Big Picture in Focus: ULOc Rationalize the role of promotions in

tourism marketing

Essential Knowledge

WHAT IS PROMOTIONS? (Gatchalian-Badilla, 2015)

Promotions has been defined as the coordination of all seller-initiated efforts to set up
channels of information and persuasion to sell goods and services or promote an idea (Belch
and Belch 2008). All marketing communications techniques seek to inform, create awareness,
attempt to persuade, and reinforce buying behavior of customers (Shoemaker et al. 2007).
various strategies are thought of and implemented by the seller to ensure that the tourism
product or service is made known to its possible target market. These strategies seek not just
to inform people but more importantly to persuade people to buy the product. The end goal of
any promotional activity is to close the sale.
In my more than twenty years of marketing experience, I have learned that it is not
enough for people to know that your product or service exists. They have to like it enough to
buy it. They have to be highly satisfied with the use of the product or the service, enough to
buy it over and over again. Lastly, they have to be extremely satisfied with it, enough to tell
others about it.
ADVERTISING (Gatchalian-Badilla, 2015)
Advertising is defined as any paid form of non-personal communication about an
organization, product, service, or idea by an identified sponsor (Belch and Belch 2008). It is
mass communication that is paid for (Shoemaker et al. 2007). It can reach the largest number
of prospects very quickly. Advertising covers the various messages consumers receive from
television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, transit display, and even online. Online
options include banner advertising, skyscraper ads, pay per click, etc.
In the hospitality industry, advertising is viewed as a way to create and maintain
awareness of the company, property, or destination (Shoemaker et al. 2007). However, not all
tourism products and services would benefit from advertising. A careful assessment of one's
resources and objectives need to be done before deciding on using advertising as a tool for
promotions. Big properties such as hotels, fast food chains, and country destinations may
benefit from a carefully planned advertising strategy.

