Customer Attraction and Financial Benefits of PR Plan for Weymouth Tourism

The Public Relations (PR) plan helps companies like VisitBritain to constantly stay in the eyes of customers, generating revenue and improving their financial position. The PR plan gathers customer attractions and helps bring financial support to the company.

PR and Promotion in Travel and
Tourism

Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1A..............................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Role and importance of public relations in Weymouth.........................................................3
1.3 Analysis of stakeholders of VisitBritain ...............................................................................4
1.2 Analysis of diversity of public or audiences including current and potential visitors of
Weymouth...................................................................................................................................5
TASK 1 B.............................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Apply a range of public relation and promotional skills to travel and tourism context........7
Public relation skills:...................................................................................................................7
4.1 PR plan and key public in Weymouth..................................................................................8
3.2 assess the relationship between public relations and the media..........................................10
3.3 evaluate the appropriateness of media used with different public relations techniques in travel
and tourism................................................................................................................................10
TASK 3A............................................................................................................................................11
4.2 Effectiveness of the PR plan...............................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
VisitBritain is a national agency for marketing of various tourist destination of Britain. The
report highlights the importance and role of public relation in promotion of tourism in Britain. The
Public Relation Officer of Visit Britain is responsible to boost the image of a destination in visitors
or audiences eye. Use of media as a promotional tool is important to increase the effectiveness of
promotion of Weymouth. Print and social media are both important in today's era for increasing the
scope of promotion of a destination. The research also shows a proposed public relation plan of
Weymouth.
TASK 1A
1.1 Role and importance of public relations in Weymouth
Public Relation plays a vital role in maintaining an organisation's image in the public eyes.
PR is about maintaining relationships along with the promotional activity of company which will
provide benefit by increasing company’s reputation in the eyes of public.
Role of Public Relation-
 To generate positive news coverage and broadcast in print and digital media.
 Communicating on daily basis with the media personnel.
 Building networking with clients and organisational staff.
 Regularly monitoring print and digital media for example newspaper, magazines, social
media and TV advertisement.
 Preparing regular updates to the management of VisitBritain's about client meetings and
reports.
 Researching about the content writing to be published in the media.
 Preparing and managing team regarding research activities of VisitBritain.
 Attending any media or PR related event as a representative of VisitBritain (Blanke and
Chiesa, 2013).
Importance of Public Relation-
 A public relation expert is appointed to bring the organization’s activity into public's eyes.
PR activity of Weymouth will build the destination’s image in the minds of target people.
 Public relations help to improve the positioning of brand in the market. This promotional
tool will help Weymouth to highlight its tourist destination and the famous point with regard
to tourism.
 Public relation helps in influencing people to visit to a certain destination. This activity will

help Weymouth as the PR expert will convince people and tourist about the importance of
Weymouth as a seas side tourist destination.
 PR and promotional activities are done in a manner that the tourist behaviour can be
manipulated to achieve the tourist agencies target. PR expert will generate this behaviour for
the benefit to attract more tourism activities in the city.
Roles and importance of public relations; is effective in building the brand image of tourist
destination (Hall and Clayton, 2009).
1.3 Analysis of stakeholders of VisitBritain
Stakeholder analysis of VisitBritain is important to determine the needs and requirements of
tourists. To generate maximum output with the tourism, it is important to maintain healthy relation
with the stakeholders. The stakeholders can be segmented into i.e. internal and external. Following
points describe the relevance of stakeholders towards tourism and tourists.
Internal Stakeholders-
1. Shareholder- Theses Stakeholders of VisitBritain have decision making power. as they
invest their money into share and debentures of company. It is important for the firm to
include them in the decision making process. Shareholders can provide feedbacks to
promote promotional activity as they have idea about the market trends.
2. Employees- They do not have any power in the decision making. Employees are generally
paid individuals who work for monetary benefit and do not seek any advantage in company.
Employee participation is important as they work as the representatives of organization.
They deal with the clients and other members to generate revenue for Britain. They can
communicate with the tourists regarding their queries and information they need (Hall,
Timothy and Duval, 2012).
External Stakeholders
1. Customer- It is essential to understand the needs and wants of the customers in order to
receive maximum consumer satisfaction. Brochures guide the tourists about various
information requirements. Customers are important as they bring revenue to company. To
create new promotional tools for PR, organization has to understand the customer base and
tourist traffic.
2. Government- Government performs a vital function in the formulation of policies and
rules. Company has to adhere with these rules and regulations in order to successfully run its
business. Government provides various supports including investment and technological
help to the firm. Government help is essential in generating international tourism.
To generate maximum tourist traffic, it is required to recognize the need of stakeholders in

