Comparison of Giant Causeway with Llyn Peninsula as a tourist destination

This research paper compares the tourist destinations of Giant Causeway and Llyn Peninsula, analyzing their marketing strategies and economic impacts. It explores the similarities and differences between the two sites and provides recommendations for strategic tourism planning.

1
Comparison of Giant Causeway with Llyn Peninsula as a tourist destination
Student’s Name
Course
Professor’s Name
Institution’s Name
Institution’s Location
Date

2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Comparison of Giant Causeway with Llyn Peninsula as a tourist destination..................3
Introduction........................................................................................................................3
Background information....................................................................................................4
The Giants Causeway.....................................................................................................4
The Llyn Peninsula........................................................................................................6
Rationale........................................................................................................................8
Literature review................................................................................................................8
The terminology and context used in the report...............................................................15
The sources of data...........................................................................................................17
Methodology and evaluation............................................................................................18
SWOT Analysis for Giant Causeway County Antrim.................................................18
SWOT Analysis Llyn Peninsula Wales.......................................................................21
Conclusion and recommendations...................................................................................22
References....................................................................................................................25

3
Comparison of Giant Causeway with Llyn Peninsula as a tourist destination
Introduction
The tourism industry incurs stiff competition in terms of winning market shares across
different parts of the world (Morrison, 2013). The players in the industry have been on the verge
of innovation and creativity in the hunt for local and international tourists as well as the
promotion of brands and building of reputation in the hospitality and tourism sector. Concisely,
the managers and the leaders to various organisations are incorporating the sociocultural aspects,
environmental, and the economic impacts in developing destinations that are meant to cater for
the dynamic human needs and wants inclined to the tourism adventures (Bowie, Buttle, Brookes,
and Mariussen, 2016). Besides, marketing strategies are being devolved to focus on the
destination management which is the cornerstone for the motivation of the travellers and the
visitors in the helm of seeking for destinations for conferences, festivals, seminars, and socio-
cultural events among others concerning tourism. Furthermore, the marketing strategies are also
shifting towards the provision of transformational experience designs to the customers whereby
the festivals and the conferences get incorporated with playful and recreational activities
(Harmeling, Moffett, Arnold, and Carlson, 2017, pp.312-335). The design experience and
transformational design in the sector has taken root especially among the business conferences
where the participants undertake tourism-related activities such as cultural interaction alongside
co-curricular programs (Harmeling et al., 2016)
As much as the industry is experiencing tremendous growth, the report seeks to present a
proposal on how tourist attraction destinations can benchmark from each other through the
annual marketing strategies. The selected tourist attraction sites for the proposed research is the
Giant Causeway County Antrim and the Llyn Peninsula in Wales. However, both the sites are in

4
the UK with the Giant Causeway County Antrim in Northern Ireland while the latter is found in
Wales. Concisely, the selection of the destination within a similar business region or block would
enable the researcher to include other aspects such as the economic factors as well as political
influence such as Brexit to the performance of the two destinations in the market (Inman, 2018).
The primary aim of the benchmarking between the two sites is to device a strategic tourism
planning whose central role is to bring the stakeholders together through provision of tools to
enable them work together so as to transform a series of attraction activities and services into a
cohesive and compelling travel design and experience (Phillips and Moutinho, 2014, pp.96-120).
Therefore, the sections of the proposal would guide the researcher in conducting the proposed
topic of research to establish a comparison between the named tourist attraction destinations.
Background information
The selected topic project for the proposed topic takes into account the marketing and the
destination management of the two popular natural attractions of the United Kingdom. During
the selection of the destinations, the Giant Causeway, the world’s destinations full of wonders
whereas the Llyn Peninsula is remarked for the natural attraction in Wales. The background to
the two attraction sites is illustrated in the sections below.
The Giants Causeway
The Giants Causeway is a region covered with over 40000 interlocking basalt columns due
to the ancient volcanic fissure eruption (Blandford, 2015). The area was declared a world
heritage site by the UNESCO in 1986 as well as a national nature reserve in 1987 while
considered the fourth greatest natural wonder of the world by the UK. The columns formed from
the stepping-stones resulted in the cliff foot and disappeared under the sea. However, most of the
columns are hexagonal I shape although there are a few with different shapes bearing various

