Marketing in Travel and Tourism

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of marketing in the travel and tourism sector, using London as a primary case study. It begins by defining core marketing concepts and applying them to the context of a travel destination. The report then analyzes London's marketing environment, considering both macro (political, legal, technological) and micro (competitors, customers) factors and their impact. Consumer motivation and demand for London are discussed, followed by an examination of market segmentation principles and their application in marketing planning. The importance of strategic marketing planning and the role of marketing research are highlighted. The report also assesses the positive and negative societal influences of marketing. Finally, the report delves into the marketing mix, focusing on the service sector and the concept of the 'total tour product.' An integrated promotional campaign for Expedia.com is planned and justified, demonstrating the application of various promotional mix elements.

MARKETING IN
TRAVEL AND
TOURISM
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................3
TASK 1.............................................................................................................................3
A). Discussing the core concepts of marketing and applying on a travel and tourism
destination.................................................................................................................... 3
B). Analysing the marketing environment of London as a tourist destination and
assessing its impact on the destinations.......................................................................5
C). Discussing the factors affecting the consumer motivation and demand for London
......................................................................................................................................6
D). Analysing the principles of market segmentation and discussing the usage of this
in marketing planning for London................................................................................. 6
TASK 2.............................................................................................................................8
A). Analysing the importance of the strategic marketing planning for London and
discussing the importance of marketing research in the planning process...................8
B). Discussing the relevance of marketing research and market information to travel
and tourism sector managers at London Tourism........................................................8
C). Assessing the positive and negative influence of marketing on the society...........9
TASK 3.............................................................................................................................9
A). Identifying the elements of marketing mix and discussing the issues of designing
and developing marketing mix for the organization......................................................9
B). Assessing and discussing the importance of service sector mix elements...........10
C). Applying and discussing the concept of 'total tour product'...................................10
D). Assessing the integrated nature and role of the promotional mix with reference to
Expedia.com...............................................................................................................11
E). Planning and justifying an integrated promotional campaign for Expedia.com.....11
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................... 12
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
Tourism refers to as the activity of travel for pleasure and also the practice of touring, a
business of attracting, entertaining the visitors, accommodating the tourist and also the business
for tour operators. Further, this sector is the most flourishing sector of world's economy. 10%
GDP is contributed by this sector and this is considered as the highest segment when
compared to automation, financial service, health and social care sector, etc. Further, this sector
provides highest employment opportunities and also the high possibility of developing total
revenue and foreign exchange earnings (Stonehouse, Evans and Campbell, 2012). This report
describes the marketing of travel and tourism at Destination Consulting Company which aims to
promote London. Along with that, marketing of Expedia.com have been done for conducting the
activity of travel and tourism. Moreover, the report describe the concepts and principles of
marketing in travel and tourism sector. Furthermore, discussion has been made on the role of
marketing as a management tool in travel and tourism. Along with that, the report covers the
role of marketing mix and also the usage of promotional mix in the travel and tourism.
TASK 1
A). Discussing the core concepts of marketing and applying on a travel and tourism
destination
Core concepts of marketing includes many aspects and major reason behind the
learning of these concepts is to identify the taste and preference of the visitors (Cioccarelli,
Denicolai and Zucchella, 2010). Through this, appropriate products and services can be offered
to them in accordance with their preferences. The key core concepts of marketing have been
discussed as follows:
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(Source: SRIVASTAVA, 2011)
 Needs, Wants & Demand: These concepts differ from customer to customer and to
remain competitive and successful in the dynamic environment, it is essential for
business to realize the needs and preference of the consumers. Further, Destination
Consulting company is promoting the city London and prior to promote this city, it is
important for the company to identify the needs and wants of the visitors (Morrison,
2013). Moreover, then only the offerings can be promoted to them which can satisfy their
needs and this is how the London can be promoted.
 Good & Services: When the need is identified by the organization then the firm can
design the goods and services for them. Further, it is to be identified by the company
that what London can offer such as products and services in order to satisfy the needs
and wants of customers (Sharpley and Telfer, 2014).
