Destination Marketing: Marketing Plan about Miami that Targets French Young Generation - Coursework Example

Running head: destination marketing 11th October Marketing plan about Miami that targets Frenchyoung generation Introduction Miami is one of the famous cities in the US. Being located in Southern Florida, the city targets young generation who want to enjoy the tourist attraction centers that includes museums such as History Miami, Miami Childrens Museum, Frost Art Museum, and Miami Art Museum as well as art exhibitions. Being a major source of income in many countries, tourism must be effectively managed in order to ensure that the visitors come back thus increasing the revenue inflows. The reason behind this is that it is a source of revenue to the government and source of employment to individuals. The aim of Miami is to target the French young generation who are 23 to 30 years old. Since Miami is one of the most populous cities in US, then high number of individual tends to live there thus making Miami to be a city of choice to many. In its effort to attract more young people of France, the city aims at providing excellent services that will meet the needs of the tourists. This marketing plan seeks to discuss situational analysis, internal environment, eternal environment and customer environment. In addition, this paper will analyze SWOT analysis, goals and objective of Miami, marketing mix and implementation, as well as control and evaluation of Miami promotion as well as advertising strategies. Situational analysis Internal and external factors play a major role for any tourist destination. This is based on the fact that they have an influence on the future and the current tourism industry in Miami among other destinations. Internal environment Employees The city of Miami has large number of employees who work tirelessly in the art exhibitions and museums to make sure that the young consumers from France experiences first class services. This is by making sure that each and every department of Miami has competent employees who can maintain a strong customer relationship. Due to effective provision of excellent services by different departments in the city such as transportation, sports, entertainment and art, among others, like accommodation, the city will effectively serve the French young generation. One of the major aspects that makes Miami workforce in the tourism to be productive is that it strictly follow the laid down work ethics. The human resource is also regularly trained on how to maintain a strong customer relationship as well as public relations (Arthur, 1998). The employees must work harmoniously with the five commissioners who are elected from single member districts in order to ensure that smooth workflow within the city. Managers Miami as a city has a strong leadership that acts as the top most management team. The commission team consists of Marc Sarnoff, Frank Carollo, Keon Hardemon, Victoria Méndez, and Frank Carollo among others. The commission major role is to ensure that each and every department including accommodation department, food and beverage department, recreation and entertainment department, transportation department and travel services department are appropriately maintained (Meldrum and McDonald, 2000). Human resource department Miami has wide range of economic as well as cultural activities. In this regard, the city offers quite a number of employment opportunities. Each of the department within the city has a strong human resource which is responsible for hiring competent individuals who meet the criteria needed (Noe, 2006). Code of ethics must be followed strictly where the human resource may issue termination letter incase of misconduct. Eternal environment The external environment of Miami will be discussed using PESTEL. Which entails political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal aspects? Political Miami is located in Florida. Being the 42nd largest city in US, the Miami is governed by a mayor and a city manager. Daniel Alfonso is the city manager while Tomas Regalado is the mayor. As the city that highly recognizes the tourism sector, Miami will enjoy the support of the US government. This is based on the fact that the tourism sector in the region will not only become a source of employment for the local people, but also it will attract tourists in the city resulting to increased gross domestic product for US. Another aspect that is abiding to Miami is that it will have to follow the legislation set by the federal government. For Example, for effective provision of tourism services, the city must adhere to laws set by United States Travel and Tourism Advisory. This also includes competition policies, and hiring policies among other areas. Economic environment Economically, Miami is strong. With a Gross Metropolitan Product of $257 billion, the city residents are in a position to acquire their daily needs without many problems. This implies that Miami will benefit from strong purchasing power that the consumers have. As the result of the high rate of employment especially the France young generation that is targeted by Miami, they will undertake repeated purchases as the result of tourist attraction sites as well as art, museums and performing arts. This will benefit the city in that it will have adequate funds to establish tourist attractions in other big cities (Lesourd and Schilizzi, 2001). Social As a city that comprises of high income earners as well as average income earners, Miami has a strong social tie that makes the companies in the city to take advantage of the ties to increase their sales. On its part, Miami will target young people who have now become regular visitors of social sites including face book and twitter (Kotler, 2008).Without considering the social class of its customers, Miami provides services that are in line with the social laws including provision of corporate social responsibilities for example maintaining and conservation of Bayfront Park and Bicentennial Park among other recreational areas. Technological Technology is one of the most changing factors in external environment. For example in the recreation and entertainment sectors, young