Marketing Essentials: Virgin Atlantic Travel and Tourism Report

This report delves into the marketing essentials for the travel and tourism sector, using Virgin Atlantic as a case study. It begins by outlining the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function, including gathering market information, product planning, branding, and customer support services. ...Read More

Marketing Essentials for
Travel and Tourism

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1: Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within a selected travel
and tourism organisation..............................................................................................................3
P2: Discuss how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational
context..........................................................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3: Compare the ways in which different travel and tourism organisations apply the marketing
mix to the marketing planning process to achieve business objectives.......................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P4: Produce a basic marketing plan for a travel and tourism organisation to meet marketing
objectives organisation................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is the vital process through which the company identify customer's
requirement and move from the concept of products or services till the final delivery to customer.
It generate the interest amongst potential customers regarding the offerings of company through
research, promotion as well as distribution of the company's offering. This involve marketing
programme that help to retain the large base of loyal and satisfied customers by successfully
implementing marketing plan and make the significant effort in order to enhance the sales of
company (Yanenko, 2018).
Within hospitality industry, marketing helps to build up the effective strategy in order to
smoothly deliver the services which allure existing as well as new customer and maintain long
term loyalty. For better understanding of report Virgin Atlantic company has been selected
which is the British airlines whose headquarter is in England. It basically cover the thirty
destination and has three cabins known as Economy, premium economy and business class that
together cater the demand of large audience (Paniandi, and et. al., 2018). This report cover topics
like explain the marketing and its interrelation with the different functional unit. Compare
different ways by which different travel organisation achieve its objective. Further, develop the
basic marketing plan for the tourism activity are covered in this report. Report is about the
marketing plan which is being used by Virgin Atlantic company so that their profitability and
consumer experience increases.
TASK 1
P1: Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within a selected travel
and tourism organisation
Marketing function is the larger aspect of the business that involve diverse activities for
the successful functioning. It help to create the innovative image of offerings in the mind of
customers. This effectively source the offering of company within confined market place and
effectively promote it by carry out deep research and making effective plan for suitable business
functioning (Jeon, Ok and Choi, 2018). There are basically different roles as well as
responsibilities of market function some of them are described below:
Gather market information: Within this function the marketing manager of Virgin
Atlantic company gather all vital details of the target customers from external market. Such as

the current preferences of the customers as well as competitors strategy. This method can
preferably help the airline to articulate the strategy and bring modifications significantly. Further,
the vital data collected by the company is further converted into the information that is widely
used by the internal staff to plan out innovative strategy (Yanenko, 2018). Thus, it is the role
and responsibility of the marketing function to determine the preferable ways by which various
guests prefer the services of Virgin Atlantic company over other rivalries. Hence, all the
essential factors need to meet the existing trend effectively.
Product planning: This function is used by the marketing function for both new and
existing product. Like, for new product firm can plan out the ways by which it can suitably
appeal the interest of customers and satisfy their need. Similarly, in case of existing product the
firm need to regularly enhance the quality of its product which help them to overcome the
situation like decrease in market share or the value of product (Sharma and Kaurav, 2018). In
context to the Virgin Atlantic company it need to effectively upgrade the quality of its product
due to increase demand and the competitive level. So here the responsibility of marketing
function is to match the dynamic requirement of the customer because there are various
competitive airways company that can take each other place and affect the performance of firm.
Branding of the product: Branding is simply creating the name or symbol of the
product that act its identify and help them to differentiate it from the competitors. This helps
customer to make the suitable choice and build long term loyalty towards the product (Jeon, Ok
and Choi, 2018). Herein, Virgin Atlantic company makes the brand promise to deliver the
supreme quality of services but at desirable prices. For this the role of company is to exclusively
offer the potential services by promoting it through the digital channel such as social media,
email marketing, SEM, SEO, affiliate marketing and so on.
Customer support services: The role and responsible of this marketing function is to
effectively handle the queries of customer which include both pre as well as post sales services.
This source helps the customer to remain connected with the company and gain trust over the
effective services. Similarly, Virgin Airways via helpline number and email handle the issues
faced by customer or their complaints with the objective to mitigate the chances of dissonance
(Sharma and Kaurav, 2018). Thus, it is an effective tool that can persuade the final customer to
remain the part of the particular airlines and avail the services from the particular company
effectively.

