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The Meaning of Marketing

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

Communications in Travel
and Tourism

Dr. Mohd Hafiz Hanafiah, CHIA

Associate Professor
Department of Tourism Management
Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management
Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia
Learning Objectives 2

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

At the end of this chapter, you will be able to
 Define tourism and hospitality marketing communications.
 Understand the importance of communications in tourism
and hospitality services.
 Describe the changing role of marketing communications
in the tourism and hospitality system.
1.1 Defining marketing communications 3
in travel and tourism

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 Virtually every country in the world competes for attention
from tourists and travelers.
 After all, tourists spend money at local hotels, restaurants,
transportation companies and attractions, just to name a few.
 That money can represent a significant boost to the local
economy.
 But some countries seem to have quite the advantage. For
example, how can a country like Malaysia compete with four-
seasons Europe countries and convince those coveted tourists
to dedicate their annual vacation budget to their country's
wonders?
 Tourism and marketing communications are the answer.
1.1 Defining marketing communications 4
in travel and tourism

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 Marketing communications forms a key aspect of the
delivery of tourism and hospitality services.
 Marketing communication was defined as the provision
of information to a defined audience, including an
understanding of how the information is received
 Marketing communications is a great deal more than
simply about advertising.
 Indeed marketing communications forms its own sub-fi
eld of study within the discipline of marketing.
1.1 Defining marketing communications 5
in travel and tourism

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 Marketing communications is more than simply ‘
presenting the brand ’ through advertising.
 Marketing communications can be thought of as
bringing a ‘ strategic approach ’
 Marketing communications ’ planner and strategist
needs to understand how, where and when consumers
access information, how they respond and the means
by which this process can be effectively managed.
1.2 Marketing communications 6
characteristics

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 Tourism and hospitality share many important services
marketing characteristics which have an impact on the ways
in which they are marketed to potential consumers.
 Marketing communications for this sector is affected by these
particular features, depending on the types of service:
 intangible
 perishable
 inseparable
 heterogenous
1.2 Marketing communications 7
characteristics

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 Tourism and hospitality are said to be intangible services
because it is not possible to experience the service prior
to purchase.
 Mittal and Baker (2002) focus on the diffi culties posed by
intangibility in terms of knowing how to communicate
the attributes and benefits of these services.
 They argue that intangibility poses four key challenges:
1.Abstractness; 2.Generality; 3.Non-searchability and;
4.Impalpability
1.2 Marketing communications 8
characteristics

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 Intangibility poses four key challenges:
 Abstractness : difficulties in communication of abstract concepts
of the services – such as ‘ a good night’s rest ’
 Generality: difficulties in conveying distinctions between one
organisation’s service offer, such as ‘ cabin service’, from
another
 Non-searchability: the fact that customers cannot search the
credentials of the organisation or test the service prior to
purchase, meaning they have to be taken on trust
 Impalpability: refers to the problem of being able to imagine the
physical experience and thus a need to convey an
understanding and interpretation of the service in
communications
1.2 Marketing communications 9
characteristics

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 Organisations have three key aims from communications
strategies: creating brand identity, positioning of the brand
and creating demand.
 Within these general goals, hospitality firms must work :
 to communicate the intangible benefits of the service
 be specific about the distinct features and characteristics of the
services
 providing concrete details of the services
 provide key information about the evidence about which claims
for ‘ trust ’ can be made
 take consumers through the exact steps of the experience to
make them more palpable.
1.2 Marketing communications 10
characteristics

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 Services are said to be perishable since they cannot be
stored or stockpiled to be sold at a later date.
 This factor puts a strategic emphasis on the role of price-
setting in the marketing mix.
 The aspects of pricing strategies, including sales
promotions and discounting is a key feature of tourism
and hospitality marketing communications
1.2 Marketing communications 11
characteristics

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 The concept of inseparability refers to the fact that it is
not possible to separate the point of production of the
service from the point at which they are consumed.
 It means there is a great emphasis on the role of people
in the service encounter.
 Again, the importance of people and quality of service
linked to expertise of individuals or within the
organisation collectively is a key force in marketing
communications strategies in the sector.
1.2 Marketing communications 12
characteristics

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 Heterogeneity refers to the fact that it is very difficult to
replicate the same experience for different people
within the same service environment
 It is much harder to replicate the same experience at
different times.
1.2 Marketing communications 13
characteristics

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 That is why marketing messages often highlight the
following features and issues in delivery of the service:
 the highlighted role of people
 experiential and emotional nature of messages
 timing and process issues
 quality of service delivery and products
 tangible features and benefits
 pricing strategies, promotions and discounting
 standards and guarantees
1.2 Marketing communications 14
characteristics

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 However, there is also the need to communicate how
the services will benefit consumers.
 Earlier in the chapter, some special characteristics of the
consumption of tourism and hospitality services were
outlined.
 These are also influential factors affecting the marketing
approach and the content of communications.
1.2 Marketing communications 15
characteristics

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

Influential factors affecting the marketing approach and
the content of communications:
 the importance of word-of-mouth communication in
consumers’ decision-making processes
 the links between consumption and status/identity
 the impact of consumers ’personality traits and motivations
on brand loyalty
 macro-social factors which influence consumption
 the extent to which tourism and hospitality consumption is
an established norm of social life.
1.3 Integrated Marketing 16
Communications

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 Integrated marketing communications (IMC) requires a coordinated
approach to marketing across individual campaigns and across
different forms and channels of information.
 The need to ensure that all marketing and non- marketing
information reflects the brand personality and values to maximise
the potential of organisations
 To create a strong ‘ message ’ across all its communications - critical
success factor in the highly competitive marketplace of tourism and
hospitality services.
 Ensures that internal audiences are aware of the strategic aims of
the organisation and its vision in terms of brand values.
 Internal audiences consist of employees, suppliers, shareholders and
other stakeholders including wider society.
Summary 17

 This chapter has outlined the defi ning qualities of tourism and

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

hospitality as ‘ experiential ’ services, ones that have special
characteristics.
 It is these characteristics which make the marketing
communications issues particularly interesting as a focus of
study.
 Tourism and hospitality was defined as lifestyle consumer
goods, making them vulnerable to changes in the external
market environment.
 This challenging contemporary business situation has an
impact on marketing practice
 Many firms and organisations adopting a marketing
orientation with a focus on the consumer, and an integrated
approach to marketing communications.
Group Projects 18

HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism

 Outline the special characteristics of tourism and
hospitality services and explain why and how these
impact on marketing communications for these services.
 What are the main elements included in a definition of
marketing communications? Why is each element
important to successful marketing of tourism and
hospitality organisations?
 Outline the range of types of organisations in the tourism
and hospitality sector. What are the current issues facing
the sector? What is the impact of these trends on
marketing?
 Thank you
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HTT 668: Marketing Communications for Travel and Tourism