Objectives of Advertising
 An advertising objective is a specific communication task to be accomplished with a
specific target audience during a specific period of time (Kotler et al. 2010). advertising can be
classified based on its objectives: (1) to inform, (2) to persuade, and (3) to remind.
Informative advertising is used when introducing a new product work to build up primary
demand for the product. Companies employ aggressive tools to ensure that a new product
creates excitement and demand within its target market.
Persuasive advertising is used when competition is stiff. Companies rely on persuasive
advertising to be able to keep its market share.
Reminder advertising is very important for products that have reached the maturity
stage. Products attempt to maintain market position Even if they are already top of mind.
According to Shoemaker et al. (2007), the ideal hospitality advertisement should
accomplish five things:
1. Tangiblize the service element so the reader can mentally grasp what is offered;
2. promise a benefit that can be delivered and/or provide solutions to problems;
3. differentiate the property from that of the competition;
4. have positive effects on employees who must execute the promises; and
5. capitalize on word of mouth.
Types of Advertising Execution
1. Slice of life - shows how people use the product in a normal setting.
2. Lifestyle - shows how product fits with one's way of life.
3. Fantasy - create a “wonder” world around the product or its use.
4. Mood or image - builds positive images or moods around the products such as beauty,
love, fun, and serenity.
5. Musical - use a simple but catchy music effectively through product jingles or songs.
6. Personality - creates a character that represents the product such as Jollibee, the
friendly bee.
7. Technical expertise - reveals the company's expertise with the product or service.
8. Scientific evidence - presents research or scientific evidence that the brand is better
than competing brands.
9. Testimonial evidence - features a highly credible person such as a celebrity endorsing
the product.
The Use of Celebrity Endorsers
Celebrity endorsements plays an important role in helping products become more
tangible and create differentiation (Rodriguez 2008). The use of celebrity endorsers becomes a
preferred strategy for promoting a product or service because the celebrity lends his credibility
to the product, helps attract attention, provides a persuasive message, and targets the
audience based on the celebrity’s demographic profile. Roll (2010) elucidates the following
three main aspects to consider in choosing a celebrity endorser:
1. Attractiveness of the celebrity to create a positive impact on the product.
2. Credibility of the celebrity expressed through expertise and trustworthiness.
3. Meaning transfer between brand and celebrity which refers to the compatibility of brand
and celebrity in terms of identity, personality, market positioning, and lifestyle.
DIRECT MARKETING (Gatchalian-Badilla, 2015)
With the moving away of marketing from advertising to the integrated marketing
communications approach, direct marketing (DM) has gained prominence and acceptance. in
the field of tourism marketing, which focuses on niche markets, the direct marketing approach
is widely used.
Direct marketing is an interactive system of marketing that uses one or more advertising
media to affect a measurable response. It seeks to establish continuing relationships between
a company and its regular customers. Offers are sent to a customer database of people who
are most able, willing, and ready to buy the product (Kotler 2010).
History of Direct Marketing
The direct marketing approach began in the 1800s as a way of bringing products from
the manufacturer to its end users -- the consumers. DM eliminates retailers and middlemen
Such that it goes directly to the consumers through mailing of catalogs and product
information. The manufacturer then waits for the response of the targeted customers in the
form of purchase. Payments are made through Postal money orders. After which, the
manufacturer delivers the product to the customer. Imagine how long this process takes since
this began in the 1800s. At present, DM has evolved into various forms and means with the
presence of faster means of communication, technology, and transportation.
It has currently evolved to direct response and direct relationship marketing. Airlines,
hotels, and resorts build strong customer relationships through awards programs and are
using their customers database to match their offers more carefully with individual customers.
Technological advancements have enabled companies and organizations to gather and
maintain information that will be helpful in categorizing and segmenting the market based on
specific characteristics. this way, products and services can be tailored to specific segments of
the market. Loyalty rewards programs enable tourism related establishments keep a database
of regular customers and monitor their consumption and spending patterns. These programs
also help companies establish relationships with their customers to ensure continued
patronage and repeat purchase.
Advantages of Direct Marketing
Direct marketing is an ideal promotional tool for products and services that want to
capture a niche market. Here are some advantages of direct marketing:
1. Precision Targeting. Having a good database can help pinpoint prospects based on
prospect’s lifestyles, demographics, purchasing patterns, etc. The direct mail campaign can be
very precise in specifying its target market.
2. Personalized Messages. A person's name is the sweetest word in the world.
Prospective customers will definitely read through material when their name is on it.
Addressing specific customers personally will capture their attention than Generic and random
messages.
3. Privacy. The company's offer is not visible to competitors since it is personalized. The
competition will not be able to monitor what the offer is. Hence, they will not be able to match
it.
4. Faster Sales. Direct marketing can yield to faster sales since it is targeted to actual
users of the product.
5. Variety of Packaging Options. A variety of packaging options are available for direct
Mail campaigns limited only by the marketer’s creativity and budget.
6. Less Competition (From other media content). A letter or package that is opened by
the prospect will have less competition from other media content compared to billboards, TV
commercials, and the like. The receiver would take more time reading through your content
because it is personalized and unique.
7. Immediate Results. A response form or action is normally solicited from the
prospective customer; hence, results can be immediate.
8. Measurability. The company knows the number of direct mailers issued; hence, it will
be easy to determine response rates.
Elements of A Direct Marketing Campaign
There are three important elements that should be taken into consideration When
planning a direct marketing campaign. These are (1) the list, (2) the message, and (3) the
offer.
The list contains all the names and contact information of your target market. This list
should be accurate, updated, and narrowed down based on the characteristics of the market
who do you think would most likely be interested in your product offering. This list may also be
referred to as your database. A good list which contains your prime prospects can contribute
greatly to the success of your DM campaign. A bad list will only be a waste of your time and
money.
The message is important to be customized and personalized. marketers estimate that
perspective customers have extremely limited attention spans and it will only take a few
seconds for them to make a judgment on whether to continue reading your message or for
them to proceed to doing other things. Copywriters exert a lot of effort to ensure that they can
capture the prospective customers’ attention enough for them to read through the details of the
products offer. It takes a lot of skill to make the message simple and interesting so as to make
it easy for the prospect to learn more about the product and the offer.
The offer should be interesting and worthy for the perspective customer to consider
making a purchase. It should move the perspective client into action. Making the offer not
available to other clients and available for a limited time only, will help make the offer more
appealing.
Measure of Success
One of the advantages of direct marketing as a promotional tool is its measurability. A
properly executed direct marketing campaign Can be measured in several ways, namely:
1. the number of inquiries generated;
2. the ratio of conversions or purchases realized from the inquiries generated; and
3. its communication impact.
PERSONAL SELLING (Gatchalian-Badilla, 2015)
Sales representatives are the company’s link to customers. The salesperson represents
the business to it customers. Whatever impression and image the salesperson has is the
image that the clients form in their minds about the company he represents.
Personal selling can be defined as the person-to-person communication between a
salesperson and a prospective customer in which the needs are met in exchange for money or
resources.
Since sales professionals are regular employees of the establishment, with salaries and
benefits, technical support, entertainment and representation allowances, cost of travel, etc.,
they are the most expensive contact and communication tool used by a company (Kotler al.
2010). But since face-to-face communication allows the building of relationships and feedback,
personal selling is often the most effective tool available to the tourism industry.
Sales representative are an integral part of the success of the tourism and hospitality
industry. Kotler et al. (2010) outline the primary tasks sales professionals perform for their
companies as follows:
1. Prospecting. The sales professional is tasked to look into potential customers or
“prospects.” A good and active database should be maintained as well as networking skills to
ensure that there is a steady flow of new customers coming into the business. Some sales
personnel are pirated from competitors mainly because they already have a relationship with
customers availing of services from competition.
2. Targeting. Sales professionals need to determine how to prioritize limited time and
resources to tap customers from their list of prospects.
3. Communicating. A constant stream of communication should flow from customer to
client and vice versa. Sales personnel need to find ways and means to keep in touch with
clients. This can be done through giving information about new products and services or
generating new business from clients.
4. Selling. Sales personnel are trained to do product presentations, negotiations,
overcoming objections, and closing the sale. This is the core of what the salesperson does for
the company.
5. Servicing. Salespersons should not remain as order takers. Instead, they should shift
to becoming customer consultants -- helping clients solve problems and rendering technical /
expert assistance.
6. Information Gathering. Sales representatives assist the company in gathering
intelligence information Such as what competition is doing or what the company's needs are.
They also suggest innovations based on market demands.
7. Allocating. When there are products shortages or overbookings, salespeople assist in
deciding which clients to prioritize based on past and future business engagement.
Selecting Sales Strategies
1. Prevent Erosion of Key Accounts. Key accounts are your clients that sustain your
company. These accounts should be managed well, given the proper attention and further
cultivated for more frequent consumption and upselling. Salespersons should be trained how
these key accounts can be kept and prevented from switching to competitors.
2. Grow key accounts. Growing key accounts mean adding more companies into this
key segment of the market. Cultivate secondary or marginal accounts with high potential to
become key accounts.
3. Grow selected marginal accounts. Marginal accounts can provide the company with
a much-needed extra sales and revenue when demand from key accounts is low.
4. Eliminate selected marginal accounts. Some marginal accounts may not be yielding
any revenue for the company even after several attempts to make it grow. Know when to drop
accounts so that time and resources allotted for said accounts can be channeled to other
accounts.
5. Retain selected marginal accounts with lower-cost sales support. Maintain
marginal accounts that take less time and resources to service. That way, these accounts can
produce marginal sales without much effort and budget provided.