P2: Discuss how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational context
Marketing is the vital management process that satisfy the customer and exhibit long
term relationship with them by systematically performing different activities. The wide
responsibilities of the marketing comprises of carrying out research, launch product and promote
it to potentially reach out target market (Yilmaz, 2018). Such marketing function is interrelated
with the other areas in order to maintain the consistent work for smooth business functioning.
Explanation of different interrelation in context to the Virgin Atlantic company are described
below:
Marketing with finance department: Financial department of the Virgin airways is
responsible to handle and oversee al the financial transaction of the company. Its purpose is to
prepare the budget and manage the cash inflow as well as outflow of an organisation in order to
maintain the adequate profitability as well as liquidity of the firm (Yilmaz, 2018). In context to
the marketing function carry out the roles and responsibility for which it depend upon financial
department to invest in different activities such as promotion or market research on the basis of
allocated budget. Thus, it helps the Virgin Atlantic company to control the unnecessary and get
best possible result by inverting the fund suitably.
Marketing with research and development department: As business function in the
dynamic environment that keep on changing which lead to switch in the preferences and attitude
of customer. So research and development department are responsible to analyse the external
factors such as customer behaviours, inclusion of new brand, changing trend and so on. All these
data are possible collected either through the primary or secondary method (Shinohara, 2018).
After this the data is interpret and covered into the vital information for the successive business
planning (Shinohara, 2018). Thus, the role of marketing department is to grab the vital details
from the research department and understand the significance to bring new product or alterations
in the existing product. For instance, initially most of the people use other mode of transportation
in comparison to the air ways. So the sitting arrangement of Virgin Atlantic company were quite
simply but now the company understand the role to maintain the quality for which it bring
possible change. Thus, both the departments are interdependent on each other because they
together fulfil the purpose or objective of firm.
Marketing with human resource management: HRM are responsible to effectively
manage the department of an organisation for which it comprises of activities like carrying out

recruitment cycle, conduction performance appraisal as well as training and development
activities. This motivate the staff to grow and attain the set standard with the objective to gain
higher positions within specific organisation. In order to gain the competitive position Virgin
Atlantic company enrich the existing skill and knowledge of their huge pool of employees so that
they gain diverse knowledge of their subject. Further, this role is interconnected with the
marketing department as they are responsible to increase the footfall and persuade the interest of
customers (Paniandi and et. al., 2018). So for this they need the competitive team which is
prepared by the HR department. Also performance evaluation and appraisal method is
conducted by the HR manger which keep them motivate to prepare the innovative marketing
strategy and attain the set goals as well as objective of an organisation.
Therefore, this depicts that although marketing department perform the wider roles and
responsibility but to make it possible this function too depend upon the other functions. This, all
the department are interconnected so the manager need to craft effective strategy and maintain
coordination amongst different functional areas (Paniandi and et. al., 2018).
TASK 2
P3: Compare the ways in which different travel and tourism organisations apply the marketing
mix to the marketing planning process to achieve business objectives
Marketing mix is the prominent tool that help the company to prepare essential plan for
the marketing and execute them effectively. This is the tactical and controllable tool which is
used by the company to gain the desired result from the potential customers. So by setting the
different aspects of marketing mix that is 7P's finally influences the demand of customer for the
final product.
Basis of difference Virgin Atlantic company British Airways
Product Virgin Atlantic falls under the
premium category within aviation
sector that cover national as well
as international desalinations. It
has more than 30 air-planes that
have different classes and focus to
deliver the supreme quality to the
British airways are too efficient
enough in terms of delivering the
high quality service to the
customer who are either the part
of economic class or business
class. The company uses the
latests tool and technology in

