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Introduction

Defining marketing communication in hospitality industry


Marketing communications forms a key aspect of the delivery of tourism and hospitality services. This sector is heavily dependent on marketing because of the industries special characteristics as services. However, marketing communications is a great deal more than simply about advertising. Getting the right messages to the right people is perhaps one of the most important factors in determining the success of this sector. Indeed marketing communications forms its own subfield of study within the discipline of marketing. This sector heavily relies on representations. Representations can be described as impressions, images and depictions about the experiences or about what might be expected from service providers.

Hospitality Industry

The hospitality industry consists of broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism industry. The hospitality industry is a several billion dollar industry that mostly depends on the availability of leisure time and disposable income. A hospitality unit such as a restaurant, hotel, or even an amusement park consists of multiple groups such as facility maintenance, direct operations (servers, housekeepers, porters, kitchen workers, bartenders, etc.), management, marketing, and human resources. The hospitality industry covers a wide range of organizations offering food service and accommodation. The hospitality industry is divided into sectors according to the skill-sets

required for the work involved. Sectors include accommodation, food and beverage, meeting and events, gaming, entertainment and recreation, tourism services, and visitor information. Hospitality industry is a major employer. The industry includes service sector work like tourism and food service. It suffers from more economic fluctuations compared to its peer industries.The hospitality industry is major service sector in the world economy. The industry encompass an extensive variety of service industries that include food service, tourism and hotels. Hospitality industry suffers from fluctuations within an economy every year. Hospitality industry can be empirically divided into two parts: entertainment areas like clubs and bars, and accommodation. Accommodation takes the form of public houses, resorts, inn, campgrounds, hotels, hostels, serviced apartments, and motels. The clubs and bars category include restaurants, fast foods, and nightclubs. The hospitality industry also includes tourism support commercial activities like airline cabin staff and travel agents. Travel technology like applied information technology (IT) and its workers in hospitality, travel and tourism are included in the hospitality industry. Hotel - A hotel is an establishment that renders lodging in lieu of payment. This lodging is usually given in exchange for a specified predetermined amount of money. Modern hotel rooms come equipped with climate control and attached bathrooms. Higher end hotels offer guests internet connectivity within rooms and also throughout the premises. A combination of meals and accommodation comes as a package in most hospitality establishments. Hotels are usually managed by professionally qualified managers. Junior workers usually maintain the hotel. Functions like cooking is usually done by professionally trained chefs. Nightclubs- Nightclubs are entertainment venues where dancing is accompanied by light snacks and drinking. Apart from service personnel like waiters and cooks, nightclubs employ disc jockeys (DJs) and stand up comedians as part its varied attractions. Fast-food restaurant - fast-food restaurants now form a major part of the hospitality industry. These restaurants employ an optimal number of personnel for providing customer service. Food may also be sold from kiosks.

Hospitality industry in India


Hospitality segment, just like many other segments in India is booming at an unprecedented pace. India faces a huge challenge of being "under roomed" while the economy is growing rapidly. This provides for a huge opportunity for hospitality industry. A lot of large real estate developers are also investing into this business to bridge the demand-supply gap and leverage the opportunity. A number of cities have blossomed with suburban "Silicon Valley" type Special Economic Zones (SEZs). This is mostly driven due to strong growth in IT, BPO segments, increase in foreign travelers, emphasized focus on tourism by government, affordable airlines fares, etc. Several other factors such as Commonwealth Games in Delhi are fueling the need further. The middle class is becoming more prosperous and native Indian tourist travel is growing rapidly, particularly in places such as Goa, Kerala and Rajasthan. Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Gurgaon, Pune and the suburbs of Mumbai are the areas attracting international investment and as expected, are the cities with the largest development pipelines. Combined, these cities account for 89 of the 161 projects in the pipeline and 16,734 guestrooms, which is 68% of the rooms in India's total pipeline. Of the 161 projects in India's pipeline, 100 will have 4 and 5 star designations. The other 61 are 1, 2 and 3 star developments. A number of them are new economy brands recently designed for the Indian market place. Taj's Ginger Hotels is one such brand, Lemon Tree and Red Fox are others in this category. Almost all the major hotel operators such as Starwoods, Hilton, Intercontinental have significant growth plans for India and have multiple projects in works or in pipeline

Marketing Communication
Marketing Communications are messages and related media used to communicate with a market. Marketing communications is the "promotion" part of the "Marketing Mix" or the "four Ps": price, place, promotion, and product. Those who practice advertising, branding, brand language, direct marketing, graphic design, marketing, packaging, promotion, publicity, sponsorship, public relations, sales, sales

promotion and online marketing are termed marketing communicators, marketing communication managers, or more briefly, marcom managers. The communication process is sender-encoding-transmission device-decoding-receiver, which is part of any advertising or marketing program. Encoding the message is the second step in communication process, which takes a creative idea and transforms it into attentiongetting advertisements designed for various media (television, radio, magazines, and others). Messages travel to audiences through various transmission devices. The third stage of the marketing communication process occurs when a channel or medium delivers the message. Decoding occurs when the message reaches one or more of the receiver's senses. Consumers both hear and see television ads. Others consumers handle (touch) and read (see) a coupon offer. One obstacle that prevents marketing messages from being efficient and effective is called barrier. Barrier is anything that distorts or disrupts a message. It can occurs at any stage in the communication process. The most common form of noise affecting marketing communication is clutter. Communication channels There are two main classes of communication channels; personal and non-personal. Personal communication refers to people who are directly talking to each other, face-to-face in a meeting, or on the telephone, or via video-conferencing. It can also include personal correspondence by mail, fax or email. The advantages of personal communication are primarily the personal contact that such communication allows. By directly talking with customers and influencers the hospitality organization creates the opportunity for a dialogue, so that the customer can ask questions about the hospitality communication companys channels refer to brands mediated and and publicity products. events, Non-personal

and include all print, broadcast and display tools. The main differences between using personal communication and mass media/publicity channels is that the latter do not provide a personalized message, and so they are not guaranteed to capture the attention and respond to the specific concerns of the target audience. The design and production of mediated communications requires support from specialist suppliers like design companies, advertising agencies, print companies and public relations agencies. These agencies develop expertise in visual imagery, copywriting, photography, radio and television advertising, and nurture useful contacts in the

media for publicity purposes. They provide important advice and a professional service in delivering a marketing communication campaign. As the term suggests, marketing communication functions within a marketing framework. Traditionally known as the promotional element of the four Ps of marketing (product, place, price, and promotion), the primary goal of marketing communication is to reach a defined audience to affect its behavior by informing, persuading, and reminding. Marketing communication acquires new customers for brands by building awareness and encouraging trial. Marketing communication also maintains a brand's current customer base by reinforcing their purchase behavior by providing additional information about the brand's benefits. A secondary goal of marketing communication is building and reinforcing relationships with customers, prospects, retailers, and other important stakeholders. Successful marketing communication relies on a combination of options called the promotional mix. These options include advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, and personal selling. The Internet has also become a powerful tool for reaching certain important audiences. The role each element takes in a marketing communication program relies in part on whether a company employs a push strategy or a pull strategy. A pull strategy relies more on consumer demand than personal selling for the product to travel from the manufacturer to the end user. The demand generated by advertising, public relations, and sales promotion "pulls" the good or service through the channels of distribution. A push strategy, on the other hand, emphasizes personal selling to push the product through these channels. Elements of Marketing Communication For marketing communication to be successful, however, sound management decisions must be made in the other three areas of the marketing mix: the product, service or idea itself; the price at which the brand will be offered; and the places at or through which customers may purchase the brand. The best promotion cannot overcome poor product quality, inordinately high prices, or insufficient retail distribution. Likewise, successful marketing communication relies on sound management decisions regarding the coordination of the various elements of the promotional mix. To this end, a new way of viewing marketing communication emerged in the 1990s. Called integrated marketing

communication, this perspective seeks to orchestrate the use of all forms of the promotional mix to reach customers at different levels in new and better ways. Integrated marketing communication The evolution of this new perspective has two origins. Marketers began to realize that advertising, public relations, and sales were often at odds regarding responsibilities, budgets, management input and myriad other decisions affecting the successful marketing of a brand. Executives in each area competed with the others for resources and a voice in decision making. The outcome was inconsistent promotional efforts, wasted money, counterproductive management decisions, and, perhaps worst of all, confusion among consumers. Secondly, the marketing perspective itself began to shift from being market oriented to market driven. Marketing communication was traditionally viewed as an inside-out way of presenting the company's messages. Advertising was the dominant element in the promotional mix because the mass media could effectively deliver a sales message to a mass audience. But then the mass market began to fragment. Consumers became better educated and more skeptical about advertising. A variety of sources, both controlled by the marketer and uncontrolled, became important to consumers. News reports, word -of-mouth, experts' opinions, and financial reports were just some of the "brand contacts" consumers began to use to learn about and form attitudes and opinions about a brand or company, or make purchase decisions. Advertising began to lose some of its luster in terms of its ability to deliver huge homogeneous audiences. Companies began to seek new ways to coordinate the multiplicity of product and company messages being issued and used by consumers and others. Thus, two ideas permeate integrated marketing communication: relationship building and synergy. Rather than the traditional inside-out view, IMC is seen as an outside-in perspective. Customers are viewed not as targets but as partners in an ongoing relationship. Customers, prospects, and others encounter the brand and company through a host of sources and create from these various contacts ideas about the brand and company. By knowing the media habits and lifestyles of important consumer segments, marketers can tailor messages through media that are most likely to reach these segments at times when these segments are most likely to be receptive to these messages, thus optimizing the marketing communication effort.

