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Windsor-Essex Positioning and Product Analysis

 

February 2008

 

Summary

Background

There is some sense that the Windsor-Essex Region has significant unrealized potential as a travel destination both in Canada and in the United States.  This view has been expressed at various times by policy-makers, marketing organizations and industry stakeholders in the region.  However, before significant new investments in investigating the opportunity are made, and possible courses of action devised, it would be prudent to review existing data pertaining to the region in order to scope the magnitude of potential that exists and to identify, in broad terms, positioning and marketing strategies that are likely to be successful.

To this end the Ontario Ministry of Tourism commissioned TNS Canadian Facts to undertake a review of existing data and to synthesize the results into a single set of implications and recommendations. 

 

Objectives

The essential purpose of this study is to investigate existing data applicable to Windsor-Essex (or the Essex Tourism Region), with a view to developing a roadmap for effectively targeting the destination to potential visitors with motivating messages and packaged product offerings.
In more specific terms, the objectives of this investigation are to:

 

• Uncover Windsor Essex’s current standing and potential as a tourism destination;
• Define barriers and inducements to choosing Windsor-Essex;
• Determine the messages and expressions of traveler benefits that will resonate most powerfully with the target audience;
• Identify the specific tourism products and experiences that have the most potential to attract desired travellers and are consistent with Windsor’s ability to deliver, either currently or via resource development.

 

Recommendations

Nature of the Problem

The Essex Region’s current position in the marketplace can be described as one of vulnerability.  The region is dependent on a fairly localized market and a stream of same-day visitors from the US.  It does not maintain a strong image as a destination warranting an overnight stay and, perhaps, tends to be seen more as an area of purely local recreational interest, or as a gateway elsewhere, rather than a legitimate destination for an extended stay.

As a consequence of this soft position, Windsor-Essex has been hit quite hard by the recent downturn in US tourism traffic.  Moreover, it has not only experienced more significant losses than neighbouring or analogous regions, but has also had considerably less success than those regions at replacing lost US volume from domestic sources.  In fact, among Canadians, one could argue that Windsor-Essex remains underdeveloped as a tourism region and has difficulty reaching out to the large population agglomeration in the central part of the province.

At the same time, there is compelling evidence that the region offers significant growth opportunity.  Windsor-Essex’s tourism offering is, in reality, quite diverse and in many respects uniquely differentiated by climate, geography, history and heritage. Findings suggest that many elements of the offering could conceivably resonate quite strongly with large segments of the available travel market in the nearby regions of the US and within Ontario itself.  The question is, how can this pool of latent interest be tapped, and how can the barriers to realizing this potential be removed or reduced?

Before embarking on this discussion, it should be pointed out that external impediments exist that can be ameliorated only through large-scale efforts that go well beyond anything particular to Windsor-Essex.  For instance, while Americans continue to travel in large numbers, their affinity for Ontario (and Canada) is not strong and apparently easily affected by issues such as border crossing concerns and gasoline prices.  They are bypassing Ontario more often in favour of familiar domestic destinations on the one hand and iconic or exotic foreign destinations on the other. The reasons for this aren’t specific to Windsor-Essex, but because of the region’s particularly soft position in the marketplace, may be more significantly affected than other Ontario destinations.  It is this disadvantage that the region must overcome, and one can point to a number of inhibiting deficiencies that could be responsive to destination-specific marketing solutions. 

At heart, Windsor-Essex’s unique issues stem from limited knowledge of the region in either Ontario or the US and, beyond a few high-profile attractions, little appreciation of the depth and diversity of the tourism offering.  It is very likely that few potential visitors see Windsor-Essex as an integrated travel region at all, but tend to focus on individual activities or attractions rather than the “basket” of experiences available to them.  This leaves the region vulnerable to competitive destinations, and open to being pigeonholed by narrowness of perspective and stereotypical negative associations stemming from its industrial heritage.

This has implications not only with respect to drawing overnight traffic but also in terms of the profile of visitors the Essex Region is able to attract.   At the present time, there is a lack of perceived all-family suitability and possible weaknesses among youth in the US and both the senior and more affluent segments of the Canadian traveller population.

Possible Solutions

The Essex Region needs to position itself as a single holistic tourism area capable of delivering a range of unique travel experiences.  It is the synergy and interconnectedness of this diversity of experience that offers the potential to lift the region to a new plane and more fully realize its potential.  To some extent, this means achieving better balance by placing some emphasis on attractions and activities in the areas of nature, historical/cultural experiences and the performing arts.  It is also important to demonstrate what makes Windsor-Essex unique in terms of geography and heritage.  The consumer should be encouraged to see Windsor as an anchor point for a wide-ranging experience capable of fulfilling expectations of fun, excitement and relaxation, rather than primarily a gateway to other locales.

