Main topics of study:

Tourism:

• Tourism Growth
• Purposes of Travel
• What Makes Tourism Distinctive?
• The Structure of the Travel Trade

What Does Marketing Mean:

• What is Marketing?
• The Marketing Mix
• Marketing Feasibility
• The Sovereignty of Markets
• Is Tourism Supply Led?

Segmenting the Market:

• Basic Definitions
• Market Segments
• Market Segmentation Criteria
• Using Segmentation

The Tourism Product:

• Did the Visitors Like It?
• Destinations
• Product Components
• Transport
• Carrying Capacities
• The Macro & Micro

Caring for Visitors:

• Visitor & Customer Care
• Lip Service
• Caring for Staff
• Bottlenecks & Complaints
• Developing Skills
• Visitor Care Training
• Tourist Information
• Special Needs

Images & Brands:

• The Image
• Ideas about a Destination
• How do you Communicate?
• Cross Cultural Communication
• Purposes & Motivations
• The Core, Brand & Tertiary Image
• Romance, Familiarity & Intimacy
• Damage Management
• Signs & Sounds
• Change

Pricing Strategy & Yield Management:

• Pricing Dimensions
• Sticker Prices
• Perishability & Price Elasticity
• Price Flexibility
• Cost Plus Pricing
• Plus Pricing to Add Value
• Leakage
• Price Leadership
• Reliability
• Setting Prices & Yield Management

Meeting Change:

• The Nature of Change
• Types of Change & Action
• Re-engineering, Regeneration & Expansion

Researching the Market:

• Looking Back & Looking Forward
• Tourism Statistics
• Getting the Information
• Macro Market Research
• Visitor Surveys
• The Management Information System
• Systemising the Approach

Positioning & Strategy:

• Policy
• Positioning
• Strategy
• Stages of Development
• Tourism Development Planning
• The Positioning Analysis

Mixing Marketing Mixes:

• Can you Mix Marketing Mixes?
• The Development of a Destination
• Resort Complexes
• Planning Authorities
• Observing Guidelines
• Making It Come True

Managing Marketing:

• Managing the Tourism Sector
• Government Seeks Outputs
• Tourism Development Planning
• The Role of the Government Tourism Administration (GTA)
• Types of Organisation
• Specifying Responsibilities for Marketing
• GTA Representative Offices Abroad

Printed Material:

• Tourism’s Unseen Nature
• Defining Promotional Objectives
• Who Pays?
• Trying to Get the Destination to Pay
• Promoting ‘Going There’ & ‘Once There’
• Types of Material
• Quantities
• Design & Creation
• Overload
• The Internet
• Direct Mail

Advertising & Direct Mail:

• Defining the Objectives
• Destination Marketing
• Evaluating Advertising Effectiveness
• Impact & Follow-up
• Internet Advertising
• Media Selection
• The Advertising Agency
• Direct Mail

Public Relations:

• Travel Writing
• Travel Trade Shows & Exhibitions
• Public Relations Agencies
• Public Relations as a Part of Promotion
• Public Relations is Mostly Pro-active
• Public Awareness
• Media Relations & Conferences
• Events
• Lobbying
• Sponsorship
• Celebrities

Travel Writing:

• The Promotional Impact of Travel Writing
• Travel Journalism
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Guidebooks
• Travel Literature
• Accreditation
• Being Written About

Travel Trade Exhibitions:

• The Purposes
• Choosing Shows
• The Participation of the Sector
• Setting up the Stand
• Preparing for the Show
• Staffing
• Budget
• Evaluating Results

Sales:

• Sales or Marketing
• Selling a Destination
• The Sales Transaction
• Sales Contacts
• Travel Regulations
• The Catalogue
• Retail Agencies
• Internet Promotion & Sales

The Internet:

• The Dot.com Boom
• Technological Aspects
• E-tourism Options
• Sales & Bookings
• Intermediaries
• M-tourism

Web Sites:

• A Web Site
• The Ryanair Web Site
• Objectives
• Web Site Design
• The Linking of Web Sites
• Intelligent Agents
• Digital Television Meets the Internet

Travel Trade Liaison:

• Working Together
• Establishing Liaison
• Promotional Support & Familiarisation Tours
• Differences in Culture & Power
• Tour Operators’ Initiative (TOI) for Sustainable Development

Improvement Programmes:

• Standards & Improvement
• Macro Level Standards
• The Marketing Mix
• Empowering Staff
• Joint Marketing Initiatives & Small Tourism Enterprises
• Improvement Activities
• A Christchurch Example

The Marketing Plan – Part I:

• What is the Marketing Plan?
• The Stage of Development
• Market Research
• Positioning
• Mixing Markets
• Past Performance
• Change
• Development Strategy
• Forecasting Next Year’s Performance

The Marketing Plan – Part II:

• Private Sector Marketing
• Joint Programmes
• Promotional Objectives
• The Internet & Web Sites
• Printed Material
• Advertising
• Direct Mail
• Public Relations, Public Awareness & Travel Writing
• Travel Trade Show & Exhibitions
• Travel Trade Liaison & Improvement
• Overseas Offices
• Budget
• Evaluating Promotional Effectiveness

Reading List

Main Text:

Effective Tourism Sector Marketing – Roger Doswell (ICM)

Alternative Texts and Further Reading:

Marketing in Travel & Tourism – V T C Middleton & J Clarke (Butterworth Heinemann)
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism – Kotler, Bowen and Makens (Prentice Hall)