Individual Portfolio for Bon Voyage: Marketing Analysis and Strategy

This portfolio presents a comprehensive marketing analysis of Bon Voyage, a UK-based travel agency. It begins with an introduction to Bon Voyage's services and the rationale for the marketing investigation. The portfolio then delves into a detailed sector analysis, examining the marketing environment through a PRESTCOM framework, SWOT analysis, and stakeholder analysis. The analysis covers political, regulatory, economic, social, technological, competitive, organizational, and market factors. The portfolio also explores consumer behavior, including the consumer buying decision process, and concludes with an analysis of segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies for Bon Voyage. References are provided for each section, demonstrating a thorough understanding of marketing principles.

INDIVIDUAL
PORTFOLIO FOR
BON VOYAGE

Table of Contents
PORTFOLIO PAGE 1.....................................................................................................................1
Introduction............................................................................................................................1
References for Portfolio Page 1.......................................................................................................1
PORTFOLIO PAGE 2.....................................................................................................................2
Sector Analysis.......................................................................................................................2
References for Portfolio Page 2.......................................................................................................7
PORTFOLIO PAGE 3.....................................................................................................................8
Consumer Behaviour..............................................................................................................8
References for Portfolio Page 3.....................................................................................................10
PORTFOLIO PAGE 4...................................................................................................................12
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning.............................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
References for Portfolio Page 4.....................................................................................................14

PORTFOLIO PAGE 1
Introduction
Marketing refers to a combination of all the processes and techniques that are used by an
organisation to appropriately communicating their services, as well as, products within the
marketplace (Kotler and et. al., 2017). It is a highly required and preferred activity that allows
the firm to gain a competitive edge within the marketplace, along with enhanced and effective
sustainability within the market (Moutinho and Vargas-Sanchez, 2018). Hence, in this context,
the portfolio below is based on Bon Voyage, which is one of the most recognised travel agencies
in the UK providing tailor made holidays to its customers within the country. Hence, the
portfolios below cover the customised tourism service of the firm, which is necessary to be
investigated to help the firm in more customer attraction and retention through marketing and
positioning its services effectively. The assignment covers a detailed research of the marketing
environment along with stakeholder awareness, along with effective analysis of consumer buyer
behaviour and identification of specific factors related to it. Along with this, the portfolios also
cover the segmentation, targeting and positioning for the company.
References for Portfolio Page 1
Books and Journals
Kotler, P., and et. al., 2017. Marketing for hospitality and tourism.
Moutinho, L. and Vargas-Sanchez, A. eds., 2018. Strategic Management in Tourism, CABI
Tourism Texts. Cabi.
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PORTFOLIO PAGE 2
Sector Analysis
Marketing Environment is inclusive of the internal as well as the external factors which
surrounds an organisation as well as have an influence and evident impact upon the marketing
operations of the company. The internal factors include all the elements that are directly
associated with the firm, such as stakeholders, personal capabilities and so forth. On the other
hand, external environment involves the external factors that influence the working of an
organisation, such as political and social factors (Yoo and Gretzel, 2016)
.
It is very necessary that an organisation analysis its marketing environment in an appropriate
and consistent manner as it would allow the firm to enhance the scope of familiarity within the
business environment. However, there are certain benefits associated with this analysis that is
described below:
 It can allow firms to assess opportunities way before the competitors.
 It enables a company to ensure sustainability and adaptability through scanning the
environment and anticipate the emerging trends and preferences.
PRESTCOM Analysis
From the above analysis, it is certain that a company is needed to map its marketing
environment to gain strengths and opportunities in comparison to its competitors. Hence, in this
relation, below is an external analysis of external environment of Bon Voyage, which is
discussed below:
 Political:
This element relates with the political condition prevailing in a country, which directly
influences the marketing operations of an organisation. For Bon Voyage, the current political
situation of the UK is very much uncertain, due to Brexit, which is a major threat to the company
to customise tours to European Countries (McCabe, 2014)
.
 Regulatory:
It reflects the regulatory environment of a country which includes the legislations and
policies that are required to be followed by a company. In context with Bon Voyage, there are
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several drastic as well as dynamic regulations prevailing within the UK, which is a disadvantage
for the firm and its suppliers within the EU nations.
 Economical:
This factor is related to the overall economic performance of the country in which a company
operates in. In context of Bon Voyage, the value of pound has substantially decreased, along
with inflation in the UK economy, which represents challenges and disadvantages for the
company to operate smoothly (Lee, 2014)..
 Social:
All the social trends, preferences and customer demands are included in this factor. Within
the UK market, customers demand personalised services, along with custom made trips.
Moreover, travelling has emerged as one of the key trends within the masses, presenting
opportunities for the organisation and its personalised tour service. Not even that, customers
from other countries are visiting the country as well, presenting an opportunity for Bon Voyage
to expand its global operations.
