Marketing Essentials for Travel and Tourism: TUI vs Thomas Cook

This report provides a detailed analysis of marketing essentials within the travel and tourism industry, focusing on TUI and Thomas Cook. It begins with an introduction to marketing, its core roles, and its interrelationship with other functional areas like HR and finance. The report then compares TUI and Thomas Cook using the 7Ps of marketing (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical Evidence), highlighting their differing strategies. Furthermore, a marketing plan is developed specifically for TUI, outlining strategies to achieve its marketing objectives. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and insights, offering a comprehensive overview of the marketing landscape within the travel and tourism sector.

MARKETING ESSENTIALS
FOR TRAVEL AND
TOURISM

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
L O 1 Roles of Marketing and inter-relation with other functional area ........................................1
P1 Roles & Responsibilities of Marketing Function...................................................................1
P2 Relation of Marketing with other functional areas ...............................................................2
L O 2 Comparison between TUI and Thomas Cook ......................................................................4
P 3 Comparison on 7P's of TUI and Thomas Cook....................................................................4
P 4 Marketing Plan for TUI .......................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Marketing refers to process. A process that includes researching about the product, promotion,
distribution and selling the company's product or services. Marketing is a activity of an
organisation to promote and distribute the product. It involves advertising and selling the product
to a customer or business. Marketing involves actions an organization takes to attract the
customer's and maintain good relations with them. TUI UK (Thomson Holidays) is a travel
operator that is based in UK. The company is owned by Thomson Corporations of Canada. The
company is headquartered in England. The organization was founded 54 years ago. The report
includes the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing functions and their interlink with the
other functional areas. Comparison between TUI and Thomas Cook with respect to 7 P's of
marketing. Further a business plan is developed for TUI to achieve it's marketing
objective(Pike,2015).
L O 1 Roles of Marketing and inter-relation with other functional area
P1 Roles & Responsibilities of Marketing Function
Some roles of marketing functions are discussed below that are required by TUI to implement in
their operations. These are as follows:
Gathering Information from Market: The primary task of marketing team is to gather and
evaluate the market information. Through this the consumer needs and wants are understood.
Question like What are the consumers preferences, what quantity, what price etc. These all
should be analysed properly because on the basis of this the further plan is based. TUI's
marketing team has the role to collect the information in such a manner that they can capture a
big share in the market.
Marketing Planning: For successfully achieving the objectives of the business the marketer
draws a marketing plan. Like the company currently has 25% market share and now wants to
increase it to 40%. So to achieve this goal the marketer is required to prepare a plan to get this
goal. This requires who will do what, when to do and how to do. TUI has to make a plan very
carefully(Pike, 2016).
Designing & Developing the Product: Design of the product is an important feature that will
help in selling the product. An organisation's product that is attractive and better in comparison
to other's whose product are unattractive will always be benefited as it will have high sales. This
will give an competitive advantage to the company's.
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Grading: It refers to deciding the standards concerned with the size, weight, colour, quality,
design etc. of the specific product. Products have some features that is placed in category, and
this is known as grading. Customers want best quality item that is mostly come under category
'A' . This way no one has any doubt regarding the quality of the product. The company(TUI) is
well known for the quality services so they have to maintain those standards.
Packaging & Labelling: This part considers the packaging of the product that avoids them to
suffer any damage, breakage, destruction etc. during transit. It facilitates lifting and handling the
goods. Label is a tag or slip that will be found on every product and every small detail is
mentioned about the product on that slip. Like a packet of chips has the brand name, the quantity,
calories, its main office name everything(Pike and Ives 2018).
Branding: Every company wants that their products have a unique place in the market. Every
organization wants to be different from other the company so they have to give a name to their
products and that too unique. This is called as branding. TUI already has a brand name, so the
company work in accordance with the same and to maintain the name of the company.
Customer Service: Consumers are the king of the market. It is the basic function for which an
organization work for that is the customers. Companies offer different services like after sale
services, handling the complaints of the customers, technical services and other credit facilities.
TUI's customer services are very impressive that's why people choose them over and over again
and is one of the leading companies.
P2 Relation of Marketing with other functional areas
Marketing functions plays an important role in organisations functional areas. The marketing
department is related to the finance, human resource, production, research and development
department. These relations helps company in determining the new trends, demand and new
changes that may happen in the external environment.
 Marketing department with human resource management: Human resource manager
of TUI company plays an important role in recruitment, training and development of
employees. It is the responsibility of HR manager to hire right person with right skills and
knowledge at right place according to the requirement of the company(Kotoua and Ilkan
2017). HR department will evaluate the employee by checking whether they have proper
communication skills, management skills, leadership skills, interpersonal skills, verbal
communication and commercially aware and technological skills which are required for
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playing the role of marketer. If a person possess those skills then the selected candidate is
able to promote, manage and lead the the whole department. If a candidate does nor
posses these skills than HR train the candidate with required skills that is needed in tour
and travel industry.