buyers tend to search for recreation facilities and museums through their mobile phones. Through the inventions that have been made in the developed countries such as US, it is now possible for tourist destinations to contact in a timely manner with consumers in foreign countries. On its part, Miami has significantly improved its technology. For instance, the city is noted to be the centre for film production and television (Wind and Mahajan, 2001). Globally, the mode of transportation is changing in a faster rate. Thus, tourist destinations must keep on advancing their transport systems as the technology improves. One of the key things that make Miami to be at par with other tourists destination is that it has an expansive transport system that emulates modern technology. Environment Miami environment is conducive for any tourist who wants to get the best experience. With a Biscayne Aquifer, which is natural underground water, the city offers various attractive natural sites. Through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Miami has ensured that it is in line with the federal government regulation on the matters of carbon emission and food hygiene (Dillon, 1990). The department provides land, air, and water protection, through three key areas that includes Regulatory Programs, Water Policy and Ecosystem Restoration as well as Land and Recreation. Legal The legal environment of Miami entails is concerned with work permits of the companies providing any hospitality services, business activities among other activities. The city management team is also responsible of ensuring that only legal activities are undertaken in the region. In this way, the security of the tourist from France among other countries is guaranteed (Aras, 2011). Through the amendments by law makers, laws keep on changing and thus it is the work of the top management in the city of Miami to make sure that they are followed making the to be successful in the market and one of the leading tourist destination in US. Competitor analysis The core competitors of Miami city as a tourist destination includes Bloomington, San Antonio, New Jersey, Las Vegas and Barnstable County among others. Approximately 40 million visitors have visited the Mall of America which is located in Bloomington, Minnesota. Similarly, more than 30 million visitors have visited the Las Vegas Strip which is located in Las Vegas, Nevada (Halliman, 2001). The competitors have established various tourist sites even though they have not entirely controlled the whole industry. Based on the stiff competition in the region, Miami will need to emulate effective marketing policies. For example, it will need to establish outlets in France where it will inform the young people in France about the attractive sites in Miami. In this way, it will create strong customer awareness thus facing off its competitors (Hussey and Jenster, 2000). Miami will also need to come up with more state-of-art restaurants than the competitors. This will make it to effectively compete locally and globally. Customer environment using 5W model The customer environment will be analyzed by 5W model that is who, where, what, why and when. Miami is concerned with the customer environment and thus the employees in the city hotels as well as in the south Florida must make sure that the customers are properly served (Wellington, 2010). Most of hotels are open for 24 hours and thus the customers can visit Miami tourist sites and the hotels at any time. In France, the young consumers who Miami targets will have an opportunity to visit the Miami hotels subsidiaries to seek for more information if they decides to visit Miami (Hines, 2004). Miami hotels offer some of the best services in the world and that is the reason why the customers flock Miami based hotels and restaurants. Miami as a tourist destination targets young individuals from France who are between 23 to 30 years old. SWOT analysis Strength -One of the strength is that Miami provides it services at affordable prices. - Modern marketing strategies -Hiring of qualified and competent staff by Miami based hotels -Provision of high quality services makes -Sustainable security -high technology -sustainable transport system Weakness -Limited space for expansion - Due to high number of the employees it may be difficult to provide personalized services Opportunity -Due to modern advertising method used Miami is able to get a lot of customers internationally and locally. -Availability of skilled workforce in Miami -Young consumers in France who like to visit US -Diversion of tourists from African countries to western countries due to insecurity in African region Threat -Stiff competition from Bloomington, San Antonio, New Jersey, Las Vegas and Barnstable County -Technological environments which keep on changing Goals and objectives To meet a market share of 50% in the next five years To increase the number of customers to 5,000 every month To increase the number of employees to 200 within the next 5 months due to the increase of customers in every month To curb the social, economic and environmental factors that may affect Miami city so that sustainable tourism can exist in the city in the next 10 years To enhance economic growth to the entire Miami by employing young individuals aged between 25- 30 years To promote and enhance interactions between different communities so as to better understand different cultural practices To involve all the stakeholders in the daily to day routines so as to promote growth and development thus making Miami to be competitive in the market To research on more suitable plans and strategies that will make Miami to expand its tourism sector within the next 2 years To expand Miami destination so that it can enter other countries within the next 5 years targeting high class individuals Target market The primary target market for Miami is the French young generation who are in the age of 23 to 30 years old. The young individuals who are working class are targeted since they have high interest of visiting US. While in US, Miami can use that opportunity to provide them with adequate information on the exciting tourist attraction centre in the city. Additionally, by