4. Tourism Market Drivers 4.1
Introduction
4.2
Tourism Trends
In determining the Tourism Strategy 2017-2022 for Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, it is necessary to consider the trends and tastes of visitors to Northern Ireland, and the purpose of their visit, such as holiday/leisure/recreation, business meetings/events/ conferences or other events.
There are several tourism trends that are relevant to the development and expansion of the tourism sector in Antrim and Newtownabbey: •
Demography: The number of people in older age categories is rapidly increasing. Seniors are often healthier and have higher disposable incomes than in the past; this may result in holidaymaking where arts, culture and history play a more important role, including more educational and spiritual holidaymaking. Destinations are also increasingly modernising their offer to attract younger age-group markets. As a result, there is a growing number of more ‘culturally curious’ and ‘active’ tourists.
•
Travel experience: More sophisticated consumers are progressively more self-assured regarding their needs. For tourism, this results in an increasingly critical attitude to quality, and to the pricequality ratio.
•
Consumer and visitor loyalty to destinations has dissipated: Visitors are both more discerning and demanding about what is on offer from a destination.
•
Information technology and use of digital platforms: The internet and its role as an information source, as well as for actual purchasing of tourism products and services, will continue to increase. Social media and review sites will continue to increase as a key engagement tool for potential visitors. These Trends33 are patterns of behaviour in visitors and potential visitors and how they act in relation to tourism. Significant research has been done in recent years to establish what the key trends of visitors to Northern Ireland are; these are summarised in Table 4.1. Trend Trend 1
Trend 2
Trend 3
Behaviours Consumers continue to book more components of their itinerary online. With their travel options now virtually unlimited most consumers no longer want an off-the-shelf package and are happy to build separate and independent tourism products into a bespoke and personal holiday (although travel agents and tour operators are still seen as a risk mitigator, particularly in long haul markets). Consumers are increasingly booking components of their itinerary using their mobile devices on-the-go and often while already in the destination; this means that lead times are shorter, flexibility is greater and consumers can be open to more influence whilst indestination. Consumers have access to unlimited amounts of information and have become more perceptive about the world. They are arriving at destinations with a wealth of previously sourced information about what to see and what to do; this means that they are increasingly looking more from their trip and want to be surprised by hidden gems and authentic places only the locals know about.
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These trends where identified by Northern Ireland Tourist Board (now Tourism NI) and included in their toolkit Knowing Your Customer and Growing Your Business published in 2014
Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council: Tourism Strategy 2017-2022
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