Canterbury Cathedral Fieldtrip Strategic Tourism Marketing - Case Study Example

Canterbury Cathedral – Fieldtrip – Strategic Tourism Marketing Name Course Name and Code Date Introduction Canterbury Cathedral is one of the best tourism destinations in Canterbury District. Destination marketing is one of the key activities aimed at fulfilling the corporate strategies of a destination organization. For instance, it increases the attractiveness of the destination thus making it a potential gathering place for visitors from various regions across the world. Canterbury Cathedral’s mission statement is to implement the policy of the Dean and Chapter by providing a ministry of welcome. With this huge mandate to fulfil, the cathedral’s visits department receives more than one million visitors annually. The cathedral has 30 employees and 350 volunteers who are very instrumental in managing the Cathedral’s tourism activities, which attracts a gross income of £3 million. According to the Visits Marketing department, the overall number of visitors is 1,020,000 with 450,000 being paying visitors, gross income of £3 million, operational costs £400,000, marketing costs £25,000, and hence the net annual income for the cathedral is £2.6 million. The Cathedral has a minimal marketing budget with a minimum manpower. Canterbury Cathedral is strategically located and can easily be accessed by visitors from across the globe. Target visitors for the Canterbury Cathedral mainly come from the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Eastern Europe, and the US. The specific markets that the organisation targets are general group market like travel trade, and group organisers; Educational market including language schools, primary/secondary/tertiary (Reisinger, 2009). The key customer groups include empty nesters and senior citizens who are interested in heritage and/or religion, families with children at school, and group markets for youths, schools and interest groups. The organisation also uses relationship marketing particularly for travel-trade, group organisers, professional organisations, press, and competition. This report provides a comprehensive marketing plan for Canterbury Cathedral to expand its target markets. In this regard, the report describes how the organization can tap into the larger European Target Markets. Canterbury Cathedral Situational Analysis The UK tourism industry is one of the best developed industries within the country. This industry is widely affected by the external environment. Given this understanding, using macro and micro environment analysis, Canterbury Cathedral situational analysis is extensively provided below. Macro-environment analysis (PESTLE Analysis) Political: the political state of any country greatly impacts on the marketing activities of any given company. Similarly, the regional political status has massive effects on companies that serve regional and global markets (Doole & Lowe, 2012). Canterbury Cathedral is one of tourism organizations in Canterbury District, UK; the country has a potential and stable political environment that encourages advancement of economic activities. However, the SeaFrance sailings from Calois to Dover were disrupted by industrial action in France; this had extreme negative effects particularly on the organization’s sales. Capacity considerations; this is in terms of infrastructure. Canterbury district has legislations that encourage the development of tourism infrastructures including accommodation, transportation, as well as recreational. Economic: the national and international economic situation that have a direct impact on the marketing activities of an organization. The 2008 global recession like in any other industry, it affected the global tourism industry. UK together with other world countries are healing from the effects of the economic recession and hence resulting into an increase in retail sales. The fluctuation of exchange rates also impacts the way companies perform. The banks have maintained low interest rates thus stimulating extended consumer spending. Accordingly, the emerging tourism markets in UAE, China, India and Africa pose a great threat to the UK’s tourism industry. Socio-cultural: these are societal forces including family, friends, media and the trends of the general population. The identified social factors directly and indirectly affect consumer attitudes, interests as well as opinions; in essence, they are very instrumental in shaping consumer behaviour and trends (Jaworski, Kohli & Sahay, 2001). The United Kingdom has an ageing population; the older folks are associated with leisure; spending happily the remaining part of the life. With regard to this observation, holidays and tourism activities are positioned to develop unendingly. It is also important to identify that the shift in consumer taste with regard to experiences over destinations is a threat to the UK tourism industry as the visitors can opt for other destinations in emerging markets. Technological: technological advancement is one of the factors that have transformed the way businesses are operated (Myerson, 1997). Technology is an essential tool to any business organization; for instance, it can be used for information exchange, business management, as well as transmit and record information. For this reason, consumers expect instant solutions given the fact that advancement in technology has increased the rate at which information is exchanged between different stakeholders. The rise in social networking for instance has extremely facilitated communication. Legal: the different laws and regulations formulated