establishing marketing outlet in France for example in Paris, Miami destination will enjoy strong customer awareness thus increasing the number of visitors with as high percentage. This will in turn boost Miami economy and thus it will have potential to open five star hotels in other areas within the city (Marconi, 2005). The secondary target market the generation aged between 30-45 years in France and neighboring countries like Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland among others (Taillard, 2012). Marketing mix Positioning In its effort to face off competitors in the tourism sector, Miami city is focused at positioning itself in a unique way. One of the strategies that the city has adopted is a simple name that can be easily memorized by the France young visitors. Having been named Miami, after Miami River in 6, majority of tourists do not require to be reminded the name of the city. Being identified as a city with high propensity consumers, most of the tourist companies have embarked on extensive advertising. In this regard, Miami will emulate unique advertising of its services and sites (Trout and Rivkin, 1996). For example, before the evening prime time news, an advert that indicates the tourists’ sites within Miami city will run in the local television stations (Moore, 1991). Similarly, the city will advertise in the local tourist magazines as well as modeling magazines that are commonly purchased by young generation aged. Product Miami is focused at providing quality tourism services that meet the needs of local French young generation. Some of the notable areas that the tourists are attracted at include Miami Beach, Vizcaya Museum as well as Gardens among others. As compared to other cities in the world, Miami is full of attractive sites such as Miracle Mile, the Metrozoo- a famous wild animal park, Seaquarium-a huge saltwater pools, and Gold Coast Railroad Museum among others. Based on the increased demand for domestic and international tourism in Miami as the result of increased household income, the focus is to expand its product portfolio in order to meet the diversified needs of the foreign tourists (Needham, 1996). Based on the skilled hospitality manpower that Miami has hired in the last few years, Miami intends to offer excellent services that will make the customer experience a red carpet treatment (Booms, 1981). As the city establishes more tourist attraction sites, the city management team will provide an opportunity that will make the customers suggest on the services they require. This implies that in future Miami will offer tailor made products an aspect that will make it unique and competitive in the tourism industry. The establishment of a centre such as Art Deco Welcome Center on Ocean Drive is also be a notable strategy that will ensure that the city provides quality services that are in line with the emerging issues in tourism as well as technology. Price In order to create a strong positive tourist-Miami relationship, the middle level hotels aims at pricing its services in such a way that the consumers will afford them. However, in the south part of Florida as well as majority of Miami hotels accommodation is a bit expensive (Jerome, 1975). Beachfront hotels in most cases fetch a premium rate. One of the policy that majority of the hotels adopt is to advise the holiday makers to stay few block back from the beach in order to make a considerable savings. One of the major aspects of providing a low price by the middle class hotels is that majority of the targeted consumers have average income implying they can afford average priced services. As compared to competitors who offer fixed prices, Miami hotels provide their customers with an opportunity to bargain on the prices offered. This will not only make the customers feel as part of the buying process but it will also result into the consumers informing their colleagues on the advantages of visiting Miami attraction sites (Kerin and Rudelius, 2001). In this regard, it will be an additional marketing strategy that will strengthen Miami already extensive marketing techniques. Place Miami focuses at making its services available to its consumers in an easy way. In this regard, the city has established beaches close to the accommodation areas. For example, the Art Deco which is also referred to as the Gateway to the Americas provides world class accommodation thus making the tourists to closely enjoy the scenery. Additionally, Miami investors have also established five star holes and quite a number of museums within the city. In this way, Miami effectively serve its visitors who book their accommodation within the city centre (Kurtz, 2010). Promotion In order for Miami to have a positive relationship with its customers, the city emulates extensive promotion strategy. It is worth to note that due to the stiff competition that is being experienced in the contemporary business world, many organizations have now turned into the use of social sites to promote their product (Ries and Trout, 2002). One of the key strategies that Miami will use to promote itself in the France market is through competition. This entails giving vouchers to the consumers who makes repeated purchases of the services. The will adopt a strategy referred to as Buy One Get One (B1G1). This implies that once the customer buys a ticket to travel to a certain destination, he or she would be provided with a voucher that will provide them with a chance to win fabulous prizes once a monthly mini draw is done. At the end of the year, the will be holding a grand draw where the winner will be awarded a two months free holiday to a point the customer chooses (Ewen, 1999). Another promotion strategy that Miami hospitality organizations should emulate in the France market is engaging in roadside shows during weekends as a way of informing the public and the potential visitors about the services that are provided by the city. In its effort to promote it services among the French young generation, Miami has established a Face book group where customers freely intermingle and share information touching on social and other issues (Koichi, 2009). Additionally, the city adopts teeter and