5
corners. As much as the Giant Causeway and Causeway coast are the world heritage sites, they
are managed and operated by the National Trust and is one of the most popular tourist attraction
in Northern Ireland. The National Trust has granted free access to Giant’s Causeway. Thus, there
is no need to go via the visitor's centre that charges a fee while the remainder of the destination
site is owned by the number of private owners and the Crown Estate (Blandford, 2015).
Besides, the realisation of the destination site is associated with Bishop of Derry who is
said to have visited the site back in 1692. The announcement of the existence of the place came
at a time during the presentation of the paper from Richard Bulkeley from Trinity College in
Dublin to the Royal Society (Blandford, 2015). During this era, The Giant’s Causeway received
an international recognition when Sussanna Drury, a Dublin artist in 1739, made the watercolour
paintings. The Giant’s Causeway first became famous with foreign tourists in the 19th century
especially after the opening of the Giant’s Causeway Tramway where the National Trust
resumed managing the site in the 1960s leading to the removal of some of the vestiges of
commercialism. However, the Giant’s Causeway was never a visitors’ destination between 2000
and 2012 due to the fire catastrophe, which led to the rebuilding of the site using the public funds
(Blandford, 2015). The reconstruction precipitated an architectural competition, which was won
by Heneghan Peng who set the columns onto the ground to reduce the landscape effect.
Unfortunately, the rebuilding raised the political climate in the region due to the interests of the
private investors who wanted to take over the site to drive the cultural and the economic
significance of the site in 2007 leading to the freezing of the public funds allocated for the
construction of the site (Causeway cost & Glens Heritage Trust, 2018).

6
After the failure by the private investors, the site was opened by the Prime Minister, Peter
Robinson after the completion of the construction work in 2012 using the funds from the
National Trust, public donations, The Heritage Lottery Fund, and the Northen Irish Evangelical
group. Since the launching of the site, there have been various reviews from the visitors, which
in terms of the pricing, causeway walk descent, design, and the content. For instance, there has
been a controversy over the about the exhibition content at the visitor’s centre section commonly
known as the Young Earth Creationist views of the Earth’s age. Contrary, a robust online
campaign was launched in 2012 to have the part removed which made the National Trust to carry
out a review and suggested that some content to be edited into a more scientific evidence, which
sought to explain the Earth’s age attributed to be 60 million years (Causeway cost & Glens
Heritage Trust, 2018).
The Llyn Peninsula
The Llyn Peninsula stretches 50 kilometres into the Irish Sea on North West of Wales and
the southwest of the Isle of Anglesey (Visitsnowdonia, 2018). The region is an extensive plateau
that is dominated by the volcanic hills and mountains that covers the northern coastal cliffs and
the rugged rocks along the offshore stacks and islands. The site forms part of the history of the
Caernarfonshire county and that of the local area authority of Gwynedd (Gwynedd Destination
Management Plan 2013-2020, 2013). However, the pilgrims, its relative isolation promoted the
conservation of the Welsh culture, travelled the history of the Peninsula and language due to the
perceived remoteness from the urban regions has helped in keeping the reputation of the tourist
destination for both the local and the internal tourists. Concisely, the locals many of whom are
priced for the housing market incomes know the site for its holiday home excellent reputation. In
the 1970s to 90s, the Meibion Glyndwr claimed responsibility for the several arson attacks on the

7
holiday homes some of which took place in Llyn that led to the decline in the number of the
visitors in the precedent years but the destination site reclaimed its visitors in the late 1990s.
The holiday based destination is characterised by small houses individual firms, and
cottages in most rural parts as well as the existence of the small villages built with traditional
material that portray strong socio-cultural aspects of the initial habitats in the region. However,
the tourism developed in 1867 after the construction of a railway to Pwllheli that led to rapid set
up of large houses and hotels for the workers and the travellers after the railway line
(Discovernorthernireland., 2018). Moreover, after the Second World War, a holiday camp was
established by Butlins at Penychain was a primary attraction site for the industrial cities where
the people of the North West England as well as the Midlands were regular visitors who formed
a large portion of the tourists to the site. With the increased car ownership, the number of visitors
increased leading to an expansion of the destination site thus stretching to the country site and
the coastal villages (Visitwales., 2018).
The two destination sites have been known to be paramount in contributing to the socio-
economic factors in Wales and Northern Ireland as well as the preservation of the national
heritage. The massive number of tourists, in essence, both the local and the traditional visitors
have promoted the local economies where small businesses have boomed up ranging from the
selling of the cultural products made from the locally available materials to big retailers in the
sector. Additionally, the hospitality sector has also benefitted from the management of hotels that
contribute to the nation great economic growth of the countries among other aspects (Horng, and
Tsai, 2012, pp.40-55). However, the primary reason for the selection of the two sites for
comparison for the proposed studies is shown in the rationale section.

8
Rationale
The selection of the independent project was motivated by the fact that the international
tourism management independent study module was impressive during the second year thus
decided to carry out the research that would help in understanding the destinations management
and marketing strategies as the key components in the tourism industry. Additionally,
undertaking the comparison between the two prominent selected sites would contribute to the
understanding of the importance of benching whose results can be replicated to other destination
sites as well as other sectors other than the international tourism management. The acquired
information, l would be able to address the problems and challenges facing the industry that
should be solved for socio-economic sustainability (Lisowska, 2017).
Literature review
The current world markets are prone to political and economic stabilities that are
precipitated by governance across different countries as well as the commercial blocks (Cotula,
2013, pp. 43-74). In the past, the administrative decisions and political moves have proved to
impact profoundly on the economic grounds, which can lead to gradual growth or drastically
poor performance in terms of market trends. For instance, the plans to exit from the European
Union has been received with mixed reactions from different players and stakeholders who have
taken various grounds in their opinions and analyses concerning the performance of the region in
the world market. The move to exit from the EU, known as the Brexit has both the negative and
the positive speculations concerning the tourism industry as depicted in the subsequent sections
of the literature review (Carroll, 2018). The move involves the four-affiliate countries that form
the United Kingdom which are England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. With the heated
debates due to the different opinions pertaining whether to exit the union or stay, the economic

