Unit 5 Travel and Tourism Marketing Assignment

Introduction

Marketing plays a vital role in creating or increasing the awareness about something among people or the targeted groups. The plan to build awareness and create an influence over the decision making of the people attains a significant place within the organization. Marketing is been considered as the bases for communicating with the customers in order to attain the desired objectives and give proper information regarding the products, features, benefits, services and many other aspects to make the people attracted towards it. To motivate the customers and create the brand value among them it is very much important to concentrate upon the strategies for marketing and promotions of the concerned organization or product. Here, the current report would be helping out in knowing about the core concepts of marketing with respect to the travel and tourism sector. For this particular study the basic of marketing for Thomas Cook would be evaluated in detail.

Thomas Cook is one of the best travel companies all over UK and is being listed in the London Stock Exchange. The organization offers wide range of quality services in the tourism and hospitality sectors globally. The report would be evaluating the aspects with respect to the effects on the customer demand and motivation in the travel and tourism sector.  Furthermore, the report would be analyzing the significance of the planning for strategic marketing and assessing the influence of marketing on the society. The report would also be discussing about the issues of marketing mix and provide with the justification of integrated promotional campaign for the Thomas cook company.   

TASK 1

1.2 Impact of marketing environment on individual travel and tourism business of Thomas Cook

Marketing had a significant role in creating a brand value and image for the proposed holiday package for Morocco and Egypt by Thomas Cook. With the increase in technology advancements Thomas Cook had also included more advanced plans for the advertisements about the trip of summer holiday which would attract more and more number of customers towards it. The key attractions of these destinations had been highlighted to influence the decisions and build a new perception with the help of marketing techniques (Chikweche and Fletcher, 2012). Marketing influences the decision effectively on the individual and the destinations both. The major impacts are:

Figure 1: Impacts of marketing environment

Strong Customer base: Thomas Cook acquires an immense number of customers with the help of advertisements and various promotional activities. This customer base plays an important role in the development of its business activities and plan for the further offers keeping in mind the needs of the customers. The promotional activities being carried out by the organization had a positive influence on the decisions as customers prefers those brands more which acquires good marketing campaigns and provides the exact and clear details of the products and services being offered in the market.

Brand: Brand image for any of the organization is very important as it is the most valid identity among the people. The remarkable feature of marketing builds a positive image of Thomas Cook as a brand and attains a competitive advantage as well. The brand value or image of Thomas Cook is well known by the large number of customers in the entire travel and tourism industry of UK. The people rely on the products and services being offered and consider them reliable (D'Esopo and Almquist, 2011).

Relationship: For creating a relationship with the customers and other stakeholder the marketing environment is very important in an organization. Moreover, Thomas Cook had been successful in creating healthy relations with the customers as it offers 24*7 online assistance and proper consultancy services by the executives making the customers satisfied with all the plans and services. This initiative had laid down an impact on the business activities of Thomas Cook to an extent.

1.3 The factors affecting consumer motivation and demand in the travel and tourism sector

There are several factors which could make influences on the demands and the motivation of the customers. Some of the major factors being identified are briefly discussed below:

Figure 2: Factors affecting customer demands

Price: The most important factor for any of the product or the organization is price as the decision making also depends on this. The prices being set over the packages of the travel and tourism organization being offered have a crucial impact on the demand and the preferences of the customers. As Thomas Cook is planning to offer the holiday package of Morocco and Egypt in 2016 would also be analyzed as per the prices only. There is an immense competition in the travel and tourism industry and thus prices effects the decisions and the demands of the customers (Govers and Go, 2012).

Culture: Culture is also a factor that could bring changes in the demands of the packages as today people are getting more inclined towards diversified cultures and are keen to explore different cultures at those places. The management of Thomas Cook must analyze and plan to initiate some of the diversified cultural tours so that to attract more customers. The customers would be motivated and would demand for the travel and tourism packages of cultural diversities with respect to the lifestyle, beliefs, food, etc.

Safety: Concerning with the present conditions of the destinations all over the world safety and the security issues affects the most to the travel and tourism organization and hinders the demands and the decisions of the people. The instability of the terrorists’ attacks is also a major reason behind it. As Morocco is a safe place to visit but on the contrary Egypt is might not be the right choice with respect to the safety concerns of the customers. The management must notice this major issue and make sure before building a package for them (Gössling.et.al, 2012).

