Marketing Strategies for Thomas Cook's Summer Packages

To increase the number of customers, Thomas Cook can effectively utilize social media networking. With a well-designed Facebook page and sales promotion techniques, they can target a large audience and provide necessary information regarding their summer packages and services. Additionally, online marketing and personal selling are essential for introducing products or services in the marketplace, leading to increased attention and influence on potential customers.

Marketing in Travel and
Tourism
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Core concepts of marketing for the travel and tourism sector (300).....................................3
1.2 Impact of marketing environment on individual travel and tourism businesses...................4
1.3 Factors affecting consumer motivation and demand in travel and tourism sector................5
1.4 Principles of market segmentation and its uses in marketing planning.................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Importance of strategic marketing planning..........................................................................7
2.2 The relevance of marketing research and market information to managers and travel and
tourism sector...............................................................................................................................8
2.3 Influence of marketing on society..........................................................................................9
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
3.1 Issues in the product, price and place elements of marketing mix .......................................9
3.2 Importance of service sector mix elements to the travel and tourism sector.......................10
3.3 Concept of total tourism product to an individual tourism business ..................................11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
4.1 Integrated nature and role of the promotional mix .............................................................12
4.2 Plan and justify an integrated campaign for Thomas Cook summer 2016 holidays to
Morocco and Egypt....................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................14
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INTRODUCTION
Today, in the contemporary scenario, travel and tourism sector is focused on increasing
its growth and development that is beneficial for the economy in terms of generating revenue. In
the present context, it has been identified that customers are demanding high quality and leisure
services from the travel and tourism sector in order to have pleasant stay at different destinations.
However, travel and tourism sector also positively affect nation in developing their economy. In
the year 2014, travel and tourism sector generated numerous job opportunities that contributed
around 277 million jobs within the global economy. The present report has been carried out by
the assistant marketing manager of Thomas Cook so that company can easily create the summer
2016 holiday package to Morocco and Egypt. Thomas Cook is the renowned British tour
operator that renders different travel and tourism services to their different customer segments
across the globe (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2014).
However, the report will also underpin the concept as well as different principles of
marketing within travel and tourism sector. It will also focus on different factors and elements
that directly affect the consumer motivation and demand in the travel and tourism sector. Lastly,
the report will also assess the role of promotion mix and integrated promotional campaign for
promoting summer holiday destination for 2016 holiday package.
TASK 1
1.1 Core concepts of marketing for the travel and tourism sector (300)
Marketing is considered as an essential function that supports business organization in
operating their activities in an effective manner. The concept of marketing covers following
aspects which need to be considered by tour operators at the time of planning for its products and
services- Customer needs and wants- Thomas cook provides services and products in accordance
with the changing needs and wants of consumers. It is because life style of customers is
changing at rapid speed because of the factors like education, occupation and income
group. Owing to this, Thomas cook prepares holiday package by focusing on changing
needs and preferences of the buyers. However, research and development must be there
to have detail information related to customer’s need and wants (Alegre, 2009).
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 Product and services- The concept of marketing is directly related to the products and
services. Owing to this, Thomas cook mainly lays emphasis on special offers so that
services and products can be promoted (Culver, 2006). Further, while marketing services
and products, tour operator also considers feedback as well as wants and preferences of
potential users. For example: services must cover attractive destinations along with extra
benefits. It aids to persuade buyers towards the package. Customer satisfaction- It is the main aspect of marketing because main motivate of
Thomas cook is to satisfy visitors or customers (Henry, 2006). It also covers currency
exchange process and lucrative holiday package through which buyers are attracted. It is
because that customer travels from different locations so they need convenience in
exchange process in terms of currency.
 Market and value- Marketing is also another concept which needs to be taken into
account by tour operator. Here, focus is laid on changing scenario of the market so that
plan can be modified accordingly (Huertas, 2010). Furthermore, management of
corporation assesses detail information of market scenario and accordingly, promotes its
services and products in the marketplace. Thus, above mentioned core concepts are taken
into account by travel and tourism sector.
1.2 Impact of marketing environment on individual travel and tourism businesses
Marketing environment has direct impact on travel and tourism businesses. There are two
kinds of environment such as micro and macro which affect business operation to a great extent.