customer in terms of comforting
sitting arrangements, lounge
access, luxury access, priority
check in as well as socialised food
menu for adults and kids
(Marketing Mix of Virgin Atlantic,
2019).
order to enhance its efficiency
and offer the services like
entertainment screens especially
used by the kids, extra spaces to
relax, availability of meals and
beds. This helps to build valuable
experience of customer (SINGH,
2018).
Price Being one of the most renowned
high end airlines it immense
focuses on its services and charges
the price according to the
acceptance of people. Like, the
company charges premium prices
from prestigious customer that is
business class who are willing to
easily pay the particular amount
((Birdir, Dalgic and Birdir, 2018).
Along with that it follows
'competitive pricing strategy' due
to which it set slightly lower for
economy class as compare to other
rivalries.
Unlike Virgin Atlantic, British
Airways adopt the differentiated
pricing strategy where it charges
affordable prices for different
classes on the basis is of distance.
Also the company give huge
discounts during the special
occasions such as Christmas
(Marketing mix of British
Airways. 2019).
Place As compare to the British airways
it has very low number of flights
that is 30 and cover between 25 –
29 destinations. The company
offer the online platform, to the
customer where they can explore
the user friendly website, compare
The company has around 270
aircraft that is used to cover
approximately 400 destination.
The company has made its
services available through the
website or the application of
phone to carry out smooth

it with others and get the booking
done for particular dates.
business operations.
Promotion In comparison to the high end
carrier the market share of low
cost carrier is widely rising
because even they deliver quality
services but at the reasonable
prices (Llopis-Amorós and et. al.,
2018). So the company uses social
media campaigns to connect the
customer and expand the sales of
company (SINGH, 2018). Such
company has possibly helped the
company to create hike and appeal
the interest of customer from
different sources.
This airlines uses different
promotional tools such as
traditional advertisement channel,
print media, billboard as well
digital media to prepare the
sophisticated messages and
effectively deliver to the target
market.
Physical Evidence The offices as well as aircraft of
the Virgin Atlantic are suitable
designed that include the spacious
luggages carrier, call centre,
customer relationship centres,
support departments and so on.
The intangible physical evidences
of the company includes the
soothing ambiance, proper selling
arrangements, suitable interior of
the flight (Abou-Shouk and et.
al., 2018).
Process All the offerings of the Virgin
Atlantic are highly trained as well
as tested in order to derive
maximum satisfaction of the
customer. The company offer
official website or availability of
local travel agent that get the
booking of tickets done. Within
For the convenience of customer
respective company adopts
various innovation such is E-
ticking facility which is currently
available for the Britain as well
as Germany customers that has
decreased the waiting time of
guests. It even offer different

the airport the check in policy
takes place on the basis of
depending upon the different class
types (Tadic, Ratkic and Suput,
2019). Also the guest are allow to
access the lounges on the basis of
partnership with the company.
type of holiday packages in order
to make their memorable trip and
retain the long term relationship
with the existing customers
(Birdir, Dalgic and Birdir, 2018).
People There are different units within the
company such as sales, flight
operations, finance, engineering
executive, marketing and so on.
The company has employee over
9000 employees for different units
that collectively work to give
comfort to the audience. All the
members of the organisation like
cabin crew are highly train by the
manager in order to maintain the
position of company.
Respected airways has the team
of potential 40,000 employees
that have in depth knowledge on
the areas like customer support or
sales and marketing. Especially
the cabin crew is recruit by the
company from the top institution
that offer hospitality education.
This leads to potential deliver of
the services by the company to
the customers (Gupta, 2019).
TASK 3
P4: Produce a basic marketing plan for a travel and tourism organisation to meet marketing
objectives organisation
Marketing plan is the well designed documented activity that consist of the
comprehensive elements used to perform different functioning effectively. So if the organisation
plans to bring the new feature or additional services for this comprehensive marketing plan is
prepared (Llopis-Amorós and et. al., 2018). The purpose of whole plan for the Virgin Atlantic
company is to effectively attain the overall target by planning out the whole process effectively
in order to attain the objective.
Overview of Virgin Atlantic company

