Travel and Tourism Marketing Essentials: A Comprehensive Report

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Travel and tourism marketing essentials
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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................3
LO1................................................................................................................................................4
LO2................................................................................................................................................9
LO3..............................................................................................................................................14
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................19
Reference list...............................................................................................................................20
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Introduction
The marketing essential of a company describes the process how the company designs its
marketing communication channel to develop strategies to maintain a competitive edge in the
economy. The process of researching to identify the needs and demands of the economy to
evaluate the prevailing trend is the primary task of the marketing essential process of the
company. The company incorporated in 1814 and came into partnership in the year 1872, to
create the Thomas Cook and sons. The company today is one of the most renowned and
globally recognised travel and tour providing company in the world. The company in the year
2018 posted a revenue of over £ 7394 million and hold over 186 own brand hotel and resorts
globally (Thomascookgroup.com. 2019). The report focuses to create marketing strategies to
generate an effective marketing plan to enhance the revenue for the company. The report
discusses the marketing mix with the focus on the 7P’s of marketing for the Thomas Cook.
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LO1
Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within your travel and
tourism organisation
The marketing process focuses incorporate the activities, which help to evaluate the overall
trend prevailing in the economy and identify the needs and demands of the individuals. The
process holds a very significant importance as the same help the company to stay aware of the
trends in the economy and update its products and services to enhance the experience of the
customers. The marketing function incorporates two different strategies of B2B and B2C model.
The B2B model focuses on dealing with different businesses like hotels and resorts for strategic
tie up. The transaction is mostly between entities and the focus is to enhance the service for the
end customers. On the other hand, the B2C focuses to deal with the customers to cater to the
needs and requirement of the society. They focus to fulfil the needs of the customers in the
mostly efficient manner and create brand following for the company (Nath et al., 2019). The
difference between the two could be better understood by figure given below.
Figure 1: Difference between B2Band B2C Models
(Source: Makaiinc.com. 2015)
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The marketing department in a much elaborated manner conducts researches and evaluates
the need and requirements to identify the market sentiments and perception. This helps the
company to incorporate necessary strategies of Segmentation, targeting, and positioning the
overall portfolio or a specific product to cater the needs of the market (Homburg et al., 2017).
The identified result helps the company Thomas cook to evaluate the areas where they lack and
devise new plan to overcome the same in the most effective and efficient manner. The different
roles and responsibilities of the organisation, which are performed by the marketing department
keeping in mind the marketing environment, are discussed in brief below.
Situation analysis
The activity focuses to analysis or evaluates the given situation of the market by the effective
use of tools such as the 5C analysis, PESTEL, and SWOT and different similar tools (Frohlich
and Grimm, 2016). This enhances the understanding of the market conditions of the marketing
managers of Thomas Cook. The same could be used to evaluate and develop a marketing
strategy for the future course of action.
Marketing strategy
The marketing strategies refer to the implementation of the different approaches such as
segmenting the market to identify the target consumer. The same could be targeted by creating
specific product or service to fulfil their need by positioning the product or service in a manner,
which is most suitable for the consumer. This helps Thomas cook to reach a new market
segment and enhance its revenue in a cutthroat competitive market.
Marketing mix decisions
The marketing mix helps the company to devise strategies to modify its marketing mix or create
a new one altogether. The manager at Thomas cook with the help of the results identified for the
research creates a new product and specifies the price, promotion strategy, and process to
cater to the need of the targeted customer and create opportunities of the company to enhance
its revenue by delivering satisfying service to its customers (Wierenga et al., 2017).
Implementation and control
The activity is a very crucial role of the marketing department to maintain a constant monitoring
of the overall marketing process. The constant monitoring and control helps the company to
identify any deviation from the predetermined goal may be identified and checked. The process
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also helps the manager to modify the marketing process to incorporate the new modification to
enhance the overall process.
Discuss how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational
context
The economy of the country or area of operation of the company Thomas Cook also influences
the functioning of the marketing department of the organisation. The company faces the sever
conditions of turmoil created by the phenomena Brexit. This has not only politically but also
economically disrupted the overall functioning of the industries operating within the boundaries
of the United Kingdom. The slow economic conditions has led to the closure of several
industries and resulted in record rate of unemployment. This has severely depleted the
disposable income in the hands of the citizens in the country (Lilien et al., 2017). The marketing
managers acknowledge the same and focus to devise small and cheaper tour packages to cater
to the needs of the society. The roles of the marketing departments remain the same but the
approach of the same defers. The wider economic situations influence the overall functioning of
the organisation.
