Gold Coast Tourism Industry - Australia - Research Paper Example

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Australian Tourism Industry is one of the largest sectors of the state, contributing $39 billion to the total GDP. It provides the employment opportunities to half a million Australians and generates considerable export earnings for the state. One of the beautiful attractions in Australia for the tourists is Gold Coast City that is famous for its natural beauty. The government agencies and the private companies have been focusing to attract more tourists and travellers in the city. The major challenge which the government of Australia is facing nowadays is the worse impact of global financial crisis on its tourism industry. In the last two years, the tourism revenues of the state have decreased especially that of Gold Coast City because of decrease in the number of tourists. The financial crisis that rooted from US and now influencing other countries of the world including Australia is posing great threats to the economies. The aim of the Australian tourism industry is to promote tourism by introducing innovative and effective marketing strategies. The Australian tourism target was $ 6.3 billion for 2014 as compared to $ 3.7 billion in 2002 and it requires the growth rate of 6% to achieve this level. However, there is a gap produced between the targeted and actual level. Although number of visitors is increasing because of the increasing corporate events however; the challenge is to close this gap by increasing the length of stay along with number of tourists. Government has planned to invest $410 million in the tourism industry of Australia in the next three years; however, the need of products and services with effective marketing strategies to attract the tourists is not ignorable. Our proposal is to introduce Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) service which will not only provide the corporate customers an opportunity to attend the corporate events in a more luxurious manner, but it will also enhance their social network by enhancing their interactions with each other and creating a linkage among them through online database. We have high expectations from our proposal because it will attract the corporate people by fulfilling their needs and meanwhile it will also improve tourism industry and investment opportunities in Australia. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction (general) 3 2.0 Environmental Scan 4 2.1 The Organisation 4 2.2 Competitors 5 2.3 P.E.S.T.E Analysis 5 2.4 Primary Research 6 3.0 Organization and Product Concept 7 3.1 New Idea 7 3.2 Service Layout 7 3.3 Fulfillment of Customer Needs and Wants 7 3.4 How Corporate Tourists Social Network is Unique 8 4.0 Segmentation, Target Market Positioning 9 4.1 Market Segmentation 9 4.2 Target Marketing 13 4.3 Positioning 13 5.0 Marketing Goal 15 6.0 The Marketing Mix 16 6.1 Product 16 6.2 Price 17 6.3 Place 18 6.4 Promotion 19 6.5 People/Physical Evidences/Internet 20 7.0 Recommendations 21 Reference List 22 Appendix 23 1.0 INTRODUCTION Australian Tourism Industry has been facing many challenges for the last two years because of financial global crisis. This project sets out the strategies of Australian Tourism and introduces a new tourism service. The topic area of this project is to research the Australian tourism industry and then after finding the gap in this service industry, a new service and marketing campaign will be proposed. The strategy would be based after taking input from Australian Tourism statistics. The time frame of this project is one year that is for year 2009/10. The organization we have selected is an online corporate tourism operating agency and the new services that has been introduced is Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) service. Gold Coast City is the selected tourism destination for this project. The concept of the new service is based on the growing corporate event industry in Australia and our service will capitalize on this opportunity. CTSN will target the corporate people and register them on its website. Through this online platform, the corporate people will establish their contracts by building networks and get more corporate activities in Australia rather than just attending events and meetings. 2.0 ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN The tourism industry of Australia has always appeared as one of the booming industry of the state. It is not only an employment intensive industry but it is also import component of regional economies, thereby enhancing its significance. Although the government gives a great focus on this industry by making annual investments still, this industry lacks innovation as compared to other industries of Australia.1 Even the lack of accommodations is posing threats to Australian tourism industry.2 The recent Australian International Tourism Snapshot (2009) has showed that Australian tourism industry has faced a decline of 2%. There are two documented reasons first; the appreciation of Australian dollar in early to mid 2008 that reduced the purchasing power of international visitors, second, the impact of Global Financial Crisis that got severe in late 2008.Basically, the corporate and business travel visits have caused this decline however, the travel to visit friends and relatives has increased. A major chunk of the tourists used to come from Japan and New Zealand while the holiday trips of New Zealand have declined. "The Australian Government is continuing its commitment to the tourism industry.”3 2.1 THE ORGANIZATION Our focus is on Gold Coast City, therefore, let’s have a look on SWOT, Competitor and PEST analysis of Gold Coast City. SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis (Figure 1) has been drawn after getting analysis. The SWOT analysis highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the organization and draws a picture of internal environment while Opportunities and Threats identify the external environment. On the basis of SWOT it is clear that the market for corporate tourists is booming because of corporate events. 