Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Be able to conduct a market research
activity for a travel and tourism
organisation
SECTION 3
To many people, market research is when somebody
comes up to you in the street and asks you to take
part in a survey - but there's a lot more to it than
that! Market research is the collection and analysis
of data about customers and its use by organisations
for decision-making and meeting their objectives.
It is the foundation of successful marketing
,
since it
underpins activities such as developing new products,
setting prices and advertising. All tr
a
ve
l
and tourism
organisations, from the biggest n
a
m
e
s in the sector,
like Thomson, Eurostar and B
u
tli
n
's, to a small seaside
hotel need information ab
o
ut
their customers to be
successful. It is the job o
f
market research to provide
this information in as
o
bjective a way as possible, in
other words with no
b
ias. Not all market research is a
costly or elaborate affair - the owner of a restaurant,
for example, will regularly get informal feedback from
guests on their opinion of the food and facilities, and
will make adjustments as necessary.
FOCUS ON INDUSTRY
MARKET RESEARCH AT LONGLEAT
Longleat uses two main types of market research
- on-site surveys and off-site market research. On-
site surveys are designed to gauge the attraction's
target audience and evaluate the visitors' perception
of which members of the party made the decision to
visit Longleat. From this data, the management can
explore how the visitors heard about Longleat and
their main reason for visiting. Demographic details
are also collected, e.g. age category, gender, how
far travelled, etc. Off-site market research is carried
out to gauge public perception of Longleat. Main
towns in the catchment area are targeted, e.g. Bath,
Bristol, Bournemouth, Weston-super-Mare, etc. The
data collected can help to alter the products on
offer and target promotions more effectively.
I
n the following sections of this unit we investigate
v
a
rious techniques that are used to carry out market
research activities in travel and tourism organisations.
Weblink
Check out this website for more
information on Longleat.
www.longleat.co.uk
Planning
To be truly effective, any market research activity needs
to follow a carefully planned process, as shown in
Figure 5.8.
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Stage 5
Plan research
methods
Data
collection
Data analysis
and reporting
Research
design
Identify
objectives
Fig 5.8 - The market research process in travel and tourism
