Travel and Tourism Marketing Article. The specifics of marketing in tourism. Key functions of marketing in tourism
Introduction 3
1 Concept of marketing in the tourism industry 5
2 Structure of the tourism product 12
2.1 Types and purposes of marketing research 15
2.2 Stages of Marketing 19
3 Elements of the marketing strategy of tourist enterprises in Russia 22
23
25
3.3 Distribution channels 28
3.3 Methods to stimulate demand 31
4 Analysis of the marketing of travel services of the firm "Sakvoyage" 35
Conclusion 42
Literature 43
Introduction
Tourism is one of the leading and fastest growing sectors of the world economy. The relevance of the topic is that tourism today plays one of the main roles in the global economy and is currently one of the most profitable types of business in the world. For its rapid growth rates, it is recognized as an economic phenomenon of the past century and a bright future is predicted for it in the coming century. According to the forecast of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), the growth of the tourism industry will be irreversible in the 21st century, and by 2020 the number of international tourist visits will reach 1.6 billion.
According to its main characteristics, tourism does not have any fundamental differences from other forms of economic activity, therefore, all the main provisions of modern marketing can be fully applied in this area. At the same time, tourism has certain characteristics associated with the nature of the services provided, labor, forms of sales, etc. As a result, tourism marketing has a number of characteristics that distinguish it not only from trade in goods, but also from other forms of trade in services. Here there is trade, both in services and in goods (according to experts, the share of services in tourism is 75%, goods - 25%), as well as a special nature of consumption of tourism services and goods in the place of their production and in a certain situation. The complex of marketing in tourism has its own characteristics that must be taken into account when doing business in this industry.
The main components of the marketing of tourism services are: the design of services, the development of their organizational foundations (the relationship between the production process and the sale of services), the price of services, advertising, sale and promotion of services (commercial work).
The main thing on which the methods of marketing tourism services should be directed is to identify opportunities for the fullest satisfaction of people's needs in terms of psychological and social factors, as well as to determine the optimal ways of financial activities of travel companies, based on available resources.
Travel services are a special "invisible" product. The relationship to be implemented is varied and specific. Distribution system and baggage distribution channels are much different through the material distribution of physical goods.
The successful business of an enterprise depends not only on the manufactured product. It is not enough to make a quality product; he is forced to meet his consumer. Meeting a product with a potential consumer is the most important condition for its implementation. Therefore, some manufacturers offer bait goods to the market through intermediaries, forming their own distribution channels.
Tourism marketing is the continuous alignment of the services offered with the services that are in demand in the market and that the travel agency is able to offer profitably and more efficiently than competitors do.
Purpose of the research: analysis of the features of tourism marketing. Analysis of the marketing of travel services of the firm "Sakvoyage"
This results in the following tasks:
Consider the concept of marketing in the tourism industry, the structure of the tourism product.
Examine the types and purposes of marketing research .
Consider the elements of the marketing strategy of tourist enterprises in Russia.
Analyze the marketing of travel services of the company "Sakvoyage".
1 Concept of marketing in the tourism industry
Tourism marketing is often used in one of the following three meanings.
Marketing is advertising, sales promotion and customer pressure, in other words, a set of particularly aggressive sales tools used to capture existing tourism markets. In this, the most mercantile sense of the word, marketing is viewed mainly in relation to the mass consumer market and to a much lesser extent to the high technology sectors, financial, social and cultural services.
Marketing is a set of market analysis tools (such as sales forecasting methods, simulation models and market research) available only to large enterprises, where they are used to develop a forward-looking and more scientific approach to needs and demand analysis.
Marketing is the architect of the consumer society, i.e. a market system where sellers exploit consumers commercially.
Behind all this complex thinking lies three aspects of the marketing concept: the active aspect - market penetration; analytical aspect - understanding the markets; ideological aspect - way of thinking.
Most often, you can observe the tendency to reduce the concept of marketing to its active measurement, i.e. to a number of sales techniques, and an extreme underestimation of its analytical aspect.
This vision of the role of marketing is based on the fact that with the help of marketing (and in reality - sales promotion) and advertising, you can make the market accept anything. However, this is very flawed, since such sales methods are often developed without considering the real needs of potential buyers, but only on the basis of the seller's desire to make a record number of sales.
In fact, the ideology of marketing is completely different. It is based, in essence, on the theory of individual choice, based on the principle of consumer priority. Within this approach, marketing is nothing more than a social expression and translation into operational terms of the principles of management put forward by classical economics at the end of the 18th century. These principles were formulated by Adam Smith and form the basis of the market economy. They can be summarized as follows: "... the prosperity of a society is the result not so much of altruistic behavior as of ensuring the compliance of the mutual interests of the buyer and seller through competitive exchange."
A. Smith considered human society, first of all, as an exchange union, which is based on the exchange of various types of labor. He considered the inclination to exchange a fundamental property of human nature, considering it extrahistorically, regardless of the stage of social development.
Despite the fact that in modern economics, the basic principle derived by Adam Smith has been adjusted, it nevertheless remains the main principle governing the economic activities of an efficient firm operating in a free competitive market. Moreover, it is now clearer than ever that countries that rejected Adam Smith's ideas are finding themselves economically lagging behind. The recent upheavals in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union illustrate this lag in many areas.
We find four central ideas at the heart of the market economy.
People strive to receive rewards from life. It is the pursuit of personal interest that motivates people to work, is the engine of growth, individual development and determines general welfare.
The nature of the reward is determined by individual preferences, which depend on tastes, culture, values, etc.
It is through free and competitive exchange that the people and organizations with which they interact achieve their goals in the best possible way. If exchange is free, it will happen only when its conditions create utility for both parties, and if it is competitive, then the risk of abuse of its market position by producers is limited.
The mechanisms of a market economy are based on the principle of individual freedom and, in particular, on the principle of consumer priority. The moral justification of systems is based on the recognition of the fact that people are responsible for their own actions and are able to decide what is good for them and what is not.
Admittedly, there is a wide gap between what marketing claims "in theory" and what it is in real life. However, the marketing concept is the ideal that every firm should strive for. Even if this is a myth, it is a guiding myth that guides the firm in its actions.
The principles listed above lead to a philosophy of action that is meaningful to any customer satisfaction organization. The scope of this marketing action can be divided into three main areas:
1) consumer marketing, when transactions are carried out between firms and end consumers, individuals or families;
2) industrial, or interfirm, marketing, when two parties in the exchange process are organizations;
3) social marketing, covering the areas of activity of non-profit organizations such as museums, universities, etc.
The marketing concept assumes that all the company's activities should have the main goal of satisfying the needs of users, since this is the best way to achieve its own growth goals and increase the company's income.
This philosophy of action assumes two directions of the firm's activity.
Systematic and ongoing analysis of the needs and requirements of key customer groups, as well as the development of concepts for new products or services, allowing the company to serve selected customer groups better than competitors, and thereby provide itself with a sustainable competitive advantage. These tasks are combined in strategic marketing.
Organization of sales, sales and communication policies to inform potential buyers and demonstrate the distinctive qualities of the product while reducing the cost of finding buyers. These tasks are assigned to operational marketing.
Thus, the overwhelming majority of Russian travel companies adhere to the position of operational marketing. Strategic marketing is a very expensive business, and therefore it remains the lot of only large travel companies, corporations and hotel holdings. Among the Russian companies in the hospitality industry, engaged in strategic development, one can name VAO Intourist, GLO Moscow, JSC Aeroflot, government agencies of the executive branch and some others. Some Russian travel companies resort to the help of specialized marketing companies that carry out market research on order. However, as a rule, these studies are carried out in order to determine only the market potential for an already finished product, and only a small number of orders provide for preliminary market research and identification of its needs.
Strategic and operational marketing complement each other and find their concrete embodiment in the framework of the company's marketing policy. Thus, combining the two approaches, we can offer the following definition of marketing.
Marketing is a social process aimed at meeting the needs and desires of people and organizations by ensuring the free competitive exchange of goods and services that are of value to the buyer.
In other words, if a market leader has done a good job of identifying consumer needs, developed a suitable product or service, set an appropriate price for them, established their distribution systems and effectively stimulated their sales, then such goods or services will most likely easily find their buyer. This expresses the basic elements of marketing.
In today's competitive environment, no one really disputes the importance of marketing. Hardly anyone doubts that focusing all business activities on the needs of the customer or user is the only way to do business. Despite the general agreement, many companies in practice are limited only to operational marketing (in fact, organizing and promoting sales), leaving out other components of marketing. It is one thing to understand the concept of marketing, it is quite another to follow this philosophy.
A company embracing this philosophy will be challenged to build a market-driven organization whose behavior and actions are aligned with the marketing concept. Creating superior customer value while generating profit is more than a marketing function. This is the goal of all activities of an organization, not just one department. In other words, strategic marketing is very important for the organization as a whole, and cannot be considered as a purely functional unit of commercial services.
In order to achieve performance above the market average, an organization must achieve sustainable competitive advantage. It can be achieved by four key components of market orientation: customer focus, intermediate customer focus, competitor focus, and cross-functional coordination.
End-user orientation means focusing efforts at all levels of the organization to create value for the customer, understanding and anticipating his needs.
Targeting an intermediate client implies a willingness to treat traders not as simple intermediaries, but as their clients, i.e. striving to meet their specific needs.
Competitive orientation implies understanding the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, calculating their strategies and quick reaction to their actions.
Cross-functional coordination means the dissemination of market information within the organization, functional integration when formulating strategy, and using the vision and knowledge of different departments, not just the marketing department, to assess customer needs and concerns.
A fifth component of a market-driven organization should be added: environmental monitoring. In other words, it is an ongoing analysis of alternative technologies, social change, and government regulations that may pose opportunities or threats to the firm.
In the tourism and hospitality industry, the fifth component of the organization acquires particular importance, since the industries are very susceptible to the external environment, its changes, both internal and external, it reacts sharply and very quickly to them, and incorrect or untimely assessment can sometimes lead to negative consequences , up to ruin.
Relationship marketing is also important in the hospitality industry. Company specialists and managers are constantly working to establish good relationships with valuable customers, distributors, suppliers and communications representatives. The fate of a firm or enterprise largely depends on their work in this direction. After all, the result of building relationships will be the conclusion of profitable deals for the company.
Thus, marketing encompasses an area that is much broader than traditional management, as it includes the organizational culture and climate that most effectively stimulates the behaviors required to successfully implement the marketing concept.
2 Structure of the tourism product
Tourism in its main characteristics does not have any fundamental differences from other forms of economic activity. Therefore, all the essential provisions of modern marketing can be fully applied in tourism. At the same time, tourism has its own specificity that distinguishes it not only from trade in goods, but also from other forms of trade in services. Here trade takes place, both in services and in goods (according to experts, the share of services in tourism is 75%, goods - 25%), as well as a special nature of consumption of tourist services and goods in the place of their production, moreover, in a certain situation ...
