Download PRINCIPLES OF TOURISM MARKETING

PRINCIPLES OF TOURISM MARKETING
CHAPTER 1
THE MARKETING CONCEPT
General Marketing Definitions

CIM defines marketing as a management process responsible for
identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements at
a profit.

Kotler (1972) defines marketing as a set of activities directed at
facilitating and consuming exchanges’

In 1988, he (Kotler) remodeled the marketing definition as ‘the business
function that identifies current unfulfilled needs and wants,
defines and measure their magnitude, determines which target
the organization can best serve and programs to serve these
markets”.
AMA (American Marketing Association) developed Kotler’s 1988 definition and
defined marketing as, “the process of planning and executing the
conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas and goods and
services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and original goals”.
Baker 1996 defines it as” the creation and maintenance of mutually
satisfying exchange relationships”.
DEFINING TOURISM MARKETIG
Coltman (1989) defines tourism marketing as a management philosophy
that, in the light of tourist demand, makes it possible through research,
forecasting and selection to place tourism products on the market in
line with the origins purpose for greatest benefits.
He goes on to define marketing as a directed, goal oriented activity that
balances the objectives of the tourist destination or supplier with the
needs of the tourists.
Lumsdon (1997) The managerial process of anticipating and satisfying
existing and potential visitors’ wants more effectively compared to
competitors.

The above definitions share many common features, they all view
marketing as being made up of at least 5 essential components;
i)
Philosophy of customer orientation.
ii)
A number of analytical procedures and concepts used to develop the
philosophy.
iii)
Identification or knowledge of customer needs,
iv)
A sequence of strategic decision areas and planning functions.
v)
The issue of demands, exchange, transactions and relationships

Kolter (1999) defines a human need as a state of felt deprivation. Some
scholars argue that this need has to be created if marketing is to be
successiful.

Human wants are “the form taken by human needs as they are shaped
by culture and individual personality” Kotler, 1999: 13)


When buying power backs wants, it becomes demand.
A product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention,
acquisition, use or consumption and that might satisfy a need or want.
Consumers view products as a bundle of benefits and they choose those
that give them the best opportunity to get optimum returns for their
investments - value for money.
Exchange
This is a very important concept of marketing. Several conditions must be
satisfied for exchange to take place;
i)
There should be at least 2 parties
ii)
Each party must be willing to deal with the other.
iii)
Each party must have something valued by the other.
iv)
Each party must be free to accept or reject the offer.
v)
Each party must be able to deliver.
Relationships

Refer to the bond created between two transacting parties. Relationship
marketing (RM) has become an important aspect of destination marketing
as destination marketers aim to achieve a high percentage of repeat visits.

Baker (1998) argues that a market is a set of actual and potential. It is
important to identify markets and communicate the message about the
range and level of tourism products and services on offer. Therefore
market segmentation and targeting should be important devices at the
destination marketer’s disposal in a quest to reach the right customer and
to frame suitable messages for the specific targeted customers.
EVOLUTION OF THE MARKETING CONCEPT
The marketing concept is the philosophy that firms should analyze the needs
of their customers and then make decisions to satisfy those needs, better than
the competition. Today most firms have adopted the marketing concept, but this
has not always been the case.
In 1776 in his book, The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith wrote that the needs of
producers should be considered only with regard to meeting the needs of
consumers. While this philosophy is consistent with the marketing concept, it
would not be adopted widely until nearly 200 years later.
To better understand the marketing concept, it is worthwhile to put it in
perspective by reviewing other philosophies that once were predominant. While
these alternative concepts prevailed during different historical time frames, they
are not restricted to those periods and are still practiced by some firms today
The Production Era

The most primitive philosophy which holds that consumers will favour
products that are available, therefore management should focus on
production efficiency. The major weakness of this philosophy is that it
focuses on production before considering the needs of the customer.

The focus is ” inside – out”. E.g. When there were few hotels offering just
the basic facilities worldwide-tourists would take what was available and
more hotels of the same nature were built. There was virtually no
differentiation because it was not necessary.

The era reigned from the time of the Industrial Revolution until the 1920s.
Mass production was common and management was concerned about the
solution of production problems and spent all their time on the efforts to
facilitate these processes.

The key questions that a firm would ask before producing a product were:
1. Can we produce the product?
2. Can we produce enough of it?
Product Concept
Holds that the consumers prefer existing products and product forms. The job of
management is therefore to produce good revisions of these products.
The Selling Concept

By the early 1930's however, mass production had become commonplace,
competition had increased, and there was little unfulfilled demand.

Holds that customers will not buy enough of the organization’s products
unless the concerned organization undertakes a large selling and
promotion effort.

Customer satisfaction is not really a priority and long-term relationships
cannot be created. The concept came into place when businesses realized
that they could consume.

Before producing a product, the key questions were:
1. Can we sell the product?
2. Can we charge enough for it?
The Marketing Concept
After World War II, the variety of products increased and hard selling no longer
could be relied upon to generate sales. With increased discretionary income,
customers could afford to be selective and buy only those products that precisely
met their changing needs, and these needs were not immediately obvious. The
key questions became:

What do customers want?

Can we develop it while they still want it?

How can we keep our customers satisfied?
In response to these discerning customers, firms began to adopt the marketing
concept, which involves:

Focusing on customer needs before developing the product

Aligning all functions of the company to focus on those needs

Realizing a profit by successfully satisfying customer needs over the longterm
When firms first began to adopt the marketing concept, they typically set up
separate marketing departments whose objective it was to satisfy customer
needs. Often these departments were sales departments with expanded
responsibilities. While this expanded sales department structure can be found in
some companies today, many firms have structured themselves into marketing
organizations having a company-wide customer focus. Since the entire
organization exists to satisfy customer needs, nobody can neglect a customer
issue by declaring it a "marketing problem" - everybody must be concerned with
customer satisfaction.
Societal Marketing Concept
This concept advocates that organizations should determine the needs, wants
and interests of target markets and deliver desired satisfactions more effectively
and efficiently than competitors in a way those maintains and improve the
consumers and society’s well being.
Relationship Marketing Philosophy
Berry (1991) in Payne (1993: 30) defines RM as “the attraction, maintenance
and enhancement of customer relationships”
Bennett and Strydom (2001: 18) state “RM involves establishing,
maintaining, enhancing and commercializing customer relationships so
that the objectives of the parties concerned are met. This is done by a
mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises”.