Analyzing the Tour and Travel Industry's Market Research Strategies

The provided content is an analysis of the tour and travel industry, specifically focusing on Edinburgh city as a destination. The report includes financial data, such as sales revenue and expenses, and also conducts SWOT and PEST analyses to determine the country's developing status. Furthermore, it briefly analyzes the effective services of Thomas Cook, which uses varied ways to attract customers through their tour packages, with an emphasis on providing best services at an affordable price.

MARKETING IN
TRAVEL AND
TOURISM

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Core concepts of marketing for travel and tourism sector...............................................1
1.2 Marketing Environment of Edinburgh.............................................................................2
1.3 Factors affecting consumer motivation and demand for Edinburgh destination..............4
1.4 Principles of market segmentation...................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
2.1 Importance of the strategic marketing planning...............................................................5
2.2 Relevance of marketing research and information...........................................................6
2.3 Assessing positive and negative influence of marketing..................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
3.1 Elements of marketing mix..............................................................................................7
3.2 Importance of service sector mix elements......................................................................8
3.3 Concept of total tourism product......................................................................................8
4.1 Role of promotional mix..................................................................................................9
4.2 Integrated Promotional Campaign....................................................................................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is anticipating and identifying needs and wants of target market of customers
to earn more of the revenue and goodwill. In the same context, travel and tourism market must
consider their customers demand by anticipating and identifying their needs in a significant
manner (Burgemeister, 2003). For studying this concept, the organization is based on different
scenarios where company has to promote a specific destination with varied marketing research
and concepts. Further, this present study is based on understanding core concepts of marketing
for travel and tourism sector. This report also focuses on factors which affects the consumer
motivation and demand in travel and tourism sector. Moreover, present report also showcases the
importance of service sector mix elements.
TASK 1
1.1 Core concepts of marketing for travel and tourism sector
Trainee of a Destination Marketing Consulting Company got an opportunity to promote
tourist destination place Edinburgh. Edinburgh is capital city of Scotland and it is considered as a
seventh most populated city in UK. Mentioned company to promote their destination must
consider following points which plays a crucial role in concept of marketing:
Customer needs: Travel and tourism sector have their own significance as mentioned company
has to design attractive tour packages by considering needs and demands of their potential
customer (Madsen and Pedersen, 2013). Organization is focusing this time to promote Edinburgh
city which is a capital of Scotland. City is situated on Central belt and it is built on hills. Client’s
major demand is that they get best of service from the travel agency at an affordable amount.
Product and service markets: Service market comprises of what Destination Marketing
Consulting Company is giving to their customers. Being a travel industry, organization has to do
research before imposing tour packages to their clients. If package is not attractive then client’s
response will be quite low and cited company will not be able to recover amount as well as the
profit.
Customer’s satisfaction and retention- Existing touring company focuses on satisfaction of
clients. Organization comes up with tour packages twice or thrice in a year and they are able to
attract maximum number of travelers because the destination which they decide is new and
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customers shows their keen interest in traveling (Tsai, 2009). Loyal customer comes again and
again whenever they develop tour packages.
Relationship marketing- This plays a significant role as organization focus on developing a
strong interpersonal relationship with their travelers. This relation helps the organization to
develop strong customer base which will increase organization profit and revenue in coming
time period.
1.2 Marketing Environment of Edinburgh
Marketing environment of Edinburgh can be understood with the help of micro and
macro environment analysis (Mathur, 2006). This will help the organization to know all the
custom, culture, tradition so that whenever travelers reach their, they will be aware of each and
every consequences.
Micro environment analysis of Edinburgh
Strength’s
Edinburgh is having vast geographical area which comprises of hills, forest and mountains,
different culture and religious people resides together, many historical monuments, efficient
transport facility
Weakness:
Lack in safety and security of travelers, lack in adequate infrastructure, lack of maintenance
Opportunities:
Increased privatization, excellent class of hotels and resorts, country takes go green initiative to
protect environment
Threats:
Terrorism, economic slowdown, effective promotion by other countries
Macro environment analysis of Edinburgh
Political-
City of Edinburgh Council governs issue of local administration such as housing, planning, local
transport, parks, local economic development and regeneration (Cant, 2009).
Hotel industry is getting tremendous support from the government as with the help of them they
are giving innovative discount on hotels to attract more travelers.
Government lacks with international representation to start a deal with neighboring cities.
Economic:
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Economic condition of Edinburgh is good as citizens have more disposable income. They can
spend it in any form.
Government focusing on cutting down tax price on airlines as low cost airlines will attract more
of the travelers (Govindarajan, 2007).
Social:
This factors show attitude and behavior of citizens residing there.
People from different culture and religion celebrate their own festival in a decorative style.
Exhibitions, trade fairs are part of social culture of Edinburgh.
