Marketing Research for the Tourism, Hospitality and Events Industries

Bonita Kolb

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351702218
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

This is a user-friendly textbook that covers qualitative, quantitative and social media methods, providing tourism, hospitality and events students and course leaders with an accessible guide for learning and teaching marketing research.

The book contains essential information on how to conduct research on visitor trends, experiences, preferences and lifestyles, shedding light on customer preferences, product changes, promotional efforts and pricing differences to ensure the destination is successful. It offers guidance on how to write, conduct and analyze the results of surveys, or use qualitative methods such as focus groups, interviews, projective techniques and observation. It also illustrates how social media can be used as a new means to determine visitor preferences by analyzing online data and conversations. Other content includes suggestions and examples on turning research data into actionable recommendations as well as advice on writing and presenting the final report.

Integrated with a wide range of case studies per chapter, this short and accessible textbook is essential reading for all students wishing to gain knowledge as to what visitors want from the travel, hospitality and/or event experience.

Chapter 1

Researching changing visitor preferences

Learning objectives

● Who are the service providers in the tourism, hospitality and events industries and how are they connected?

● What is the connection between developing a marketing plan and the process of conducting marketing research?

● Why should a process be followed when planning and conducting marketing research?

● What are the current challenges faced by the tourism, hospitality and event management industries because of social media technology?

Chapter summary

● While tourism, hospitality and events have always existed, the management of these industries as a profession is newer. The industries are connected as people want an experience that includes a destination, food, lodging and events. Because of the competition between the many destinations and events available to consumers marketing research is necessary to ensure that the benefits desired by visitors are understood and provided. A knowledge of the industry and its challenges is necessary for marketing success.

● All marketing is an honest relationship between a seller and a buyer where both obtain what they want. Writing a marketing plan starts with planning the development of a product, pricing it correctly, and having it available at the right location. The plan then describes the promotion methods that will be necessary to communicate the product benefits to a target market segment of consumers.

● Marketing research can be used to explore various aspects of the marketing mix detailed in the marketing plan. Needed improvements in the design of the hospitality product can be discovered. The correct pricing level, promotional message and aspects of the venue can all be explored. Finally, analyzing the demographic and psychographic makeup of the visitor is critical to organizational success. The marketing research process consists of determining the research question, sources of information, finding research subjects, deciding upon the method and conducting the research. Finally, the data is analyzed and reported.

● The development of communications technology and social media sites has provided both opportunities and challenges to the tourism, hospitality and event management industries. The opportunity is that even small businesses and organizations have a means of reaching potential customers by directly connecting with potential visitors. The challenges include a visitor’s desire to experience local authentic and personalized experiences. Also, the purchase process has changed to one in which the visitor is in control. Finally, the expectation of service quality has changed.

Categorization of the tourism, hospitality and event management industries

Tourism and hospitality is an activity with a long history. After all, people traveling to visit other places is not a recent phenomenon as the first tourism occurred in the ancient world. For example, people living in Rome traveled from the cities to villas and coastal resorts to enjoy sea air, good food and local wine. During medieval times in Europe religious pilgrimages to historic holy sites became popular. Travel also occurred in other parts of the world. In fact, during this same time period travel literature became popular in China. These types of tourism activities and travel literature are still seen today.

It was the Grand Tour of Europe that was the first example of travel that resembles the modern tourism industry because lodging, food, transportation and information were provided. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was expected that young men in England with the financial means to do so would further their education through travel. Young men with the social connections and family wealth undertook long trips that included stops with an educational focus, such as studying classical culture in Italy.

Figure 1.1 The Grand Tour of Europe was an early example of planned tours.

Photo Credit: canadastock

If these young wealthy men were going to be able to travel, they needed places to sleep and eat while on their trip. Because the Grand Tours of Europe had standard destinations, a series of guest houses that provided lodging and food were established to cater to these travelers. In addition, local citizens were hired to provide guiding and other services. Transportation links were also created to make travel easier for people undertaking the Grand Tour. Finally, guide books detailing where to stay and what to do were published.

While the Grand Tour was only available to the wealthy, tourism started to develop more widely in Europe during the mid-nineteenth century. Tourism increased because the growth of the middle class meant more people could afford to travel. During this time period, Thomas Cook started his package tour business in England. The pre-planned and packaged Cook tours took tourists to historical sites and also holiday destinations. Because the trip was packaged with transportation, food and lodging included, no prior knowledge of the places visited was necessary.

Traveling to events is also part of the history of tourism. Attending festivals and markets were some of the reasons travelers had for undertaking a trip. While local residents could attend an experience in their home community, to be successful most events wanted to draw attendees and their money from a wider geographic area.

In the twentieth century with the introduction of cheap flights after airline deregulation, more people started to travel on their own without packaged tours. With the use of the internet, they were now able to obtain information on how to travel to the most distant and previously difficult to visit destinations, without the assistance of travel professionals.

