JOINT PROMOTION PLATFORM Pilot project on joint promotion of Europe in third markets What is joint promotion? For the purpose of this pilot project, joint promotion is understood as a marketing tool designed to promote a product or service by associating compatible brands. Often these brands will belong to separate partners, who collaborate to achieve common marketing goals. The type and content of the joint activity can vary. Resource sharing and economies of scales are a significant reason to joint promotions and cooperative marketing. Joint promotions achieve more out of the resources available by increasing volume, reach and effectiveness while leveraging costs in an environment with benefits for all parties involved. Why does Europe need a joint promotion platform? Europe has been holding a leading position in the global tourism market since tourism became a relevant economic activity. In 2014, destinations in the European Union maintained a share of nearly 40% of the global market for international travel, a percentage that has remained constant since 2010. International tourism revenues totalled 319 billion, up 4% from previous year, representing 34% of world total earnings from international tourism. Still, the global forces challenging Europe's leading position in the global market -such as increasing complexity of and competition in the international tourism market, continuing downward pressure on budgets and the embracing of electronic technologies by consumers- have not vanished, and require joint actions to build on momentum and ensure the development of a more competitive and sustainable tourism sector. Mature destinations, as the ones in Europe, with a highly developed and high quality product, and a strong dependence on mature markets, should aim towards a more diversified source markets portfolio as strategy to sustain growth. Long-term growth projections point to an increase of 2.1% in international tourist arrivals to EU destinations through 2025, a much slower pace than the 2.4% average observed over the period 1995-2010, and well below the projected world average rate of 3.5%. If no action is taken, this would inevitably result in a decline in EU s share of the international travel market, as a result of tourism growing faster in emerging world regions. In the EU, nearly 90% of all international travel comes from within the region, a share limited to 73% and 75% in Asia-Pacific and the Americas respectively. This has tangible effects on tourism earnings as long-haul travel is typically associated with longer stays and higher spend. According to UNWTO, in 2014 destinations in Europe earned 660 per international arrival, compared to an average of 1,080 for destinations in Asia and the Pacific, and 1,140 in the Americas. Increased marketing efforts across a wider range of markets, especially from long-haul, is needed to attract new segments and improve the profitability of the European tourism sector. The European Commission's top priority for the coming years is to boost jobs and growth in Europe. Tourism is a strategic sector for the delivering on this priority. Even if the number of international travellers is expected to double in the next 15 years up to 2 billion, there is a growing competition from other continents to attract the new emerging middle class from Asia, Latin America or Middle East. In line with the reinforced EU tourism competence provided for in the Lisbon Treaty, since 2010, the European Commission has stepped up its efforts to contribute to increase Europe's visibility and strengthen the competitiveness of its tourism sector with a number of levers, among which marketing and promotion activities in new emerging and established long-haul markets. This overarching goal can only be achieved through an improved level of cooperation between industry and governments, to address jointly the main barriers to growth. It is crucial that tourism organisations at all levels continue to strengthen their collaboration under the umbrella of a common European approach.
To this end, it is vital to initiate a joint initiative involving tourism key public and private players in targeted promotion efforts, capitalising on Europe's shared values as well as on its exceptional diversity and great variety of tourism experiences offered. Such a joint initiative should facilitate the establishment of transnational marketing partnerships and add value to all current promotion efforts. It is, therefore, very important to invest more and better to promote Europe as a tourist destination. For this, the continent needs better joint promotion of destination Europe in third markets coordinating promotional efforts at European level. A public-private promotion platform is the most appropriate solution in order to be more efficient, inclusive and maximize return of investment. This solution has proven to be an effective instrument to add value in destination marketing. Important travel destinations such as US, Canada or Australia, for example, are very active on promoting their destination at federal level with their industry and regions. The European Commission and the European Travel Commission (ETC), which has been mandated by the European national tourism organisations to promote