 Value/Cost Satisfaction: It is ensured by the company that visitors of London gets
value and cost satisfaction in terms of product and services against the price paid by the
tourist. Moreover, value of services and products offered by London can be measured
based on the customer satisfaction.
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Illustration 1: Core Concepts of Marketing

B). Analysing the marketing environment of London as a tourist destination and
assessing its impact on the destinations
As it is known that London has been considered as the tourist destination and for this
aspect, company can identify the marketing environment of this destination and along with that
the impact of these environment on the tourism business and destinations have been done
(Goodall and Ashworth, 2012). For this aspect, organization must assess its micro and macro
environment in order to identify its impact:
Macro Environment: These are the factors which reside outside the organization and impact the
working of other travel businesses and destination.
 Political and Legal Factors: There are several rules, regulations framed by the
government of UK and EU which impact the functioning of other businesses such as
hotels, restaurants, tour operator, travel businesses, etc. If these businesses are
impacted then automatically London will also get impacted (Darcy and Buhalis, 2011).
For instance, if there is political instability in UK then the travel business and tour
operators will not be able to offer good and attractive packages. This will eventually
leads to the reduction of visitors number in City London. Technology: The technology is changing at a fast pace and this impacts the business
and destination in a both positive and negative manner. Furthermore, the use of high-
tech technology can assist the travel and tourism businesses to attract large number of
consumers (Lumsdon and Dickinson, 2010). Furthermore, the businesses includes the
accommodating business, restaurants, travel organization, tour operators, etc. This will
help promoting the London city in a more effective manner which will bring many new
customers.
Micro Environment: This is the impact of internal factors which are present within the company.
 Competitors: The major rivals of the travel and tourism businesses which apply
strategies in order to replace another businesses (Buttle and Bowie, 2013). High level of
competition in the UK market will lead to the reduction of attractiveness of the city
London.
 Customers: They are the crucial players of the travel and tourism businesses because
without them, none of the businesses can carry out their working in a profitable manner.
Further, the offers are design by these businesses as per their needs and wants. They
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are one who can impact the organization in a both positive as well as negative manner
(Murphy, 2013).
C). Discussing the factors affecting the consumer motivation and demand for London
There are several factors which affects the motivation of consumers and also the
demand for London for both the business visitors and leisure customers. Some of the factor
have been described below: Personal Preferences: It includes the personal likings, disliking, preferences, values,
etc. They plays effective roles on the purchase decisions of the consumers. For
instance, if the customers wants to visit the London during spring season then they will
do the same according to their preference. This will eventually impact the demand for
London during spring season (Hall, 2014). Further, if the business visitors wants to
invest in London city for growing their business then this will increase the demand for
London because of high availability. Group Behaviour: This refers to as the impact of various groups like family, friends, etc.
on the purchase decisions made by them. For example, if the reference group such as
friends and family have got good experience from London then it will impact the demand
for this city in a positive manner because prospective consumer will visit London only. Purchasing Power of Consumer: This is the main factor which motivate the consumer
to so purchases or not. If the leisure customers haver high purchasing power then they
will get thrive to visit the London city (Leask, 2010). Furthermore, if the business buyer
has high purchasing power then they are going to establish their business in the City of
London. Therefore, this increases the demand for the London City.
 Economic Condition: The status of the country UK economy highly motivate or
demotivate the visitors to the city of London or not. If the recession rate is high in this
country then business travel will avoid visiting this place. Eventually the demand of
London will go down (Scott and et. al., 2012). Furthermore, if the tax rate is high then it
will demotivate the customers to visit this place because of heavy expenses.