by the government strongly affect the way business is done in a given country. For example, the plane duty that replaced the Air Passenger Duty potentially increased the number of visitors. The EU/US Open Skies Agreement has potentially increased the number of courier flights to various EU destinations and vice versa (Leonard, Lewis & Freedman, 2013). The global climate legislation and entry costs or border policy like Visa process legislations are other legislations that have great effects on the Company’s marketing activities. Environmental: climate change is regarded as one of the factor that is highly considered by tourists when making a travel decision; for instance, some are strongly concerned with reducing their carbon footprint. Accordingly, potential health and travel scares like avian flu directly affects the business activities of destination companies. Micro environment analysis (SWOT Analysis) Strengths Excellent transport infrastructures: Road, Rail, Sea, and Air Proximity to Europe Proximity to London Strong heritage-based appeal Regional shopping hub Weaknesses Limited accommodation The perceived expense Limited parking Opportunities Increased awareness of sustainability and carbon footprint for domestic tourism Low interest rates Increase in the ageing population The larger European market Threats Global terrorism Poor perception of the public transport The rising fuel prices Market Segments Canterbury Cathedral segments its market based on the value-based groups developed by Ark Leisure; this system is widely used Visit Britain as well as through the entire tourism industry to help in targeting marketing activities. The value-based groups in this regard are Innovators, mass market, independent markets, and sustainers. Innovators: Under this category, we have: Style hounds, which include young free singles, impulsive, fashion courts looking for fun with friends. Individuals under this category are mostly active in sports. The cosmopolitans on the other hand are strong, active, confident, style and brand important, but as an expression of their self made identity. They are high spenders particularly on innovation and technology. They keep on looking for new challenges; new experiences and above all they are globetrotters. Mass market: this category include High street; they are the mainstream early adopters, they follow high street fashion, they care about what others think, and they are happy to buy packaged options (Schermerhorn, 2009). Followers; they are strongly influenced by what others think, they like being identified with the current market trends, they are less active, slow to adopt, and always try to avoid risk. Independent market: They include: The discoverers also fall under the innovators; discoverers are independent in mind and action, they are not largely influenced by style and/or brands, however, they are interested in experiencing new options. They only buy on value and function to them and they continuously look for new educational experiences. Traditionals; they are self reliant and internally referenced, they are slow in adopting new options, have strong orientation towards traditional values, and the value individual attention an service. Sustainers: This category has the following groups Habituals; they are largely inactive and a low spending group. They are strongly value tradition and thus resistant to change. They are risk adverse; however, they value relaxation, peace and quiet. Funtionals; are self reliant, price driven, value function over style, they also embrace traditional values, however, they are interested in new experiences; they are not risk adverse. Canterbury cathedral is targeting to tap into the larger European Target Markets and for this reason; the company will target three main consumer market segments including the empty nesters, DINK’s as well as caring parents from France, Belgium, German, and Ireland. The main objective here is to maintain and increase the number of visitors from the mentioned countries. Accordingly, Canterbury cathedral is targeting travel trade from France, Belgium and Germany; in this regard, the organisation will encourage visits to the cathedral through provision of extensive and comprehensive advance information for the travel trade. Product Adaptation Canterbury Cathedral will use different tactics to ensure that the above mentioned products are well adapted to the target markets. The empty Nesters, DINK’s and Caring Parents The cathedral will provide foreign language versions of printed material to the target markets in order to encourage more visits to the Cathedral. Similarly, the company will develop websites in foreign languages that are easily understandable to the target markets in for it to attract more visitors to the cathedral (Ramanathan, 2009). As already mentioned the target markets for these tourism products are France, Germany, Belgian, and Ireland. For this reason, the company will print as well as develop websites materials in French, German, and Belgian and in English languages to allow for ease of understanding of the target markets. Travel trade from France, Belgium and Germany Canterbury Cathedral will introduce group trade and/or Travel Trade micro-site, similarly, the Cathedral will attendance trade exhibitions like RDA in Cologne, using CAG; the cathedral will conduct a Cruise Connections Campaign, the French will also meet the travel trade via CAG. The organisation will also use Clean European databases together with DM to inform tour operators of the new coach park and drop off facilities. Most importantly, the Cathedral will use the PR generated in foreign