Ideall

IMC i i

lemented by devel

ing comprehensive databases on customers and

prospects, segmenting these current and potential customers into gro with certain common ups awareness levels, predispositions, and behaviors, and developing messages and media strategies that guide the communication tactics to meet marketing objectives. In doing this, IMC builds and reinforces mutually profitable relationships with customers and other important stakeholders and generates synergy by coordinating all elements in the promotional mi into a program that possesses clarity, consistency, and maximum impact. Practitioners and academics alike, however, have noted th difficulty of effectively e implementing IMC. Defining exactly what IMC is has been difficult. For example, merely coordinating messages so that speaking "with one clear voice" in all promotional efforts does not fully capture the meaning of IMC. Also, changing the organi ation to accommodate the integrated approach has challenged the command and control structure of many organi ations. However, studies suggest that IMC is viewed by a vast majority of marketing executives as having the greatest potential im pact on their company's marketing strategies, more so than the economy, pricing, and globali ation. The given below figure shows the hospitality mix of the marketing communication:

Fig.No.1.1

Adverti i Advertising has four characteristics: it is persuasive in nature; it is non-personal; it is paid for by an identified sponsor; and it is disseminated through mass channels of communication. Advertising messages may promote the adoption of goods, services, persons, or ideas.

Because the sales message is disseminated through the mass mediaas opposed to personal sellingit is viewed as a much cheaper way of reaching consumers. However, its nonpersonal nature means it lacks the ability to tailor the sales message to the message recipient and, more importantly, actually get the sale. Therefore, advertising effects are best measured in terms of increasing awareness and changing attitudes and opinions, not creating sales. Advertising's contribution to sales is difficult to isolate because many factors influence sales. The contribution advertising makes to sales are best viewed over the long run. The exception to this thinking is within the internet arena. While banner ads, pop-ups and interstitials should still be viewed as brand promoting and not necessarily sales drivers, technology provides the ability to track how many of a website's visitors click the banner, investigate a product, request more information, and ultimately make a purchase. Through the use of symbols and images advertising can help differentiate products and services that are otherwise similar. Advertising also helps create and maintain brand equity. Brand equity is an intangible asset that results from a favorable image, impressions of differentiation, or consumer attachment to the company, brand, or trademark. This equity translates into greater sales volume, and/or higher margins, thus greater competitive advantage. Brand equity is established and maintained through advertising that focuses on image, product attributes, service, or other features of the company and its products or services. Cost is the greatest disadvantage of advertising. The average cost for a 30-second spot on network television increased fivefold between 1980 and 2005. Plus, the average cost of producing a 30-second ad for network television is quite expensive. It is not uncommon for a national advertiser to spend in the millions of dollars for one 30-second commercial to be produced. Add more millions on top of that if celebrity talent is utilized. Credibility and clutter are other disadvantages. Consumers have become increasingly skeptical about advertising messages and tend to resent advertisers' attempt to persuade. Advertising is everywhere, from network television, to daily newspapers, to roadside billboards, to golf course signs, to stickers on fruit in grocery stores. Clutter encourages consumers to ignore many advertising messages. New media are emerging, such as DVRs (digital video recorders) which allow consumers to record programs and then skip commercials, and satellite radio which provides a majority of its channels advertising free.

Public Relations Public relations is defined as a management function which identifies, establishes, and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics upon which its success or failure depends. Whereas advertising is a one-way communication from sender (the marketer) to the receiver (the consumer or the retail trade), public relations considers multiple audiences (consumers, employees, suppliers, vendors, etc.) and uses twoway communication to monitor feedback and adjust both its message and the organization's actions for maximum benefit. A primary tool used by public relations practitioners is publicity. Publicity capitalizes on the news value of a product, service, idea, person or event so that the information can be disseminated through the news media. This third party "endorsement" by the news media provides a vital boost to the marketing communication message: credibility. Articles in the media are perceived as being more objective than advertisements, and their messages are more likely to be absorbed and believed. For example, after the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes reported in the early 1990s that drinking moderate amounts of red wine could prevent heart attacks by lowering cholesterol, red wine sales in the United States increased 50 percent. Another benefit publicity offers is that it is free, not considering the great amount of effort it can require to get out-bound publicity noticed and picked up by media sources. Public relations' role in the promotional mix is becoming more important because of what Philip Kotler describes as an "over communicated society." Consumers develop "communication-avoidance routines" where they are likely to tune out commercial messages. As advertising loses some of its cost-effectiveness, marketers are turning to news coverage, events, and community programs to help disseminate their product and company messages. Some consumers may also base their purchase decisions on the image of the company, for example, how environmentally responsible the company is. In this regard, public relations plays an important role in presenting, through news reports, sponsorships, "advertorials" (a form of advertising that instead of selling a product or service promotes the company's views regarding current issues), and other forms of communication, what the company stands for. Direct Marketing Direct marketing, the oldest form of marketing, is the process of communicating directly with target customers to encourage response by telephone, mail, electronic means, or personal

visit. Users of direct marketing include retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, and service providers, and they use a variety of methods including direct mail, telemarketing, directresponse advertising, online computer shopping services, cable shopping networks, and infomercials. Traditionally not viewed as an element in the promotional mix, direct marketing represents one of the most profound changes in marketing and promotion in the last 25 years. Aspects of direct marketing, which includes direct response advertising and direct mail advertising as well as the various research and support activities necessary for their implementation, have been adopted by virtually all companies engaged in marketing products, services, ideas, or persons. Direct marketing has become an important part of many marketing communication programs for three reasons. First, the number of two-income households has increased dramatically. About six in every ten women in the United States work outside the home. This has reduced the amount of time families have for shopping trips. Secondly, more shoppers than ever before rely on credit cards for payment of goods and services. These cashless tr nsactions a make products easier and faster to purchase. Finally, technological advances in telecommunications and computers allow consumers to make purchases from their homes via telephone, television, or computer with ease and safety. These three factors have dramatically altered the purchasing habits of American consumers and made direct marketing a growing field worldwide. Direct marketing allows a company to target more precisely a segment of customers and prospects with a sales message tailored to their specific needs and characteristics. Unlike advertising and public relations, whose connections to actual sales are tenuous or nebulous at best, direct marketing offers accountability by providing tangible results. The economics of direct marketing have also improved over the years as more information is gathered about customers and prospects. By identifying those consumers they can serve more effectively and profitably, companies may be more efficient in their marketing efforts. Whereas network television in the past offered opportunities to reach huge groups of consumers at a low cost per thousand, direct marketing can reach individual consumers and develop a relationship with each of them. Research indicates that brands with strong brand equity are more successful in direct marketing efforts than little-known brands. Direct marketing, then, works best when other

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marketing communication such as traditional media advertising supports the direct marketing effort. Direct marketing has its drawbacks also. Just as consumers built resistance to the persuasive nature of advertising, so have they with direct marketing efforts. Direct marketers have responded by being less sales oriented and more relationship oriented. Also, just as consumers grew weary of advertising clutter, so have they with the direct marketing efforts. Consumers are bombarded with mail, infomercials, and telemarketing pitches daily. Some direct marketers have responded by regarding privacy as a customer service benefit. Direct marketers must also overcome consumer mistrust of direct marketing efforts due to incidents of illegal behavior by companies and individuals using direct marketing. The U.S. Postal Service, the Federal Trade Commission, and other federal and state agencies may prosecute criminal acts. The industry then risks legislation regulating the behavior of direct marketers if it is not successful in self-regulation. The Direct Marketing Association, the leading trade organization for direct marketing, works with companies and government agencies to initiate self-regulation. In March of 2003 the National Do Not Call Registry went into affect whereby consumers added their names to a list that telemarketers had to eliminate from their outbound call database. Database Marketing Database marketing is a form of direct marketing that attempts to gain and reinforce sales transactions while at the same time being customer driven. Successful database marketing continually updates lists of prospects and customers by identifying who they are, what they are like, and what they are purchasing now or may be purchasing in the future. By using database marketing, marketers can develop products and/or product packages to meet their customers' needs or develop creative and media strategies that match their tastes, values, and lifestyles. Like IMC, database marketing is viewed by many marketers as supplanting traditional marketing strategies and is a major component of most IMC programs. At the core of database marketing is the idea that market segments are constantly shifting and changing. People who may be considered current customers, potential customers, and former customers and people who are likely never to be customers are constantly changing. By identifying these various segments and developing a working knowledge of their wants, needs, and characteristics, marketers can reduce the cost of reaching non-prospects and build

