Thomas Cook Marketing Strategy

This assignment analyzes Thomas Cook's marketing strategy for expansion into Egypt and Morocco. It requires a SWOT analysis of the tourism industry in these regions, identifying the target audience, developing an integrated marketing campaign, and emphasizing the importance of teamwork and continuous evaluation.

Running head: MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 1
Marketing in Travel and Tourism
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MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 2
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
1.0 Marketing concepts................................................................................................................3
1.1 Market environment...............................................................................................................6
1.2 Demand in the tourism industry.............................................................................................6
1.3 Market segmentation..............................................................................................................9
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................9
2.1 The essence of strategic marketing planning for Thomas Cook............................................9
2.2 The relevance of marketing research and market information to managers in the travel and
tourism sector.............................................................................................................................11
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................13
4.1 The use the promotional mix in travel and tourism.............................................................13
4.2 Plan and Justify an integrated campaign for Thomas Cook summer 2016 holidays to
Morocco and Egypt....................................................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................16

MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 3
Introduction
Marketing is a very important component in the tourism and travel industry because it
enables businesses to promote and increase the sales of their products and services in different
market segments. Thomas cook has been focusing on diverse marketing campaign to promote
attractive and new holiday packages and other related services. In the current case, the
organization intends to promote tourism packages in Morocco and Egypt in 2016 and thus, it
seeks to exploit promotional mix and integrated campaign in ensuring that it reaches the largest
numbers of customers.
Task 1
1.0 Marketing concepts
Marketing mix
Marketing mix is one of the main concepts of tourism marketing. It indicates the relation
of product, price, promotion and place. In establishing a tourist business, there is a need to
develop a service package that serves the needs of the guests. This may be in form of attractive
food, as well as taking tourists to fascinating destinations. In regards to price, such services need
to be priced in a manner that generates profits sustainably. Place is another key element in
hospitality. Guests are interested in visiting areas that are exciting and meets or surpasses their
expectations. At the same time such tourists expects that the place that they are visiting are safe
and hence promoting their satisfaction. At the same time, it is important for the organization to
ensure that the location of elements such as hotels is accessible (Bagdan 2013, p72). No matter
how attractive a tourist destination may be, it may not end up attracting a high number of
customers’. Identification of destinations is also critical in the marketing environment within the
tourist and the hotel industry.

MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 4
Market environment
Another concept that needs to be considered in marketing in hospitality industry is
market scanning. It is important to assess forces emanating from the eternal environment that
impact on the operations of the organization. For instance, organizations operate in an
environment characterized with varying levels of economic viability, political stability and social
cultural norms and believe. At the same time, such firms are faced with legal restrictions and
cultural challenges. Understanding these elements increases the viability of the business
(Christou 2011, p56). For instance, firms are expected to invest in environments where the
economy is fast growing, there is no political unrest, culture is being used as a source of
attraction and the government is supportive of tourism.
Segmentation and market targeting
In tourism and hospitality, it is important that organizations segment in the right manner.
For instance, when opening a guest house and restaurant in Egypt, it would be important for the
organization to engage in demographic segmentation in particular, the segmentation would be
based on the social class and economic capability. By developing the facility in an exciting
location, establishing unique services and charging highly, the organization would be segmenting
on the rich who like leisure (Bagdan 2013, p53).
Brand positioning
Positioning refers to the position that a brand occupies in the mind of the consumer. For
instance, by establishing guests’ restaurant in countries such as Egypt, the organization would
position its brand as adventure based unique tourist experience. It would position its trips as
adventure without borders. This would increase the attraction of the customers towards the
services provided by the organization especially those seeking high level of adventure (Bagdan

MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 5
2013, p47). Through proper positioning, the organization would be in a position to attract as well
as retain high number of customers.
Customer needs and wants
The organization has a responsibility of identifying the wants and needs of its customers,
which is a major emphasis of marketing. This is vital in assisting in developing services and
products in line with the expectations of the customers. In this case, Thomas case should focus
on market research so as to identify the preference of the customers, any changing trends in the
market and hence customize the products and services accordingly (Kotler 2017, p83).
Marketing orientation and concept
The organization should direct its efforts in collecting information in the market on a
continuous basis, interdepartmental sharing of information, and utilizing the information to
enhance the customer value. The three concepts that the organization can employ are customer
orientation where the business focuses on the participation of customer as a precursor for making
profit, Dual core marketing that entails the marketers identifying the wants, needs and
preferences of the customers and increase the wants and needs through market promotion and
Integrated marketing that entails the organization coming up with apt infrastructure that are vital
in effective provision of goods and services to the customers (Kotler 2017, p89).
1.1 Market environment
Within cooks group the organization should focus on attracting tourists and other
individuals with high income especially those from high income countries. At the same time,
they need to arrange for tours in countries that are politically stable. Their operations should
consider the social cultural setting of the destinations, ensuring that the society also benefits from
its operations. Countries such as Egypt and Morocco are politically stable. Nevertheless, Egypt

MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 6
seems to be a better investment destination for the organization than morocco due to its
economic might. Socially, the organization needs to learn the culture of those foreign
destinations. In tourism cultural differences may act either as an opportunity to organizations or
as a threat (Goeldner & Ritchie 2012, p51). Moreover, the organization may even exploit the
Egyptian culture and history in its marketing strategy, using it’s as an association capable of
drawing more customers on board.
1.2 Demand in the tourism industry
Natural disasters normally have adverse effects on tourism. For instance, the ash cloud in
2011led to cancelling or delaying of air flights, something that hindered travel of employees.
Continued tsunami in some countries has made previously popular tourist destinations less
popular (McCabe 2012, p77). Tourists are now cautious of visiting areas that are highly prone to
earthquakes and tsunamis.
Macro environment
Terrorism
Terrorism is one of the emerging challenges in the modern tourism. The acts of terror
have left millions dead in various countries around the world. The emergences of Islamic State,
Boko Haram and Al shabaab have made the countries to be worst hit by these challenges and
thus kept off tourists from visiting such countries. It is thus evident that unless the ongoing acts
of terror decline, tourists will continue evading countries such as Somalia and Syria, looking for
more safe countries like Egypt and Morocco (Goeldner & Ritchie 2012, p81). Acts such as
September 11 attacks led to worldwide decline in tourist travel by 4 million people, as compared
to the previous year indicating the devastating effects that acts of terror has on tourism.

MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 7
Attractiveness of destinations
Tourists consider the attractiveness of the destination before making decisions as to
whether to visit such destinations or not. The service package may include tourists visiting
wildlife, cultural sectors, historic sites, festivals and other elements that may be appealing in the
destinations (Bagdan 2013, p92). This implies that a tours company must be in a position to
understand the needs of its customers and the available appeals in various destinations
Political stability and security
Political stability of countries is a key determinant of whether visitors will visit a certain
country or not. Many tourists receive advisories from embassies in their countries regarding the
state of political stability and security in their countries. For instance, many tourists avoid
countries at war such as Syria (McCabe 2012, p95). In other cases, they keep of countries that
are highly invested with terrorists.
Micro environment of Thomas Cook
Employee engagement
Thomas Cook’s management strives to interrelate with its employees in all levels to
ensure that there is effective sharing of information pertaining the policies and strategies
developed and implemented by the organization. The organization adopts effective human
resources strategy in all its function to ensure acquisition of the best talent, superb motivation
and satisfaction of the employees and staff development, all of which are aimed at enhancing the
productivity of the organization and ultimate satisfaction of the customers (Kotler 2017, p97).
Leadership style employed
The leadership style employed in the organization is transformational in nature and
allows tasks to be divided into groups and individual with constant evaluation and monitoring of

MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 8
how they are performed to enhance the performance of the whole organization (Kotler 2017,
100).
Organization structure
The structure of the organization is vertical in nature where decisions and information
flow from the top to the bottom. The aim of this chain of command ensures effective use of
resources and guarantee clarity in communication and those decisions are implemented in a clear
way (Kotler 2017, p103).
Competitor information
Competition is one of the threats of Thomas Cook and therefore the main competitors of
the company are Titan Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and British Airways Limited.
Suppliers
The company has many suppliers and bases on quality and consistency in choosing the
suppliers for an array of products that it offers including those that providing inventory such as
Motor vehicle and airplanes. The organization uses both domestic and international suppliers to
get enough products to fulfill the needs of the customers (Kotler 2017, p108).
1.3 Market segmentation
Various approaches are employed in market segmentation. Through demographic
segmentation, the market is dividend in terms of age, race, gender and economic status among
other elements. In tourism and hospitality industry, such segmenting is very important. For
instance, through effective segmenting, firms are in a position to access the desired customers.
Facilities aiming at attracting cloud of ordinary citizens are likely to target the mass market
(McCabe 2012, p59). This would result to provision of cheaper services to consumers.

MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 9
Egypt has a population of approximately 94,700,000 people. As at 2006, the population
growth was 2.15%.The urban population is 43% of the entire population. In the religious sphere,
90% are Muslims while 10% are Christians (Kotler 2017, p110).
Morocco has a population of approximately 34 million people with the Berbers being the
largest groups at 99% of the entire population.99% of the entire population are Muslims while
other religions such as Christianity and Baha’i making 1% (Kotler 2017, p 115).
Task 2
2.1 The essence of strategic marketing planning for Thomas Cook
Strategic marketing planning is the process in which an organization plans, implements
and develops an effective and smart strategies that can be used to market goods and services
offered by an organization. In addition, its essence can be comprehended fully by understanding
the entire process involved in developing the plan. There are three main processes involved in
strategic marketing planning and these are segmentation, market profiling if each segment and
formation of strategy.
Segmentation is the process in which a market is subdivided into different parts and is
usually based on market characterics, geographic location, and demographic features. Examples
of segmentation are psychographic segmentation, geographic segmentation, behavioral
segmentation and demographic segmentation (Kotler 2012, p120).
Marketing planning profile, undertaken for each segment is prepared after the
segmentation process. In this second process of strategic marketing planning, the potential
revenue profile is analyzed based on the profitability and market share potential. In this phase,
the manager will analyze the attributes of each market segment in relation to the nature of the

MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 10
products, and will thus select the most suitable market segment that a firm can concentrate on in
order to attain quick growth (Middleton 2009, p72).
The final stage in the process is the formation of strategy. The strategy formed is
premised on the market segment. On the basis of the market segment that has been selected, the
management is in a position of preparing a strategic plan. However, there must be sufficient
valuable information or input for the strategic marketing plan to be developed effectively by the
organization; otherwise Thomas Cook may be subject to adverse performance that would
eventually result in monetary and non-monetary losses. In this case, it is imperative for the
organization to collect enough information and ideas about the target market so that it can
effectively come up with a good strategy to market the products and services (Goeldner &
Ritchie 2012, p90).
2.2 The relevance of marketing research and market information to managers in the travel
and tourism sector
When the contemporary corporate world is analyzed, the existing market research and
information acts as the basis on which managers make strategic decisions. It is the responsibility
and the duty of Thomas Cook’s top level management to undertake market research on an
ongoing basis so as to easily comprehend the market dynamics and the changing needs of the
customers and guarantee that the employed tactics and strategies advance the goals and interests
of the business (Woodside 2011, p81). In addition, with apt market research, the management of
Thomas Cook will be aware of the consumers’ behavior and hence focus on any market shift and
changing trends. Carrying out marketing research on consumer behavior on routine basis will
enable to understand the products that clients prefer each time and hence, the company will be
able to adopt the products and services accordingly (Middleton 2009, p74).

MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 11
Market research and information will enable Thomas Cook to understand the competitor
profile in the market and more so in the Egyptian and Morocco market. At the moment, the
travel and hospitality industry is attracting many players, both established and upcoming thus
competition pressure has been high. Therefore, understanding the competition profile in the
market through research will offer the organization to develop competition strategy that can be
either cost based or based on differentiation (Goeldner & Ritchie 2012, p63).
Undertaking market research is vital in understanding the cultural dynamics of the
market and is instrumental for Thomas cook to develop cultural intelligence to assist it engage
positively with the market. When the organization understands the cultural dynamics including
the growing micro cultures, it will be in a position of customizing its promotional tactics to
ensure that they are friendly with the market and that products fit specific markets (Middleton
2009, p47).
The influence of marketing in the society
Marketing does not only assist the organization to connect with the customers through
promotions and information sharing, but has a direct effect on influencing the members of the
society to make purchasing decision. Advertisements and other forms of promotions influence
the lifestyle and thinking of the people and hence, organizations have the responsibility of
delivering honest and ethical information in the society. For example, an advertisement about a
specific product used in a given activities may influence more people to engage in that specific
activities (Kotler 2017, p125). For instance, an organization which advertises and sales farm
machinery may influence people to engage more in agriculture activities which would have been
different had there been no machinery or related advertisements.

