Travel & Hospitality Marketing

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TRAVEL & HOSPITALITY MARKETING

SUBMITTED TO – DR. SANTOSH UPADHYAY

SUBMITTED BY – PAWAS CHATURVEDI

SHERWOOD COLLEGE OF PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Apart from the efforts of me, the success of this project depends largely on the encouragement and guidelines of many others. I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of this project. I would like to show my greatest appreciation to Dr. Santosh Upadhyay, our Travel & Hospitality Marketing teacher. I cant say thank you enough for his tremendous support and help. I feel motivated and encouraged each time I attend his lecture. Without his encouragement and guidance this project could not have materialized. The guidance and support received from all who contributed to this project, was vital for the success of the project. I am grateful for their constant support and help.

- PAWAS CHATURVEDI

SHERWOOD COLLEGE OF PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT

TOURISM MARKETING
Marketing means achieving the firm´s goals by identifying the needs and desires of consumers, and then satisfying them better than competitors. Tourism marketing is the application of marketing concepts in the travel and tourism industry. Tourism marketing could be complex due to the product being an amalgam of many different industries such as accommodation and transportation. The markets also vary widely, and determining the consumers´ preferences could be difficult.

Definition


Tourism marketing refers to the organized, combined efforts of the national tourist bodies and/or the businesses in the tourism sector of an international, national or local area to achieve growth in tourism by maximizing the satisfaction of tourists. In doing so, the tourist bodies and businesses expect to receive profits.

Product


The tourism product includes all the experiences of a tourist from when he leaves his home to when he returns. An area´s natural attractions, including climate, history and culture, can be seen as the raw materials of the tourism product. Other aspects that can help achieve tourist satisfaction include amenities such as water, electricity, transport and communication. The tourism product is the sum of all the factors in an area that can result in consumer satisfaction. A tourist or his travel agent combines the different components to get his own tourist product.

Characteristics


Tourism marketing differs from marketing in other sectors because of certain characteristics of the tourist product. Tourism is an intangible product that cannot be transferred from one consumer to another. Consumption happens at once, and the consumer relies on pre-purchase information to make his decisions because he has no option to see, inspect, compare or try out the product beforehand. Many different producers are involved to create and market the product. Demand is seasonal and motivations of consumers vary widely. Intermediaries such as travel agents have a strong control over product design, distribution, promotion and
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pricing. High fixed costs are often involved, resulting in the use of shortrun marketing methods.

Features


Tourism marketing involves several steps. Market research seeks to understand the consumer, while product development aims to meet his needs. Analysis and selection of target markets, also known as segmentation, means studying potential customer groups and selecting only certain groups whose needs and wants can be best met with a certain producer´s product. Marketing strategy seeks to reach the target markets using promotion, advertising, pricing and distribution.

Communication


Marketing communications occur in three ways: external, internal and word-of-mouth. External marketing uses formal communication channels to promote the tourism product to the 4raveller, boasting of its benefits and making promises. Internal marketing communication occurs when the tourism service provider makes contact with the tourist and delivers the promised benefits. Word-of-mouth communication occurs informally when visitors or employees discuss their experiences of the tourism product to others.

Features of tourism marketing
Enticing people to visit an exotic tropical destination, even in times of an economic recession, is the job of a tourism marketing executive. Such marketing efforts are usually not cheap. For example, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, Louisiana was given $15 million from British Petroleum to promote tourism after the 2010 oil spill crisis. Tourism marketing employs several techniques to entice visitors to its sandy shores, historic ruins or lush forests.

Visual Medium


Tourism relies on vibrant, bright photos and videos more than other industries such as software and finance. Customers want a clear idea of what to expect when stepping foot in a new location. They want to use such photos as a preview of what to see, and even feel, when visiting. As such, photos show not only basics such as the terrain, resort exterior and meals, but also show people experiencing certain emotional reactions like
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relaxation, happiness and a connection with their significant other. Because images are powerful storytellers, they usually take up more space on brochures and websites than text. Tourism marketing spends ample resources on photo quality; the same building can appear very differently depending on the camera's resolution and the software used to retouch them.