In traditional production, which has a specific result of labor, the concept of marketing has a more specific content. In tourism, the result of an activity is reduced to a tourism product. In fact, a tourist product is any service that meets certain needs of tourists and is payable on their part. Tourism services include hotel, transport, excursion, translation, household, utilities, intermediary and others. At the same time, the "tourism product" can be viewed in a narrow and broad sense. A tourist product in the narrow sense is the services of each specific sector of the tourism industry (for example, a hotel product, a tour operator's product, a transport company, and so on). In a broad sense, a tourist product is a complex of goods and services that together form a tourist trip (tour) or is directly related to it. The main tourist product is a comprehensive service, i.e. a standard set of services sold to tourists in one "package".
A tourist product, along with the general specific characteristics of services, has its own distinctive features.
It is a complex of services and goods characterized by a complex system of relationships between various components.
Travel services have seven distinct characteristics:
1. Failure to store. Places in a hotel or on an airplane, if there is no demand for them at the moment, cannot be stored in order to sell them in the future. Consequently, managers need to make an effort to stimulate demand for these services in this short term.
2. Intangibility of services. There are no measured values \u200b\u200bfor evaluating a tourist product: it is impossible to have an idea of \u200b\u200bthe quality of a product before buying and consuming it. In this regard, the image of the company in the market and the prestige of its goods (services) are of particular importance for consumers when buying.
3. Exposure to seasonal fluctuations. Travel agency marketing activities will differ during peak season and off-season. In the off-season, additional measures are needed to stimulate demand: low prices, various additional services, varying different types of tourism (diversification of supply).
4. Significant static, attachment to a certain place (camp site, airport, since they cannot be transferred to another place).
5. Discrepancy in time of the fact of sale of travel services and its consumption. The purchase of goods (services) of tourism is made weeks or months before the start of their consumption. In this case, advertising printed materials play an important role, providing visual information about the purchased tourist product and allowing you to create a sense of the benefits that can be derived from its consumption in the future. At the stage of selling a tourist product, great importance is attached to the degree of reliability of information, as well as the reliability of the product (whether the quality of the product matches its price).
6. Territorial dissociation of consumer and manufacturer in the tourism market. Information and advertising activities at the broader (international) level are important.
7. The buyer travels the distance separating him from the product and the place of consumption, and not vice versa.
The demand for tourism services is extremely elastic in relation to income levels and prices, but largely depends on political and social conditions. The consumer, as a rule, cannot see the tourist product before its consumption, and the consumption itself, in most cases, is carried out directly at the place of production of the tourist service. The consumer travels the distance separating him from the product and the place of consumption, and not vice versa. The tourist product depends on such variables as space and time, it is characterized by fluctuations in demand. The tourism product is created by the efforts of many businesses, each of which has its own working methods, specific needs and different commercial goals. The high quality of tourist services cannot be achieved with even minor drawbacks, since tourist service consists of these very little things and small details. The quality of tourism services is influenced by external factors of force majeure (natural conditions, weather, tourism policy, international events, etc.).
These specific features of the tourism product have a significant impact on tourism marketing. Some authors put global content into the concept of tourism marketing, for example, the Swiss specialist J. Kripendorf: “Tourism marketing is a systematic change and coordination of the activities of tourism enterprises, as well as private and public policy in the field of tourism, carried out by regional, national or international plans. The purpose of such changes is to best meet the needs of certain groups of consumers, while taking into account the possibility of obtaining the corresponding profit. "
The constituent elements of the general marketing system in the tourism area are: the state, local authorities, national and local (regional) tourism organizations and enterprises.
Western experience shows that the joint efforts of private firms and official government tourism organizations in promoting the tourism industry give the greatest effect.
There is a close relationship between the different levels of marketing: the state, local authorities and associations take market data, including information from enterprises, and enterprises, in turn, base their marketing concepts on national and local tourism concepts. The state's marketing developments are not a directive, but a recommendation, a guideline for an enterprise.
National organizations and regional levels have the following functions:
Conducting marketing research at the national level;
Legal and investment support for the development of tourism infrastructure;
Consulting services on the implementation of the marketing concept;
Assistance in public relations and advertising events (exhibitions and fairs, brochures);
Creating a positive image of the country, promoting the country as an attractive tourist destination for foreign tourists.
2.1 Types and purposes of marketing research
Marketing research is essential for a particular firm in the process of systematic collection and analysis of information in order to identify threats, strengths and weaknesses and opportunities of the tourism market, as well as in order to develop an appropriate marketing strategy for successful business.
Research conducted in tourism provides an information base for making the right management decisions by tourism managers. Research reveals:
Problems hindering effective business conduct;
Causes of problems and possible ways to resolve them;
Future trends in the tourism market.
Research also allows you to: see new opportunities; identify effective ways of doing business; better understand market demands and reduce the likelihood of risk in line with the changes that are constantly taking place there.
Research that reduces risk in the decision-making process largely determines the success of a tourism business.
In this way, managers can plan, implement and control tourism service activities more successfully if they have the necessary information.
All management decisions should be made taking into account the data obtained during marketing research.
The intensive growth of tourism in Russia did not contribute to marketing research and planning marketing activities. However, the crisis has forced many businesses to reevaluate the way they operate in order to survive the crisis and competition. Making management decisions, managers pursue the goal of making a profit. But, as the long-term practice of working in the European travel market shows, the main tasks of any tourist enterprise, if it sets its strategic goal to obtain long-term profit and maintain demand for its goods and services, are to determine the needs of consumers and satisfy their needs. The marketing concept of doing business, which emerged in the late 70s on the western market, involves conducting market research and planning marketing activities at the very beginning of the development of a tourist product: firms need to know the needs of potential customers, determine the possible number of buyers of a product or service, how and where they want it is to buy, at what price and what they expect from the purchased product or service. There are certain research technologies for obtaining such information. Tourist companies choose the most appropriate from many different approaches.
Marketing research is necessary at all stages of a firm's activities - from product development and promotion to sales and after-sales service.
Firms can conduct two types of research:
1) ongoing research, conducted constantly in order to identify all changes and trends taking place in the travel market (even minor changes in the environment of the company can affect the results of management decisions);
2) the study of one specific situation (problem) in order to test the assumption or analyze changes in the travel market.
The firm conducts a comprehensive study of the tourism market in order to assess the current general situation, the problems and threats arising from it and the emerging opportunities. The firm may also allocate resources to conduct research on one or more problem situations that have developed in the course of the day-to-day operations of the enterprise. In addition, the firm researches external and internal factors of influence, studies the effectiveness of an advertising campaign, market potential, trends in business development.
Objectives of marketing research in tourism:
1. Identification of significant problems. The intensity of daily business activities leaves little time for performers to concentrate on problem areas that hinder the successful functioning of the enterprise. Identifying the causes and problems causing business inefficiency is often one of the many simple contributions that research makes to the management process.
2. Maintaining the connection of the enterprise with its target markets. Tourism research helps to identify future trends, provides an opportunity to better understand the demands of the markets and to track changes in the markets in order to develop appropriate policies. Research reduces the likelihood of risk arising from unexpected changes in the markets. To a certain extent, research provides a guarantee that the firm will not produce a product that has become obsolete for the market due to changes in the market.
3. Reduced costs. Research helps to determine the most effective business practices and eliminate ineffective ones.
4. Development of new sources of profit. Research can lead to the opening up of new markets, new products, and new use cases for products already on the market.
5. Help in stimulating sales. The research results are interesting not only for a certain company, but also for society as a whole and can be used in advertising campaigns and to stimulate sales. This primarily applies to studies of consumer attitudes towards a product, service and those studies in which consumers are asked to evaluate certain goods and services.
6. Creation of a favorable attitude on the part of buyers. Consumers feel good about tourism industry research. They believe that the companies that do this kind of activity really care about them and are working hard to create a product or service that meets their needs. So, if in the preamble to the questionnaire you indicate the purpose of the survey, for example, improving the quality of service, customers will be more willing to answer the questions of the questionnaire and they will have a favorable impression of the company as caring about maintaining or improving the quality of services provided.
2.2 Stages of Marketing
Research in tourism takes many forms, from the primitive to the more complex, from the simple gathering of facts to the use of complex, mathematical models.
The process of conducting tourism research is represented by the following stages:
1. Definition of the problem. First, it is necessary to define or identify the existing problem and formulate the research objectives. The goals can be search, providing for the collection of some preliminary data that shed light on the problem, and possibly help to develop a hypothesis; descriptive, that is, explaining certain phenomena; experimental, providing for the verification of the hypothesis about some kind of causal relationship.
2. Conducting a situational analysis. At this stage, all the information at hand related to this problem is collected and processed. The purpose of this stage is to find out if any other company has already had similar situations, or to check if the information that contains a ready-made solution to this problem has not been missed.
Situational analysis is a thorough search of all data related to a given company, a specific product, industry, market, competitors, advertising, consumers, suppliers of products and services, technology, economy, political climate and other similar data. Knowing all the information on a problem helps to identify possible causes of its occurrence. An organization will gain more from the research result if its internal environment and goals, strategies, aspirations, available resources, as well as constraints, which it should not go beyond in its activities, are clearly defined.
In addition to obtaining the necessary information on this issue from available sources, it is necessary to extract useful information also from conversations with customers, distributors and other key figures in the tourism industry. During situational analysis and information gathering, assumptions are made, which then need to be tested.
3. Development of a research scheme. After collecting the relevant data and identifying the problem, it is necessary to develop a specific procedure (or structure) by which the research will be conducted. At this stage, which is the core of the research process, hypotheses are developed that will be tested, the type and sources of the necessary information are determined. If the need for field research is identified, then a sample for conducting a survey, compiling a questionnaire or other forms of collecting information should be developed, as well as sheets with instructions and methods for coding and tabulation. Finally, ancillary study should be conducted to verify all the previous elements. The results are presented in the form of a detailed plan, which is intended to carry out the work of the conductor in the research process, and any qualified research participant should adhere to this plan.
4. Data collection. In the event that data can be obtained from sources of secondary information, desk studies of all existing information are carried out. When collecting primary information, however, actual field research is used, the main methods of which are observation, questioning or experiment. The success of data collection depends on the quality of the fieldwork, the quality of the interviewers or people conducting the fieldwork, and the skill level of the researchers.
5. Presentation of information in tables and analysis. After collecting the data, the information should be encoded, presented in tables and analyzed. This and the previous steps must be carried out with the utmost care, otherwise, if the collection, tabulation and analysis process is not done properly, many wrong conclusions can be drawn. For example, if a survey method is used to collect data, then interviewers should be carefully selected, trained and supervised. The presentation of information in tables is carried out using a computer.
6. Interpretation of data. The result of the presentation of data in tables is a variety of computer inferences and a number of statistical conclusions. The data obtained is interpreted in order to find the best solution or develop a set of specific recommendations for determining the actions of a firm or organization. Moving from interpreting information to making recommendations is the most difficult task in the research process.
7. Drawing up a report. Presentation of the research results obtained is very important. All the effort and expense of conducting research will be wasted if the data is not presented in a way that helps the manager to act on it. At this stage of the research process, a full report should be drawn up with approved recommendations for solving a particular problem situation.
8. Control. Research work is considered unfinished until the findings of the research are put into action. Research is money invested and time spent.
3 Elements of the marketing strategy of tourist enterprises in Russia
A marketing mix (marketing program) is a set of controllable variable marketing factors that a firm uses together to elicit the desired response from the target market. The tourism marketing manager must constantly compose a marketing mix - the right combination of elements that provide profit through the most complete satisfaction of consumers' needs and in ways more effective than competitors.