Tourism is now a multi-billion-dollar industry worldwide. The industry consists of transportation, food and beverage, lodging, events and travel services. The hospitality industry comprises separate service producers, although in the case of a resort all the components might be provided by the same organization.

Industry components

● Transportation: to and within the destination

● Accommodation: all forms of lodging

● Food and beverage: at all price levels

● Events: either the core attraction or supplementary

● Travel services: information and assistance

Types of tourist travel

Although tourism, hospitality and events include a variety of experiences that can motivate travel, they can be grouped into four categories. The first would be attractions, which can be separated into natural, built and historical. Natural attractions might be large in scale such as the Grand Canyon in the United States or smaller such as a local river front. Built attractions were created for local residents, but now attract visitors or they may have been built specifically for tourists. Examples of such attractions would include amusement parks and botanical gardens. Historical attractions are present in almost every community though some, such as Stonehenge, will be more well known than the site of a local battle.

Case Study 1.1: Solo traveler vs. single travelers: are you a Yuccie?

The travel industry formerly thought of single travelers as sad, lonely, and looking for love. They traveled alone because they had no one with whom to travel – a situation they hoped to fix while on the trip! This may have been true in the past but it is not an accurate description of today’s solo traveler.

In 2015 a research report on the holiday industry discovered that one out of three trips taken by British travelers was solo. Why? First, 25 per cent of British adults are unmarried, divorced or widowed. Second, this group has money to spend and, rather than looking for love, are seeking life-changing experiences. While they want to socialize, this is not the main reason for the trip.

Who are these travelers? Many are Yuccies, urban creatives in their twenties and thirties. If they are single with no other commitments, they indulge themselves with premium products, and that includes travel. They want to enjoy travel that combines cultural adventures with the consumption of luxury. However, it is not just the young, as many older people are traveling solo for adventure and cultural opportunities. In the UK, over 50 per cent of travel expenditures are made by people over 50.

The tourism industry is responding. Cruise lines used to shun single travelers as a waste of cabin space. Now the major cruise lines, such as Norwegian and polar specialist Quark Expeditions, are introducing single occupancy cabins along with shared spaces for solo travelers to socialize, if they desire to do so. In addition, hotels are developing specialty ‘lifestyle’ brands targeted at solo leisure travelers.

The solo traveler is independent but wants connection to the places they visit and the tourism industry is responding (Kasriel-Alexander 2016)!

Question: What research would you conduct to group solo travelers into different segments?

Another category in the industry covers performances. Performances are usually associated with arts and culture, such as dance, concerts or theatre. Most often the organization that is responsible for the performance was created to serve the community but also wants to attract visitors.

Celebrations include festivals, events and sports. Festivals happen on a repeating schedule such as a yearly Apple Blossom Festival or a Mardi Gras carnival. Also included would be parades, such as Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Events differ as they are usually categorized as single occurrences such as the hundredth anniversary of the founding of a town. Sporting events that attract an audience from out of town also fall into the tourism category.

An additional category of motivation for tourism are business conferences and meetings. These also fall into the category of tourism as they bring in visitors. These may be particularly sought after by a city because the visitors may have their expenses covered by their employer, allowing them to spend more money.

Categorization of tourism

● Attractions: natural, built, historical

● Performances: dance, theatre, music

● Celebrations: festivals, events, sports

● Business: meetings, conferences

What connects all of these categories is the need for information, food, lodging and activities to enjoy. Everyone coming in for an attraction, performance, celebration or business will have the same basic needs. Because of this they can all be served by visitor centers, tourism promotion agencies and websites aimed at travelers.

An aspect of tourism that is changing is that visitors who arrive for a specific tourism event now want all aspects of the experience to reflect their interest. They want an experience that packages together all aspects of tourism. For example, someone coming to a town for a major sporting event may also expect to have other experiences built around the sport. They may want to eat at sports bars and stay at the same hotel as other fans. If possible the community can even build a celebration around the sporting event such as a fan fair where people can meet their favorite players. A community will start such an event as a means to attract even more visitors who will spend money. People coming for a music celebration may also want to take in the historical sites related to a local musician. Business visitors now also want to experience local culture and can be encouraged to attend performances on offer by giving group discounts to the meeting or conference organizers.

Figure 1.2 Visitors today want to experience local culture.

Photo Credit: Karel Gallas

Need for visitor research

The tourism, hospitality and event management industries are interrelated because the same consumer will most likely need all three industries. All tourists need food and lodging. While at the location they are visiting, these same individuals need events and activities to occupy their time. Or the process might be the opposite. Someone traveling to any event will also need tourism and hospitality services so they can enjoy the visit experience.

The tourism industry is unique as it is a combination of government funded organizations, nonprofits and private businesses. Tourism promotion agencies such as destination marketing organizations and visitor bureaus that provide information are often funded by the government. Some tourism attractions may be governed by boards of nonprofits such as museums and historical sites. Finally, there will be private businesses such restaurants, hotels and attractions. The size o...