Technological:
Country has to make development in E-tourism.
Edinburgh has to improve the security facility in Airports and railway station.
With the brief analysis of micro and macro environmental factors, it has been evident that
the travel and tourism business gets affected in some situations. However, with increase in
tourists, Edinburgh environmental condition along with traffic might get affected. From micro
analysis it has been found that country lacks in safety and security which will be a major
drawback for touring company to attract more their travelers. Moreover, macro analysis defines
that people have a high disposable income so that they can spend it in any way they want. As
commodities are quite cheap to purchase, tourists will buy eatable product and might throw the
garbage in city corner. This will affect the environment condition of the country (Senior and
et.al., 2007).
1.3 Factors affecting consumer motivation and demand for Edinburgh destination
There are various factors which might demotivate both business and leisure travelers to
go at Edinburgh destination. Some major issues are as follows:
Role of customer- Customers are the travelers who are willing to visit Edinburgh destination.
Role of travelers plays a crucial role and their perception is different in order to choose any
tourist place. A person who is fond of historical monuments can visit there but a traveler who is
adventurous and needs fun cannot expect anything from the city.
Countries Culture- Edinburgh culture and tradition can affect client’s mentality to go there as
they might have a specific culture to follow, doesn't matter what type of tourist comes there.
Further, if travels does not find direct and simple route to particular destination then this can
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affect the motivation. With this, traveler avoids visiting such places and hence demand of that
destination gets declined. (Ballantyne, 2006).
Consumer orientation- Mentioned Company acts as a link between country as well as customers
who guarantees to satisfy all needs and wants of consumers without any consequences and
problems. Consumer will only pay if they get effective service in terms of quality as well as
money.
Value and satisfaction- Satisfaction level of clients play a crucial role as both leisure and
business class people wants best services within the country which they are visiting. A better
treatment and concern from existing citizens might develop a sense of belongingness for the
visitor and they will plan to come next time again. Further, cleanliness and other facilities can be
set as an example when it comes to comparison (Doole and Lowe, 2008). Moreover, Edinburgh
government has to make many changes to satisfy needs of coming travelers from different part of
the world.
1.4 Principles of market segmentation
Destination Marketing Consulting Company needs to group their potential travelers into a
segment who have common need and respond in a similar way for possible results and best
outcomes. Mentioned company can do segmentation on the basis of geographic, demographic,
behavior, income level, gender etc.
Geographic segmentation- Under this, company will focus on a single city where they want to
take their passengers. Further, geographic segmentation can be done on the basis of country,
state or neighborhood.
Demographic segmentation- Company can segment their travelers in various demographic
levels like age, family size, occupation of consumer, religion, nationality etc.
Behavior segmentation- This segment usually focuses on actual client behavior for particular
service which is provided by travel and tourism industry (Glynn and Woodside, 2012). This
segmentation comprises of brand loyalty, individuals status and their readiness to choose tour
package.
Income level- Income level consists of disposable income which a particular person can spent on
traveling. Mentioned company divides income according to their income level and prepares
different tour packages according to their budget and comfort.
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Gender- Organization carries both male and female travelers on a trip to Edinburgh. Mentioned
company defines particular age group whom they plan to take on tour. Under this situation, cited
organization chooses age group of 25-55 years for Edinburgh destination.
After segmenting the market on different groups and classes, tour and travel firm have to
identify their targets. Organization is basically focusing on two segments namely age and income
group of individuals. For this, mentioned organization is choosing undifferentiated targeting
approach where they will treat all the individuals as one single group with no individual segment
(Hooley, Piercy and Nicoulaud, 2012). All the tour charges have been designed after analyzing
the budget of the individuals.
TASK 2
2.1 Importance of the strategic marketing planning
Strategic marketing plan will help in analyzing that whether Edinburgh city is in
declining, growing or at a stable position. Strategic marketing planning aids in removing
unproductive initiatives and raises focus on essential factors, just like trimming of unproductive
branches of a tree (Peattie, 2002). Tour and travel agency have to promote the city Edinburgh as
a product to their customers. Some importance is stated below:
Streamlining product development- Edinburgh country should have good products and service
within the country which will significantly increase country growth rate and businesses and it
will also be able to develop a good amount of profit and revenue.
Determining minimum prices- Goods and services within the country need to be at the
affordable price otherwise tourist will not be able to purchase anything. If Edinburgh identifies
that customers want high end product with best of the specification at an affordable price then
customers will not waste a single moment to purchase that product.
Assisting with marketing communication- Countries brand endorsement is necessary in order to
attract individuals to visit a particular place. It can be done with the help of television
advertisement, Radio, newspaper and varied other source (Tinson, 2004).
