Marketing Responsible Tourism Natalie Amos – Four Communications

What we do •  Four Communications has experience of working across sectors to provide specialist CSR consultancy and communications support. Projects include: o  Sustainability branding and reporting for sectors including energy, aviation and passenger shipping o  Launching industry initiatives including The Travel Foundation, ResponsibleTravel.com and The Sustainable Shipping Initiative o  Working with Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development on programmes designed to inspire and support a new generation of entrepreneurs o  Launching responsible tourism initiatives such as the Exodus & Friends of Conservation ‘Worth More Alive’ campaign o  Design and production of environmental and sustainability reports o  Providing consultancy to publications on communicating CSR messaging to readers the independent integrated agency

Four at a glance 2013 we have grown from

7 to 150

independent:

100%

>£20 million turnover

people in 11 years

owned by our management and staff

Integrated agency from marketing and PR to travel representation

EPIC values:

Award winning

experience, passion, intelligence, commitment

The most successful agency at the last MEPRA Awards

Dual hub:

International network

UK and The Gulf

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affiliate offices in 32 countries

A socially responsible business •  Four Communications: o  o  o 

First CarbonNeutral™ PR agency in the UK First PR agency to achieve Good Corporation status PR Week - Best Not for Profit Campaign

•  Pro-active with staff and society: o  o  o  o  o 

Pro-bono and charity partnerships Achieved Investor in People status at first attempt Graduate recruitment scheme since 2006 Annual Staff Awards programme to celebrate excellence Staff bursaries towards further education and development

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A selection of our clients

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Case studies

Akoun – supporting entrepreneurship case study

•  We are conducting a full communications campaign for the Akoun programme, an Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development initiative which aims to encourage entrepreneurship amongst Abu Dhabi’s young people

•  We have organised and manned 27 workshops at 23 different UAE universities, with supporting collateral, social and traditional media campaigns

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Women of the Year case study

•  Women of the Year is the longest-running annual celebration of women. We have been working with them since 2011 when we were appointed to refresh its image and raise the profile of the lunch & awards

•  Our role includes generating local and regional coverage for the 400 Lunch attendees from across the UK, and national media for the winners of the special awards

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Sustainable Shipping Initiative case study

•  Global sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future appointed Four Communications in 2012 to support the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) – an ambitious coalition of shipping leaders from around the world which is taking practical steps to tackle some of the sector’s greatest opportunities and challenges •  Facilitated by Forum for the Future with the World Wildlife Fund the cross-industry group represents ship owners and charterers, shipbuilders, engineers and service providers, banking, insurance, and classification societies

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Floating mangroves case study

• Four Gulf client, Mourjan Marinas, recently launched a groundbreaking new project supporting the growth of floating mangroves at Lusail Marina, in partnership with UNESCO Doha •  The experiment is the first-of-kind to investigate the use of floating mangroves for ‘carbon sequestration’ – the capturing of carbon emissions – which scientists hope could shape understanding on mitigating climate change.

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Creating a CSR ‘brand’ case study

•  We researched and created a brand for Etihad Airway’s corporate social responsibility programme, giving employees a focus for activities

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Communicating CSR case study

•  Four Communications worked with Sun International Hotels & Resorts between 2010 and 2013 on programmes to communicate the group’s CSR initiatives and activity at individual hotels in South Africa and Zambia

•  Four introduced responsible tourism into all press trip itineraries and hosted CSR focused press trips, resulting in coverage across national, business, consumer and online media

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Healthy Hotels case study

•  In the summer of 2011, Four and the in-house team at Millennium & Copthorne began work on a PR and corporate communications campaign to build the hotel group’s corporate profile and create stand-out in a crowded market space

•  We chose to do it through a cause close to the hearts (literally!) of many of our guests, as six out of the world’s 10 countries with the highest prevalence of diabetes are in the Middle East

•  The campaign delivered more than 100 pieces of coverage

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Launching Kicheche Camps case study

•  Four Communications works with Kicheche Camps in Kenya to generate awareness of the wildlife camps and the responsible tourism projects

•  Four launched Kicheche Valley Camp in 2011, a wildlife camp in the newly established 50,000 hectare Naboisho conservancy on the edge of Kenya’s Masai Mara

•  Part of a ten year not-for-profit community driven project, the income generated by the conservancy delivers long-term benefits to the community including education, access to health care and clean energy

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Responsible Tourism Marketing: Creating ambassadors

Responsible Travel with Exodus case study

•  Four has worked with Exodus Travel, the leading global adventure tour operator since 2008 and provides public relations, responsible tourism, social media and advertising support

•  Since 2009, Four has promoted Worth More Alive an annual campaign in partnership with Friends of Conservation which has raised more than £100,000 for community and conservation projects in Africa and Kenya

•  In 2011, Four introduced social media giving where tweets and Facebook posts generated charitable donations

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‘The credit crunch has brought into focus the real value of money and how we choose to spend it. Spontaneous purchases of the frivolous, the unnecessary now feels irresponsible. We believe our holidays can deliver the opposite. Discovering different cultures or bringing something back to the communities you visit are surely meaningful.’ Pete Burrell, MD, Exodus

Situation analysis - introduction • 

The last five years have seen a significant change in the UK, and globally

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The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) marking the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit was attended by 192 countries in June 2012