9
analysts have been on the verge of establishing critics that could guide in decision-making
strategies for the four countries across all the spheres of commercial blocks including the tourism
sector. Therefore, should the UK exit the EU without a deal, the tourism sector would be one of
the affected industries in the following ways.
Months after the Brexit referendum in 2016, the UK tourism sector enjoyed an increase
in the record of the tourist numbers that was attributed to the weak pound making the UK an
attractive destination due to the affordability. The Office of the National Statistics (2018)
reported that by March 2018, the international visitors had spent a total of £24.6 billion within
the past 12 months accounting for an increment of 6 per cent from the previous year. However,
the high exchange rates implied that the UK citizens were exposed to highly expensive holidays
travelling to the EU countries, which was perceived that the no deal would strike a further
increment to the drop in the currency implying that the UK residents would incur more expenses
for touring the rest of the world. Concisely, should the no deal exit initiative be approved, the
Britons could lose the European Health Insurance scheme thus they would have to travel to other
countries such as the United States for medication or seek the treatment within the country thus
affecting the tourism industry in the region (Office of the National Statistics, 2018).
Additionally, Brexit on no deal grounds would likely affect the economic impacts on many
European Union countries since the research by the Association of British Travel Agents
(ABTA) claimed that the Britons make nearly three-quarters of the overseas trips. The report
indicated that the UK tourists are worth 37.4 billion pounds annually to the EU member states
with most of the popular destinations being Spain accounting for 19m Britons whereas France
was the second in place as a tourist attraction destination (Association of British Travel Agents,
2017). Concisely, the economic uncertainties that are accompanied by the Brexit have led to

10
minimal spending among the Britons thus directly affecting the local tourism in the region. The
ABTA further reported that the economic value by the 27 European Union countries was directly
due to the wages and indirectly through the supply chain. Moreover, the ABTA claimed that over
860000 jobs related to tourism were supported as well as over 440000 businesses by those
travelling from the UK to Europe (Association of British Travel Agents, 2017). The travels
included visiting family and friends, business trips, and others were classified as adventures and
holiday homes. Concisely, the reports acknowledged that it's not only the EU countries that
benefitted but also the UK. On average, the holidaymaker spends £324 on their holidays in the
UK before living to their respective countries while the outbound travel accounted for £28 billion
annually to the economy of the UK while supporting over 380000 jobs in the UK both directly
and indirectly (Association of British Travel Agents, 2017).
Another evaluation claimed the exit from the EU would have severe impacts on the
acquisitions of the passports of the UK. After the departure, the UK nationals would be referred
to as the third country nations since they would not be in any market globally. Therefore, both
the UK and the EU migrants would be required to apply for second passports through dual
citizenship, which would not be an easy exercise due to the measures to adhere for clearance.
The situation would create a buffer in the mobility of the people to and from the UK thus directly
affect the tourism industry that heavily relies on the ease of travel and movement of the people.
Concisely, the significant drop among the passport holders would imply that most international
tourist destinations would depend on the local visitors who can barely meet the operation charges
for sustaining the industry. Moreover, the drop in sign-ins would force the tourist destination in
the UK to lower the costs so that to attract the local tourists thus cutting off the profit margins for
the firms in the industry (The Conversation, 2019).

11
With the UK currently operating any air route within the European Union countries, the
Office of the National statistics hinted that exit from the union could hinder such economic
privileges. Without a deal by the UK, the region could experience massive disruption of its flight
until the EU, and the UK negotiate hundreds of new air services agreements with the licensed
airlines within a regulatory framework (The Conversation, 2019). As much as the UK is known
for its capability of arranging agreement on air services, the union countries could decline in
granting permissions, which would significantly affect the ground flights between the UK and
the EU countries. However, in the helm of the Brexit, the EU licensed airlines would be required
to have the two types of travel permission for flying to the UK, which includes the UK Civil
Aviation Authority and the foreign carrier permit (The Conversation, 2019). On the other hand,
the UK licensed airlines would be required to have both permissions to fly to the relevant
national authorities and the safety authorisation from the UK Civil Aviation Authority. Brexit
could further jeopardise travel to non-EU countries. For instance, the 2007 agreement, the EU-
US open skies deal allows the UK airlines to access other markets, which would have to be
renegotiated at the wake of Brexit. Such air travel implications would much affect the annual
turnover of the tourists whose main travel means is through the flights into the UK, as the
travellers would identify other tourists’ destination sites for their business trips, conferences,
festivals, and events among others that would be easily accessible with less restrictions and
convenient for travels (The Conversation, 2019).
Another aspect that would be affected although minor to the tourism industry is the
revoking of the driving licenses of the EU countries in the UK and the UK citizens in the EU
countries. Currently, drivers enjoy the privileges of car hiring self-driven cars that are used for
travel by family and friends to various destinations. With the Brexit, new agreements and