trade press through new facilities (Page & Connell, 2009). This will largely help in adapting the identified market segments to the proposed tourism products. The described activities will enhance the cathedrals business by increasing the number of visitors to the Canterbury Cathedral. Monitoring the Strategy In order to maintain Canterbury Cathedral tourism marketing strategies the company has excellent operational strategies that will anchor the overall marketing strategy. For instance, the company continuously focuses on the rich European markets, and thus it will offer a wide variety of tourism products as explained above in order to attract more visitors. Porter’s Five Forces According to various business experts, it is extremely important for any business extensively and comprehensively understands the business dynamics of the industry within which it operates and has a larger market perspective in order to gain a competitive advantage and compete effectively at the marketplace (Burns, Palmer & Lester, 2010). The factors that influence competition and attractiveness of a market are determined by the five Porter’s forces, which are regarded to have a direct impact on the business. Consequently, the rivalry with regard to different players in the industry as well as the threat of new entrants, supplier bargaining power, consumer bargaining power and the threat of substitute products are the key factors that have massive influence on the company’s business. These forces are interconnected and impact the organisation’s ability outstandingly perform and hence attract sustainable profits. Competitive rivalry Canterbury cathedral is a tourism destination organisation in the UK; this company faces stiff competition from established destinations within the region particularly from its European counterparts: France, Germany, Belgium and Ireland. Similarly, the company’s other competition comes from the US and emerging markets particularly China, India, UAE and Africa. It has been established that if entry into any industry or market is easy and simple, then there will be high rivalry in this particular market. The UK tourism industry is favourable to venture into and hence Canterbury Cathedral is vulnerable to domestic competition (Murphy, 2013). Threats of new entrants From the discussion above we have established that the UK tourism industry is a favourable industry and hence easy for new entrants to venture into (Figini & Candela, 2012). The economies of scale and access of the distribution are the main barriers that company face in this industry. In the same line of thinking, tourism companies spend less on marketing activities since there is a ready market; the ageing population thus new entrants can easily establish themselves. Supplier bargaining power The bargaining power of suppliers of Canterbury Cathedral is very low; the company’s products are not strongly influenced by suppliers and hence the company has an advantage of spending on suppliers. Buyer Bargaining Power The bargaining power of Canterbury Cathedral consumers is very low mainly because there is low customer switching costs. There is a readily available market form within UK and from abroad. Given this facts the company does not worry about customer loyalty (Pick, 2005). Accordingly, the company ahs differentiated its products and use various marketing promotional tools to promote its products and services. The promotional tools used here include advertisement as well as market promotions in order to have a competitive advantage over its competitors (Perry, 2005). For this reason, it is important to note that product differentiation is significantly essential in this industry. Furthermore, product and service quality is another key recipe mainly because customers have knowledge of what they want and need (Wylie, 2009). Consequently, if customers don’t get what they need or the company provides products that do not match the customer specifications the customer may opt for other destinations as well as influence others to follow suit. Threats of Substitutes Various factors have been identified as determinants of the degree of influence the threat of substitutes in the tourism industry and these include consumer-switching costs, the price of the substitute product, and the quality of the substitute product (Plotnik & Kouyoumdjian, 2010). Organisations in the tourism industry have low switching costs, wide range of similar products as well as other more leisurely destinations. This poses a great threat to the Canterbury Cathedral. Marketing Strategies (4p Mix) The best and influential marketing strategies for Canterbury cathedral in UK and the larger Europe is based on the 4p marketing mix; product, place, price and promotion. The marketing mix is an instrumental and essential tool in marketing activities of any business organisation position to make and sustain its profitability in the long run (Jennings & Nickerson, 2012). The marketing mix tools identified above will be discussed independently in this section. Product: this is a seen item or services that are aimed at satisfying consumer demands. It is either a tangible good or intangible service (Cooper et al., 2008). For example, the tangible products are physical and independent. The Canterbury Cathedral only offers intangible tourism products and these include: The empty Nesters, DINK’s and Caring Parents; and Travel trade from France, Belgium and Germany. Place: this involves the provision of products within the reach of customers; for instance, where customers can access them easily. In according to this, the Canterbury Cathedral is strategically