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promotion tends to be dominated by tour
operators �destination outsiders). At the on-trip
stage, where earlier communication is reinforced,
the emphasis is on renewal of the tourist; here the
message senders are usually destination insiders
�such as national tourism organisations). Then
there is the post-trip stage, that of reintegration
into the society of origin, where returning tourists
become promoters to potential tourists �often their
friends and relatives). The process is hence cyclical,
as indeed is tourism itself, following a ritualistic
pattern of emancipation, animation and reincorporation.
The media of tourism may additionally be
categorised by the nature of the sensory appeal
�for example, the text and pictures of brochures
relating to the sense of sight, a taped narrative to
the sense of hearing). Some even evoke gustatory,
olfactory and tactile responses, while others have
combined effects �television and videos with
auditory and visual communication). Within these
categories, the media of tourism can be further
broken down according to their principal sources.
Thus print media, for instance, are largely
literary �such as travellers' tales) or informational
�newspaper accounts), whereas audio media are
experiential �word-of-mouth), informational �tour
guides) or electronic �radio call-in programmes).
The effectiveness of any given tourism medium
is predicated mainly on the credibility of the
sender. Advertising, for example, has less trustworthiness
than an unbiased documentary. However,
in maximising credibility, considerations of
cost also have to be borne in mind. Undoubtedly
the least expensive and most effective medium of
tourism is word-of-mouth communication, which
several surveys reveal to be the main persuasive
source in tourists' choice of destinations. Yet
surprisingly little research has been conducted in
this area. There is also growing evidence to support
the increasing importance of tourism communication
over the Internet and the multimedia
possibilities offered through it.
Further reading
Dann, G. �1996) The Language of Tourism:A
Sociolinguistic Perspective, Wallingford: CAB International
�See especially Chapter 6.)
media planning
media planning 385
GRAHAM M.S. DANN, UK
Media planning is the process of selecting those
media which deliver the key messages of the
advertising campaign to the target group. Three
key media decisions are involved. The first decision
to be made is selection of media categories
�newspapers, magazines, radio, television,
cinema, billboards and Internet) and the allocation
of the advertising budget to these categories.
Key determinants of this decision are costs of the
categories �television commercials are expensive,
radio costs less) and size of the budget �small
budgets are inadequate for television), and advertising
objectives �the acceleration of a car is best
demonstrated on television or on a cinema screen).
The second is choice of appropriate newspapers,
magazines, television networks or radio stations
within the different media categories. The third
decision is planning of media schedules. At this
time, the media planner has to determine the size,
colour, number and insertion times of ads within
the chosen print media, and to determine the
length, number and time schedule of radio,
television and cinema commercials and banners
on websites. The second and third decisions are
normally based on information about readership
and radio usage surveys in private households
and television peoplemeters �all household members
in the audience panel push buttons on a
remote control when they start or stop viewing,
programme selection and viewing time are recorded)
and counting visits on websites.
The most important criteria to evaluate and
select media are the reach in the target group �for
example, 20 per cent of all Germans who plan
summer holidays in Spain may at least once spot
an ad in a given magazine); frequency �the number
of times an average member of the target group
may be exposed to an ad when it is inserted more
than once in a particular media), often called
`opportunity to see/hear/read'; gross rating points
�reach multiplied by frequency); and cost per