12
negotiations would be required for acquisition of Internal Driving Permits (IDPs) to accompany
the UK license to drive as well as hire a car. The National Audit Office estimates that in case the
no deal Brexit is reached, then nearly 100000 to 7m IDPs may require to be issued in the
financial year 2019-2020 (The Conversation, 2019).
Generally, these factors and implications create segregation of the UK from the rest of
the EU and by extension the entire world. With no more business treaties and agreements
between the UK and the world, there would be no need for interactions and visits to the UK due
to the lack of the mutual benefit that the countries seek among one another (Dhingra et al., p.2).
The importation and exports into and out of the country would be minimised which would call
for self-reliance of the UK countries. The state of secretion would limit the world’s population
from visiting into the country due to the reduced business conferences and trips that directly
contributes to the tourism sector. Despite the reported increase in tourist activities in the UK, in
essence, after the decline in British Pound in the market, the international visits are likely to drop
drastically when the no deal Brexit move is initiated that would affect the air and travel industry,
which is the backbone of the tourism sector (Ramiah, Pham, and Moosa, 2017, pp.2508-2514).
The uncertainties surrounding the entire Brexit could significantly affect the small-scale
businesses in the region that are supported by the Brexit, which would cause a significant threat
to the UK microeconomics as well as the tourism industry (Carroll, 2018).
The political aspects that directly affect the business such as Brexit calls for different
sectors to device their measures that would contribute to their survival in the global and local
markets (Carroll, 2018). For instance, the selected Giant causeway county Antrim and the Llyn
Peninsula could find appropriate means that could help in promoting each other at the wake of
the Brexit. It is upon the managers and the event organizers in these companies among others in

13
the UK to come up with marketing strategies among other frameworks such as excellent
destination management practices that are inclined to travellers’ motivation, understanding of the
visitors’ needs and wants that are client-based (Mariani, Di Felice, and Mura, 2016, pp.321-343).
Currently, most managers in the tourism industry are resolving to the experience design and
transformational design events, which are incorporated into tourism activities such as
conferences, business trips, festivals, and socio-cultural visits whereby the participants, are
entertained through a series of recreation activities (Hassenzahl et al., 2013). These initiatives
have been reported to boost the number of visits to tourist’s destinations across the world
whereby some organisations invite famous athletes, artists, and prominent entrepreneurs into the
events that attract people as a marketing strategy (Mariani et al., 2016, pp.321-343 ). Using
similar approaches, the Giant causeway county Antrim and the Llyn Peninsula tourists’
destinations can deploy the marketing strategies that are aimed to give the participants a
transformational experience design. Such an approach would maintain the image of the
destination on the global market with positive reviews and reputations, which would prompt
more visitors and travellers that in turn makes the organisation expand its market shares in the
industry (Mintel., 2018).
With the emerging Brexit turbulence, the Giant causeway county Antrim and the Llyn
Peninsula could manage to secure their market place through the provision of extension services
such as the arrangement of travelling and accommodation for their visitors which would ease the
struggle of acquiring different travel, housing, and destination packages. That would be easier
when paid for under a single package; in essence, a visitor would require to have a single ticket
for along their entire trip that is acquired online. In case the exit from the EU is initiated, the
companies could also form a partnership where they could create a platform for sharing of the

14
participants through establishment of tariffs that can enable the participants to visit both sites at a
subsidized fee that is much higher than that incurred when visiting a single location (Sangiorgi,
2015, pp.332-348). The move would create a strategy to cut on the visit fee but prompt the
visitor to visit the two destinations.
Researchers have pointed out that destination management is the primary initiative for
driving success in the tourism industry (Morrison, 2013). The authors claimed that the
destination management could be deployed by organisations in the sector to harness success and
sustainability that the development efforts are ongoing management. The crucial functions of
destination management are tourism branding and marketing that entails graphic design services,
tour operator/ travel press familiarisation (FAM) trips and the social media (Munar, 2012.,
pp.101-120). Another function is market access, which entails the reservation systems and
accessing existing networks in the market. Moreover, ensuring brand integrity is also pointed out
by the scholars as a crucial function of the destination management that involves evaluation of
the standards, staff training, and certification (Manhas, Manrai, and Manrai, 2016, pp.25-29).
Concisely, another key aspect of destination management is Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) at both the retail and the wholesale level in the industry (Song, 2012). Importantly, the
role of financial stability has been ascertained to be a fundamental function played by the
destination managers, which is pertinent to the survival and sustainability of a tourism
organisation in the market through strategic business planning and effective budgeting
(Soteriades, 2012, pp.107-120).
The Giant causeway county Antrim and the Llyn Peninsula tourist destinations could
jointly provide end-to-end solutions through application of the destination management
organisation (DMO). The move would help to resume all the mentioned functions and

