¶ … Terminal Market Environmental Analysis

There are several factors in the external environment that will affect the Reading Terminal Market. The first is competition. The Reading Terminal Market holds its unique position in part because of its central location in the city -- there are no equivalent markets anywhere in the area of downtown Philadelphia. Thus, Reading Terminal has a unique geographic position and this is a positive external factor. Any competing markets lack the location and the branding. The second external factor is reputation. There are other markets within the Philadelphia area, but none that have the reputation as the Reading Terminal Market. This market is ranked #5 on Tripadvisor for things to do in Philadelphia, just behind Independence Hall and ahead of the Liberty Bell, so its reputation is exceptional. Moreover, it is nearby the other major Philly attractions, in between Independence Hall and the Art Museum, and the only major attraction with good food. There is nothing in the external environment to suggest a threat to Reading Terminal Market -- the other major attractions are complementary.

Thus, the program is mainly an opportunity. The external environment actually holds relatively few threats. There are no markets that are particularly competitive, unless one counts the Italian Market, but that is outdoors and not as centrally-located. Ultimately, RTM is so well-positioned and such an excellent experience that it only has opportunity. If most visitors are local, then the biggest opportunity is to capture...

It is easy to, with the ambassador program and the market's existing reputation and positioning, tap into this opportunity. The opportunity is much stronger than the threats -- as the only major tourist attraction in downtown Philadelphia that features real food, including a famous cheesesteak, RTM is more complementary than competitive with other area attractions.
A third external factor is weather -- Philadelphia is a decent tourist town but by no means the biggest. A lot of visitors -- as RTM data indicates -- are local. So whether these local people come into the CBD or not is somewhat weather dependent. The RTM cannot control the weather, but it can make a more attractive experience that can convince people that it is worthwhile to take the train into town, or otherwise come in even when weather is lousy. A fourth external factor is the local partnerships. One of the things that major venues like RTM rely on is that they are promoted through hotels, the tourist board, and other tourism services. When the RTM spends on an initiative like the ambassador program, it needs to get the word out to the different external stakeholders that can drive traffic to the market.

The impact on the current initiative of most of these external factors is actually relatively minimal. First, the market is substantially differentiated from other major tourist sites, and it is centrally-located in between many of the city's major sites as well. The reputation is stellar, and is nothing but an asset. The market is indoors, which means that if correctly marketed, it can withstand weather issues. There is a train station underneath of the market, which means that it actually can market itself as a rainy day destination, rather than simply relying on good weather to draw people downtown -- weather might be a small issue but it does…