Marketing in travel and tourism(london)

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Marketing
In Travel and Tourism

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Contents
Introduction:...................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Core concepts of marketing for travel and tourism sector:...............................................3
1.2 Assessing the impact of the marketing environment:........................................................5
1.3 Factors affecting consumer motivation and demand:........................................................6
1.4 Analysing the principles of market segmentation: .............................................................8
2.1 Analysing the importance of strategic marketing planning:............................................10
2.2 Discussing the relevance of marketing research and market information: ...................12
2.3 Assessing the influence of marketing on society:............................................................13
3.1 Discussing issues with the product, price and place elements:.....................................14
3.2 Assessing the importance of service sector mix elements to the travel sector: ..........15
3.3 Applying the concept of total tourism product to individual tourism business:...........16
4.1 Assessing integrated role and nature of promotional mix:..............................................16
4.2 Planning and justifying an integrated promotional campaign:........................................17
Conclusion: ..................................................................................................................................18
References:...................................................................................................................................18

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Introduction:
Marketing is the process by which marketing managers or marketers want to satisfy their
customers. Because of its intangible nature, as we cannot see it, travel and tourism marketing is
different from marketing we normally know about. In travel and tourism, customers evaluate
expenses of reaching to the destination, make a valuation of the hotels and the quality of
restaurants. People now want to explore new countries. Because of that travel and tourism,
marketing is becoming very popular. As I have been appointed as a trainee at VISIT LONDON
(visitlondon.com). Therefore, my job is to help mysenior members formulate a marketing strategy.
In this assignment, I assessed all of the marketing information is perfect.
1.1 Core concepts of marketing for travel and tourism sector:
Travel and tourism sector of marketing is becoming very competitive nowadays. As this sector is
becoming popular, more and more companies are coming to this sector and existing companies
are becoming aware of their marketing strategy. For this reason, visitlondon.com has to be aware
of all concepts of marketing. To get clear ideas about travel and tourism sector of marketing, I
have analysed the core concepts of marketing.

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Graph: 1
Core concepts of marketing
Source: analysisproject.blogspot.com
Customers’ needs, wants and demands: The three basic concepts of marketing are needs,
wants and demands. Need is a feeling of deprivation of something then need becomes wants
when cultures of different countries shape it and then want becomes demand when it is backed
by buying power (King et al., 2009). Here I need to know about different needs of customers such
as safety needs, social needs, physiological needs etc. Then we need to know about customer’s
wants such as what kind of food they want, how much distance they want to travel etc. Then the
ability to meet the all these needs and wants that is whether the customers have money for this
or not.
Products and Services: Products and services are the things that we offer to customers to
satisfy them (Ingwer, 2012). It can be both tangible and intangible. In travel and tourism, different
companies offer different tour packages to customers according to their ability to spend and
preferences. Tour of the tower of London, Buckingham Palace and London Eye can be amazing
products to offer.
Value and satisfaction: Value is the difference between the advantages that customers get
from using a company’s products and what they pay for using those products. In addition,
customers become satisfied when their value meets their expectations. To satisfy our customers
of visitlondon.com we have to offer great quality service. We can do this by maintaining good

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relations with customers. We have to make sure that the services and products we are offering
should be always superior to those of our competitor’s.
Exchangesand relationships: If visitlondon.com wants to make customers happy and wants
to retain them then they must create a good relationship with them. We have to provide good
service and in exchange, customers will give us money.
Markets: Market is where buyers and sellers meet. To become a successful company
visitlondon.com should try to retain all the customers. It will create chances to become one of the
biggest company in the long run.
1.2 Assessing the impact of the marketing environment:
There are two types of marketing environment. One is microenvironment and the other is the
macroenvironment. The microenvironment is internal and can be controlled by the company. The
macro environment is external therefore it cannot be controlled by the company. Visitlondon.com
has to measure this marketing environment of London correctly. So the impact of these
environments is given below:
Graph: 2