15
responsibilities, create and implement the business plans that will provide them with financial
resources needed to stay in the market during the wake of Brexit uncertainties (Volgger and
Pechlaner, 2014, pp.64-75). Additionally, scholars proposed that tourist sites can improve their
customer experience through setting up of initiatives such as Visitor Center Development and
Management for the provision of a hub for tourism information, destination marketing, and
promotion of trade between regions which directly influence tourism (Black, 2012). Another
proposal was setting up of a Visitor Interpretive and Directional Signage, which is critical in
planning, creation and disseminating the necessary informative and interpretive information for
enriching the tourist experience (Hughes, Bond, and Ballantyne, 2013, pp.210-220). Finally, the
formation of the Maps and Digital Applications for the creation of unique products and
promotion of distinctive characteristics of destination sites (Kennedy-Eden and Gretzel, 2012).
These could be applied by the Giant causeway county Antrim and the Llyn Peninsula in
improving the customer experience and expansion of the market shares during no deal Brexit.
The terminology and context used in the report
Market shares – The terms have been used in the proposal to imply the shares in the tourism
market.
Local and international tourism – Is an establishment for both local and international visitors.
Marketing strategies – Frameworks put in place in the tourism sector such as traveller motivation
and destination management.
Transformational experience designs – Deployed in events, which are incorporated by recreation
activities among other practices that motivate participants to revisit the destination.
Destination management -Is a strategy to bring the stakeholders together to transform a set of
attraction in tourism.

16
Brexit – Withdrawal of UK membership from EU
Political influence – Impacts that originate from politics in the region.
Political and economic stabilities -
Britons – People of British descent.
Global market – International-trading platforms
Promotion – Improving a sector, service, or product in the market.
International Driving Permits
NAO - National Audit Office
ABTA - Association of British Travel Agents
ONS - Office of the National Statistics
Customer relationship management – A strategy for managing interactions between tourists and
an organisation
Financial stability – The state of being financially stable.
Sustainability – The capability to survive on the available resources
Center Development and Management
Visitor Interpretive and Directional Signage
Brand integrity – The reputation of a product among customers.
Tourism branding and tourism marketing – strategies for creating tourism’s product awareness
Maps and Digital Applications – Applications that enable faster identification of geographical
regions
The sources of data
The proposed research on the Comparison of Giant Causeway with Llyn Peninsula as a
tourist destination would be based on the secondary sources of data that would help in

17
assembling of relevant information for evaluation (Liese et al., pp.435-442). The secondary
sources of data would be preferred over the primary sources due to their availability, accuracy,
and evidence-based (Clark, 2013). Furthermore, the use of secondary sources of information
would ensure that the research has no limitations of missing links and the small sample sizes that
experienced when using the primary sources of data (Little and Rubin, 2019). Additionally, the
pieces of evidence that are inhibited with the use of the secondary sources facilitates accurate
results and findings in the study, which would enable replication to other study samples. Clark
(2013) established that the use of secondary sources is less time consuming contrary to the
primary sources due to the ease of their availability.
Moreover, the use of secondary sources is reliable due to the availability of references that
will help is the justification of opinions, judgments, and facts. The different secondary sources
that would be used for the collection of data and information for writing and presentation of the
proposed research would be newspaper articles and websites including Mintel and Visit
Snowdonia. The other secondary sources that would be used in the proposed study are the
articles and books related to international tourism management, destination management, tourism
strategy marketing, and those that demonstrate the impacts of Brexit on the tourism industry
(Page, 2012). Such secondary sources would give the background information to the current
situation of the tourism industry that would be used to link to the Giant Causeway and Llyn
Peninsula as a tourist destination. Additionally, the data from the secondary sources would help
to forecast and predicting future tourism should Brexit plan be implemented into action.
Methodology and evaluation
The proposed research would be conducted using the secondary approaches where the
mentioned secondary sources would be based on as the main source of data. After data collection

18
from the sources, evaluation of the individual destinations would be performed used the SWOT
analysis, which would provide insights on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and the
threats facing the growth and operations of the selected destinations in the market (Van
Wijngaarden, Scholten, and Van Wijk, 2012, pp.34-49). Moreover, the SWOT analysis would be
vital in the identification of the internal and the external threats facing the chosen tourist
attraction sites for accurate prediction and provision of recommendations (Gwynedd Destination
Management Plan 2013-2020., 2013). The following sections are the SWOT analyses for the two
destinations.
SWOT Analysis for Giant Causeway County Antrim
An evaluation of the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities for the Giant
Causeway would focus on the aspects that are crucial to the organisation which include;
infrastructure, visitor and environmental management, human resources, and marketing as shown
below.