It has been explained as follows- Micro environment- This is the controllable environment which consists of different
factors such as tourism organization, its internal policies, its strengths as well as its
weaknesses. Further, suppliers, intermediaries, customers and competitors are also
included in the micro environment. All these factors are kept into mind by Thomas cook.
For example, Thomson is another tour operator which gains attraction of customers by
offering attractive package (Malviya, 2005). At this juncture, Thomas cook modifies its
strategies by bringing innovation and creation in its products and services. It aids to
create competitive edge in the marketplace and attract more buyers. Furthermore,
bargaining power of suppliers and customers are also important for the corporation so
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that accordingly, it can take appropriate action on right time (Matzler, 2003). Although,
Thomas cook is at leading position in the market which depicts that it will have support
from suppliers and other related parties in its business operations.
 Macro environment- It consists of different factors like technological, legal, economic
and social. Along with that, political and environment factors are also included in macro
environment which affect organizational performance (Robinson, 2009). For example:
changing political situation in India can affect business of Thomas cook in UK due to
attraction of less number of visitors. However, political stability of Egypt and Morocco
facilitates to create favorable situation for Thomas cook. In addition to this, with the help
of technological innovation, tour operator can easily book summer holiday package of
Egypt and Morocco. On the other hand, legal barriers affect the performance of business
while introducing new policies and regulations (Smith, 2011).Due to this, management
needs to change its operation accordingly so as to ensure ethical conduct of business.
Apart from this, tour operator needs to put efforts to make environment clean and
perform corporate social responsibility for the same. This aids to create goodwill of
corporation in the marketplace which in turn customer base can be increased.
1.3 Factors affecting consumer motivation and demand in travel and tourism sector
There are several factors which affect consumer motivation and demand in travel and
tourism sector. These are explained as follows- Tourist destination- Tourist destinations selected in the present case are Morocco and
Egypt which are situated in North Africa. It attracts visitors towards holiday package and
enables them to take quick purchase decision. It shows that attractive tourist destination is
the main aspect for motivating buyers (Evans, Stonehouse and Campbell, 2012). Here,
company needs to promote services in different manner by showing images and special
offers of package. It leads to increase the demand of summer 2016 holiday package. This
is because tourist destination is important for customer attraction which also helps to
increase demand for the same. Extra benefits- The current holiday package of Egypt and Morocco consists of
multinational hotels, Islamic culture as well as tradition. It enables visitors to get
attraction towards unique holiday package of summer (Isa and Ramli, 2014).
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Furthermore, special offers, discounts, food facilities along with cab services contribute
to create positive attitude among visitors.
 Connectivity- It is another imperative factor which increases the demand of products and
services of Thomas cook. Connectivity is ensured with the help of effective
transportation facilities which gives rich experience to visitors (Gretzel and Yoo, 2008).
In this regard, flight and cab facilities along with other related services are also provided
to the visitors. It contributes towards creating competitive edge of the firm in the
marketplace. All these services ensure that customers will arrive and depart from the
selected destinations without any kind of hurdle.
1.4 Principles of market segmentation and its uses in marketing planning
Market segmentation refers to the process of dividing overall market into several segment
so as to increase customer base and ensure well-being of tour operator. According to the case
study, Thomas cook can segregate marketing as per the following approaches- Demographic segmentation- According to this approach, market can be divided into
different factors like age, gender, income, education and family size (Hassan and Craft,
2012). For the current scenario, segmentation has been done in accordance with young
people from the middle income group to higher. Furthermore, family size can also be
included as selected destinations provide information related to tradition and culture. Psychographic segmentation- Under this, market is divided on the basis of different
personality traits, interests and lifestyles of visitors. For the present case study, buyers are
targets as per the interest and lifestyle of people. For example: these Islamic countries
tend to attract Muslims frequently due to their interest in religion.
 Geographical segmentation- Under this, Thomas cook is focused on dividing market on
the basis of area such as countries, regions, international regions and cities (Swarbrooke,
2012). Here, Morocco and Egypt are selected for the summer holiday package in order to
attract target customers.
The above criteria of segmentation proves to be effective for the marketing planning of
Thomas cook. This criteria facilitates to target right kind of people with effective promotional
strategies. For instance: youngsters and families are targeted to learn Islamic culture traditions.