 Finance department with marketing department: Finance department is the essential
element who guides the company. TUI finance department keep records of all the
financial activities and check the performance of the company. They make financial
budget and distribute funds to various department in order to perform their task.
Marketing department need to work within the given limit. These department are related
with each other. After getting funds markers of TUI allocate funds to subtasks i.e.
promoting, advertising, dealing with queries of customers , managing budgets and
provide visas and passport. The marketing department makes holidays packages,
insurance, cruise packages etc. which is affordable by the customers(Stanford 2017).
 Marketing department with designing and development department: The role of
designing and development department is to design various packages like holiday,
commercial trip, family trip, couple trip etc. They design and develop different packages
for all the age group. The role of marketing department is to analyse the market and and
target people so that the designed packages is targeted to the group and at an affordable
price. Marketing department of TUI ask designing department to alter the packages so
that it is affordable to customers. They may also be asked to add or subtract some items
from the packages. These needs and preference are identified by the marker so that it is
conveyed to other department.
 Research and development department linked with marketing department: The role
of R&D department is to do market research about the customers needs, wants,
preference, purchasing power, competitors analysis and identify new technologies, trends
which will be beneficial for TUI company in expanding its market share. It is the
responsibility of marketing department to implement new strategies to provide innovative
services to the customers, the duty of marketer is to satisfy the needs of customers.
Marketing department plans to achieve goal by providing tour packages at affordable
price to customers(Mahadevan, 2018).
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L O 2 Comparison between TUI and Thomas Cook
P 3 Comparison on 7P's of TUI and Thomas Cook
BASES TUI THOMAS COOK
PRODUCT The company has its products
under 5 categories, having
separate product line. But all
the products are served under
the brand name. The company
sells the products , famous for
the traditional design and is
practical to use for the
customers. TUI uses old
method to sell the company's
product. The company has
nothing to offer such thing to
customer's.
The company sells the product
according to the modern
design like package holidays
for corporate business house,
leisure travellers, credit card
etc. They provide their
customers with special
insurance services for medical
expenses, loss of passport,
personal accident. The
company is offering special
packages for customer's, who
desire to have something
amazing and out of the box.
PRICE The company is currently
following competitive based
pricing strategy. TUI sells their
products at comparatively
higher rates than competitors ,
as they offer special features
and high price charged will
makes up for them. Online
prices of the products are high
as it include the delivery
costs(Vorobjovas‐Pinta, and
Hardy, 2016).
The company is following
premium pricing strategy.
Firm sell their products
comparatively at a lower rate
so that can be afforded by
middle class as well as upper
class both. And they charge
extra prices for the additional
accessories if the customer's
ask for it. Discounts are given
during off seasons to achieve
the target.
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PLACE TUI sells their products via
two channels. One by directly
selling to its customers
through online website and
second through wholesalers
who then sell it to retailers and
finally to customers. There is
high demand through online
sales and so in order to run the
online operations the company
has collaborated with many
delivery service providers to
timely deliver the services.
The products are available
through physical and online
stores. There is not too many
traffic on the online website of
Thomas Cook. And so they are
the only once who handle all
the operations of the
organizations. This puts lots of
burden on them.
PROMOTION TUI make use of different
media channels to advertise
the product. They use modern
media for promoting the
product that is social media
advertising, that is cost
effective and beneficial for the
organization due to increasing
use of internet. The social
media platform uses by the
company is YouTube, Twitter,
Facebook, TUI has thousand
of customer following these
pages. They undergo sales
promotion techniques like
participating in trade
exhibitions and other events.
The promotional strategy used
by Thomas Cook is the
traditional method such as
personal selling as the
company has a large work
force present in the stores. The
company uses advertisement
but in newspapers, magazines
etc. to present their products to
the customers. By this way of
promotion the company is
lacking behind from it's
competitors. They need to
work on these strategies to
trigger the sales of the firm.
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PEOPLE TUI has the sales team who
play a important role in the
marketing the company's
product. These people are
trained with special persuasive
techniques, people working in
the customer service
department contact to the
customers if they have any
issue related to the product
they help them in resolving the
issues. These people are
trained to be polite to
customers.
Thomas Cook has their tour
guides to attend the tourists.
But the sales team in not too
supportive to the company.
The people are trained but
they are not too skilled to
work on customer support
services. But they lack
professionalism to handle
customer's. Their behaviour
towards the customers are not
good.
PROCESS The company has ensured that
the product is available at all
the retail stores, the online
delivery of the products is
available for the customer's.
The company has got good
market research team but the
customer service team lack
some skills.
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE The product have distinct
colour packaging that makes
the product
identifiable(Dimanche, and
Andrades, 2015).
The products are normally
designed and simply packed
making to normal like other
products.
