Leisure and Tours: Marketing Plan for Leisure and Tours Industries

All leisure and tourism organizations have an idea of how they should market their facilities, the prices they should charge and the type of customers who are likely to use their services and products and how they can reach them. Some spend a great deal of time and effort in developing marketing plans which chart the way ahead in terms of marketing activity over a defined time periods. Other prefers to take an altogether more casual and reactive approach to marketing, rarely committing anything to paper. Although the latter approach may well work for a small number of gifted individual, nearly all leisure and tourism organizations will benefit from a fully researched and carefully constructed marketing plan. Such a plan will;

Identify the resources that will be needed to implement the plan
Provide a focus for all marketing activity
Define objectives and targets which will need to be met
Analyze competitor activity
Help forecast future trends in the industry
Allow measurement of marketing performance to see if the objectives have been met

The marketing plan will help the organization to answer a number of important questions, such as;

What do we want to achieve?
Where are we now?
Where do we want to be?
How do we get to where we want to be?
How do we know when we have arrived?

In devising a marketing plan, a leisure and tourism organization will identify what it wants to achieve by way of mission statement or policy statement. Having carried out its situation analysis, the next stage of the marketing plan is to set specific marketing objectives which must be clear, measurable and realistic. These could include;

To identify customer needs
To manage the effect of change
To analyze competitor activity
To maximize income
To expand the customer base

Next stage of the marketing plan is the one that focuses on the marketing strategy which tries to answer the question, ‘how do we get to where we want to be?’ This will concentrate on identifying the best communications methods and how they will be implemented. For example, it may that a mixture of PR activity and a short newspapers advertising campaign are considered to be the best ways of achieving the objectives of the plan.

The final stage of the marketing plan is monitoring and evaluation, when the organization reviews its marketing efforts and achievements against the original objectives of the plan to see if its work has been successful.

Marketing Objectives for Leisure and Tours Industries

All leisure and tourism organizations set themselves objectives or goals in order to provide a framework within which all their resources can be used to best effect and their performance measured. Objectives for individual organizations will be very diverse and will reflect the philosophy of the owners or managers, the size of the organizations, its stage of development and whether it is in the commercial or non-commercial sector. Objective of leisure and tourism organization will be developed and refined by all those who have an interest in the organization. These stakeholders as they are sometimes called may include;

The owners
The managers
The staff
Visitor or users
Shareholders
Local councilors
Member of a club or association
The local community
Society in general

Owners and manager will be concerned that the objectives are realistic and achievable and provide a reward for their effort. Staff will want to be sure of their conditions of employment and future prospectus in terms of the promotion and growth of the organization. Visitors will be concerned with the experience they receive and whether they think the organization gives value for money. The leisure and tourism industries are dominated by commercial or private sectors organizations. The private sector is made up of large and small organizations owned by individuals or groups of people whose primary aim is to make a profit. Many individuals rely on the profits generated by commercial organizations for a substantial part of their income. Profit maximization is an important objective for a number of reasons;

In order to provide resources for further expansion of the business
To reward risk taking
To enable the business to respond to the needs of its customers
To encourage efficiency and innovation

Although profit maximization is the primary objective of most private sector companies, it is by no means the only objective of all commercial leisure and tourism organizations. A lot of small business in the leisure and tourism industries is run by people who used to work for larger companies but became frustrated with the high level of bureaucracy they encountered. Operating your own business in leisure or tourism can give a great deal of job satisfaction and the feeling that you have control over what decisions are made. Non-commercial leisure and tourism organizations survive within the public or voluntary sectors of the economy. They have been developed with wider social objectives in mind. There are many examples of non-commercial organizations in leisure and tourism, including;

Local clubs and societies: set up by local people with a specific purpose in mind. These organizations will aim to break even on their finances and may apply for some finical help from their local authority
Charitable trusts: many trusts are established to conserve or preserve our national and local heritage
Local authorities: local council plays a major role in the provision of leisure and tourism facilities. Without their involvement, facilities such as recreation, parks, libraries, museums, leisure centers, tourist information centers and visitor attraction would not exist
Public corporation: the public corporation linked to the leisure or tourism industries offering a service to both business and leisure travelers
Quasi-autonomous: which are primary financed from the public purse but which have a high degree of autonomy. For example in leisure and tourism are the sports council or country side commission

The Role of Mission Statement

It is currently very fashionable for organization whether in the public, private or voluntary sector to develop a mission statement. The mission statement is intended to convey to all those with an interest in the organization. Some mission statement introduce an element of the organization‘s philosophy and values. Mission statement vary enormously in their complexity, some are very short or to the point. Some people are very skeptical about the value of the mission statements and see them as nothing more than a public relation tool. What the mission statement can do is set out in very broad terms the direction in which an organization is hoping to progress in the future and provide a framework for the development of its more specific objectives.