2.2 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS Although the services which we have introduced are completely new and there is no direct competitor however, the other tourism operators are offering substitutes thereby, creating competition for our company. The major competitors include Aboriginal cultural tours, Harvey World Travel, Net flights, STA Travel, Bridge and Wickers.4 “Marketing should include competitor analysis. Who are your competitors? What customer needs and preferences are you competing to meet ….”5 Therefore, we also performed the competitors’ analysis and we have found that all our competitors are only focusing on “pricing aspects” of marketing strategy. 2.3 PESTE ANALYSIS Political / legal: Political and legal system is well controlled with federal division of power. This stability always gives positive signs to investors. Economic: The economic analysis shows the rapid growth in the state, the increasing number of immigrants and aging problems such as birth rate fluctuations while different sectors of economy are showing rapid growth. Socio – cultural: There is time poverty and employment opportunities have declined while the standards of living have improved. Moreover, the work culture has also changed. Technological: Although technology development is required however, still infrastructure is developing currently such as recent airport redevelopment and its capacity has increased. Ecological: Ecological problems are rising because of increasing population however; the green business focus is creating awareness. (Figure 2 Appendix) 2.3 PRIMARY RESEARCH It includes the data which is achieved by conducting survey, questionnaires, interviews etc. The questionnaire (Figure 3 Appendix) has 12 questions and their details are as follows: Question 1 to 4: Demographics To get idea about the information provides Question 5 to 8: Closed questions Question 9 to 12: Likert scale Question 13 and 14: Open questions 3.0 ORGANIZATION AND PRODUCT CONCEPT 3.1 NEW IDEA The new tourism service that would be offered is: “Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN)” Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) is the service through which the corporate tourists will be given an organized platform, where they will be able to interact more with the international corporate people as compared to their previous tours. It will support the marketing campaign of “Australian Tourism Authority” a government owned organization however, being a profit-for service, it will be introduced as a separate tour operator in Gold Coast. 3.2 SERVICE LAYOUT Step 1: When an individual will plan a corporate tour in Gold Coast Australia, they will get option of “Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) Service”. Step 2: If the traveler opts for CTSN service, then he/she will be given a username and password to login on the “Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) website”. Step 3: When the traveler will enter into the website, he will get access to the “database of corporate travelers”. Step 4: He/she may check the names and other information of all the corporate travelers who will travel to Gold Coast and other Australian destinations. Step 5: The access to this database will be provided throughout their tour and if a traveler X will want to meet traveler Y, he can just post him the message on database. 3.3 FULFILLMENT OF CONSUMER WANTS AND NEEDS After get registered on this Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN), the corporate travelers may not only get information about the other corporate travelers visiting the destination but they will be also able to contact them and expand their network. This will surely fulfill the curse of corporate workers to expand their network. This network will also provide information to the registered corporate traveler about the particular events which other corporate travelers are attending. 3.4 HOW CORPORATE TOURISTS SOCIAL NETWORK (CTSN) IS UNIQUE? The introduction of Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) is unique because, It will offer an organized platform to the corporate employees, executives and leaders to know each other It will make them familiar with the corporate events and meetings that are more likely to attended by the famous corporate personalities Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) is also unique because such a program has been never offered in the history or presently 4.0 SEGMENTATION AND TARGET MARKET POSITIONING 4.1 MARKET SEGMENTATION The variables which are usually selected for market segmentation include geographical variables, demographical variables, psychographic variables, behavioral variables and technographic market segmentation variables. The variables that we have selected for segmenting the international tourism market for Gold Coast Tourism industry is ‘Geographical’, ‘Psychographic’, ‘Behavioral’ and ‘Demographic’. GEOGRAPHICAL A) Domestic Tourism Industry Domestic market segments Source: Business Golden Coast City Council6 B) International Market Segments Intentional Market Segments Psychographic From the Psychographic variables of segmentation we have taken two most important factors which are the ‘social class’ and ‘life style’ factors. The ‘social class’ will draw a clear boundary between the ones who have the purchasing power of getting the service of Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) and