located and thus visitors from the UK, France, Germany, Ireland, and Ireland can easily and conveniently access the cathedral. The Canterbury district has an excellent transport system including, rail, road, sea and air. Price: The amount of money that consumer should pay for a product and feel that he/she has received the value for the money use as well the organization make a profit for the service or product offered. Pricing is a significant and important in determining the company’s profitability as well as its survival in the marketplace. Similarly, any adjustment in the price has a significant impact on the company’s marketing strategy (Pavel, 2012). Given these facts when setting the price for the Canterbury Cathedral products for the new market segments, the marketers will consider the customer perceived value of the product (Inkson & Minnaert, 2012). Additionally, the company will consider pricing strategies such as premium pricing strategy and penetrating pricing to have an outstanding impact on the new market segments. Promotion: the various tools and methods that a company uses to communicate to its different target markets about the products they are offering. The different promotional strategies include: advertisement, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. Promotion of the Canterbury Cathedral tourism products will be made up of an integrated marketing communication. In this regard, the cathedral will use different media in advertising its products such as TV, Radio, Internet, Newspapers, Magazines, and Billboards along major cities in the identified target countries. The TV and Radio adverts will be aired during prime times in order to reach a wider audience (Gosnay & Richardson, 2010). Canterbury Cathedral will also use interactive and direct marketing strategies, which will enable customers to have real time information about the company and even book for their visitation online. The customers will be able to access real time and relevant information with regard to the different products that the company offers (Ryan, 2012). The cathedral on the other hand will be able to diversely understand the customer tourism needs. Publicity and public relation activities that the company will engage in will have immense impact on attracting customers from the identified market segments. Conclusion Canterbury Cathedral as already identified in the introduction is one of the best tourism destinations in Canterbury District. The Cathedral has been on the forefront in ensuring it continually attracts visitors from the UK and from abroad. The organisation is strategically located having a close proximity to major transportation infrastructures including road, rail, sea and air. The company offers different tourism products including: travel trade, and group organisers; Educational market including language schools, primary/secondary/tertiary. The key customer groups include: empty nesters and senior citizens who are interested in heritage and/or religion, families with children at school, and group markets for youths, schools and interest groups. Canterbury Cathedral has a strong in drive to expand its market by venturing into the larger European market segment. The products the company intends to market to the new market segments include: The empty Nesters, DINK’s and Caring Parents; and Travel trade to France, Belgium, Germany and Ireland. For this reason, the company will use the 4P marketing mix to promote its products to these new markets. References Burns, P, Palmer, C & Lester, J 2010, Tourism and visual culture: Theories and concepts, Oxfordshire, CABI. Cooper C., Fletcher J., Fyall A., Gilbert D. & Wanhill S 2008, Tourism Principles and Practice, 4th Edition. London: Longman Doole, I & Lowe, K 2012, Robin CIM Coursebook 08/09 strategic marketing decisions. Burlington, Elsevier. Figini, P & Candela, G 2012, The economic of tourism destinations. New York: Springer. Gosnay, R & Richardson, N 2010, Developing your marketing skills, Philadelphia, Kogan Page Publishers. Inkson, C & Minnaert, L 2012, Tourism management: An introduction, Sage Publications: London. Jaworski, B, Kohli, A & Sahay, A 2001, Market-Driven versus Driving Markets: Journal of the Academy of marketing science. Volume 28, issues, pp45-54. Jennings, G & Nickerson, N 2012, Quality tourism experiences, New York, Routledge. Leonard, S, Lewis, R & Freedman, A 2013, The Wile-Blackwell Handbook of the psychology of leadership, change and organization development. New York, John Wiley & Sons. Murphy, P 2013, Tourism: A community approach, New York, Routledge. Myerson, R 1997, Game theory: Analysis of conflict, Harvard, Harvard University Press. Page, S & Connell, J 2009, Tourism: A modern synthesis, 3rd Edition, Andover, Cengage Learning EMEA. Pavel, L 2012, Game theory for control of optical networks. New York, Springer. Perry, B 2005, Organizational management and information systems, Amsterdam, Elsevier. Pick, J 2005, Geographic information system in business. London, Idea Group Inc (IGI). Plotnik, R & Kouyoumdjian, H 2010, Introduction to psychology, Belmont, Cengage Learning. Ramanathan, T 2009, The role of organizational change management in offshore outsourcing of information technology services: Qualitative case studies from a multinational company, Boca Raton, Universal-Publishers. Reisinger, Y 2009, International tourism: Culture and behaviour, Oxford, Elsevier. Ryan, C 2012, Battlefield tourism, New York, Routledge. Schermerhorn, J 2009, Exploring management, New York, John Wiley & Sons. Wylie, K 2009, Managers get the staff they deserve, Norderstedt, GRIN Verlag. Read More