6. Obtain a new business from selected prospects. Business development should

always be prioritized. New business from existing accounts as well as promising prospects can
be beneficial to the growth of the company.
Steps of The Sales Process
1. Prospecting and Qualifying Prospects
The sales process begins with identifying prospective customers using a variety of
sources. Prospects start out as leads; these may come from people who have been referred
by your current clients, clients of your competitors, new users, databases, and inquiries. These
leads are then qualified to determine whether investing time and resources in acquiring the
customer will be profitable.
Cold calling and sales blitzes are also effective ways of prospecting and qualifying
prospects. Cold calls are done by doing sales calls or visits to different business categories in
the hope of generating business. The term cold call Means the salesperson Does not have any
prior business dealings with the company and does not know anyone from the company. Cold
calling is an essential part of the sales process. Every salesperson should know how to make
cold calls correctly in order to acquire a steady flow of new customers. A sales blitz is carried
out by a group of salespeople who conduct a large number of company visits over a short
period of time to target a specific business category, geographical area or organizational type
(Hsu et al. 2008).

2. Pre-approach
The pre approach face is the stage where in the salesperson seeks to understand the
business opportunities that the prospects can provide the company. It is the stage where the
salesperson makes himself familiar with the business of the company and what the company's
needs are in order to ensure that there is a fit between what the company needs and what the
salesperson is selling.
A good salesperson will be able to identify how his product or service can provide
solutions to the prospect’s business challenges. In order to stand out amidst the crowd of
account managers and sales executives from other tourism properties, a good salesperson
does not just offer products and services. Instead, he offers valuable solutions and mutually
beneficial partnerships.
3. Approach

The approach is when the salesperson starts to communicate with the prospect.
Professionalism and strong social skills are very important in establishing rapport especially for
the initial meeting. The salesperson should also observe proper etiquette, protocols, and
cultural sensitivity all throughout the engagement.

4. Presentation and Demonstration.

Know when the prospect’s needs and how to address his problems and having been
given Valuable official time to listen to the product offer, now is the time to deliver an
impressive product presentation. The product presentation should be customized to the
prospect and should include features, benefits, in advantages of availing the products and
services. Prospective clients would want to hear how the product offered can match their
needs more than what the competition offers. Listening to what the client does and does not
say is an important skill salesperson need to have as they make the presentation. This will
help them understand the needs of the client more and how to address questions they may
have during the negotiation phase.