Numerous elements of the marketing mix have been reduced to the concept of the "four Ps", which includes Product, Place, Promotion, and Price. This concept is a simple and accurate formula that represents all marketing activities and makes it easy to create a marketing program.
A product means not only its physical characteristics, but also planning activities, development of a new product or service. Here decisions are made regarding the diversity of the product range, the assignment of brands and packaging. When planning the creation of a product (product, service), all these aspects should be taken into account.
Location refers to making decisions about appropriate distribution methods, that is, which channels and distribution methods should be used to create the easiest consumer access to the goods and services of producers.
Incentive methods are all possible activities of a firm to disseminate information about the merits of its product and convince target consumers to buy it. Incentive methods are not only advertising, but also personal selling techniques, sales promotion activities, and public relations.
Price is a very important variable in the marketing mix. It must satisfy customers and at the same time be consistent with the profit goal of the enterprise. The price assigned by the firm must match the value of the offer, otherwise buyers will purchase competitors' products.
The starting point for effective marketing is the consumer. After identifying and analyzing a specific group of consumers, the manager, using all four elements of the marketing tool, provides effective service to this segment. Since the focus on the consumer is important, the fifth element of the marketing complex is considered to be the people themselves (the consumers of the tourist product), since they are the central point of the marketing program (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Elements of the marketing mix
3.1 Planning and development of tourism product
Most travel agencies aim to run a profitable and lasting business. To achieve this goal, companies need to produce the product or service that would satisfy the needs of potential buyers and thereby ensure an increase in business. Product planning is an essential component in developing a profitable and lasting business. It is often referred to as “five rules” planning — planning to create the right product, deliver it to the right place, at the right time, at the right price, and in the right (right) quantity.
In fig. 2 shows the life phases that a tourist product goes through: bringing goods to the market, growth, maturity, saturation, decline. Due to the rapid changes in people's lifestyles and technological changes, the life cycle of individual goods and services has become shorter than before, therefore the concept of the product life cycle plays an important role in strategic planning and each stage of the product life cycle also has specific marketing objectives.
Fig. 2. Product life cycle
The stage of bringing the product to the market. At this stage of the life cycle, costs are required to stimulate demand (this is the most appropriate time to advertise a new product or service). This phase is characterized by high costs, slow sales growth, and advertising campaigns to stimulate initial demand.
Growth stage. During this period, the novelty (if it is in demand in the market) satisfies the interests of the market, which is reflected in the growth of sales and profits. Profit growth can make the market attractive to competitors. The costs of the firm for sales promotion remain high, but here the emphasis is on motivating the targeted choice and purchase of a particular firm's product, rather than on motivating consumers to buy and test this product. During the growth phase, the number of retail outlets for a product or service usually increases. During this period, the market becomes attractive to competitors, but due to the effect of economies of scale, prices for goods (services) may decrease.
Maturity stage. A mature product is a well-established product or service in the market. Its sales rate may continue to increase, but more slowly. Then they gradually align. At this stage of the product lifecycle, many retail outlets selling a product or service are very competitive. Firms are trying to find ways to keep their market share. Ski resorts are the most appropriate example of a mature product.
Saturation stage. At this stage, sales volumes reach their highest point, the product penetrates the market as much as possible.
Mass production and the use of new technologies can reduce the price level and make the product more affordable for everyone.
Decline stage. Many tourist products remain at saturation stage for several years. However, many of them become obsolete over time and new products are introduced to the market to replace old ones. At the stage of decline, demand for a product decreases, and advertising costs decrease. As demand and profits fall, firms that cannot withstand competition leave the market.
3.2 Strategies for setting prices for a tourism product
One of the most important marketing decisions is the decision regarding the pricing of a product or service. Price reflects how consumers perceive a product. It also strongly influences other variables of the marketing mix.
The costs associated with the production, promotion, distribution and sale of the tourism product, as well as the profit margin, must be included in the price. In order to establish the correct price for a tourist product, it is necessary to analyze many factors.
When setting the price, first of all, the nature of competition in the given tourist market and the analysis of the price policy of competitors are taken into account.
In a purely competitive market, no single buyer or seller has much of an impact on current market prices. Businesses in this market don't spend a lot of time developing a marketing strategy.
In the market of monopolistic competition, enterprises set prices for their goods in a wide range, since the offers of various tourist enterprises differ from each other in quality and special properties. Businesses are developing different offerings for different segments and are using brand names, advertising and personal selling techniques to their products.
The oligopolistic market consists of a small number of travel companies. It is difficult for new applicants to penetrate this market. Each manufacturer is sensitive to the strategy and actions of competitors. In the more mature western tourism market, competition has become oligopolistic. As a rule, several large travel agencies dominate here. For example, in Germany in 1955, the three largest firms controlled 57% of the tourism market.
With a pure monopoly, there is only one seller in the market. These can be a state monopoly, a private unregulated monopoly, and a private regulated monopoly. In each case, the pricing is formed differently. The state monopoly may be on tourist sites of unique quality (the Moscow Kremlin).
In pricing decisions, firms have a choice of one of three product pricing strategies:
1. Firms may decide to sell their product at a market price, that is, at a generally recognized market price. In this case, firms are considered to operate in a non-price competitive environment.
2. Firms may charge a lower price than current market prices. Firms that practice this price-discount policy build a reputation for asking for low prices, and thus trying to achieve more sales than competitors.
3. Setting the price above the market price. The use of an inflated pricing strategy should be driven by the best product quality in the industry or supported by various attractive benefits and uniqueness of the product in order to justify the high price. This approach focuses on quality, which many customers believe is a function of price. Quality generates more costs.
Another basis for making a decision on pricing is the level of demand for a tourist product.
When setting a price for a product, you need to consider the type and number of potential customers. If, with a 1% decrease in price, demand increases significantly, and with a 1% increase, it decreases significantly, then there is a price elasticity of demand. If the market has a small number of consumers, then the price should be high enough to compensate for the limited market. However, purchasing habits and purchasing power must also be considered.
Gross production costs must be included in the price. The profit implicit in the price of the product should remain to compensate for the business risk after all contractual partners have been paid and after all taxes have been paid.
Travel agents make a mark-up on the sales price of the tour operator, thereby covering their overhead costs and making a profit. Tour operators determine the lower price level, below which travel agents are not allowed to lower prices.
In addition to these factors, you must also consider:
1. Availability of substitute products from competitors. If competitors sell tour packages in the same direction, then with a significant increase in the price of the product, you can lose your customers.
2. Income, the degree of saturation of the needs of their target market, changes in the environment (political, economic, legal). All this needs to be constantly analyzed.
3. Product quality. The quality of a product reflects a price-value relationship.
4. Distinctive characteristics of the product.
5. Competitors. When pricing a product that is similar to a competitor's product, the pricing of competitors' products should be taken into account.
6. Seasonality. When developing the price of a product, the timing aspect must be taken into account.
7. Psychological features. Consumers have been found to respond psychologically well to odd-numbered prices, and there seems to be something magical about prices that end in 9.
For the market of tourist services, the fact of a gap in time between the moment the price is set and the moment of buying and selling a tourist product is not uncommon.
3.3 Distribution channels
Another difficult decision a marketing manager must make is the selection of suitable tourism intermediaries who connect consumers of tourism goods and services with the providers of those services (airlines, hotels, car rental firms, etc.).
When choosing a channel for the distribution of goods and services, it is necessary to carry out:
Product analysis;
Characterization and definition of the market size;
Analysis of distribution channels in terms of sales volume, costs and profit;
Determining the assistance that can be expected from a given channel in the sale of goods and services;
Determination of the assistance that will need to be provided to this channel in the distribution of goods and services;
Determination of the number of retail points of sale.
American market researchers who conducted a study of tourism intermediaries identified three main categories of distribution channels: tour operators, travel agents, and specialized distribution channels. The category of specialized channels includes incentive travel agencies; people who plan meetings and conferences; hotel representatives, executive workers of associations; corporate travel agencies, etc. (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3. The system of distribution of goods and services in tourism
Intermediaries can influence when, where and how people travel. To some extent, they control what percentage of the business the airline, hotel, cruise line, or car rental company gets.
Each vertical link in fig. 4 represents a possible intermediary linking tourists with travel service providers. The leftmost link shows that consumers themselves book places on a vehicle, a room in a hotel and organize their holidays directly with manufacturers (suppliers) of travel services. Each of the subsequent links is not a direct link, but mediated by one or more intermediaries. All the links presented must be studied by the tourism marketing manager to select the best channel or combination of distribution channels in order to successfully promote the company's goods and services on the market. The manager must also always be aware of the changes that are taking place in the distribution system. The entry of new competitors into the system always requires additional methods of distribution of goods and services.
Fig. 4. Channels for the distribution of tourist goods and services of different levels.
In the Russian tourist market, there are two main forms of selling a tourist product: through a tour operator and through a travel agent. Tour operator is a tourist company that develops tourist routes and completes tours, ensures their functioning, organizes advertising, calculates in accordance with the current standards and approves in accordance with the established procedure prices for tours along these routes, sells tours to travel agents for issuing and selling vouchers for their licenses ... Travel agent is a company that purchases tours developed by a tour operator, issues vouchers for these tours and sells them to the consumer.
3.3 Methods to stimulate demand
The purpose of promoting goods and services is to create demand for these goods and services.
The use of funds to stimulate demand in the field of tourism is aimed not only at the end consumer, but also at numerous manufacturers of travel services, intermediaries (travel agents, tour operators), as well as their contact "audiences" (media, financial and insurance companies, public organizations) ...
In order to sell a product, you must:
Attract the attention of potential consumers;
Arouse consumer interest in the product;
Encourage consumers to buy a given product;
Encourage buyers to take real action.
Both forms of personal selling and advertising are highly effective. But the most effective is to use these two forms together. Advertising is ideal for attracting attention and generating interest from potential buyers for a particular product or service.
In tourism, demand promotion tools such as advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and propaganda are widely used.
Advertising. Advertising can be defined as a form of non-personal communication with customers for the presentation of goods, ideas and services, carried out through paid media, with a clearly indicated source of funding.
Each travel company pre-selects the form of appeal, and even when an advertising campaign is carried out by order of advertising agencies or media workers.
Distinguish between trade and communicative advertising efficiency. The commercial effectiveness of advertising is determined by the increase in the percentage of sales before and after the start of the promotional activities. The communicative effectiveness of advertising is determined by research methods and questionnaires.
The main advertising media are newspapers, magazines, radio, television, signboards, catalogs, booklets, stands, leaflets, billboards, advertisements on vehicles. They have the following advantages and disadvantages.
Promotion of a new tourist center on the market will require more funds than maintaining the image of an object already mastered by tourists. The distribution of the advertising budget between advertising and sales promotion depends on each specific situation.
A travel agency cannot spend more than 10% of its turnover on an advertising campaign. The specificity of tourist advertising is that the advertising messages of tourist organizations should be more targeted than advertising in other sectors of the economy.
Research. Successful travel marketing relies heavily on research. Activities to stimulate tourist demand without conducting appropriate research is just a waste of effort and time. Advertising costs will not be productive if you do not know in advance: the contingent of customers, their addresses and preferences regarding travel and recreation, their interests; what tourist destinations they prefer. Answers to these questions can only be obtained through research.
