The Americas
Travel Oregon uses the Oregon Visitor Profile Report, conducted by Longwoods International, as well as other research to develop our current domestic consumer target. Additionally, Travel Oregon continues to work on enhancing the economic impact of packaged travel in the state of Oregon, as well as marketing Oregon to sell specific product.
Consumer Targets:
We are targeting adults aged 25 to 64 who spend $1,000 or more on vacation travel per year and live in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho. Secondary focus is on Southern California and New York.
Canada is our largest inbound consumer international market, currently, providing more than 1,500,000 visitors each year. British Columbia in particular offers great opportunities due to drive and fly accessibility to Oregon. We’ve recently evolved our advertising target to include international outreach to Vancouver, BC.
Psychographic Segmentation:
Within our demographic target, we incorporate psychographic/behavioral segmentation as a way to further refine and focus our media buys to reach potential Oregon travelers — a mix of more adventurous, more curious and more experience-driven people for whom travel has become a lifestyle.
We break our marketing into culinary interests during the Fall Bounty time period. We reach “Culinary Enthusiasts,” or consumers who enjoy cooking, dining out and different foods and are trusted by their friends for advice about food.
In Spring, we target outdoor recreation interests. We focus on “Active Vacationers” who’ve participated in one of the following activities in the past 12 months: fishing, golf, hiking, skiing, water sports, bicycling or visiting a beach, national park or cultural area.
Tour Operators and Packaged Travel Targets:
In addition to targeting the domestic (U.S. and Canadian) consumer traveler, Travel Oregon also facilitates the domestic travel trade program that focuses on increasing the number of packaged tours and independent travelers from within the U.S. by working with tour operators to promote packaged travel to Oregon.
Packaged travel is a trip arranged by a travel professional that includes at least two travel elements, such as transportation and accommodation. Packaged travelers may travel independently (often referred as FIT) or as part of a group. Over the past five years, traditional group-packaged travel opportunities, such as senior sightseeing tours, have decreased slightly while other affinity groups, like family travelers, outdoor recreation travelers and FITs have increased.
Travel Oregon has focused on Western Canada, with an emphasis on British Columbia, because of its driving proximity to Oregon and Portland International Airport, which offers four daily flights from Vancouver. Sales missions have been the primary direct sales tool for this market. New direct flights to Calgary and Toronto are now being offered. This expanded air service will create additional opportunities for growth. In addition, in the spring of 2011 Travel Oregon began TV and online advertising to this market.