BM6016 S2 Individual Report: Tourism Marketing Approaches Analysis

This report provides a critical evaluation of traditional and generic marketing approaches within the tourism industry. It examines methods such as pamphlets, flyers, and digital advertisements, as well as generic strategies like cost leadership, differentiation, cost focus, and differentiation focus. The report then delves into contemporary geographical theoretical approaches to tourism, including institutional, product, and managerial approaches, using examples of marketing initiatives by companies like Thomas Cook India, SOTC, and Cox & Kings. It analyzes the effectiveness of discount offers, visa services, and aggressive marketing techniques. The relevance of these geographical approaches in tourism marketing practice is discussed, emphasizing the importance of institutions, tourism products, and managerial activities for the sector's growth. The report concludes with an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of various marketing strategies and their applicability in the modern tourism landscape.

Travel &
Tourism

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.................................................................................................................................................3
Critical evaluation of traditional and generic marketing approach..........................................................3
Geographical approaches towards tourism.............................................................................................4
Explanation of marketing initiatives........................................................................................................5
Relevance of geographical tourism approaches in tourism marketing practice......................................6
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Tourism marketing refers to a marketing related to tourism activities through which the
visitors are attracted towards a particular city or a country (Yoo and Gretzel, 2016). It helps in
promotion and marketing of tourism. Also this helps in increasing the tourism income of a
country. It increases the inflow of visitors and tourists visiting a country during a particular
period of time. In this report, specific analysis will be done on evaluation of marketing approach
for tourism, theoretical approaches for tourism. Additionally, focus will be made on explanation
of marketing initiatives and discussion of approaches in the tourism marketing practice.
MAIN BODY
Critical evaluation of traditional and generic marketing approach
Traditional marketing-
Traditional marketing is a type of marketing which has been going on for many years and has
been quite successful (Bowen and Whalen, 2017). Its methods include pamphlets, flyers,
billboards, TV advertisements, radio advertisements, print advertisements and newspaper
advertisements etc.
Techniques of traditional marketing-
 Pamphlets- Pamphlets can be used for traditional marketing. In it, papers are distributed
to many people containing details regarding the product or service which the company
wants to sell in the market.
 Flyers- Flyers are another form of traditional marketing (Teo, 2017). In it, papers are
given just like pamphlets in different areas designated to different salespersons.
 Billboards- Billboards are used for advertising on a mass-scale and involve a lot of
expenditure on the part of a company. Therefore, they can be used by firms to market and
promote their products and services.
 TV advertisements- They are an expensive form of advertisement in traditional
marketing approach. They can be used by the companies to reach audience at a mass-
scale and can quickly increase the sales of a product or a service.
 Radio advertisements- Radio advertisements can be used by the firms so that a mass
audience can be reached. Companies can make use of this technique so that they can
target the audience living in far-off villages also.
 Print advertisements- Print advertisements can be found in different magazines and
involve a lot of expenditure on the part of the firms. They can result in higher revenues
for the firm if the right audience is targeted.

 Newspaper advertisements- Newspaper advertisements can be used by the firms to
target a mass audience ho have no access to the T.V. They can be quite expensive for the
firms.
Generic marketing approach-
According to Michael Porter, there are four generic approaches of marketing-
Cost leadership- In this approach, the firms aim to become the market leaders by trying
to reduce their costs and thus attracting more customers (Porter’s Model of Generic
Strategies for Competitive Advantage, 2015). By attracting more customers the firms can
become the market leaders as their profits can be maximized. This is an effective strategy
to increase the profits.
Differentiation- In this approach, the firms aim to differentiate their existing products in
the market from that of the competitors. By doing this, they hope to gain a strategic
advantage over the competitors. This is an effective strategy to get ahead of the
competitors.
Cost focus- In this approach, the firms aim to keep the price of their products at lowest
possible rates. With this, they aim to capture a large market share in the future time
period and then increase the prices for the purpose of maximization of profits. This is an
effective strategy to launch a product in the target market.
Differentiation focus- In this approach, the firms can target a market and create a
product having unique and different features than that of the competitors. With this
strategy, the firms aim to create a strong brand loyalty among the customers. This is an
effective strategy to capture a larger market share.
Geographical approaches towards tourism
There are different approaches which can be taken towards tourism. Some of them are
discussed as follows-
Institutional approach- In this approach, various intermediaries are considered in
tourism. These intermediaries are quite helpful in promotion of activities related with tourism
(Brandt, Bendler and Neumann, 2017). Use of this approach requires a thorough investigation of
the organization, operating methods, problems, costs etc.
Marketing initiative- Thomas Cook India is an organization which specializes in various
aspects of tourism. It specializes in arranging domestic as well as international tours for the
visitors and tourists, arranging visa for them to visit a particular country of their choice and
guiding them through the entire process. It has taken several marketing initiatives. One of these
initiatives is discount offers for those people who are booking tour packages through their
website. This has resulted in increase in the sales of the company and has allowed it to maximize
its level of profits.

