module one for tourism and hospitality marketing tourism marketing unique characteristics of the tourism industry it includes intangible inseparable variable perishables seasonal and substitutable unlike consumer products which can be availed off the shelf tourism products have unique characteristics that make their marketing and promotions quite challenging the tourism product is intangible inseparable variable perishable seasonal and substitutable additionally tourism is a high involvement product intangible tourism products cannot be touched smelled tasted felt nor heard prior to purchase they cannot be subjected to prior scrutiny one cannot examine nor test them before purchase unlike consumer products which can be sampled a destination that promises fresh air from its beaches or a scenic view of the mountains cannot send a sample consumers rely on photographs of the place comments or reviews from those who have visited the place or availed of the services and promises from the company itself next is inseparable the tourism product cannot be separated from the consumer when tourists avail of products and services they have to personally to go to where the products are since what is being sold is the experience the product and the consumer cannot be in two different places they have to be in the same place a tourist who avails of airline tickets need to be physically present inside the airplane to avail of the product products cannot be delivered to where the consumer is most of the time it is the consumer who goes to where the product is to avail of the product it is also variable the tourism experience is likely to be different depending on when the product is availed who one is with and how the service providers deliver the service at the time of consumption one may have gone to the same restaurant several times and have a different dining experience each time while the first time at the restaurant may have been quiet the second time one find it to be noisy simply because there may be been few customers the first time and a rowdy of teenagers the second time hence the variability of the tourism product this is the primary reason why standardization of operation is crucial in the tourism industry chain and franchise establishments make it a point to standardize the way they provide products and serves to the variability component of the industry perishable um the tourism product is one of the most highly perishable of products perishability a used in this context refers to not being able to forward inventory to the next day it does not refer to food being spoiled and thrown away products become perishable when it can no longer be consumed today even when no one consumed it the day before unlike consumer products such as pen if the pen was not sold today it can still be stored in a warehouse be available for sale the next day airline and restaurant seats hotel rooms and function rooms are perishable products a seat or a room that is not sold today cannot be sold some other day for instance a hotel with 100 moms that was half full yesterday will only again have 100 rooms today the 50 room that were unoccupied the day then seasonal seasonality does not only refer to seasons of the year or the weather conditions it also refers to behavioral patterns of the travel market the seasonality of the tourism product hinders it from maximizing its profits all year round hence intensified marketing during the lean season will help increase demand for the product this is also the reason most tourism products such as airlines and resorts have different rates throughout the year such differences in rates help manage capacity and yield to maximize profitability lastly substitutable competition in the tourism industry is intensifying with new destinations emerging and competing in the global marketplace one destination can easily be substituted for another destination when a new restaurant opens the old favorites are relegated to second choice it is quite a challenge to establish loyalty among clients since there is a wide range of product offerings to choose from with the many choices available the tourism product is highly substitutable however identifying one's competitive advantage and a unique selling proposition may help make a tourism product less substitutable marketing necessarily plays an important role in the purchase of tourism products because of the aforementioned characteristics of the tourism product a marketing strategy needs to be developed to make the product competitive in a highly commercialized marketplace tourism as a high involvement product decision-making in the purchase of tourism products is considered to be of high in involvement tourism products of high involvement mean that there is greater degree of thought or study involved prior to the purchase expensive complex and unrepeatable are characteristics of high involvement products purchase of expensive products likely to go through a long and detailed process of canvassing and comparing of brands supplier and product features if the product commands a high price worth more than one's monthly salary one would surely make detailed comparisons before finalizing any purchase travel products home appliances and real estate properties fall under this attribute consumers may find complex products difficult to purchase the difficulty may arise from the need to understand the features or details of the product travel packages can be considered as complex mainly due to the variety of products and services available and the jargon technical words used in explaining some of these products the same holds true highly technical products such as electronic gadgets and computers the unrepeatable nature of travel makes it a once in a lifetime purchase with the novelty seeking behavior of most tourists and the high cost of travel travel purchases may not be repeated or may be infrequent hence more careful scrutiny s exercised prior