Marketing: Marketing is the most useful tool to influence the demand and motivation of the customers regarding the package. The management of Thomas Cook must create an innovative and attractive plan so that to enhance the interest of the customers and increase the demand for the package particularly. To motivate the customers the organization could offer the products and services through various sources like mobile applications, website, social media, etc. which would encourage the customers to avail the services of Thomas Cook.

1.4 The principles of market segmentation and its uses in marketing planning at Thomas Cook Group

The segmentation of marketing is been performed on the basis of various factors like geographic, demographic and psychographic. These factors are being followed to find the actual target market and for the positioning of products and services of the organization. The management of Thomas cook could make use of these criteria to develop marketing plan and a proper strategy influencing the demands and the level of satisfaction among the customers (Jayapalan, 2011). The principles of marketing segmentation which are being used by the organization are:

Figure 3: Market segmentation principles

Demographic segmentation: Thomas Cook offers a large varieties of plans and packages for travelling and is been bifurcated into different categories with respect to gender, income and age groups of people. With the help of this type of segmentation Thomas Cook would be able to better plans in future which would influence more target customers.  The management of Thomas cook has been planning the package of a consumer as per their budget. If customer is from a high end group then 5-7star hotel is booked for accommodation and business class flights. Business acquires better understandings about the products quality as per different income groups and thus assists in segmenting the products into various categories.

Geographical: This is the method being used by Thomas Cook for the segmentation of market on the basis of geographical parameters (Miller, 2012). It has been identified that business has got there planned packages for their consumer as per their preference needs and wants, then on that basis vacation plan is planned by the enterprise. This includes the cultural, values and the requirements of the customer which must be analyzed so that to develop proper marketing plans.

Behavioral: This type of segmentation is basically done on the basis of the buying process and the personal requirements or desires of the customers. The higher authorities of Thomas Cook must perform this segmentation by acquiring the knowledge and information about the customer’s needs and wants. With respect to the summer package of Morocco and Egypt for 2016 this segmentation could prove to be useful as evaluating the perceptions of the existing and the new customers   the organization could modify or add some more features in the package as to pull their attention towards it and influence their decisions (Blanke and Chiesa, 2013).

TASK 2

2.2 The relevance of marketing research and market information in Thomas Cook Group.

Market research is been considered as an important element for any of the organization for comprehending the circumstances, tendencies and the requirements of the customers so that to develop the plan for designing the products and services accordingly. The marketing manager must evaluate the information about the target market and could make use of that for the formation of plans and bring alteration in the business operations.  The organizations of travel and tourism industry run their business operation based on the information attained through market analysis and the opportunities being obtained for the management and planning of the resources (Yeshin, 2012). The market research would provide with the information regarding the requirements, desires and expectations of the customers. Thus, it is been found that marketing research proves to be profitable for Thomas Cook to achieve its set objectives and would be able to satisfy its customer in more effective way.

The information of market helps in gaining an important data about the recent trends; procedures and the customer behaviour being collected through the execution of CRM system in the organization. The system would be providing the immediate data information and the capabilities of collecting the attaining the responses of all the stakeholders. In addition to this, the organization could make use of the information for the efficient technique of promotion which would draw attention of the customers as well. Moreover, the manager of Thomas Cook is well acquainted with ample of knowledge and skills and would make utilization of those to develop an effective marketing plan (Hjalager, 2010).

2.3 The influence of marketing on society

The branding and positioning of organization is been affected by the targeted customer segment as they are being influenced by the marketing activities. The management of Thomas Cook utilizes the striking and logical marketing strategies which affects the organizational image directly. Marketing influences the society in many ways but some of them is been described below:

Social responsibility: Each and every organization has its own proposed social responsibilities which are needed to be pursued by the organization as to attain a sustainable position in the market (Evans.et.al, 2012). The travel and tourism organization are responsible towards the society and must make initiative in reducing the pollution, perform systematic waste management and also could organize some events to enhance the awareness about the social issues among people. Thomas Cook performs its social responsibility in an effective manner and acquires an optimistic impact on the society which also leads to the promotion of the brand value of the company. In this regard it has been identified that in India Thomas cook has been fulfilling various social responsibility by providing education and employability, health and sanitation, rural/tribal area development and contribution to emergency relief funds.

Legal and ethical process awareness: As per the marketing principle the activity of advertising should be ethical and legal, as it lays an adverse impact regarding the issues in the society. For instance, the advertisement being displayed must not contain any of the material which is been concerned with any of the religion, beliefs or values of any particular aspect. The UK government had also made an initiative and had anticipated some of the rules for the marketing being considered by Thomas Cook to create a positive position in the society.