For example, the company has focused to target the young students who in their summer
holidays could take a tour, which focuses on adventure tour with the comfort and safety of the
Thomas cook. The managers also develop low cost packages and provide the options of EMI
facility. The strategy has helped the company respond effectively to the wider context of the
society in the most appropriate manner. The company Thomas Cook focuses to innovate and
incorporate the new ideas and strategies to maintain its market leadership. The innovative
strategies help the company to maintain its competitive edge in the economy.
Analyse the roles and responsibilities of marketing in the context of the marketing
environment
The company Thomas Cooks has enjoyed a leadership in the economy of the United Kingdom
for a very long time. The company has a very strategic structure, which helps the company to
maintain a competitive edge in the economy. The company follows a well defined marketing
departmental structure where the roles and responsibilities are efficiently divided among the
respective department heads. The departmental structure of the Thomas Cook is given below.
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Figure 2: Marketing Structure of Thomas Cook
(Source: Created by Learner)
The different divisional heads at the organisation are responsible to enhance the revenue from
their respective departments. The company has also incorporated the digital marketing division
to communicate with the technologically advanced society and deliver on the expectation of the
consumers. The corporate division of the department focus on strategic tie up and
communicating with different resorts and hotels to promote their products and service to create
a memorable moment for the visiting customers (Lee et al., 2015). The well defined structure
not only helps the company to excel in its efforts to provide the customers with the most
memorable experience through their products and services. The structure also gives the
company a competitive edge over it competitors as the specific division of roles and
responsibility help the company to gain more efficient results. This helps in enhancing the
overall functioning of the company and enhances its revenue.
Analyse the significance of interrelationships between marketing and other functional
units within a selected hospitality organisation
The department of an organisation function in accord to each other like a well geared motor
vehicle. The different department rely on each other for various inputs to execute the task. The
constant support and communication is very necessary in an effective organisational structure.
The interrelationship between the different functional departments is discussed in brief below.
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Human Resource Department: The marketing department of Thomas Cook devises new tour
packages to cater to the needs of the market. The same is forwarded to the Human Resource
department, which takes the necessary actions to train the existing employees to cater to the
new package. If the packages include a particular activity, the human resource team focuses to
hire suitable employees to cater to the specific task or activity (Olson et al., 2018). For example,
if a task includes river rafting or rock climbing the human resource team will hire a well trained
and certified employee who excels in the activities.
Operations Department: The marketing department forewords the details of the tour devised to
the operations departments. The operations team in accordance to the itinerary make assure
that the visiting costumers get the best experience in their holiday or tour. The operation tem
arranges the entire process of the tour to deliver on the promised experience of the company.
Sale: The sale team does the crucial activity to converting the potential customers into paying
customers. They acknowledge the customers with their products and services and help them
make a decision (Snyder et al., 2016). The sales team also accompany the tourist and make
sure of the best service and comfort of the customers to deliver the best service to enhance the
overall revenue for the company.
Finance Department: The marketing department send its requisite for funding of different
activities to be performed. The finance department act as the connector between the entire
organisational structures (Opute and Madichie, 2016). The finance department approves the
requirement of the different department by allocating funds to maintain a smooth functioning of
the overall organisational structure.
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LO2
Compare the ways in which different hospitality organisations apply the marketing mix to
the marketing planning process to achieve business objectives
Marketing mix is the tool used for analysis of marketing strategy for gaining better market
objectives. The evaluation is done based on products, price, place, people, promotions, process
and physical evidence (Saidani and Sudiarditha, 2019). This is helpful for understanding the
current situation in the business. In this part, comparison 7ps of marketing mix will be done
among British Tours and Thomas Cook for analysing the marketing tactics used by the firms.
Figure 3: 7ps of marketing mix
(Source: JAIN, 2017)
Elements Thomas Cook British Tours
Product Thomas Cook is one of the
leading organisations that
offers international and
domestic holidays, visa and
travel services to the
travellers. The company is
focused on providing services
of flights, hotels, airlines, and
The Company is providing
lucrative holiday packages
and tour guide facilities to the
tourists travelling to London
and Paris. Moreover, they
provide private tours in Rome
and Italy. The company in car
guides the people with the
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car to the travellers. Thomas
Cook is the owner of the tour
operator that is having
diversified product portfolio.
personal driver. Coach and
minibus are also offered for
guiding the large group of
travellers (Britishtours.com,
2019).
