Marketing to the Welsh diaspora: The appeal to hiraeth and homecoming

Abstract

Diaspora tourism is now a significant market niche and many destinations design and market tourism products to hyphenated communities around the globe. This paper describes and analyses the marketing activities underpinning the Wales Tourist Board’s ‘Homecoming 2000 — Hiraeth 2000’ initiative, focusing on the target market, the marketing objectives, the campaign appeals and the implementation and evaluation of the marketing programme. The first campaign of this kind targeting the Welsh diaspora, the initiative was launched to exploit the millennium celebrations and can be seen as an integral element of the newly established Welsh Assembly’s political and cultural agenda. The paper concludes that diaspora tourism is a viable and highly reachable market segment for niche travel destinations, especially as such consumers are already emotionally drawn to such destinations (the home country) and can be cost-effectively identified and reached via non-traditional marketing communications such as database marketing, public relations and word of mouth. It also cautions destination marketers of the need to maintain momentum in relationship marketing and to regard their diasporas as long-term stakeholders in the home country — as ambassadors and repeat visitors.