order to fulfil the customer satisfaction (Tsiotsou and Ratten, 2010).
1.2 Analysis of diversity of public or audiences including current and potential visitors of
Weymouth
Analysis of diversity of current visitors
Current tourist coming to Weymouth has a diversified honour in relation to tourism. There
are numerous number of tourists who visit Weymouth from all around the world for its natural
beauty and cultural heritage. The current tourists visiting the tourism destination i.e. Weymouth can
be categorised in the following types-
 Domestic Tourist- Domestic tourist from places like London, Edinburgh, Wales etc. prefer
travelling to Weymouth for its natural and calm environment. Domestic tourists prefer for an
overnight stay in Weymouth for their holiday or short trips.
 Education Tourism- Students from around UK and other countries of the world choose
Weymouth as a tourism destination due to its popularity and rising development in research
and training institutions.
 Business Tourism- Business tourist especially from Southampton, Bristol and London
travel Weymouth for business visits. These cities are near to the tourist destination, it is easy
to travel to Weymouth for business work (Xiang, Magnini and Fesenmaier, 2015).
Analysis of diversity of potential visitors
The potential tourist expected to Weymouth can be international tourist and adventure
junkies. Weymouth has great expectations for the coming season in terms of tourism. Tourism
generates great jobs and earning to benefit the economy of Weymouth. Weymouth's expectation is
from the international and business tourists. International Tourist- The tourism industry of UK is getting benefited through
international tourists. Tourists from US, China and Asia prefer to travel to UK. Being the
part of UK, Weymouth has potential to attract international tourists to generate profitability
of the destination. Weymouth has potential due to its rich culture and beautiful beaches
(Trends. 2007). PR activity must have to formulate in order to generate more tourists for the
destination. Adventure Tourism- Youth and young age people are more interested in destination that
offers adventurous spot to them. Weymouth has great opportunity to generate adventure
junkies to the destination . Beaches, Surfing, tracking spots and underwater diving are very
famous in the destination.
Apart from international and adventure, there is a lot of scope for Weymouth in attracting
tourists to the destinations (Inskipp, 2008).

TASK 1 B

2.1 Apply a range of public relation and promotional skills to travel and tourism context.
The range of public relation and promotional skills to travel and tourism context are as
follows:
Public relation skills:
 Creativity- In VisitBritain boosting the tourism visibility innovative ideas can be used such
as, action of the organization will be interconnected with other business. This innovative
idea can increase the the range of public relation. Green business practices, are widely
regulated within VisitBritain is another good idea to follow (Thakran and Verma, 2013).
 Communication skills and writing skills – the tourism business concern are extremely
dynamic. They must come up with a PR professional team to position themselves and to
come up with brand new technique observable to the public through the media. VisitBritain
can select candidate those having good communication skills. As these skills are used in
making company's website more attractive and and as per the PR's evaluation, they can
come up with innovative ideas.
Promotional skills are:1. Active Listening - in travel company like VisitBritain, active listening is the main
promotional skill. During active listening the PR team needs to focus on to what the public
have to say about the company. Without any innteruption, understanding deeply, asking
questions are the main aims of this skill.
Environmental audit with PESTEL analysis of VisitBritain in Weymouth.
 Political Factors – Government of Weymouth is responsible to provide VisitBritain with a
stable framework for carrying out its economic activity and thus, the stability in government
policies and regulations can affect company in positive manner.
 Economical Factors – Economic stability also plays significant role in shaping behaviour of
VisitBritain. When economic position of a country is stable and sound, company can have
better revenues through healthy pricing for customers in the region (Standing, Tang-Taye
and Boyer, 2014).
 Socio-Cultural Factors – The social class of people and their culture also determines major
business operations of VisitBritain. Company has to keep flow of its business activities in
line with culture and social class of people in the region in which it is operating.
 Technological Factors – Technological advancement in one region can significantly help
company in acquiring cost effective business activities and this can affect its business
operations in positive manner.
 Environmental Factors – VisitBritain have to ensure that it operates with environmental

friendly functions in order to protect it from harmful business activities. Thus, company has
to adopt various standards that are aimed at protecting environment.
 Legal Factors – The law also shapes behaviour of VisitBritain by introducing taxation
polices, competition polices, and other various regulatory mechanisms. Thus, company
needs to consider and comply with all these laws to sustain longer in industry.
4.1 PR plan and key public in Weymouth
Implementation of plan in VisitBritain:
strategies Tasks Person Responsible Time frame
PR plan terminal
 Mobilize
rootage cause
 Keeping the
main dates
confidential.
 Making and
furnishing the
draft.
 Making
campaign profit
schemes
 Making a
Questionnaire
PR squad week3-4
Prepare campaign
materials
3. Coming up with
the price
evaluation
4. innovating the
social media
page
HR squad week- 6-8
Promote the
campaign
3. Making
transcript for
Facebook and
Twitter.
4. Making banners
Campaign squad From 60th days
onwards