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Marketing Environment
Source: abcofmarketing.com
Microenvironment: Microenvironment is the internal environment and can be partially
controlled. It includes the company itself, customers, competitors, intermediaries, employees,
management and so on. Strategies formulated keeping all these in mind. For instance, what our
customers are choosing, what products and services our suppliers are providing and what
services our employees are providing so on. Suppliers and intermediaries play a vital role in the
microenvironment of a company (Oldroyd, 2003). Suppliers provide us with the materials that we
deliver to our customers with the help of intermediaries. As customers are the soul of the
company, we should keep a good relationship with them.
Macro environment: The Macro environment is the external environment and no company can
control it. It includes political, economic, demographic, technological, natural, global and social
environment. London is really an amazing place to visit with an amazing demography. Tower of
London, Buckingham Palace and London Eye can give mesmerizing feelings to visitors. London
is economically very strong. The political situation in London is also stable. Government always
encourage visitors to visit the United Kingdom. In addition, London is the heart of United Kingdom.
Therefore, it can be very helpful for visitlondon.com if we use technology to provide services to
our customers. The culture of London is also supportive for visitors as there is no restriction on
any clothes or food habit (Jaques, 2013). Keeping all these environmental factors in mind, we
should customize our tour packages.
1.3 Factors affecting consumer motivation and demand:
Different people visit different places for different reasons. Some have personal preferences;
some have different values and beliefs, some have a curiosity for visiting and some have a
business purpose. If we want to motivate our customers to buy our packages and to increase
demand then it is important for us to understand the factors affecting consumer motivation and
demand. These are the factors affecting consumer motivation and demand:

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Graph: 3
Consumer motivational factors
Source: self-creation
Attractive promotional programs: Attractive promotional programs can motivate people and
can increase demand for travelling. More and more people will know about it and it will raise
awareness among visitors for visiting any place. London has some amazing tourist spot that can
be helpful to promotional programs.
The personality of the Tourist: Personal preferences of a tourist plays an important role in
consumer motivation. Some people have a curiosity for travelling (Winston, 2002). They just want
to see different places because of that curiosity. Warner Bros. Studio Tour London can be an
amazing place for this kind of people.
Culture and Social Class: Different tourist has a different culture and social class. People
close to them can motivate them to visit any place. For instance, if a neighbour or friend or family
member visit any place their experience of visiting that place can be a motivation for others.
Standard lifestyle: The Standard lifestyle of modern people can influence the motivation for
travelling. People’s earnings have increased in recent years. The higher the earning the higher
the motivation for spending a good time with family. Therefore, London has always been the
popular destination for visiting and enjoying the standard lifestyle.

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Technological advancement: With the advancement of technology people now can know
about any tourist destination. People can access websites of travel agencies. Therefore, people
are now more aware of destinations and packages offered by the companies. All these happened
with the help of advancement of technology. This advancement help increase the consumer
motivation and increase demand.
Break from work life: Another factor affecting consumer motivation and demand is a desire to
take a break from busy work life. After spending monotonous time in the office or in a single place,
people want to spend fun times with beloved family members and friends.
Graph: 4
People visiting London (2013)
Source: ons.gov.uk
1.4 Analysing the principles of market segmentation:
In market segmentation, the market is divided according to different criteria. We basically have to
segment market because we have to find out which segment is better for the company’s survival
and making a profit. All market segments are not equally profitable for us. The market can be
divided on the basis of geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioural criteria.

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Graph: 5
Market segmentation
Source: smallbizwebshop.com
Geographic segmentation: Country, region, nation, state, cities are main factors of
geographic segmentation. Geographic segmentation is important because different people in
different countries have different taste in food, clothes and cultures. Some countries have high
per capita income than that of others. We have to customize tour packages keeping all these in
mind.
Demographic segmentation: Demographic segmentation is dividing the market on the basis
of gender, sex, income, education, age, religion and so on. This is the main segmentation to focus
on. Because income, religion, age play a vital role in tourism market segmentation. London has
always been a popular tourist destination of young, energetic and enthusiastic people the age of
18-28. People of this age really like an adventure.
Psychographic segmentation: Psychographic segmentation is dividing the market on the
basis of a personal characteristic, personal preferences, social class and personal lifestyle. It is
really tough to catch psychology of people.
Behavioural segmentation: Behavioural segmentation is dividing the market on the basis of
customer’s attitude and behaviour. It can be very useful to use this segmentation for building the
new market segment.