P 4 Marketing Plan for TUI
Executive Summary : Marketing plan is the blue print of all the activities or strategies used by
the organization to develop the product and then market them. The plan is made to get an
overview about all the activities that will be required to market the product. TUI is planning to
open a brand in USA to meet the objectives.
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Mission: The mission of the company it to deliver the excellent services in all the operations of
TUI and to attain highest customer satisfaction.
Vision: The company wants to create a world class organization and is made-up on the
commitment to present excellent partnership with the customer's.
Objectives :To increase the sales of TUI by 20% till the end of year 2020. To enhance consumer
experience by 10% till the end of year 2019. To increase profitability of company by 30% till the
end of year 2021.
Situational analysis- SWOT
STRENGTH: TUI has many outlets covering every state, that is backed up by a strong network
of distribution that ensures that the products are easily accessible to a large population. The
company has low cost structure making it affordable for the customers, The financial position of
the company is very strong. Strong relationship with the dealers that helps in promoting the
goods of the company.
WEAKNESSES: The company is investing comparatively less in the research and development
of the department. The current ratio shows that the company's power to meet the short term
liabilities is less compared to the industry average.
OPPORTUNITIES: Internet users are increasing day to day. This presents an opportunity for
the company to expand their business by interacting to customer's online. Technology change has
brought too many benefits and has helped in reducing the cost of operations.
THREAT: Technological advancement by the competitors is making an problem for TUI.
Increasing competition and fluctuating exchange rate is becoming a threat for the company.
Strategy- Marketing mix (7p's)
PRODUCT: The company is developing a brand in USA so the company has to analyse the
preferences of the people of USA.
PRICE: As the company is developing a brand, the company should charge nominal as to capture
the market.
PLACE: The product should be easily available to the customers of USA.
PROMOTION: The TUI should invest in promoting the product in the new market through
online sources.
PEOPLE: The organization should focus on the satisfaction level of employees to increase the
retention rate.
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PROCESS: TUI should implement effective distribution channel.
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE: The company should introduce attractive deals to promote their sales.
STP (segmentation, targeting, positioning)
SEGMENTATION: Demographic segmentation is the easiest strategy to promote their business.
TARGETING: Should target the right customers of USA who are interested in travelling(Das,
and Mukherjee, 2016).
POSITIONING: The company uses competitive cost strategy to position particular target
Budget :
BASIS EXPENSES
Advertisement expenses 1000 Pounds
Rent 1500 Pounds
Salaries 3500 Pounds
Administration Cost 2000 Pounds
TOTAL COST 8000 Pounds
Monitoring and controlling-
The company will analyse, monitor and control the performance of the employees which using
cost analysis and sale analysis strategies. Which will provide a proper report about the sales and
cost incur by the company.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it can be concluded that marketing is an essential element for expanding
and developing business. The study has identified that there are various roles and responsibilities
which marketing department need to follow i.e. gathering market information which is beneficial
for travel and tourism industries to identify the new trends and competitors, doing marketing
planning, creating a brand image and providing customer service. From the report it can also be
concluded that marketing department is related to various functional areas which help them in
targeting right audience and perform their activities within the given budget by finance
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department. It is beneficial for company to follow budget because it increases productivity and
management skills. 7P's of marketing is useful for companies to make pricing strategies,
segmenting, targeting and positioning the products. It also provides company a broad
understanding of making promotion strategies to gain competitive advantage.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Pike, S., 2015. Destination marketing: essentials. Routledge.
Pike, S. D., 2016. Destination Marketing Organizations–Research opportunities in an era of
uncertainty. In Book of Abstracts-6th International Conference on Tourism. International
Association for Tourism Policy (IATOUR).
Pike, S. and Ives, C., 2018. The restructuring of New Zealand's Regional Tourism
Organisations. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management. 9. pp.371-373.
Kotoua, S. and Ilkan, M., 2017. Tourism destination marketing and information technology in
Ghana. Journal of destination marketing & management. 6(2). pp.127-135.
Stanford, D., 2017. Destination Marketing Essentials, S. Pike, Routledge, Abingdon (2016). 344
pp.,(Pbk.),£ 36.99, ISBN: 9781138912908.
Mahadevan, R., 2018. Examination of motivations and attitudes of peer-to-peer users in the
accommodation sharing economy. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 27(6).
pp.679-692.
Mahadevan, R., 2018. Examination of motivations and attitudes of peer-to-peer users in the
accommodation sharing economy. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 27(6).
pp.679-692.
Vorobjovas‐Pinta, O. and Hardy, A., 2016. The evolution of gay travel research. International
Journal of Tourism Research. 18(4). pp.409-416.
Dimanche, F. and Andrades, L. eds., 2015. Tourism in Russia: a management handbook.
Emerald Group Publishing.
Das, G. and Mukherjee, S., 2016. A measure of medical tourism destination brand equity.
International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing. 10(1). pp.104-128.
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