to purchase aside from travel products special events such as weddings and debuts fall under this characteristic unlike low involvement products which are inexpensive simple and familiar more detailed scrutiny of alternatives longer time for deliberation and high expectations for satisfaction happen when consumers avail of tourism products and services that are of high involvement marketing plays a vital role in the purchase of high involvement products it leads consumers to think about the product and its features as well as to assure them of its quality it helps clarify doubts and lessen risks involved in the purchase of the products since tourism products and services are high involvement products customers also demand a high level of satisfaction high involvement versus low involvement products tourism marketing definition in the past marketing was associated with only advertising and selling however these two bring activities are now part of a more complex set of strategic activities that comprise marketing there has been a misconception that marketing is a task that is performed solely by account managers and marketing officers a highly successful establishment makes marketing a concern not only of guest contact positions but each and every employee establishment customer satisfaction is at the center of marketing it is easy to persuade a customer to make the initial experience purchase but making the customer return for more is dependent on his satisfaction from his initial experience hence marketing becomes not just the concern of the marketing officer but a concern of everyone in the company to ensure that the customer's needs are met he leaves the establishment happy satisfied and willing to come back better yet that he will be willing to tell others how extremely satisfied he is with the quality of the product or service establishment provided philip kotler 2002 defines marketing as a social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others when a product is a need necessity it is easy to sell the product since customers do not have any choice but to buy it marketing a want however is the challenging part a want is something one can live without unlike a need which is a necessity a want is a luxury wherein its purchase can be denied deferred or delayed tourism product fall into the want category therefore making it more challenging to convince consumers to make a purchase especially during an economic downturn or recession cutter bowen and macon 2010 define marketing as the art and science of finding retaining and growing profitable customers this definition paves the way for concepts such as customer-centered marketing and relationship marketing which have become emerging trends in the day of marketing finding retaining and growing profitable customers need strategic planning to ensure customer satisfaction and building of customer loyalty repeat visits and referrals are the ultimate goals of ensuring that customers become extremely satisfied with one's products and services gone are the days when establishments are happy with a one-time sale nowadays establishments need to establish loyal customers who will speak highly of their product or service research shows that it is more expensive to create new customers than it is to remain old ones finally growing the business with regular customers will contribute great to one bottom line building strong relationships with one regular customers can be done through consistency superior customer service the american marketing association 2013 approved a new definition marketing is the activity set of institutions and processes for creating communicating delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers clients partners and society at large amidst all these definitions of marketing notice how this term's definition has evolved over time from merely meeting a customer's need or want to customer retention with the tourism products unique qualities of being substitutable and of high involvement the marketing of tourism products is becoming extremely challenging there is a need to see marketing as a management process to achieve maximum results topic 3. marketing as a management process since the provision and consumption of the tourism products and services usually occur simultaneously the marketing orientation should involve the entire organization the marketing management process involves the following key processes one marketing information system with the advent of technology the provision for a marketing information system enables the organization to compile an updated set of information about its customers competitors and the organization's capability and effectiveness to marketing planning this involves an analysis of the marketing environment in relation to the potentials of one's business it also involves the setting up of objectives in an evaluation of the milestones that the company has reached the creation of marketing strategies will help increase the business by obtaining the best fit between the company's resources and its target market position three planning tactical campaigns this step ensures that practical and realistic tactical campaigns are conducted in support of the comprehensive marketing strategy 4. marketing operations this process involves the challenging part of implementing the planned strategic and tactical campaigns by coordinating with all stakeholders fine-tuning the marketing mix as they unfold and ensuring that activities are conducted as planned 5. monitoring and control this involves the ongoing process of evaluating sales data and financial performance versus marketing activities conducted it also includes the handling of customer feedback and complaints if any and coordination with what the staff has to say about the marketing campaigns finally it includes being aware of what the competitors are doing topic four core marketing functions marketing's key functions include