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So marketing strategies can be created according to these segments.Demographic segmentation
is preferable. Because it has all the characteristics of measurability, accessibility, and
substantiality and actionability. The effective segment will generate high profit for the company
and give customers high-quality service.
Graph: 6
Requirements for effective segmentation
Source: self-creation
2.1 Analysing the importance of strategic marketing planning:
To survive in the competitive world of business it is really important to make strategic marketing
planning. To achieve the company’s goal we need to know about our strength and weaknesses.
As a trainee of visitlondon.com, I have been asked to help my senior formulate a marketing
strategy. So I will use these two methods for strategic marketing planning:
Product life cycle (PLC) analysis: Product lifecycle has five stages; product development,
introduction, growth, maturity and decline. It starts with the development of a new product, profits
are made in growth and maturity stage and then ends with decline. In tourism business, it is not
actually the length of product’s life rather it is actually its effect in the market. For example here in
visitlondon.com, we can develop new packages and introduce it to customers.If people like it they
will buy it and it will reach to growth stage. Then it will gain more profit in maturity stage. After that

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people can want new package or competitor can introduce better package. Therefore, our
package will reach its final stage which is decline. Like this, the cycle goes on.
Graph: 7
Product lifecycle
Source: prohlik.wordpress.com
SWOT analysis: SWOT analysis is the analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats. First, we have to find our strength. Visitlondon.com is a renowned company. It earned its
popularity because it provides very high-quality service. It delivers that is promises to deliver. It is
the main strong point of visitlondon.com. But the weakness is an individual company in the single
city. It cannot expand it to other cities. London is an adventurous city with somany amazing places
to visit such as Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Tower of
London, Madame Tussauds, Kensington Palace, Westminster Abbey and London Dungeon and
so on. These beautiful places can be a great opportunity for visitlondon.com. But there is also a
threat because with great opportunity comes competition. Many travel agencies will try to do
business here.

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Graph: 8
SWOT analysis
Source: journal.thriveglobal.com
2.2 Discussing the relevance of marketing research and market
information:
Marketing research is very important by which we can obtain crucial information about markets,
customers and competitors. Relevance of marketing research and market information to travel
and tourism sector managers at London Tourism is given below:
Graph: 9
Marketing research process
Source: self-creation
At first, we have to define the problem such as customer’s demand, customer’s budget,
competitor’s offering etc. Then we have to focus on solving the problem by setting an objective.

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After carefully designing research plan we have to collect and analyse all the available information
about the problem. Then after analysing all the collected information, we will find the reason for
the problem and then we have to report it to top management for strategic planning.
2.3 Assessing the influence of marketing on society:
Marketing is now playing an important role in influencing people. Previously did not know that
much about products. But nowadays with the advancement of technology and marketing people
are more aware of products they are buying. The positive and negative influence of marketing on
the society of London community and the visitors is given below:
Graph: 10
Source: self-creation
The positive influence of marketing: Marketing nowadays has increased the standard of
living of people. Because people have information about most of the products. Therefore it has
increased the sense of responsibility and ethics among company and customers.
Environmentalism is also an important matter. Company and customers now think about the
environment more than ever before. Both people and company are now concerned about
consumerism. They think about rights of consumers.

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The negative influence of marketing: Marketing also has some negative influence on
society. Still, some company use false information to mislead customers. Many travel agencies
deceive customers with false advertisement. Sometimes customers misread information given by
the companies. Breaking laws and regulations can also have a negative influence on society.
3.1 Discussing issues with the product, price and place elements:
Product, price and place are the three important elements of the marketing mix for launching a
new product. Companies face various issues analysing these elements. As a marketing intern for
the UK based Tour Operator Expedia.com, I have discussed issues in these elements:
Graph: 11
Product, price and place elements
Source: self-creation
Product: We have to introduce a product that will give customers the ultimate benefit that they
want. The product must have the features that will force the customers to think about what our
product is superior to that of competitor’s. A Beautiful destination with high-quality service from
employees and good accommodation will be plus point for our new product.
Price: Price for our new product should be reasonable. Customers will not spend much money
if it’s not fair. But we also should keep in mind that price must not be that much low that will cause
us a loss. We can use value-added pricing. By using this pricing both company and customers
can be benefitted.