Socio-cultural: these are societal forces including family, friends, media and the trends of the general population. The identified social factors directly and indirectly affect consumer attitudes, interests as well as opinions; in essence, they are very instrumental in shaping consumer behaviour and trends (Jaworski, Kohli & Sahay, 2001). The United Kingdom has an ageing population; the older folks are associated with leisure; spending happily the remaining part of the life. With regard to this observation, holidays and tourism activities are positioned to develop unendingly.

It is also important to identify that the shift in consumer taste with regard to experiences over destinations is a threat to the UK tourism industry as the visitors can opt for other destinations in emerging markets. Technological: technological advancement is one of the factors that have transformed the way businesses are operated (Myerson, 1997). Technology is an essential tool to any business organization; for instance, it can be used for information exchange, business management, as well as transmit and record information.

For this reason, consumers expect instant solutions given the fact that advancement in technology has increased the rate at which information is exchanged between different stakeholders. The rise in social networking for instance has extremely facilitated communication. Legal: the different laws and regulations formulated by the government strongly affect the way business is done in a given country. For example, the plane duty that replaced the Air Passenger Duty potentially increased the number of visitors.

The EU/US Open Skies Agreement has potentially increased the number of courier flights to various EU destinations and vice versa (Leonard, Lewis & Freedman, 2013). The global climate legislation and entry costs or border policy like Visa process legislations are other legislations that have great effects on the Company’s marketing activities. Environmental: climate change is regarded as one of the factor that is highly considered by tourists when making a travel decision; for instance, some are strongly concerned with reducing their carbon footprint.

Accordingly, potential health and travel scares like avian flu directly affects the business activities of destination companies. Micro environment analysis (SWOT Analysis) Strengths Excellent transport infrastructures: Road, Rail, Sea, and Air Proximity to Europe Proximity to London Strong heritage-based appeal Regional shopping hub Weaknesses Limited accommodation The perceived expense Limited parking Opportunities Increased awareness of sustainability and carbon footprint for domestic tourism Low interest rates Increase in the ageing population The larger European market Threats Global terrorism Poor perception of the public transport The rising fuel prices Market Segments Canterbury Cathedral segments its market based on the value-based groups developed by Ark Leisure; this system is widely used Visit Britain as well as through the entire tourism industry to help in targeting marketing activities.

The value-based groups in this regard are Innovators, mass market, independent markets, and sustainers. Innovators: Under this category, we have: Style hounds, which include young free singles, impulsive, fashion courts looking for fun with friends. Individuals under this category are mostly active in sports. The cosmopolitans on the other hand are strong, active, confident, style and brand important, but as an expression of their self made identity. They are high spenders particularly on innovation and technology.

They keep on looking for new challenges; new experiences and above all they are globetrotters. Mass market: this category include High street; they are the mainstream early adopters, they follow high street fashion, they care about what others think, and they are happy to buy packaged options (Schermerhorn, 2009). Followers; they are strongly influenced by what others think, they like being identified with the current market trends, they are less active, slow to adopt, and always try to avoid risk.

Read More