Co-designing and evaluating an Angry Birds travel service concept for Route 88 Ltd
Nykänen, Minna (2013)
HAAGA-HELIA ammattikorkeakoulu
2013
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2013120520173
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2013120520173
Tiivistelmä
This Bachelor’s thesis was conducted for Route 88 Ltd and it concentrates on co-designing and evaluating an Angry Birds fan tour for the commissioning company. The company is a Finnish start-up destination management company targeting Chinese outbound tourists. They have been operating since 2012 and wanted to know how suitable their travel offering is for Chinese tourists.
The objective of this thesis project was to evaluate the designed Angry Birds Northern Fan Tour concept and Finland as a travel destination. To support the main project objectives, further project tasks were set and executed. These project tasks included finding out how the Angry Birds fan tour and Finland as a travel destination are viewed by travel professionals and Chinese tourists and what expectations Chinese tourists have toward their holidays. Finally, the last objective was to identify reasons for the failure of the concept, as there were no customers to purchase the travel service.
The project tasks included steps from determining the need and expectations for the project, benchmarking inbound travel agencies and Chinese tourists’ travel habits, designing the fan tour and finally evaluating the travel concept based on a qualitative research, workshops and benchmarking. For the research, four travel professionals and China experts were interviewed in the autumn of 2013 and the project manager participated in two China travel training sessions in Porvoo. In addition, benchmarking results on Chinese tourists’ travel habits were consulted in analysing the results and evaluating the travel concept.
Based on the research, the travel concept was successfully designed and seemed to meet the needs and expectations of Chinese tourists. The reasons for the failure were found elsewhere in the commissioning company’s lacking and unmotivated partner network, communication with partners and prospects, but most of all in the desirability of Finland as a travel destination in Chinese tourists’ eyes.
The objective of this thesis project was to evaluate the designed Angry Birds Northern Fan Tour concept and Finland as a travel destination. To support the main project objectives, further project tasks were set and executed. These project tasks included finding out how the Angry Birds fan tour and Finland as a travel destination are viewed by travel professionals and Chinese tourists and what expectations Chinese tourists have toward their holidays. Finally, the last objective was to identify reasons for the failure of the concept, as there were no customers to purchase the travel service.
The project tasks included steps from determining the need and expectations for the project, benchmarking inbound travel agencies and Chinese tourists’ travel habits, designing the fan tour and finally evaluating the travel concept based on a qualitative research, workshops and benchmarking. For the research, four travel professionals and China experts were interviewed in the autumn of 2013 and the project manager participated in two China travel training sessions in Porvoo. In addition, benchmarking results on Chinese tourists’ travel habits were consulted in analysing the results and evaluating the travel concept.
Based on the research, the travel concept was successfully designed and seemed to meet the needs and expectations of Chinese tourists. The reasons for the failure were found elsewhere in the commissioning company’s lacking and unmotivated partner network, communication with partners and prospects, but most of all in the desirability of Finland as a travel destination in Chinese tourists’ eyes.