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LESSON 1: TOURISM MARKETINGLEARNING OBJECTIVES: Define tourism marketing and its functions  Differentiate tourism products from consumer productsINTRODUCTION:Marketing has become a buzzword in the world of the business when the competition to gain market share began among businesses.Marketing has ...

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LESSON 1: TOURISM MARKETING LEARNING OBJECTIVES:  

Define tourism marketing and its functions Differentiate tourism products from consumer products

INTRODUCTION: Marketing has become a buzzword in the world of the business when the competition to gain market share began among businesses. Marketing has evolved from simple trade to a production orientation, and to a sales orientation. When businesses realized that production was increasing, they began competing within the market. The customer has become king, and building relationships with them has been at the heart of any successful business enterprise. Tourism is one of the leading industries of the future. Tourism contributes largely in terms of job generation and strengthening of economies. Just like any other business, marketing plays an integral role in its continuing growth. Tourism has become one of the world’s largest and fastest growing industries. Marketing for tourism covers several levels, from the tourist destination as the product itself, down to the specific tourism products and services that a tourist should avail to complete the tourist experience. These products include: a.

Transportation

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Airline

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Cruise ship

b.

Accomodation

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Hotels

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Inns

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Apartelles

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Bed and Breakfast

c. ·

Food and Beverages Restaurants

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Catering

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Bars

d.

Attractions

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Amusement parks

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Museums

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Zoos

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Marine sanctuaries

UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY Unlike consumer products which can be availed of the shelf, tourism products have unique characteristics that make their marketing and promotions quite challenging. The tourism products are: a. b. c. d. e. f.

Intangible Inseparable Variable Perishable Seasonal Substitutable

Additionally, tourism is a high involvement product. A. INTANGIBLE   

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Tourism products cannot be touched, smelled, tasted, felt nor heard prior to purchase. They cannot be subjected to prior scrutiny. EXAMPLE: A destination that promises fresh air from its beaches or a scenic view of the mountain cannot send a sample. Consumers rely on photographs of the place, comments, or reviews from those who have visited the place or availed of the services, and promises from the company itself. The word of mouth is a highly effective means of promoting tourist destinations.

B. INSEPARABLE 

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The tourist product cannot be separated from the consumer. When the tourists avail of products and services, they have to personally go to where the products are. Since, what being sold is the experience, the products and the consumer cannot be in two different places; they have to be in the same place. EXAMPLE: A tourist who avails of airline tickets need to be physically present inside the airplane to avail of the products. Products cannot be delivered to where the consumer is. Most of the time it is the consumer who goes to where the product is to avail of the product. Activities within the destination can only be enjoyed when one is a part of it.

C. VARIABLE 

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The tourism experience is likely to be different depending on when the product is availed, who one is with and how the service providers deliver the service at the time of consumption. The quality of services depends when, where and by whom are they provided. The simultaneous production and consumption of services makes it difficult to maintain their consistency, especially during peak periods.

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EXAMPLE: One may have gone to the same restaurant several times and have a different dining experience each time. While the first time at the restaurant may have been quite, the second time, one finds it to be noisy. Simply because there may have been few customers for the first time and a rowdy group of teenagers for the second time. Hence, the variability of the tourism product. This is the primary reason why standardization of operation is crucial in the tourism industry. Chain and franchise establishments make it a point to standardize the way they provide products and services to address the variability component of the industry.

D. PERISHABLE  

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The tourism product is one of the highly perishable of products. Perishability, are used in this context, refers to not being able to forward inventory to the next day. It does not refer to food being spoiled and thrown away. Products become perishable when it can no longer be consumed today even when no one consumed it that day before. Unlike consumer products such as a pen; if the pen was not sold today, it can still be stored in a warehouse to be available for sale the next day. EXAMPLE: Airline and restaurant seats, hotel rooms and function rooms are perishable products. A seat or a room that is not sold today cannot be sold some other day. For instance, a hotel with 100 rooms that was half full yesterday will only again have 100 rooms today. The 50 rooms that were unoccupied the day before cannot be sold the following day; the hotel fails to earn from the unsold rooms.

E. SEASONAL     F.

Seasonality does not refer to seasons of the year or the weather conditions. It also refers to behavioral patterns of the travel market. The seasonality of the tourism products hinders it from maximizing its profits all year round. Intensified marketing during the lean season will help increase demand for the product. This is also the reason most tourism products such as airlines and resorts, have different rates throughout the year. SUBSTITUTABLE

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Competition in the tourism industry is intensifying. With new destinations emerging and competing in the global marketplace, one destination can easily be substituted for another destination. EXAMPLE: When a new restaurant opens, the old favorites are relegated to second choice. It is quite a challenge to establish loyalty among clients since there is a wide range of product offerings to choose from. With the many choices available, the tourism product is highly substitutable. However, identifying one’s competitive advantage and a unique selling proposition may help make a tourism product less substitutable.

Marketing necessarily plays an important role in the purchase of tourism products. Because of the aforementioned characteristics of the tourism product, a marketing strategy needs to be developed to make the product competitive in a highly commercialized market place. Tourism as a High Involvement Product Decision making in the purchase of tourism products is considered to be of highinvolvement. Tourism products of high involvement mean that there is a greater degree of thought or study involved prior to the purchase. Expensive, complex, and unrepeatable are characteristics of high involvement products. a. Purchase of expensive products is likely to go through a long and detailed process of canvassing and comparing brands, suppliers, and product features. If the product commands a high price worth more than one’s monthly salary, one would surely make detailed comparisons before finalizing any purchase. Travel products, home appliances, and real estate properties fall under this attribute. b. Consumers may find complex products difficult to purchase. The difficulty may arise from the need to understand the features or details of the products. Travel packages can be considered as complex mainly due to the variety of products and services available, and the “jargons” (technical words) used in explaining some of these products. The same holds true for highly technical products such as electronic gadgets and computers. c. The unrepeatable nature of travel makes it a “once -in-a-lifetime” purchase. With the novelty-seeking behavior of most tourists and the high cost of travel, travel purchases may not be repeated or may be infrequent. Hence, more careful scrutiny is exercised prior to purchase aside from travel products, special events such as weddings and debuts fall under this characteristic. Marketing plays a vital role in the purchase of high involvement products. It leads consumers to think about the product and features as well as to assure them of its quality. Since tourism products and services are high involvement products, customers also demand a high level of satisfaction. High Involvement vs. Low Involvement HIGH INVOLVEMENT Expensive Complex Unrepeatable

LOW INVOLVEMENT Inexpensive Simple Familiar...