Marketing Essentials for Travel and Tourism

Marketing Essentials
for Travel and Tourism

INTRODUCTION
The most essential functional unit of the business is regarded as the marketing as it is
entrusted with the most important function which involves communicating and promoting the
offering of the company. Marketing can be referred to as the activities which an organization
undertakes in order to promote its goods and services. It includes delivering, selling and
advertising the goods to the customers or any other business. It is aimed to draw attention of the
potential audience by way advertisement. It is the set of activities, processes and institutions in
order to communicate, create, deliver and exchange the offering which consists of value for the
customers, partners and client (Mothersbaugh, Hawkin and Kleiser, 2019). The organization
chosen for this report is Trailfinders, a travel company in United Kingdom and Ireland. It was
founded in the year 1970. This report shall cover the role of marketing and its interrelation with
other departments, comparison of marketing mix between two organizations and a marketing
plan.
TASK 1
P1 Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within a selected tourism
organization
The functional unit of marketing plays a pervasive role in the promotion of mission and
business of the organization. It is the face of every company which involves on producing the
material which represents the business (Lam, To and Kwong, 2018). Trailfinders has a talented
marketing department which is entrusted with the following roles which are discussed below-
 Define and manage brand- The marketing unit is entrusted with the role to define the
experience of the customers which the organization wants to offer. It defines the brand
and manages it in the business environment so that the customers can get familiar with it.
The marketing unit of Trailfinders defines the brand in the market and manages them so
that the customers are attracted to avail its services.
 Producing promotional and marketing materials- The marketing department is involved
in creating those materials which can describe and also promote the product and service
of the business. They must be kept updated regarding the offering so that they can

communicate it in the market. The marketing function of Trailfinders is to create such
promotional materials which can help in making the services familiar with customers and
they are given information regarding it.
 Conducting marketing and customer research- It is one of the most important role of
marketing wherein the research is undertaken so that the target market can be defined and
the opportunities can be identified which can help in understanding how the offering is to
be perceived. Trailfinders have the talent marketing unit which are expert in conducting
the research where they identify the market needs and demand so that the company can
implement it and serve the customers with it (Anderson, Rayburn and Sierra, 2019).
Responsibilities of marketing
Apart from the roles, there are several responsibilities of marketing which are carried on
by it. In Trailfinders, these are discussed thereunder-
 Identify customer needs- The marketing unit has an essential responsibility of identifying
the needs of the consumers so that they can be help company serve it to them. It is
important to figure out the needs of the customers before developing the market strategy
so that the organization can get close and listen to consumers in order to find out what are
their needs. The Marketing unit of Trailfinders is indulged in identifying the needs of
consumers so that they can plan means which are necessary in order to serve customers.
 Define marketing plan- There are various cost effective strategies being prepared by the
marketing unit which includes the clear objectives of plan, actions which are required to
be taken, target market, etc. so that strategic plan of marketing can be aligned with the
overall objective of the company. The Trailfinders has the marketing unit which
continuous prepares the timely marketing plan so that they can achieve their objectives
smoothly with the aim to enhance the sales and profitability.
 Monitor competition and track the trends- It is very essential for the company to
position itself and the marketing department has this responsibility to position the
organization regarding the competition and market. The marketing unit of Trailfinders is
involved in watching the competitors in order to decide what best can be done by
organization and identifies its loopholes so that it does not get failed. It tracks the trends