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Although advertisements and marketing promotions have been praised for raising
awareness about products that are beneficial to the society and are usually undertaken with
utmost ethical considerations, there are cases in which they have had negative impacts in the
society (Christou 2011, p69). Marketing can create a negative image in the minds of the
consumers which could directly impact on the performance or reputation of the company. For
instance, alcohol manufacturers have been accused of unethically luring young people to engage
in binge drinking by stating that taking alcohol make them great and successful , but in reality, it
harms their health (Goeldner & Ritchie 2012, p37).
From this point of view, organizations need to analyze clearly how their advertisements
can influence the market before launching them especially if they carry dire ethical
consequences. Hence, adopting responsible marketing is vital in making the society better and
every organization must consider it their corporate social responsibility (Middleton 2009, p86).
Task 4
4.1 The use the promotional mix in travel and tourism
Promotional mix is instrumental in enhancing the brand loyalty of the organization and
ensuring that information about the products and services reach the customers in the right way
and at the right time. In this case, it is important for the marketers to develop apt marketing mix
that will give their services and products an edge over the competitors (McCabe 2012, p66).
The promotion mix involves a combination of varied products and services provided to
the customers and are usually premised on the requirements, expectations and preferences of the
customers. In order to attract and retain customers, which is vital for promoting long term goals
of the company, there are several promotion mix that are undertaken (Bagdan 2013, p61).

MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 13
One of the aspects of promotional mix is advertisement. Thomas cook advertises its
services and products through different platform and these are online and through conventional
media. Under the online platform, the organization advertises through marketing websites, its
own website and the social media. The social media offers an interactive avenue through which
customers can interact with representative about the company and hence, they are in a position of
getting first hand information on the services and products that are available, how they can
access and pay for them and raise any other inquiry and concern in relation to what the firm
offers (Morrison 2009, p96).The conventional advertisement is done through the magazine and
television and is more appropriate to the middle age groups that do not easily access online
advertisement platforms. Generally, advertisement employed by Thomas Cook aims at
promoting the business overtures of the organization, plays a key role in developing a unique
brand image in the market, ensures that the satisfaction level of customers in a specific target
market are upheld and shores up the positive customers in relation to products and services
offered while simultaneously connecting with customers (Harris et al, 2005, p38).
Thomas Cook employs personal selling in its travel plans so as to lure customers by
developing personal relationship with them. Through personal selling, the firm is in a position of
easily determining the preferences and needs of individual customers and hence develops the
services and products while positioning them accordingly (Kotler 2012, p121).
4.2 Plan and Justify an integrated campaign for Thomas Cook summer 2016 holidays to
Morocco and Egypt
Integrated campaign for promotion has been set by Thomas Cook Management in
relation to the promotion of summer 2016 holidays in Morocco and Egypt. There are several
steps that are followed in this case.

MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 14
In the first step, the business is required to get the requisite knowledge in relation to the
target market so as to develop the appropriate promotional campaign. In this case, the business is
required to launch market research in order to determine the cultural setting of the market and the
regulations before launching any promotional campaign. This step is instrumental in collecting
relevant data and information about the target market so as to offer the necessary products and
services that satisfy the preferences and needs of the customers while at the same time seek for
the best channel of channeling the information to the customers in regards to the products and
services (Bagdan, 2013, p66).
In the second step and after making an analysis of the target market, Thomas Cook is
required to develop an appropriate and effective advertisement channel so as to create a positive
relationship with the users of its products and further attract the potential target audience
(Milligan 2012, p93).
In the third step, Thomas cook is supposed to come up with an integrated plan that is
essential for the business that is based on its promotional campaign so that the requirement of
the tourists are fulfilled in the right manner and within the appropriate time(Harris et al 2005,
p68).
When developing the integrated campaign, it is important that appropriate content is
incorporated with relation to detailed information of the packages that it offers so that it can be
well understood by the target audience. The factors that should be considered are the cultural
background of the market, the social economic status, the demographic characteristics such as
age and gender to ensure that the message is alluring to different market segments for it to
maximally derive benefit from the market (Kotler 2012, p70). Further to this, the message should

MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 15
be presented in the most appropriate format to further enhance how customer understands the
market and ensure that the integrity of the information is upheld.
In the last step, it is important for Thomas Cook to incorporate team work which is vital
in offering the human synergy for best results to be realized. Coordination of work is vital in
decision making processes as the best points of views will be considered, errors will be easily
detected while the strengths will be used to combat weaknesses and hence, the best promotional
strategies will be attained. In addition to this, the evaluation of the integrated campaign should be
undertaken constantly to ensure to determine weaknesses and hence address them and analyze
how the opportunities in the market can be used to counter the threats and challenges that may
occur in the implementation process (Milligan, 2012).
Conclusion
Basing on the analysis, it is evident that travel and tourism industry attracts a large
number of customers and therefore, an organization has an opportunity for further growth if it
adapts its marketing strategies in an efficient way. Thomas found is found to undertake effective
operation throughout the world as a result of apt marketing mix and therefore, adopting the best
marketing practices offers it positive prospects for gaining a large market niche in Egypt and
Morocco.

MARKETING IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM 16
References
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