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Place: The UK is a very wonderful country many natural and modern artificial beauty. So
expedia.com might not face any problem regarding place element. Transportation facility of the
UK is also very developed.
3.2 Assessing the importance of service sector mix elements to the
travel sector:
Service sector mix consists of people, promotional activity, internal and external marketing and
quality of service given by employees. These elements are very important for the travel sector.
UK based Tour Operator Expedia.com has to combine all these elements to attract and retain
customers. As the UK is a very beautiful country so it has the advantage of the place. On the
other hand, the people and the service given by them must be high quality. High-quality service
will build a good image for the company. Good image of the company will bring more and more
customers and retain previous customers. Expedia.com should also make good promotional
activity such as giving advertisement in television, radio and social media as well as someinternal
and external marketing (Fifield, 2012). As expedia.com is a tour operator company, its employees
must be very skilled in guiding customers.
Graph: 12
Service sector mix
Source: self-creation
People
Sevice quality
Interrnal marketing
External marketing
Promotional activity

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3.3 Applying the conceptof total tourism productto individualtourism
business:
Total tourism product means a combination of all the elements that a customer wants in a tour.
That means customers want to have good location experience, good food experience, good
service experience, good hotel experience, good trekking experience and good travel experience.
Customers will be satisfied if they have all these experience within a single tour. This is the
concept of total tourism. If expedia.com want to do successful business then total tourism product
is a must for us (Morgan, Lugosi and Ritchie, 2010). Our product must give our customers all
these experience then they will come back to us again and again.
Graph: 13
Total tourism product
Source: self-creation
4.1 Assessing integrated role and nature of promotional mix:
It is not enough to just make a product. We have to undertake a promotional activity for it.
Promotional mix is very important to let people know about a company’s product. The promotional
mix consists of:

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Graph: 14
Promotional mix
Source: self-creation
Social media marketing is really important nowadays. People now spend way more time on social
media than any other media. Expedia.com uses social media to promote its products. Besides
that, they give advertisement in different electronic and print media. Personal selling and direct
marketing are also an important promotional medium for expedia.com. Public relations is another
medium through which expedia.com builds good relations with customers (Goldfayn, 2012).
4.2 Planning and justifying an integrated promotional campaign:
As a marketing intern for Expedia.com, I have been asked to plan integrated promotional
campaign. So I suggest that we should focus more on promoting our products on social media.
Social media marketing will help us to reach to more customers than any other promotional
campaign. Besides that our budget for promoting our products online and electronic media should
be reasonable:

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Media Cost
Social media £50,000
Online advertisements £30,000
Television advertisements £1,00,000
Radio advertisements £20,000
Newspaper advertisements £30,000
Graph: 15
Promotion of expedia.com
Source: expedia.com
Expedia.com already have good public relations but still, we should focus more on building good
public relations. And whatever we do our activities should be measurable and realistic.
Conclusion:
Tourism and travel is now a growing industry. People now want to visit other countries more than
ever before. The UK is a very beautiful country. So visitlondon.com and expedia.com both have
good to be a successfulcompanyif they undertake promotional activities wisely and provide high-
quality service to their customers.
References:
King, C., Shoemaker, S., Kandampully, J., Lovelock, C. and Kotler, P. (2009). Hospitality
marketing. Sydney, NSW: Pearson/Custom Pub.
Ingwer, M. (2012). Empathetic marketing. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Jaques, E. (2013). The changing culture of a factory. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.
Winston, M. (2002). Travels in the genetically modified zone. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press.
Oldroyd, M. (2003). Marketing environment. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Goldfayn, A. (2012). Evangelist Marketing. New York: BenBella Books, Inc.
Morgan, M., Lugosi, P. and Ritchie, J. (2010). The tourism and leisure experience. Bristol, UK:
Channel View Publications.
Fifield, P. (2012). Marketing Strategy. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.