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customer loyalty. Perhaps the most important role of database marketing is its ability to retain customers. The cumulative profit for a five-year loyal customer is between seven and eight times the first-year profit. Since database marketing is expensive to develop and complex to implement effectively, companies considering database marketing should consider three important questions. First, do relatively frequent purchasers or high dollar volume purchasers for the brand exist? Secondly, is the market diverse enough so that segmenting into subgroups would be beneficial? Finally, are there customers that represent opportunities for higher volume purchases? Sales Promotion Sales promotions are direct inducements that offer extra incentives to enhance or accelerate the product's movement from producer to consumer. Sales promotions may be directed at the consumer or the trade. Consumer promotions such as coupons, sampling, premiums, sweepstakes, price packs (packs that offer greater quantity or lower cost than normal), low cost financing deals, and rebates are purchase incentives in that they induce product trial and encourage repurchase. Consumer promotions may also include incentives to visit a retail establishment or request additional information. Trade promotions include slotting allowances ("buying" shelf space in retail stores), allowances for featuring the brand in retail advertising, display and merchandising allowances, buying allowances (volume discounts and other volume-oriented incentives), bill back allowances (pay-for-performance incentives), incentives to salespeople, and other tactics to encourage retailers to carry the item and to push the brand. Two perspectives may be found among marketers regarding sales promotion. First, sales promotion is supplemental to advertising in that it binds the role of advertising with personal selling. This view regards sales promotion as a minor player in the marketing communication program. A second view regards sales promotion and advertising as distinct functions with objectives and strategies very different from each other. Sales promotion in this sense is equal to or even more important than advertising. Some companies allocate as much as 75 percent of their advertising/promotion dollars to sales promotion and just 25 percent to advertising. Finding the right balance is often a difficult task. The main purpose of sales promotion is to spur action. Advertising sets up the deal by developing a brand reputation and building

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market value. Sales promotion helps close the deal by providing incentives that build market volume. Sales promotions can motivate customers to select a particular brand, especially when brands appear to be equal, and they can produce more immediate and measurable results than advertising. However, too heavy a reliance on sales promotions results in "deal-prone" consumers with little brand loyalty and too much price sensitivity. Sales promotions can also force competitors to offer similar inducements, with sales and profits suffering for everyone. Sponsorships. Sponsorships, or event marketing, combine advertising and sales promotions with public relations. Sponsorships increase awareness of a company or product, build loyalty with a specific target audience, help differentiate a product from its competitors, provide merchandising opportunities, demonstrate commitment to a community or ethnic group, or impact the bottom line. Like advertising, sponsorships are initiated to build long-term associations. Organizations sometimes compare sponsorships with advertising by using gross impressions or cost-per-thousand measurements. However, the value of sponsorships can be very difficult to measure. Companies considering sponsorships should consider the shortterm public relations value of sponsorships and the long-term goals of the organization. Sports sponsorships make up about two-thirds of all sponsorships. Exhibits Exhibits, or trade shows, are hybrid forms of promotion between business-to-business advertising and personal selling. Trade shows provide opportunities for face-to-face contact with prospects, enable new companies to create a viable customer base in a short period of time, and allow small and midsize companies that may not be visited on a regular basis by salespeople to become familiar with suppliers and vendors. Because many trade shows generate media attention, they have also become popular venues for introducing new products and providing a stage for executives to gain visibility. Personal Selling Personal selling includes all person-to-person contact with customers with the purpose of introducing the product to the customer, convincing him or her of the product's value, and

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closing the sale. The role of personal selling varies from organization to organization, depending on the nature and size of the company, the industry, and the products or services it is marketing. Many marketing executives realize that both sales and non-sales employees act as salespeople for their organization in one way or another. One study that perhaps supports this contention found that marketing executives predicted greater emphasis being placed on sales management and personal selling in their organization than on any other promotional mix element. These organizations have launched training sessions that show employees how they act as salespeople for the organization and how they can improve their interpersonal skills with clients, customers, and prospects. Employee reward programs now reward employees for their efforts in this regard. Personal selling is the most effective way to make a sale because of the interpersonal communication between the salesperson and the prospect. Messages can be tailored to particular situations, immediate feedback can be processed, and message strategies can be changed to accommodate the feedback. However, personal selling is the most expensive way to make a sale, with the average cost per sales call ranging from $235 to $332 and the average number of sales calls needed to close a deal being between three and six personal calls. Sales and marketing management classifies salespersons into one of three groups: creative selling, order taking, and missionary sales reps. Creative selling jobs require the most skills and preparation. They are the "point person" for the sales function. They prospect for customers, analyze situations, determine how their company can satisfy wants and needs of prospects, and, most importantly, get an order. Order takers take over after the initial order is received. They handle repeat purchases (straight rebuys) and modified rebuys. Missionary sales reps service accounts by introducing new products, promotions, and other programs. Orders are taken by order takers or by distributors. Internet Marketing Just as direct marketing has become a prominent player in the promotional mix, so too has the Internet. Virtually unheard of in the 1980s, the 1990s saw this new medium explode onto the scene, being adopted by families, businesses and other organizations more quickly than any other medium in history. Web sites provide a new way of transmitting information, entertainment, and advertising, and have generated a new dimension in marketing: electronic

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commerce. E-commerce is the term used to describe the act of selling goods and services over the Internet. In other words, the Internet has become more that a communication channel; it is a marketing channel itself with companies such as Amazon.com, CDNow, eBay, and others selling goods via the Internet to individuals around the globe. In less than 10 years advertising expenditures on the Internet will rival those for radio and outdoor. Public relations practitioners realize the value that web sites offer in establishing and maintaining relationships with important publics. For example, company and product information can be posted on the company's site for news reporters researching stories and for current and potential customers seeking information. Political candidates have web sites that provide information about their background and their political experience. The interactivity of the Internet is perhaps its greatest asset. By communicating with customers, prospects, and others one-on-one, firms can build databases that help them meet specific needs of individuals, thus building a loyal customer base. Because the cost of entry is negligible, the Internet is cluttered with web sites. However, this clutter does not present the same kind of problem that advertising clutter does. Advertising and most other forms of promotion assume a passive audience that will be exposed to marketing communication messages via the mass media or mail regardless of their receptivity. Web sites require audiences who are active in the information-seeking process to purposely visit the site. Therefore, the quality and freshness of content is vital for the success of the web site.

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Objectives
Objectives of report on marketing communication in hospitality industry are as follows:y

To study the marketing communication and its objectives. To study the hospitality industry.

To study the 7ps of marketing communication in hospitality industry. To study the recent examples of effective marketing communication in hospitality industry

To study the recent trends in marketing communication in hospitality industry. To study the marketing communication in tourism and aviation industry

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Research and methodology


Research methodology is systematically solving the problem. It may be understood of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we study the various steps that are adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with the logic behind them. This gives the logic for solving the problem. In this section of my project report the requirement is to describe the following:i) ii) Methods of research design Sources of data

Research design Research design is the master plan of methods, approaches, techniques, variables, data source,
evaluation methodology, timing and costing of all research activities etc.

The types of research design are: 1.Exploratory research Design The main objective of the exploratory research is to manage the broad problem into specific problem statement and generate possible hypothesis. The exploratory studies are mainly used for: a) Providing information to enable a more precise problem definition. b) Establishing research priorities. c) Making researcher aware of the problem situation. d) Data collecting information like tools, methods and techniques
2. Descriptive research design

The descriptive could be quantitative and qualitative both. it describes the given problem/phenomenon to establish the relationship between the factors. For example, descriptive research design for measuring the attributes of successful sales people, or evaluate a training program or a retailing situation. The descriptive research is used for the following purposes:

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a) To describe the characteristics of certain group of interest to the marketer, like users of product. b) To estimate the target customer in the given population. c) To make predictions for the specific future periods. Methods of research design: To derive the conclusion in the topic of marketing communication in hospitality industry, exploratory research design has been adopted. Therefore it is concluded that for problem of marketing communication in hospitality industry designing and adopting effective strategies should be use. Sources of data: I Primary Data : It refers to information obtain first hand by the researcher on variables of their interest. sources of primary data are : i) ii) iii) iv) II Interview Survey Observation Questionnaire Secondary Data : it refers to the data collected from various sources lik books, e reports, newspaper, internet etc.

In this report secondary data has been used .Data has been collected through following sources: i. ii. Books Internet

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Objectives of marketing communication:Every marketing communication strategy, be it, traditional mass one to many, e-mail basedone to one, or internet web based-many to many; no matter which method you use, its main objectives are, to Inform, Persuade and Remind. Inform- This objective is intended to create and stimulate interest and awareness, that is, to let targeted consumers know your product or service offering and where to find them. For example, if your target market teenagers or young adults, then your message must be interesting, current and trendy, you may choose to reach your market through social media networks such as facebook or twitter and this group spends a lot of time online, so e-mail marketing and banner advertising will work best. Alternatively if your aim is to reach the elderly, the message must be clear, concise, informative and easy to read, because this will help to ensure that this group understands your offering. You may choose to distribute pamphlets in doctors offices or put ads in the newspaper to reach this target audience. Persuade- This goal aims to convince your customers, that your product or service will provide the best value to your customers, compared to the competition. This can be done by giving competitive pricing, money-back guarantees and flexible return policies. You may also want to create urgency by giving limited time offers and time specific free shipping discounts. Remind- Once you have made your message interesting and persuasive, then your last objective will be to remind your customers to take action, i.e. to purchase your products often. Its important to stay visible to your customers, the more they are reminded of your existence, the higher the chance of buying from you the next time they need something that you offer. Remember, the clearer, the more interesting, and the more convincing your communication is, the more influence it will have on your customers to take positive action, which will positively affect your revenue.

7 ps of marketing
Services are very different from products. So the marketing concepts need to be revisited while marketing a service. Services can range from financial services provided by the banks,

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technology services provided by the IT company, food and ambiance as a service provided by restaurants or even a blog where an author provides a service (in formation presentation, interesting reading etc) to his audience. Services marketing are dominated by the 7 Ps of marketing namely Product, Price, Place, Promotion, evidence. People, Process and Physical

Fig. No.4.1.

The following form the marketing mix for services marketing, the first 4 Ps being the core and the next 3 Ps being the extended marketing mix.
y

Product is your core offering.This is the thing that will fulfill the needs of your customer. If your product is faulty, every thing else fails.