19
Tourism infrastructure/ Product
Helpful
For achieving the objective
Harmful
For achieving the objective
Internal origin
(System attributes)
Strengths
Significant public ownership of
uplands, Marine infrastructure, Self-
catering accommodation
Links to golf courses, Scottish
connection, and coastline
Beaches and road networks
Traditional fairs and cultural
heritage
Natural resources, Glens of Antrim,
and scenery
Weaknesses
Lack of identity, countryside access,
signage, hotel accommodation with
leisure activities, sightseeing, and the
sense of arrival/ gateways.
Limited opportunities for outside
catering and limited presentation of
culture and promotion of public
transport.
Poor appearance of seaside resorts,
coordination of craft development,
viewpoints, and poor lay-bys.
There is a low frequency of bus service
and unfilled visitor experience.
External origin
(Environmental attributes)
Opportunities
The interest of the private sector to
provide tourism services
Current funding opportunities
Supportive local community
Air access
NITB priorities
Government interest in the wellbeing of
the area.
Threats
Overdevelopment of the coastline,
threat to build coastline.
Competing products in other
destination such as access to
countryside and water sports.
Unsustainable tourism activities
Threats to build heritage
Continued political instability

20
Marketing and Human Resources
Helpful
For achieving the objective
Harmful
For achieving the objective
Internal origin
(System attributes)
Strengths
Old Bushmills Distillery, Giant
Causeway WHS, and AONB
destination
RTO website and coordinated
approach with TIL and NITB
The host population
Track record in tourism
Interested private sector
Welcome host program participation
Weaknesses
Product weaknesses and
distinctiveness, image problem, lack of
product knowledge, lack of packaging
and sales.
Fragmentation of market effort, over-
reliance on a domestic product, weak
benchmarking, lack of visitor maps, a
short length of stay, rolling out and
development of CC&G branding.
Lack of marketing expertise, niche
market intelligence and collateral, and
appreciation of tourism as an economic
activity.
Lack of tourism ethos, knowledge of
competitor products.
Limited language skills in relation to
overseas visitors and marketing skills
in trade and other attraction providers.
External origin
(Environmental attributes)
Opportunities
Improved website and e-commerce.
Technological innovation and
inventions.
Continued interest in Ireland from
overseas visitors.
The proximity of the Scotland and
opportunities for all Island approach.
Tourism training trust, local training
college capacity, opportunity to build on
the training of craft workers.
Threats
Appeal and state of development of
competitor destinations for tourism
activities.
Failing behind international standards
of welcome and service complacency
about the current quality and
competitiveness of the product.

21
SWOT Analysis Llyn Peninsula Wales
Helpful
For achieving the objective
Harmful
For achieving the objective
Internal origin
(System attributes)
Strengths
Strategy location, transport links,
Lifestyle, peace, and tranquillity,
Welsh language, Community spirit
and participation, and security.
Quality tourism product, strong
agricultural sector, varied economy
for rural area, a few major/ key
employers.
Leisure activities, quality natural
environment
High proportion of welsh speakers/
welsh identity
Weaknesses
Seasonality of tourism activities,
Relative weakness among retail offers
Poor tourism and public facilities
Distance from essential services due to
rural location, poor infrastructure, lack
of affordable housing, high cost of
living, and poor digital infrastructure.
Lack of clear identity and branding,
dependency on agriculture, and lower
cost self-catering sector, fewer major-
all weather visitor attractions.
External origin
(Environmental attributes)
Opportunities
Excellent coordinated marketing,
massive range of events for visitors and
residents, adequate heritage and cultural
tourism growth.
Tourism development linked to centres
for excellence, availability of quality
hotel and accommodation.
Quality shopping being set up by the
locals, Emerging partnerships working
between sectors
Plans for a wider range of events for
visitors and residents, experience design
and transformational experience design
of events
Threats
Decline in public participation and
quality of public realm
Decline in pertinent skills and quality
of visitor welcome
Economic decline of rural areas and
political uncertainties
Aggressive competitors in the market
Existence of significant rural and
outdoor tourist destinations