You Tube to promote its services. It is worth to note that the young consumers are regular users of social media implying that Miami will benefit from strong customer’s awareness thus resulting to high sales and profits. Through the website http://www.miamiandbeaches.com/, the tourist board in Miami is able to provide online guide to their visitors globally. As a way of ensuring that customer’s complaints are effectively handled, Miami has initiated a strong public relations (PR) department that is headed by a skilled public relations officer (McCarthy, 1964). Apart from handling the problems faced by the customers, the department will also be responsible for evaluating the feedback from the new and existing customers (Flew, 2008). It is imperative to note that by making the consumers to give feedback after using the services, they will feel as part and parcel of Miami an aspect that will result to a strong relationship with the leading to repeated purchases (Weinreich, 2010). Based on the large number of customers in the France market, Miami will enjoy strong customer awareness by erecting bill boards along the France highways (Steven, 2003). In this way, the consumers who are regular users of the roads will be aware of the services offered by the city of Miami as well as the location of the beaches and other tourist sites. Similarly, Miami investors may be involved in tree planting as well as sponsoring of cultural and social events as part of its social corporate responsibilities in France (Kotler and Keller, (2006). This will not only result to improved brand image, but also Miami will enjoy support from the France government aspect that will make young consumers in France to visit Miami. Miami may also adopt an advertising slogan such as Miami, Makes Us equal and Has No Equal. This means that the city treats all its visitors in an equal manner but it is not comparable with any other tourist destination in the market. Miami may also initiate a unique selling proposition (USP) “We are the low-fair tourist company”. Implementation, Control and Evaluation In order to effectively meet the need of the local consumers, Miami will need to have stipulated time frame of advertising its first five attractive sites in the France televisions channels and in the road side banners. The table below indicates the implementation schedule that Miami will adopt. Attraction site Time frame of advertising Lock & Load Miami 1-3 months Vizcaya Museum and Gardens 2-4 months Safari Edventure 2-6 months Miami Trolley 2-8 months Zoological Wildlife Foundation 2-12 months Source - (Ford and Peeper, 2008) Once Miami launches a promotion and adverting strategies in Paris, it will ultimately incur some costs. The table below indicates the estimates that the city managers will incur in its promotion, corporate social responsibilities, branding as well as advertising. Item Expenditure ($ 000 ) Advertising Billboards Magazines in airplane 250 100 Direct marketing 250 Corporate social responsibilities Internet marketing 260 Consumer promotion 300 Trade promotion 260 Sales force expenses 450 Public relations 300 Customer service 250 Others 460 Total expenses 2,880 Through the establishment of evaluation team that will consist of the city managers, Miami will be making regular evaluation of its objectives to ensure that the city does not divert from its operations (Levi, 2007). The table below indicated how Miami will evaluate and check changes in % of tourists coming to Miami. Performance Achieving 50% in the next five years 0-25% -poor 25%-50%-good 50% and above -excellent Attaining 5,000 visitors every month 10-2000 -poor 2000-4000 -poor 5000 and above –good Employing 200 employees within the next 5 months 50-100 -poor 100-200-good 200 and above-good Percentage changes in % of tourists Less than 20% -poor 20%-5%-good Above 5% -excellent Source - (Ford and Peeper, 2008) As the result extensive promotion especially at the end of the year during the Christmas season, Miami managers will be undertaking an evaluation of its promotion and advertising in the month of January each year. The key issues that will be looked at during the evaluation process include the percentage increase in the number of customers and sales. The table below indicates the way the managers will check the performance. Percentage change in the number of customers and sales Promotion through competition, vouchers, and roadside shows among others 0-20%-poor 20%-50%-Average 50%-100%-Excellent Advertisements through magazines, and television among others 0-20%-poor 20%-50%-Average 50%-100%-Excellent Source - (Ford and Peeper, 2008) Conclusion This paper on destination marketing has effectively achieved all the aspects of a good marketing plan. Through the analysis that has been done for example in internal as well as external environment, the paper has clearly indicated the implication of these factors on the tourism industry. Similarly, by discussing the SWOT analyses of Miami, the paper indicates candidly that for any region or organization to succeed in the competitive local as well global markets, it has to identify its strengths as well as opportunities that it can use to deal with the available weaknesses. This paper has also provided an opportunity of identifying how a tourist destination like Miami can promote its services especially in the current business arena where tourists firms have turned to social marketing. The use of social media in marketing has been one of the aspects the market plan has dealt on, which has shown Miami as one of the best tourist’s destinations in the world. Another part that the paper has successfully covered is on the implementation, control and evaluation. It is imperative to note that while a marketing plan should entail all the above analyzed parts, business owners and managers must come together and evaluate the impact of the promotion, advertising as well as strategies being employed. Similarly, the paper has indicated the cost section of the plan which should not be overlooked by any organization that aims at facing off its rivals not only in the tourism sector but also in other fields. References Aras, G. 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