D). Analysing the principles of market segmentation and discussing the usage of this in
marketing planning for London
Segmentation can be defined as the subdivision of large homogeneous market on the
basis of the common needs and preferences of the customers. Furthermore, there are several
principles of segmentation on the basis of which company segment its consumer market. Along
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with that, segmentation also assist the company up to great extent while doing the marketing
planning so that marketing targets can be achieved in an effective manner (Goh, 2012). For
Destination Consulting company it is important to segment its market on several basis. This will
help in promoting the London city in an effective manner. Furthermore, segmentation done by
this organization on the basis of several aspects:
Illustration 2: Market segmentation
(Source:Pesonen, 2013) Demographic Segmentation: The visitor market can be divided on the basis of age,
gender, income level, education level, etc. Thus, firm can make the marketing planning
in accordance with these factors. Furthermore, the organization will promote this city to
all the age groups, high income people and to both the gender (Tribe, 2015). Geographic segmentation: The segmentation is done on the basis of region, national
and international boundary. This help the organization to divide its market in different
regions. The Destination consulting company can segment the whole consumer market
using different continents so that plan could be made for applying marketing tactics in an
effective manner. Psychographic Segmentation: In this, market is divided on the basis of lifestyle, interest
and psychology of visitors. This will help this organization to carry out its task on the
basis of their lifestyle and interest and then they would promote the London as a tourist
destination (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2016).
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 Behavioural Segmentation: The market is segmented based upon the behaviour,
attitude, perception, etc. With this regard, the company can promote the city of London
by keeping in mind several aspects.
TASK 2
A). Analysing the importance of the strategic marketing planning for London and
discussing the importance of marketing research in the planning process
Strategic marketing planning can be considered as the long term process which is
mainly done by the top management in order to achieve the goals of the company. The major
goal of Destination Consulting company is to promote the London city so as that number of
visitors get increased. For this aspect, this organization aims towards the preparation of
strategic marketing planning so that the goals can be duly achieved (Bitner, Zeithaml and
Gremler, 2010). Thus, it can be said that strategic marketing planning plays important role in the
achievement of goals and objectives of the firm. Some of the importance of this kind of planning
have been described below:
 This helps in the identification of the destination of the business. This helps in
formulating the goals and objectives for the firm. In this case, strategic marketing
planning will help the company to make the goals about the effective promotion of the
city London.
 Strategic marketing planning helps in eliminating the unproductive initiatives so that
company can focus on the important aspects (Burgmann and Kitchen, 2010). In this
case, if destination consulting company adopt the strategic marketing planning then they
can eliminate unnecessary factors and can focus on the important aspect that is
promotion of city of London.
 If the company adopt this kind of marketing then it will assist in marketing
communications. This is how the organization can communicate its offering related to
London to the customers of different segment. This will become easier for them to
identify the promotional mix through which effective promotion of this city can be done
and this way number of visitors could be increased.
B). Discussing the relevance of marketing research and market information to travel and
tourism sector managers at London Tourism
While doing this, the organization have to carry out the market research in order to carry
out the marketing planning process. Thus, market research plays an essential role in the
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planning process. It is because, this helps in the recognition of threats and opportunities in the
market environment (Fletcher and et.al., 2013). Furthermore, the results of market research
helps in the formulation of strategies for the company so that effective promotion of London City
could be done. Along with that, with the help of market research company can identify the needs
and wants of the visitors so accordingly offering can be given to them. Thus, it can be concluded
that market research plays a crucial role in the marketing planing process.
C). Assessing the positive and negative influence of marketing on the society
The marketing activities has both positive and negative impact on the society or
community of London. Both kind of impacts have been described as follows:
Positive Impact
If the marketing is done for promoting the London city then ultimately the society of this
city will also be beneficial. It is because, if the tourist will come then their business will also get
expanded (Dann, 2010). Further, the society of London has some responsibility towards the
promotion of this country which will get increase with the marketing activities. Furthermore, the
public policy will also get strict with the marketing activities so that tourist find themselves safe
when they visit this city.
Negative Impact
The marketing activities also put great negative impact on the society of London
because if the marketing activities is done then marketers will gather data from them and also
they may ask them to say every goof thing about London. This will be unethical practice.
Further, the environment will also get affected if their will be large number of visitors to the
London city through the heavy marketing (Naidoo, 2010). Along with that, rules and regulations
will not be followed in an appropriate manner because of false marketing activities.
TASK 3
A). Identifying the elements of marketing mix and discussing the issues of designing
and developing marketing mix for the organization
The marketing mix includes four Ps that is product, price, place and promotion which
helps in designing the influential marketing activities. This way Expedia.com can easily reach
their target consumers (Expedia.com, 2016). However, the company might face several issue
regarding the designing of marketing mix. This has been described as follows:
 Product: This firm has launched the mobile app for their target market and have given
offer that $25 will be off on the first booking from App. Due to this organization will get
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many bookings which will increase their revenue. However, the server may crash which
will lead to the reduction in customer base (Blythe, 2013).
