Marketing in Travel and Tourism - Essay Example

Marketing in Travel and Tourism Introduction Tourism encompasses any activity that is concerned with the impermanent short-term movement of persons to areas or destinations that are outside their usual places of residence or work, and the activities they engage in while at these places during their stay at these destinations. Marketing is of great importance in tourism and travel as it is the main management impact that determines the size and conduct of the tourism sector in the international market. It is about anticipation and the identification of the wants and desires of the specific market that is targeted and sustaining the specific desires and wants of the market with an aim to make a profit. This would require that the travel and the tourism organizations understand the demands of their customers meaning anticipation and identification of their wants and needs. Anticipating and identifying when used in travel and tourism marketing depends on effective market research that would involve researching on both the existing and potential markets. In marketing research, it is important that the customers be classified according to their socio-economic status, lifestyles, and family circumstances, gender among other factors. This may involve primary research such as surveys, observations or questionnaires and secondary research such as statistics and records, which may be qualitative or quantitative in nature. While classifying customers it is important to note that the target market consists of a whole group of potential customers from the entire population. It is therefore better for those involved in marketing of travel and tourism to define the target market as a collection of segments, what is normally referred to as market segmentation. When the market is segmented, each segment has distinct characteristics and its needs and wants must be satisfied in order to have the best results shown through profits earned. Travel and Tourism Motivation Various studies have dealt with tourist motivations and market segmentation showing that the factors that motivate tourists for leisure travel and tourism can be classified into two types that is the “push” and “pull” factors (Mehmet 2011, p.153). It is therefore imperative that stakeholders in the travel and tourism sectors must have a proper analysis on tourist motivation and related activities in order to understand leisure tourist destination choices. These factors also enhance the image of destinations and the interplay with satisfaction and loyalty of tourists that procure these services of tour and travel. Each destination always offers a variety of products and services to attract tourists and therefore it is important to have clear knowledge why tourists choose a particular destination and how they feel about it. Having a good analysis of the tourist motivation extends the theoretical and empirical evidence that shows that there is a casual relationship in the push and pull factors that motivate travel and tourism, the satisfaction, and destination loyalty (Yoon and Uysal 2005, pp.45-56). Motivation refers to the psychological, biological, social needs and wants including the internal or external forces that dictate how individuals are pushed by motivation variables to make decisions to travel and how they are pulled by the attributes of a particular destination. The “push” factors refer to the intangible, intrinsic desires of an individual traveller or the tourist, for example the desire to go for an adventure, rest or relaxation while the “pull” factors define the attractiveness of a particular destination and the tangible characteristics of the place, such as accommodation and recreational facilities it offers, cultural or historical attractions. Travel and tourism motivation involves many dimensions as tourists often have more than a single motive for choosing a particular destination, which may be dynamic or flexible in nature. Understanding the factors that motivate tourists to visit a particular destination and how it differs from others who choose a different destination is important as it may help those who plan and market tourism and travel products to set the relevant marketing strategies. It is also vital as it helps destinations to build strategies for marketing and differentiating its products and services from those that are in competition with it. In analysing the factors for motivation for tourism and travel, it is important that demographical trends in the tourism market and the changes in tourist motives is considered as it has got a direct bearing on the development of a particular destination. The purpose of this analysis is to understand the needs better and the desires of the tourist in order to make appropriate strategies for tourism products and marketing mix. Market Segmentation Market segmentation in travel and tourism marketing lays its basis on the distinct profiles of the target groups while at the same time measuring how attractive a particular market is for tourism and travel. Destinations usually select one or few segments as their preferred target markets and develop the travel and tourism products and their marketing strategies effectively that suits their segment of choice (Philipp and Torsten 2003, p.12). The travel market is in most circumstances divided into four types of markets that is either personal business travel, government or corporate business travel, visiting of family and friends, and traveling for leisure which a tourism product or service provider must put in mind when segmenting the market. In order to attain effective market segmentation, it is important to ensure that certain characteristics are met. These include measurability, which refers to the degree to which the size and the purchasing power of the identified segments is measured as certain segmentation variables are usually difficult to identify. Those involved in travel and tourism marketing must ensure that there is accessibility of the market, which is the degree to which the particular market segment can be effectively reached or served and have a focus on the substantiality of the market. Substantiality refers to the degree to which the segments are large or profitable in nature, as well as considering the action ability of the market, which refers to the degree to which effective programs can be designed to attract and service the chosen segments (Kotler et al. 1999). Market segmentation should consider measurability, accessibilities, and substantiality and action abilities of the chosen market segments. Therefore, the destination planners must be aware of the comparative and competitive advantage that a particular destination has as compared to other destinations. In this case, comparative advantage entails the resources that are available to a particular destination while competitive advantage involves the ability of the particular destination to utilize the particular resources. The most common criteria for market segmentation in travel and tourism sector are through demographic, geographic, behavioural or psychographic approach. This would entail dividing the market into sections that reflect what a particular group of people