Personal selling techniques. This is the oldest and most widely used method of creating customer demand, the most convincing and effective type of sales promotion, since the seller in this case has direct contact with the buyers. Unlike advertising, which is not a personal means of communication, a personal sale is an individual, personal communication between the seller and the consumer. Many organizations spend more money on personal selling (8 to 15% of sales) than on advertising.
Sales promotion is the use of a variety of incentives to speed up or enhance market response.
Incentives (contests, coupons, bonuses, commissions) have three characteristic qualities:
1) attract attention and contain information that can lead the consumer to the product;
2) presuppose a concession, benefit, assistance that is of value to the consumer;
Organization of public opinion (public relations), go propaganda. Opinion organization has several challenges, including ensuring that the firm is well-known, fostering an image of it as a civic organization, and discouraging the spread of unfavorable rumors and information about it. Public relations can be defined as the social consciousness of the firm, where public interests are the priority in the process of making any decision. Public relations permeate the entire tourism organization, including relationships with many entities such as customers, company employees, suppliers and local residents.
Constant communication with your clients is the basis for creating or maintaining a favorable company image. The reputation and image of a travel company is largely determined by the method of resolving disputes arising with clients and partners, as well as the procedure for resolving complaints. Tourist organizations that care about preserving their positive reputation try not to bring the situation to court, but to resolve everything peacefully. In the dissemination of favorable information about the travel organization, it is necessary to provide consumers only with reliable and complete information about the product or service. False information will permanently or even forever create an unfavorable image of the company in the minds of society.
Survival in the market requires the use of a direct marketing strategy, the essence of which is to individualize sales, establish direct contacts directly with a specific consumer, with each potential client.
The direct marketing concept assumes:
Identification of target groups to which marketing activities should be directed;
Development of a set of measures to stimulate the sale of travel services;
Creation of a data bank on the firm's clientele;
Creation of an effective system of stable feedback and quick response of the manufacturer of travel services to complaints and claims from the client.
4 Analysis of the marketing of travel services of the firm "Sakvoyage"
Travel agency "SACVOYAGE" was founded on February 29, 1996. Currently is a member of the Russian Association of Travel Agencies (RATA)
Travel agency "SACVOYAZH" 450000, Ufa, Lenin street 44/46
Sale of tours in the following directions:
Turkey, Egypt, UAE, Tunisia, Greece, Czech Republic, Italy, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Thailand, Cyprus, Malta, Andorra, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Scandinavia, Russia, and Bashkiria
Bus tours in Europe
sea \u200b\u200bcruises
VIP and individual tours
hot tours.
Travel company "Sakvoyage" has a well-deserved reputation as one of the most reliable travel agencies in Ufa. The work of managers in the office is maximally interconnected and automated. Full computerization and well-functioning system of work does not allow information loss. This allows you to provide uninterrupted and accurate service to your tourists even during the peak tourist season.
Today the staff of the company is 15 people.
Contacts have been established with all the leading hotels in the city, as well as with the largest sanatoriums in Bashkortostan. The office of the company organizes the sale of air tickets to all directions for flights of Russian and foreign airlines According to the results of the 2008 season, the travel company "Sakvoyage" is one of the leading travel companies in the city of Ufa.
The main parameters of the market and its target segments.
Market segmentation is the breakdown of a market into distinct groups of buyers, each of which may require separate products and / or marketing mixes. Most often, socio-economic criteria are used for market segmentation, such as: age, gender, income level, education, profession, family size, and others.
Sacvoyage employees define the target segment by the following characteristics:
Age - 40-45 years old
Income level - average and above average
Education - usually higher, but does not matter
Marital status - usually a family of two to four people
Work, profession - most often - private entrepreneurs
Geography
Lifestyle - an energetic, active person engaged in trade or management activities, often working on weekends and holidays, watching his image, feeling a lack of time for rest and family, receptive to new products, skeptical about advertising.
The motive of travel is the desire to relax with the family, the desire to relax abroad, the desire to receive medical treatment abroad, the desire to visit an exotic country (entertainment + novelty).
This is the description of the main segment on which the "Sacvoyage" operates.
Of course, this does not mean that absolutely all of the company's clients are of this age or status, but most of them fit this definition, and it is this group of consumers that allows you to quickly recoup the costs of producing and promoting a tour product. On the other hand, almost all tour companies are targeting the same segment. This means that the firm must strive to gain customer acceptance and trust.
All marketing efforts should be aimed at creating strong and lasting preferences among existing and potential customers.
The task is to distract a large number of customers from the existing market, to attract new categories of customers.
2. Assessment of the competitive strategy of the enterprise
Hundreds and even thousands of dollars are spent on advertising and other marketing activities, because it is high-quality advertising that guarantees the competitiveness of an enterprise. Advertisers want to know how justified these costs are. You can only find out by conducting evaluative research.
While advertising is about creating an image, and it takes time, channel management is about incentives that lead to immediate action, preferably a sale. On the other hand, they perform common tasks, which are to increase the number of consumers and more use of the tour product by consumers.
Sales support is about offering an additional motive to buy. Its main advantage lies in the variety and flexibility of methods. Most often, various discounts are used to promote tour companies. "Sacvoyage" offers the following system of discounts:
Holiday discounts
Family discounts
Group
Baby
Special (for those who own a discount coupon or for clients who bring a new client to the company)
Various contests and lotteries are another effective way to promote a tour product. These strategies attract people by promising free benefits and offering impressive prizes. In 1996, Sakvoyage established cooperation with the newspaper. Every six months they hold a joint game dedicated to tourism and a win-win lottery.
Various printed materials are used by tour companies to stimulate sales directly in the office. At a time when a client hesitates in choosing a travel agent, vacation spot, hotel or mode of transport, a colorful brochure will help to push him to buy, outlining all the advantages of this vacation spot, hotel, etc. Various calendars, stands, brochures, magazines and catalogs of our own publication not only attract the client with their appearance, but also offer more detailed information about the route. Their production is relatively inexpensive - it depends on the amount of information printed, the cost of paper, the cost of printing media, and the salaries of designers. It is possible to order such products in specialized firms, which is much more profitable with single copies or small batches.
The next stage of the distribution channel management is participation in various tourism exhibitions and fairs. Exhibitions and fairs are of great importance in terms of finding partners and establishing business relationships. This type of promotion refers to sales promotion aimed at intermediaries. Such exhibitions are annually held not only in Moscow, but also in other cities, both Russian and international. In 1998 the firm first appeared as a tour operator in the summer program “To Spain Directly from Ufa”. In the same year the firm was awarded a diploma of the International Exhibition Center "InterSib" for professional work. In 1997, for the first time, its own tourist programs in Bashkortostan were offered, which received recognition from Ufa, nonresident and foreign tourists.
Sacvoyage publishes booklets related to their own projects to attract more tourists to these services.
All brochures are printed in a printing house on good, high-quality paper, which shows respect for customers. In addition, all booklets are colorfully decorated.
In these advertising brochures, the visual effect is provided by photographs of these projects. Photos recreate the atmosphere of these tours. They give the potential client the main idea of \u200b\u200bwhat awaits him.
Television has ample opportunity to provide targeted impact and evoke the desired response from the audience.
Television provides wide coverage. For example, to promote the festive program “March 8 in the sanatorium“ Abzakovo ”advertising was given on television, on weekends, during the period of showing interesting programs and feature films on the BST channel, when the maximum number of potential customers were at their televisions. The advertising message that was placed in this newspaper was simple, short, and grabbed the attention of readers. By virtue of its efficiency, repeatability, and wide coverage of the market, the press is one of the most effective means of advertising dissemination; therefore, Sakvoyage most often uses the services of the press to advertise its services.
A corporate identity is a set of color, graphic, verbal, typographic design constant elements that provide visual and semantic unity of goods (services), all information coming from the company, its internal and external design.
The travel company "Sakvoyage" has developed its own corporate identity, which allows the consumer to quickly and accurately find the company's product, allows the company to bring its new products to the market at a lower cost, and which increases the effectiveness of advertising. The elements of corporate identity are:
Trademark;
Branded font inscription (logo);
Branded block;
Corporate slogan (slogan);
Corporate color;
So, from the above it is clear that the travel agency "Sakvoyage" actively promotes its services through various types of advertising. However, we have considered only certain types of advertising. However, it should be noted that Sakvoyage also uses other types of advertising, such as audiovisual advertising, leaflets, outdoor advertising, postal advertising, and so on.
3. Conclusions and suggestions for improving the marketing activities of the enterprise.
So, marketing ensures not only the effective satisfaction of market needs, but also the success of the enterprise in the competition.
Having originated in the manufacturing sector, marketing for a long time did not find appropriate application in the field of tourism. However, the increase in competition, the commercialization of tourist activities led to the need for the earliest possible introduction of the main elements of marketing into the practice of a tourist enterprise. At the same time, tourism has certain features associated with the nature of the services provided, forms of sales, and so on. In order to actually use marketing as a reliable tool for achieving success in the market, specialists of tourism enterprises need to master its methodology and the ability to apply it depending on a specific situation. Employees of the travel company "Sakvoyage" are trying to apply marketing in their activities, studying the supply and demand for specific travel services, making prices for a new project, advertising their services, and so on. And here marketing acts as a compass that allows the company to conduct its activities towards the intended goal in a safer way, but as mentioned earlier, they lack a specialized marketing department, for the best promotion of the company and conquering new frontiers, in my opinion, the creation of such a structure as a separate independently functioning body will not only help to conquer new frontiers, but also occupy a leading position in this market sector for a very long time.
Conclusion
The modern concept of marketing in tourism requires taking into account the holistic and comprehensive nature of the tourism business. To implement this concept, it is necessary to develop a mechanism for coordinating the marketing of various organizations in the field of tourism.
More effective scientific research is needed. To carry out the most in-depth complex research, you need to invite specialists or create your own marketing department with qualified personnel. It is advisable for small and medium tour operators to unite to conduct joint marketing activities and market research in order to reduce the cost of attracting marketing specialists and specialized marketing companies.
The specific nature of marketing in the Russian tourist market is determined by the fact that the overwhelming number of Russian tour operators limit their marketing activities to advertising campaigns mainly in the form of advertising in print. A variety of forms of advertising is required.
Tourism marketing should be addressed not only to end consumers - tourists, but also to intermediaries - travel agencies, partners, public tourism associations, government agencies for tourism regulation.
Tourism of the XXI century is, first of all, tourism focused on the client, as a consumer of tourist goods and services. A successful and profitable tourism business of the future is a business based on knowledge of international legal norms and rules, tourism management and marketing, tourism market conjuncture, on a complete and comprehensive knowledge of the needs and demands of a tourist.
Literature
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Voskolovich, N.A. Marketing of tourist services. - M .: UNITI, 2009.
Durovich A.P., Kopanev A.S. Marketing in tourism.-M .: "Econompress", 2000.
V.A. Kvartalnov Tourism. - SPb .: Peter, 2002.
F. Kotler, D. Bowen, D. Meikens, Marketing. Hospitality. Tourism. - M .: Unity, 2000.
Nikolashina V.N. Marketing of tourist services - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2008.
