Cox's Bazar Sea Beach: Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

This report, submitted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj, analyzes the market segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies for Cox's Bazar Sea Beach in Bangladesh. The study, based on secondary data due to the Covid-19 pandemic, identifies key market segments based on demographic and psychographic variables, focusing on factors like age, nationality, and interests. It applies Kotler's marketing strategy framework to delineate target markets and propose positioning strategies to attract tourists. The report emphasizes the importance of understanding tourist needs and preferences to enhance the beach's appeal, recommending tailored marketing efforts for various segments and highlighting the potential for sustainable tourism development. The findings aim to assist policy makers and marketers in formulating effective strategies for promoting Cox's Bazar as a premier tourist destination.

A Assignment On
" Establishing Market Segmentation, Targeting And Positioning
Strategy for Cox`s Bazar Sea Beach."
Course Name: Tourism Marketing
Course Code:THM2O5
Submitted By Submitted To
Name: Shofi Uddin Sheikh
Student ID: 18THM036
Semester: 1st
Year: 2nd
Session: 2018-19
Department of Tourism And Hospitality
Management,
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Science and Technology University,
Gopalganj-8100.
Name: Synthia Islam
Lecturer,Department of Tourism And
Hospitality Management,
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Science and Technology University,
Gopalganj-8100.
Date of submission: 12 July, 2020
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University,
Gopalganj-8100.

Establishing Market Segmentation, Targeting And Positioning
Strategy for Cox`s Bazar Sea Beach
I have selected Cox`s Bazar Sea Beach as a destination to establishing market segmentation ,
targeting and positioning strategy for Cox`s Bazar Sea Beach. In this study , i will describe
about market segmentation , targeting and positioning strategy. The main objective of this
study is to identify market segment for beach tourism products and services for promoting
Cox’s Bazar Beach as a tourist destination. The study based on secondary data. Result shows
a clear distinction between a male, older group of tourists and newly married couple, younger
age and married with children depending on parents. The study also revealed that tourists
have given a great preference to natural attraction along with enjoying sea waves and sunset
view, medium class accommodation facility, safety and security, sanitation and cleaning,
caring and waste disposal facility and emergency service. So, to occupy the best position in
the mind of tourist the tourism managers and marketers should provide up to mark services as
tourists expect. This finding can be useful to the policy makers and marketers of beach
tourism at Cox’s Bazar in formulating strategies for their products and services considering
the findings of the study. The major objectives of the study are;
 To identify the market segment and target market for Cox’s Bazar Beach as a tourist
destination.
 To delineate the important factors considered by tourists to occupy the profitable
positioning for Cox’s Bazar Beach as a tourist destination
INTRODUCTION:
Market segmentation and target market selection are important step in establishing a
market strategy. Market segmentation is an important element of target marketing because it
can help marketer to develop the right product suitable to each target market. Kotler (1994)
stated that the heart of modern strategic marketing can be described as segmenting, targeting
and positioning, with segmentation being the essential first step in the direction of a target
marketing approach. And also suggests that segmentation may be defined as a process of
dividing a total market, such as all tourists, into manageable sub-groups more cost effective
marketing, through the design, promotion and delivery of purpose built products aimed at
satisfying the identified needs of target groups. Similarly Weinstein (1987), Perdue (1992)
explains that good market segmentation research provides operational data that are practical,
usable, and readily translatable into strategy. And also explain that firms may find some
segments more attractive than others because of variations in segment size, growth potential,
or competition. A destination with limited resources needs to pick only the best opportunities
to pursue. Consequently, segmentation may also be used as a tool for managing demand,
which may be particularly useful within a strategy of sustainable tourism development. In
tourism field, the importance of market segmentation is not only as a technique of
segmenting a market and identifying target market, but it can also be used at a higher level to
assist a marketing strategist to understand the relationship of a destination with its visitors.
Koc and Altinay indicated that a destination that targets the whole market without
segmenting or clustering problems it usually ends up with wasted resources, unsatisfied
customers, and missed a strategic marketing opportunity.