Price has a lot of impact on the service buyers satisfaction level. Often, paying a higher price makes a customer more satisfied. Price is often considered a proxy for quality.

Place often offers a different side of value (utility) to the customer. Who would want to travel 10 miles to have a regular dinner, even if that is priced very competitively and has a super

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quality? Services are often chosen for their place utility. Closer to the customer means higher probability of purchase.
y

Promotion plays a role in the perception the possible target audience may have about your service. There has to be a fit between the promotion and the positioning.

People are crucial in service delivery. The best food may not seem equally palatable if the waitress is in a sour mood. A smile always helps.

Processes are important to deliver a quality service. Services being intangible, processes become all the more crucial to ensure standards are met with.

Physical evidence affects the customers satisfaction. Often, services being intangible, customers depend on other cues to judge the offering. This is where physical evidence plays a part. Services marketing is that elusive concept which stays incomplete without a thorough understanding of 7 Ps. These form the critical success factors for any service as evaluated by a possible customer.

Marketing Mix of Hotel Marketing


The Product Mix In any organization, we find product the focal point. The hotel services also require a fair combination of core arid peripheral services. It is right to mention that in almost all the hotels of same category by and large the core services are found identical and therefore the peripheral services divert a close attention where the hotel personnel need professional excellence. More innovative the peripheral services, more attractions are the product mix. This makes it essential that hotels and hotel companies assign due weightage to the formulation of an optimal product mix in which peripheral services prove to be a point of attraction. The emerging trends in the socio-economic parlance necessitate an analogous change in the product mix. With the passage of time, it is quite natural that some of the services become outdated and therefore, we need to eliminate them. At the same time, it is essential that we keep our minds open and come to know the latest developments in the likes and dislikes of the customers, and while including new services in the product mix, assign due weightage to

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their preferences. While formulating the product mix it is pertinent that we make the ways for frequent innovation. It is also right to mention that frequency in innovation is found essential and at the same time easier in the context of peripheral services. The hotel professionals are required to formulate a package that helps in attracting the customers. Modifications in the existing services by adding a few outstanding properties is found to be a suitable strategy for the development of product. The generation of idea, the formulation of concept, the analysis of product cost and the testing of services before their final commercial launch become significant in the very context. This necessitates an in-depth study of product life cycle. A hotel manager bears the responsibility of adding attractions to the product mix and this is possible when they have world class professional excellence. While formulating the product mix for the hotel services, it is essential that catering management, restaurant and cafeteria management, management of bedrooms, management of convention halls are given due weightage. The boarding services are considered to be an important part of product mix. In addition, the lodging services also become significant. Here it is essential that facilities like light, water, electricity, ventilation, entertainment, sanitation arrangement of bed etc. are available to the guests. While formulating the product mix, the hotel organizations are required to make possible a fair mix of core and peripheral services. The Product Mix for a Hotel will typically include: Reception: Welcome, Enquiry and sign posts. Boarding: Catering, restaurants and cafeterias. Lodging: Bed, room, light, water, sanitation, ventilation and view. Entertainment: TV, Dance, music, cultural shows and radio. Shopping: shopping arcade, fairs and exhibitions. Personal Care: Beauty parlour, hair cutting, gymnasium and jogging. Communication and transport: Telephone, news, papers, magazines, reservations asasand car rentals.

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Medicals: first aid / ambulance. The product mix of the Regent Mumbai include: Room:
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Deluxe room: 400 sq. ft, large, well appointed rooms, with executive desk and chair and sofa. Rooms feature luxurious marble bathrooms.

Executive room: 450 sq ft, spacious bedroom with king bed and large marble bathroom with separate walk-in shower. Roomy living room area with a sofa, coffee table, desk and chair.

The Regent Suite: located on the top floor. Two bedrooms, each with its own private bathroom, dining area, office and private living room, and lounge opening onto a private pool deck overlooking Mahim Bay towards the city.

The Presidential Suite: located on the top floor. Two bedrooms each with its own private bathroom, dining area, and large living and entertainment area, overlooking the Arabian Sea towards the north.

Executive Suite: 700 sq ft, two room suite. Separate bedrooms with king bed and suite bathroom and living room. Services:

y y y y y

508 luxurious, executive-sized rooms. The spectacular lobby is destined to become Mumbais most popular meeting point. Five enticing restaurants serving Indian, Chinese and European cuisine. Fully equipped health club, fitness centre and squash courts. Extensive, indoor and outdoor meeting and function space. Promotion mix For successful marketing, it is only not sufficient to concentrate on the quality of services but it is also impact generating that we promote our business in such a way that the prospects come to know about the quality to be offered to them as hotel customers. This focuses the attention on innovative promotional measures. The components

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like advertisement, publicity, sales promotion, personal selling, word-of-mouth promotion and telemarketing need due attention of hotel professionals. Advertisement Advertisement is a paid form of communication that helps in informing, sensing and persuading the prospects or users. While advertising, it is significant that the hotel professionals make possible a productive use of print media, broadcast media and telecast media. In the face of potentials, requirements and the intensity of competition, there is a need to select media for promoting our messages and slogans. Of late, there is a significant development in the print media since sophistication in the printing technologies has made ways for offset printing, screen- printing and laser printing. These devices are found efficacious in attracting the prospects. There are a number of plus points in the print media. It is possible to be descriptive while advertising. We are in a position to attract the attention of prospects by displaying attractive scenes, events, landscape, comforts, costs etc. To be more specific when we have advanced print devices we find enough scope for using print media for advertising. In this context, it is pertinent that the hotel professionals advertise sensibly, intelligently and for that seek the co-operation of advertising professionals who can simplify and sensitize the process. Another plus point that we find in the print media is related to economy. We find it economic and therefore the promotion budget is not to be non-optimal. The services of advertising professionals would make possible creativity in the advertisement messages and appeals. While selecting the media for advertisement, it is significant that we keep in our minds the magazines, newspapers preferred by the target audience. The magazines, newspapers preferred by women and teens should be given due weightage since in a majority of the cases, the decisions regarding a particular tour hotel are taken by them. Of late, the telecast media is considered to be the most sensitive but expensive media of advertisement. In the world of marketing communication, top position is assigned to the telecast media because scope for audio-visual exposure makes ways for sensitising the prospects in a right fashion. It is against this ground that we find hotels advertising through TV.

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In view of the above, it is right to observe that out of all the media, print media is found to be the most effective media for hotel advertisements. It is due mainly to fact that in the print media, the advertisers get an opportunity to display facts and figures which may be very much instrumental in convincing and persuading the prospects. The fact cannot be denied that while using print media, the materials used for advertising are found of world class, such as quality papers, quality print, quality photographs, attractive scenes or so. The use of quality materials paves avenues for attractions. Publicity Another dimension of promotion known as an unpaid form of persuasive communication also plays an incremental role in promoting the hotel business. While publicizing, the hotel professionals play a significant role by managing the media personnel for publishing news items related to the hotel. Public relations activities thus become instrumental in the process of publicizing. The British Institute of Public Relations has defined it as the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and the public. The vast majority of hoteliers welcome publicity not only because it is free but because they know that most people buy a magazine or a newspaper to read the articles, news and editorials, rather than the advertisements unless they are looking for a product or are interested in booking a holiday or a restaurant or a convention hall or a wedding hall. In the hotel business, there are a number of events which should be transmitted to the local press, such as the appointment of a new chef, list of cocktails, menus for certain functions held at hotel, particulars of certain important conferences or exhibitions to be held, menus for special days of the year, photographs of staff dressed up for special days and well-known people staying in the hotel. There are a number of hotels doing a lot of charitable work and helping in organizing charitable fund-raising events too. In the public relations, the activities range from a press release to newspaper and magazines, especially to create the interest of prospects in a holiday age in a good resort of a country. The holiday package tours and trips on familiarity with a tour spot, organized by tour operators for the travel agents to help them in enriching their knowledge and making the travelling decisions. The wine and cheese parties organized by the British Airways to launch

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not required Seychelles as a new resort or other such functions with the motto of enriching the knowledge of the prospects. There are a number of media sources available for publicity. Illustration, copy and the spoken word are the primary publicity to media, which are grouped into the following heads:
    

Printed Publicit Advertising Publicity Projected Publicity Structural Publicity Personal Publicity Thus it is right to say that public relations activities occupy a significant place in the promotion mix of hotel companies. In the hotel companies, the tour operators, travel agents explore opportunities for educating the masses. In this context, it is important that hotel companies are getting the best co-operation from media and for which the Public Relations Officers or the marketers or the contact personnel bear the responsibility of developing rapport with them, organizing for them lunch or dinner, offering to them small gifts and influencing them to write in favour. You spend nominal amount but get big coverage, which help you substantially, if not at present of course in future. Sales Promotion In almost all the organizations, we feel the need of offering incentives for promoting the business. Like other organizations, the hotels and hotel companies also offer incentives to the users vis- -vis to the personnel and organizations evincing interest in promoting the business. Sales promotion is considered as a temporary device to increase the business with certain objectives. It is a short term activity seeking to boost sales during peak demand periods to make it sure that the firm obtains its market share and helps launch a new product or support an ailing or modified services. These facts make it clear that sales promotion is complementary to advertising. Sales promotion and advertising objectives do not conflict but reinforce one another.