Europe in long haul markets, are increasing their efforts to improve this coordination by setting up a platform for joint promotion in third markets. What is the Joint Promotion Platform? The Joint Promotion Platform is a pilot project of the European Commission in cooperation with the European Travel Commission. The goal of this platform is to support the promotion of European destinations and touristic products in strategic third markets by putting in place a series of cooperative marketing programmes initiated at a European level to be jointly funded by public and private partners. The Joint Promotion Platform is currently being established. Cooperative marketing programmes at various levels will be developed during the first half of 2017. During its pilot implementation phase (July 2017-December 2018), the platform will support promotion activities in view of the EU-China Tourism Year. Who is involved? It is envisaged that the following public and private partners will be involved: Public partners The European Union (EU). The EU - through its bodies the European Commission and the European Parliament - is the primarily benefactor of the Joint Promotion Platform. It is foreseen that a total of 8 million euro will be made available at different stages during the pilot phase for actions co-funded with platform funds. The European Travel Commission (ETC). The ETC is the non-profit organisation responsible for the promotion of Europe as a tourist destination in third markets. The ETC administrates and manages the Joint Promotion Platform and offers its long-standing experience in destination marketing, research, knowledge and understanding of target third markets, as well as its extensive network of partners to develop cooperative marketing programmes and campaigns that appeal to potential travellers to Europe. The ETC also contributes to the funding of the platform through the co-financing of the contribution made available by the EU. ETC represents its member National Tourism Organisations (NTOs) and Associates Members in the platform. European Regions. European Regions and other Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) might bring additional funds into the platform to gain access to cooperative marketing programmes and joint activities with private partners. The minimum level of contribution envisaged is EUR 250,000. In this pilot phase, it is envisaged that a maximum of twenty
regions will be able to join following a 'first come first serve' and geographical balance policy.small regions might be authorised to join as a regional grouping. Private partners & Associations Tourism industry. European and non-european companies operating in the travel and tourism industry with an interest in increasing tourism flows to Europe from long-haul international markets and relevant in terms of market development (such as airlines, operators, key distribution retailers, on-site carriers and hospitality inter alia). They may contribute financial or in-kind to the implementation of activities co-funded with public funds from the Joint Promotion Platform. Non-tourism industry. European and non-european companies operating in other sectors different from the travel and tourism industry (such us culture, fashion and creative industries inter alia), with an interest in increasing tourism flows to Europe from long-haul international markets and relevant in terms of market development. They may contribute financial or in-kind to the implementation of activities co-funded with public funds from the Joint Promotion Platform. Associations. Associations with an interest in increasing tourism flows to Europe from longhaul international markets and relevant in terms of market development. They may contribute financially or in-kind to the implementation of activities co-funded with public funds from the Joint Promotion Platform. How does the Joint Promotion Platform function? The EU, ETC and the regions contribute financially to the platform, which is administrated by the ETC. The total financial contribution of the European Commission for actions promoting Europe in third markets is EUR 8.000.000. These funds will be co-financed by ETC according to the principles related to the different financial instruments used. The minimum financial contribution for each region is EUR 250.000, by means of which the region will become a partner in the Platform and gain access to co-branded campaigns with partners as well as the cooperative marketing programmes developed. The ETC develops a series of cooperative marketing programmes built on existing tools and channels as well as exclusive ones for the Joint Promotion Platform partners. The ETC also ensures that all partners involved achieve proportional visibility with a coherent message and approach to branding Destination Europe. Private companies and associations are invited to become partners by participating in the cooperative marketing programmes as well as by developing ad-hoc activities and campaigns to be co-funded with public funds available in the platform. The accumulated private contribution should match the total value of the public contribution. Figure 1 depicts the relationships and distribution of contributions between the different partners.
