Coopetition thrives in the Tourism industry.

Co-opetition is a term that combines competition and cooperation. As much as I dislike the current political cycle, it was interesting to listen in when Ted Cruz said that he and John Kaisich would strike up a partnership of sorts, with the goal of defeating Donald Trump in two of the primaries. It failed miserably – especially when Kasich said he wasn’t really committed to any plan and that people should vote for him.

This is the opposite of the term “co-opetition” which is cooperation among competitors. Why does it work so well in the tourism industry, but is rare in other sectors? And are you currently working with any of your competitors to increase business for both of you?

I think tourism is uniquely positioned  for this phenomenon because visitors ‘consume’ multiple experiences when they travel. Visitors typically go to several attractions in a day, several restaurants and possibly more than one lodging option. We all know ( unless we are Disney or Universal) that most guests are  only going to come to us one day. ( I am not talking about local visitors – we will discuss their importance in another post).

Therefore if we want visitors at our attraction, we must help them learn about and visit other attractions. We need to show that there is a critical mass of things to do in an area- enough to put our destination on the top of the consideration list.

One of the terms I hear time and time again in the tourism industry is ” A rising tide lifts all boats”. That is typically referenced when someone is talking about helping out another tourism entity. I have found that when I worked at a small attraction, it was important for me to be familiar with other attractions in that county, as well as all the adjacent counties. When I worked in the gaming industry, it was important to know about the facilities and other amenities at various gaming locations around the country. And now that I work at a large attraction often included in East Coast tours, I have made the time to learn more about Hershey and Lancaster Pennsylvania. What?! Not even in New York State?? No, and I am sure attractions in Washington DC will be on my must see list soon. All in the name of helping tour operators put together tour packages that include my destination.

I am involved with a cooperative marketing program called Wine, Water & Wonders of Upstate NY. It started in 2005 as a FAM (Familiarization Tour) idea. The four founding partners of the program include the Corning Museum of Glass, the 14 county Finger Lakes region, Visit Rochester and Niagara Tourism and Convention Corporation. These 3 destination marketing organizations compete daily for overnight visitors, yet in this arena we all work together.

We developed a sample itinerary that helps tour operators put together tours for groups or individuals coming from NYC to Niagara Falls. We have created themes such as food and wine, outdoor recreation and arts and culture. The Corning Museum of Glass doesn’t fit into the food and wine, or outdoor recreation themes. Yet I think they are great ideas because they draw visitors from around the world to our region. Each organization take turns representing the entire itinerary at tradeshows and on sales missions. We each learn about – and experience each other’s attractions, and have done site inspections on lodging properties.

We have varied opinions on what we should be doing to increase business, and we often disagree. Yet we always agree on the larger goal of gaining recognition of Upstate NY in the travel trade industry. We know we are on the right track because these days we often hear industry peers and tour operators say  “Of course I know about Wine, Water Wonders”. This is music to our ears and confirmation that co-opetition is the way to go in the tourism industry.