Talk:Conservation Entrepreneurship/Assignments/Projeto Iauaretê/Value Proposition/Who are our customers?
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(1) Two thoughts on this. First, higher income consumers might be more taxing on the staff if they are more snobby and demanding. It also means they might want luxury type accomodations. A more medium income clientle might be easier to work with. Then again, this is being rather stereotypical so maybe it wouldn't be an issue. Second, I think marketing to the age group you mentioned but also focusing on their kids might be effective. For example, we say what a great experience it is for kids, market it as an alternative type of vacation, and we might have rich parents who are willing to send their kids to do this. It means the staff will have to be trained a little differently to work with teenagers rather than adults, however. This idea is sort of based off a tv program I saw this summer about a program in Kruger National Park, South Africa where they sell opportunities to help in research, like darting rhino for study. Two kids and their parents were featured and the parents were saying they liked the idea of having a unique vacation and using the money to let their kids do something really neat. (Note that I'm not saying we'd let people dart jaguars, that was just the example used in the interview I saw). --Kifaro50 01:48, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
(2) I don't see a reason why we cant aim for both income levels? I'm wondering if it would be possible to attempt to target both a medium and higher income consumer. I know a lot of jungle tours in the amazon offer numerous packages. For example, we offer 4 day, 5 day, 6 day etc. packages. The less you stay the less you pay. The full 9 day package is all inclusive where the tourist helps with research, has the best chance of seeing a jaguar, and also maybe gets a video/ picture of the jaguar they saw. The shorter trips can still show the consumer the research that is going on and involve them in the less active side of the project, just not to the same level that the 9 day package does. Lynch 16:51, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
(3) That is a good point and I think some compromise where multiple options is offered is probably the best bet. The only thing is, that really relies on the jaguar research staff. They would have to be willing to take more of their time if we are going to offer a variety of options. From what Emiliano has said thus far I'm not sure if that level of committment is there.
On that note, I think for this to really work we are going to need to hire at least one person, and probably multiple, to run the program. The researchers are there to do research and while they might be willing to show the tourists around, I'm not sure they have the time or the training to let them really engage with the tourists. A person who has the job of being a liason would be good to organize the program and to be the main line of interaction between the tourists and the researchers. Maybe I'm biased but in my experience, researchers dont always like interacting directly with tourists, they tend to get a little impatient. If we're going to cater to high income consumers, we will need to pamper them a bit.
Thoughts?
Also, we are going to have to delete most of this...or probably move it to the talk section...before we send the link out to our two guest lecturers on Monday. So we'd better make some decisions on these things. --Kifaro50 23:52, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
(4)I suggest that we narrow our target customer. One lucrative target market segment is gay men, who apparently frequent Mamiraua Reserve already. Targeting this segment can enhance our product, to include offering a sense of community- a place gay men know they will be respected and feel free to express themselves. Most ecotourism destinations in Latin America are in places where many gay men may feel estranged from their alternative mindset, which I believe is barrier to their participation in many ecotourism ventures. I believe overtly including gay men in this trip is a match made in heaven. Historically, gay men (and other LGBTQ people) have been marginalized and relegated to finding hidden spots to convene, all over the world. This glancing over of the gay community can be likened to the marginalized view of many indigenous communities, and this fact can become one of the topics of discussion on the trip. Moreover, the stealth with which gay men have participated in tourism (and most economic activities) all over the world can be a selling point, likening gay men to the stealth of cats/jaguars. This makes the trip more symbolic and interesting, with implications extending beyond conservation of jaguars and indigenous areas, to include socio-cultural appreciation and conservation. This will make our product unlike any other, and I think will prove to be a model for the development of ecotourism products in the near future.
I've been reviewing the Earthwatch website recently for ideas and thought I'd share. Earthwatch runs a very similar eco-scientific tourism company, and they have been very successful. Link: EarthwatchLynch 13:52, 2 March 2009 (UTC)