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Illustration 1: Travel trends - Office for National Statistics
(Source: Travel trends - Office for National Statistics, 2019)
 Technological:
All the technological advancements are inclusive in this factor. Within the tourism sector,
technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Automation and Virtual Reality are playing effective
role towards digitalising and personalising the tourism services for customers. Hence, this would
be advantageous for the company to appropriately and effectively use and include these
technologies for their personalised tours provided to patrons (Huang and et. al., 2016).
 Competitive:
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There are several competitors within the United Kingdom that provide similar services to
customers and are a direct threat to the operations of Bon Voyage. Some of these companies are
Trafalgar, TopDeck and Cosmos.
 Organisation:
In terms of Organisation, Bon Voyage has skilled and talented workforce which handles all
the personalisation and marketing services effectively for the company. Hence, this presents an
opportunity for the company towards its personalised services to the customers, as a more
professional and dynamic offering could easily be developed by such a strong workforce.
 Market:
The overall UK tourism market is quite effective and prosperous for the organisation as there
are several opportunities prevailing in the market that is suitable for the kind of service the firm
is willing to provide its customers with.
SWOT Analysis
This framework is very important to determine the effectiveness of the internal
environment of a company. It helps the firm in finding its strengths and weaknesses, along with
associated opportunities and threats related to the same. Therefore, for Bon Voyage, the SWOT
Analysis is performed below:
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
 The company provides personalised
services to the customers, which is its
biggest strength.
Another effective element of the firm is its
highly skilled and capable workforce to adapt
to the current market trends effectively
(Sereda, 2015).
 The marketing efforts of the company
despite its skilled workforce have been
weaker to capture the attention of
customers.
 The Research and Development
expenditure of the firm is relatively
lower than required, reflecting the fact
that the company might fail to
anticipate the future trends accurately.
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
 Personalised Tours have been emerging  One of the biggest threats for the
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as an effective trend within the UK,
providing better opportunities for the
firm to attract more tourists.
 Technologies like AI and VR are
advantageous for the company towards
digitalising its services, which would
give customers more insight onto the
operations and services of the company.
organisation is related to Brexit, which
might cause more uncertainties within
the marketplace, as well as the policies
and regulations.
 Competition from companies like
Cosmos and Trafalgar is another threat
faced by Bon Voyage.
Stakeholder Analysis
Stakeholder Analysis is another prominent scanning which Bon Voyage must perform to
analyse the influence and interest which each of its stakeholders has on the organisation. In this
context, below is the Power/Interest matrix, reflecting the analysis of stakeholders of the
company:
BON VOYAGE POWER
LOW HIGH
INTEREST LOW Suppliers Customers
HIGH Employees Shareholders
According to the display above, there are several stakeholders associated with the company
that are analysed below:
 Suppliers:
This stakeholder group is the one which provide the firm with raw materials (arrangements in
context of Bon Voyage), which is used by the firm to transform into finished offerings. Their
interests as well as power within the company are very low, which requires the firm with
minimum monitoring to keep them satisfied.
 Customers:
These are the stakeholders which are the reason for a firm’s existence. Bon Voyage must
adopt methods and techniques to keep this group consistently satisfied. This could be done
through provision of services at affordable rates, as well as high personalised offerings (Shaw,
2016).
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 Employees:
These are the support system of the organisation that is responsible towards accomplishing
the goals and objectives set by the company through appropriate and effective efforts towards the
same. Hence, in this relation, Bon Voyage must keep them informed about each and every
decision which the firm is willing to take in order to ensure their highest participation. Shareholders:
These individuals are the one who invest their financial assets within the company in
expectation of a higher return in future. Since their interest and power are high, the firm is
required to manage them quite closely. For example, the firm must communicate strategies to
them as well as ask for their advice which would allow them to gain higher profitability in the
future (Holden, 2016).
References for Portfolio Page 2
Books and Journals
Holden, A., 2016. Environment and tourism. Routledge.
Huang, Y.C., and et. al., 2016. Exploring the implications of virtual reality technology in tourism
marketing: An integrated research framework. International Journal of Tourism
Research. 18(2). pp.116-128.
Lee, J., 2014. Visitors’ emotional responses to the festival environment. Journal of Travel &
Tourism Marketing. 31(1). pp.114-131.
McCabe, S. ed., 2014. The Routledge handbook of tourism marketing. Routledge.
Sereda, N., 2015. Analysis of the influence of markeTing environment factors on the
development of non-Olympic sports in sports schools (on the example of sports
tourism). Slobozhanskyi herald of science and sport. (3 (47)). pp.83-85.
Shaw, S., 2016. Airline marketing and management. Routledge.