22
Conclusion and recommendations
The search from the secondary sources as well as the performed SWOT analyses is
elemental in pointing out the key areas that could use some improvement. The information from
the secondary sources indicates that political turbulence can create massive economic
instabilities, which is a high risk to various sectors (Hart and Spero, 2013). The proposal has
suggested that political decisions play a pivotal role in determining the future of the tourism
industry among the other sectors. For instance, the impending Brexit motion has created divisive
opinions towards the future of tourism in the UK, in essence, the region where the selected Giant
Causeway and Llyn Peninsula as a tourist destination are situated which has precipitated
economic uncertainties of the future tourism (McGrath, 2016). Notably, although the region
experienced growth in the tourism industry after the Brexit referendum in 2016, economists have
claimed that the rise in the sector could be short-lived. It is anticipated that the uncertainties of
the no deal Brexit would mainly affect the transport sector in terms of the licensing of the
airlines to and from the UK region, which is the backbone of tourism (Simionescu, Bilan,
Smrčka, and Vincúrová, 2017). The strict mechanisms that would come along restrictions in the
air transport would limit the movement of people causing a decline of the international visitors.
Concisely, the fluctuation in the British pound would discourage the local tourism, which is
heavily relied on by the Llyn Peninsula Wales as revealed in the SWOT analysis.
Additionally, the SWOT analysis has indicated that the Giant Causeway County Antrim
tourist destination is in a better position to thrive well compared to Llyn Peninsula Wales
destination. However, the two sites can benchmark between each other for their survival of the
impending economic and political instabilities created by the uncertainties of the no deal Brexit
initiative. For instance, the Llyn Peninsula Wales can address its weaknesses of seasonality

23
tourism activities through the introduction of the broader transformational experience design to
the participants whereby more recreation activities should be introduced to encourage more
travellers in the destination site. Moreover, the destination sites should form collaborative
tourism marketing strategies, which could entail formation of a single brand, merging of the
sites, and operating as a joint organisation (Ray, Das, and Kumar, 2017). Through this strategy,
the reputation of the lagging destination site would be salvaged from bad reviews while being
rebranded to acquire more visitors. On the other hand, the two organisations should hold regular
destination management meetings that could act as a framework for auditing performance,
evaluation of strategies, and as the platform for critics that would be inclined to the achievement
of excellence. Concisely, enabling the private investors to collaborate with the destinations
would be a significant measure for acquiring the funds for improving the inadequate facilities in
a tourist destination to attract more visitors and travellers (Komppula, 2014, pp.361-371).
Furthermore, the establishment of the training programs that promote the understanding
of client-based needs and demands among the staff could be an effective way of ensuring quality
customer service is put in place, which builds the reputation of an organisation. Through the
implementation of the mentioned strategies, the destinations can work together to ensure market
growth is realised amidst uncertainties.

24
References
Association of British Travel Agents, 2017. ABTA urges Brexit deal on travel. [Online]
Available at: https://www.abta.com/news/abta-urges-brexit-deal-travel
Black, G., 2012. The engaging museum: Developing museums for visitor involvement. London:
Routledge.
Blandford, C., 2015. GIANT’S CAUSEWAY AND CAUSEWAY COAST WORLD HERITAGE
SITE Management Plan. [online] East Sussex: Environment and Heritage Service. Available at:
http://giantscauseway.ccght.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2012/02/Giant-s-Causeway-and-
Causeway-Coast-WHS-Management-Plan-Febr.pdf [Accessed 9 Nov. 2018].
Bowie, D., Buttle, F., Brookes, M. and Mariussen, A., 2016. Hospitality marketing. London:
Routledge.
Carroll, L., 2018. Brexit could wipe out Welsh farming, says union. [online] the Guardian.
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/03/brexit-could-wipe-out-welsh-
farming-says-union [Accessed 9 Nov. 2018].
Causeway cost & Glens Heritage Trust, 2018. Causeway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty Management Plan 2013 – 2023 [draft]. [online] causeway cost & Glens Heritage Trust.
Available at: http://ccght.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CCAONB-Draft-Management-Plan-
for-Public-Consultation.pdf [Accessed 9 Nov. 2018].
Clark, G., 2013. 5 Secondary data. Methods in Human Geography, p.57.
Cotula, L., 2013. The international political economy of the global land rush: A critical appraisal
of trends, scale, geography and drivers. In The New Enclosures: Critical Perspectives on
Corporate Land Deals (pp. 43-74). Routledge.

25
Dhingra, S., Ottaviano, G., Sampson, T. and Van Reenen, J., 2016. The impact of Brexit on
foreign investment in the UK. BREXIT 2016, 24, p.2.
Discovernorthernireland.com., 2018. Discover Northern Ireland. [online] Available at:
https://discovernorthernireland.com/ [Accessed 9 Nov. 2018].
Gwynedd Destination Management Plan 2013-2020. 2013. [online] Wales:
businesswales.gov.wales. Available at:
https://businesswales.gov.wales/dmwales/sites/dmwales/files/documents/gwynedd-dm-plan.pdf
[Accessed 9 Nov. 2018].
Harmeling, C.M., Moffett, J.W., Arnold, M.J. and Carlson, B.D., 2017. Toward a theory of
customer engagement marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(3), pp.312-
335.
Hart, J.A. and Spero, J.E., 2013. The politics of international economic relations. London:
Routledge.
Hassenzahl, M., Eckoldt, K., Diefenbach, S., Laschke, M., Len, E. and Kim, J., 2013. Designing
moments of meaning and pleasure. Experience design and happiness. International Journal of
Design, 7(3).
Horng, J.S. and Tsai, C.T., 2012. Culinary tourism strategic development: an Asia‐Pacific
perspective. International journal of tourism research, 14(1), pp.40-55.
Hughes, K., Bond, N. and Ballantyne, R., 2013. Designing and managing interpretive
experiences at religious sites: Visitors' perceptions of Canterbury Cathedral. Tourism
Management, 36, pp.210-220.

