Travel and Tourism A Level: Destination Marketing

Destination Marketing

• Defining the tourism market involves understanding the market's needs, wants, and expectations, as well as the competition, travel trends, and customer behaviors.
• Market research and analysis are crucial in defining the tourism market and understanding customer needs and wants.
• The market can be analyzed using various tools and techniques, including statistical analysis, SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, competitor analysis, and Ansoff matrix.

Understanding Customer Needs and Wants

• Customer needs refer to basic human requirements, while customer wants refer to personal preferences.
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs can be used to understand customer needs.
• Customer demands refer to the specific expectations of customers.

Travel Trends and Customer Behaviors

• Travel trends are researched to understand what tourists want and expect from a destination.
• Customer behaviors can be classified into different types, including:
  • Institutionalized tourism (backpackers, organized mass tourists)
  • Non-institutionalized tourism (explorers, drifters)
  • Allocentric tourists (seeking new experiences and adventure)
  • Psychocentric tourists (do not seek new experiences or adventure)
  • Mid-centric tourists (between allocentric and psychocentric)

Customer Preferences for Destinations

• Customer preferences are influenced by customer behaviors, values, attitudes, and expectations.
• Destination popularity can be affected by customer preferences.
• Competition among destinations encourages tourism authorities to improve their products.

The Butler "Destination Life Cycle" Model

• The destination life cycle model explains the stages of development of a tourist destination.
• The stages include:
  • Exploration
  • Involvement
  • Development
  • Consolidation
  • Stagnation
  • Decline or rejuvenation
• The model helps tourism authorities understand the life cycle of a destination and take steps to rejuvenate it.

Market Analysis Tools and Techniques

• Market analysis tools and techniques include:
  • Statistical analysis of data
  • SWOT analysis
  • PEST analysis
  • Competitor analysis
  • Ansoff matrix
  • Market segmentation
  • Visitor profiling
  • Product positioning
  • Review of the marketing mix

Market Segmentation

• Market segmentation involves dividing the market into distinct groups based on characteristics such as:
  • Travel motivation
  • Demographics
  • Psychographics
  • Geographic location
• Segmentation helps tourism authorities target specific markets and design effective marketing strategies.

Visitor Profiling

• Visitor profiling involves building a picture of a typical visitor to understand their needs and preferences.
• Profiling includes factors such as:
  • Length of stay
  • Accommodation preferences
  • Spending power
  • Choices of products and activities
  • Media type
  • Booking method

Product Positioning

• Product positioning involves making a destination more appealing to the target market.
• Positioning involves identifying the market, understanding the target customer, and differentiating the destination from competitors.

Review of the Marketing Mix

• The marketing mix includes four fundamental components:

  • Product (the experience offered to tourists)
  • Price (the cost of the product)
  • Place (the distribution of the product)
  • Promotion (the communication of the product)

• The marketing mix affects customer decisions and is influenced by various factors, including government influence, economic factors, and levels of prosperity.### Pricing Strategies

• Price-matching of similar products ensures products are not undervalued or overpriced

• Competitor-based pricing sets prices based on competitors' prices

• Prestige pricing uses high prices to convey high quality

• Promotional pricing offers discounts to stimulate sales

• Variable pricing charges different prices depending on customer type, time, or location

Distribution Channels

• Direct channels involve selling directly to customers
• Indirect channels involve selling through intermediaries like wholesalers or retailers
• Distribution channels can be physical (stores) or digital (online platforms)
• Choice of distribution channels depends on cost, control, and customer convenience

Tourism Distribution Channels

• CRS (Computer Reservation System) allows for real-time online bookings
• GDS (Global Distribution Systems) connects to multiple travel suppliers
• E-Ticket provides electronic tickets for travel
• Direct vs indirect channels affect cost and control

Promotion

• Increases sales and customer awareness through marketing communication
• Advertising uses broadcast, print, display, and direct marketing
• Public Relations (PR) manages reputation and creates a positive image
• Sales Promotion uses special offers and loyalty incentives
• Building a Destination Brand creates a unique name and image for a product in the customer's mind

Destination Branding

• Enhances competitiveness in the global marketplace
• Changes perception of unfavourable stereotypes of a destination
• Creates a common vision for the future of the community and its potential as a tourist destination
• Provides a consistent representation of the destination
• Enhances local, regional, national, and global awareness of a destination

Characteristics of an Effective Destination Brand

• Memorable, unique, quirky, and significant
• Matches the destination's attributes
• Attractive fonts, colours, and images
• Consistent with a destination's positioning
• Easily understood by customers
• Integrated into promotional activities at a local, national, and global level
• Sustained over a significant period of time
• Reflects a customer's actual experiences
• Targeted at both existing customers and prospective visitors

Creating a Brand Identity

• Key components include brand name, slogan/tagline, logo, USP, and use of colour
• Brand name creates instant association
• Slogan/tagline sums up the essence of the destination
• Logo creates instant brand association without language barriers
• USP is the unique blend of things offered

Marketing Activities for Launching the Brand

• Market research and brand characteristics
• Marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion)
• Marketing plan, including budget, competition analysis, and timing
• Brand activation and launch strategy