INTRODUCTION

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Hospitality industry is one of the fast growing industry of the world and is wholly service based industry to satisfy the need and demand of the customers. This industry in itself consist of many other industry like that of hotels, restaurants and travel and tourism. In the role of Assistant Marketing manager at Thomson it is discussed importance of the strategic marketing planning. Marketing in tour and travel industries include doing the promotion of the service Thomson is providing to its customer. As Thomson is a tour operator working in UK and planning a summer holiday in 2019 to Turkey and Spain. This marketing is also effected by marketing environment which include both micro (employee, management, and the other departments) and macro (government, economic factor and natural factor).

TASK 1

1.1 Discussing the core concept of marketing for the travel and tourism.

As the travel and tourism is wholly a service based industry and in this industry to satisfy or fulfil the needs and demands of customer is of utmost importance. And to satisfy the need and demand of the customer applying the marketing concept is very important. Hospitality industry include sectors such as hotels, restaurants and travel agencies and in Thomson tour operator working in UK and planning a summer holiday 2019 to Turkey and Spain (McCombes, Vanclay and Evers, 2015). The tourism industry mainly depend upon customer satisfaction and is customer oriented industry where it is very essential to marketing of the ravel agency. It follows the dual core of marketing which indicate the first job of marketing is to identify the need of customer and then increase the wants by various forms of promotional activities.

As in the hospitality industry there are no tangible products and only there are the services which are intangible and customer can only feel them. In hospitality industry peoples are the main essence of the company and in Thomson agency also the people are the main resource through whom the can increase the profits (Laws, 2011). The concept of tourism depend on the people working in the industry and for whom they are working for i.e. the customer.

1.2 Assessing the impact of the marketing environment on Thomson and tourist destination reference with Turkey and Spain.

With marketing the industry can grow in a better pace and also develop can grab the market as the tourism industry is growing very rapidly. As Thomson is about to start the tour package of summer 2019 in Turkey and Spain so it seriously needs to do the promotion of this holiday package to attract as many as customer as it can from around the world. And there are many factors both external and internal which affect the marketing in the tourism industry. Micro or internal factors of company which effect the company from within like the employees, management, policy, all departments and the product or service of company (Kozak and Baloglu, 2010). Macro or the external factor which are effecting the company from outside like the government, economy, natural forces and the culture of the country.

• Employees- the employee of the tourism industry are the main essence of the sector as they are the one who actually interact with the customers' via telephonic or physical communication. In the industry the people aspect of marketing mix 7P's are the most important and they are the internal factor which impact the marketing environment on Thomson.
• Management- they are also the internal or the micro factor affecting the industry and the marketing (Kim, Schroeder and Pennington-Gray, 2016). As they are the one who make the plan and the policy regarding the customer and how to attract them to satisfy their needs.
• Economy- this is the macro or the external factor which affect the marketing environment as the economic condition of a country also effect tourism industry.
• Government- the policy made and changed by government effect the tourism industry as they are working on these policies only.

1.3 Discussing the factors affecting consumer motivation and demand in the travel and tourism sector.

As the customers are the main essence of any industry especially in the tourism industry. So to satisfy the customer need and demand to motivate them are considered in marketing the new tour packages in the industry. The factors which affect the consumer demand and motivation in the travel and tourism sector will be included the experience of the tourist, intangible elements i.e. service provide by company, holiday package, attitude and emotional expectation of the tourist (Kaur, Chauhan and Medury, 2016). The level of motivation is measured by the number of tourist interested in visiting the destinations with the company in the available package of holiday.

• Experience of tourist- if the experience of the tourist with the company's last package and last tour was not good at all the customer will certainly not be interested in the present package as well. Despite of the fact that the new package is very good and cost effective as well but the customer will not be ready to come.
• Service of the company- the service of the tourism sector must be very good as considering this service only the customer will be attracted (Montenegro and et.al., 2014).
• Holiday package- the package which the company is providing the customers should be very cost effective and should not be very expensive that the customers are not able to afford it.

1.4 Analysing the principles of market segmentation and its uses in marketing planning at Thomson.

Segmentation means dividing the customers in the market on the bases of age group, economical factor, geographic factors, etc. (Jarvis, Stoeckl and Liu, 2016). The principle of market segmentation are benefit segmentation, usage segmentation and behavioural segmentation depending on the type of market in which the company is operating.

• Benefit Segmentation- this type of segmentation is based on the benefits the customer is deriving from the use of the product and services of a company. Is benefit segmentation will help Thomson to do the marketing planning like how will it benefit customer from the purchase of its holiday package of summer 2019 at Turkey and Spain.
• Usage Segmentation- this type of segmentation will be divided in to the usage and how often the customer will be using the product or service of the company (Gudlaugsson and Magn�sson, 2012). Categorising in to those who use the holiday package more, those who generally go on a holiday personally and those who are not at all interested in the holiday package system.
• Behavioural Segmentation- based on various behaviours of the customers like personality and behavioural traits. Behavioural segmentation includes actualizes, fulfiller, achievers, experiencers etc.