Seasonality


The marketing efforts are significantly different depending on the time of year. As summer approaches and kids are out of school, television commercials, newspaper ads and Internet banners show a proliferation of Caribbean resort advertisements. The marketing pitch is also adjusted around specific holidays. Valentine's Day is a prime example. Instead of showing independent, single hikers scaling mountains, the same hotel will show images of couples enjoying a glass of wine at its intimate and most expensive restaurant. During off seasons, Colin Michael Hall explains in his book, "Wine, Food and Tourism Marketing," that industries face significantly more hurdles. During times of fewer visitors, cities or institutions change their marketing pitch to advertise low prices. Instead of touting a certain feature on the front page, they will likely throw a low price at the viewer.

Lifestyle and Demographics


Companies use marketing to show how their destination fits with a customer's current lifestyle. The growing environmental movement compelled a new tourism wave called "eco-tourism." Marketing efforts attempt to show how these green activities, such as cycling and farming, match the needs of its customers. Hotels began touting their water-saving efforts and how their restaurants use locally grown produce. Tourism marketing already engages in a common practice known as "market segmentation," which pitches specific features to attract a certain audience. For example, a theme park resort boasts its variety of bars and clubs for adults.

Collaboration


Although many institutions market their services to gain a competitive advantage over the other, tourism marketing crosses several different industries: the city, airlines and hotels often work together in their marketing efforts. Alan Fyall and Bryan Garrod note this in their book, "Tourism Marketing: A Collaborative Approach." They explain that
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working with several institutions instead of engaging in the traditional adversarial relationships makes all institutions better off.

Eight P’s in marketing tourism
Marketing is the creation and promotion of an idea, service or product, which satisfies a customer's need, and is available at a reasonable price. Tourism is a service-based industry, offering intangible services such as history or beauty of a destination, rather than offering an intangible product such as an appliance. Follow the eight Ps in marketing tourism to create a successful tourism business.

Promotion


Promotion is a fundamental part of any marketing strategy. Promote products and services to raise public awareness and allow customers the opportunity to purchase the products and services. Ideas for tourism products promotion are tourist information centers, airports, travel shows, town or city welcome centers and local tourism associations and offices.

People


Customer service is an essential part of tourism marketing. Customers are likely to share their travel experience with friends and family, whether the experience was good or bad. Word-of-mouth advertising is a large part of the tourism industry, and an unpleasant experience with a customer service employee can result in bad publicity.

Product


In the tourism business, the product is similar to a service as some aspects of the product offer experience, rather than tangible items. The success of a tourism business largely depends on the customer's satisfaction with services such as transportation, food, accommodations and cultural experiences.

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Partnership


Partnering with companies which share similar business objectives, promotes cross selling of products and ultimately benefits both companies by allowing for shared marketing costs and meeting the overall needs of the customer. An example of partnering is a wedding-planning company collaborating with a travel company to promote destination weddings.

Planning


A marketing plan is essential for a tourism business. Developing a marketing plan allows a company to identify customer expectations and design a method of meeting the expectations. Marketing plans are working documents and must be maintained, revised and reviewed when necessary.

Place


Part of marketing a tourism product to a customer is ensuring that there is an easily accessible place for customers to purchase the product. Distribution of most tourism products occurs through travel agents, tour wholesalers and tour operators. As a marketing strategy, find new and beneficial places to sell the product.

Packaging


A tourism package consists of a variety of services, attractions and accommodations combined in one purchase for customer convenience. Aside from the destination location, the tourism package is what draws in the customers due to the services offered. Tourism package presentation is key, and must be flexible depending on the combination of services offered for a particular type of trip.

Price


Price is the amount a customer will pay for a service or product. Most customers of a tourism business are looking for a quality experience at a reasonable price. The price of a tourism package should include profit maximization, survival, competition, positioning and market share.

SHERWOOD COLLEGE OF PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT

How to write a tourism marketing plan
A tourism marketing plan helps guide your marketing decisions by assigning tasks, choosing marketing messages, and allocating funds to promote your area. It solidifies what you will say and how you will say it to entice potential visitors to your area. A successful plan requires specific information about the people who travel to your area and what they want while they stay there. Here is an easy-to-follow guide to help you write your tourism marketing plan.