Noriganova O.A. Methodology for evaluating tourist services as a market category // Culture of the peoples of the Black Sea region. - 2002 - N36.
Papiryan G.A. Economics of Tourism.-M .: Finance and Statistics, 2005.
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www. tourmarketportal.ru
hospitality industry and tourism In the hotel business marketing often identified with ...
In accordance with the recommendations of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) 1, there are three main functions of tourism marketing
Travel marketing is a complex and capacious concept, which is why it has not yet received an accurate and final formulation. There are many definitions of it, including
However, it is clear that in any case, tourism marketing is a system of continuously offered services in the leisure market with the aim of generating profit for the tourism company and meeting the needs of its customers. The system of activity of such an enterprise includes the design of services, the development of their organizational foundations (the relationship between the production process and the sale of services), advertising, sale of services (commercial work).
The peculiarity of tourism marketing is that the market is in constant dynamic change. Demand for travel services changes under the influence not only, for example, of weather conditions, but also the introduction of new prices and competition. In this regard, marketing is presented as an ongoing process. Therefore, the marketing strategy of any travel company includes the design of the distant, and most importantly, the near future. A travel company, outlining long-term plans, coordinates them with environmental factors, i.e. uses all possible marketing tools to achieve future goals.
Classic types of tourist services in the marketing system are filled with new content, since the company's resources (financial, material, human) open up more and more potential opportunities. By purchasing a tourist voucher, the consumer thereby buys a set of certified services, while the company receives a well-deserved profit, which makes tourism marketing an exclusively economic category.
Travel marketing levels in a competitive environment
List the main functions of travel marketing.
In recent decades, an interesting experience of regions and cities of different countries began to accumulate in using the potential of marketing in order to increase the tourist and commercial attractiveness of the regions.
In addition to a deep understanding of the core values \u200b\u200bof buyers, trade organizations also need to know how and why buyers-organizations make purchases. This is all the more necessary in connection with the fact that the purchase mechanism inevitably affects the nature of the needs of buyers. Knowing the buying process helps companies to direct their marketing efforts so that they most effectively influence the decision to purchase a product. For example, travel companies know that purchasing a voucher is a long process and all family members are involved in making a decision. Therefore, it makes sense to print detailed brochures that will serve as a basis for family discussion. Plus, personalized service by travel agents who can answer any outstanding questions. In short, by knowing the buying process, sellers and service providers can create a more appropriate marketing mix (product, price, distribution, promotion, and personnel) for target buyers.
Marketing differs in the types of goods and services. In particular, marketing of consumer goods and industrial goods, banking and financial marketing, trade marketing, service marketing, agricultural marketing, construction marketing, tourism marketing, scientific and technical marketing, marketing of ideas, etc. has its own specifics.
The reliability of services can be increased by establishing higher standards of service and linking the payment of employees, their promotion with the quality of their work. Edge services are often used to complement and underpin basic services to create and maintain competitive advantage. For example, while a tourist hotel is marketing its rooms, it also needs an adequate reservation system, staff responsible for keeping the parking lot clean, recreational facilities, restaurants, and communications with transport facilities.
Due to the high degree of interconnection and interdependence between countries in economic terms, there is a very extensive international market that allows you to import and export various products (import is the process of acquiring a product in another country and moving it to your own for the purpose of subsequent sale, and export is the export of a product made in one country, to another for subsequent sale). And here for enterprises (companies) that are oriented in their activities on the export of goods or services (this can be, for example, cosmetic or travel companies), additional requirements arise in the field of marketing, firstly, the conformity of the quality of goods, packaging, design, advertising to international standards, and the production complex - the modern scientific and technical level; secondly, the ability to establish close ties with foreign representatives and organize international auctions, exhibitions, fairs, conferences, etc. at a high professional level. In addition, import and export policy requires a specific approach to maintaining the competitiveness of an enterprise, both in quantitative and qualitative aspects.
From the point of view of marketing, tourism is the travel of citizens for tourism purposes and a complex of industries serving such travel. As defined by the rules of the World Tourism Organization, tourist travel is classified as follows
The functions of the employees of the department for the organization of intermediary operations of international tourism are reduced to the work of planning and implementing tourist trips on the basis of dealer agreements with tour operators. Any tourist season begins with the identification of data on demand and market conditions. They are provided by the marketing department, based on them, a plan is drawn up for recruiting groups of tourists in various directions, after which the request is sent to the tour operator for the provision of individual tours for a certain period. The same department carries out all the work to ensure the contract; formation of groups; selection of leaders and guides-translators; providing the guides with the necessary information, as well as lists of groups, visa processing and insurance.
Business interactions between the firm and the client are based on the contractual relationship between them. They are formed as a relationship between a buyer (customer) and a seller (performer). Marketing theory considers the concept of tourist services as the provision of a special service by a firm to a client. It is essentially a travel product purchased from a travel agency by a client. By entering into a contractual relationship with the company, the tourist expects to receive the set of services he needs in the end. The company, as a rule, provides him, as a rule, not the services themselves, but the rights (guarantees) to receive at a certain time in a certain place services directly carried out by other companies that do not have direct contractual relations with this tourist, but are in contractual relations with the sending travel company ... The tourist also acquires guarantees for the provision of certain types of services by the directing company itself. The totality of these rights is displayed in the voucher, which is
In some cases, the agreement provides for the introduction of a clause obliging the agent not to enter into business relations with other firms, as well as a clause on the monopoly right to sell certain travel services. This form of activity, on the one hand, makes it possible to work without having large expenses for advertising, marketing, organizing tours and receiving commissions, but on the other hand, it prevents significant expansion and obtaining large profits. In addition, the agent is often too dependent on the tour operator and, in fact, lacks independence.
The most ardent supporters of online marketing believe that it will bring significant changes in all areas of the economy. The possibility of direct consumer ordering will affect the operation of many commercial structures, in particular travel agencies, brokerage firms, insurance agents, car dealers and bookstore owners. Many functions will be performed by online services. At the same time, there will be a reorganization of mediation in the form of the emergence and increase in the number of online
Marketing of the regions. To a large extent, it solves the same problems and uses the same tools as the marketing of countries, but at the appropriate level. In recent decades, an interesting experience of regions of different countries has begun to accumulate in using the potential of marketing in order to increase the tourist and commercial attractiveness of the regions.
Lottery (from French lot - lot) in marketing implies the distribution of tickets to potential consumers, the receipt of which for them is associated with participation in a sales promotion campaign, and the determination of the winners among them according to a random law. For example, numbered invitations to the opening of a new store are sent by mail, and at the end of official events, a lottery is held on tickets in which a tourist trip for two to Australia is played. The winner is determined from all those who arrived at the opening on a random basis, no special knowledge is required from him, it is enough to be present at a certain place at a specified time.
Abroad, in the tourism marketing system, the relationship between a tour operator and a travel agent is most often built on the basis of an agency agreement on granting the first to the second the right to sell a tourist product formed by the tour operator. This circumstance explains the fact that when organizing tours, travel agencies cooperate with insurance companies. The insurance premium is included in the cost of the tour, and its value depends on the tariff. The variety of fares is based on the following factors, conditions of the embassies, which can determine the minimum amount of the insured amount, for example, for Western Europe it is about US $ 30 trip duration number of people in a group (discounts from 5 to 20% are possible) age (if the client is over 60 years old , the sum insured can be doubled).
This is the second, revised and enlarged edition of the textbook "Marketing" (1st ed. - UNITI, 1998). The textbook is supplemented with new chapters, which reveal the principles and methods of publishing, tourism and environmental marketing, as well as the organization of marketing activities of an industrial enterprise, the specifics of marketing of means of production.
S market-oriented management, aimed at achieving the goals of the enterprise by satisfying the needs of tourists more efficiently than competitors, marketing can be used both at the level of an individual travel company and in the activities of tourism concerns, holdings, including at the international level1.
Suppose the airbus has 300 seats and the average occupancy rate is 80%. In the case of an undifferentiated strategy, when there is no division of the cabin by class of passengers in an airliner, to reach a given occupancy rate, the ticket price should not exceed 250, and the profit will be 200. However, marketing managers believe that the price of 250 is the upper limit for those who do not have significant funds of vacationers, but entrepreneurs and wealthy clients are willing to pay a large sum for high quality service and comfort. The marketing department invites the company's management to go to
Tourism is one of the leading and most dynamic industries in the global service sector. Thanks to its rapid growth, tourism has been recognized as an economic phenomenon of the 20th century. The Russian tourism market is also developing.
The volume of the Russian tourism market has been steadily increasing throughout the last decade. In 2012, its volume (compared to 2011) increased by 14% (or by 149 billion rubles), exceeding 1 trillion rubles (about 1.7% of Russia's GDP). If the current growth rates are maintained in 2013, the tourist services market will reach 1.35 trillion rubles.
Fig.
The prerequisites for the positive dynamics of the tourism market in the Russian Federation are the growth of the population's ability to pay and the consistent development of the tourist infrastructure, the growth of the penetration rate of remote banking services, the Internet and Internet services in our country.
The tourism industry is one of the brightest examples of the introduction, development and active use of information and communication technologies in the world. Booking tickets, choosing and paying for a hotel room in any city around the world, anytime, anywhere, using a mobile device, using electronic payment methods, is becoming common for tourists of all ages with a wide range of income levels.
The tourist services market is moving towards greater transparency and accessibility for the end consumer. According to Aviation EXplorer 1, the growth in the share of travel services issued on the Internet was recognized as the most noticeable trend in the Russian market in 2012. The structure of demand is changing, shifting towards the independent registration of tourist services on the Internet by the population.
The development of the tourism market in the Russian Federation will inevitably lead to an increase in the level of competition in this sector of the economy, which, in turn, will require companies operating in the tourism industry to reconsider their attitude to the role of marketing in the company. To remain competitive in the new environment, travel companies need to move from a culture of consumer orientation to market orientation.
Currently, there is still no single approach to the definition of marketing in tourism. Therefore, consider different views on the problem.
- ? formation of contacts with consumers of tourist services;
- ? development of contacts through innovations;
- ? control over the results of service.
Establishing contacts with customers aims to convince them that the proposed holiday destination and the services available there, the attractions and the expected benefits fully correspond to what the customers themselves want to receive.
The development of contacts involves the design of innovations that can provide new sales opportunities. Such innovations should be in line with the needs and preferences of potential customers.
- 1 http://www.aex.ru
- 2 Adopted at the WTO International Conference in Budapest in February 1993.
Control involves analyzing the results of activities to promote goods and services to the market and checking how the results reflect the full and successful use of opportunities available in the tourism sector, a comparative analysis of the costs of advertising marketing activities and the income received.
French scientists R. Lancar and R. Ollier give the following definition to tourism marketing: “Tourism marketing is a series of basic methods and techniques developed for research, analysis and solution of tasks. The main thing that these methods and techniques should be aimed at is identifying the possibilities of the most complete satisfaction of people's needs in terms of psychological and social factors, as well as determining the ways of the most financially rational business management by tourism organizations (enterprises, bureaus or associations), allowing to take into account the identified or hidden needs for tourism services. Needs of this kind can be determined either by the motives for recreation (entertainment, vacation, health, education, religion and sports), or by other motives that are often found among business groups, families, various missions and unions. "
Swiss specialist E. Krieendorf puts more complete content into the concept of tourism marketing: “Tourism marketing is a systematic change and coordination of the activities of tourism enterprises, as well as private and public policy in the field of tourism, carried out according to regional, national or international plans. The purpose of such changes is to best meet the needs of certain groups of consumers, while taking into account the possibility of obtaining the corresponding profit. "
The concept of marketing in the field of tourism is developing in accordance with modern trends in the development of marketing theory and service marketing theory.
