Research & Publications
ASEAN Tourism Marketing Strategy 2012 – 2015
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The ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan (ATSP) 2011-2015 that was adopted by the ASEAN Tourism Ministers in January 2011 calls for the development of a marketing strategy by January 2012. The College of Innovation, Thammasat University led by Prof. Dr. Walter Jamieson, Director of the Service Innovation Program, was responsible for the development of the ASEAN Tourism Marketing Strategy during March 2011 – January 2012. |
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This marketing strategy represents the consensus of the ASEAN National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) on important strategic marketing directions for the ASEAN region moving forwards to 2015 based on objectives agreed to by all of the NTOs. This strategy is designed to help build worldwide recognition of Southeast Asia as competitive and world-class tourism destination, in large part using the sophisticated marketing capacity and resources of the individual ASEAN NTOs. The strategy is based on the principle that the responsibility to develop national products and attractions is left to the individual countries. Based on this premise the actual resources necessary for implementing the ASEAN marketing strategy are limited and the strategy relies heavily on the participation of partners, working with the NTOs and the support of the private sector. The document stresses the importance of piggybacking (utilizing the existing ground work, research and activities of the NTOs and partners) in all aspects of the marketing activity. A number of global/regional forces were identified that will impact tourism in the region including global social and economic forces; emerging trends in visitor motivations and behavior; emerging forces in marketing, advertising and distribution. |
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A major component of the strategy identifies target markets for Southeast Asia commensurate with the level of resources that will be available for marketing and promotion, in keeping with the forces and trends identified and the nature of the regional tourism environment. The agreed upon ASEAN target market segments are: generic/mass travel, experiential travel, creative travel, adventure seeking travel, senior/extended/long stay travel, and business related travel. The strategy phases the development of the target markets over the four years of the marketing strategy in order to yield the best opportunity for results. |
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A core activity in developing a marketing strategy is determining the nature of the products and experiences. The strategy’s product and experience development process will continue to develop within the context of the four main products identified in the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan 2011-2015 and which will be promoted regionally: culture/heritage, nature, community-based and cruise/river based tourism. Each Member State has a significant number of attractions and experiences and the challenge on a regional level is to bring these together in a creative and innovative way in order to encourage tourists to visit more than one country in Southeast Asia. |
| The process for developing regional products is fully discussed in the document. The Product Development Working Group (PDWG) has created four sub working groups dealing with each of the broad product categories identified in ATSP. It is important to note that it is vital that the PDWG and the Marketing and Communications Working Group (MCWG) must work closely together to develop products, experiences and activities for each of the target markets. | |
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In June 2011, the ASEAN NTOs adopted a tagline and logo in large part based on the work of the ACE/Value project. The appropriateness and effectiveness of the existing tagline and logo will be assessed on an ongoing basis. It is recommended that a full branding exercise should be undertaken by 2015 to evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of the existing tagline and logo. |
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Given the nature of the marketing budget, it has been determined that internet based marketing offers the most cost effective opportunity to provide a competitive advantage to the region. The eMarketing approaches put forward in this document will include the utilization of social media networking and focuses on the development of an integrative and well-maintained website to increase knowledge and interest in the region. A key to the entire success of the marketing effort and the distribution strategy will be in having a full-time/part-time dedicated person to coordinate activities and to provide quality control and help develop content. While the focus of the marketing strategy is to draw visitors into the region who will visit more than one country the strategy recognizes that internal regional tourism is an important component to supporting tourism throughout the region as well as building understanding between various members of the ASEAN family. The strategy strongly supports ongoing efforts to promote internal tourism using the resources of the individual NTOs under the theme of “ASEAN for ASEAN”. The strategy includes a definition of the management structure for implementing the plan which includes ongoing activities such as research and public relations, identifies a series of budget issues and seeks to define measures of success for the marketing strategy. The following process was used in developing the marketing strategy. The process was designed to ensure maximum opportunity for feedback from the NTOs as well as selected partners. |
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The ATSP was adopted by the Tourism Ministers from 10 ASEAN countries at the 15th Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers held in Indonesia, January 2012. |
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The final ASEAN Tourism Marketing Strategy (ATMS) can be downloaded here. |
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| ASEAN Tourism Marketing Strategy (ATMS) | Powerpoint Presentation |
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