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The tools of sales promotion are directed at the hotel staff, tour operator and travel agents and guests or clients. There is a three-tier arrangement for sales promotion in the hotel business. There are a number of incentives offered to them. In addition, some of the hotels also offer concessional travelling and accommodation facilities, especially to their staff. Besides, there are also cases of organizing sales contests. Tools of sales promotion. The tour operators and travel agents are also given the incentives. There are give-away and concessional accommodation facilities for them. Besides, the guests or clients are also offered incentives. They are allowed off-season discount and a number of small gifts, specially the habitual guests for the purpose of keeping on the business. The following tools of sales promotion are used for all the three heads instrumental in promoting the hotel business.
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Brochure: It is a device to stimulate customers and motivate them to visit a hotel and avail of the benefits offered by the management of the hotel. It is a detailed publication helping hotel companies in promoting their business. It is also called as a pamphlet bound in the form of a booklet. It describes and illustrates the services made available by hotels. We find brochure different to folder in size and contents as well. It requires careful planning of the layout, colour and paper used for publishing the contents. The brochures are supposed to focus on the theme and messages of promotion areas. The guests, clients get detailed in information from the brochure. Folder: Folders are the most commonly used sales promotion tools. In this respect, it is essential that folders have an impressive appearance in totality. The particulars are required to be in brief but clear. It is a single piece of illustrated paper that is found less voluminous than the brochure. The folders are usually printed on a single sheet of paper and then folded. The quality of paper and printing used for publication are found significant to make folders more attractive. The hotels can use folders for promoting the business. Packaging: it is known as an attractive wrapper of product. When we talk about packaging in the hotel industry, our emphasis is on the outer cover and internal layout of brochures and leaflets. It is a final persuasive move on the part of hotels and hotel companies. The materials used for packaging are required to be attractive.

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Attraction leaflets: This is exclusively meant for presenting a view of the different theme parks, museums, amusement parks, outstanding points of attraction in the hotels or so. Merchandising: It is found helpful in promoting mass-market. This tool is found significant to restaurants and bars. The merchandising involves displaying of foodstuffs and drinks in the right location. The restaurants and bars are required to place their important items at such point where the guest and clients get an opportunity to have a close view of special drinks or special menu. Direct Mail Materials: The sales letters are found to be a direct mail material that can either be used alone or in combination with brochures and folders. Display Materials: In the materials to be displayed at sensitive points are posters, dispensers, exhibits etc. We can use these materials in the offices of the travel agents, tour operators or at the places where tourists come, such as tourists spots, resorts, airports, and railway and bus stations. Competition and Exhibition: There are organization of competition and exhibition for promoting the business. Special Officer: There is also a provision for special offer for all, such as users, travel agents, tour operators, hotel personnel.

The aforesaid tools of sales promotion help hotels and hotel companies in increasing the business. The hotel personnel need professional excellence to make the tools of sales promotion productive. THE REGENT, Mumbai, has a sales promotion strategy such as THE REGENT ADVANTAGE CARD system. Under this scheme, card owner is entitled to a free meal on the purchase of a meal from any of the hotels restaurant. The card owner also gets various discounts such as 10% discounts in the THE REGENT Beauty Parlour, 30% discount on the suite room. This discounts are maximum for 10 persons on the food and beverage items also. Word-of-mouth Promotion Word-of-mouth promotion is very much instrumental in sensitising the prospects. In the hotel industry, it is much more significant that the satisfaction of users is give top priority. Of course, there are a number of components to promote sale but it is right to mention that other constituents may be ineffective but the word-of-mouth . The word-of-mouth promoters are

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those who are satisfied with the services of hotels or are motivated to motivate the prospects. We cant deny the fact that one bad meal would often do more damage by word- of-mouth than fifty good meals. The hotel guests take a good meal for granted but dont forget to narrate to their friends and relatives about a bad meal or the bitter experiences of menufatigue. This speaks of the fact that word-of-mouth promotion can show more negative effects and therefore the hotels and hotel companies need to assign due weightage to this component of the promotion mix. Of course, the dissatisfied group of users is free to complain to the hotel management but often they dont act. We find them close-mouthed and stiff-lipped till they make a good-bye and after going back they try their best to think twice before coming to that hotel again. Moreover they start narrating to their friends and relatives their bitter experiences of menu fatigue even without taking a rest. It is against this background that high-level functions, refined behaviour and world-class services by the hotel personnel carry some meaning. These services pave the ways for oral communication and recommendation. The persons acting as word-of-mouth promoters are also called the hidden salesforce. Price Mix Pricing decisions are found critical, challenging and chaotic. Of course, no marketing mix is found so much critical as pricing. Pricing is not only the outcome of the marketing forces. It conveys something to customers even about the quality of a product. There are a number of variables influencing the pricing decisions of an organization. The pricing decisions are beset with many problems. No doubt in it that fixing the hotel tariffs is just like pricing other goods and services. At the same time, it is also right to mention that the hotel professionals need more excellence while fixing the hotel tariffs since the services are found of perishable nature. In addition, the seasonal fluctuation in demand and increasing intensity of competition also complicate the task of professionals. They need world-class excellence while making strategical and tactical pricing decisions. Pricing decisions are found important in both strategic and tactical sense. In the tactical sense, it plays an outstanding role. This is due to the inseparability and perishability of the hotel products. This is also due to the inability of the service engineering organizations to carry over unsold stocks as a buffer to cope with future demand as found in the goods manufacturing organizations. Also known as price deregulation, tactical pricing is found

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instrumental in promoting the hotel business. Experiences show that in the hotel industry, it is found to be a major selling tool. There are a number of ways for practicing and benefiting from this tool:
y

Seasonal Discounts Found applicable in the hotel industry. Customary to charge lower prices, specially during the off-season.

Trade Discounts Found applicable in the hotel industry as tour operators and travel agents are offered discounts.

Special Discounts In the hotel industry, we find special function room rates for overnight convention. Pricing for Room Tariffs Here, we go through the guidelines for fixing reasonable room tariffs. While fixing room tariffs, it is essential that we assign due weightage to the price structure to be adopted. The average room rate should not be much higher than the competitive hotels otherwise the market will not welcome it. A hotel may also adopt a policy to give high pay roll to provide a higher standard of services that the customers are ready to pay. There are some common factors considered by the hotel management and the public:

y y y y y

Current charges prior to a review the established inflationary effect on cost the general economic situation the emerging trends in currency exchange and the intensity of competition. Right averages and average room rates are the two important aspects to be taken into consideration while fixing hotel tariffs. The following are the economic criteria on room tariffs:

The total amount of net operating costs (after contribution from the food and beverage departments). Net operating costs, net operating cost plus rent (if payable) net operating cost plus interest and net operating cost plus a target return on capital.

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This helps in calculating the total room sales and to achieve various levels of profits with the assumption that room department cost ratios, staff numbers and staff standards are known

On the basis of the above, a schedule should be produced as per the average room rates required in order to break even and/or to achieve the profit targets at various occupancy levels.

Budgets on room sales are to be planned based on sales mix taking into account the different sources of business.

After this, based on the current quoted tariffs, it is possible to calculate the different sources of business, must/not be exceeded if the average rate required is to be achieved. The most expensive suite of THE REGENT, Mumbai, i.e. king suite is for Rs. 45000 + 20% taxes and the Normal Suite is for Rs. 15000 + 20% taxes. In each room they are providing facilities such as T.V., computers, telephones, etc. the major difference behind this price variation is the different quality of services provided by the hotel such as better quality shampoo, bed sheets, and the decor of the room. Pricing for Food and Beverage In a majority of the hotels, there are three or four types of rooms but so far as the menus are concerned we can have dozen of dishes. There are some of the important points to be considered in the process:

Do you find that your guests are eating in the hotel restaurant or coffee shop where the competitive restaurants are very close to the hotel. Generally a proportion does eat in but a significant proportion goes out.

Where a hotel has two or more restaurants, they compete with each other and help splitting the market down the middle rather than offering a true price.

The business in the function room. Pricing for Function Restaurants can get more business because the food, services or atmosphere is unique or just a little better than the competitors. But this aspect is found more complicated for function room services. Most of the functions are fairly routines that make it difficult to produce a

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gastronomic experience. In addition, this aspect is found more competitive specially on the price front. Payroll is found to be a major cost on functions. Unless we move to the selfservice (buffet style) functions, the payroll would remain an important dimension. A number of hotels are found fixing a staff standard for functions based on their style of hotel or one waiter to a table of ten people or one waiter to two tables. Yet, we find payroll more expensive. Place Mix The problems hotels experience in reaching new customers lead them to use third parties as intermediaries. This costs money in the form of commissions, of course, but then so does advertising.Let us consider the various means by which hotels and their customers can be brought together . Direct individual sales This is the simplest method. The would-be guest chooses a hotel and then contacts it by letter, telephone or some other medium. The only parties involved are the hotel and the customer. Of course, the customer has to find out about the hotel first. This involves some kind of advertising or promotion. Typical methods include mentions in guidebooks, local accommodation brochures or directories such as the motoring organization handbooks. One of the main problems with direct contact is that the customer is usually located a considerable distance from the hotel. This means that he has to place a long distance telephone call in order to make a booking, and might have to repeat this several times In order to obtain a room at a particularly busy period. This costs money and (what is often worse) often takes a good deal of time. However, not all travellers bother or are able to arrange accommodation in advance, and a hotel can always appeal directly to these. Roadside advertisements are examples of this approach. Direct group sales Many direct bookings are actually made on behalf of groups of one sort or another. Some of these are relatively small, such as sports clubs outings, overnight functions and the like, but

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others can be very large, such as major conferences. These are sometimes arranged by specialist agencies, but quite often the organizer prefers to deal with the hotel directly. Groups are so important as a source of business that they are an exception to the usual rule that it is not worth the hotels while to try to contact the customer directly for some face-toface selling. Hotel representatives Hotel representatives were originally an American idea, developed because the USA is a large country with widely dispersed centres of population, yet a lot of business travel. Hotel representatives base themselves in one such area (some now have worldwide representation) and act as sales and reservation agents on behalf of a number of non-competing hotels from other regions. Local travel agents are able to make bookings for the clients quickly and cheaply, rather than incurring the expense involved in long distance telephone calls. Representatives will also distribute your brochures and other promotional mater locally. They are usually paid an annual fee plus commission on the reservations they generate. Hotel booking agencies Some areas are short of hotel space and it is particularly difficult to find accommodation in them at busy times of the year. This is fine for the local hotels, but not much fun for those trying to make bookings there. This has led to the development of specialized hotel booking agencies. Some of these offer this service to individuals. Other hotel reservation agencies deal mainly with travel agents or conference organizers and offer a national, continental or ever worldwide service. Such agencies earn their living from commissions in the usual way, though there is usually also a systems charge to cover the installation of any specialized equipment. Group reservation systems These are designed to help customers to book accommodation at any of the hotels within a group, usually with one local telephone call. They offer a valuable service to travel agents, who may have to make a number of bookings at different locations at the same time.

