Monor House London - Marketing for the Tourism Product - Business Plan Example

MARKETING PLAN OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY Table of Contents 1.Introduction 3 2.Tourism Creation: Monor House London 4 2.1.Tourism Products 4 2.2.Approaches of Tourism Marketing 6 2.2.1.Economic Psychology 6 2.2.2.Travel Patterns and segmentations 6 2.2.3.Technological Development 6 2.2.4.Strategic Marketing 7 2.2.5.Communication in Tourism and travel 7 3.Product Development for Monor London House 7 3.1.Basic Package 8 3.2.Silver Package 8 3.3.Premium/Gold Package 8 4.Marketing Plan for the Tourism Product 8 4.1.Setting a Budget 8 4.2.Identify Targeted Customers 9 4.3.Advertising Campaign 9 4.4.Buying Necessary Equipment and Recruit required personal 10 5.Critical Analysis 10 6.Conclusion 11 References 12 1. Introduction Tourism and hospitality is usually described as an industry of “pleasure” and “welcome”. It is one of the most important, exciting, challenging and diverse industry throughout the world. This industry works with travel agents, tour operators, transport industry private or government tourism commissions, event mangers and different hotels and business dealing in tourism (Huntman, 2008). The diversity of this field also brings in a lot of carrier opportunities for people from different fields of work Communication and interactions are the key element in this field and this field encompasses a wide range of inter cultural activities and encounters. The hospitality area involves different hotels, restaurants, motels, clubs, inns, fast food outlets, event complexes, service apartments, and conference venues or sports complexes. This also works in diversity with different sectors working at different levels to offer services and attract new customers to their places. This industry offer careers like chefs, mangers, receptionists, waiters, tour guides, marketing executives and many more. However to excel in this field it is important to have an in-depth knowledge and enthusiasm for professionalism as well as for efficient customer service (Misik, 2002). For this it is important to gain and maintain tourism related knowledge and identify the source of information for gathering this information This involves understanding the link and functioning of each sector working in the tourism industry, the marketing strategies, social, cultural and environmental impacts of tourism strategies and in addition the roles and responsibilities of different personal working at different levels in the tourism industry. In addition it also requires skills like timely reservation policies, marketing information, administration, customer service, strategic planning and accounting. 2. Tourism Creation: Monor House London All these skills can be enhanced through studying and observing all tourism related activities and trends. However another one of the most crucial aspects of promoting your organization from a tourism prospect of view is the development and implementation of successful tourism product. The tourism product will be explained later in the assignment which will describe that how important they are if an organization wants to attract and sustain more customers to their destination. The purpose of this report is to develop and maintain a tourism product for an organization that can act as a successful attraction element for it. The hotel choosen for this purpose is the “Monor House London” which is a residency hotel for tourist. The report will follow the sequence with introduction to the tourism products, followed by an explanation of marketing strategies. After that the tourism product selected for the hotel will be discussed and its implementation will be explained. The report target to provide in depth knowledge of tourism that can be utilized in real life scenarios. 2.1. Tourism Products The term tourism product has been defined by different people and is explained as a series of interconnected services most commonly produced by different organizations working in tourism industry. These can be natural, economic or community services provided by an organization to attract tourist. According to Suswantoro (2007), tourism products are the services enjoyed by a tourist on his tour to some desired destination. Hey basically include objects and attractions, accommodation services, recreational activities, transport services or business service support .The general characteristics of tourism products are given below. They include: They cannot be moved physically Does not require some intermediaries for satisfaction They cannot be stored or stockpiled Influenced by economic factors Cannot be tried in a test case Prone to high level of risk in term of investment Depend on human factors Cannot be measured and assessed through some standard or level of quality According to Oka A. Yoeti (2002) these tourism products are the one of the objects in the tourism marketing that holds the key elements of tourism marketing. These may involve different attractive images of tourist destination that can attract the intended tourist or facilities offered by the organization other than the regular services like special accommodation, parking, recreation activities, transport facilities and other. They also include different packages according to the demand of the customers. The components of Tourism products were discussed by Mason (2000) and Poerwanto (1998) as: Attractions; events or objects such as natural, cultural or social activities or facilities that attract tourists Accessibility; how easily the goals of a tourism agency or organization can be achieved like (the utilization of travel agents) Provision of facilities that help the customers to gain satisfaction from their tour. These can include accommodation, hospitality and cleanliness. Networking; The chain of interrelated cooperative activities that make sure that the product offered by these organizations is successfully delivered. From the discussion above it can be summarized that tourism product is a an object or set of services offered by an organization to their customers so that they can enjoy their tour and feel satisfied after reaching their intended destination until they return back to their homes. These products are supported by marketing techniques; product price, facilities and services offered and ease of accessibility to these products during travel activities. 