PROMOTION AND MARKETING

IN TOURISM
OVERVIEW
■ The first unit is a general
introduction of the concepts of
destination marketing.
■ The second unit will focus on the 5
Ps of marketing, which are the key
components of a comprehensive
tourism marketing plan.
UNIT 1 MARKETING TOURISM
DESTINATIONS
Marketing
■ Marketing is a process through
which individuals and groups
provide, exchange and obtain
products – ideas, goods and
services – capable of satisfying
customers’ needs and desires at a
desirable price and place.
Destinations
■ Destinations are places that attract
visitors for a temporary stay, and range
from continents to countries to states
and provinces, to cities, to villages, to
purpose built resort areas.
Destination Marketing
■ Destination marketing refers to a
management process through which
the national tourist organizations
and/or tourist enterprises identify their
selected tourists, actual and potential,
communicate with them to ascertain
and influence their wishes, needs,
motivations, and likes and dislikes, on
local/rural, regional, national and
international levels, and to formulate
and adapt their tourist products
accordingly with a view to achieving
optimal tourist satisfaction, thereby
fulfilling their objectives.
Branding a Tourism Destination
■ To brand a tourism destination is to develop a clear identity, or
“brand”, based on reality, while also reflecting the core strengths and
“personality” of the destination.
■ The purpose of a brand is to establish a distinctive and memorable
identity in the marketplace that represents a source of value to the
consumer.
The Importance of Destination Marketing
■ People normally choose a destination before they choose the airline or
decide on the hotels and attractions to visit.
■ The marketing of a destination is based on the concrete experiences,
services and options that are part of a global idea and branding of a
“destination”.
 TOURISM
MARKETING PLAN
Tourism Marketing
■ A tourism marketing plan represents a strategy and is a combination of
techniques, tools and resources designed to achieve commercial and
social objectives.
■ The marketing mix :
– tourism product that will be offered and the factors that compose it;
– place of distribution; how the product/service will get to the client;
– sale price of the product and pricing policy to be applied;
– promotion to inform the potential consumers about the product and
its qualities; and
– people whose expertise, skills and attitudes are the key elements of
the brand.
 A. Product
■ Anything that is offered in a market for use or consumption by the
consumers as per the market requirement is called a Product.
■ According to Philip Kotler, “ A product is anything that can be offered to a
market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a
want or need.”
 Product
■ A tourism product is the set of assets and services that are organized around
one or more attractions in order to meet the needs of visitors.

A tourism product is any product that is marketed

by a country or an institution to visitors so as to
attract them to visit a country as tourists and
experience the said product

Tourism products include accommodations,

tours, transportation, recreational activities and
historic sites.
 Key Components of a Tourism Product
■ An attraction: These are the “raw materials” of the tourism product and
as such are part of the territory where the business is located. They
consist of the natural and cultural resources, places and events that,
by their characteristics or location in a context, awaken the visitor’s
interest and motivate his/her action.
■ Facilities and services: Tourist facilities refer to the infrastructure,
equipment and services that make the tourism activity possible: the
tourist enjoys the attractions and does so in a safe environment.
■ Accessibility: This facilitates visitors to access to the tourist
destinations, including infrastructure, transport and communication
service.
B. Place
■ Place refers to how an organization will distribute the product or
service to the end user or consumer.
■ The product must be distributed at the right place at the right time.

Distribution is the process by which the tourism product is

circulated through travel channels and agents that are in direct
and indirect contact with tourists.
C. Promotion
■ Promotion is the process (set of means and actions) designed to
inform potential visitors about the tourism product offered,
sharing with them its most attractive and innovative attributes.
As such it is usually integrated with distribution and implies
communication activities, including advertising.
Main Distribution and Promotion Channels
a) Sales through travel agencies
■ This distribution channel is related to domestic and foreign travel agencies
and is aimed at two generic segments: foreign tourists who buy travel
packages and domestic tourists who make use of package tours.
b) Trade and tourism exchanges
■ Fairs and exhibitions – at different levels – are an alternative form of
presentation and sale of products to intermediaries and the general public.
Their main advantage is the potential for establishing personal contact
between different private and public tourism businesses.
Main Distribution and Promotion Channels
c) Professional associations
■ Professional associations are an important vehicle for unifying their
members’ offerings, creating a corporate image, promoting public
relations and participating in order to expand their presence in the
domestic market, and to enter into agreements with new distribution
channels or institutional customers.
d) Notes and press releases
■ Select the media best suited to the product and the target audience;
consider as well as the strategy used by competing destinations.
e) Internet
■ Today the Internet is one of the most effective communication,
information and promotion tools.
Main Distribution and Promotion Channels
C. Price
■ The price is the value that the consumer and
provider establish to enable an exchange. For
consumers, the price they are willing to pay
equals the expected satisfactory experience. On
the other side, the provider seeks to cover his
production costs and obtain the desired
benefits.
■ Pricing is based on three generic determinants:
✓ the business’s internal costs (to which
expected benefits are added);
✓ the satisfaction expected by the consumer
and the maximum price he/she is willing to
pay;
✓ Competition among providers (which is
ultimately determined by the previous two).
Other issues to consider in the pricing strategy
in tourism are:
■ experiences are sold and each customer values them differently:
■ it is a relatively fragmented industry that inspires fierce competition;
■ the system of commissions is very distinctive and significantly influences
the final price: a basic price could be doubled, depending on the power of
intermediaries;
■ it is a very seasonal sector: rates vary by season, weather and the day of
the week.
People
■ People play a vital role in effective marketing. In fact, they represent
the actual service one is marketing and are also a critical factor in
service business.
■ Most tourists can think of a situation where the personal service
offered by individuals has made or tainted a tour, vacation or
restaurant meal.
■ People’s well-being is a crucial starting point to ensure best quality
services
THANK YOU