Coursework Example: Sochi SWOT Analysis and Tourism Promotion

The city successfully hosted the 2014 eco-tourist conference on the winter Olympics.

The City Olympic organizing committee was awarded for their environmental legacy, at the International Sports Events Management Awards conference. Weakness

Communication problems with the local's racism

the city has unstable weather

Opportunity

Russians love to visit the eco-tourism sites of the city with this creating a strong international brand. Threats

Instability in the Caucasus Region

1. Sochi SWOT analysis

Sochi is the official summer city of Russia. Also known as, the Black Sea Pearl, the city is Russias most prominent summer sea resort. The town has a fantastic mountainous coastline, warm sunny days, and endless shingles beaches. Sochi recorded more than three million visitors in 2014 with the majority the tourists being local Russians. International visitors account only three percent of the total tourists visiting the citys beaches and historical sites.

However, the citys credibility came after successfully hosting the 2014 winter Olympics and Paralympics games. The strategy the Russian government employed for the 2014 Olympic Games was for it to be the Games, which is in harmony with nature. The games preparation ensured that the greenhouse gases emitted during the games preparation were drastically reduced. Besides, construction of Olympic venues and the development of the city as an Alpine Resort demanded that the people, who were executing the plan, employed redeeming measure to maintain Sochis unique natural environment. Furthermore, in December 2011, one of the Olympic Committees branches was certified as one of ECO office.

The development of ecotourism in Sochi was through the approval by the citys administration for a set period of 2012-2015. The citys nature preservation project is in the partnership of UNEPs Billion Tree Campaign and Climate Neutral Network. To watch on nature, publication of Popular Ecology quarterly ensures that electronic information of the environment is available to the public.

The choice of United Kingdom as the target market is a strategic one. The 2014 Olympic and Paralympics games held in Sochi provided the best platform to display the Eco-tourist sites the city can offer to the United Kingdom tourist. Additionally, the environmental conference held in Sochi in 2014 enabled the visiting delegates of the United Kingdom to sample the eco-tourism sites of the city. Moreover, the Russian Grand Prix brings in visitors tourists among them the United Kingdom visitors.

2. The source market and market strategy

1. Why targeting United Kingdom Market?

The reason for targeting the United Kingdom market is as per the data in the Russian tourist news website KM.ru. The website indicates that the most frequent tourists to Russia were from Israel with +65.9 percent closely followed by the United Kingdom with + 64.7 percent. Sochi experienced a 58.2 percentage increase is tourists in 2016. This increase in the number of tourists was because of the devaluation of Ruble and the government initiatives of simplifying the visa problems. Tourists from the UK had been complaining about high hotel prices and stringent visa process as the reason for their lower visits to Sochi (Tuttle).

2. Eco-tourist motivators

Tourist preferences are shifting to eco-friendliness activities as opposed to the previous practices. The Russian government has been striving to achieve the international environmental requirement, and this was observed during the preparation of 2014 Olympic and Paralympics games in Sochi (Tysiachniouk, 2016). President Putin approved the program, which was to support the environmental measures to be put in place before, during, and after the Games in Sochi, Russia. The city weather is the key attraction as it enjoys the sunshine for 300 days in a year. Moreover, the ski resort of Roza Khutor provides the unforgettable tourist experience during the winter seasons. Its unique beaches with mountainous views are also popular with tourists, both local and international. Additionally, tourists who prefer nature walking and bird watching can visit the Caucasian State Biosphere Reserve.

3. Segmentation

The project is targeting the mature United Kingdom visitors, who are spouses, friends, and retreat groups to sample on the citys eco-tourist sites. Since the city is sunny most of the days of the year, the tourists can engage in outdoor activities like visiting the beach and attending the Russia Grand Prix. Winter period will allow the tourists to visit the mountains and the alpine resort of Krasnaya Polyana for skiing. The scenic views of the rocky beaches offer a perfect photo sight for the mature United Kingdom tourists.

3. Action

To promote our marketing action in Sochi, we will interview the United Kingdom athletes on their experience of Sochi during the Olympic Games. This interview will be done in the presence of the invited journalists from the top newspapers and top media houses. Invitation of the media houses is with the aim of ensuring the coverage of the interview is wide. More so, the choice of inviting the journalists from major newspapers is because most of the mature tourist the project is targeting uses the papers as a source of information. The purpose of interviewing the athletes on their experience in Sochi is to capitalize on celebrity advertisement, a status these athletes are accorded for representing the United Kingdom on the international stage. The positive response from the interviewees will boost the attention of Sochi as a top tourist destination regarding hospitality, attraction, and its main activities. Continually, to cement the popularity of Sochi, a visit to the citys iconic sites with the journalists from the United Kingdom will boost the information delivery back home.

Next, our project will collaborate with Caucasian State Biosphere Reserve. The reserve is a beautiful area, and it contains rare fauna and flora. The resort is an escape route for the mature United Kingdom tourists who are tired of the beach (Petersson, 2014). The choice of this resort is because it is an ideal eco-tourism site for camping, mountain climbing, sightseeing, and mountain horse-riding. Furthermore, the resort has a theme park in Esto-Sadok, where the tourists who come with their children can enjoy the wild animals in addition to the rope-park. A visit to this resort will afford the tourists to get a clear view of Krasnaya Polyana.

In addition to the visits in iconic sites in Sochi, the projects members and the journalists will visit another top environmental initiative like the one carried out by the UNEP, to get a firsthand experience on steps achieved to convert Sochi city into an eco-tourism center in Russia (Petersson, 2014). A visit to the citys administration office will again prove to the United Kingdom influential journalists on the steps taken by Russia, with an example of Sochi, to increase the number of tourists to the country, specifically for eco-tourism.

Reference

Petersson, B. (2014). Still Embodying the Myth? Russia's Recognition as a Great Power and the Sochi Winter Games. Problems of Post-Communism, 61(1), 30-40.

Kvasova, O. (2011). Socio-demographic determinants of eco-friendly tourist attitudes and behavior. Tourism Today, 11, 73-95

Hill, T., & Westbrook, R. (1997). SWOT analysis: it's time for a product recall. Long range planning, 30(1), 46-52.

Tysiachniouk, M., & McDermott, C. L. (2016). Certification with Russian characteristics: Implications for social and environmental equity. Forest Policy and Economics, 62, 43-53

Tuttle. Time. 8 February 2014. 9 11 2017 <http://time.com/6016/sochi-worst-olympics-travel-destination-ever/>.

 Appendix1: http://aroundtherings.com/site/A__39170/Title__British-Tourism-Promotion-Praise-for-Sochi-Ski-Venue-Key-Qatari-World-Cup-Contract/292/ArticlesAppendix 2: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article