Price This tourism organisation has
adopted mid-premium pricing
policy for capturing huge
market share in this industry.
The business is providing
accessible and reasonable
rates for gaining large
revenues. By the end of FY
2015, revenue that has been
earned by the organisation is
£7834 million and the net
income is £19 million
(Thomascook.com, 2019).
The company has adopted
low pricing strategy for gaining
the attention of tourists and
other local audiences.
Packages are available at
both low and high ranges.
This indicates that company is
able to gain attention of both
medium and high-income
group people due to the
pricing strategy used by them.
Place Thomas Cook is operating its
business in UK, Egypt,
Greece, Corfu, Portugal,
Turkey, Italy, and Spain. The
headquarters of the company
is in Peterborough England.
The company is having
widespread distribution
channel in business. The
airlines and tour services are
placed in locations like
Belgium and Scandinavia.
British Tours is found to
operate its business in entire
England, Wales, and Scotland
of UK. The main office is
located in central London and
is famous in operating tours in
Britain and London. In
addition, tours are operated in
Rome and Italy for increasing
the popularity and brand value
in tourism business.
Promotion Thomas cook focuses to
incorporate the concept of
multi channel marketing
strategy. The company with it
The British tour company
focuses to cater to the local
market and the scope of
promotion is limited to target
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television and radio
advertisements also
incorporates the modern day
techniques of social media
marketing through Youtube,
Facebook, Twitter and many
other medium (Lewis-Pryde
and Evans, 2016). The
company follows a very
aggressive mode of marketing
to maintain its dominance in
the economy.
the customers at a local level.
The company incorporate
social media marketing. But
the approach is comparatively
less aggressive. The market
capitalisation the company is
also comparatively very less.
People The company employs over
22000 employees all around
the world. The company is
one of the biggest me in the
travel and tour business
around the world. The staffs of
the company are highly skilled
and trained in their respective
roles (Maheshwari et al.,
2017). The globalisation has
helped the company to
acquire the best talent from
around the world and enhance
the overall functioning of the
organisation. The efficient HR
practises of the company also
help in maintaining a very
stable and effective work life
balance and focuses to keep
the morale of the employees
high.
The company British Tour is
relatively a very small
company. The company
employees a very limited
numbers of employees. The
employees of the company
are though very skilled,
talented, and aware about the
overall culture and history of
Britain and Europe. The
skilfulness of the employees
helps the company to
maintain its competitive edge
in the economy.
Process The company being a part of The company also
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the Hospitality sector focuses
to create experience form its
customers through its
effective business process.
The concept of creating
memories or experience
leaves the customers with a
pleasant and satisfied feel
about the journey. This helps
the company create a
perception about the brand of
the company.
approaches the customers at
a personnel level and
incorporates a model of
business process, which
includes the human
connection. The personnel
connect of the company helps
it to deliver a very personnel
service which is very
satisfactory for the customers.
Physical Evidence The company Thomas Cook
enjoys a widespread
recognition in the global
economy. The brand image
and logo of the organisation
hold a remarkable position in
the global platform in the
Travel and Tour industry.
The company enjoys a very
limited recognition in the
market as the company is
relatively very small. The
brand name is not as
widespread as the company
operates in very limited
markets.
Table 1: Comparison of 7ps of marketing mix
Evaluate different tactics applied by hospitality organisations to demonstrate how
business objectives are achieved
The industry focuses to create experience for its customers through its impeccable service and
personnel connect with the customers. The companies belonging to the Hospitality sector focus
to keep a human connect with the guests to maintain a feel of appreciation for the customers.
The company Thomas Cook keeping in mind the slowing economic conditions has identified to
bring cost effective tour packages and even come up with the idea of the EMI facility to easy the
payment burden for the customers. The strategy has huge potential to cater to the need of the
youth of the country who do not hold a huge disposable income but can pay for the same in
easy instalments. The companies are focused to cater the youth of the country and have
focused their marketing channel to focus on the same by starting a communication channel
directed towards their need on different social media platforms. The social media platform
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