With the help of market research, manager will able to characterize both demand and
supply to have a sound information base with low risk in tourism marketing activities. Through
market research, manager will investigate and measure number of tourist consumption. Further,
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he will make decision on the basis of tour packages, days of tour, age group, hotels to be stayed,
etc.
2.2 Relevance of marketing research and information
Manager of travel and tourism industry have to conduct a suitable market research and
obtain necessary information to develop tour packages for their travelers. Manager has to
consider each and everything and make a systematic report. For this, manger can take the help of
secondary market research so that he can gather relevant data from varied sources (Tsai, 2009).
Manager has to consider how many 5 star and 4 star hotels are there and what best
accommodation they can provide to their customers. Further, mentioned organization has to
research places to visit in Edinburgh and what they are majorly famous for. Further, any tourist
destination or adventitious theme can help travelers to explore something new.
Further, after making relevant research manager have to derive information about their
travelers and then the opinion of customers to go for particular place will make all the difference.
Manager divides all the categories according to their clients interest and then decide the tour
package where they will get all the comfort and satisfaction (Middleton and et.al., 2009). This
process helps in developing travel and industry goodwill as well.
2.3 Assessing positive and negative influence of marketing
At the time of marketing all the things to the customers, manager of tour and travel
agency have to take care of positive and negative impact. This is because it might affect interest
of some class of people (Vignali and Zundel, 2003). For instance, if in advertisement it is
showcases that the pubs and bars are attractive and daily during the trip to Edinburgh, tourists
will go to bar then it will have a negative impact on non drinkers as they will be alone.
Therefore, managers have to consider each and everything at the time of explaining necessary
information to their clients. Managers have to look after every responsibility and ethics from the
traveler’s point of view as well so that they do not create any nuisance at the tourist destination.
Further, mentioned company have to do positive advertising for their trip as they elaborate all the
positive and negative point regarding trip including each and every specifications. They should
not cheat customer’s in order to increase revenue and profits. For example, recently Nestle
product Maggie constitute major element which was generally affecting the health of many
people. Government banned it whole over the world.
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Moreover, individuals have to maintain a proper decorum without breaking any rules and
regulations of Edinburgh. Further, manager has to look after consumerism and
environmentalism. Consumerism means protecting interest of individuals or customers. This
means that the travelers are not offended with false practices from citizen of Edinburgh.
Environmentalism states that individuals should protect environment and should not pollute the
place with any kind of garbage, wastage, etc.
TASK 3
3.1 Elements of marketing mix
Thomas Cook is the leading England traveling leisure company which is providing
effective traveling experience to their customers. Thomas Cook has to effectively design 8 P's of
marketing to develop an attractive tour package for their travelers (Hassan, 2000). These
elements are as follows:
Product- Product should comprise of well accommodation, attraction, effective transportation
facility, shopping arena, restaurants and hotels. Organization has to consider all these factors at
the time of designing tour package of particular place.
Price- Price of the tour package should be according to the affordability of customers, duration
of the tour, competitor’s tour packages, mode of transport, destination location etc.
Place- Different state of the UK has their own promotional theme and they attract customers in
their own manner. Further, destination has important aspect in choosing the place for traveling.
Agencies like Thomas Cook are the tour operators and they decide specific places within a tour
where travelers can enjoy and explore something new (Buhalis, 2000).
Promotion- Promotional activities have their own significance as the mentioned company should
adopt suitable promotional strategy to make their service visible in the eyes of their large target
audience. Promotion is done with the help of advertisement in newspaper, Radio, TV, banners,
social media, etc.
3.2 Importance of service sector mix elements
With the explanation of 4 P's in the above point, here are other service sector mix
elements which will help Thomas Cook to design their tour package to attract their potential
travelers. These are as follows:
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People- People plays important role in tourism. Here, local people like agents comes into play
that how they treat tourist. Thomas Cook is as same as Railway and Air service office which
constitutes people who are working on betterment of travel for tourists. Moreover, more the
tourist more will be the revenue and profits for the company.
Process- Operation process of tourism industry depends on size of the tourism firm. Mentioned
firm by considering all the elements of particular cities binds it in a tour package and attracts
customers towards it. Potential customers who wish to explore the country book their tickets.
Physical Evidence- Each and every reservation done from following company is valid and legal.
For proving this point, Thomas Cook gives a printed statement of fair charges to their travelers
(Baumgartner and Pieters, 2003). Moreover, at times customers are even praised with a token of
gift.
3.3 Concept of total tourism product
Determining the tourist product is most beneficial thing for mentioned company as they
are interested in understanding transactions and also the benefits which are derived by the
travelers after using these services. These tourist products are determined basically on two
distinct levels:
The total tourist product consists of combination of all the elements which a tourist consumes
during his/her trip.