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Environmental and social responsibility issues have moved away from the fringe, to become the concern of the mainstream

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Sustainable development has risen up the agenda of the boardroom, the political world and of course marketing and the media, to take a place at the front of the public consciousness

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Business has become increasingly sophisticated in the way that it speaks to the world and proactive marketing communications are part of the DNA of blue chip organisations from Alliance Boots to Proctor & Gamble, M&S and Unilever

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Situation analysis – the travel industry • 

The travel industry is one of the largest industries in the world and organisations are waking up to sustainability and Responsible Tourism – this sea-change is being led by the tourism industry and consumers

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Swarbrook (1999) highlighted the trend towards ethical business practices since the 1980s and asserted that ‘sustainable tourism is not just about protecting the environment – it is also concerned with long term economic viability and social justice’

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The ABTA Consumer Survey in 2011 found that 17% of UK consumers were willing to pay more for an environmentally friendly holiday

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The Kuoni Holiday Report 2011 highlighted consumer ‘awareness of environmental issues and sustainability concerns’ and noted ‘all but one of the future travel trends identified relate to protecting the planet’:

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v 

Sustainability

v 

Increased eco-tourism

v 

Pure luxury

v 

Social responsibility

This research demonstrates consumer interest – transparency and accountability are the watch words and honest reporting and benchmarking is at the heart of good marketing communications

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The market for responsible tourism • 

‘Green industries’ are one of the few growth areas within the UK (Environment Audit Committee) with 4% annual growth (Guardian, May 2012)

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The Co-operative Ethical Consumerism Report 2011 found that sales of ethical products have remained resilient and are worth £46.8bn (+9%) from £43bn in 2010

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Growth areas include Ethical money – the value of ethical savings and investments is £21.2bn (+9%). The Green homes market is worth £8.08bn

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Spend on eco-travel & transport and responsible tour operators is £626m+ according to research provided by RT.com, published within the Co-operative Ethical Consumerism Report 2011

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Ethical consumerism is on the rise ... Average ethical spend spend per household per annum is £868 (without investments)

Cooperative Ethical consumerism report 2011 the independent integrated agency

Exodus: ‘Our ethos has remained the same. We try to share

the wealth generated by all the trips we operate across communities’ Amanda Ceraolo, Product manager & RT co-ordinator, Exodus

Exodus & Responsible Tourism o 

Responsibility – gives something back and maximises benefits of

‘Our ethos has remained the same.

We try to share the tourism wealth generated by all the trips we operate across communities’ Amanda Ceraolo, o  Creates value Product manager & RT co-ordinator, Exodus

– for host destinations and clients to ‘Get Involved’ firstly

for hosts to engage fully and shape tourism and for tourists to get involved with host communities

o 

Reputation – arises from Exodus’ own business ethics and company culture

o 

Loyalty benefits – encourages engagement and long term loyalty

Kotler’s principle: ‘Today's smart marketers don't sell products; they sell benefit packages. They don't sell purchase value only; they sell use value."

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How do we communicate ? Direct and via partners Direct-to-audience communications via advertising and marketing communications and PR as well as via travel agent engagement

Media

Business media General consumer

Specialist Travel and lifestyle media including trade

Social Social media communications – trade & consumer. Trade focused on engaging advocates and partners within the travel industry; consumer reaches outwards

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Key media targets

Business story

Specialist

General consumer

Travel and lifestyle media & trade

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Public relations •  Regular news alerts – press releases and picture stories •  Regular press trip programme –experience and engagement is at the centre of communications

•  Creation of bespoke materials including videos •  Guest blogs - Wanderlust •  Creative imagery –library of images for media usage •  Social media channels – maximising social media via the use of Exodus’ Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and YouTube Channels and create a Social Media press release

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The Metro

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National press and magazines

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Online and digital media •  launched simultaneously within traditional and social media

•  Press trip tookplace in in November 2012 targeting print and online media

•  Exodus social media pages including Facebook, Pintrest and Twitter carried updates and images

•  Facebook and Twitter ‘one pound per tiger found’ •  Total raised exceeds 100,000GBP

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Evaluation • 

‘Green marketing must satisfy two objectives: improved environmental quality and customer satisfaction. Misjudging either or overemphasizing the former at the expense of the latter can be termed “green marketing myopia.’ Ottman, Stafford, Hartman)

• 

Results are measured and benchmarked annually as part of the Exodus and Tui/Peak Adventures annual report and Responsible Tourism Report: Have we changed behaviours? o  Pre and post campaign research into consumer awareness and behaviour o  o 

Evidence of wider industry engagement Volume of sign-ups and requests for information

Have we raised the profile of Exodus and the ‘Worth More Alive’ programme o  Positive press coverage and click-throughs o  Consumer and travel industry research into awareness – prompted and non-prompted Have we efficiently engaged with host communities and stakeholders? o  o  o  o  o 

Host community feedback Client satisfaction Level of employee satisfaction and engagement Stakeholder conversion and marketing support eg. Tourist board and destination cooperative advertising Number of partnerships developed

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\ www.fourcommunications.com

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‘Today, few leading companies would dispute the need to embrace corporate responsibility and environmental sustainability.’ Financial Times

‘Companies with their eye on their ‘triple bottom line’ outperform their less fastidious peers on the stock-market’ The Economist