marketing information management financing pricing promotion product slash service management distribution and selling briefly discussed as follows one marketing information management entails gathering information about customers to better serve their needs and improve decision making two dot financing involves planning to ensure that resources are available to maintain and improve the business three pricing ensures that the value and cost of goods and services offered to customers will be at the level that customers are willing to pay for duck promotion prepares the various promotional strategies that to be introduced and sold to the customers five dot product slash service management involves designing developing maintaining improving and acquiring products and services to meet the needs of the customers six distribution involves bringing the products and services to the customers in the best way possible seven dot selling is the ultimate measure of marketing success strategies on following up the sale closing the sale and making a repeat sale are crucial tasks of marketing the marketing mix cottler 2010 says that marketing facilitates the exchange process and the development of relationships by carefully examining the needs and wants of consumers developing a prod water that satisfies these needs offering it at a certain prior making it available through a particular channel of distribution and developing a program of promotion to create awareness and interest the product or service is what the company is offering to satisfy a consumer's want or need the price in the value that the seller puts on the product or service this includes the cost of the product and the profit the seller wishes to make the price is also the amount a customer has to pay in exchange of the product or service the place is the means by which the product or service reaches the consumer promotions the strategic plan by which customers informed about the product or service and its value promotions also encourage customers to purchase the product or service a well planned and executed marketing mix will enable marketers to move their products or services successfully to the consumers as you can see in this figure it is about the tourism marketing mix being informed of the seven core functions of marketing and the marketing mix will ep in understanding the role of marketing in a tourism organization just as the definition of tourism marketing has evolved through the years its strategies tools and implementation have also differed through time the development of new technology among others has made marketing a dynamic task leading to the birth of the integrated marketing communications approach and topic 6 integrated marketing communications approach which is this is the last topic for module 1. promoting and selling products have become heavily reliant on traditional advertising techniques which have become more expensive but less effective the integrated marketing communications imc approach was born out of a need to enhance the demands of businesses to promote their products what is imc then it is the process of using all forms of promotion to achieve maximum communications impact while maintaining a consistent image for the products or services let us walk through the factors that contribute to the growth of imc in order to have an appreciation of the shift from traditional marketing methods to the growing paradigm of relationship marketing factors that contributed to the growth of imc with the growth of technology consumers have become less responsive to traditional going on tv and radio has become more fragmented people have shifted to using the computer and the internet more often than traditional mass media channels the internet advertising the remote control allows viewers to change channels while commercials are has also allowed businesses to communicate in more creative ways to its target customers interaction is enhanced with the use of smartphones and wi-fi networks where information is now available literally at your fingertips there is a great challenge for advertising agencies and marketing departments to maximize resources and budget for better efficiency and effectivity as such businesses have shifted compensation of advertising agencies from fixed compensation to incentive-based compensation this poses a challenge for advertising agencies to come up with an integrated approach in mixing the different promotional tools to yield maximum results because the more effective their marketing strategy is the higher they will get paid hence the shift to incentive-based compensation is a win-win strategy for both the business owner and the advertising agency the rise of big retailers such as sm malls pure gold robinson's malls etc has also altered the way marketing and promotions are implemented instead of the usual marketing strategy for the direct consumers the consolidation of the retail industry has affected the way people have consumed products big retailers can actually dictate the brands that will make it to their shelves thus manufacturers are at the mercy of these big retailers retailers can dictate the discount scheme and merchandising support they would need from manufacturers otherwise their products will not make it to the shelves of the grocery store the growth and development of database marketing has also enhanced the use of the imc approach with enhanced computer programs adopted by many tourism establishments such as hotels airlines and restaurants database management is facilitated these databases would be most helpful in carrying out direct marketing campaigns such as telemarketing and loyalty programs the behavior and needs of consumers are tracked and customers are served more efficiently through the management of a sound and updated database due to the advent of technological advancements the imc approach has become popular option in maximizing resources and optimizing results