Does Sorrento maximise its potential as a tourist destination?

 Section 1: Definition of topic

a) Does Sorrento maximise its potential as a tourist destination.
b) Sorrento does not maximise its potential as a tourist destination because of its lack of variety as a
multi-seasonal tourist destination. Sorrento has little to nothing to offer outside of the summer
season. Therefore, it does not maximise its potential as a tourist destination.
c) The space characteristics of Sorrento is a town in the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria filled with
bountiful greenery, beautiful water, abundance of shops and good community. The place
characteristics of Sorrento is the summer getaway place. A relaxing and sunny paradise for a few. A
change characteristic of Sorrento is the impact of the increasing tourists that go there during Summer.
The more tourists there are, the more money Sorrento will have to pay to increase the parking and
renovation of hotels and services. The scale characteristic of Sorrento is small. Its beaches are vast
and big but the town itself is miniscule. The environment characteristic of Sorrento is very damaging.
The increasing number of tourists result in Sorrento having to expand by making new roads, hotels
and more facilities. This inevitably damages the environment as new land is required to make these
things and the natural greenery must be sacrificed. The interconnection characteristic is the ferry that
travels to and from as well as connects Sorrento and Queens Cliff together. Opens the way for tourists
to travel to two tourists destinations. The sustainability characteristic of Sorrento is good because of
the increasing number of solar panels on top of roofs and organic heat systems at greenhouses.
d)
Map of the relations of
Melbourne and Sorrento
 Scale: 5km

Figure 1: Map of Mornington

Peninsula in relation to Melbourne

 Section 2: Description of Primary and Secondary Sources

a) The primary source information I have gathered are booklet answers, photos and field-
sketches
b) The secondary source information I have gathered are the numbers of tourists that visit
Sorrento each year
c) This information will back up my evidence in how I have most of my evidence for my
arguments firsthand because I have witnessed them for myself.

 Section 3 and 4: Presentation of Data

In summertime, the best things to go in Sorrento

is undoubtedly the beaches. With plentiful
sunshine and pristine water and sand, there is no
other reason to not go to the beach. In figure 2, the weather is cloudy and cold
with no one on the beaches. This is shown as evidence for how Sorrento does
not maximise its potential as a tourist destination. A good tourists destination
that does maximise its potential will have many tourists no matter the weather
or condition that it is in. Any surprising setback or condition will still allow it to
have tourists to come there.

The docks of Sorrento foreshore

are very empty and gloomy. As
shown in figure 3, if there were
more activities and attractions
there, then it would feel livelier and
tourists would be more attracted to
it.

Section 4a: Analysis of Data (Economics of Moonraker)

https://www.moonrakerdolphinswims.com.au/

Figure 4: Moonraker Website

Analysis of website
Figure 5: Front cover of Moonraker Website
Everything included in the website front cover:

 Big title
 Exclusive bundles
 Discount offers
 Have buttons that showcase all bundles

The Moonraker company does a fantastic job

creating a website that instantly grabs your
attention. In the background, it has footage of
dolphins and other marine animals swimming
alongside the boat. This is done to foreshadow
to potential customers what they are going to
experience. It includes big bright text to encapsulate the customers in exclusive bundles. It uses
smaller text after to prolong the audience on the website because of the text being small to
intentionally make the audience read it, which included discount offers. A common business strategy
businesses use is to discount their products. Moonraker does a good at this by offering discount if
they use a specific promotion code. Some businesses intentionally market their products high and
use discounts to be their true value. When many businesses have discounts, more customers would
buy it because it is a better deal in their eyes.

How does Moonraker gain a competitive advantage in marketing using the 7 P’s against
‘Watermaarq’

Product:
The product of Moonraker is with their cruise which takes tourists and customers on a tour or on an
experience with dolphins and seals. Their main selling point is using this cruise for the customers to
have an experience. The products (the cruises) have a clear difference in quality and size. This plays
a significant role in what people want. People would be more attracted to the bigger and more
qualitative boat as shown in figure 7.
The Watermaarq’s ship (figure 6)
looks smaller and substantial when
compared to Moonraker’s cruise.
This gives Moonraker a competitive
advantage because the class and
grade of the ship is much better of
that of the Watermaarq.

Figure 7: Moonraker cruise

Figure 6: Watermaarq ship

Price:
Moonraker does have a fixed cost but there are discount and promotions that go around making
their prices cheaper. The discounted prices are the selling point of this cruise. Less people would
attend the cruise if it was expensive but because of the limited cheap price they would most likely
go. The family price (2 adult + 2 children) of the Moonraker on a 2 hour seal swim tour is $350 whilst
a 2 hour dolphin and seal swim tour at Watermaarq is $420. The Moonraker’s 2 hour tour is cheaper
by looks however it does not have any dolphins in that tour whilst Watermaarq does. In order to see
dolphins with the Moonraker company then one would have to book the 3 hour dolphin and seal
tour. A family price on that tour would cost $630. This is a big step up from the 2 hour trip although
it does not include any dolphins. It is difficult to determine which company has the cheaper prices
because each tour and company different perks. If one wants a specific perk they would most likely
pick that company over the over just for having different perks rather than for the price.

Promotion:
Both Moonraker and Watermaarq have ads circling around the internet. This promotion includes
information of their product (the cruise) and discounted prices. Their reason for their promotion for
their product and discounted prices is to inform more potential customers of their cruise. Each
company has their own respective ads to promote themselves and their products and prices. It is
hard to determine which company gets more of a competitive advantage.

Place:
The location that the Moonraker and Watermaarq do take place in is in Sorrento which is located in
tip of the Mornington Peninsula. This is considered far to people living in the suburbs. Although the
location is far, the Mornington peninsula is a common holiday location for Australians so that there
still will be people that will travel a long distance for a holiday to their experience on the cruise or
another. There is no competitive advantage of the place factor as both companies are located in the
exact same place.

Process:
The Moonraker website is easy to use and navigate. It has different sections for various things such
as:

 Booking
 Type of tour
 Prices and discounts
 Information about Moonraker
 How to contact them
 FAQs

Figure 8: Various tabs of the website

The Watermaarq website also easy to use and navigate and also has tabs at the top to navigate
through the website.

Figure 9: Tabs to navigate through the Watermaarq website

There really is no competitive advantage in the process aspect because both companies websites are
easy to book and navigate through

People:
Both the Moonraker and Watermaarq have skilled employees to run the cruise. Ranging from
regular lifeguards on board on the cruise and the captain, each have received special training to be
qualified enough to cater and supervise the customers on the board the cruise. There

Physical Evidence:
The Moonraker does have a good reputation and review with the interactions of the customers.
With the little bad reviews, it does get outnumbered by the exceeding number of good reviews.
With 329 reviews on google it still does manage to maintain 4.5 out of 5 stars.