26
Inman, P., 2018. UK draws record overseas tourists after pound's Brexit plunge. [online] the
Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/22/uk-overseas-tourists-
pound-brexit-ons-figures [Accessed 9 Nov. 2018].
Kennedy-Eden, H. and Gretzel, U., 2012. A taxonomy of mobile applications in tourism.
Komppula, R., 2014. The role of individual entrepreneurs in the development of competitiveness
for a rural tourism destination–A case study. Tourism Management, 40, pp.361-371.
Liese, A.D., Barnes, T.L., Lamichhane, A.P., Hibbert, J.D., Colabianchi, N. and Lawson, A.B.,
2013. Characterizing the food retail environment: impact of count, type, and geospatial error in 2
secondary data sources. Journal of nutrition education and behavior, 45(5), pp.435-442.
Lisowska, A., 2017. Crime in tourism destinations: Research review. Tourism, [online] 27(1).
Available at: http://file:///C:/Users/Steffimoncy95/Downloads/2208-8150-1-PB(1).pdf [Accessed
8 Nov. 2018].
Little, R.J. and Rubin, D.B., 2019. Statistical analysis with missing data (Vol. 793). New York:
Wiley.
Manhas, P.S., Manrai, L.A. and Manrai, A.K., 2016. Role of tourist destination development in
building its brand image: A conceptual model. Journal of Economics, Finance and
Administrative Science, 21(40), pp.25-29.
Mariani, M.M., Di Felice, M. and Mura, M., 2016. Facebook as a destination marketing tool:
Evidence from Italian regional Destination Management Organizations. Tourism
Management, 54, pp.321-343.
McGrath, P., 2016. Brexit and Likely Implications for Ireland. Available at SSRN 2758850.
Mintel., 2018. Mintel: Global Market Research & Market Insight. [online] Available at:
http://www.mintel.com/ [Accessed 9 Nov. 2018].

27
Morrison, A.M., 2013. Marketing and managing tourism destinations. London: Routledge.
Morrison, A.M., 2013. Marketing and managing tourism destinations. London: Routledge.
Munar, A.M., 2012. Social media strategies and destination management. Scandinavian Journal
of Hospitality and Tourism, 12(2), pp.101-120.
Office of the National Statistics , 2018. Overseas travel and tourism: January, February and
March 2018 provisional results. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/
bulletins/overseastravelandtourism/januaryfebruaryandmarch2018provisionalresults
Page, S. 2012. Tourism management. London: Routledge.
Phillips, P. and Moutinho, L., 2014. Critical review of strategic planning research in hospitality
and tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 48, pp.96-120.
Ramiah, V., Pham, H.N. and Moosa, I., 2017. The sectoral effects of Brexit on the British
economy: early evidence from the reaction of the stock market. Applied Economics, 49(26),
pp.2508-2514.
Ray, N., Das, D. and Kumar, R., 2017. Tourism marketing. New York: CRC Press
Sangiorgi, D., 2015. Designing for public sector innovation in the UK: design strategies for
paradigm shifts. Foresight, 17(4), pp.332-348.
Simionescu, M., Bilan, Y., Smrčka, L. and Vincúrová, Z., 2017. The effects of European
economic integration and the impact of brexit on the UK immigrants from the CEE countries. E+
M Ekonomie a Management.
Song, H., 2012. Tourism supply chain management. London: Routledge.
Soteriades, M., 2012. Tourism destination marketing: approaches improving effectiveness and
efficiency. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 3(2), pp.107-120.

28
The Conversation, 2019. ‘No deal’ Brexit: what it could mean for British tourists and air travel.
[Online]
Available at: https://theconversation.com/no-deal-brexit-what-it-could-mean-for-british-tourists-
and-air-travel-103357
Van Wijngaarden, J.D., Scholten, G.R. and van Wijk, K.P., 2012. Strategic analysis for health
care organizations: the suitability of the SWOT‐analysis. The International journal of health
planning and management, 27(1), pp.34-49.
Visitsnowdonia.info., 2018. Visit Snowdonia - Llŷn Peninsula. [online] Available at:
https://www.visitsnowdonia.info/lln_peninsula-21.aspx [Accessed 9 Nov. 2018].
Visitwales.com., 2018. UK Breaks & Family Holiday Destinations | Visit Wales. [online]
Available at: https://www.visitwales.com/ [Accessed 9 Nov. 2018].
Volgger, M. and Pechlaner, H., 2014. Requirements for destination management organizations in
destination governance: Understanding DMO success. Tourism Management, 41, pp.64-75.