A Marketing Communications Plan for an Eco-tourism Company - Term Paper Example

Eco Tourism Table of Contents Executive Summary: 4 Background: 5 Situational Analysis: 6 Analysis: 6 SWOT Analysis: 6 Industry Analysis: 9 Target Market: 9 Communication Objectives: 10 Marketing Communication Mix: 11 Advertising: 12 The Message and Information: 12 Persuasive Content and Message Appeal: 12 Evaluation: 13 References: 14 Executive Summary: The report is an attempt to understand the importance of eco tourism in the wake of global warming and climate change. It is in this context that Tourindia has been chosen as the company which has its operations in Kerala, India. The report starts with a background of the company and ecotourism. A situational analysis covering customer and SWOT analysis is then done. Based on the analysis the target market is selected and a marketing communication plan is developed. The report ends with evaluation process of the campaign. Background: Business Context: Around 36 years ago, driven by creativity, eagerness and a thirst to do something different, Tourindia was started by a young enthusiastic group to provide tourism services in a way that was class apart from the existing tour operators in India. They have focused their operations on one particular state of India which is Kerala. They tried to differentiate themselves by providing personalized services for their guests, which the big players in the industry were incapable of offering. The mission of the company is to, “welcome a tourist and send back a friend”. (Tourindia-a, n.d.). Climate change and global warming has drawn the attention of the world towards preserving nature. The mad endeavor for material and economic progress has lead to exploitation of the natural environment. Today it has become a global crisis and the world is on the verge of getting doomed. Denuding of forests has lead to greenhouse effects and global warming. It is in an attempt to save the world that eco tourism is being actively promoted all across the globe. The main components of eco tourism are ecological sustainability, nature based, benefits to local people and education. Tourindia Kerala has also focused on developing eco tourism. They have been instrumental in creating Kettuvallam Houseboats which is the mascot for backwaters in Kerela. Recently they have developed Eco-Lodges and tree houses. Being in existence for 36 years, it has developed excellent contacts worldwide (Tourindia-b, n.d.) Situational Analysis: Customer Analysis: The number of tourists visiting Kerala has increased significantly. The increase has come from both domestic and international tourists. There was an increase of 20.37% in foreign tourists in 2007 (Agencies-a, 2008). Kerala was developed as an eco tourism destination with a boutique image to cater to certain specific target segments rather than focusing on mass marketing. Hence the customers are usually the tourists who belong to the high spending category. The awareness of eco tourism is still in the nascent stages in India. Although the awareness for saving nature has increased, yet Indian tourists are fail to keep the nature clean. Hence the target market has to be the higher class who are more concerned about preserving the environment. The target market is the leisure travelers and corporate houses who are passionate about nature. The consumer spending on eco tourism globally is 11.4% (Incredible India-a, n.d.). SWOT Analysis: Strength: Vast Experience: Tourindia Kerala has been in existence for the last 36 years which has helped it develop good contacts globally. This gives them a strong customer base and economies of operation (Tourindia-c, n.d.) Management Team: The Company is run by highly enthusiastic individuals with vast experience in the tourism industry committed towards providing eco-tourism service to the guests with a difference and achieving excellence. Guides: Guides are the people who help the tourists in understanding the importance of various places in the tour. The guides in Tourindia can speak in the language of the tourist and also have a thorough knowledge of the various locations (Tourindia-d, n.d.). Products/Services: The company was the pioneer to develop houseboats in the backwaters of Kerala. Currently they offer various added services like tree house, eco lodges, Periyar Tiger Trail Program and so on. The trekking program has opened up the inflow of new tourists segment which is the serious nature lovers, trekkers and the professional adventurers. Cave houses are among the latest developments of the company which offers tourists an experience which they have only read about in books (Tourindia-e, n.d.). Weakness: Brand Awareness: The brand awareness of the group is very low. Although local people are aware about the company, international tourists have limited awareness of the company. Opportunities: Future of Tourism: Eco tourism is the future of tourism. Traditional concepts of mass tourism tend to destroy Mother Nature and hence the focus on eco tourism is gaining wide acceptance and popularity. Increase in tourists: The number of tourists visiting Kerala has increased from 346494 in 2005 to 515808 in 2007 (Economy Bureau, 2008). In 2008 the total number of local tourists who visited Kerala was 664200 and the total number of foreign visitors was 550000. Government policies to boost tourism: Kerala was the first state to give industry status to tourism. The first tourism policy of the government came into effect in 1995 which emphasizes on the importance of infrastructure development, product development, marketing and human resource development. The government has tried to project Kerala as a boutique destination for high spenders rather than adopting mass tourism. Products like backwaters and ayurvedic rejuvenation has created a unique image of Kerala in domestic and international markets (Edward & George, n.d.). Brand Image: The marketing campaign with a tag line “God’s own country” helped in creating a unique brand image of Kerala. Kerala is ranked among the best 100 brands of the country. Participation in international fairs in West Asia and Europe helped Kerala in creating a powerful brand. Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) which was launched in 2000 is an international travel mart which attracts tourists from Denmark, US, Ireland, Greece and Sweden. Competition: The other tourist hot spots like Maldives, Andaman and Sri Lanka are a major threat for Totalindia since they offer more value for money through better experience and quality. Attack on foreigners: Incidents of attack on foreign tourists has tainted the image of Kerala in the world tourism market. Misbehavior by teenager on a young tourist from Sweden has resulted in controversies for Kerala. Such incidents have also been reported on houseboats which is a major attraction in Kerala. However the police have been prompt enough to take actions against the offenders (Agencies-b) India’s image: As far as tourism is concerned India falls way behind in terms of other nations as a global hotspot for tourists. India is still known for low cost and low quality services. Poor infrastructure, lack of quality standards etc has put India behind. However the government is coming up with new marketing campaigns like Incredible India in order to revamp its brand image. Industry Analysis: Eco tourism is one of the fastest growing segments in the tourism sector with a global growth rate of 5% annually which represents 6% of the gross domestic product globally. The consumer spending on a global scale is 11.4% (The Global Development Research Centre, n.d.). In India eco tourism is still at the nascent stage. However the growing awareness regarding nature in the wake of increasing global warming and climate change has boosted eco tourism immensely. The concern for Himalayan eco system and the heritage and culture of the people living there has lead to a conscious effort to conserve nature by promoting eco tourism (Incredible India-b, n.d.) Eco tourism mainly focuses on national Parks, wildlife sanctuaries, the Himalayan Mountains and islands. New destinations are being explored which adheres to international standards by creating awareness through seminars, media and workshops (Mohanlal, n.d.). Target Market: The target market for Totalindia Kerala is the national and international tourists who have great passion for nature and adventure. It can be be further divided into general tourists who are interested in eco tourism and the experienced eco tourism tourists. The target can be found in all age groups but preferably 25 to 55 who are educated and are aware of global warming and climate changes. They are the ones who want to save nature. The group is usually the tourists who are high spenders. Eco tourism is not for those tourists who seek the luxury and comfort. Its target is those who want to experience real nature by causing minimum environmental impact. Communication Objectives: After identifying the target market, the next step is to find out ways to reach the target audience through marketing communication. The hierarchy of effects model is used to identify communication objectives which is as follows: Awareness: Eco tourism is a relatively new concept. Hence the first step for the company is to increase brand awareness about eco tourism. We will assume the expected brand awareness to be 70%. Interest: After creating awareness, the next step is to instill interest about the product/service. Out of the 70% aware of the product/service, we can assume that 50% will show interest in the product/service. Evaluation: Evaluation is the stage where customers compare the features and benefits of the product with that of competitors. In this case comparison of Tourindia Kerala would be done with other eco tourism service providers not only in Kerala but also in other Indian states and nearby foreign destinations like Sri Lanka, Maldives Andaman and so on. We will assume that 40% of the customers would do this. Trial: This is the stage where the actual purchase takes place. After evaluating various eco tourism destinations and companies let us assume that 30% of the customers choose Tourindia Kerala’s service because this company was the pioneer of houseboats. Adoption: In case of tourism industry, word of mouth publicity spreads very fast which means if the customer likes the product it leads to increase in sales. This is assumed to be true for 75% . Marketing Communication Mix: The marketing communication mix will be chosen to satisfy each of the objectives mentioned above. The best tool for creating awareness is advertising. Middleton and Clarke defined advertising with respect to tourism as “one classic communication tool used by marketing managers as part of marketing campaigns to develop awareness, understanding, interest and motivation amongst a target audience” (Kulluvaara &Tornberg, 2003). Tourindia Kerala needs to advertise through television channels like Discovery, National Geography, Travel & Living and so on so that it can reach both domestic as well a international tourists. Moreover the trustworthy brand image of these television channels would help the company to develop a trusted brand. Advertisements can be given in local news papers of domestic and international markets. Since eco tourism tries to target the educated high spenders, magazines related to travel like National Geographic Traveler