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However, the facilities can also be useful to the individual traveler, who is able to make a booking at a distant hotel with one local call. An incidental advantage is that the systems make it easier for the group to monitor overall booking trends. The Internet Group reservation systems restrict the customer to Just one company or consortiums hotels. The Tourist Information Centre system is not limited in this way, but it suffers from resource problems that reduce its usefulness. In any case, it still puts an intermediary between the customer and the hotel. The Internet does away with these limitations, as more and more customers are discovering. Any would-be guest equipped with a computer and a modem can now call up a hotel database covering his proposed destination and select an establishment on the basis of its location, price and facilities. He can use the built-in e-mail facility to check its room availability, make a booking and even pay a deposit by quoting his credit card number, all without having to leave the comfort of his home or office. With a fax connection as well, he can have a confirmation slip printed off. In short, it allows him to select a hotel anywhere in the world and offers him instant connection at minimum cost, with all the advantages of immediate response and a permanent record. The People In an age of sophisticated information technologies when we have been making superhighway for communications, there is a basic change in the expectations of users. The personnel serving the hotel companies no doubt depend substantially on the instrumentality of information technologies but here it is also important that hotels and hotel companies assign due weightage to the development of personnel. Sky is the limit for perfection. This phrase is meaningful not only for the technologies but even for the people who manage them. It is against this background that the marketing experts the world over has been found making a strong advocacy in favour of an ongoing training programme for the personnel servicing the hotel companies. The prime focus is on the front-line-personnel working in hotels in different capacities. The receptionists, the porters, the housekeepers, the waiters and waitresses and even the doormen

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play an incremental role in promoting the business. The sales executives, the marketing managers, the senior executives bear the responsibility of managing the front-line-personnel in such a way that the promised services reach to the ultimate users without making any distortion. Of course, they are supposed to have proper education and knowledge regarding the services they need to offer but here, it is also important that the hotel organizes for them an ongoing training programme, refresher courses, capsule courses, lecture programme, specially related to the behavioral profile. There are several cases to quote that even the five star hotels where the users stay with high expectations, a minor mistake committed by the receptionists or the housekeepers has resulted in a big loss. The frontline- staff in particular needs to identify the changing levels of expectations of users and in a majority of the cases they virtually fail in doing such. A gap is generated between the quality promised and the quality-offered. If the hotel personnel prove to be high-performers, personally committed, professionally sound, valueoriented, aware of the behavioral management; familiar with the aesthetic management; they can satisfy the users even if the sophisticated technologies develop a fault. This makes it essential that the hotel personnel are made available an ongoing training facility efficacious in enriching their professional excellence. The cases of menu fatigue, power interruption, mismanaged bedrooms, function rooms and restaurants, indecent behaviour of doormen, poor information to the receptionists and enquires can be minimized considerably if due weightage to performance-orientation is assigned. THE REGENT, Mumbai, has recruited only those employees who have completed their diploma or PGDBA in Hotel & Catering Management. They have 700 permanent staff and 200 trainees. Their whole staff is well educated and well mannered because they are from the Hotel Management field only. These employees have western formal dress code. Slang is not allowed by the staff. This is how THE REGENT is maintaining and improving their quality of service. Training is also given to these employees. For this training they are appointing a well-known personalities from the field of hospitality industry.

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T rget market In marketing communications, the target market is described as the target audience, and the key is to match the audience characteristics of the available media with the hospitality organi ations target market profile. There are two alternative strategies in prioriti ing target audiences for hospitality companies who use intermediaries: push and pull

Fig.No. 4.2. push and pull strategies

A push strategy prioriti es intermediaries as the main target audience. Marketing communication activities focus on intermediaries, who should then influence the end user to choose the companys products instead of competitors. Hospitality marketing communication campaigns targeting intermediaries use all the elements of the marketing communication mix, but competitors are also targeting intermediaries. So it is difficult to gain competitive advantage.

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Recent example of effective marketing communication in hospitality industry.


The hotel channel manager wins recognition for its Marketing of Innovation eRevMax hit a hat-trick when it won Gold at European Seal of e-Excellence 2011. For the past two years the premium hotel technology provider has been recognized for it efforts in Marketing of Innovation and this year was no different. The company achieved the title for effective marketing communications and clear product positioning for the launch of its online guest review management tool for hotels - RTSuite Review. This new platform enables hotels to manage their brand reputation and interact directly with guests across multiple hotel review websites. This migration allows each hotel greater access and control in the company's distribution strategy. To do this, NH Hoteles has used the RTConnect channel management technology. More than 200 hotels (now using RTSuite) will migrate their data to the new platform and so enable the hotel chain to have more immediate control over price management, as well as becoming more visible for online travel agents and easier and clearer for managing occupancy and improving the hotel chain's performance. The award-winners were announced at CeBIT, Germany with eRevMax among the successful applicants. The European Seal of e-Excellence is widely known for promoting Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and digital companies with an excellent track record in the marketing of innovation. The Seal has been awarded annually since 2003 by the European Multimedia Forum (EMF) and its Partner Associations. Over the past 12 months, eRevMax has put key focus on new product development as well as further consolidation of existing products to enhance efficiencies for its hotel users. The company has also completed various integrations with other hotel technology providers to offer seamless solutions to the industry. eRevMaxs CEO Sascha Hausmann was pleased when informed about the win and said, "To be recognised by the European Seal of e-Excellence for the third consecutive year proves our continuous commitment to creativity and uniqueness for our products and marketing

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initiatives. The launch of RTSuite Review achieved a lot of attention and to be a Gold category winner within this award further strengthens the concept of this product and the benefits it provides. With many new product development projects in the pipeline, we promise to continue offering innovative solutions to cater to current and future online distribution demands of hoteliers. Ragnar Strerath, Division President RTConnect, was present to collect the award on behalf of eRevMax. Tools to help destination and resort marketers stay on-brand Mass media, online communications, social networks, word of mouth... With so many unique messages going out to consumers and customers, how can marketers stay true to their brands promise of value? According to a recent issue of the Wanderlust Report, the answer is with a well-defined brand position, a clear communication of brand values, and a few simple tools to help direct decision-making and inspire the troops. The newsletter goes on to explore the importance of a solid brand position, and provides some tips for keeping your message onbrand. Defining a relevant, desirable and ownable brand position is the first place to start, said Mark Shipley, President and Chief Strategic Officer of Wanderlust. Communicating that brand position and values within your organization is critical, too, for keeping your messages on-brand. When your management team, marketers, and frontline service personnel are clear on what youre selling, they can live the brand direct their behavior, their appearance and their customer interactions to express and reinforce the brand. These are a few of the tools we use at Wanderlust to help clients do this. The mood board The mood board is a tourism marketing device we use at Wanderlust to help establish the personality and visual identity of travel and tourism brands, said Shipley. The mood board is a combination of photographs, graphics and words on a single panel that reflect the desired brand position (rather than the current position). Together these elements provide an illustrated example of the brand position, imparting the energy, mood and spirit of a destination, resort or attraction.

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Elements of a brand mood board:


y

Photos that convey a destinations spirit or energy, and reflect visual content likely to appear in marketing communications.

Text that helps express mood and personality: usually limited to 3 to 6 carefully chosen words that define a feeling, a way of behaving, or a characteristic attitude of the destination.