Cox’s Bazaar beach in Bangladesh is the tourist capital of Bangladesh having 120 km. beach
covered with deep green forests. This type of smooth and straight sea beach is hardly seen in
any place of the world. Miles of golden sands, towering cliffs, surfing waves, rare conch
shells, and delightful seafood are the specialties of Cox’s Bazar sea beach. Every year a large
number of tourists from home and abroad come to visit this beach for enjoyment. Now the
economy of Cox's Bazar depends on tourism. From general observation it is understood that
tourism has brought a big change in this area. Altogether around 10000 people are working in
the tourism industry in Cox’s Bazar and each person maintains a family of 6 persons, then
this tourism industry is giving food to the 60,000 people. On economic front, local
community people and other stakeholders like investors, hoteliers, tour operators and so on
are seemingly benefited from tourism and it economy is quite good compared to other
backward area. So it is clear to all the contribution of Cox’s Bazar sea beach in the local
economy as well as national economy of Bangladesh. The flow of economic contribution and
growth of this area depends on the continuity of tourist arrival and understanding tourists’
needs, wants and their perceptions towards the facilities and services. The objective of the
present study is to identify different beach tourist segments based on a set of socio
demographic variables and tourists travel behavior and formulate the attractive positioning
strategy for target segment considering tourists’ need, want and demand. Results may help
understand the beach tourist market and contribute to an improved target marketing to each
group, simultaneously understanding the actual and potential role of each group for the
destination area in question.
METHODOLOGY:
For the current Covid-19 situation I skipped the primary data to created the report.
The situation of Covid-19 in Bangladesh is very dire. Many people are dying every day.
From time to time the government is announcing lockdown in the whole country. All
educational institutions are closed due to Covid-19 and the government is announcing closure
of all tourism destinations. For which no tourist can visit the tourism destination. So, it was
not possible to collect the primary data from the people in this situation.
Only secondary data were used to address the objectives in this study. The necessary data
from secondary sources were collected through document analysis. For this purpose a
thorough literature survey has been conducted. In order to obtain the reliable secondary data
various journals, periodicals, books, acts, regulations, policies of Bangladesh, websites,
annual reports, papers of different agencies were consulted carefully.
FINDING & ANALYSIS:
MARKETING STRATEGY
To establishing market segmentation , targeting and positioning strategy for Cox`s
Bazar Sea Beach, I will mainly follow the marketing strategy of Kotler(2003) which is
described in his books. According to Kotler, Marketing strategy is the outcome of a firm’s
segmentation, targeting and positioning choices (STP process)at the level of the Strategic

Business Unit. This philosophy is supported by marketing text books (for example, Kotler,
2003), where this process is enforced as the core of marketing strategy. In other words, the
main concept of marketing strategy involve the tasks of identifying and choosing the target
segments in where the actual and potential customers are living and desired to purchase
the product. In higher level, there are three marketing strategy; market segmentation,
targeting and positioning in reaching minds of the target customers and offer them suitable
products/ services that will serve customers special interests. The term "segmentation"
appears to have been originally introduced by Smith (1956). According to Kotler (2000),
market segmentation means dividing the whole market into different parts on the basis of
various variables.
Target Marketing involves breaking a market into segments and then concentrating marketing
efforts on one or a few key segments. According to Kotler(2003), positioning is the way the
product is defined by tourists on important attributes; it is the place the product occupies in
tourists’ mind relative to competing products.
MARKET SEGMENTATION:
Marketer segments the Cox`s Bazar Beach market as dividing the whole market into
different parts on the basis of various variables. Market segmentation strategy plays an
important role in the success of tourism marketing objectives. A tourist market may
be identified corresponding to each tourist product. In that sense, we can define market is a
set of actual and potential buyers of each product. There are five segmenting variables:
Geographic, Demographic, Geo-demographic, Psychographic and Behavioral (Kotler.2002).

