Formulation And Implementation Of A Five-Year Ecotourism Marketing Strategy

A marketing strategy is essential to target and attract the desired tourist segments to the state.

Formulation of the Five-Year Strategy
The strategy will be formulated by the Chief Executive in collaboration with the section managers. It will be reviewed and approved by the board. The five-year ecotourism marketing strategy will include the following:
  • A promotion and branding strategy targeting selected markets in India and abroad that would be attracted to enjoy ecotourism in Sikkim
  • A PR strategy to build up relationships with the media and with suppliers
  • An ?ecotourism events and festival? strategy, which will support 5 festivals annually. 

These could include cultural festivals organized by the various ethnic groups so that they are promoted to tourists well in advance and made ?tourist-friendly?. Others include ecotourism such as flower shows. 
  • A product development and improvement strategy, which will provide local communities offering tourism services with advice and possible access to micro-financing. This will also include an initiative to link tour operators with ecotourism service providers in the local community. 
  • A market research strategy to provide essential information on the markets visiting Sikkim and potential markets that should be targeted in the strategy.

The activities related to the strategies will be scheduled over the five-year period with responsibilities and resources allocated.

Implementation of the Five-Year Strategy
As per the Detailed Breakdown of the Project Cost in Attachment 6, for the purpose of advertisement of the ecotourism potential of the Sikkim, one overseas PR tour and two domestic PR tours with two private operators are considered as main activities of each year for the implementation of the Five-Year Ecotourism Marketing Strategy. In order to create linkage with the private operators which are interested in ecotourism potential in Sikkim, international and domestic PR tour with private operators for exhibition of the ecotourism potential of Sikkim will be effective. The other effective measures will be web development, organization of festivals in Sikkim, and preparation of publications. In order to utilize the marketing strategy, EMC should promote marketing in collaboration with the Department of Tourism in Sikkim so that effective marketing activities are sustained after the completion of the Project.

A monitoring system that oversees the effectiveness and progress of the strategy will be applied during the implementation phase.