Work on the Implementation of the EU Ecolabel Scheme in the Areas of Marketing Lot 8. ITB Berlin 7-11 March 2007

Transcription

1 Annex 4 Work on the Implementation of the EU Ecolabel Scheme in the Areas of Marketing Lot 8 ITB Berlin 7-11 March 2007 Report April, 2007 Ernst Leitner, G&L Stefan Tauchhammer, G&L Rainer Stifter, Energon On behalf of the European Commission

2 Tasks and goals Within the framework of the project Work on the implementation of the EU Ecolabel scheme in the areas of marketing, product group development and stakeholder representation, Lot 8, the contractors were present at ITB Berlin. ITB is the most important and largest tourism fair in Europe. It addresses to trade visitors (hotels and hotel groups, accommodations, tourist organisations, associations, tour operators, travel agencies, organisers, tourist magazines) and private visitors. With a plus of 15 % (compared with 2006) ITB counted 2007 more than 10,923 exhibitors and 177,154 visitors (including 108,735 trade visitors up to Friday). The EU Ecolabel marketing team, represented by G&L and Energon, was present everyday and hosted a stand in cooperation with Landidyll Reisen, a special holiday group, and the Austrian Ecolabel in hall 17. The main focus of all the activities consisted of: Active presentation to relevant stakeholders in tourism (tourist regions, hotel groups, journalists etc.) Raise the level of recognition among decision makers in tourism Get contact to key stakeholders in tourism in our focus countries Get contact to relevant hotel groups and hotels Find interested tourist businesses to apply for the European Ecolabel Meet relevant tour operators to position this environmental award and achieve support Distribute information leaflets among visitors, especially the new Where-to-stay-poster combo Present the EU Ecolabel to relevant media Presentations at stages with quiz-games for visitors As target area we focused on following countries: Mediterranean countries (Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Spain) New Member States (Czech Republic, Slovak Republic Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Latvia) German speaking countries (Germany, Austria) Other regions outside our target areas (Malta, France, Poland) - 2 -

3 Result 1. Stand We organised an exhibition stand (20 m 2 ) with sufficient room for presentations to trade and private visitors. In order to reduce costs we co-operated with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Environment (representing the Austrian Ecolabel and the Austrian Competent Body for the EU Ecolabel) and Landidyll, a holiday specialist whose hotels are certified with the Austrian Ecolabel and some are actually applying for the EU Ecolabel. The stand was hosted every day by a hostess and members of the EU Ecolabel marketing team, giving information (new brochures, posters) to all visitors and motivating them to participate in our quiz game. It was located in the highly frequented hall 17 very close to the main entrance. Activities Duration Marketing Team Prearrangements, Vienna (Planning, organisation of the stand, the presentation, etc.) 2,5 days Mrs. Susanne Schlaffer, G&L Journey to Berlin by car (transportation of stand equipment, brochures etc.) March 6, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Constructing the stand in the evening 6.3., 9-11 p.m. First day, 7.3., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. For trade visitors Second day, 8.3., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. For trade visitors Third day, 9.3., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. For trade visitors Fourth day, 10.3., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. For private visitors Including a presentation at the event floor (Sonnenklar-TV) with visitors quiz-game Fifth day, 11.3., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. For private visitors Including a presentation at the event floor (Sonnenklar-TV) with visitors quiz-game Three hours Mr. Rainer Stifter, Energon Mr. Rainer Stifter, Energon Mr. Rainer Stifter, Energon Dismantling 11.3., 6-7 p.m. One hour Return journey by car 7.p.m. to 2 a.m. (8 hours) Stefan Tauchhammer, G&L Total days Susanne Schlaffer, G&L 2,5 days Total days Ernst Leitner, G&L 6 days Total days Stefan Tauchhammer,G&L 6 days Total days Rainer Stifter, Energon 3 days - 3 -

4 2. Consumer Materials We distributed following materials approx. 500 Where-to-stay-poster combo in German and English approx. 100 folder Towards an environmentally sound future in German approx. 150 folder Towards an environmentally sound future in English approx. 40 items in Greek, 30 in Italian, 25 in Spanish, 15 in Czech, 5 in Hungarian approx. 50 fact sheets in English languages approx. 100 project flyers in English To decorate the stand we used a 4 x 1,5 metres large transparent to make the stand also visible from far away. Additionally, we applied several posters (format 70 x 100 cm), covered by plexi glass boards. Poster 70 x 100 cm Poster announcing the quiz - 4 -

5 As experienced in 2006 the Where-to-stay-guide proved as the right marketing instrument both at the stakeholders and at the private visitors! We renewed this product in combination with a poster (recto) and call it Poster-Combo (see following pictures EN, GE). At ITB we provided this poster to trade and private visitors for the first time. Infoflyer for the quiz-game (tipp-on-card) Project-Flyer - 5 -