Bangladesh Parjaton Corporation (BPC) formulates the policy to regulate the tourism
industry. To segmenting the target market it emphasize on two variables that are (i)
Demographic segmentation and (ii) Psychographic segmentation. Demographic segmentation
are usually large because in that segment tourist product can attract a limited number of
groups and age provides the biggest range of options for defining a large number of groups.
Psychographic segmentation provides us depth information of tourists. By this segmentation
we understand about tourists’ personal interests, motivations, aspirations and emotions etc.
i. Demographic segmentation for international tourists:
Ethnic identity and nationality: Most of the tourists coming from Europe, South
Asia, USA, Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, East Asia and the Pacific Rim,
USA, England, Australia and New-Zealand and others.
Age: Tourists groups are usually young and middle age people; sometimes families
with children and even retired people are coming too visited at different locations.
Family life cycle: Some Bangali UK and USA immigrants like to visit Bangladesh
with their children to familiar about culture and its heritage. They also visit the Cox`s
Bazar Beach.
Sex: Men and women both equally like to visit Cox`s Bazar Beach in Bangladesh.
Religion: Muslims, Buddhists’ and Christian pilgrims are interested in their
concerned religious sites in Bangladesh.
ii. Psychographic segmentation for international tourists: Actually demographic
segmentation cope is vast and easy to understand but the variables of psychographic
segmentation is so depth that is needed to explore. The living pattern, day to day
activities and the entertainment item consumed by the tourists is most important. For
psychographic segmentation customers special interests, hobby, opinions, and
attitudes towards different types of vacations is important. Therefore, BPC is trying to
segmenting the market on the basis of tourists’ psychographic characteristics but not
success. If they could differentiate among these segments, they would be able to
select appropriate segments and develop as well as implement marketing strategy for
each selected target group.
TARGET MARKETING:
Target marketing involves evaluate each market segment attractiveness and selecting
one or more segments to enter. A target market is a group of customers within
a business's serviceable available market at which a business aims its marketing efforts and
resources. A target market is a subset of the total market for a product or service.
The target market typically consists of consumers who exhibit similar characteristics (such as
age, location, income or lifestyle) and are considered most likely to buy a business's market
offerings or are likely to be the most profitable segments for the business to service.
Once the target market(s) have been identified, the business will normally tailor the
marketing mix (4 Ps) with the needs and expectations of the target in mind. This may involve

carrying out additional consumer research in order to gain deep insights into the typical
consumer's motivations, purchasing habits and media usage patterns.
The choice of a suitable target market is one of the final steps in the market
segmentation process. The choice of a target market relies heavily on the marketer's
judgment, after carrying out basic research to identify those segments with the greatest
potential for the business.
Targeting Strategy: Marketers have outlined five basic strategies to the segmentation and
the identification of target markets: undifferentiated marketing or mass marketing,
differentiated marketing, concentrated marketing (niche marketing)
and micromarketing (hyper-segmentation).
Mass marketing (undifferentiated marketing)
Undifferentiated marketing/Mass marketing is a method which is used to target as many
people as possible to advertise one message that marketers want the target market to know.
When television first came out, undifferentiated marketing was used in almost all commercial
campaigns to spread one message across to a mass of people. The types of commercials that
played on the television back then would often be similar to one another that would often try
to make the viewers laugh, These same commercials would play on air for multiple
weeks/months to target as many viewers as possible which is one of the positive aspects of
undifferentiated marketing. However, there are also negative aspects to mass marketing as
not everyone thinks the same so it would be extremely difficult to get the same message
across to a huge number of people.