In this vein, efforts should be made to integrate the Casino more effectively into the fabric of Windsor-Essex by presenting and packaging it with complementary amenities and attractions not only within Windsor itself, but also throughout the region.  In this way, the power of the Casino would be enhanced and felt more widely across the region’s tourism industry.  At the same time, this approach would also provide opportunities to differentiate Windsor’s casino experience from casino and gaming offerings available elsewhere, including those developed in Michigan, thereby insulating Windsor to some degree and providing a foundation for growth in this sector.  Possibilities to more effectively target an upscale traveller might be enhanced as well.

A discussion of packaging can not be separated from targeting considerations, but for practical reasons product packaging possibilities must be considered first.  This means assessing the inventory of product in the Essex Region, determining where quality gaps exist and where upgrades are possible.  It also involves coming to terms with servicing capacity.  Once this is accomplished, consideration can be given to developing effective packages that are aligned with traveller desires and behaviour and establishing the consumer psychographic/lifestage targets that are congruent with the offer in each case.  It is also at this stage that pricing strategies and desired value impressions can be brought into play, for it is quite clear that pricing, affordability and value must be managed with some dexterity in the context of consumer targeting for Windsor-Essex to achieve optimal lift.
With regard to specific packaging and product integration opportunities, preliminary efforts taken in this direction by the Windsor-Essex-Pelee CVB seem to be sound and consistent with traveller needs.  Further exploration of possible linkages are required to determine the degree of synergy inherent in, for instance, integration of the Casino with the wine region and the performing arts, or linking nature and botanical attractions to history and heritage.  One might also consider the possibility of leveraging some of Detroit’s urban and sports attractions as a means of drawing more domestic travellers to Windsor-Essex, assuming that the Canadian side of the border is carefully positioned as the anchor point for a wider tourism experience.  As has been demonstrated, there are some specific audience profiling characteristics that might be useful in helping target these activity interest clusters through media. 

It is important, as well, to come to terms with possibilities that may be hidden by a preoccupation with traveller behaviour.  Taking a purely consumer-centric view, it is necessary to understand where pleasure traveller interests lie, unencumbered by the restrictions of geography or inventory at specific destinations.  This could lead to the discovery of new possibilities for meeting traveller need and new ways of linking and packaging tourism offerings, as well as the establishment of new priorities for product development. Consideration might be given to aligning the Windsor Casino, festivals or the Essex wine region to attractions or events that are somewhat different than those suggested by retrospective observation of behaviour.  This, in turn, could result in the fashioning of new product configurations and concepts that optimize competitive advantage.

Pursuing this train of thought, there is evidence to suggest that, while existing activity clusters might constitute logical focal points for packaging and product development directed to a broad audience, they should not be developed and marketed in complete isolation.  Certain elements from one package could be alluded to in others and provide impetus for return and repeated visitation.  For instance, a trip that primarily involves an initial exploration of the region’s museums, historic sites and landscape (gardens), could be complemented with elements of nightlife or fine dining – the latter might not only satisfy a desire for diversity within the travel party but provide strong motivation for further exploration of the area and the isolation of focal points for personal enjoyment on subsequent trips.

At the same time, the possibility exists to treat certain types of activities as sole focal points for travel to the region targeted to specific interest groups of enthusiasts.  Assuming that product can be assembled that meets the exacting standards of such enthusiasts – golf and wildlife viewing (especially bird watching) represent possible niche opportunities of this type for Windsor-Essex.  In such cases, geographic targeting is less important than promotion in vertical media (magazines geared to specific interest groups, etc.) and, possibly, online social media.
Apart from what this research has uncovered, there may also exist certain activity possibilities that are unique to the region, but remain unknown and largely undeveloped.  One example could be the extensive salt mining operation in the region, particularly when linked to the distinctive geological characteristics upon which it is founded and this industry’s long history in the area.  Results from TAMS 2000 suggest that these forms of industrial/economic tourism activities are likely to stimulate greater interest in visiting Ontario among approximately 10% of American and Canadian pleasure travellers.

Although packaging and effective positioning of the region’s unique strengths are certainly central to a growth strategy, sight should not be lost of the need to reinforce a positive sense of place in a more pedestrian, experiential sense as well. Visitors must feel good about simply being at the destination and experiencing the local ambiance, sights and opportunities to mix with the resident population.  While shopping and sightseeing may not be key drivers of destination choice, they are virtually universal tourism activities and play a large part in defining the experience and establish interest in returning.  It is, therefore, of some relevance to identify potential deficiencies in both the urban and rural spaces that Essex County and Windsor, in particular, make available to visitors.  Significant gaps may require substantial resources for infrastructure improvement, or at least prompt a realization that their continued existence will place limits on tourism growth potential.

Finally it should be reiterated that the Essex Region’s positioning must be proclaimed with a louder voice in order to reach the target audience in either Canada or the US.  The region currently suffers from a lack of profile. To overcome this problem two conditions must be satisfied – a clear positioning platform and brand strategy must be developed and adhered to long-term, and investment must be made in both the product (so that experience matches the promise) and in marketing/communications (so that the intended audience is made aware).  This will inevitably require a budget of some size, and commitment to a long-term strategy.

 

 

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