Product approach- In this approach, various tourism products are considered. The
products which have the best chance of making of profits for the firm are then launched in the
target market so that maximum number of customers can be reached (Cui and et.al., 2016). If the
tourism product is right and is deemed to be attractive by many tourists then it will result in
higher demand for the product and thus the profits can be maximized quite easily.
Marketing initiative- In this approach a marketing initiative can be developed quite
easily. This approach leads towards achievement of efficiency and effectiveness in a tourism
organization. SOTC is a tourism company which specializes in many tourism products. The
marketing initiative which it has taken is providing visa services to its clients. There are many
clients who only want to avail visa services and this service has benefitted them the most.
Managerial approach- In this approach, focus is made on managerial activities helping
in the management of a tourism organization (Eugenio-Martin and Inchausti-Sintes, 2016). It
focuses on activities like planning, research, pricing, advertising, control and the like. It focuses
on efficiency and effectiveness in the management of a tourism organization so that it can easily
maximize its already existing level of profits in the future to attain a strategic advantage over the
other competitive firms in the market. Thus adoption of this approach is quite useful from the
perspective of a tourism organization if it has to sustain in the market for long-term in the future.
Marketing initiative- In this approach a marketing approach is adopted by tourism
organizations to strengthen their operations (Khoshnevis Yazdi and Khanalizadeh, 2017). Cox &
Kings is a tourism organization which provides various services related to tourism to its clients.
It has decided to adopt aggressive marketing techniques so that it can maximize its revenues by
targeting more clients. It is focusing on bringing of more offers so that it can attract more clients
in the future for availing its tourism services. It aims to get ahead of the level of competition
prevailing in the market by adopting a strategic approach and maximizing its profits.
Explanation of marketing initiatives
The marketing initiatives identified are explained as follows-
Discount offers on online bookings- The offer of Thomas Cook India to provide
discount on booking packages on their website is a good one. It is so because it can result in
increase in package bookings. This can result in more sales. More sales can mean more revenue
for the organization. By earning more revenue the company can aim to maximize its level of
profits and obtain a strategic advantage over its various competitors in the market. This will lead
to efficiency and effectiveness in its operations.
Providing visa services to the clients- The offer of SOTC to provide visa services to its
clients is a good one. This will result in increase in online bookings for availing visa services of
the company. There are several clients who want to make their own arrangements for visiting a
country and thus want to just avail visa services from a travel company so that the visa

formalities can be handled by the company. Thus these services offered by SOTC will help it in
serving many clients in the future.
By serving more clients in the future, the company can earn more revenues in the form of
fees which is collected by it. Thus through more revenues the company can easily maximize its
level of profits. This will provide it with a distinct strategic advantage for the future and thus will
lead to efficiency and effectiveness in the future. If the services provided by the organization for
visa are excellent then it can lead to more clients availing its services because of the positive
reviews and publicity of the services given by the firm. Thus it is quite good for a firm to launch
these services as there are good chances for it in the market.
Use of aggressive marketing techniques- Using aggressive marketing techniques can
result in a firm getting much ahead of its various competitors in the market (Mahrous and
Hassan, 2017). Cox & Kings has decided to adopt aggressive marketing techniques for its
different products related with tourism. It has decided to use digital techniques for marketing,
aggressive promotion methods and has decided to reduce its prices so that it can attract
maximum number of clients for booking its packages.
By the use of such aggressive techniques, the firm hopes that it can acquire a strategic
advantage for the future. This will lead it to it getting ahead of its competitors in the market and
also its revenues will increase. When the revenues increase, it leads to increase in profits. With
an increase in profits the overall market share can be increased easily which will lead to more
business for the firm. Therefore this marketing initiative can be quite good in the future. Thus, it
must be used by the company so that it can bring more efficiency and effectiveness in its
operations as well as provide more services to the clients. Also, the marketing competencies will
increase which will be beneficial both in the short-run and long-run.
Relevance of geographical tourism approaches in tourism marketing practice
The relevance of geographical tourism approaches has been discussed as follows-
Institutional approach- The relevance of institutional approach is present in tourism
marketing practice (Sirgy and Uysal 2016). This is so because there is importance of presence of
institutions in tourism marketing sector. Institutions like travel agency, travel companies and tour
operators are required in order to promote the tourism and to facilitate convenience for different
tourists and visitors who want to visit a particular place in the future. They have a major role to
play in serving the visitors coming to visit a country. Thus their importance is present in the
hospitality sector of the country. This type of approach is quite helpful for the future.
Therefore, it is needed that the opening up of more institutions providing services related
to tourism must be encouraged. Rebates and concessions in taxes can be provided to them so that
they can work effectively. They can facilitate higher economic growth of a country and make a
significant contribution to its GDP. Thus, a country’s tourism sector is very much dependant on
tourism service providers and therefore their presence is a must if this sector has to witness a