Marketing Strategies for Leisure and Tours Industries

It is the broad means by which the organization hopes to meet the marketing objective. Some examples of marketing strategies in leisure and tourism sector are as follows;

To enter a new market - air tours entered the self-drive camping market with the famous brand to complement its other tour operating products
To restrict its range of products - a leisure center may decide to discontinue its early birds swimming sessions because of its poor attendance
To change the scale of its operations – a successful fitness studio may decide to open branches in a number of nearby towns
To change the method of distribution – a county house hotel may choose to offer all its services for sale through travel agent rather than dealing direct with the public
To change the emphasis of promotional activity – a museum that has always advertised in the national press may decide to commit half budget of its advertising to attending exhibitions

Marketing strategies are essentially about getting the many components of the marketing in the correct proportion to maximize efficiency and output. We looked in detail at the marketing earlier in this unit and saw it was composed of four elements known as four Ps. In deciding the most appropriate of these four components a leisure and tourism organization will need to consider;

Price – discounts, commissions, surcharges, competitor pricing, demand level, concessions, subsidies, etc.
Place – distribution channels, locations, accessibility, transport links, car parking, warehouses, etc.
Product – design, quality, range, brands, benefits, services, etc.
Promotion – advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, PR, sponsorships, etc.

Types of Marketing Strategies

A leisure and tourism has a number of different options open to it when deciding which type of strategies to adopt. It can choose;

Undifferentiated marketing – when a single marketing is offered to the total market. This is unlikely to succeed since markets are made up of many types of buyers all with different characteristics.
Differentiated marketing – it is an approach that a tailors specific marketing strategies to different sectors of the market. May be a leisure center will have different strategies for reaching families with children or senior citizen.
Concentrated marketing – involves choosing to compete in only one sector of the marketing & developing the most effective for this sector. Many smaller operators select the option and gain in depth knowledge of their customers and their requirement.

Defensive Strategies: This is designed to hold on to existing customers by;

Improving the image of the organization
Increase the standard of customer’s service
Improving product quality

Developing Strategies: This is designed to offer existing customers a wider range of products or services by;

Increasing the number of outlets for products and services
Developing completely new products or services
Making products more environmentally friendly
Increase the range of features and options available

Attacking strategies: This is designed to generate business through new customers. New customer can be found in new geographical or industry market segments. This strategy would include;

Changing pricing policy
Opening new sales outlets
Entering new geographical areas

Business Systems for Leisure and Tours Industries

There is no doubt that quality is one of the buzz words in leisure and tourism. All sorts of organizations are they in the private, public or voluntary sectors have pledged their commitment to introducing or enhancing the quality of the products, services and facilities they offer their customers. In an increasingly competitive environment, it makes good business sense to review organizational systems to see if any improvements can be made to the levels of customer’s service and quality of products on offer. Some trade associations are leading the way with their commitment to quality and high standards of personal service. The main purpose of the implementing quality standards in leisure and tourism is just the same, namely to ensure that all administrative and managements systems are fully documented and audited so as to ensure high standards of quality at all times.

‘The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.’

Looking at the definition in a little more detail, it assumes that an organization will have knowledge of the needs of its customers. We have seen that all leisure and tourism organization have a wide range of customers all with varying needs. Detailed market research is needed to identify customers and their needs before the specific features and characteristics of products and services can be developed.

Introducing Quality Standards

It should been seen as a long term initiative rather than a process that will bring quick rewards. The comprehensive nature of such a standard will focus on;

Determining the needs of the customers
Defining the quality of the service required to meet these needs
Planning how the level of service will be delivered
Deciding who will deliver the agreed level of service and when
Delivering the level of service to the customer
Monitoring to ensure that the agreed level of service has been achieved

There are five steps to implementing a quality standards system are;

Step one – preparing the ground: Its involves given employees an understanding of the importance of quality and customer service while at the same time undertaking market research to determine customer needs and requirements.

Step two – understanding the organization’s role: Tries to answer such questions as why is the job done? Where is the job done? Who does what and why? Or when is the job done? Once the understanding has been achieved, the job of documenting and developing the system can begin.

Step three – developing the system: This may start with the preparation of straight forward operations manuals and ultimately develop into a full quality system for which external certification may be sought.

Step four – embedding the system: It will involve further training and clarification of roles together with a clear explanation of the procedures and practices of all employees. Whether or not external certification is being sought, it is good practice to set up internal monitoring procedures.

Step five – maintain the system: In step five the system is maintained, updated and amended.

The introduction of quality systems have some positive side, there is likely to be;

Improved service quality or delivery
Reduced costs in the longer term
Less trouble and stress in the workplace
Greater clarity in job roles
More consistency throughout the organization
More opportunity for training and staff development
A happier workplace
A more consultative management style
A safer working environment

Those who advocate a total quality management (TQM) approach consider that it has a number of benefits to any leisure or tourism organization which include;

Increased profitability
Improved competitiveness
Closer relationships with customers
Committed management or staff
Closer relationships with suppliers and contractors
Improved measurement of quality or performance