Differentiated marketing strategy
Differentiated marketing is a practice in which different messages are advertised to appeal to
certain groups of people within the target market. Differentiated marketing however is a
method which requires a lot of money to pull off. Due to messages being changed each time
to advertise different messages it is extremely expensive to do as it would cost every time to
promote a different message. Differentiated marketing also requires a lot time and energy as
it takes time to come up with ideas and presentation to market the many different messages, it
also requires a lot of resources to use this method. But investing all the time, money and
resources into differentiated marketing can be worth it if done correctly, as the different
messages can successfully reach the targeted group of people and successfully motivate the
targeted group of people to follow the messages that are being advertised.
Concentrated marketing or niche marketing
Niche marketing is a term used in business that focuses on selling its products and services
solely on a specific target market. Despite being attractive for small businesses, niche
marketing is highly considered to be a difficult marketing strategy as businesses may need
thorough and in-depth research to reach its specific target market in order to succeed.
According to niche marketing is when a firm/ company focuses on a particular aspect or
group of consumers to deliver their product and marketing to. Niche marketing, is also
primarily known as concentrated marketing, which means that firms are using all their
resources and skills on one particular niche. Niche marketing has become one of the most
successful marketing strategies for many firms as it identifies key resources and gives the
marketer a specific category to focus on and present information to. This allows companies to
have a competitive advantage over other larger firms targeting the same group; as a result, it
generates higher profit margins. Smaller firms usually implement this method, so that they
are able to concentrate on one particular aspect and give full priority to that segment, which
helps them compete with larger firms.
Some specialties of niche marketing help the marketing team determine marketing programs
and provide clear and specific establishments for marketing plans and goal setting.
Micromarketing
We can divide the micromarketing into two specific parts which are local marketing &
individual marketing. Local marketing based on local market, zone, cities, territories,
neighborhoods, specific store etc. Individual marketing depends one person.
Selected the Target Group:
This is the most important part of this study. According to Differentiated
marketing strategy, I want to select the target group on the basis of a data table
which is published by a tourism organization of Bangladesh. The organization
conducted a survey on 106 tourists at Cox`s Bazar Beach. According to the
table, the highest number of men by gender segment is 67.9 percent, 48.2
percent by people involved in business and 21 to 30 years old visitor`s
percentage is 52.8. This is following:

Based on the information from the table, the characteristics of the tourists that I will target for
Cox`s Bazar Beach are mentioned:
 Middle/Upper income folks who are willing to pay a bit more for a better enjoyment
in natural beauty
 The tourist of foreign countries
 The tourist of age between 21-35years
 Income group of below $2000, etc.
POSITIONING:
Positioning refers to the place that a brand occupies in the minds of the tourists and
how it is distinguished from the services of the competitors and different from the concept of
brand awareness. In order to position services or brands, destinations may emphasize the
distinguishing features of their brand (what it is, what it does and how, etc.) or they may try
to create a suitable image (inexpensive or premium, utilitarian or luxurious, entry-level or
high-end, etc.) through the marketing mix. Once a brand has achieved a strong position, it can
become difficult to reposition it.

Positioning is one of the most powerful marketing concepts. Positioning is about "the place a
brand occupies in the mind of its target audience". Positioning is now a regular marketing
activity or strategy. Development of the positioning strategy has several interactive Phases. In
practice, the following some phases are usual:
 Determination of the needs and wishes of the selected market segments
 Analyzing the benefits that enterprise offers compared to the competitors who are
present at the same market segments
 Determination of the most and the least important benefits for the specific market
segment
 Benefits research that are offered from the competitors and how the market segments
responses to their overall supply
 "Package tours" adjustment to maximize the benefits use which are favorable for the
specific market segments
Promotion:
Promotion is one of the most important strategy to develop great positioning. Specific
promotional strategies for emerging tourist destination - Cox` Bazar Beach.
Promotion of Cox`s Bazar Beach`s through:
 Create branding value
 Ensuring positive community attitude
 Events
 Festivals
 Film production ,documentary
 Broadcasting media: television, radio
 Print media: newspaper, magazine, articles, books etc.
 Internet: blogs, websites, facebook, twitter ,instagram etc.
Branding Strategy Of Cox`s Bazar Beach:
Brand elements, sometimes called brand identities ,are those trade mark able devices that
serve to identify and differentiate the brand. The main ones are:
 Brand name: Cox`s Bazar Beach; longest beach of the world
 URLs: http://www.Cox`sBazarBeach.com

 Logos:
 Symbols:
 Characters: Natural view
 Spokesperson: A celebrities person who promote the destination like world famous
cricketers Sakib-Al-Hasan.
 Slogans: Come, see and enjoy the longest sea Beach of the world.
 Jingles: "we are ready to see the longest beach in the world".
 Packages and signage: 7 days and 6 night tour with full package transportation,
accommodation, food & beverage; tour on nearby destination like Saint martin.
Marketing Mix(4Ps) for positioning:
Product: are destinations which include public and private goods. Marketers working for
industry have little control on public goods. Unfriendly residents, visual disturbances at
destinations and untidy streets can’t be managed tourism industry but partnership between
public and private sector can ensure collaboration for providing better quality of services to
tourists on sustainable basis.