The specific services are components of total tourist product and can be sold as individual
offerings such as accommodation, transport, attractions and other facilities in addition to the
tourist (Stamboulis and Skayannis, 2003).
Moreover, this will help Thomas Cook to develop loyal customers towards their service
and they will again take the services by this organization whenever mentioned company plans an
exciting new trip.
4.1 Role of promotional mix
The promotion mix is the mixture of different methods and tools of communicating
necessary information to their customers. Effective promotion by mentioned organization is
considered as a key component of marketing mix, where this element helps company to attract
customers, influence them to buy, and generate loyalty. With the help of effective promotional
mix, organization can promote their product in the eyes of the customers to gain their relevant
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attention. Thomas Cook can choose various methods of advertising in order to promote their
products and services (Glynn and Woodside, 2012). Organization can adopt common methods
like advertisement, sales promotion; personal selling and can develop effective public relation.
4.2 Integrated Promotional Campaign
Promotional mix refers to all the decisions related to promotion of sales of products and
services to their travelers by the mentioned organization. A newly built hotel in an exotic
location in Turkey-Antalya need to be effectively promoted to enhance its sales and demand.
This luxury hotel will offer 5-star ultra all inclusive to luxury and target customers from EU
countries, Russia, Ukraine etc.Thomas Cook have to promote the specifications of the Edinburgh
City in order to attract the interested travelers.
The company will develop the campaign in order to promote the hotel in its prospective
markets and enhance recognition and demand for the same. The new hotel will focus on multiple
strategic components: research, creation of brand promotion campaigns for communication ,
advertising and investment in doing so allocating a budget in order to develop market promotion.
A newly opened hotel demands an effective trademark to publicise the firm in the
competitive market. This helps in highlight the trademark which has not been used in similar
products on the market. In our case this includes a resort hotel that contains a large aqua park
with 7 swimming pools and numerous entertainment facilities for adults and children which
includes all services and ensure guests a memorable vacation, providing a wide range of leisure
and spa services, shopping and entertainment for all ages.
The promotional strategy of the current hotel will be developed on the basis following question:
 what is the customer segment?
 What are the advantages it offers tourists?
 Where one can buy travel packages?
 When they buy travel packages?
The answer to these questions help in defining the strategy to promote the new hotel and develop
measures to reach target audience with the lowest costs. The association with prestigious
companies such as Thomas Cook tourism helps create the desired image, exploitation customer
base which it has in its portfolio.
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The promotion of tourism is crucial for developing demand in the proposed concept. The
timings of launch and promotional cost are also the crucial factors to be determined for the hotel.
The Promotional measures will develop effective and attractive visuals of the hotel. This will
help in attracting maximum consumers towards the hotel. Moreover the location and amenities
offered will create high value for the guests. The promotion in high class magazines and TV
channels will help in positively influencing and increasing the number of packages sold.
Participation in trade fairs, online promotion through its website, Google Adwords and
YouTube, brochures and presentation folders at the headquarters of worldwide tourism will be
implemented in order to enhance the sales of the company.
After the inauguration of the hotel customer feedback will be taken, their rating will be
tracked on sites like Tripadvisor in order to analyse the gap between services offered and
consumer expectations. A satisfied customer attract customers, while a negative feedback can
undo much of the investment made to promote the product. Thus the Entity will develop
effective and influential measures to enhance high demand in the proposed market.
The following projection helps in analyzing the estimated cost of operations and
expences that will be implemented for running successful business prospect.
ESTIMATED EXPENSES ESTIMATED REVENUE
Particulars Amounts
Estimated (€)
Particular Amounts
Estimated (€)
Market research 6000 Self-financing 431000
Compiling and editing
questionnaires
1500 Sales revenue 300000
Distribution, collection and
interpretation services expenses
questionnaires
4500 sponsership 50000
Bank loan 350000
Services charges 57500
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Employment sales team 10000
Purchase vehicle sales team 27500
(5500x5)
Contacting an advertising agency
to create a marketing concept
20000
Promotion expenses 920000
Advertising in magazines / TV 800000
Flyers, presentation folders 20000
Online marketing ( Google
Adwords, Facebook,
Tripadvisor)
100000
Street promotion/ travel agency 60000
Other expenses 17500
Fixed expenses 15000
Project expenses 2500
TOTAL 1001000 1131000
Profit 130000
1131000 1131000
CONCLUSION
From the above study it is clearly inferred that tour and travel industry has to conduct an
effective market research to develop an effective tour package. This report concludes effective
analysis of Edinburgh city where tour and travel industry is planning to attract travelers towards
it. In this context, SWOT and PEST analysis is been conducted which shows the country is in
developing form. Further, this report briefly analyses the effective service of Thomas Cook
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which uses varied ways to attract customers through their tour packages. Organization is
focusing on giving best of the services to their clients at an affordable price.
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