Figure 1 What are the benefits for partners? It s a win-win situation. The European Union and ETC fulfil their mission to increase Europe's visibility in third markets and to strengthen the competitiveness of the tourism sector by creating new opportunities for destinations (at all levels) and the industry to carry out marketing and promotion activities that tap into the potential of established and emerging outbound travel markets. Regional destinations gain access to joint activities at European level that are not feasible on a single region basis, operating on economies of scale that allow them to obtain significant discounts on marketing campaigns, further enhanced by the financial contribution of the European Union. Regions also benefit from increased awareness through association with the brand Europe. Private partners leverage the resources, reach and impact of their marketing and promotion activities in qualified new markets through association with the brand Europe. What is the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year? The 2018 EU-China Tourism Year (ECTY) was announced by Mr Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission and Mr Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, at the opening of the EU-China summit on 12 July 2016. The objective of this initiative is to foster continued tourism cooperation with a view to increasing travel and tourism between China and the EU. It should also help stimulate European enterprises to set foot on the booming domestic tourism market in China and vice-versa to allow more Chinese investments in Europe. China is the world s largest travel market in terms of both outbound travel and expenditure. Thanks to a massive population, rising disposable incomes, rapid urbanization and relaxation of restrictions on foreign travel, China is now the largest source of international tourism globally. The ECTY represents a great opportunity for the European tourism industry to explore the Chinese market and learn how to attract Chinese visitors and offer them the best possible experience. The European Commission (EC) is preparing the ECTY in close cooperation with CNTA (China National Tourism Administration). On the occasion of the ECTY, an unprecedented level of initiatives will aim at growing importance of China as a source market to Destination Europe. The main priorities are to: show what the EU has to offer to Chinese visitors by supporting various cooperative marketing initiatives facilitate business summits organise Business to Business matchmaking meetings for tourism operators at the most important fairs
The European Travel Commission has been mandated by the EC to play a central role in cooperative marketing initiatives in cooperation with leading European, Chinese and international partners. What activities may be co-funded with Joint Promotion Platform funds? Marketing and promotion activities in the frame of the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year may be co-funded with public funds from the Joint Promotion Platform. There are three categories of activities and marketing opportunities: A) Co-branded marketing campaigns with partners Co-branded marketing campaigns are ad-hoc campaigns whereas a private company intends to carry out a marketing activity with the aim of enhancing tourism to Europe from overseas markets. Public funding is used to assist the activity in order to increase its volume, reach and effectiveness. Private companies and associations that fulfil a set of criteria -such as minimum annual turnover, business operations experience, inter alia- can submit a competitive co-operation proposal following established guidelines. The private partners are responsible for covering at least half of the overall cost financially or in kind, while the public partners match their contribution financially or in kind (maximum and minimum thresholds apply) through the Joint Promotion Platform. The private partners are also responsible for implementation, while the ETC oversees and provides guidance in planning, approach and message of the campaign. Marketing campaigns co-funded under this programme are to contribute significantly to consolidate the image and profile of Europe as a set of sustainable and high-quality destinations. Co-branded campaigns must have a transnational dimension and solid European added value, thereby adding value to the actions of national, regional or local dimension undertaken in the field of promotion and marketing in Europe. B) Cooperative Marketing Programmes Cooperative marketing programmes are programmes developed and offer exclusively by the European Travel Commission to partners of the Joint Promotion Platform. Some programmes build on existing tools developed by ETC, while others are created in partnership with major travel-related media and distribution channels. All are designed to bring value and exposure to partners of all shapes and sizes by taking advantage of economies of scale and capitalizing on the strength of the brand Europe in international markets. These programmes are an important tool to reach out to potential travellers and inspire them to search for, plan and book their next travel to Europe. The following cooperative marketing programmes targeted towards the travel trade and end consumers in China are envisaged, inter alia: Travel Trade Outreach - Participation in the Europe Pavilion at trade shows (ITB China, CITE, SWTF and BITE) - Business-to-Business activities with influential buyers - Familiarization trips Consumer-focused Europe Campaign - Travel Europe Guide (for distribution at visa centres) - Europe Stories Newsletter (to Chinese media outlets) - VisitEurope.com China Web Promotion - VisitEurope.com China Social Media Promotion - Video Content Creation & Distribution - Retargeting Advertising Campaigns
These programmes will be extensively developed in the first half of 2017 and made available to partners of the Joint Promotion Platform as of the second half of 2017. C) Official Sponsor of the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year Sponsorship packages will be made available for public organisations and private companies to become an official sponsor of the events and celebrations on the occasion of the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year. Tailor-made sponsorship opportunities adaptable to the needs of the partners who wish to offer in-kind support will also be available. Official sponsors will be highlighted prominently at all levels during the EU-China Tourism Year and publicly acknowledged for their contribution in all communications and events throughout the year. How can I participate? A technical meeting is taking place on 13 January 2017 at avenue d Auderghem 45, 1040 in Brussel; to present the Joint Promotion Platform to potential partners and answer their questions. Please confirm your participation by sending your name, nationality, number of identification document (identify card or passport) and birth day to GROW-F4@ec.europa.eu by 10 January 2017 at the latest. Further information on how to participate in the Joint Promotion Platform and the 2018 EU-China Tourism Year will be made available in due course on www.etc-corporage.org and www.ecty2018.org respectively.