6 3. Acquisition One of the major objectives was also to look for potential companies to apply for the EU Ecolabel. Another aspect was to discuss with representatives of certified hotels about their experiences and impressions about the EU Ecolabel for tourist accommodation services. We had an interesting meeting on that with a representative from Hotel Jardim, to discuss consumer benefits. In general, our acquisition strategy was as follows: Identify potential regions / hotels with a context to nature and environment Find partners for the promotion of the EU Ecolabel (e.g. tourist provinces and tour operators) Find potential companies to apply for the EU Ecolabel (hotels, hotel chains) The detailed list of contacts plus results please find in the annex. All the important contacts will be followed up from the EU Ecolabel marketing team! The acquisition team: Mr. Ernst Leitner Mr. Rainer Stifter Mr. Stefan Tauchhammer 4. Advertising effects ITB is Europe s most important trade fair and reaches a wide audience of international tourist experts (e.g. representatives of tourist regions, tour operators, tourist associations) and decision-makers. In detail we estimate following advertising effects during our activities (at the stand and at the meetings). Trade visitors days (key players in tourism) Dates Eyecontacts (estimated) ,000 Personal contacts Visitors (at stand, at presentation) 55 meetings outside stand approx. 150 trade visitors at stand Presentation at stage Sonnenklar Participants at stage TV Presentation at stage Sonnenklar Participants at stage TV Public days ,000 approx. 1,

7 5. Promotional activities Our stand was perfectly located in hall 7, good frequented and neighbouring to a stage from Sonnenklar TV. This is a private sender in Germany. The activity at ITB was sponsored by the Austrian Tourist Federation for promotional activities. Due to our contacts we organised free stage events at the public days on Saturday and Sunday (1.30 PM). The stage was hosted by a TV-Team and conducted by a professional moderator. At both days Mr. Leitner could present quiz-games with the quiz wheel. The main prizes were free weekends at ecolabelled hotels. Both events started with short interviews featuring sustainable tourism and eco-label activities in general. 6. Contact results At the trade visitors days the EU Ecolabel marketing team organised a lot of meetings with relevant key stakeholders, mainly in our target area. We established contacts with Greece, Italy, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Latvia, Spain, Romania and Czech Republic. Outside our target area we had contacts to tourist managers in Slovenia, Switzerland, France, Poland and also Turkey. In the foreground of the meetings was the objective to set up commitments with representtatives from tourist federations in the ongoing target countries. Following this strategy we could organize many relevant persons from the region who are willing to support our activities. Following the highlights of the meetings are summarized: Tour Operators: Support will come from Rewe Touristik /LTU (Europes second largest tour operator) for ongoing activities in the Mediterranean Countries. Slovak Republic: Slovak Tourism will help to find participants for the planned meeting. Czech Republic: Czech Tourism promises to give full support for coming events Greece: Fruitful co-operation contacts from the Hotel Group Vacations in Crete as well as from C.E.O., Deltanet Travel. Also promising contacts to the Prefecture of Heraklion Malta: Excellent cooperation with the International Corinthia Hotel group which will start to certify a hotel in Budapest and Malta Latvia: Promising contact to Latvian Tourism Development Agency which will support the planned presentation in May - 7 -

8 Slovenia The Ministry of Economy and Directorate of Tourism promises to push the EU Ecolabel activities Hungary Promising contact to Balatoni Nemzeti Park Italy Several fruitful contacts to representatives from Sardegna for the activities in summer Romania Several fruitful contacts to representatives from Romania which promises support for the ongoing activities Spain Several fruitful contacts to representatives from Valencia to be successfully used during the summer presentations Germany Garmisch Tourism promises to support planned meetings in Garmisch Partenkirchen Austria A representative of Styria Tourism was informed on the planned activities.. Switzerland Interesting contacts to Swiss Tourism and Hotellerie Suisse with the hope to get much more EU Ecolabelled companies Poland Interesting contacts for future activities with promising outlook 7. List of contacts The EU Ecolabel marketing team was very busy to meet as many relevant decision-makers in tourism as possible. The objectives were primarily: Present the EU Ecolabel (raise the level of recognition at stakeholders EU-wide) Find partners for the promotion of the EU Ecolabel (e.g. tourist provinces) in the target countries Find commitments with tour operators Find potential companies to apply for the EU Ecolabel (hotels, hotel chains) Result in summary: 55 personal contacts and meetings - 8 -

9 8. Photogallery Common stand between EU Ecolabel, Landidyllhotels and Austrian Ecolabel Mr. Leitner uses the stand for co-operation meetings Mr. Stifter during a conversation at the stand Visitors participating the Ecolabel quiz game Moderator Kai Pätzmann interviewing Mr. Leitner on the stage - 9 -

10 The audience during the second quiz-game on the stage, moderated by Mr. Leitner Talk during the quiz-game on the stage Happy winners of two free holiday weekends The winner is drawn by hostess Andrea Stefan accompanied by our nice hostesses with leaflet dispenser Ernst Leitner / Rainer Stifter/Stefan Tauchhammer Vienna, 14 March