BA International Tourism Business Management - Marketing Discussion

This assignment provides a marketing analysis of YHA Brighton Hostel, focusing on the four elements of the marketing mix: product, pricing, promotion, and people. The product section highlights the hostel's location, facilities, and room offerings, emphasizing its appeal to backpackers and travelers. The pricing strategy emphasizes affordability through discounts and promotions based on demand and duration of stay. Promotion strategies focus on online platforms and social media, particularly Instagram and Facebook, to target the 18-35 age group. The people section emphasizes the importance of well-trained and motivated staff with excellent communication skills. The analysis references relevant literature and online sources to support the marketing strategies employed by YHA Brighton Hostel, and is presented as a discussion board post in response to the assignment brief.

Travel and Tourism
Marketing

Post 1 (Product):
YHA Brighton hostel is located near famous Brighton Pier and is only a few minutes of
walk away from the beach. The hostel is located in the heart of the city of Brighton in the south-
coast side which is very vibrant. The hostel provides a lot of accommodation capacity with 180
beds in 51 rooms with rooms ranging from single occupancy to eight people occupancy as well
(YHA Brighton, 2020). The rooms in the hostel have excellent sea-views with every room
having en-suite bathrooms. The location is perfect for people to enjoy the vibe of Brighton city
and get along with many backpackers from different regions of the world. A lot of other services
are provided by the hostel to enhance the experience of the travellers such as a café, a bar, a
conference room and meeting room, bike stores, self-catering kitchen and a small luggage store
as well.
Post 2 (Pricing):
YHA Brighton adopts a very attractive strategy for pricing as the target customers of the
hostel mainly included backpackers and travellers with low budget, it is better to offer discounts
and strategies which can make these places affordable. Focus is being laid on cost-leadership
strategy to reduce the operational costs and at the same time provide additional services such as
Free wi-fi and breakfast which can help in improving the experience for the guests. Moreover,
the accommodation offers various kinds of discounts and promotions based on seasons and the
nature of demand. In seasons when demand is high, prices are increased a bit to manage the
profitability and maximisation of revenue is sought and in seasons of low demand, prices are
reduced so that fixed costs can still be maintained. Discounts are also offered on the basis of
duration of stay in the hostel which is another attractive strategy for pricing by YHA Brighton
hostel.
Post 3 (Promotion):
Best promotional and marketing strategy for YHA Brighton Hostel is to use online platforms
and channels for creating awareness and marketing the services which are being offered.
Influencer campaign has been started by the company to attract more customers and people. The
target customers of the company include people aged between 18-35 years who are more fond of
travelling and backpacking. Hence, use of social media platforms such as Instagram and
Facebook is the most effective promotional strategy for the company since these channels are
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very popular among the target audience or customers of YHA Brighton Hostel. Some blogs and
articles related to travelling and backpacking are also being used for promotion and marketing of
the company (Lumsdon, 2016). Millennials are most likely to read blogs and articles about
places they can stay during backpacking and travelling and hence these blogs and articles serve
the purpose for the company.
Post 4 (People):
Employees and the managers of YHA Brighton who are expected to make contact with the
customers or the visitors in the process of rendering services are hired after much deliberation
and thought according to the skills and qualities which are required. Staff at YHA Brighton
Hostel has very fluent and effective communication skills which helps them to understand the
needs and requirement of the customers and provide an excellent quality of service. Recruiting
the right people and training and development with respect to their job description is done to
ensure a high quality of service to the customers. Motivation of staff is also taken extreme care
of because it is rightly said that a highly motivated workforce gives the best service to the
customers and achieves highest levels of customer satisfaction (Bishop and Phillips, 2012).
Managers of YHA Brighton have prior experience in the hospitality industry which gives them
the clarity of though required to provide quality service to its visitors and guests.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bishop, K. and Phillips, A. eds., 2012. Countryside planning: new approaches to management
and conservation. Routledge.
Lumsdon, L., 2016. Marketing for tourism. Springer.
Online
YHA Brighton. 2020. [Online] Available thru <https://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/yha-brighton>
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