2.2. Approaches of Tourism Marketing There are different approaches defined by different researchers towards tourism marketing. Usually this industry is categorized based on different criteria’s such as private or public tourism marketing, destination marketing, customer related marketing r economy or tourism industry marketing (Matt, 2002). In the tourism marketing literature the approaches are usually developed based on thematic fields. Hu (2006) identified five different approaches in tourism marketing that are discussed below: 2.2.1. Economic Psychology This involves observing and studying consumer behavior, service quality, decision making and choice modeling. All these factors are important to achieve customer satisfaction. 2.2.2. Travel Patterns and segmentations This include targeting and segmenting behavioral and psychographic factors and positioning the patterns involved in travelling tours 2.2.3. Technological Development This phase involves incorporation of new equipment necessary for promotion, communication and marketing. This includes communication tools, e-technology, CRS implementation. In addition the training of staff to work and implement this new technology is also necessary. The database storage is also crucial for maintaining the records 2.2.4. Strategic Marketing This involves market research, travel packages, advertisement, promotions, strategies, experimental and relationship marketing. This is the most important approach that determines the success of a tourism project. 2.2.5. Communication in Tourism and travel The development and maintenance of communication channels in tourism is important. The coordination between different departments and people is necessary in order to carry out a tourism project. The above mentioned approaches can be defined through more research and adding modern perspective to it. All these above mentioned factors are important to consider when it comes to develop a marketing plan. These factors also help in developing tourism product as consumer behavior and socio economic factors are key determinants while designing tourism product. 3. Product Development for Monor London House Monor London house is not very complex or large scale tourism supporting hotel. However it is quite popular among international tourist because of its affordable prices. The rate for one night is as less than 50-60 pounds. Therefore there was a need to develop tourism product that will promote tourism as well as profitability of the hotel. So it was decided to develop different customer residency packages each with its own benefits. There were three categories selected for these packages Basic Silver Premium/Gold Package 3.1. Basic Package The basic package involve the minimum tariff for room i.e. 50- 60 pounds/night, however in addition the hotel offers 10% discount on pick and drop service to any tourism destination in London to its customers. 3.2. Silver Package In this package the average rate per night is 90-100 pounds. The accompanied services with this package are the daily room cleaning and laundry services. In addition if the silver package customer utilizes the hotel transport then 30% discount will be offered on every trip in London. 3.3. Premium/Gold Package The average rate per night in this package will be 150-170 pounds. The premium package customers will enjoy free room service and laundry services. In addition they will be provided with complimentary breakfast and can enjoy 50% discount on utilizing the hotel transport. Considering the relative completion in the tourism industry and other local hotels in London these product offers will definitely attract more tourists to this place. 4. Marketing Plan for the Tourism Product The marketing plan set for these products follow a number of stages. The following market plan is developed to implement these developed tourism product. 4.1. Setting a Budget The first and foremost responsibility of the management before launching a new tourism product is to set a budget. Budgeting will define the level and scale on which the newly developed product will be implemented. Professional should be hired to do the proper budgeting of the process as it is the key determinant whether the project will be successfully implemented or not. Budget will also define the limitations and flexibility of the project. 4.2. Identify Targeted Customers The second most important step in marketing is to identify and determine the target audience for the particular tourism product. It was decided keeping in mind the packages developed that the target customer will be Asian tourist. The prices set for each package was determined keeping in mind that these Asian tourists have to convert their currency which is comparatively low than the UK pound. So these prices suit best to them as they’ll get maximum benefits in these low prices set for these packages. 