Price: a major factor to influence the demand, brand and image of a product, but unable to
pay the full cost of sustainable tourism but tourists seem to unfavorable towards payments for
sustainability. Marketers are also unable to reduce the price because of tough competition.
Consumer awareness will be a support under these circumstances.
Promotion: means to inform persuade and remind the customers about brand and product.
Promotion is fundamental and key to communicate about sustainable tourism.
Place: range or independent organizations supportive to make product and service ready for
consumption adds value in the tourists’ experience. A strong motivation should be promoted
for reduction of carbon foot printing. Transport by low impact vehicles and slow travel can
develop sustainable tourism.
Effective Promotion Ideas for Cox`s Bazar Beach:
Today, when positioning your tourism business is a growing challenge, marketing
organizations are turning their focus
to promotional efforts. An effective
advertising campaign is the most
important aspect in the successful
development of a tourism business.
Careful planning and creative ideas are
the key success factors. . Let’s
check out below how Cox`s Bazar Beach
marketing companies (and tourism
businesses) attract their audience and
the promotional ideas they use.
 Showing online banners:
Considering internet marketing
tools for the tourism industry is
crucial. One of the most effective promotional ideas tourism businesses can employ is

to invest in online advertising. Placing ad banners on certain websites, where users
will be able to see your current promotions and offers, is a great idea to get more
exposure. The websites you advertise on should be the types of sites your target
audience visit.
 Starting a blog or posting articles: Additionally, you can start posting articles. It is
beneficial to fill your site with interesting content in the form of useful articles about
Cox`s Bazar Beach. This positions of this destination as experts in the field and can
also be great for ranking in Google searches. In addition, your articles can also be
posted on other sites that offer similar services.
 Thinking of social media marketing: You can use SMM tools and targeted
advertising for your target audience on social networks, such as Facebook and
Instagram. Reach out to SMM specialists who know how to promote your this
destination. It is the most effective way to advertise your tours.
 Using email newsletters: Using email newsletters and a customer relationship
management (CRM) program is a great strategy for interacting with clients. Offer the
user the option to subscribe to the newsletter in order to regularly receive all
necessary information about current offers.
 Checking the contextual advertising and SEO: Contextual advertising (advertising
on a page that is relevant to your business) and SEO optimization are types of
promotional activities that are aimed at end-users who use search engines such as
Google to be able to select their desired tour. With the help of online marketing tools
and a plagiarism checker, you can attract a large audience and promote your tours.
 Using tourist promo videos: This year, the World Tourism Organization, founded by
the United Nations, selected the most attractive tourist promo videos shot around the
world. It makes sense to use such promotional videos to inspire people. Using positive
testimonials, as well as photos and videos of your clients enjoying themselves on your
tour is the best way to demonstrate the value in what you offer. We can create promo
videos to attract tourists on Cox`s Bazar Beach.
 Applying offline promo: Business cards are crucial, especially for travel and tourism
businesses. They are extremely useful and cost-effective. With help, they can really
improve the reputation of your brand, increasing the likelihood of interest from
travelers and tourists.
CONCLUSION:
At last we can say that Cox’s Bazar sea beach is the most attractive and highly visited
tourist destination in Bangladesh and it has significant economic contribution to the local
economy as well as country. The tourism policy makers and marketers should provide and
ensure up to mark services to some areas of services and facilities to specific segment as per
above recommendation. Therefore, to promote this destination marketers and patrons should
stress on carrying out promotional campaigns of Cox’s Bazar beach in Bangladesh as a world
longest sea beach to target markets. To occupy the significant position in customer mind
these suggestions are hoped to assist both managers and marketers of the Cox’s Bazar beach