Environmental sustainability: With respect to the environmental factors Thomas Cook must adopt several activities to spread awareness among the people to save the surroundings. Some of the advancement are been needed for the waste management and must make an optimum of the non renewable resource like fuel. This initiative would help in making a good brand value and image of the organization and would execute the changes in the society (Page, 2014). For overcoming the issue pertaining to environment business has been working upon carbon footprints, Thomas cook airlines is working on fuel efficiency concepts, eco labels, onboard recycling and waste management.

TASK 4

4.1 Assess the integrated nature and role of the promotional mix

The activities being carried out for promoting certain products and services is known as the promotional mix. To conduct a proper promotional mix certain activities like direct marketing, sale promotions, online marketing, advertising, integrated communication, etc must be kept in mind so that to enhance the validity of the effects.  The decision with respect to the product sales are been taken through these promotional mix only and thus plays an important role within the framework. Thomas Cook must implement activities such as advertisements, online promotions and the integrated communication as to carry out an effective endorsement of the summer package 2016. The promotion through various sources of online like emails, social media, etc would also enhance the awareness about the offerings and would provide popularity among the targeted customer base (Vanhove, 2011).

In the present era, the people are more technological friendly and make use of internet in their daily routines and hence this could be a better opportunity for popularizing the campaign through online sources. With the utilization of social media source like twitter, face book, etc. would support in grabbing the attention of the customer segment. The organization could also make initiatives through direct marketing with the help of distributing brochures, pamphlets, special gift vouchers, etc to the public in general. Thomas Cook attains a wide link with the media sources and could have access through the advertisements on TV which is the most effective way of advertisements and impacts a large segment of customer which makes them attain the product and services sometimes even regardless with the price concerns. The initiative of promotional mix would be much beneficial for the organization and has made the products of Thomas Cook popularize at large scales (Mason, 2010). These attempts would be helping out in scattering awareness about the offers in an efficient way and would gain recognition among the people and thus this recognition would directly result in the development of sales in the company.

4.2 Justification of an integrated promotional campaign for Thomas Cook summer 2016 holidays.

The proposed summer holiday 2016 package by Thomas Cook Company for Morocco and Egypt is the promotional pack for endorsing the travels and attain large customer bases within it. The best effective strategies could be adopted by the organization so that to promote the campaign and achieve the desired success. The initiations like public relations and the advertisements could be identified as the most effective element for promoting the package of 2016 by Thomas Cook. Presentation of innovative ideas among a large customer bases with the help of paid sources are known as the advertisements (Hall and Page, 2014). This is been considered as the best approach which helps in reaching to the massive customer segment and make them convince to avail the products and the services. The places that have been identified for Morocco package by Thomas cook are Jemaa el-Fnaa, Majorelle garden, El Badi Palace, Menara gardens, Middle Atlas etc. On the other hand, places identified for Egypt are Alexandria, Hurghada, Cairo, Luxor, Sharm el-Sheikh etc.

There are various sources which could be used by Thomas Cook such as visual media like television, print media such as newspapers, brochures, leaflets, etc.  These sources are been considered as the most cost effective or economical ways and would help in diminishing different costs for Thomas Cook while planning for the packages being preferred by the customers. The objective behind this approach is to gain attention of the customers with the help of improved graphics or images of the products and the services and thus motivate them to make the purchases. Advertising benefits by creating a faithfulness and trustworthiness in the products and services being offered by Thomas Cook.  The analysis of public behavior and their perception is been carried out through public relations regarding the product and services of the company (Yeshin, 2012). The summer holiday package being offered by the company could be endorsed through various activities like carrying out social events, providing information in newspapers, making people acquainted about the activities or events and gaining the data by public relations. These initiatives would help in making the package more effective and efficient.

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Conclusion    

With the Unit 5 Travel and Tourism Marketing Assignment it is been concluded that the marketing activities attain an important role in promoting and enhancing the demands of the products and services within the set targeted customer segment. Thomas Cook is been listed in the top most companies offering quality services within the travel and tourism industry all over the country. The report had also helped in finding out the basic concepts of marketing related to the travel and tourism industry and had examined the significance of marketing planning through SWOT analysis of Thomas Cook. Furthermore, the report had also supported in gaining the effectiveness of the promotional mix and justifying the use of it.