The tourist product has distinctive characteristics inherent in the service described in the previous paragraph, namely, intangibility, inseparability from the source, non-persistence and inconsistency of quality (4 "NOT"), Four "NOT" tourist services as a product seriously affect the specifics of activities in the field of tourism ...
To the traditional elements of the marketing mix: Product - Price - Place - Promotion, used in traditional marketing as a set of strategies controlled by the company to influence the consumer, in tourism it is recommended to use additional strategies of the marketing mix of services. These include:
- ? material environment ( Physicalevidence),
- ? service process ( Process) and staff (People).
Material environment ( Physical Evidence) (the atmosphere of a hotel, restaurant, travel agency office) involves work on influencing the sensory channels of customer perception: visual (space organization, lighting, color), auditory (volume and pace of accompaniment music), olfactory (room ventilation), tactile (room temperature) 1 .
Service process (Process) guests, customers can be developed through diagrammatic design techniques, touchpoints, customer scenario and reengineering 2.
Staff (People), contact personnel are company personnel who simultaneously produce and sell a travel service. For this reason, service marketing contact personnel are sometimes referred to as "part-time marketers" (part timemarketers) 3.
Together with the rest of the marketing mix strategies (product, price, distribution channels, promotion), these additional three elements form a marketing mix for the tourism industry.
The result of activities in tourism is a tourist product that has its own distinctive features:
- ? the demand for tourist services is elastic in relation to the level of consumer income and prices, subject to seasonal fluctuations;
- ? dependence of a tourist product on variables such as space and time;
- ? the offered tourist services are divided geographically: booking a tour in a travel agency, booking a hotel or air tickets via the Internet, tourists receive at their place of permanent residence, transport services can be obtained during a tourist trip, hotel accommodation, participation in festivals, excursion services, meals - in the place temporary stay;
- ? the tourism product offer is notable for its inflexible production. Hotels, airports, museums, theme parks cannot be relocated at the end of the tourist season to another region in order to adapt to changing demand and seasonality;
- ? assessment of the quality of a tourist product is highly subjective. Local residents, members of the tourist group can influence the perception of the quality of tourist service;
- 1 Novatorov E. Features of the behavior of consumers of services. Zh-l "Sales Management", 2003.
- 2 Ibid.
- 3 Ibid.
- ? the assessment of the quality of a tourist product can be influenced by such factors as weather and natural conditions, political events.
The problem of the definition of a tourist product remains controversial. Consider the most common definitions of a tourist product presented in Table 1.
Tourism product definitions
Table 1
|
Definition of a tourism product |
|
|
The policy of a tourism product can be considered and conducted from two positions: a certain territory and a certain enterprise |
|
|
Medlik S „1995 |
A tourist product in the narrow sense ( sensustricto) and broad sense ( sensulargo). A tourist product in the narrow sense is everything that tourists buy separately (for example, a transport service, hotel reservations) or in the form of a package of services. A travel product broadly encompasses the totality of the experiences received from the moment you leave home until you return |
|
Middleton V.T.C., 1996 |
A tourist product is a combination of three main components: attractiveness, tourist infrastructure, and their availability. " |
|
Middleton V.T.C., 1996 |
From the point of view of a potential client considering any form of travel, a product can be defined as a package of tangible and intangible |
|
Holloway J.Ch., Robinson Ch., 1997 |
A travel product is a complex product covering a place, services and some tangible products |
|
Golembski G., 1998 |
A travel product integrates all goods and services created and purchased in connection with leaving their place of permanent residence and before the start of the trip, and during the trip, and during their stay outside their home area |
|
Mazurkiewicz L., 2002 |
Tourism product - an arbitrary combination of site services and tourism services |
|
Nowakowska A., 2002 |
A tourist product can be called a package of tangible and intangible components available on the market that allows you to realize the purpose of a tourist trip |
As can be seen from Table 1, most often in approaches to the definition of a tourist product, a structural or component approach is traced, where, along with material objects, various services, images, places, designs, ideas are considered.
Less common are definitions of a tourism product that focus on meeting the needs and expectations of tourists (Middleton V.T.C.).
S. Medlik for the first time made an attempt to combine two points of view on the tourist product, considering it in a narrow and broad sense.
Thus, a tourist product can be viewed from three positions:
- 1) from the position of a tour operator company (the sphere of mediation);
- 2) from the point of view of territorial authorities (sphere of supply);
- 3) from the client's perspective (area of \u200b\u200bdemand).
According to Federal Law No. 132-FZ "On the Basics of Tourist Activities in the Russian Federation" "a tourist product is a set of transportation and accommodation services provided for a total price (regardless of whether the cost of excursion services and (or) other services is included in the total price) under an agreement on the implementation of a tourist product ".
According to this definition, a tourist product is identified with the concept of a tour. They should be distinguished. The tour is an integral part of the tourist product. It is a set of primary services provided by a tour operator on a specific route and at a specific time period. As a rule, the tour includes transportation, accommodation and meals according to the type chosen by the tourist. A tourist product is a much broader definition.
Let us consider a simplified classification of tourist products according to the characteristic elements that determine the essence of the tourist product (table 2).
As you can see, the tourist product is diverse and is created by the efforts of many enterprises and organizations, and each of them has its own methods of work, technologies, specific goals and objectives for the creation, promotion and implementation of a tourist product, using various marketing policy tools. This objectively creates great organizational difficulties in coordinating actions in the production, proposal and sale of a tourist product and ensuring a high level of service for tourists. It should also be borne in mind that the ultimate goals and content of the marketing process for enterprises involved in the creation, promotion and implementation of a tourism product are also different. There are several levels of marketing organization in tourism:
- ? marketing at the level of tour operators and travel agents;
- ? marketing at the level of territories and regions - tourist destinations.
Classification of tourism products
table 2
|
tourist product |
Tourism product example |
|
|
Tourist |
Material item - guidebook, tourist map, tourist equipment, souvenirs, multimedia products: multimedia city plans, guides to museums and historical sites, presentations of regions on Internet sites, mobile applications |
Virtual tours of the Kizhi reserve-museum (http://kizhi.karelia.ru/); Virtual tours of the Russian Museum (http: // www: virtualrm.spb.ru/) Virtual tours of the streets of London (http://virtualizacija.ru/) |
|
Tourism product - service |
Single service - hotel, gastronomic, transport, excursion, etc. |
Hotel room reservation, lunch in a restaurant, air ticket, etc. |
|
Tourism product - event |
Thematic focus of the event, specific localization in time and space |
Tourist exhibitions - WorldTravelMarket (London), ITB (Berlin), MITT (Moscow), INTURMARKET (Moscow); Oktoberfest (Wiesn, Munich); Olympic Games Sochi-2014; Cartoon Festival (http://www.multfest.ru/); music festival "White Nights" in St. Petersburg, etc. |
|
Tourist |
A tour that includes a set of services (transportation, accommodation, meals, excursions |
"All Spain" (http://www.natalie-tours.ru/); Music Festival |
Ending
|
tourist product |
Characteristics of the tourist product |
Tourism product example |
|
etc.), the total sales value of which is equal to the value of its elements |
in Sanremo (http: // www .tez-tour.com); "Petersburg every day", etc. |
|
|
Tourism product - object of display |
The presence of one main attraction (services) and several additional services located in one place - a museum, a historical monument, a natural monument, etc. |
St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, the Kremlin in Moscow, Madame Tussauds in London |
|
Tourist product - route |
Several places or objects, united by some idea and interconnected by a specially marked route (pedestrian, water, automobile), with a developed infrastructure, elements of which are located along the route |
Golden Ring (Russia), Wine and Gastronomic Tour (Nice - Avignon - Marseille), Die Goldene Strasse (Nuremberg - Pilsen - Prague) |
|
Tourism product - place |
Region, locality, national park, etc., allocated on the basis of specific spatial localization and having the character of a tourist attraction |
Paris, Disneyland, Carinthia - the land of lakes |
At the same time, marketing at the level of tour operators and travel agents and marketing at the level of manufacturers of tourism services belong to the field of commercial marketing, and marketing at the level of the national tourism administration and marketing at the level of territories belong to the field of non-commercial marketing.
The comprehensive nature of the concept of marketing in tourism involves considering the marketing process at various levels of management of the creation, formation, promotion and sale of a tourist product. The subjects of the marketing process are not only commercial enterprises, but also public authorities in the field of tourism, as well as territories.
In fig. 9 presents an approach to the concept of marketing in tourism as a system based on a three-dimensional coordinate system.
Fig. nine.
Functionallyat all levels of the formation of a tourist product, it is necessary to use tools of strategic and tactical (operational) marketing.
Strategic and operational marketing complement each other and find their concrete expression in the marketing policy.
Operational marketing focuses on variables such as price, distribution system, sales, advertising and product promotion, strategic marketing focuses on choosing the product markets in which the company has a competitive advantage, and on forecasting the total demand in each of the target markets. Based on this forecast, operational marketing sets goals for developing market share, as well as the marketing budget required for this.
As powerful as an operational marketing plan is, it cannot create demand where there is no need, and it cannot maintain a doomed business line. Consequently, to ensure profitability, operational marketing must be based on strategic marketing, which, in turn, is based on the needs of the market and its expected evolution.
Market orientation is the main condition for the sustainable economic growth of a company operating in the tourism industry.
Structurallyin the field of tourism, marketing of goods and marketing of services can be distinguished. According to experts, the combination of trade in services and trade in goods in tourism is 75% and 25%, respectively.
When developing marketing strategies for companies operating in the field of tourism - travel agencies, hotels, catering establishments, objects of tourist display, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the "intangible" product. The development of a marketing program should be based not only on the traditional elements of the marketing mix, but also additional elements should be involved - the process of providing a service, contact personnel (personnel working in direct contact with guests and customers) and the physical environment.
Experience from international hotel chains such as Hyatt, FourSeasons, Marriott, Intercontinental and others, large tour operators - TUI, Carlson tourism demonstrates that the key competence in the field of tourism is the strategy of “preventive and perfect service”.
The creation of a system of perfect service that meets the values \u200b\u200bof the clients of the tourism industry is a long-term competitive advantage that cannot be copied.
In this regard, the main task is to establish a connection between the needs and expectations of customers and the internal processes of forming a value model for customers in the tourism sector, aimed at meeting these needs.
The customer value model includes five basic elements that determine the customer's perception of value and the level of customer satisfaction. These are the quality of the product itself, the quality of service through the technology of its provision, the image of the enterprise, the price and the relationship between the service provider, the client and the contact personnel of the tourism company.
