Digital Sales and Marketing Channels for Tour Operators

Digital sales and
marketing

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................4
PART 1............................................................................................................................................4
Digital sales and marketing channels used by tour operators with discussion of opportunities
and barriers offered by them ......................................................................................................4
Analysis of digital sales and marketing channels with specific examples ................................5
Assessment of success of key digital platforms which are used for enhancing sales and
marketing efforts .......................................................................................................................7
Comparison of various digital sales and marketing platforms in their effectiveness in
attracting consumers....................................................................................................................8
Critical analysis of digital sales and marketing channels used by tour operating sector with the
justification of selected platforms for increasing consumer revisits...........................................9
PART 2............................................................................................................................................9
Plan for digital sales and marketing campaigns ........................................................................9
Evolution of omni-channel marketing and it's usage in digital sale and marketing campaigns
...................................................................................................................................................11
Development of sales and digital marketing campaigns to meet strategic objectives of market
position and consumer acquisition at TUI ..............................................................................12
Evaluation of digital marketing performance metrics ..............................................................13
Set of actions to enhance digital marketing performance.........................................................14
Critical evaluation of effectiveness of monitoring and measuring digital marketing with
recommendation ............................................................................................................................14
Critical evaluation of opportunities and barriers in sales and marketing campaigns with
justification of selected monitoring methods ...........................................................................14
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................15
REFRENCES ................................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Business organisations in the tourism sector utilise digital sales and marketing channels
in order to enhance the effectiveness of their promotional efforts and increase online as well as
offline sales. This report is based on TUI UK and Ireland which is one of the leading members of
the British tourism industry. The brand portfolio of the company includes 1,600 travel agencies,
strong tour operators, leading online portals, five airlines, with around 150 aircraft, over 400
hotels and 17 cruise lines (About TUI Group, 2021). The organisation aims to improve digital
interactions with their consumers and increase their online sales. This report includes
information about digital sales and market channels used by tour operators. Digital platforms
which enhance sales and marketing activities are provided in this report and their role in
attracting consumers for the company. Digital sales and marketing platforms are compared in
this report with an evaluation of retaining and attracting consumers in the retail industry. Digital
sales and marketing plan is applied in context of TUI UK and Ireland. Evolution of non-chemical
marketing is also given in this report along with their application in digital sales and marketing
campaigns. Digital sales and marketing campaigns are developed for the TUI in order to meet
strategic, objectives market, market position and consumer acquisition at the company. Digital
marketing performance metrics are evaluated in this report along with effectiveness of
monitoring and measuring digital marketing. Set of actions to improve digital marketing
performance in context of the respective company are provided in this report along with
challenges and opportunities of sales and marketing campaigns.
MAIN BODY
PART 1
Digital sales and marketing channels used by tour operators with discussion of opportunities and
barriers offered by them
Company website
This is the primary source for increasing online sales and promoting company offers
directly to the consumers. Direct online booking is the most significant channel for driving
online sales of the company. Consumers gain direct insight into the offerings of the firm and are
able to make enquiries about various tourism services with the help of official company website.

This assists tour operators in effectively marketing services offered by the company to potential
consumers.
This online sales and marketing channel provides opportunity to increase online revenue
as the tour operator does not have to give any external commission fee. In addition to the
utilisation of an online booking system through company website provides the opportunity of up-
selling their services which generates high revenue for the firm. The main barrier offered by
using website as digital sales and marketing channel is that the organisation has to be ready for
influx of consumer. This is challenge to effective functioning of the company.
Social media
Social media gives tour operators various tools to increase their sales and promote
various services offered by the company. This online sales and marketing channel plays and
important role in boosting online sales of the company as the tourism industry is highly affected
by social media and consumers make their travelling decisions on the basis of social media
(Dahiya and Gayatri, 2018).
The main opportunity provided by utilisation of social media sites as sales and
marketing channel is that it allows the company to directly interact with the user and influence
them into purchasing services of the company. Chief barrier faced by tour operators in using
social media as a sales and marketing channel is that negative reviews from consumers can
tarnish brand image of the company.
Email
Email marketing can be used by travel operators to promote their products and send
travel deals to consumers. This assists travel operators in communicating travel deals with
potential consumers and promoting various discounts and package offers introduced by the firm
(Goodwin, 2018).
Utilisation of email as sales and marketing channel providers tour operators an
opportunity to make personalised promotions and sales efforts directed to a specific consumer.
This is helpful in increasing sales by improving consumer retention rates as each offer is tailored
to fit the need of the particular consumer. The main barrier faced by tour operators in effective
utilisation of email for improving digital sales and marketing is that corporate emails are filtered
by email software and each email has to be carefully constructed in order to reach the consumer
and catch their attention.