TOURISM MARKETING

Identify a destination, then:

A. Explain and justify at which PLC is the destination at present.

Destinations have a lifecycle (DLC) as with most things. Butler in his 1980 article
proposed a generally known concept of a tourist destination's lifecycle. This is a destination
journey from beginning to eventual end. This applies to nearly every destination however in Life
stages may reach late or early.

Bali is very popular with the lovely Balinese people and their philosophy of always being
happy in a situation. A more accurate explanation is that Bali is a very diverse island popular
with both adventurers and those in need of relaxation, with many different regions and villages
each offering something special to every form of traveler and it keeps increasing, and fast!

For example, Bali Island has a comparatively ancient tourism growth history. The
destination has gone through all stages of tourist area life cycle (TALC) since the early 1920s.
Tourism in Bali has been developed significantly. Bali's tourist arrivals already fluctuate
according to global circumstances for at least a decade. In addition to the terrorist attacks on the
World Trade Center which weakened the global tourism industry, local terrorist attacks have
caused severe impact and visitor numbers decrease. Nevertheless, following the island bombings
in October 2002 and 2005, Bali has continued to rejuvenate from the pitfalls and has since set
new tourist records. Recent Balinese authorities' forecast aims to break a new record in 2009
with 2.2 million arrivals (Jakarta Post, 2010). The number of direct arrivals of foreign visitors to
Bali increased dramatically from 23,340 visitors in 1970 to reach 3.278.598 visitors in 2013
(Bali Government Tourism Office, 2014). Although this ambitious outlook will not be met, it is
clear that Bali's tourism industry is already booming. The island has gone through the phase of
decline and is now rejuvenating and attracting as many tourists as ever.

B. What marketing strategies do you suggest for the destination given the current life cycle.

According to Bali's current life cycle, marketing strategies that I would suggest are
marketing through authenticity which is precise approach for success in destination marketing of
Bali tourism.

For example, by offering international visitors such as staying in Balinese-owned hotels,

homes or villas. Then, offer the dining in Balinese-owned restaurants by selecting genuine local
foods that use local meat, seafood and vegetables, exotic local fruits and drinks, and purchasing
Balinese-produced items. Next, by promoting vacations in the real Balinese environment such as
staying in Balinese-owned hotels backed by the authenticity of local Balinese foods, fruits and
beverages. This will improve the local economy such that the benefit of tourism growth can be
more beneficial to the Balinese local people.

Next marketing strategies that I think is suitable for Bali is by using media strategy.
Various media today is growing very fast. Each media platform has its own advantages and
character. The use of various media becomes an option for media strategy. This is considered
effective because every media has its own market and character. The strategy of media usage in
tourism concept has different timeline. Timeline depends on the target audience and the type of
information to be deliver.

Social media becomes the popular media in tourism. The development of social media
platform in this decade gave an advantage for tourism promotion. The strategy in social media is
using permanent hashtag for their campaign such as #explorebali #seminyakbali #baliholiday
#baligasm #kuta #baliindonesia #canggubali #balitrip #lombok #ubudbali. The engagement
within follower and traveler connect by the hashtag and being more effective for searching
method in social media platform. More active the follower, higher the interaction and more
people reach boost the promotion more effective. The use of social media in various platforms
enables market expansion and creates brand loyalty. This is evident in the use of tags on various
social media platforms consistently creating trending topic and viral on social media increase the
awareness and loyalty.