The implementation of the customer value model is facilitated by the internal marketing assets of the tourism company, which include:
- ? the image of a tourism enterprise, the level of its corporate culture;
- ? technology for organizing the process of high-quality customer service, a system of service quality indicators;
- ? a customer base of a tourism company and an information system for data on customer opinions and preferences;
- ? service quality indicator system, customer complaints tracking system;
- ? a human resource management system, including the principles of training the personnel of a tourism company, empowering personnel, studying the degree of personnel satisfaction with their work, i.e. availability of qualified and motivated staff.
Each of these elements is a direct result of various processes within the tourism company.
Providing quality customer service will allow:
- ? stand out from competitors;
- ? enhance the attractiveness of your image in the eyes of clients;
- ? minimize sensitivity to price changes;
- ? increase the profitability of work;
- ? increase customer satisfaction and retention;
- ? to find the maximum number of supporters of the tourism company who promote its services;
- ? raise your reputation;
- ? increase the level of staff loyalty.
Achieving sustainable competitive advantage by a tourism company is possible through the introduction of the concept of internal marketing.
The concept of internal marketing is to combine the motivation of employees and the formation of their professional knowledge for the identity of the brand of the tourism company. The motivation and high level of knowledge of employees is the source of high quality services.
Implementation of the concept of internal marketing will help build the relationship “loyal staff - loyal customer - company profitability”. The output of this process will be a developed technology for high-quality customer service and control over it, a system of indicators for evaluating staff performance depending on customer satisfaction, a marketing information system for a tourism company, which gives staff the opportunity to provide quality customer service, as well as foster loyal employees who provide excellent service.
This approach differs from the traditional promotion of a product in the tourism industry, since it is aimed not at solving current issues of attracting and retaining customers, but at building a system of relationships with customers on a long-term basis.
The implementation of external marketing strategies implies organizational changes within the tourism company, concerning, first of all, the issues of resource allocation, organizational structure and building relationships with customers. Thus, the most close attention must be paid to working on the organizational environment through internal marketing in order to achieve the goals of the company as a whole.
In the service marketing models discussed in paragraph 1.2, Western marketers recognize the need to use internal marketing as an additional strategy. A characteristic feature of these models is the attitude to the personnel of the service sector as an internal customer. Motivation of staff, satisfaction of their needs contribute to the growth of the quality of customer service of the company.
Internal marketing has the same theoretical basis as traditional marketing. A special feature is the object and subject of study of the concept of internal marketing.
The object of internal marketing is the tourism company employees and its internal environment, considered from the point of view of the client's expectations and perceptions.
The task of internal marketing is to create a client-oriented environment within the company.
On a subject basiscan be distinguished:
- ? marketing at the level of public tourism organizations - national tourism administrations (NTA); tourist information centers, public associations in the field of tourism;
- ? marketing at the level of territories and regions - tourist destinations;
- ? marketing at the level of manufacturers of tourist services - accommodation facilities, catering establishments, transport companies, excursion service companies, etc .;
- ? marketing of tour operators and travel agents.
The presence of a marketing strategy is a necessary element not only in the activities of individual companies in the tourism industry, but also coordinating and regulatory bodies and organizations in this area.
The strategy of tourism marketing within the state consists in the implementation of tourism policy by it. The tourism policy of the state is a set of government measures and measures that determine the conditions for the development of the tourism industry, the rational use of tourism resources, and an increase in the contribution of the tourism industry to the country's GDP.
The tourism marketing strategy at the state level is reflected in the adoption of relevant legislation, state long-term programs and plans. The state, entering the international tourist market, enters into a system of competitive relations with other states and regions of the world. The role and place of the state in the world tourism market depends on how correctly and effectively the tourism marketing strategy is built and implemented. The state's tourism marketing strategy is aimed at creating, promoting and implementing a national tourism product in the global tourism market and within the country, i.e. aims to develop international and domestic tourism. A state entering the international tourist market enters into a system of competitive relations with other states, whole world regions. The tourism marketing strategy is reflected in the adoption of relevant legislation, government long-term programs and plans. The role and place of a particular state in the global tourism market depends on how correctly and effectively the tourism marketing strategy is built and implemented.
1 Karpova G.AND.,L. V. Khoreva Economics and management of tourist activities: a textbook in 2 parts. Part 1. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house of St. Petersburg State University of Economics, 2011.
National tourism product is a combination of available natural, climatic, natural, historical, architectural and cultural resources, attracted and used in tourism activities, tourism and related infrastructure, as well as the activities of tourism companies, expressed in the creation, promotion and implementation of specific tourism products aimed to attract tourists from other states and regions of the world.
In the activities of the state, the concept of marketing in tourism is based on the analysis of market opportunities, the choice of target markets, and the development of a marketing mix. The implementation of these components makes it possible to correctly develop the tourism policy of the state, i.e. government tourism marketing strategy. The main link in the implementation of the state's tourism marketing is the state body responsible for the state and development of tourism as a whole - the National Tourism Administration (NTA). In the Russian Federation, this role is played by the Federal Agency for Tourism of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.
The state's tourism policy is based on strategy and tactics.
Tourism strategy - the development of a general concept for the development of tourism in the international and domestic markets, targeted programs, the implementation of which requires time and large financial resources. For example, at the meeting of the Presidium of the Government of the Russian Federation on July 28, 2011, the Federal Target Program "Development of domestic and inbound tourism in the Russian Federation (2011-2018)" was adopted. The implementation of the Program will increase the competitiveness of the domestic tourism market, create conditions for the development of tourism infrastructure, and attract investment in the industry. The activities of the Program are also aimed at increasing the efficiency of promoting the national tourist product in the domestic and international markets. This program is an example of Russia's tourism strategy.
To implement this strategy, a number of measures are proposed (tourist tactics), including:
- ? zoning of the territory of tourism in the state;
- ? creation of a regulatory and legal framework for the development of tourism in line with international practice;
- ? formation of economic mechanisms to stimulate the development of foreign and domestic tourism;
- ? attracting investment in this area, etc.
The main task of the concept of tourism marketing of the state is the creation of a national tourism product and its promotion in the world and domestic tourism markets. The implementation of the marketing tourism concept begins with an analysis of market opportunities, where by the manufacturer we mean the state, the product - the national tourism product, competitors - other states or world regions, consumers - tourists from other countries.
At the territorial level, the national strategy for promoting the tourist product is being clarified, the details of projects, territories and tourist destinations are determined. The focus is on the development of a general policy and strategy for development programs, marketing, for example:
- ? creation of large transport systems for transporting tourists to and from the country, as well as across its territory;
- ? protection of attractions such as state reserves and national parks;
- ? creation of an information and advertising system promoting destinations and countries as tourist centers.
The tourist essence of each region can be revealed more deeply and its tourist product can be promoted more effectively by highlighting different types of tourist products by destination within the region.
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO, UNWTO) identifies tourist destinations as the main elements in the tourist system, which attracts tourists to travel and where they spend some time 1. The tourist destination includes tourist attractions, tourist infrastructure, and related services.
In the context of global competition, when tourist destinations become products - substitutes, destination authorities are involved in the competition for the attention of tourists and investment resources for the development of the destination.
Marketing of tourist destinations can be defined as a management process in which the destination authorities and business determine the target groups of tourists, establish communications with them in order to find out the preferences of tourists, their expectations, the motivation for choosing a travel destination in order to adapt a tourist product in accordance with the expectations of tourists for achieving their maximum satisfaction.
UNWTO data show that for the additional attraction of one foreign tourist, which provides an average of 1,000 euros in the country's economy, the state spends from 3 to 10 euros on non-commercial advertising of a tourist product. In accordance with this, the average budgetary funds allocated in European countries for the promotion of a tourism product is 31.7 million euros 2.
- 1 Pike S. Destination branding. An integrated marketing communication approach. - Oxford: Elsevier, 2008.
- 2 Page S.J., Connell J. Tourism: a Modern Synthesis. - London: Cengage Learning EMEL, 2009.
Tourism destination marketing is part of a broader concept of territory management - territorial marketing. Territorial marketing is marketing in the interests of the territory, its internal subjects, as well as external subjects, in whose attention and actions the territory is interested. Territorial marketing is carried out with the aim of creating, maintaining or changing the opinions, intentions and behavior of residents and non-residents in the person of individuals and companies regarding a given territory. The founder of the concept of territorial marketing is Philip Kotler. In his Marketingplaces work, he notes that territorial marketing is successful when the main target audiences - residents and businesses - are satisfied with their region, and when the region meets the expectations and needs of visitors and investors. This is the philosophy of territory management, which contributes to its socio-economic development by satisfying the needs of individuals and economic entities for resources for the purpose of living and (or) conducting activities on the territory without reference to a specific level of territorial formation - region, country, city.
Prior to the emergence of the concept of territorial marketing and marketing of destinations as an integral part of it, “selling territories” was the dominant form of promoting regions. However, destination marketing is part of the overall concept of the territory's development and works for integrated sustainable socio-economic development.
The basis of the marketing approach to destination management is the consideration of a tourist destination as a complex tourist product, consisting of:
- ? attractions of the destination - what directly attracts tourists (natural, cultural, historical attractions);
- ? tourist infrastructure (accommodation facilities, catering establishments, excursion bureaus, museums, souvenir shops, etc.);
- ? accessibility (transport, visa, etc.);
- ? calendar of events;
- ? ancillary services (banks, telecommunications, security system, health care system);
- ? presence of marketing intermediaries - tour operators, travel agents and others.
The marketing approach to the destination involves the development of a comprehensive destination product. And here it is important to understand that a tourist is not going to visit a hotel, beach or restaurant. He goes to get new sensations, the possibility of intercultural enrichment, for the sake of better health, etc. Tourists are not attracted by the characteristics of the destination, but by their functional ability to meet specific needs.
The destination marketing strategy should determine what tourism resources the destination has, what tourism product can be developed on their basis, who this tourism product is targeted at, how it will be promoted and what resources are needed for this.
The destination's marketing strategy is an integral part of the region's marketing strategy for tourism development, which includes infrastructure development, optimization of local tourism legislation in the region, distribution of financial flows, attraction of investments, and development of public-private partnerships in tourism.
Tourism enterprises producing various services - hotel business, catering, excursion activities - are an integral part of the destination's integrated tourist product, as well as the area of \u200b\u200bjoint interests of business and local authorities in the implementation of projects for the construction of hotels, theme parks, development of the food system, etc.
test questions
- 1. Describe the market for tourist services.
- 2. Describe the concept of "tourist product".
- 3. Types of tourism products.
- 4. What are the features of the formation of the concept of marketing in tourism?
- 5. Describe the levels of formation of the tourist product.
- 6. Why is the tourist destination the basis of the tourist system?
- http://www.gks.ru Kiryanova L.G. Destination Marketing as a Modern Approach to Managing a Tourist Region. - Bulletin of the Tomsk Polytechnic University, 2010.
As such, travel marketing does not have general fundamental differences from any iconic marketing rules in general. It is for this reason that all the basic provisions of modern marketing may well be applied in the field of tourism.
In addition to the main provisions of marketing, it is worth considering the fact that tourism business has its own specific features.
As such, travel marketing does not have general fundamental differences from any iconic marketing rules in general. It is for this reason that all the basic provisions of modern marketing may well be applied in the field of tourism. But it is worth considering the fact that the tourism business has its own specific features. Let's analyze them in more detail.