Graphic elements, including iconography, color palettes and typography, that foreshadow the brand image and formal brand identity program. Mood boards are very helpful in defining, explaining and building out a new brand position. First, for getting buy-in and approval of positioning initiatives: If the mood board captures the feel of a place, if its a believable representation of what a destination can offer, and above all, if its desirable and exciting, then it is likely a successful position. Secondly, mood boards can help communicate the brand to frontline staff. Presenting with words and images they can relate to and easily remember helps them find ways to express the brand position in their interactions with customers. And finally, mood boards are excellent decision-support tools, offering a visual measuring stick that can be help up against creative executions. Mood boards are the acid test for whether communications are on-brand or off-brand, Shipley explains. Does a new ad or brochure capture the look and feel of the mood board? Does it support the position and promise of value? In a world of subjective opinions about design and communication, the mood board can provide an objective tool to help you make important decisions,

Recent trends in marketing communication in hospitality industry


Hospitality Marketing Trends

Ten years ago, the marketing mantra that worked best for hotels was the creation of a brand; make it exclusive, market the experience as surreal and the customer's decision to purchase was expected to automatically follow suit. This worked at that time because there was a narrow playing field with few domestic and international hotel chains in the country. Not surprising then that in 2010, India has seen an increased supply of international and domestic

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hotel chains that now volley with independent hotels for market share. Moreover, consumer generated media and mobile technology had yet to hit India in 2000 where the foremost influencer for the customer in making a purchase decision was the brand. The brand was conceptualized by its custodians the internal stakeholders to reflect the persona of the product, which made branding a one-way stream of communication mostly. Hence, Brand 2000 was a product of the internal stakeholders accented with high flying Brand Promises which translated into the Consumer Purchase Decision of 2000. Moreover, consumer generated media and mobile technology had yet to hit India in 2000 where the foremost influencer for the customer in making a purchase decision was the brand. The brand was conceptualized by its custodians the internal stakeholders to reflect the persona of the product, which made branding a one-way stream of communication mostly. Hence, Brand 2000 was a product of the internal stakeholders accented with high flying Brand Promises which translated into the Consumer Purchase Decision of 2000.

The year 2010 is a different story as the consumer is well educated, travelled, experienced and looks beyond the gloss of the brand to the value proposition and the actual delivery of brand promises. Thus, in the Year 2010, the marketing mantras are differentiation, consistency, customer satisfaction, delivery of brand promises and customer retention. Today, Brand 2010 has evolved from a one-way communication stream to a two-way one that is more flexible and accommodates the customer's needs and wants. Hence, Brand 2010 is a product of the External Stakeholder the needs and wants of the Customers accented by experience led, sustainable Brand Promises which now translates into the Purchase Decision of 2010. Today, the state of economic flux wherein each dollar spent is being analyzed, renegotiated and then minimized, the marketing dilemma of marketing spend vs. incremental revenue assumes more importance. How do marketing resources of the Indian Hospitality sector continue to build their brand and market their product successfully? Consistent delivery of a superior and differentiated product experience that offers a greater perceived value will result in the acquisition and retention of customers. The pressure on consistent delivery of brand promises is further maintained by online customer feedback which impacts the attraction quotient of the product for other prospective customers. Customers in the coming decade will

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want to 'Find Even Before they Seek' and the advent of social networking has given a new power to customers like none other before. In addition, to make things just a bit harder the new technology paradigm will make customer decisions even more fickle. In this decade, the customer will make purchase decisions based on the entire experience offered, its perceived value and the consumer feedback it has received as against just the brand, brand promises and product offerings alone. The customer of the coming decade will evolve to be the real custodians of the Brand. Key Game Changers:
y y y

Broadening of the playing field with entry of many domestic and international hotel chains Well educated, travelled and experienced customer base Evolution of the brand from a one-way communication stream to a two-way one that accommodates customer needs and experiences

y y

Consistent delivery of brand promises and customer experiences Marketing equations changing in favour of the customer with online channels like Web 2.0 and social networking The Role of eCRM in Online Marketing The Internet has transformed Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in hospitality. A large majority of your customers are planning and booking their hotel stay online. In fact more than two-thirds of them will do that this year. How do you nurture, grow and retain your customer base when the competition is just a click away? How do you prepare for the future in this very dynamic and transparent online environment? How do you beat the competition for the most lucrative customer segments? By building a comprehensive eCRM strategy and creating interactive mutually beneficial relationships with your customer, any hotel company can ensure its survival in this new environment. On average approximately 2% of hotel website visitors will make a booking while the other 98% will read, scan, and then leave your site. Without a comprehensive CRM strategy in place hoteliers will never know much about their website visitors, bookers or lookers. Even if Internet users book on the hotel website and hoteliers draw some information out of them, the

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blending of business and leisure customers makes it hard for hotels to differentiate who they are and follow up with appropriate marketing messages. Many hoteliers know next to nothing about their customers and their travel planning and purchasing behavior. A Customer Relationship Management strategy and the rise of low cost eCRM tools to help support this strategy have helped many hoteliers address the question ?Know your customer.? Many of these low cost tools can interface with the PMS, and when done right they allow for high quality data gathering either online or at check in. Do not underestimate the value that a CRM strategy can provide. Have your strategy in place and then find a technology that will fit this strategy. Rewarding loyalty is one way to know your customer. A loyalty program need not be complicated, expensive, or labor intensive. A few small brands and ownership groups have introduced such programs in the past few years and most are used to combat the use of thirdparty intermediaries. The loyalty movement in hospitality continues and when performed effectively can produce meaningful results for your hotel, the brand, and most importantly your customer. Here is how hoteliers replied to our question regarding their eCRM programs: HeBS Poll Results: Do you have an eCRM Program in place at the hotel? 56% - yes 22% - no 0% - planning to implement in 2007 22% - planning to implement in 2008 Consumer Generated Media Strategy in Hospitality Consumer generated media (CGM): blogs, discussion boards, review sites, social network sites, etc., has remained a prevalent subject in hotel marketing discussions in the past year. How can hotel and travel marketers use this new medium to their advantage? Should CGM be considered an opportunity to promote the hotel product and be part of the marketing

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strategy, or is it a threat that needs to be contained? Can a CGM initiative help hoteliers differentiate their services and de-commoditize their product? There are three approaches to building the Consumer Generated Media (CGM) strategy. Which approach to use depends on your situation and needs. If the goal is to protect and monitor the chatter on the web about your hotel for whatever reason, then a Brand Defensive Strategy should be entertained first. If the goal is to leverage the expert knowledge that currently exists at your property out there on the web, then consider a corporate sponsored CGM initiative. Lastly, if the goal is to simply communicate to readers on high traffic CGM sites, then you can advertise on them.
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CGM and a brand defensive strategies - Identify CGM sites that cover your industry and segment e.g. HotelChatter, TripAdvisor, TravelBlog - Monitor the CGM Universe for CGM postings about your company (e.g. via technorati.com, blogpulse.com, etc.) - Nurture satisfied customers to ?express themselves? via popular CGM sites - Implement CGM suggestions, address criticism, and contact critical CGM-ers to discuss improvements and results Corporate-Sponsored CGM Initiatives: - Determine if your company needs CGM initiative in the first place - Identify the type of CGM that best suits your organization e.g. Corporate-sponsored blog, customer trip planning and advice, experience sharing, etc. - Leverage the internal, in-house ?expert knowledge? from spa gurus, golf pros, famous chefs, fitness pros, wedding planners, etc. - Clearly delegate responsibility and ownership of the blog|Budget for the new corporatesponsored CGM initiative CGM as an Advertising & Marketing Medium in Hospitality: - Many high-trafficked CGM sites (e.g. review sites, blog search engines) now accept display ads and sponsorships, cover your industry and segment e.g. HotelChatter - Identify all CGM sites and initiatives that matter - Advertise only on CGM sites that are highly relevant to your product/services and the destinations you serve, e.g. regional golf or spa blogs, destination CGM initiatives, etc.

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HeBS Poll Results: For hoteliers, do you think that Consumer/User Generated Media is a threat or an opportunity? 0% - CGM is a threat 43% - CGM is an opportunity 57% - CGM is both a threat and an opportunity Blogs and the Hotel Website Do blogs work in hospitality and if yes, what blogs work best for the hotel website? In our view, blogs are yet to play an important role as a marketing tool in hospitality. But blogs are already playing a vital role in word-of-mouth customer property reviews and peer-to-peer recommendations. Here are two important aspects of blogs that affect hospitality today and hoteliers should be aware of:
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Blogs as part of the hotel defensive strategy Blogs as an interactive communication tool in hospitality Blogs as a marketing tool in hospitality HeBS has been involved in conceptualizing and developing blogs for many of our clients. Over the years we have found the following types of blogs work in hospitality and travel:

Travel community blogs for members of travel clubs or hotel reward programs Affinity blogs that serve as discussion forums for people with common interests or strong opinions about a subject matter (e.g. wedding planning, traveling with pets, family travel, etc. Expert blogs by the hotel /resort?s spa, golf, tennis, fishing or culinary pros Destination blogs maintained by travel writers or destination experts Create an For example for beach/golf/spa resorts and destination experiential sites we have found that the following approach produces the best results: experience sharing blog (who did what in the destination and recommends it to his/her peers) Create a photo sharing blog with a monthly Best Photo Award Create peer-voted Top Ten lists: Top Ten Things to see in the destination; Top Ten best restaurants; Top Ten coolest barso Top Ten family activities Etc?the sky is the limit HeBS Poll Results: Do you have a blog on your hotel website?

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21% - yes

79% - no

Marketing Strategies:A hotel marketing plan needs to describe in detail the strategies you plan to implement to market your hotel. Possible strategies include direct mailers, paid ads on search engines and websites, email marketing campaigns, posters or flyers around town, hotel signs, social media marketing or ads in the media, such as local newspapers, TV commercials or radio ads. The specific strategies should include data on what is most effective for your customer base and which medium you are most likely to connect with them. For example, if you are targeting business customers, you likely want an ad on a website that business travelers commonly use to book business trips, as well as ads in the business section of newspapers.

Goals:Goals are another important component of a marketing plan. You should clearly communicate what you are trying to do with the plan, such as increase the number of annual guests at the hotel by a certain percentage, or increase revenue by a certain dollar amount. Goals give you something to measure your marketing results against to analyze the effectiveness of specific marketing campaigns for your hotel.

