Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1.
Identify objectives - an example would be
'to
seek the views of the visitors to a museum to help
improve the quality of the visitors' experience' or
'to gather visitor satisfaction levels at an event';
•
Combining elements of the marketing mix - by
increasing expenditure on promotion and reducing
spend on distribution.
Every travel and tourism organisation will have its
own specifi c marketing objectives which will refl ect its
overall business aims. Private sector operators, such as
travel agencies and hotels, operate in the commercial
world and will gear their marketing towards maximising
their sales. The public and voluntary sectors, including
local tourist attractions and the National Trust, will
be looking to fulfi l their wider community and social
objectives by perhaps providing facilities for local
people or following a conservation cause.
2.
Plan research methods - this is the selection of the
most appropriate method(s) to achieve the research
objectives, e.g. carrying out primary research such
as a questionnaire survey or running a focus group,
or using secondary research sources, such as
company reports and tourism statistics;
3.
Research design - this should indicate when the
research will be carried out, who is to carry out the
research, how long it will take, how much it will
cost, etc.
Whatever marketing objectives an organisation sets
itself, they must be SMART, in other words:
4.
Data collection - will involve decisions about the
sample to be surveyed, i.e. how many people will
be surveyed, how they will be selected, etc.
•
S
pecifi c - it's no use having 'woolly' ideas that are
not well thought through or clearly defi ned;
5.
Data analysis and reporting - analysing the fi ndings
•
M
easurable - objectives must be capable of being
measured so that you know if you have achieved
your targets;
of the research, drawing conclusions and formally
reporting on the research.
•
A
chievable - setting objectives that are wildly
optimistic wastes everybody's time;
Identifying objectives
•
R
ealistic - objectives must fi t in with the
organisation's overall business aims;
Marketing objectives are the specifi c aims or goals
that an organisation sets itself when deciding on its
marketing activity. It is important for all travel and
tourism organisations to be clear from the outset
what they are trying to achieve from their marketing.
Examples of marketing objectives for an expanding
holiday company could be to:
•
T
imed - it is important to set time deadlines to
review progress.
Remember also that setting objectives is not a one-
off activity - they must be constantly monitored and
updated in the light of changing circumstances.
•
Increase profi tability - by improving sales by 10 per
cent and reducing costs by 5 per cent in the next
12 months;
Designing research documentation
•
Challenge the opposition - by developing a new
Once a travel and tourism organisation has identifi ed
the need to carry out some market research, it has to
decide whether to conduct primary research, secondary
research or a mixture of the two. Primary research is
collecting new data that is not already available from
another source, e.g. a survey of visitors to a theme
park. Secondary research is the analysis of data that
is already available, either from an organisation's own
records or from another source, for example a report
from Mintel or a tourist board's annual report. Figure
range of holidays to Australia to compete with a
competitor company;
•
Build the company's image - by starting a high-
profi le advertising and public relations campaign;
•
Increase market share - by capturing another 5 per
cent of the total sales of holidays to Fiji;
•
Enter new markets - by increasing the number of
holiday destinations it uses from 8 to 12 within 18
months;