5. Negotiation and Overcoming Objections

Negotiation and overcoming objections are a very challenging phase in the sales
process. This involves arriving at a mutually beneficial exchange of value (Hsu et al. 2008)
between the seller and the buyer. Negotiation is a process of resolving differences between
what the buyer wants and what the seller wants to give in exchange for what the buyer can
pay for.

The salesperson should be able to assess the likelihood of closing the sale based on:

a. How the buyer interacts with the salesperson Through his verbal and nonverbal cues;
b. How competition figures in the negotiation; and
c. limitations set forth by management as to the maximum and minimum levels of price
and resources.
Objections come in different forms, it may be because of the price or rate of your
product, the actual product or service, or simply a lack of interest in the product (Abbey 2008).
there are different ways to respond to objections. You may choose to deal with it directly or
compensate for the objection by offering other benefits that would be important to the client
too. In order to help identify these objections, the salesperson may subtly ask the client, “What
can we offer that will make you buy from us?” And if the salesperson is equipped to provide
what the client asks, then a sale is made.
6. Closing the Sale
Officially closing the sale is done through a signed contract. Unfortunately, a lot of
salesperson are too afraid to ask for the sales; hence, they go back to their offices uncertain if
they have closed at the sale. Closing the sale is asking the client directly or discretely any of
the following questions:
a. May I draft the contract and send it for your review?
 b. Shall I call your office tomorrow and get details of the booking?
c. Can I take your reservation now so you can avail of an extra ____% from the purchase
price?
7. Follow-up / Maintenance

once the sale has been made and the service has been delivered, the salesperson keeps the
relationship going by doing follow-up activities such as phone call or personal visit to ensure
the product and service quality was provided. Customer satisfaction often results in repeat
business and positive word of mouth. In case of customer dissatisfaction, the follow up call will
enable feedback and may be an avenue to address and respond to concerns and complaints.
Properly addressing customer complaints is the key to managing an irate customer.

Self-Help: You can also refer to the sources below to help you further
understand the lesson:

Badilla, Maricel (2015): Tourism Marketing 51-61, 63-81, 83-93. 95-108

López, M. T., Altamirano, V., & Valarezo, K. P. (2016). Collaborative tourism communication 2.0:
Promotion, advertising and interactivity in government tourism websites in latin america.
Revista Latina De Comunicación Social, (71), 249-271.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2016-1094en

Metalanguage
1. Promotion means trying to encourage the actual and potential customers to travel a
destination through the spreading of information. Promotion is one of the most effective
marketing mix elements used in marketing a tourist product.
2. Advertising In the hospitality industry, advertising is viewed to create and maintain
awareness of the company, property, or destination (Shoemaker et al. 2007). However, not all
tourism products and services would benefit from advertising.
3. Direct Marketing Direct marketing is an interactive system of marketing that uses one
or more advertising media to affect a measurable response. It seeks to establish continuing
relationships between a company and its regular customers. Offers are sent to a customer
database of people who are most able, willing, and ready to buy the product (Kotler 2010).
4. Personal Selling can be defined as the person-to-person communication between a
salesperson and a prospective customer in which the needs are met in exchange for money or
resources.
5. Marketing Campaign is a planned sequence of activities and processes which
promote an individual product, service, or resources. A multitude of channels are used and
coordinated to deliver effective results. In online marketing and retail, a campaign is a series of
activities linked by a plan of action which all contribute toward a larger defined business goal.
Campaigns are effectively a form of organizing marketing activities. By making initiatives
"campaigns," it can apply structure that otherwise may not be present. A campaign is not
defined by any one specific activity, but rather by the larger goals to be achieved and the plan
linking each activity to those goals.
6. Target Market The prerequisite for creating a successful marketing mix is to define
strategic target market according to the tourist product should be designed. A target market
refers to a group of potential customers to whom a company wants to sell its products and
services. This group also includes specific customers to whom a company directs its marketing
efforts. A target market is one part of the total market for a good or service.
7. Niche Markets In tourism, a niche is a specialized corner of the tourism market. It is
usually based on visitors’ interests or needs. While the word ‘niche’ may suggest that the
market is small in size, this is not always the case. Niche markets can be sizable – for
example, Northern Ireland’s golf and Game of Thrones tourism markets. Examples of niche
tourism products include outdoor pursuits, nature-based tourism, cultural tours, screen
tourism, and many other travel experiences.