4.3. Advertising Campaign Thirdly the management has to develop the advertising campaign for the newly developed tourism product. This has to be a very clever step as the advertisement should be designed keeping in mind the budget and the target customers. The most common tricks that will be used in this campaign will be tourism advertisement websites especially that are popular in Asian countries. In addition newspapers and magazines can also be helpful. If the budget allows then TV ads can also be developed that should be on air on Asian international channels so that more Asian tourist could be reached out. In addition journal articles in famous tourist magazines could also help in promoting the tourism product. 4.4. Buying Necessary Equipment and Recruit required personal To successfully implement the tourism product it is very important the hotel will have the necessary equipment and qualified personnel that will implement it and continue it with sustainability. This begins with identifying with the needs that are required in specific package. For example for the provided products the hotel must have proper cleaning and laundry equipment. In addition it should also have functional transportation and drivers to meet the specifications of the packages offered. 5. Critical Analysis Proper assessment and analysis should be done by the head management at every step of marketing strategy so that it should be implemented without any error or mistakes. This early analysis will help to avoid later issues when the management has to deal with actual customers availing these packages. Tourism product development involves all elements which involve visitors comfort and the comfort they receive at the infrastructure they are residing. The place at which they are residing must include those attractions and activities along with the facilities which appeal visitors. For attaining competitive advantage the first most significant element is innovation which will also contribute towards economic growth (Porter & Ketels, 2003). There exists huge research linked with innovation in manufacturing while substantial efforts are being made for the progress of theories associated with innovation found in the services sector. It is found that innovation in tourism and hospitality industry must be done at all levels. Tourists are willing to share new ideas and this willingness to share experiences for transforming or adapting to changes results in the growth at all levels of the organization. However at this point all apprehensions and ambiguity about innovation must be removed and all focus must be diverted to real innovation. It is essential to classify the types of innovations which can be proved useful for the hospitality industry such as improvements, innovative practices or a service or idea which has never been done in the industry. Moreover the chosen hotel can experience hesitant attitudes towards sharing of innovation ideas due to the high competitive market. Innovation can thus be defined as a radical element which means it possesses the ability to redefine the market and directs it towards incremental behavior which is associated with minor improvements (Lawless & Anderson, 1996). While most of the studies have related innovation in tourism and hospitality as a breakthrough procedure which can be measured on a range and at times delineated as high/medium/low divisions (Garcia & Calantone, 2002). 6. Conclusion It is evident from the above discussion that tourism industry is a modern and fast growing business with its specific diverse nature. All the organizations operating in this industry should develop and plan their marketing strategies and tourism products according to the demand and social cultural characteristics of their target customers. Tourism product are important in determining the success of a tourism organization. The efficient, well planned and well executed tourism product helps the organization to attract new customers and sustain the old one. There is always a risk whether a specific tourism product succeeded or not because it cannot be tested in an experimental situation. However careful planning and analysis at every stage of marketing and development will help to avoid any unnecessary risk at later stages of implementation. The tourism product developed for this project also planned considering all these points so that it will be beneficial for the tourist as well as for the hotel. References Garcia, R. & Calantone, R., 2002. A critical look at technological innovation typology and innovativeness terminology: A literature review. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 19(2), pp.110-32. Huntman, M., 2008. Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality in BC. 1st ed. Brihingham: BC Open Texbook. Lawless, M. & Anderson, P., 1996. Generational technological change: Effect of innovation and local rivalry on performance. Academy of Management Journal, 39(5), pp.1185-217. Matt, L., 2002. Catogories and Approaches Towards tourism Marketting. Los Angles: City Adventure Field Press. Misik, C., 2002. Introduction to Tourism. Tokoyo: Nan Yang Institute of Management. Porter, M.E. & Ketels, C.H.M., 2003. Competitiveness: Moving to the next stage. Strategic Management Journal, 24, pp.415-31. Suswantorro, 2007. Tourism and Hospitality Marketing. Journal of Tourism and Marketing, pp.23-34. Yaoeti, O.A. & Moris, P., 2002. Hospitality and Tourism Technology. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, pp.50-62. Read More