want in tourism products along factors such as the character of a given population, the location of the tourist destinations or how a particular group of consumers of tourist products behave towards a particular offering or product. Strategic Marketing and Planning in Tourism Strategic marketing and planning is the first step in any marketing endeavour, and involves developing the business portfolio and other important processes such as the creation of a mission statement, determining the goals and objectives of the organization before designing the functional strategies for the businesses. There is need for all organizations offering travel and tourism services and products to become strategic in the management of their operations including marketing. This would require that organizations anticipate shifts in the demand of travel and tourism products and services, determine the true market size in accordance to the specific segmented markets and identify the fastest growing markets. The organizations should also be able to identify their target as well as emerging markets, comprehend the prevailing risks, locate, and absorb the lucrative markets. Through such strategic moves in planning, the organizations will be able to maximize their potentials in offering tourism products that translates into massive profits and better margins on the tourism products offered (Gilmore, Carson and Ascencao 2007, pp.253-264). Tourism and travel companies are affected by different factors in their quest to lay a framework for strategic market planning. Two factors control and affect the understanding and method of accomplishment of tourist and travel strategic marketing planning of organizations involved in the provision of tourism and travel products and services. One factor is the degree to which the tourism organization concentrates in its market segment rather than the diversification of the products and markets while the second factor is effect of economic variables on the tourism marketing strategies. This means that for tourism organizations to achieve its objectives properly through strategic planning, they must be able to focus on the chosen market as well as strive to enter and dominate selected target markets. They must also be able to understand the dynamics of economic variables, ensuring that they only enter those markets deemed as profitable at minimal costs and expenses. Market Research in Tourism Marketing Market research is usually conducted as a way of finding out if a product or service that is intended to be offered in the market or is offered will be successful or profitable, though it may have other purposes. The major purposes of market research are to identify the needs of the customer and meet them thereafter and learn the attitudes and values held highly by the customer. Market research also helps in the development of products and services that meet the already identified needs and wants of the customer and discover the trends in sale. It may also help in the finding out of the activities of a competitor and the measuring of the effectiveness of a promotional activity as well as the classification of customers into groups or types. Market research may be done through surveys, interviews and questionnaires to find about a particular market, what is known as primary research or the use of existing information, which may be internal or external known as secondary market research. Each of these types may be used depending on the advantage it offers and the level of appropriateness and therefore users are required to work out which method is the right one in terms of costs, reliability, validity, accessibility and the time it takes to carry out the research. In the tourism product sector, market research is always important is often important as it makes the tourism provider know which markets are lucrative and those that have not been exploited. It is also important as it helps those concerned in the provision of these tourism products come up with products that may give them a competitive edge over others offering similar services or products. Information derived from a market research may be useful for firms to improve on the services and products that they offer to their clients that has a positive effect on the eventual profits and customer satisfaction. Influence of Consumer in Travel and Tourism Marketing Consumers have a great role in influencing the marketing of travel and tourism products as they play the role of making the important decisions concerning the purchase of the products and services. Consumer behaviour defines the procedures and the events, which people involve in when looking for, choosing, buying, using, assessing and disposing off products and services that have been put in the market. Consumers play an integral role in influencing the uptake of travel and tourism products as their attitude towards the said products or services are important in influencing repeat purchases of the products or services in the market. Therefore, the important role that consumers play in the uptake of tourism products is majorly felt through repeat purchases of the tourist product and publicity that such consumers offer to organizations. Tourism organizations should therefore strive to offer the best products to the consumers as well as render their services or products in a manner that is memorable to the consumers of these products. Extended Marketing Mix Marketing Mix is the key concept in advertising and it has four elements denoted as P’s that refer to Product, Price, Place (distribution), and Promotion. All marketers are required to combine these elements into a functioning and cohesive marketing strategy. For example, many travel and tourism organizations integrate the various communication efforts such as advertisement through the media or sales promotions to achieve an efficient and effective marketing communication. Product refers to the nature of the product in terms of characteristics and its lifecycle while price refers to the strategies for pricing such as competitor pricing, discounting, seasonality. Place refers to the physical location of the product as well as the level of accessibility and the distribution channels of the product or service, promotion on the other hand refers to the methods of making the product to be known such as advertising, marketing and releases through the media (Bennett and Strydom 2001, p.193). Extended marketing comprises of the four elements of market mix that is product, people, price and promotion under the element of product, the extended marketing mix focuses on how the goods are presented in order to satisfy the audience that is the target for them to purchase it. While this seems direct, there is need to identify and address the extent to which a product may satisfy the needs and wants of a consumer using the tourism product or service. Organizations are therefore required to understand the three levels of a product that must be agreed that is, the main product, the definite product and the improved product (Kotler et al. 2006). The organization in this case Thomson must focus on the price of the product that is, the amount that is charged to customers for the provision of goods or