Repeat visitors: exploratory investigation of RTO responses

In competitive tourism markets the consumer-traveller is spoilt by choice of available destinations, and so it is likely many places are substitutable. Successfully differentiating a destination at decision time is arguably the greatest challenge faced by destination marketing organisations (DMOs). In the emerging literature relating to place branding there has been little attention given to issues such as visitor loyalty, destination switching, repeat visitation and customer relationship management. Underpinned by the proposition that communicating with previous visitors will be a more efficient use of resources than traditional advertising, this paper reports an exploratory investigation into the extent that regional tourism organisations (RTO) in Queensland, Australia, are encouraging repeat visitors from their largest market. While there was a general recognition of the potential for visitor relationship management (VRM), none of the RTOs had yet been able to develop a formal approach to stay in touch with previous visitors. Destination marketers face a unique set of challenges and impediments, relative to marketers of other products and services. The term 'firefighting' is a useful metaphor to highlight what will inhibit VRM development by these RTOs for some time to come. More research is required to assist destination marketers address the issue of how to initiate meaningful dialogue, at the right time, with the hundreds of thousands of potential repeat visitors, with whom they do not have direct contact.