With the help of marketing segmentation, Thomas cook can prepare right kind of plan for
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increasing customer base and meeting their requirement in an effectual manner (Wong, 2012). In
addition to this, marketing planning will be made by Thomas cook through focusing on specific
requirement of buyers. For example: internet and mobiles apps will be used for rendering
information of holiday package. Company has selected this basis of segmentation as it wants to
target on youngsters.
TASK 2
2.1 Importance of strategic marketing planning
Strategic marketing planning is the important aspect through which Thomas cook can
implement right kind of marketing plan. In this regard, tools and techniques are used to assess
strengths and weaknesses of the corporation. These tools and techniques are SWOT analysis,
tourist area life cycle and Boston Matrix (Xiang and Gretzel, 2010). Along with that, Ansoff
matrix is also used for strategic planning of Thomas cook. It has been explained as follows-
Following table consists of strengths, weakness, opportunities as well as threats. This tool
enables management to under its weaknesses as well as threats so that accordingly further steps
can be taken to improve performance.
Strengths
 It covers approximate 100
destinations
 Flexible and customized holiday
package.
 The most experienced business unit.
 Good reputation in the marketplace.
Weaknesses
 Limited market share.
 Fluctuated marketing
scenario.
 Long term debt.
Opportunities
 Use of internet in booking of
holiday packages.
 High demand across world.
 Cost saving initiatives.
Threats
 Low rate of return.
 Economic uncertainty.
 Consistent increase in
competition.
Ansoff matrix consists of four stages such as Market development, diversification market
penetration and product development. For example, Thomas cook can adopt strategy of
diversification by entering into new market with new services. On the other hand, market
development is another alternative in which management can enter into new market with the
existing products and services (Ashworth and Goodall, 2012). In the same way, new services are
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introduced in the existing market so as to change organizational strategy. Apart from this, tourist
area life cycle is taken into account by the management of Thomas cook. With the help of life
cycle strategy, continuous modification can be done in existing products and services so that
competitive edge of the firm can be created in the marketplace. Therefore, selected procedures
such as SWOT and tourist area life cycle provide right guidance to the management.
2.2 Relevance of marketing research and market information to managers and travel and tourism
sector
Marketing information is very important for travel and tourism organization as it supports
management to formulate right kind of strategies in the marketplace. For this purpose, Thomas
cook gathers information related to the needs and preferences of buyers. This is done through
conducting customer survey so that tour operator can implement plan of action (Hudson and
Thal, 2013). Furthermore, market research process is done by research and development
department of company. This department continuously puts efforts to gain in-depth information
related to the market. Here, Thomas cook gathers facts related to the performance of competitors
and their strategies. As per the collected data, management of organization assesses market
trends so that internet strategies and set of actions can be changed accordingly. Similarly,
forecasting is done by taking help of experts in travel and tourism sector so that summer 2016
holidays to Morocco and Tunisia can be introduced successfully (Sivesan, 2012).
On critical note, research process of Thomas cook tends to incur huge cost which in turn
reduces profitability at the initial stage. This aspect assists managers to select cost effective plan
for the marketing research. It facilitates to set budget as per the pre-defined objectives of Thomas
cook. Furthermore, by getting detail information related to marketing scenario, mangers of travel
and tourism sector can adopt alternative strategy. Owing to this, Thomas cook conducts market
research on time to time so that accordingly strategies can be formulated to cope up with
changing scenario. It enables corporation to deliver good quality of services to the large number
of visitors. Furthermore, research process of company makes it possible to create competitive
edge. Apart from this, research is the only alternative by which Thomas cook comes to know that
what actions to be taken to increase customer satisfaction level (Thomas, 2006). Therefore,
marketing research and market information prove to be effective for travel and tourism
organization as well as manager.
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2.3 Influence of marketing on society
Marketing is the process of delivering important information of the organization with
regards to products and services to the end users. It facilitates corporation to aware customers
related to new product and service available in the marketplace. However, there are regulations
and public policies which must be followed by Thomas cook in order to ensure ethical conduct
of business. For example, company is liable for the misrepresentation of advertisement. In case
of false presentation of advertisement, customer has right to take legal action against the
organization (Marsh, 2013). At this juncture, management of Thomas cook needs to consider
legal aspect so that services can be provided without any kind of barriers. However, tour operator
focuses on ethical aspect and provides right kind of detail information in advertisement whether
it is placed on internet or social media. Company lays emphasis on changing lifestyle of buyers
and provides them services accordingly which in turn customer base can be increased. All
advertisement placed by corporation consists of appeal to take quick purchase decision (Xiang
and Gretzel, 2010). For example, tour package of summer 2016 holidays to Morocco and Tunisia
can be promoted by offering a bit discount. At this juncture, appeal can be included by
specifying limited time of offer. It leads to attract more buyers and enables large number of
customers to take advantage of discount.
