The tourism, leisure and event sectors are becoming increasingly competitive and challenging to operate in, and the question we are asked most often by operators is: “Isn’t the market saturated?” Our answer is market dependent, but generally we are confident that if their business offering is high quality and unique in some way, it should be possible to compete effectively and profitably. 

At this time of year it is sensible to review any tourism, leisure and events business in terms of retaining existing customers as well as winning new business and new footfall. Our three core areas to focus on are:

1. Maximising the customer experience

Key to success is ensuring that whatever you are offering customers is compelling, your marketing effort is targeted towards your existing and potential customer base, the sales process is effective – whether that is online ticketing or venue hire – and pricing is competitive. Above all, do you have the right management and staffing structure in place to operate and deliver a complex, customer-focused business? 

2. Review what you are already doing

As well as identifying opportunities to diversify and develop new enterprises, we now spend an increasing amount of our time helping clients fine tune their existing businesses. The importance of taking the time to review and question all elements of the status quo cannot be underestimated. These elements might include analysis of competitors and pricing reviews, testing the sales process through mystery shop exercises, and undertaking a review of individual roles and responsibilities to ensure that teams are efficient and effective. 

3. Engage an objective third party 

Having a vested interest in any business can make it harder to step back and review it objectively. Involve a third party to go through a structured business health check process with you to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) for analysis. From this, develop a range of practical short and long-term goals for improvement to work through and measure success.

Small changes often make all the difference and we find it immensely satisfying to see these result in improved business performance and customer satisfaction. As Warren Buffet said:-"It is not necessary to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results" but businesses which do not innovate and adapt to market changes will increasingly struggle to compete. 

Further information

Contact Simon Foster or Adam Davies

Spotlight: Rural Tourism and Leisure