products and services. It constitutes product offering in that at the basic level, the practice of setting the price of a product must be in a manner that enables the organization to recover its operation costs while at the same time generating a predetermined level of profit (Thomas and George 2002, p.3). This requires that organizations consider the positioning of a product and plan its pricing in relation to others also involved in the provision of the same product. Organizations must therefore include strategic considerations such as need to build stronger and continuous customer relationships that enable consumers to construct real perceptions of the value of the service or product. The product must also be offered at the right place in the market to the target group as well as ensuring that the promotional aspect is strictly adhered to ensure an effective marketing mix. This is done mainly to avoid the pitfalls that may be met in having a wrong or ineffective marketing mix that can make the consumer of the product and the provider incongruent thus affecting negatively on the perception of the organizations product. Total Tourism Product At the heart of any marketing of a tourist and travel, product or service is having a proper understanding of the potential tourists and their perceptions of the product, this can be known by asking what benefits the tourists seek and the expectations that they have before taking up the product. When tourists and travellers make a decision to use a certain product, they must consider components that make it desirable in order to warrant choosing it. Based on the tourists motive to travel and the tourist activities they wish to engage in, the tourists place different levels of weighting to decide on the individual components of the tourist product. The components that are desirable to the tourist and must be incorporated by a travel and tourist organization is what is known as total tourist product. The total tourism product must be able to satisfy the needs and desires of the consumers and the organization must always strive to ensure that the product that they place on the market satisfies the needs of the consumers (Koutoulas, 2004). Integrated Marketing Communication Marketing is explained as the activities or set of foundations including the processes for the creation, communication, delivery and swapping aids that have importance for consumers, customers, associates and the society. Marketing through advertising and sales promotion have an integral role in the exchange process as it informs consumers about the products and services being offered by the organization in turn persuading them to buy the products or services to satisfy the needs and wants. Integrated marketing communication describes the holistic approach to marketing communication whose objectives is to ensure that the message passed across is consistent and complements the effective use of the media to deliver the same (Lamb et al 1999, p.413). This concept includes online marketing such as e marketing or search engine optimizations (SEO) or offline marketing channels such as the traditional media such as print media, mail orders, radio or televisions as well as billboards. In order to achieve an integrated marketing communication, companies usually use the four elements of marketing mix that is the product, price, place and promotion to have successful results. The use of these elements by integrating them to other components of marketing mix to have a competitive advantage over other companies involved in the same business is what is referred to as the Integrated Marketing Communication. IMC may be used by organizations for branding of most products and services, which compete for consideration by customers who often have little or no time to make choices. An organization can contact a customer in the provision of information about the services in many ways, this can be achieved through the IMC tools if put in the right and effective way and combination. The tools of IMC may include advertising; direct marketing, interactive or internet marketing, sales promotion, publicity, public relations or personal selling. The IMC planning process entails promotion of the design of a promotional plan that provides a framework for the developing, implementation and controlling of the integrated marketing communication program and services of the organization. Integrated Marketing Communication planning processes is divided into stages that may include a review of the marketing plan, promotional program situational analysis, internal and external analysis, analysis of the communication process and the determination of the budget. It is important that organizations examine all the overall marketing plans and objectives and the role of advertising and promotion, under competitive analysis there is need to assess the environmental influences before determining the budget. Conclusion Marketing plays an integral role for any business organization and this includes those that offer tourism products like Thomson. Having proper or effective marketing strategies is the key to such organizations attaining their goals and missions of both satisfying the needs of the consumers of the products and maximization of profits. In order to achieve all this, organizations must incorporate all the elements and tenets of proper marketing such as conducting a viable market research, incorporating an effective marketing mix and having the correct integrated marketing communication. By offering a total tourism product that meets the desires, needs and wants of the consumers, organizations’ are able to satisfy their customers or clients as well as maximize on their profits. References Bennett, J. A., & Strydom, J. W., 2001. Introduction to travel and tourism marketing. Lansdowne, Juta. Gilmore, A., Carson, D., & Ascencao, M., 2007. Sustainable tourism marketing as a world Heritage site. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 15(2), 253-264. Koutoulas, D., 2004. Understanding the Tourism Product. Proceedings of the International Scientific Symposium “Understanding Tourism – Theoretical Advances” organized by the University of the Aegean and the International Sociological Society, Lesbos Island, Greece. Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., Mcdaniel, C. D., Lamb, C. W., & Wardlow, D. L., 1999. Essentials of marketing. Cincinnati, Ohio, South-Western College Pub. Mehmet, M. 2011. Examining the Relationship between Push and Pull Factors through Partial Least-Squares Path Modeling, in Joseph S. Chen (ed.) Advances in Hospitality and Leisure (Advances in Hospitality and Leisure, Volume 7), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.153-171 Philipp E., Boksberger, Torsten von Bartenwerffer. 2003. "Effective destination marketing through market segmentation by travel and leisure activities", Tourism Review, Vol. 58 Iss: 4, pp.12 – 20 Thomas T. Nagle, George E. Cressman Jr., 2002. Don`t Just Set Prices, manage them, Journal of Marketing Management, November/December 2002. Yoon, Y., Uysal, M., (2005). An examination of the effects of motivation and satisfaction on destination loyalty: A structural model. Tourism Management 26 (1), 45-56. Read More