Consulting residents, a must today!

In recent years, destinations have turned to locals to play the role of hosts and ambassadors. This quest for authenticity has influenced reception strategies, marketing efforts and the development of the tourist offer. For two years, in the absence of visitors from further afield, these same residents have been courted by all actors in the ecosystem. What if we asked them for their opinion on all this? Here is an innovative idea! Not that much.

Touriscope is carrying out more and more surveys among the inhabitants of a territory for its customers. These often take the form of surveys, but other ways of seeking public opinion are possible, such as focus groups and interviews.

This trend is particularly observed among destinations, but this approach is relevant for all types of actors, in particular the promoters of tourism projects or the managers of existing organizations.

Consulting residents: 2 main objectives

There are many reasons for collecting residents' opinions, but we can group them under two main objectives:

1. Orienting tourism development

2. Assess their perceptions and ensure the social acceptability of an activity or project

1- Orienting tourism development

Here, residents are first surveyed as current or potential customers. Living nearby, they represent opportunities for repeat visits. So it pays to attract them! In addition, since they travel short distances, the carbon footprint of their visit is lower than those who come from far away. This is therefore consistent with any sustainable tourism development and climate change mitigation approach.

You can design a separate questionnaire for them, or draw specific conclusions about them as a customer segment of traditional market research. To do this, we ensure that a sufficient number of local respondents are collected by applying a geographic location criterion.

What questions to ask?

Typical market research questions are asked, such as:

- What types of activities did you do at (the place studied)? and during which seasons?
- What are your favorites?
- What types of activities would you like to see more of (the location studied)?
- What are, for you, the main obstacles to frequenting (the place studied)?
- Etc.

The work we've done for our clients isn't public, but here's an example from the web. In this study aimed at developing a vision for the development of Mont-Sainte-Anne, near Quebec City, residents' answers were isolated on certain questions.

How do you use the results?

Market research is generally used to refine one's knowledge of its various customer segments in order to adapt one's commercial strategies. Depending on the role of the organization, this may include, for example:

- to market certain types of activities rather than others or to support their development
- to adapt its communication efforts to resident customers, such as dedicating a section on its website to them, etc.

2- Assess their perceptions and ensure social acceptability

In such an approach, residents are considered, as they should be, as stakeholders in the organization. That is to say, it considers that its activities have positive or negative impacts on them, which it must take into account. It is one of the foundations of the social component of sustainable tourism.

Thus, the organization behind the approach seeks to know the opinion of residents on various subjects as well as to understand what are the minimum conditions to be put in place for its activities to integrate harmoniously into its natural and human environment.

What questions to ask?  

Depending on the context, we can seek to know the perception of residents about tourism in general or about a particular project, as well as its impact on their quality of life. Here are some sample questions:

In your opinion, does tourism (at the place studied) have a fairly positive or negative effect on...
In your opinion, will the (project studied) have a fairly positive or negative effect on...

- local economic development,
- the quality of life,
- infrastructures,
- the local culture,
- the leisure and entertainment offer,
- the preservation of the environment,
- transport and travel,
- real estate development and access to property
- etc.

What is your level of agreement with the following statements?

- I am proud to see visitors coming to visit (the place studied).
- The tourist development of (the place studied) takes into account my well-being.
- (the location studied) should continue its efforts to attract more visitors.
- etc.

Here are two international examples to inspire you.

10XCopenhagen, Denmark
Bordeaux Tourism, Francia

“In general, you would say that the development of tourism in Bordeaux is generating...”

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Another approach particularly inspires us on the French side. Initiated by several committed actors, This citizen consultation gathered the opinion of residents and a number of international tourists on the concrete actions to be prioritized to make tourism more sustainable. Participants had to make proposals and vote on others, then the algorithm grouped the ideas together. Here is an overview of the results:

More in line with the COVID-19 pandemic, Destination Canada regularly publishes the Tourism Sentiment Index. You'll find data by province on residents' willingness to welcome visitors back and their sense of safety. Follow this link to access to the most recent report.

How do you use the results?

The diagnosis made makes it possible to deepen one's understanding of certain issues related to the sustainable development of the tourist offer and thus enrich strategic thinking.

The data collected could lead you to...

- Identify priority actions to move towards more sustainable tourism
- Collaborate with other actors to alleviate irritants so that tourism integrates more harmoniously into its environment
- Adapt your promotional and awareness-raising activities among your various target audiences
- Play a leadership role with stakeholders and funders to demonstrate the relevance of tourism development

If the exercise is repeated, the collected data may become indicators to measure social performance in sustainable tourism. To go deeper into this topic, we suggest our article Rethinking tourism performance in a sustainable way.

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Are you considering such an approach and would like to discuss the possibilities of support by our team? Contact us without hesitation!

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‍To go further, our selection of articles on local tourism:

The ABC of a seduction operation with residents - 8 tips

(Re) discover your territory: inspiring initiatives!‍‍