for innovation
in social media
5. online forms
available on
website
The PR plan must be wholly connected to the above given program in Weymouth. The PR
plan for VisitBritain are integrated with following aspects: Plan assessment- The PR department of Visitbritain should review the past years actions
that analyses the advertisements and aid created by PR team in the company of Weymouth.
They think about the alternative ideas that gives the positive impact (Mills and Law, 2013).
 Tongued challenges- They gives chances to the general public to get exposure in Weymouth.
The above plan gives the idea about the website issues, the documents and questionnaires
created.
3.1 analyse media used in public relations
The media used in public relations of VisitBritain are elaborated below:
 Social media- Social media marketing is a way to communicate with the targeted audience .
They is mainly target the audience on Facebook. As maximum of people are having their
accounts on Facebook.
 Customary media- They can also use customary media that actually raises the brand name of
the company. The specialized promotional tactics, helps the PR team to come up with their
innovative ideas of advertising newspaper columns (Xiang, Magnini and Fesenmaier,
2015).
 Local media- in other ways visitbritain can use the most common way PR such as, TV's
are the medium presented in every household. This helps the companies to advertise on air.
 Classifieds- Classified newspapers and yellow pages can also be used to attract the desired
public in Weymouth and are considered ongoing yet with minimal investment.
The PR staff of VisitBritain consider a one-page newsletter to be mailed every quarter to choose
clients in its database. Local sponsorships of VisitBritain in Weymouth, could also be featured in
the PR plan, not only creating knowing in the process but also constructing friendliness in the
community (Promotional Representative Career, 2015).

3.2 assess the relationship between public relations and the media
The kinship between the media and the PR department is one on one and closely knit to each
other. The main things that matter is the support of media to that of PR team. The PR professionals
working with VisitBritain advertise on different medium of media. This in turn gives the company
the platform to connect with the localized people. The PR team and media is internally connected to
each other that gives matter and and information in a precise format to publish it on air. The main
connection the company's PR team and media is the journalist (Hall, Timothy and Duval, 2012).
The essential tool for giving information in a precise format to the media is the news report
and columns. The biggest supplier of news to local people are the UK news report union. The news
reporters supplies data regarding VisitBritain. This in turn gives customers a knowledge to how
they can offer to its news. Many of the news reporter's information is made on the behalf of the
posts on internet. The freedom of the news reporters are out looked by kinship of PR professionals.
3.3 evaluate the appropriateness of media used with different public relations techniques in travel
and tourism
Evaluation of media used with various PR techniques in tourism industry:
 social media – social media marketing is a easiest way to market as it helps the company to
easily reach to the targeted audience. The company do no need any investment in this type
of media marketing. On the other hand, sometimes servers takes a toll as the social media
marketing is all because of internet, any issue in internet makes problems in media
marketing.
 Local media- The main advantage of local media is it offers sight, sound, motion, colour
and special effects. Viewer doesn’t have to be actively involved. Whereas, Production fees
and air time costs make it expensive.
 Classifieds- the advantage is consumers look for ads in newspapers deliver timely messages
copy space is unlimited readers are actively involved. Whereas, it is not popular with all age
groups (Mills, and Law,2013).
VisitBritain uses classifieds as a medium of media to reach each and every audience. This
PR technique is a benefit for the Public relation personnel to come up with the top-quality results of
travel (Blanke and Chiesa, 2013). For example: VisitBritain's travel destinations and packages will
be more suitable for newspapers than television. This is the idea according to public relation
professional. This in turn gives the PR professionals a reason to find out which of the new is
actually good to publicize. It is actually more likewise to come in one classified and then
conjugated to bring news in public if is worth it.

TASK 3A
4.2 Effectiveness of the PR plan
The effectiveness of the PR plan is evaluated and reviewed to inspect the probability of the
success of the plan. Public Relation Plan as proposed will help to increase the tourist traffic of
Weymouth. Public Relation Plan will highlight the credibility of promotion to the destination. The
following pints describe how the PR plan is affective to the organisation.
 Develop awareness about VisitBritain- The proposed public relation plan will generate
awareness about the advertising agency i.e. VisitBritain. This plan will help promote
VisitBritain as an advertising agency for tourist destination. The plan is created in
accordance for highlighting the VisitBritain speciality.
 Builds Brand image- The plan suggested will help VisitBritain to builds its brand image in
international and domestic market. In international market it will help generate more
customers for VisitBritain. PR plan is formulated for the purpose to build branding for the
company it facilitates to increase the image of company in the public's eye.
 Generates Goodwill- Good PR plan generates goodwill for the company. The company gets
publicised through various promotional and advertising activities that it uses. It builds
goodwill in the market for the company which generates customer base for the company.
 Increases customer's attraction- PR plan helps to attract customers to the company. PR
plan of the company also lets the company to constantly stay in the eyes of the customers.
The company gets benefited by its promotional activity as it generates customers. These
plans are important as it builds good rapport in the market of the company.
 Improves Financial Position of the company- The PR plan gathers customers attractions
and help to bring financial support to the company. As it generates sales through it PR
activity it brings profit to the company. As more and more customers come to the company
it increase and builds good financial image of the company.
PR plan helps to stimulate revenue for the company. As the major objective of a plan is in attracting
customers, alongside it brings in sales for the company (Dickinson and Lumsdon, 2012).

CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that Public Relation is an important tool in Brand positioning and brand
building. VisitBritain helps to generate the promotion aspect of a destination, which is getting
affected by low tourist traffic. The research shows how VisitBritain uses various media and
promotional tools to build the destination's tourism image in the general public's eye. Weymouth
has great potential as its rich in heritage and sea side shores. From the research it can be concluded
that VisitBritain needs to use various promotional tools to lightweight the tourism aspect of
Weymouth.

REFERENCES
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