TASK 2

2.1 Analysing the importance of strategic marketing planning in Thomson.

To do planning in every industry is of utmost importance as without planning the company will not be able to understand what it need to achieve and how will it achieve the set market objective. Strategic marketing planning for tourism industry is also needful as what it will be marketing in the market and will it be doing so (Croy, 2011). The strategic marketing planning for Thomson will lay emphasizes on quality, efficiency and effectiveness in the marketing planning.

The tourism marketing planning will include analysis of past plan, research of the market, strategic positioning, marketing plan development and training, then implementation of plan and at last the evaluation of the plan. Without this marketing planning Thomson will not be able to achieve its goal and the holiday package of summer 2019 at Turkey and Spain will also not be successful. 

2.2 Discussing the relevance of marketing research and marketing information to managers in Thomson.

In the process of marketing planning market research and collecting the market information is also very important. As Without doing the market plan goal could not be achieved likewise market research and collecting market information is very essential.

• Marketing research- is the process in which marketing managers evaluate the market opportunities and identify the threats present in the market (Chiu, Zeng and Cheng,2016). To see what are the demand of the customer in the market and how the latest technology can be helpful in Thomson.
• Marketing information- is the process of systematically gathering the market information, recording it and then analysing the given information on the bases of qualitative and quantitative data. This collection of the market information will include online and offline survey, preparing questionnaire and then taking out the feedback of the customer.

2.3 Assessing the influence of marketing on society.

Marketing is beneficial to all the section with which the company is associated with like customer, management, company, government and the society as a whole (Cheng and Wu, 2015). The benefits of marketing to society include informing customer, managing consumer expectation, economic benefits and modeling behaviour.

• Informing Customer- the main benefit of marketing to the society is that the customer is always well informed about the latest products and services in market and also educate the customer about how to use the product.
• Managing Customer Expectation- customer only rely on the trusted brands and then this is evolved till brand loyalty by the customers (Morrison, 2013). So the company in the travel and tourism industry need to manage the customer expectation so that they can grow in a rapid manner.
• Economic Benefits- society also derive the economic benefit for marketing as it generate job creation, higher tax revenue for government and overall economic development.

TASK 3

3.1 Understanding the role of marketing mix in Thomson summer deals 2019 to Turkey and Spain.

The travel and tourism industry is one of the largest industry in the world in terms of commerce and its importance is now widely recognised (Chang and Zee, 2013). Marketing mix has the 7P's which all are very useful for Thomson as it is starting the summer holiday package 2019 at Turkey and Spain.

• Product- Thomson is introducing the new service i.e. the holiday package of summer 2019 at Turkey and Spain which it need to promote in the market. To attract wide range of tourist from all over the world it need to do the advertising both offline and online.
• Price- the price or the value of the holiday package should be reasonable as Turkey is not too expensive country as in terms of tourist destination but Spain is somewhat costly.
• Place- place will be Turkey and Spain as the holiday package in summer 2019 this should be the centre of attraction for the customer as well as for employee (Cave and Brown, 2012.).
• Promotion- doing the promotion of the holiday package for Thomson agency should be very important as without this the plan will not be successful and the company will not be able to grab the maximum market share.
• People- the human resource working in Thomson must be well qualified and they should know how to interact with the tourist coming to book the tickets or for visa and passport purpose.
• Process- detailed and well documented procedure should be followed and to address all the critical situations and service context. The infrastructure and IT systems should be properly working for application of holiday package.
• Physical evidence- all the tangible items like comfortable seats, design of resort, natural service, maps, information regarding rules of Turkey and Spain do's and don't of the places should be mentioned in the tour guide.

3.2 Assessing the importance of service sector mix elements to travel sector.

All these marketing mix of service sector like product, place, price, promotion, process, people and physical evidence are very important for Thomson. As marketing mix strategy in Thomson is chosen and implemented in the best possible way in order to attain organisational goal of Thomson. The marketing mix elements are set of controllable and interrelated variables that Thomson assembles to satisfy target group better than its competitors (Capacci, Scorcu and Vici, 2015). 7P's will be helpful for the company to identify the customer, reach out the product to a large customer base, to built relationship with customer, to help company grow in market etc.

• Identify The Customer- marketing mix is important as it helps Thomson to identify what will be the customer base and what are the demand of the customers.
• Building The Relationship- as customer rely on trusted brands and then evolved being a trusted and loyal customer of that product or company. So 7P's will help in building the relationship with the customers.
• Helping In Growth- is the customer are loyal and Thomson has identified the customers then Thomson will easily grow ion the market garbing most of the market share.

