So you think you have a destination? But still your place isn´t overcrowded… If they only knew about the beautiful nature scenerys/fun adventure experiences/relaxing SPA´s / your choice here / in the most perfect place in the world: your hometown. I´ve heard the question too many times. We´ve got a lot to do here, why don´t the tourists come?  Well, there might be a number of reasons, but here´s a simple “kids test” I got from my colleague Neil Rogers to measure the attractiveness of your destination:

Ask the kids the following:
If  we’re on a holiday driving from [your countrys capitol]  to [a major attraction not too far away from you]  passing through [ a city close to your place], would it be worth the detour to [your place]  to see [your attractions] if the detour and stop took 3 to 4 hours and delayed getting to [the major attraction not too far away from you]  ?

The reason for asking this is that if families are driving right past an attraction on a major highway the kids are often willing to stop there if they can buy an ice cream and stay a short period of time. However, if their trip means a detour of more than 2 hours plus to see something that would delay their arrival at their planned destination then they usually say they don’t want to visit unless they’re excited by the attraction.

Then ask them if they’d rather go for a long weekend at a) One of your country´s top ten attractions, b) the major attraction not too far away from you, or c) your attractions.

The same exercise can be tried for the MICE market by choosing 2 alternative venues that are about the same distance from your capitol (travel time and expense). Or from the main “port of entry” in your region.

Remember that only a percentage of the activities sells, but the rest is equally important to build the concept and the destination image.