Marketing in Travel and Tourism

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1.3 The factors affecting consumer motivation and demand in the travel and tourism sector

The factors affecting the demand of travel and tourism are as follows:

Economic Conditions: Travel relates to luxury and when people earn less they tend to eliminate the travel from their expenses. Economic slowdown has impacted the travel industry a lot in year 2009 till 2010. With the economic betterment the tourism industry also regained its position later. This is the one major factor that affects the demand in the travel and tourism sector.

Social Media: Consumers today read the reviews about the travel destinations and various services provided by the travel industry. This enables the bargain options for the packages provided by various providers. The internet has the power of making or breaking the reputation of the destination.

Budget: Even in the low income scenarios people wish to travel. So this is the factor that impacts the pricing strategies of the company. They have to initiate the various packages and discounts to attract the customers.

1.4 The principles of market segmentation and its uses in marketing planning

Marketing segmentation refers to the splitting the customers and potential customers into the groups. This is done with the aim of providing the different packages and services to different customers as per their requirements. The segmentation is important for effective cost reduction and increasing the customer satisfaction. It allows the appropriate allocation of the limited resources of the firm. It is dynamic process of strategic marketing planning (Adcock, 2001).

Marketing planning refers to the plans of the activities for marketing the product and services. The segmentation is important for marketing planning in the sense that since the customers are divided into the various groups, so the company has to decide plan regarding the different services for different groups. For example: Thomson group has segmented the customers as per the luxury group, middle income group and business group. Now they require planning the services and packages as per the segmentation. For luxury group, the package must include the luxury accommodation; cruise etc whereas for middle group the package must be as per the income so it might include the economical accommodation.

1.5 Summary

To summarise the above factors of marketing management report, it is important to understand the demand of the customer and the related services provided to them. For Thomson holidays, the package for 6 days must be designed in two broad categories – luxury package and the economical package. The services included in them should differ from some amount so that the packages are suitable for everyone. Along with this the proper marketing should be planned for the package so that the existing and the potential customers are aware about the package. This entire concept is derived from the principle of segmentation and marketing planning.

Task 2

For the purpose of creating a marketing plan and doing the marketing research for Thomson Holidays it is important to understand the influence of marketing on the society. For this purpose as an assistant marketing manager I have t analyse the following points.

2.1 The importance of strategic marketing planning for a selected travel and tourism business or tourist destination

Strategic marketing planning involves the process of appropriate decision making and discourages the ad hoc and impulsive decisions. This process involves the collection of marketing information in a described systematic manner (Abell,2000) . The strategic marketing plan must cover the long term effect on the business and should be flexible enough to make the required changes.

The importance of strategic planning for Thomson holidays is as follows:

- It will help to management to make the possible goal and specify the key ingredients like package duration, cost, services and other customer related goals.

- Strategic marketing planning helps in reducing the unproductive initiatives and enhances the focus on the important factors.

- It helps in designing the appropriate framework for budgeting and customer services

- A strategic marketing plan gives you an in-depth understanding of your targeted markets and customers. This information acts as the foundation for long-term decision-making.

- In today’s competitive market conditions, the well structured plan of marketing is important for the success or the failure of the business.

The marketing strategy field considers the total environment and its direct or indirect impact on the company. Thomson holidays provide the various services like air booking, accommodation, luxury packages, family packages etc. The plan is required for managing such services in an effective manner. There should be unique marketing strategy for the different services. Marketing strategies includes the planning and process with which the company is expected to achieve their goals.

2.2 The relevance of marketing research and market information to managers in the travel and tourism sector

Marketing research is a process that links the customers and marketer through appropriate information. This information is required for identifying and defining the opportunities and problems of the market. It also improves the understanding of the marketing process (Malhotra, 2002).

Marketing research is required for systematic gathering, recording and analysing the quantitative and qualitative about the products and services. Marketing research is divided in two major parts:

Consumer marketing Research: This includes understanding of the consumer’s attitude, preferences and behaviour in the market. Its main aim is to understand the impact of marketing campaign on the consumers (Kinnear, 1988).

Business to Business Research: This includes the research of competitor’s marketing strategies and plans. It is complicated as compared to consumer research.

The travel and tourism sector also require the comprehensive research on consumers as well as competitors in order to provide the best services. Thomson holidays will be benefitted with these researches in the sense that they will get to know the market trends about the tourism, consumer preferences about services and the destinations.

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