Marketing is also helpful in creating public image of company as it connects customers to
the corporation. This aspect contributes in creating sustainable survival of Thomas cook in the
marketplace (Ashworth and Goodall, 2012). Similarly, marketing has positive impact on society
because members of society come to know about lucrative offers. In case of absence of
marketing of products and services, general community will not be able to access information of
the same. Thus, marketing strategies prove to be effective in providing education to the
consumers and making society aware of different offers of cited company.
TASK 3
3.1 Issues in the product, price and place elements of marketing mix
Marketing mix consists of different factors like product, price, place and promotion. Key
issues related to these elements must be taken into account by Thomas cook while launching
summer 2016 holidays to Morocco and Egypt-
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 Product/service-According to the case study, service which is to be offered, is “summer
2016 holidays to Morocco and Egypt”. This package needs to be prepared in accordance
with the expectations and needs of buyers or visitors. Owing to this, proper research can
be done to assess buying habits of buyers (Hudson and Thal, 2013). This aids to ensure
success of holiday package, otherwise performance of company will be hampered in a
negative manner. Also, for each life cycle stage, changes need to be made by the
management so as to increase the demand of services. In addition to this, all additional
features must be added in the services as per the feedback of visitors (Marketing Mix –
The 4 p’s of marketing, 2014). Price- Pricing is another imperative element of marketing mix which needs to be
considered by organization. For summer 2016 holidays to Morocco and Egypt, cost plus
pricing can be adopted by Thomas cook in order to recover initial cost and increase profit
margin (Sivesan, 2012). However, market segmentation is also considered at this stage so
that accordingly, pricing strategies can be selected. In case, corporation sets extremely
high prices then customers may not get attracted towards the same. In fact, buyers can
switch to another brand.
 Place- For providing services, appropriate distribution channel must be selected. Owing
to this, Thomas cook operates in several countries so as to approach buyers from the
same location in an effectual manner (Thomas, 2006). Vertical expansion of corporation
makes it possible to increase customer base and create competitive edge of the same.
However, issues are faced in the management of physical distribution of logistic.
3.2 Importance of service sector mix elements to the travel and tourism sector
Service sector mix elements are important for travel and tourism sector. It assists
corporation to build competitive edge in the marketplace. New service provided by Thomas cook
is delivered in the form of packaging which consists of two attractive locations such as Morocco
and Egypt. It is offered with affordable prices by taking into account market segmentation. This
in turn families and youngsters are selected who are interested in purchasing attractive holiday
package of cited tour operator (Alegre, 2009). Quality of services is superior because of
inclusion of competent workforce. For this purpose, corporation provides time to time training to
its workforce so they can cater need of visitors effectively. Moreover, continuous development is
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ensured so that workforce can contribute towards achieving long as well as short term objectives
of the firm. Similarly, tour operator gives preference to select right kind of person on right place.
At the same time, motivation tools are adopted so as to increase the level of motivation among
employees. This has direct impact on service quality because generally motivated employees
tend to address issues of customers in more effective manner (Culver, 2006).
Apart from this, partnership of Thomas cook also matters a lot in order to make perfect
plan of holiday. Here, hotels, travel agents, tourist detonations as well as partners from the field
of museums also remain in contact. It assists Thomas cook to provide rich experience for its
visitors and for the retention of same. Interactive marketing is done for summer 2016 holidays to
Morocco and Egypt from all sides such as travel agents and hotels. It helps to increase customer
base and sales turnover. Furthermore, interactive marketing aids to create word of mouth
advertisement which in turn amount of additional expenses reduces to a great extent.