boom in the market of particular country and if the government has to increase its revenues
through tourism.
Product approach- The relevance of product approach is there in tourism marketing
practice. It is so because a wide variety of tourism-related products are helpful for catching the
attention of the tourists. If offers are provided on them then they can surely result in greater
inflow of visitors in a particular country. Attractive offers can bring more clients leading to a
growth in the business of the tourism organization.
Thus the promotion of tourism-related products must be encouraged in a country if it has
to witness a boom in its tourism. This will lead it to increase its overall level of income and thus
its GDP rate will also grow substantially. Thus, it can be said that this approach is quite relevant
from the point of view of tourism marketing practice. It can benefit a country both in the short-
run as well as the long-run because of the varied benefits offered by it.
Managerial approach- This approach is relevant in tourism marketing practice. It is so
because this approach leads to better management within a tourism organization. Using this
approach, the organizations which provide the services related with tourism can grow
substantially in the market. Therefore, this approach can be quite useful for firms in raising their
efficiency and effectiveness.
When tourism organizations use this approach and when their efficiency and
effectiveness is increased it automatically leads to higher profits (Ukpabi and Karjaluoto, 2017).
Thus effective tourism marketing can be easily facilitated by using it. The managers of a tourism
organization can use different form of techniques so that they can increase the growth rate of the
tourism in the country. With the display of effective management, maximization of profits of a
tourism organization is possible. If a tourism organizations witness rapid growth in their business
then the country’s hospitality business will also witness a boom. Thus, it will be very beneficial
for all the sectors of the economy.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that travel and tourism forms an extremely
important part of GDP of any country. Tourism marketing helps in boosting the business related
with tourist activities. There are different approaches related to marketing. There are also
geographical theoretical approaches related with tourism. Marketing initiatives can be used for
facilitating growth in this sector. The approaches of tourism can be applied in tourism marketing
practice to be beneficial for a country in the long-run. This can result in higher revenues for it
and the overall GDP growth rate will increase over a long period of time.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Bowen, J. and Whalen, E., 2017. Trends that are changing travel and tourism. Worldwide
Hospitality and Tourism Themes.
Brandt, T., Bendler, J. and Neumann, D., 2017. Social media analytics and value creation in
urban smart tourism ecosystems. Information & Management. 54(6). pp.703-713.
Cui, F. and et.al., 2016. An overview of tourism risk perception. Natural Hazards. 82(1). pp.643-
658.
Eugenio-Martin, J. L. and Inchausti-Sintes, F., 2016. Low-cost travel and tourism
expenditures. Annals of Tourism Research. 57. pp.140-159.
Khoshnevis Yazdi, S. and Khanalizadeh, B., 2017. Tourism demand: A panel data
approach. Current Issues in Tourism. 20(8). pp.787-800.
Mahrous, A. A. and Hassan, S. S., 2017. Achieving superior customer experience: An
investigation of multichannel choices in the travel and tourism industry of an emerging
market. Journal of Travel Research. 56(8). pp.1049-1064.
Sirgy, M. J. and Uysal, M., 2016. Developing a eudaimonia research agenda in travel and
tourism. In Handbook of eudaimonic well-being (pp. 485-495). Springer, Cham.
Teo, H. M., 2017. Wandering in the wake of empire: British travel and tourism in the post-
imperial world. In British culture and the end of empire. Manchester University Press.
Ukpabi, D. C. and Karjaluoto, H., 2017. Consumers’ acceptance of information and
communications technology in tourism: A review. Telematics and Informatics. 34(5). pp.618-
644.
Online

Porter’s Model of Generic Strategies for Competitive Advantage. 2015. [Online]. Available
through: <https://www.tutor2u.net/business/reference/porters-generic-strategies-for-competitive-
advantage>