3.3 Applying the concept of the total tourism product to Thomson.

Tourism product is a group of components or elements brought together in a bundle to satisfy the customer need it can be anything which is offered for attraction, acquisition and consumption purpose (Beritelli, Strobl and Peters, 2013). Tourism industry is made up of many other industries like hotel industry, airlines industry, travel and trekking agency etc. All of these combining together in providing whole travel experience to its tourists. In all these the people do not buy the product offered by Thomson but is buying the experience of benefits from these tourisms' product. Thus, in tourism the product is not the tangible one but include the total experience of visitors and everything and every person they come into contact with during their stay. For the customers of Thomson the total tourism product will be the experience of the visitors visiting Turkey and Spain. These experience can be good and bad for some of the people visiting the places.

TASK 4

4.1 Assessing the integrated nature and role of promotional mix

Promotional mix is method and tool of communication company use in presenting the company, products or services to target customers. Effective promotion is a key component of marketing mix as it is the element that help the company to attract the customers thus persuading them to buy the product or service and then generating loyalty. As promotional mix is one of the 7P's of marketing mix which consist of public relations, advertising, sales promotion and personal selling. In tourism industry promotional mix is stimulating sales through the dissemination of information and encouraging the potential customers to travel (Bellur, McNamara and Prokop,2015). As Thomson tour agency is planning an integrated promotional campaign for summer deals 2019 holidays to Turkey and Spain so it need to do the promotion of this summer package in the country and world as well. For this it can do advertising on television, newspaper, online and offline as well so that the news of the holiday package can reach to a wider customer base. This can play an important role in development and growth of Thomson as it can attract many customers and can grow in market.

4.2 Planning and justifying an integrated promotional campaign for Thomson Summer deals 2019 holidays.

Enclosed in poster.

CONCLUSION

From the above report on marketing in tourism and travel industry it is concluded that marketing alike in the other industry is also in important in the hospitality industry as well. As Thomson the UK based travel and tourism company is about launch a summer deals of 2019 at Turkey and Spain for which it need to do the promotional activities and marketing to grab more and more customer around the world. For this it need to assess the need and importance of marketing mix in the services sector like the 7P's of marketing mix. The marketing environment which include the both internal and external factors like employee, government, management, policy, economy and natural forces also influence the marketing strategy of Thomson.

 

REFERENCES

Books and journals:

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Aschauer, W., 2010. Perceptions of tourists at risky destinations. A model of psychological influence factors. Tourism Review. 65(2). pp.4 -20.

Bellur, V.V., McNamara, B. and Prokop, D.R., 2015. Factors perceived as important by package tourists: a multivariate analysis. In Proceedings of the 1988 International Conference of Services Marketing. Springer International Publishing.

Beritelli, P., Strobl, A. and Peters, M., 2013. Interlocking directorships against community closure: a trade‐off for development in tourist destinations. Tourism Review. 68(1). pp.21-34.

Capacci, S., Scorcu, A.E. and Vici, L., 2015. Seaside tourism and eco-labels: The economic impact of blue flags. Tourism Management. 47. pp.88-96.

Cave, J. and Brown, K. G., 2012. Island tourism: destinations: an editorial introduction to the special issue. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research. 6(2). pp.95�113.

Chang, L. and Zee, R. B., 2013. Consumer perception of healthfulness and appraisal of health‐promoting tourist destinations. Tourism Review. 68(1). pp.34�47.

Cheng, T.M. and Wu, H.C., 2015. How do environmental knowledge, environmental sensitivity, and place attachment affect environmentally responsible behavior? An integrated approach for sustainable island tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 23(4). pp.557-576.

Chiu,W., Zeng, S. and Cheng, S. T., 2016. The influence of destination image and tourist satisfaction on tourist loyalty: a case study of Chinese tourists in Korea. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research. 10(2). pp.223-234.

Croy, W. G., 2011. Film tourism: sustained economic contributions to destinations. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes. 3(2). pp.159�164.

Gudlaugsson, T. and Magn�sson, G., 2012. North Atlantic island destinations in tourists' minds. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research. 6(2). pp.114-123.

Jarvis, D., Stoeckl, N. and Liu, H.B., 2016. The impact of economic, social and environmental factors on trip satisfaction and the likelihood of visitors returning. Tourism Management. 52. pp.1-18.

Kaur, A., Chauhan, A. and Medury,Y., 2016. Destination image of Indian tourism destinations: An evaluation using correspondence analysis. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics.  28(3). pp.499-524.

Kim, H., Schroeder, A. and Pennington-Gray, L., 2016. Does Culture Influence Risk Perceptions?. Tourism Review International. 20(1). pp.11-28.

Kozak, M. and Baloglu, S., 2010. Managing and Marketing Tourist Destinations: Strategies to Gain a Competitive Edge. Routledge.

Laws, E., 2011. Tourist Destination Governance: Practice, Theory and Issues. CABI.

McCombes, L., Vanclay, F. and Evers, Y., 2015. Putting social impact assessment to the test as a method for implementing responsible tourism practice. Environmental Impact Assessment Review. 55. pp.156-168.

Montenegro, M. and et.al., 2014. The image of Portugal as a tourist destination � an international perspective. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes. 6(5). pp.397-412.

Morrison, M, A., 2013. Marketing and Managing Tourism Destinations. Routledge.

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