Describing the travel and tourism marketing

Underlining various marketing techniques in the travel and tourism industry

Identifying new trends in the travel and tourism marketing

marketing; selling; advertising; product and service development;

People hold a variety of misconceptions about marketing. Most common is its confusion with selling and advertising. Selling and advertising are actually types
of promotion which is only a component of marketing. Marketing involves much more, including product/service development, place (location and distribution), and
pricing. It requires information about people, especially those interested in what you have to offer (your "market"), such as what they like, where they buy and how
much they spend.

Its role is to match the right product or service with the right market or audience. Marketing, as you will see, is an art and a science. According to the American Marketing Association, marketing is 'the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and
services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.' Simply stated it is creating and promoting a product (ideas, goods or services) that
satisfies a customer's need or desire and is available at a desirable price and place.

Modern marketing is a way of doing business, heavily based on the 'marketing concept' which holds that businesses and organizations should:

(1) design their products/services to meet customer needs
and wants;

(2) focus on those people most likely to buy their
product rather than the entire mass market; and

(3) develop marketing efforts that fit into their overall
business objectives.

By adopting this concept you not only provide your
customers with better products, you will avoid wasting
valuable time and money developing and promoting a
product or service nobody wants.

Test de autoevaluare 1.

Provide a definition of marketing;

Raspunsul se va da in spatiul gol de mai sus.

marketing plan; objective; community; components;

A product can be 'ideas, goods, or services.' Since tourism is primarily a service
based industry, the principal products provided by recreation/tourism (R/T) businesses are recreational experiences and hospitality. These are intangible
products and more difficult to market than tangible products such as automobiles. The intangible nature of services makes quality control difficult but crucial. It
also makes it more difficult for potential customers to evaluate and compare service offerings. In addition, instead of moving the product to the customer, the
customer must travel to the product (area/community). Travel is a significant portion of the time and money spent in association with recreational and tourism
experiences and is a major factor in people's decisions on whether or not to visit your business or community.

As an industry, tourism has many components comprising the overall 'travel experience.' Along with transportation, it includes such things as accommodations, food and beverage services, shops, entertainment, aesthetics and special events. It is rare for one business to provide the variety of activities or facilities tourists need or desire. This adds to the difficulty of maintaining and controlling the quality of
the experience. To overcome this hurdle, tourism related businesses, agencies, and organizations need to work together to package and promote tourism opportunities in their areas and align their efforts to assure consistency in product quality.


One of the most important steps a business or community can take to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their marketing efforts is to develop a written marketing plan. This plan will guide their marketing decisions and
assist them in allocating marketing resources such as money and personnel time.

The plan should include:
(1) the overall business objectives-what one wants to accomplish;

(2) an assessment of the market environment-what factors may affect the marketing efforts;

(3) a business/community profile-what resources are available,

(4) market identification (segmentation)-the specific groups or clientele most interested in the company's product;

(5) the marketing objectives for each segment;

(6) the marketing strategies (or mixes) for different markets you target-the best combination of the 4 Ps (product, price, place, promotion) for each segment;

(7) an implementation plan-how to 'make it work;'

(8) the marketing budget-how much one has to spend; and

(9) a method for evaluation and change.

Test de autoevaluare 2.

State several characteristics of a marketing plan;

Raspunsul se va da in spatiul gol de mai sus.

tourism and travel trend; amenities; pre-packaged tours; tourism travel providers;

According to travel and tourism expert Judy Randall, we are no longer taking our father's vacations. Today's vacationers want new experiences, high-end amenities and, often, more adventurous things to do. They also have less time and energy to spend planning their trips - and tend to take vacations that are shorter in duration and - in terms of planning - "hassle-free."

"I call it a poverty of time," says Randall, noting that the year 2000 was, in many travel/tourism experts' judgment, a tipping point for the latest tourism/travel trends.

"That's the pivotal year, when consumers' habits significantly changed," said Randall. "The tourism travel providers who understand the new trends, and give customers what they want today, will be the ones who profit best in the next decade or so."

What are these new trends?

According to Randall, whose Atlanta-based company specializes in travel tourism marketing and consulting, there are at least 4 key things important to the "new" tourist:

Easy planning - Cruises that take care of everything, from where you sleep, where and what you eat, how you're entertained, and what side-trips might be arranged for you are very hot today. So are all those internet sites that allow you to quickly compare prices and book travel, lodging and other travel needs online. After a lull in the industry, travel agencies that have gotten onboard with interesting/exciting/upscale pre-packaged tours have also done quite well, says Randall.

Luxury - According to Randall, lodging, airlines and other tourism vendors who have "upscaled" what they offer have seen their profits "upscale," as well."People used to be happy when they had a bed and the hotel was clean," she explained. "Now they want a big, comfy bed, great food, high speed internet service, cable TV, and a terrific environment. They complain when they don't get exactly what they asked for - but they are also willing to pay for what they want.

New, more exotic or adventurous things to do - Baby boomers are not so much interested in the old family travel destinations or activities that they experienced growing up, says Randall, pointing to statistics showing that visitation for traditional historic sites, theme parks, museums and places like Niagara Falls, has been on a downward trajectory for years. Today's tourists want to experience a safari, shoot a rapid, engage in a community development project . things that offer a real departure from their everyday lives.

The opportunity to do absolutely nothing - Interestingly enough, there is also a big trend towards vacations where stressed-out, worn-out workaholics can relax and do absolutely nothing for a few days at a time. According to Randall, the working world many Boomers live in is so stressful, so hectic, and so energy-sapping that - far from shooting a rapid or scaling a high peak - there is a huge segment of the tourism market that just wants to sit in a pleasant mud bath or be massaged at a spa. And some just want peace and quiet for a few days - with all their basic needs met by attentive resort staff.

In loc de rezumat

Am ajuns la sfarsitul unitatii de invatare nr.

Va recomand sa faceti o recapitulare a principalelor subiecte prezentate in aceasta unitate si sa revizuiti obiectivele precizate la inceput.

Este timpul pentru intocmirea Lucrarii de verificare nr. 6 pe care urmeaza sa o transmiteti tutorelui.

Lucrare de verificare unitate de invatare nr. 6

Enlarge upon tourism and travel marketing;

Make up a short text in which to use the following terms: statistics; baby boomer; travel destination; lodging;

Raspunsurile testelor de autoevaluare

Raspuns 1

Raspuns 2.

Raspuns 3.

Easy planning

Luxury

New, more exotic or adventurous things to do

The opportunity to do absolutely nothing

Bibliografie unitate de invatare nr. 6

Collins, V. R. - The Tourism Society's Dictionary for the Tourism Industry, Harper Collins, 2008

O'Keefe, M. / Dubicka, I. - English for International Tourism Pre-intermediate Level Coursebook, Longman, 2002