3.3 Concept of total tourism product to an individual tourism business
Concept of total tourism product refers to combination of all the additional services along
with main product or service. Product of tourism includes extra benefits associated with summer
2016 holidays to Morocco and Egypt. In the selected package, product plus luxury and status
will be provided to visitors so they can enjoy their trip (Gretzel and Yoo, 2008). It is taken into
account by Thomas cook in order to meet the expectations of buyers in most suitable manner.
This aspect facilitates to create competitive edge of the firm with the increased rate of return.
Furthermore, total tourism product includes several other benefits like increased customer base,
unique identity in the marketplace and creation of goodwill (Hassan and Craft, 2012). For
example, total tourism product consists of following benefits-
 Air ticket plus cab facilities
 5 nights and 6 days for summer 2016 holidays to Morocco and Egypt
 Breakfast and brunch included
 Stay in luxury four star hotel
 Sightseeing in both countries as per the convenience of visitors
 Beach activities and Eco-tourism
 Return tickets are also available
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Above additional features included with the package of summer 2016 holidays to
Morocco and Egypt depict total tourism product. It enables corporation to attract more buyers by
generating positive attitude among them (Isa and Ramli, 2014). Due to this, current package
consists of several extra benefits which may not be available to competitions. It leads to create
unique identity of firm and aid to increase its market share. Therefore, total tourism product is
considered by individual travel and tourism sector to meet expectations of visitors effectively
and increase their attention towards offers provided. Furthermore, preferences of buyers also
need to be included in the package so that buyers can be retained for the longer time span.
TASK 4
4.1 Integrated nature and role of the promotional mix
Promotional mix plays an important role in introducing products and services in the
marketplace. It consists of several aspects such as personal selling, public relation, sales
promotion and online marketing. Combination of all these tools makes promotion mix for an
organization. It serves as integrated communication for the promotion of products and services in
the marketplace. However, corporation prepares budget for the promotion of services of summer
2016 holidays to Morocco and Egypt (Matzler, 2003). For example, present package will be
promoted with the help of online promotion. Main reason behind selection of this channel is to
target large number of buyers in less time. Furthermore, social media such as Facebook and
Twitter can also be used to target buyers in order to introduce services in the market in less time.
Furthermore, advertisement is also essential strategy wherein main features and
additional aspects of services will be presented in front of customers by using effective media
such as television or newspaper (Evans, Stonehouse and Campbell, 2012). Similarly, personal
selling is also imperative aspect which supports promotion mix in an effective manner. Under
this, sales personnel contribute towards creating brand image of company in front of buyers by
resolving their issues on the spot. Apart from this, public relation is another tool which is used by
Thomas cook. However, company already has good position in the marketplace so that buyers
can be attracted towards the same (Robinson, 2009).
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4.2 Plan and justify an integrated campaign for Thomas Cook summer 2016 holidays to Morocco
and Egypt
In order to launch the summer 2016 holiday package, it is essential for the assistant
marketing manager of Thomas Cook to focus on the integrated promotional campaign for
promoting destination among the customers and visitors. However, in order to raise the sales of
summer packages, it is essential for manager to develop an effective promotional campaign that
will result in marketing variety of services effectively that they are offering to the different
segment visitors and customers. There are different forms of promotional campaign that must be
used by Thomas Cook in successful launching of summer packages to Morocco and Egypt.
Further, they can promote services and summer packages with the help of using social media
networking. Use of social media aids to increase number of customers because of popularity of
these sites. In the present scenario, social sites are considered as modern tools and techniques
through which Thomas Cook can easily target their audiences and provide them necessary
information regarding their summer packages and services. With the help of designing and
creating Facebook page, assistant marketing manager of Thomas Cook can easily promote their
services and packages to the large mass of audiences. However, majority of the customers and
visitors are using the services of Facebook application in order to gain necessary information
regarding the company as well as its services. Furthermore, for promoting the destination of
summer packages, Thomas Cook may also use sales promotion techniques as it supports tour
operator in driving the number of sales volume.
CONCLUSION
The aforementioned report concludes that marketing is the field of growth and success of
corporation by which management ensures effective promotion of products and services in the
marketplace. It assists organization to carry out operation in a successful manner and meeting
expectations of all the related stakeholders effectively. It can also be said that online marketing
and personal selling prove to be imperative for introducing products or services in the
marketplace. It leads to increase attention of visitors and influence them to take quick purchase
decision. In addition to this, total tourism product must be developed by tour operator so as to
create unique identity.
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