tourism unit 5 assesment

marketing is the process of identifying and satisfying consumer needs and wants, by using market research and other marketing tools.

marketing and promotion main roles and functions :

1- Increase sales and profitability:

This means that the business or destinations use marketing to increase their customer base, by keeping previous customers as well as to try to increase the number of new customers.

2) Competitive advantage:

Travel and tourism is a highly competitive market, so marketing plays an important role in helping destinations to attract more customers than their rivals.

3) Positive product image:

Destinations that create a positive image for themselves in the mind of customers through a range of marketing and promotional techniques are likely to be more successful.

4- Customer satisfaction:

A good way to achieve customer satisfaction is by offering products and services which meet needs and wants of customers, this would lead to repeat business and recommending to others

Market research

It is a planned process of collecting, recording, analyzing and evaluating data about customers, competitors , and the market itself.

Business can do the research itself, or get market research companies to do the research for them.

-Marketing allows travel and tourism businesses to plan for the future, and to understand their competitors and target their next customers.

-A business needs to understand its position in the market, and demand for travel and tourism products and services.

Market research helps a business understand these things.

five stages of market research process ..

1- set objectives (identifying the problem statement which needs to be approved or disapproved)

2- design the research (research techniques and timescale needed for market research)

3- data collection ( main research)

4- analyse the data

5- report the result (conclusion of object and answer)

lesson 2 :

types of market research

Primary market research (Field research)

It is collecting information that does not exist.

Primary research methods include:

1) Surveys 3) Interviews 2) Questionnaires 4) Focus groups

Benefits: data is up to date - accurate

Limitations: Time consuming - costly

types of data used in market research :

Qualitative data

. Data from customers’ opinions

e.g. customers views about products and services.

. Difficult to represent graphically.

Quantitative data

. Numbers and statistics.

e.g. how many visitors, when people visited, how much they spent.

. Shown in graphs and charts.

Secondary market research (Desk research)

It is collecting information that does already exist.

1) Internal: own organization`s data (sales records or no. of visits)

2) External: government records or academic data.

Benefits: 1) cheap 2) easy

Limitations: 1) It is not up to date 2) It is not accurate

lesson 3

It is important to understand your business environment.

SWOT stands for:

1. S - Strengths

2. W - Weaknesses

3. O - Opportunities

4. T - Threats

In the context of tourism, a SWOT analysis is often used to evaluate a destination, tourism business, or tourism project. Here's what you should focus on for each part:

1. Strengths(internal factor)

we can control , powerful location , high quality product

2. Weaknesses(internal factor)

E.g. Poor-quality goods/ Poor staff training

3. Opportunities(external factors)

E.g. Limited competition in the market

4. Threats(external factors)

• eg. New competition

The analysis of the wider macro-environment of an

enterprise, including external factors:

Political, Economic, Social and Technological (AKA PEST)

Segmentation: is grouping or classifying customers according to pre-set characteristics, so the market is divided into series of “ Segments” based on these characteristics.

This process allows tourism providers to identify one or more specific target market/s upon which to focus it`s marketing efforts.

It is a common practice in the travel and tourism industry to use market segmentation and the results of market research in order to build a customer

profile, which sets out the characteristics of a typical customer or product user.

Knowing who your customers are help in targeting the market and satisfying them, because different products/services appeal to different ages /gender /locations /religions etc.

Geographic segment

• locality

• area,

• region.

• This includes domestic versus overseas visitors.

Demographic segment

• age

• gender

• ethnicity

• levels of disposable income.

Lifestyle segment

(Psychographic segment)

• By level of education or profession as well as interests and attitudes

(sports tourists) / ( medical tourism).

lesson

The aim of any travel or tourism businesses is to meet the needs of the customer, to keep them satisfied, so they would buy the product or service again - repeat business.

Many travel and tourism products are impossible to separate from travel and tourism services.

Example of tourism product: Hotel room

Customer experience of staying at a hotel depends upon the service of: reception staff, the housekeeping, the waiter, gym staff….

PG 39

A brand image is what identifies a company to its customers - it’s the impression people get of the company from it`s competitors.

In addition, it’s about how people feel, how it looks, and its the experience.

The importance of creating a brand image:

1) Because travel and tourism industry is very competitive.

2) To stand out in the market, so is it important to have a brand.

Travel and tourism organizations can create a brand image through a variety of means:

1-The name that the organization chooses for itself may become it`s brand identity.

2-Logos and slogans used with a destination, example ‘Visit Maldives - The Sunny Side Of Life ”.

3-Brand image can be also created through the use of packaging.

4-Price is a more common method of creating brand image, Example: low-cost airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair.

5-Promotion also creates brand image by the use of billboards, TV advertising and even in – flight advertising which help make customer remember specific brand identities.

BEFORE LAST L

4P’S

PRICE-PLACE-PROMOTION-PRODUCT

price

1- Market penetration : high competition - low prices , aim to generate revenue quickly from a high sale volume then it increases

2- market skimming : low competition - high pricing then the product will decrease the price after the competitors enter the market.

3- discount pricing : when product is close to expiry date or not sold well the provider offers a discount

4- variable pricing :high prices in peak seasons , low prices for mid weeks etc.

5- special offers : form of promotional pricing , used to pull customers away from rival attraction

6- going rate/competitive pricing : price matching competitors when product has high similarity.

7-prestige pricing : premium pricing when product is exclusive so it has high prices

8- price bundling : pricing a few items of related product into a bundle

and Promotion

Factors that determine pricing polices

1- fixed and variable costs ; all the expenses a business pays to produce/buy a product/services

2-profitability : ..?

3- subsidies , taxation :

subsidies : give a provider a financial incentive to work in an area of regeneration to improve the basic infrastructure of a destination

tax :tax yn

4- competitors ; if no competitors high price , yes competitors low price

5-customer expectation / likely number of customers : a customer has to have confidence in the product

6- seasonality : high peak —→ expensive , vise versa

7- economic factors : in times of recession customers go to affordable destinations close to home etc..

methods of promotion :

1- advertising : most expensive form of promotion it had 3 different media , broadcast media and print media and display media

2- publicity : name given to any activity that brings exposure to a product/service

3- point of sale displays : linked product and services to the attention of customers ( ex hotel service disolay )

4-direct marketing ( email . call etc )

5- personal selling : method involves face to face communication with customers designed to close a sale