Yoo, K.H. and Gretzel, U., 2016. Web 2.0: ew Rules for Tourism Marketing.
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PORTFOLIO PAGE 3
Consumer Behaviour
Consumer Buying Behaviour is an amalgamation of their beliefs, values, preferences, as well as
demand which is directed towards a particular service or product (Dolnicar and Ring, 2014). It
determines how a person is willing to respond to a particular offering within the marketplace,
which denotes its motivators as well as de-motivators towards different types of products and
services.
For a firm like Bon Voyage, there are several advantages associated with mapping the
customer buying behaviour that is stated below:
 Understanding the consumer behaviour allows an organisation towards formulating the
most apt marketing strategy which induces positive behaviour of customers towards the
company’s offerings.
 Assessment of behaviour of customers also helps the companies towards development of
products and services in a way that enables highest scope of profitability.
Consumer Buyer Decision Process
It is necessary that each organisation appropriately and effectively identify the decision
making process of a customer to determine a prominent pattern on which the firm could subject
its business and marketing activities. Hence, in context of Bon Voyage, the consumer decision
making process is discussed below: Recognition:
Recognition of need is an effective occurring when a consumer appropriately determines
what they need. For example, a customer seeking an adventurous trip in Switzerland is at this
stage.
 Information Collection:
Within this stage, the customers tend to acquire more information about the products and
services which could satisfy their above needs. For instance, customers visiting websites for
determining tour packages for Switzerland is at this stage of the process.
 Evaluation of Alternatives
It includes analysis and evaluation of different alternatives which reflects evaluating a range
of options to choose from while satisfying their demand.
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 Evidence Assessment
This stage is related towards assessing the evidence effectively which is related to the
information which they have gathered. It reflects the assessment of offerings which they desire
from the suppliers as well as service providers (Minazzi, 2015).
 Option Selection
After an effective assessment, this stage involves selection of the most prominent option, for
instance, a tour provider and tour package for Switzerland.
 Implementation
This stage is associated with the final purchasing of the product or service.
 Review of Decision
The decision review is associated with the communication that is established between the
customer and provider in relation to the offering, which requires the firm to provide itineraries to
the buyers for the Switzerland trip, along with manuals describing how the particular service
would be provided to these individuals.
Influences on Buyer Behaviour
There are several influences which have a heavy influence over the buying behaviour of
the customers. It is essential for the customers to map the same in order to appropriately and
effectively put in efforts to induce positive behaviour through these points. Hence, in context of
Bon Voyage, several customer influences are explored below: Culture:
One of the biggest influencers of behaviour is culture. There are various types of cultural
norms and beliefs, according to which destinations are chosen by customers within tourism. For
instance, an individual who has a high cultural inclination would choose a location which is
spiritually enhanced, whereas a person would choose a location like Switzerland if their culture
promotes natural beauty and landscapes.
 Lifestyle:
This factor heavily influences the customer behaviour to an evident extent. Lifestyle of an
individual embarks the products which would promote their lifestyles as well as would induce
positive behaviour. For example, if travelling and adventure holds high value in a person’s
lifestyle, then personalised tour package to Switzerland would attract the individual.
 Marketing Campaigns:
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Companies’ marketing efforts and campaigns also have high influence upon the decision
making process of customers. For example, if firms like Bon Voyage would choose methods like
social media and compelling YouTube advertisements about their personalised tour service, then
the organisation would influence customers in a positive manner towards buying their offerings
(Morosan, Bowen and Atwood, 2014).
Target Market Analysis Current usage of Bon Voyage’s Services
Currently, the customised tourism service of the company is being used by almost all the
customers of the firm, especially millennials who focus on budget holidays in personalised
destinations.
 Expectations from Bon Voyage
Customers expect that Bon Voyage understands their demand to a full extent as well as
articulate different strategies and processes which provides excellent customer service to the
buyers, along with a scope of improvement upon their services with latest technologies and
market analysis. Extent of Payment for the firm’s service
Since the services are usually personalised, a rather variant amount is paid by the customers.
However, the extent of payment by customers of the company is usually high, due to highly
personalisation and customisation associated with the services. Extent to which other providers are looked at
Once a customer is associated with the company, there are minimal chances that other
competitors are being looked at by the customers. The reason for this is because the company
adopts several customer satisfaction as well as service strategies, which provides active customer
engagement (Koc and Boz, 2014).
References for Portfolio Page 3
Books and Journals
Dolnicar, S. and Ring, A., 2014. Tourism marketing research: Past, present and future. Annals of
Tourism Research. 47. pp.31-47.
Koc, E. and Boz, H., 2014. Psychoneurobiochemistry of tourism marketing. Tourism
Management. 44. pp.140-148.
Minazzi, R., 2015. Social media marketing in tourism and hospitality.
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