

• … those you aim to reach and try to find events, institutions or people that have publics with similar characteristics and which can be subject to sponsorship.

3 choosing the subject

• Consider audiences and aims

Other factors such as possible sponsorship risks, media coverage of events or sponsored subjects, etc. should be analysed

4 specify enforceable commitments

• It is necessary to establish the conditions under which the sponsorship is carried out, by preventing any sort of contingency that may affect the development thereof.

5 suport with other communitcation tools

For instance, publication of leaflets and other types of promotional material, advertisements, press relations or an internal communication programme that will help the commitment of the whole company with the subject of sponsorship

6 budget

• Determine the budget for the action, identifying possible co-sponsors if deemed necessary.

7 control

• Determine the budget for the action, identifying possible co-sponsors if deemed necessary.