magazine, Travel & Leisure, Travel 50 & Beyond and so on can be used to target international tourists. In India, tourists usually don’t buy travel magazines. Hence regular magazines like India Today, Business Week and local magazines should be used. Once the target market is aware of the product interest can be created by participating in exhibition and fares, organizing seminars and workshops on eco tourism and promote it through colorful outdoor print advertisements in important events like auto shows and state fairs. Brochures should be distributed physically or through email (Molina,et al, 2010). The evaluation stage in this case is a bit complex because the product is intangible. Hence the company needs to create a dynamic website with vivid pictures of the destination. It also needs to be active in travel related blogs because customers are increasingly using blogs in order to get reviews and feedback. Word of mouth publicity plays a very important role in case of tourism since the feedback of one tourist helps the other to decide the destination. Trial can be induced by offering attractive schemes like group discounts, seasonal discounts, additional services like one night stay free if a tourist stays for 3 days, complimentary breakfast and dinner and so on. Adoption can be implemented by designing customer loyalty programs like adding points on each visit, providing additional facilities on getting a certain quota of points, providing incentives if the tourist refers the place to another customer and so on. Advertising: Tourindia Kerala needs to form a corporate brand identity which is extremely important for tourism. Tourists look for reliability which can be created through advertisements. The Message and Information: The basic message that the company should try to communicate to the tourists should revolve around ecotourism and the importance of ecotourism in the wake of climate change and global warming. The advertisement should have a strong appeal by showing the harmful effects of traditional tourism on mother earth and how Tourindia Kerala is trying to protect her. It should portray the scenic beauty of Kerala and the fact that they were the pioneers of houseboats in Kerala. Persuasive Content and Message Appeal: The persuasive appeal of the advertisement would be based on the following: India’s heritage: India is known for its heritage, bio diversity, culture and the Himalayas.. This should be promoted to pursue foreign tourists. The Incredible India Campaign was used to target tourists at UK, Australia, New Zeeland, Canada, Singapore and so on and became hugely successful. Appeal to Nature Lovers: Appeal can be made to the hardcore nature lovers by focusing on the tree houses, caves and the houseboats which causes minimum impact on nature. Evaluation: The evaluation of the campaign would be done by measuring the change in the number of tourists visiting Tourindia Kerala. An increase in the number of tourist would prove the success of the campaign and vice versa. The success of the advertisements can be analyzed by taking a feedback from the tourists regarding the advertisement. The tourists can be asked to fill up a questionnaire which would indicate brand awareness of the company. The success of the internet advertisements can be measured from the click rates and traffic congestion in the website. Direct marketing through mails and telephones can also be used to get customer feedback. References: Tourindia. No Date. About Us. [Online]. Available at: http://www.tourindiakerala.com/about.html [Accessed on May 15, 2010]. Incredible India-a. No Date. Eco Tourism. [Online] Available at: http://www.incredibleindia.org/newsite/cms_page.asp?pageid=994 [Accessed on May 15, 2010]. Incredible India-b. No Date. Eco Tourism. [Online] Available at: http://www.incredibleindia.org/newsite/cms_page.asp?pageid=994 [Accessed on May 15, 2010]. Agencies-a. March 12, 2008. Kerala woos foreign tourists. The Financial Express. [Online]. Available at: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Kerala-woos-foreign-tourists/283516/ [Accessed on May 15, 2010]. Agencies-b. March 12, 2008. Kerala woos foreign tourists. The Financial Express. [Online]. Available at: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Kerala-woos-foreign-tourists/283516/ [Accessed on May 15, 2010]. Economy Bureau. March 19, 2008. Foreign tourist inflow to Kerala up. The Financial Express. [Online]. Available at: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/foreign-tourist-inflow-to-kerala-up/286587/ [Accessed on May 15, 2010]. Edward, M . George, B.P. No Date. The State’s Tourism Policy Framework. Destination Attractiveness of Kerala as an International Tourist Destination: An Importance-Performance Analysis. [pdf]. Available at: http://dspace.iimk.ac.in/bitstream/2259/553/1/165-176+Manoj+Edward.pdf [Accessed on May 14, 2010]. The Global Development Research Centre. No Date. Defining Eco-Tourism. [Online]. Available at: http://www.gdrc.org/uem/eco-tour/etour-define.html [Accessed on May 14, 2010]. Mohanlal, K.G. No Date. Ecotourism in Kerala, India. [pdf]. Available at: http://www.apo-tokyo.org/gp/e_publi/gplinkeco/11chapter9.pdf [Accessed on May 14, 2010]. Kulluvaara, C. Tornberg, J. June 9, 2003. Integrated Marketing Communication Tools. Integrated marketing Communication and Tourism; A Case Study of Icehotel AB. [pdf]. Available at: http://epubl.luth.se/1404-5508/2003/138/LTU-SHU-EX-03138-SE.pdf [Accessed on May 14, 2010]. Molina, A. Gomez, M. Consuegra, D.M. March 25, 2010. Tourism marketing information and destination image management [pdf]. Available at: http://www.academicjournals.org/ajbm/PDF/pdf2010/May/Molina%20et%20al.pdf [Accessed on May 14, 2010]. Read More