Cost:The cost of various marketing campaigns is also important to include in your hotel marketing plan. It is important for everyone to be on the same page with a marketing budget. Include estimated cost versus expected revenue each campaign will bring in.

The importance of marketing i n tourism and hospitality industry


Whether you are running a state, winery, amusement park or even a whole country, you can't afford to simply sit back and hope people come and visit. You've got to take the matter into your own hands and employ a marketing strategy to maintain and develop tourism. After all,

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no one will visit you if they've never heard you.

Raising Awareness:y

Marketing can be used to bring a consumer's attention to a particular aspect of a state, region, or whatever kind of site or area you are marketing. For example, there might be a unique aspect of your state that is often forgotten about, such as a park of great beauty that's off the beaten track. Alternatively, the area you are marketing may have a limited period promotion going on that can attract people.

Motivating Consumers:y

Once a consumer has heard of a particular state or site, you'll then need to convince him he wants to go there. Marketing taps into what a consumer wants. For example, if a state can boast of its green credentials, its marketing can reflect this to appeal to tourists who want to travel "green."

Promoting Image:y

While some countries maintain a positive image to the outside world, for others their established image may be incorrect or outdated. Clever marketing can manipulate how tourists view that country, altering their perceptions in order to persuade them to visit. Hosting the soccer World Cup or the Olympics can persuade people to visit, long after the competition is over.

Convincing Consumers Of Hospitality:y

When it comes to selecting a product, people look for certain qualities. In a car, consumers might value reliability over other factors, for example. In the tourism sector, many consumers are going to look for high-quality hospitality. One job for marketing in tourism is to show outsiders that a particular site can deliver the standard of hospitality they expect and to convince them that they should give that site a try.

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Generating Buzz
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In 2009, the Queensland tourist board in Australia hosted the Best Job in the World competition. The board offered a salaried job as a caretaker on an idyllic island to one lucky applicant. There were so many applicants that at one point the website crashed because of the amount of people logging on to apply. The upshot was that people were talking about the competition, neatly demonstrating the ability of marketing to generate buzz around an area.

Tourism and Marketing Communications

Marketing communications is used to target travelers and prospect business-to-business relationships. Marketing communications is an important strategic component of those in the tourism industry. It is often used as a form of business-to-business (B2B) communications. The goal of most marketing communications efforts are to drive and increase tourism in a specific state, city or country. Providers of services in the tourism industry (airlines, hotels, convention and tourism boards, travel publication editors, local media, etc.) use marketing communications vehicles to achieve mutually beneficial relationships and goals. Members of the marketing communications departments also guide and approve the marketing strategies and creative works developed by outside advertising agencies.

Tourism Articles and Reviews


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Travelers in both business and consumer categories read articles and reviews about hotels, airlines and "must see and do" activities in destination cities. They read reviews in print

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magazines and online, and they watch television features. Tourism industry service providers track articles to include quotes and recommendations that relate to their services on websites and in advertising to heighten preference for using their services.

Brochures and Websites


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Travel brochures and websites are perhaps the most important communications vehicle for those in the tourism industry. Families visit websites to make vacation plans. Groups distribute brochures and drive members to websites to select providers and destinations. Industry service providers must develop enticing and compelling brochures and websites, knowing that this is often the way that customers make their decisions on where they want to go and which service providers they will use, and to provide background information to further the development of business-to-business services and relationships.

Advertorials
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When a magazine, television show or Internet site features a product or service by name in an article or broadcast, the mention of the company name within the context of editorial information is referred to as an "advertorial." This is because the feature is part advertising because it highlights a product or service, and it is part editorial because the product or service aligns with the subject or topic matter. Tourism industry companies work with broadcast producers and public relations professionals to have their products and services featured as advertorials to gain exposure, free advertising and generate sales. They use marketing communications efforts to structure relationships to provide quotes for articles and serve as tourism authorities on topics covered by media organizations in exchange for marketing opportunities.

Convention and Tourism Boards


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Those in the tourism industry use marketing communications to develop relationships with government convention and tourism agencies and boards. The boards are dedicated to promote tourism in their cities and countries to generate revenue. Airlines, hotels, tour operators and other travel and tourism service providers work with convention and tourism boards to help them achieve their goals. Companies employ ongoing marketing

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communications activities to update the boards on plans and promotions, and to explore ways to increase tourism.

Media Relations
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Marketing communications departments distribute press releases and control media relations efforts and activities. Press releases are used by airline companies to announce new routes and services. Hotels use releases to promote remodeled facilities and to gain awareness of new features like free Internet use. The media contacts tourism industry representatives for quotes and comments on issues such as additional charges for luggage, flight cancellation policies, and provisions for travelers in the event of a strike by airline pilots or flight attendants.

Marketing Strategies in aviation industry


As the airline industry is a very complex industry which involves high set-up costs and faces high competition between various competitors, the airline company has to come up marketing strategies to ensure its success in luring airline passengers to choose them as their mode of transportation. The strategies that they adopt will need to be the most cost-effective especially during times of an economic downturn as passengers will often opt for the cheapest air-fare and the best value of money that they can obtain. The marketing strategies include advertising, sales promotions, publicity and even word of mouth that incorporates the promotion mix and communications mix. In terms of advertising, we can often see various advertising campaigns done by the MAS and Air Asia. Advertising campaigns can be seen on major television channels, magazines and also a fair amount of billboards in major places around the world. Also, as the world is becoming more tech-savvy, the two companies also extend their advertising campaigns online. As advertising is the number one priority for marketing strategies, corporations will often be willing to spend to ensure that their brand name and individual corporate philosophies is well known among consumers. As for instance, MAS markets will market its brand name along with its Going Beyond Expectations philosophy while Air Asia will ensure that their Now Everyone Can Fly punch-line is made to be known. The importance of advertising can be proved against the amount that the two airline operators had spent on

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advertising as found in their second quarter of2009 financial report, in which MAS had spent RM 36 million while Air Asia had forked out RM 24 million. Other than that, the Malaysian airline industry is also boosted through the publicity made by Air Asia in the sporting arena. This is as; the Air Asia brand name receives worldwide media coverage every time a football match is being played on television as the brand name can be seen on billboards during the Barclays Premier League football matches in the United Kingdom. Other than that, Air Asia also sponsors the worlds most famous football club Manchester United enhancing their brand name. In addition to that, Air Asia also ventures into the motorsports arena sponsoring F1 teams like the AT&T Williams team. All these publicity is a form of advertising and marketing strategy that Air Asia adopts in promoting international growth for their brand. As for sales promotions, the two carriers will have various sales promotions throughout the year. One of them is the participation of MAS and Air Asia during the MATTA Travel Fair that is being conducted by the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) twice a year. The travel fair often gives the best discounted promotional prices to consumers to boost the demand for travelling amongst consumers as well as enhancing the tourism industry. Other than that, MAS also has its own travel fair called the MAS Travel Fair to promote the sales of their airline tickets to consumer through heavily discounted prices which are highly competitive. On the other hand, Air Asia also promotes its sales through numerous sales promotions through various discount windows where tickets could go as low as RM0.00 in line with its low cost business model that Air Asia adopts. In graph 3 we can see the various kinds of promotional sales campaigns that are being conducted by Air Asia and the number of successful ticket sales generated as opposed to MAS through the campaign. Other than that, MAS also promotes its growth through its loyalty programs called Enrich and Grads which allow frequent flyers to receive rewards through the point collection system. Members are able to convert their travel points to get discounts on flight tickets and receive upgrades from economy to business class on-board. Other than that, the loyalty programs also reward their members various benefits, promotions and discounts at selected participating merchant outlets.

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Conclusions :y

The rapidly changing context of the modern tourism and hospitality industry responding to the needs of increasingly demanding consumers, coupled with the fragmenting nature of the marketing and media environment has led to an increased emphasis on communications strategies. Marketers are primarily responsible for communicating the hospitality offer, and this is the most visible part of the marketing job.

When designing the campaign the hospitality marketer has to choose from the wide range of options, and the decision is dependent upon the budget available and the campaigns objectives. Ensuring that a consistent message is delivered across the range of communication tools used in a campaign is essential. Creativity can increase the impact of the campaign. Marketing communication is very helpful in promoting the image and creating awareness among the consumers.

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Suggestions:y

Although promotion is very essential for the industry but it must be based on careful analysis of the current situations-which means that they should emerge from an analysis of research data, not on opinions and gut feelings. Research is required before, during and after the promotion.

Promotion should not stop once a target is achieved, it must be continuous. A lot has been said and written about how technology changed our lives and preferences. The web and internet has changed the methods of business also. Now things are changing so fast that it becomes at times troublesome to keep your pace matched up. But if you are in hotel business then it is worthwhile to keep an eye on ever changing trends in hospitality industry. In this cut throat competition, it is imperative to know where your potential customer is and how he can be indulged. For this you need a marvelous mix of hotel internet marketing strategy. According to a recent study on the trends in hospitality industry done by Merrill Lynch of all the bookings in 2010 a whopping 45% share is to come through internet bookings. Therefore we should always concentrate on new tools and technologies.

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Bibliography

Mc cabe, Scott , , Marketing communication in hospitality industry, elsevier butterworthheinemann, 2009, 2.1-2.5

W.barrows, clayton, and powers tom, introduction to management in hospitality industry john willey and sons 2008, 405-416

Masterman guy and h. wood emma, innovative marketing communication- strategies for the events, elsevier butterworth-heinemann 2006, 260-262

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www.ehow.com www.docstoc.com www.hotelnewsresource.com www.managementparadise.com

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