Success Stories
Data Intelligence to Repositioning and Rethinking Product Development
How Lloret de Mar Built and Implemented its Post-Pandemic Repositioning Strategy Leveraging Data Intelligence
Context
Situated on the celebrated Catalonian Costa Brava, overlooking the Spanish Mediterranean, Lloret de Mar is a well-established sun and beach destination for both national and international visitors. Originally a quaint fishing village in the 1950s, Lloret transitioned into an international destination in the 1960s. It has maintained its historical allure while concurrently developing a robust accommodation sector, tourist attractions, and services to the present day.
The repercussions of the 2019 pandemic and the subsequent recovery period expedited a transformative process that Lloret’s tourism authorities had already been contemplating. This process is directed towards repositioning the Lloret de Mar as a year-round tourism destination, achieved through the diversification of both demand drivers and source markets.
Key goals
In pursuit of its transformation vision, Lloret de Mar resolved to leverage data-driven insights to diversify demand drivers and source markets, with the overarching objective of mitigating seasonality and repositioning the destination. The inherent volatility and persistent disruptions demonstrated Lloret’s tourism authorities the critical necessity of ensuring the destination’s resilience against abrupt fluctuations in market conditions and trends, by adopting alternative, data-informed strategies for swift and efficacious responses.
Subsequent to a comprehensive and rigorous analysis of data intelligence, by the conclusion of 2022, Lloret de Mar opted to reevaluate its traditional source markets, pursuing diversification towards markets characterised by reduced seasonality, enhanced purchasing power, and a propensity for expenditure, coupled with an interest in supplementary destination attributes capable of prolonging overnight stays.
Approach
Since 2018, Mabrian has delivered comprehensive data intelligence to Lloret de Mar, encompassing the entirety of the travelers’ cycle, that integrates official statistics with Mabrian’s data suite. Data intelligence was employed to identify and evaluate cyclical and seasonal trends, with the objective of diversification and repositioning. By late 2022, it formed the basis of a market diversification strategy that prioritised domestic demand, established traditional markets (France, Belgium, UK, Germany), and emergent markets, such as Ireland).
Mabrian conducted in-depth analyses of opportunities to mitigate seasonality by appealing to alternative traveller segments within these source markets. This involved capitalising on routes and enhanced air connectivity, such as the routes connecting Girona with Dublin, Shannon, Knock, and Cork, which subsequently experienced notable increases in air traffic capacity by 2022. Lodging value propositions and key demand drivers were examined to develop targeted tourist products and services. Data intelligence facilitated the creation of co-branded promotional campaigns and market activations, utilising effective messaging and lead times tailored to specific traveller segments’, with less seasonal preferences and leaning to alternative demand drivers beyond sunbathing.
Results
The implementation of a data-driven strategy to enhance diversification has been pivotal for Lloret de Mar’s post-pandemic recovery. Moreover, this approach has significantly facilitated the destination’s adaptability to recent unforeseen events impacting travel demand, thereby establishing a foundation for exceeding pre-pandemic levels in hotel stays and expenditures by 2025. Notable achievements include:
The strategic reallocation of demand drivers among domestic and international travellers has resulted in a substantial increase of 13 percentage points in nature, outdoors, and active tourism since 2019. This growth has positioned it as the second most significant demand driver for Lloret de Mar, contributing to the mitigation of seasonality and attracting alternative traveller segments.
Lloret de Mar has successfully established new inbound markets, most notably Ireland, which has seen a threefold increase in overnight stays since 2019. This growth has propelled Irish tourists to the top in terms of destination spending.
Other alternative markets exhibiting significant growth since 2019 include the U.S. (almost quadrupling overnight stays), Switzerland (nearly doubling), and The Netherlands (+59%).
The destination successfully offset, by late 2024, over 600,000 overnight stays lost due to various market disruptions, particularly from Russia and Ukraine, which remained unrecovered post-pandemic due to geopolitical conflicts. These overnight stays have been replaced by consistent year-round arrivals from alternative markets and segments.
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