In the field of tourism, both services and goods are traded. According to experts, the share of services is more than?, Then, how do goods account for all? on the volume of all work.
For traditional types of commercial activities that have a specific result of labor, and the very concept of marketing has such a specific content. In tourism activities, the result of labor is a tourism product. It is customary to understand this term as any service provided to tourists (household, hotel, transport, excursion, etc.). A tourist product can also be understood as a system of goods and services, which together constitute a tourist trip.
This is what determines the features of marketing in this area:
- it is a system of services / goods, which has a complex set of relationships;
- flexible demand depending on consumer income, political and social conditions;
- the inability of the consumer of the tourist product to see it until the moment of payment;
- the presence of some distance from the product and the place of its consumption;
- several organizations participate in the creation of a tourist product, each of which has its own methods, needs and commercial goals;
- the likelihood of various force majeure circumstances is high.
All this must be taken into account when properly organizing a marketing campaign in the field of tourism, namely:
- pay special attention to stimulating demand;
- high degree of information policy credibility;
- a high degree of protection of the client's rights;
- taking into account the seasonality of demand for tourism products;
- a high degree of marketing coordination of all creators of the travel product.
Thus, the most optimal marketing program of a travel agency will be one that takes into account and adheres to such conditions as successful positioning among the target audience, continuous professional development of travel agency employees, and the correct choice of an advertising campaign for the target segment.
If we follow the results of numerous marketing studies in the field of tourism, then we can make a reasonable conclusion that for the consumer of tourism services, physical motivation takes the first place. It, in turn, can be divided into recreation, sports, health treatment.
You should also take into account the psychological motivation, which consists in the desire of people to visit new places, to get acquainted with the way of life of people, just to have fun. In third place is cultural motivation, the so-called interest in art.
Taking into account all these factors, it is necessary to compose such tours with a range of services that would satisfy a particular target segment as much as possible. For example, for young people, physical motivation will play a major role. This is due to the high activity of young people and their need for inexpensive services. For middle-aged people or businessmen, it is more important to provide quality services, the presence of cultural programs, a certain elitism, prestige. For older people, services that satisfy cognitive and cultural motivation and health improvement are important.
Until recently, travel network marketing was in high demand. Suggestions like: “Come to a new travel network company” were encountered literally at every step. To join this type of organization, you had to pay an entry fee, invite 2 or more members and earn a discount. The opportunity to earn money and travel much cheaper was guaranteed.
But life itself put everything in its place. And now this type of travel business, and, consequently, network travel marketing has practically outlived its usefulness. This is due to two factors. First, almost all companies that use network marketing by now are either recognized as pyramid schemes or are approaching such an event. Secondly, when working on the Internet, the basic principle of network marketing - duplication - almost does not work. It is for these reasons that travel network marketing is currently ineffective.
Tourism in its main characteristics does not have any fundamental differences from other forms of economic activity. Therefore, all the essential provisions of modern marketing can be fully applied in tourism.
At the same time, tourism has its own specificity that distinguishes it not only from trade in goods, but also from other forms of trade in services. Here there is trade, both in services and in goods (according to experts, the share of services in tourism is 75%, goods - 25%), as well as a special nature of consumption of tourist services and goods in the place of their production, moreover, in a certain situation ...
In traditional production, which has a specific result of labor (goods in material and material form), the concept of marketing has a more specific content. In tourism, the result of an activity is reduced to a tourist product. In fact, a tourist product is any service that meets certain needs of tourists and is payable by their side. Tourism services include hotel, transport, excursion, translation, household, utilities, intermediary, etc.
The main tourist product is a comprehensive service, i.e. a standard set of services sold to tourists in one "package", abroad they are often called peking tours.
The tourism product has its own distinctive features:
First, it is a complex of services and goods (material and non-material components), characterized by a complex system of relationships between various components.
Second, the demand for tourism services is extremely elastic in relation to income levels and prices, but largely depends on political and social conditions.
Thirdly, the consumer, as a rule, cannot see the tourist product before its consumption, and the consumption itself, in most cases, is carried out directly at the place of production of the tourist service.
Fourth, the consumer travels the distance separating him from the product and the place of consumption, and not vice versa.
Fifthly, the tourist product depends on such variables as space and time, it is characterized by fluctuations in demand.
Sixth, the tourism offer is inflexible. They can only be consumed directly on site. The hotel, airport, recreation center cannot be transferred at the end of the season to another region. They cannot adapt in time and space to changing demand.
Seventh, the tourism product is created by the efforts of many enterprises, each of which has its own methods of work, specific needs and different commercial goals.
Eighth, the high quality of tourist services cannot be achieved if there are even minor drawbacks, since tourist service consists of these trifles and small details.
Ninth, the assessment of the quality of tourist services is characterized by significant subjectivity: a great influence on the assessment of the consumer is made by persons who are not directly related to the package of purchased services (for example, local residents, members of a tourist group).
Tenthly, the quality of tourism services is influenced by external factors of a force majeure nature (natural conditions, weather, tourism policy, international events, etc.)
These specific features of the tourism product have a significant impact on tourism marketing.
Travel marketing is a complex and capacious concept, which is why it has not yet received an accurate and final formulation. There are many definitions, including:
Methods and techniques aimed at identifying and satisfying the needs of people caused by the motives of recreation - the cognitive aspect, recreation, entertainment, treatment, etc. - and the organization of travel agencies or associations that can rationally satisfy these needs;
State and private activities of tourism enterprises, carried out according to international, national and regional plans in order to meet the needs of certain groups of tourists;
The system of trade and production activities aimed at meeting the individual needs of each consumer based on identifying and studying consumer demand in order to maximize profits;
Market-oriented management, aimed at achieving the goals of the enterprise, the goals of the enterprise by meeting the needs of tourists more efficiently than competitors; marketing can be used both at the level of an individual travel company, and separately of travel concerns, holdings, including at the international level.
The World Tourism Organization identifies three main functions of marketing in tourism:
1) establishing contacts with clients aims to convince them that the proposed holiday destination and the existing services, attractions and expected benefits are fully consistent with what the customers themselves want to receive;
2) development involves the design of innovations that can provide new opportunities for sales, in turn, such innovations must meet the needs and preferences of potential customers;
3) control provides for the analysis of the results of activities to promote services in the market and verification of how these results reflect the truly full and successful use of the opportunities available in the tourism sector.
A travel product should be a good buy. In this regard, marketing is the consistent actions of tourism enterprises aimed at achieving this goal. Therefore, the following definition of marketing is quite logical and reasonable.
Tourism marketing is a system of continuous coordination of the offered services with the services that are in demand in the market and that the tourism company is able to offer profitably and more efficiently than competitors do.
This rather long definition contains a number of ideas that we will look at in more detail.
The first point to be considered is that marketing is not a separate action, but a system of activities... In other words, it is a sequence of actions of a tourism enterprise that must be combined to achieve the set goals. Hence, marketing is not only about advertising and selling services or simply developing services. It is a system in which all functions and activities must be combined in accordance with the marketing concept.
This circumstance fundamentally distinguishes marketing from commercial work. If commercial work is to use all the forces and means to stimulate sales, then the purpose of marketing is an interconnected process of production and sale of services in accordance with consumer demand.
The second point to note in our definition is that marketing does not end with one action. You cannot think of it as a monotonous process, whether it is about the date of the introduction of a new product or the introduction of a new price. The fact is that the market is constantly in motion, in dynamics. For example, under the influence of various factors, consumer demand changes, competitors are also working to introduce new services to the market. These examples show that marketing is truly an ongoing process, and the tourist enterprise must be continuously involved in it. Marketing, therefore, involves looking to the future, not just focusing on the present.
The third point concerns reconciliation. It is necessary to coordinate the actions inside the tourist enterprise with the conditions of the external environment. If all of this is considered in isolation, the intended goals cannot be achieved. This means that a decision must be made in order to use all marketing tools to achieve this agreement.
The fourth idea, which lies in our definition, concerns understanding, what is really the service offered by the company... The classic question, which is necessarily asked to emphasize this point, is formulated as follows: "What kind of business are we really doing?" this formulation of the question forces the firm to look at its services from the point of view of the consumer. Another answer to this question will be related to the consideration of the firm's resources and what else can be done (material, human). Many firms are surprised to discover new potential opportunities.
The fifth point in our definition gives an idea of \u200b\u200bhow what does marketing do to meet customer needs... It means not only what the client is buying at the moment, but also what he would buy under other circumstances (for example, with an increase in income). Marketing should be a foresight activity. It involves forecasting, or at least shaping the correct view of what consumers might most need. It also provides an opportunity to assess whether it is possible to force those who are not clients of the firm to turn to the services it offers.
The sixth point of our definition emphasizes that marketing allows you to identify and implement means of increasing profits... This makes it an exclusively economic category. The goals of travel companies should be realized through high-quality customer satisfaction in a sufficiently long period of time.
A marketing mix is \u200b\u200ba collection of means of influencing consumers of a target market in order to evoke the desired response from them. The main elements of a successfully functioning marketing complex of a travel company are presented in Figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1 The main elements of the marketing mix
With regard to tourism, there are several more components of the marketing mix:
Personnel, their qualifications and training;
Service delivery process;
Environment.
The tourism business is unique in the sense that the personnel of the enterprises are part of the tourism product. Hospitality and friendliness are the main conditions for all comers, and not only for specialists in direct customer service. Marketing should be an integral part of the philosophy of the entire organization, and marketing functions should be performed by all employees. The key factor in the competitiveness of a tourist enterprise is the measures (activities) to mobilize the creative activity of the team.
An important factor in high-quality customer service is the environment - the appearance of the building, office decoration, furniture, equipment, office equipment, etc. The atmosphere of the product offering (physical environment) is perceived with the help of the senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch) and influences purchasing behavior in four ways:
1) can serve as a carrier of information for potential consumers;
2) can serve as a means of attracting the attention of customers;
3) can be a carrier of a certain effect (colors, sounds and properties of the surfaces of the objects surrounding the client affect his consciousness and encourage him to buy);
4) can create a certain mood.
To ensure the effectiveness of marketing management requires the development of its auxiliary systems:
· Marketing information;
· Marketing organizations;
· Marketing control.
Marketing Information System ensures the receipt, systematization, assessment and use of information characterizing the state of the external environment and the internal environment of a tourist enterprise. Without objective, relevant, sufficiently complete marketing information, it is impossible to make operational and strategic decisions.
Marketing organization system is aimed at creating an appropriate organizational structure of a tourist enterprise, ensuring the implementation of marketing activities.
To constantly monitor the implementation of marketing strategies and programs, a marketing control system.
In practice, the technology for implementing the marketing concept is very flexible. It can change both its structure and the place of individual stages depending on the characteristics of the enterprise, the degree of market development, goals, objectives and market conditions. However, all these elements are closely related. None of them can be excluded from the system without violating its integrity.
It might be useful to read:
- Bagiev gl tarasevich vm marketing;
- Forms and methods of work of cultural institutions of the club type The concept of club and club activities;
- Distribution channels for hotel services;
- Profession guide pros and cons;
- The specifics of marketing in tourism;
- Alexey kuskovbasis of tourism;
- Purpose and arrangement of the confectionery shop;
- Technology for preparing and conducting a tourist presentation;