Instructions
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1
Define your objectives. These should be broad-reaching goals your organization would like to accomplish through a marketing plan. For example, you could attempt to increase the number of tourists who come to your area or the number of dollars each visitor spends in local shops.

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2
Perform a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors that could affect your position in the marketplace (such as plentiful natural features or a lack of banquet halls). Opportunities and threats represent external forces that affect your marketing capabilities (such as untapped tourism markets or an extended recession that affects tourism spending).

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3
Create a community or area profile. Make a master list of the features your area offers including lodging, restaurants, retail shops, attractions, parks, water features and other amenities that will appeal to travelers.

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4
Identify your target markets. Survey your visitors to determine who they are and what they like to do. Ask for demographic information (such as gender, age, income and home town) that will help you purchase the appropriate media in the right markets. Create market segments based on targeted characteristics (for instance, families living in a nearby city who
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take day trips to your area or retired couples from a neighboring state who visit your community annually).
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5
Choose marketing objectives for each market segment. For instance, you could want to increase awareness of day-tripping opportunities in the market segment that already visits your area for day trips.

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6
Create your marketing strategies. For each targeted market segment, find the most suitable media for sharing your travel message. Most publishers and media suppliers offer demographic information to help you match your marketing points to their audience. For example, target day-trippers in the local newspaper or on radio, but focus marketing efforts toward travelers from outside the area in regional magazines and tourism brochures.

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7
Plan your implementation. Assign marketing tasks to specific personnel and determine how you will execute your marketing strategies. Create a timeline that details who, what, when, where and how for each marketing task.

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8
Write your budget. Include how much you have to spend and how you plan to spend it. Don't forget to include incidental expenses such as paper (for printing letters).

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9
Develop an evaluation plan. Marketing without analyzing its effectiveness wastes money. Create a way to measure your tourism marketing efforts (such as including a code or using a dedicated number for particular media to measure response).

SHERWOOD COLLEGE OF PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT

The importance of advertising & marketing for tourism
The growth of tourism as an industry produces significant benefits to a country's economic development in a number of ways, including income generation, employment opportunities, and social and cultural transformation. However, since tourism is a service-based industry, it can be quite intangible and more difficult to market than tangible goods. The use of appropriate promotional campaigns targeted to a global audience or a specific segment of society can boost the tourism industry of a country with remarkable results.

Awareness


The customs and charm of a particular tourist spot or a whole country can be magnified and made known through the right media. The development of suitable advertising and marketing campaigns is vital in creating this awareness within a target audience. Moreover, tourism is an industry where the customer must travel to the product (place/community) instead of the other way around. Since travel is a major factor in people's decisions on whether or not to visit a business or community, tourism-related businesses, agencies and organizations need to work together to package and promote tourism opportunities of a particular location and align their efforts to assure consistency in product quality.

Alter Perceptions


Advertising and marketing can hugely impact an audience's perception of a certain area or community. For example, someone unfamiliar with Morocco may know the place only as a chaotic, poverty-stricken country, and may never even conceive of traveling there for recreation. However, when promoted as a country that offers an eclectic mix of Roman ruins, bustling souks, imperial cities, rugged mountains, deep gorges, charming coasts and spices, that person may be more inclined to explore Morocco.

Stimulate Desire


By creating awareness and altering an audience's perception of a certain place through a consistent advertising and marketing campaign, desire is
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awakened and stimulated. The specific target market is more likely to want to travel to the area, explore its promises, and gain a unique experience that they can treasure forever. An important task of advertising and marketing is to constantly stimulate this desire, creating a sense of need for the target audience to travel to the area and soak up its diverse offerings.

Generate Action/Response


An effective promotional campaign results in positive action or response from its target market. The audience should feel compelled to seek out information regarding activities, accommodation and travel into the area or community being promoted. More desirably, the campaign is effective enough to generate actual sales and sustain a successful tourism industry.

Impact Sales


Effective advertising and marketing generate sales and draw more and more people to the particular tourist spot or country. However, customer service on site is important as well. Internal marketing, which includes creating a positive customer experience, is vital to sustaining the tourism business. Since repeat sales result from such customer experience, internal marketing must work hand in hand with external promotional campaigns to ensure continued growth and success in the industry.

SHERWOOD COLLEGE OF PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT

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