The tourist office rethinks its strategy

Since the start of the year, the tourist office has embarked on a path of change to rethink its overall strategy. Accompanied by Conteurs, the first agency specializing in travel marketing, the office is working on the vision of tomorrow. 

Discussed during the annual meeting of socio-professionals, the strategy file began last February. It is divided into 4 phases where workshops, immersions, studies and productions follow one another.

Summary:  

• First phase: Workshops & Immersion in the territory
• Second phase: Studies & Research
• The next phases of the strategy
• Why make a change in strategy and positioning?

Workshops & Immersion in the territory 

The first phase of the tourist office's strategic thinking took place in 2 stages:  

• The first, a discovery workshop (carried out on 13/03/2024) of 2 hours with an internal steering committee to understand the tourism vision of the territory, the operation and the issues of the project.
• The second, a immersion in the territory (run from 02/04/2024 to 05/04/2024) to meet local stakeholders: elected officials, historical partners and new project leaders. 

These questions must lead to a concrete plan to determine what actions should be deployed to develop the destination brand.

This first phase allowed the Conteurs agency to clarify the issues and obtain the essential keys to constructing their thinking and reasoning for the rest of the project. 

Studies & Research 

The second phase began on 10/05/2024. Carried out internally by the agency's teams, it aims to:  

• Unravel the positioning of the tourist office to highlight the distinctive, classic, differentiating and unique elements of the territory 
• Flatten visitor profiles 
• Observe market trends 
• Analyze the existing situation through an audit of actions already carried out 

The objective is not the least since it will be a question here of create the new identity card for the tourist office (also called brand platform); a document that answers simple but essential and profoundly meaningful questions: Who are we? Which direction are we going to follow? 

Mid-June will mark the start of the strategic shift of the tourist office. In fact, the Conteurs agency will carry out the first point step in the restitution of studies and research. A moment eagerly awaited by the steering committee because it will crystallize the areas of work for the future brand positioning of the tourist office, which will be validated at the end of June. 

The next phases of the strategy  

The next three phases of the strategy will take place from September, after the tourist season has passed.  

• September and October: organization and launch of the third phase which is the co-construction workshop.
• November and December: work and closure of the fourth phase which consists of creating the roadmap and action plans over 3 years.
• January and February 2025: presentation of the strategy during the annual meeting of tourism socio-professionals.

Why make a change in strategy and positioning? 

The question of strategy was one of the substantive issues that the office wanted to implement soon. However, the resumption of the “creation and management of tourist office” competence desired by the city of Cabourg on January 1, 2024 has accelerated the process. It was therefore essential to rethink the strategy not BY but WITH Cabourg.