 Price: The money charged for the services offered is the price of the company. If the
process are charged high then middle income group customers might not get attracted
towards this offer.
 Place: The company has launched its mobile application with which it can reach its
customers in an effective manner. Furthermore, there are many customers who do not
prefer mobile app for booking which will impact their business.
 Promotion: The promotion is done through internet, hoardings and advertisement. This
will incur heavy cost for the company (Morrison, 2013).
B). Assessing and discussing the importance of service sector mix elements
Service sector mix has been designed for the service firms and Expedia.com fall under
service sectors. This includes traditional as well additional elements which helps in designing
the effective offering for the customers.
Table 1: Service sector mix elements
Traditional elements Additional elements of service marketing
Service People
Place Package
Price Programming
Promotion Partnership
There are several importance linked to this kind of mix and they are described as
follows:
 If this is followed then Expedia.com can design effective marketing strategies which can
attract large number of customers (Hall, 2014).
 By following this organization can design program which can deliver the offering to the
target customers in an appropriate manner.
 Moreover, services can be rendered by the employees of this tour operator in an efficient
manner.
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C). Applying and discussing the concept of 'total tour product'
The total tour product can be defined as the combination of several services offered by
the Expedia.com. In a specific manner, two types of services are offered by this firm that is
specific and total level (Leask, 2010). Further, this concept can be applied by identifying the
ideal customers of the firm so that company can make the packages as per their requirements.
Further, the organization must assess their competitors so that better offering can be designed
against their services. Along with that, marketing strategies must be designed in an effective
manner so that large numbers of customers can be attracted.
D). Assessing the integrated nature and role of the promotional mix with reference to
Expedia.com
Promotional strategy is adopted by the company, as to achieve the action, desire and
interest of the people (Blythe, 2013). Promotional activity is one of the main element of the
marketing mix. There are different types of promotional mix which can be used by the
Expedia.com in order to increase the productivity and profitability. Advertisement- The best and the quickest way to introduce and expand the services in
the market is advertisement. This will help in introducing the services to the customers in
a easy way (Bernick and Boo, 2013). This is the best promotional mix which covers
under promotion strategy. Through this, Expedia.com can promote the services to the
client, by informing their packages, benefits to them. Personal selling- The other effective promotional activities is selling of the services
directly to the customers. Through direct selling, employees can inform and encourage
the customer to buy the services. Sales promotion- At the time of introducing new services or expanding the business,
Expedia.com can adopt the sales promotion, for the promotion of the service (Bahadir,
Bharadwaj and Srivastava, 2015). They can offer discount or add additional services in
their packages in order to increase sales and profitability of the company.
 Direct marketing- This is the other method of effective promotional mix, through direct
marketing, the mentioned company can easily communicate with the customers about
their services (Fyall and Morgan, 2009). The communication can be done through
various modes like mobile, email, websites, Skype etc.
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E). Planning and justifying an integrated promotional campaign for Expedia.com
All the traditional and latest activities to communicate with customers are includes in the
Integrated promotional campaign. As, the objective of the Expedia.com is to expand the
business and increase the revenue of the company. For this they can target the high level
income families, as they need luxuries facilities. For the promotion they can use offline and
online promotion. Offline covers traditional activities pamphlets, newspaper, etc. and online
promotion covers Google, email, social media (Atwong, 2015).
As to increase the profit, they can enhance the awareness of their services and brand in
the market, as this will helpful in getting financial benefit. To capture the market, they can
communicate the image of company, services, brand by using of different channels of
communication. Hence, this will help the business to grow and increase the awareness of brand
in public. This is possible only by using of integrating promotion campaign.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that marketing in travel and tourism has
become the most important concept. This way a particular destinations and packages of tour
operations can be marketed in order to attract large number of customers. Further, the total tour
products help the company to design its products and services in an effective manner which will
help the company to achieve its goals and objectives.
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