Virgin Atlantic company was founded in 1984 which is the well known British airline
whole headquarter is in United Kingdom. The company has the fleet size of around 46and make
special precaution to expand its market effectively. Latest technology are widely used by the
company in order to compete with the other airlines. Thus, the company has planed to used the
Robotics technology that can help the passenger to resolve the issue like navigate on the layout
of airport.
Objective: As inclusion of robotics can create the buzz amongst the passengers. So the
objective of company is to enhance the customer base by 12% within eight months.
Vision and mission: The vision of Virgin Atlantic company is to gain the global
dominance within high cost carrier services. To accomplish the vision, mission of company is to
keep on adopting the innovation strategy and use advance technology in order to deliver
desirable services and retain the interest of customers.
SWOT Analysis
Strength
Virgin Atlantic company has strong brand
value due to the innovative strategy and quality
services it offer to the customer. This has
basically lead to the high recall value of
company (Abou-Shouk and et. al., 2018).
Opportunity
the company form the strategic alliance and
joint venture with different companies like
Delta help to enhance the coverage area of
company. Although the company does not
have global presence but partnership can help
to explore new region effectively.
Weakness
As Virgin airlines has the unique brand image
and is advertised by the Richard Branson
which is highly preferred by the people. But in
long term it the situations like conflict or
dispute arise between Richard and company
then it can directly affect the performance of
company.
Threat
intense competition with British airways affect
the profitability of firm. Also due to Brexit the
whole airways industry get affected.
Marketing mix: Preparation of marketing mix for the inclusion of new technology that is
Robotics within Virgin Atlantic company are presented below (Tadic, Ratkic and Suput, 2019):

Product As Virgin airways have planned to introduce the robotics technology the
is the valuable feature and can help to carry out different activities like
helping passenger in directing the way or carrying bulky luggages during
the time of boarding.
Price Although the company adopts competitive strategy but after the inclusion
of Robotics it can sightly rise the prices in comparison to the other
rivalries.
Place Virgin Atlantic company determine to introduce this robotics technology
within the UK which is its home market.
Promotion The company uses its website, social media as well as SEO to highly
promote its innovative offering and persuade the audience to take the
action (Gupta, 2019).
Physical evidence All the technical items such as computer system and scanner are the
physical evidence that help to develop the long term experience of
customer.
Process The online website and quick handling of the customer query can help to
deliver desirable services.
People Trained staff and effective performance of the technology is used to build
effective experience.
Marketing budget

Marketing budget defines all the expenditure of company which it need to incur to gain
the possible position. This help to avoid the unnecessary cost of the company and help to
effective meet the standard.
Monitoring and controlling
By performing different activities on the basis of budget can help the staff of Virgin
Atlantic company to mitigate the gap as well as risk associated due to the wide gap between the
planned as well as attained performance. This assist the firm to adopt suitable strategy fro
adequate business performance.
CONCLUSION
Marketing essential is the core part of the organisation that create value addition in terms
of delivering the prominent value to the target market. It has the wider aspect due to which it
carry out diverse roles and responsibilities such as market research, articulating market plan,
branding, pricing as well as distribution amongst the final user. Although marketing department
enrich the overall performance but it participate or depend upon the other functions of
management like HRM and sales for the betterment of an organisation. Moreover, marketing mix
consist of 7P's which is mostly prepared for the new product to enhance the brand and serve the

customers significantly. Further, preparation of marketing plan include different activities that
helps the firm to successfully attain the set target and gain competitive edge.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
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Online
Marketing mix of British Airways. 2019. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-of-british-airways/>
Marketing Mix of Virgin Atlantic. 2019. [Online]. Available
through:https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-virgin-atlantic/