the ones who don’t. Secondly, the life style factor variable will separate the market segment as leisure and business class travelers and others. Behavioral From the Behavioral variables of segmentation we have chosen ‘benefits sought’. ‘Benefits sought’, as a market segmentation variable, will determine why a particular person would like to purchase Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN). Demographic From the Demographic variables of segmentation we have taken ‘occupation’ as the major variable and it will group the travelers into corporate people, business travelers and other people. Major Segments In The Market All major segments, on the basis of the above mentioned variables, the market segments are shown in the table given below. Market Segmentation Table GEOGRAPHIC PSYCHOGRAPHIC BEHAVIORAL DEMOGRAPHIC Regions Social life Life style High Leisure/First Travel Medium Low High Business travel Medium Low High Holiday travel Medium Low Benefit Sought Occupation Corporate Businessmen employees Students Others Corporate Businessmen employees Students Others Corporate Businessmen employees Students Others Domestic Tourists or International Tourists Networking Fun/History/Others Event Meeting Friends/Relatives Networking Fun/History/Others Event Meeting Friends/Relatives Networking Fun/History/Others Event Meeting Friends/Relatives 4.2 TARGET MARKETING Objective – A Standard for Evaluation Our objective is to increase the International tourists in the state, therefore, we will target the International travelers; having high to medium social life; prefer leisure or first class travel because of their life styles; looking for networking, fun and traveling for attending events or meetings; and belong to the group of corporate people. Selected Market Segments . GEOGRAPHIC PSYCHOGRAPHIC BEHAVIORAL DEMOGRAPHIC Regions Social life Life style High Leisure/First Travel Medium Benefit Sought Occupation Corporate people International Tourists Networking Fun/History/Others Event Meeting 4.3 POSITIONING Regardless of what you are marketing, strong position strategy is very important. According to Hiebing & Cooper, (2003), “Positioning is the basis for all of your communications – naming, advertising, promotions, packaging, sales force, merchandising, and publicity”. By developing a meaningful positioning, it becomes easier for the organization to communicate its consistent image. Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) Positioning Statement Since positioning statement tells what you actually want to communicate to your customers. For the development of positioning statement of this new service, we have considered four three aspects including customer, benefits and USP. By combining these factors the positioning statements of Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) is as follows: “CTSN exclusively offers the corporate travelers, opportunities to grow their social network by bringing global corporate workers at one platform in Gold Coast City” Positioning Map The positioning map in the appendix (Figure 4) shows that Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) is unique from its competitors because it will charge high cost but it will provide the high social network opportunities to the corporate people. We have randomly selected the few top tour operators in Australia, which are providing traveling packages as well as aimed to promote Australian Tourism industry. The positioning map clearly shows that Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) is actually distinguishable from its competitors by providing attractive opportunities to the corporate people. 5.0 MARKETING GOAL For Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN), the overarching goal is to boost tourism industry of Gold Coast City by capitalizing on the opportunity of increasing corporate events in the region. This goal has been selected because the primary aim of introducing this new service is to flourish the tourism industry of Gold Coast and it is only possible if the tourists are attracted in the city. Increasing the tourists’ attractions such as nightlife, places and historical places have become the traditional marketing campaigns and there is a need to introduce a unique idea. Our proposal of Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) with the marketing overarching goal of increasing tourism will work because it will not only attract the tourists in the city but it will also bring new investments opportunities for the city. 7.0 MARKETING MIX 7.1 PRODUCT Soriano described the term “product” or “service” refers to tangible or physical thing or intangible or non-physical thing offered by the company. The products and services are offered for satisfying the needs of the customers. Richard Sandhusen explained the two levels of product including actual and augmented product. Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) can be also categorized in these two levels. 1) Actual Product: Traveling Package 2) Augmented Product: Leisure, high quality, luxurious comfort, social networking, and corporate atmosphere. In addition to Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) service, the other service support features would be the traveling packages such as stay at corporate accommodations, traveling in first class etc. Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) will appear as a separate branded service. The example of the database that will be accessible by the registered corporate people is as follows: Database Example Name Organization Destinations to visit Purpose Interested in Stay Date of Arrival Date of Departure Status Post your message Contact Details (Optional) A X Company Gold Coast Corporate visit Business meeting, Networking Y Hotel 6-Sep-09 12-Sep-09 Online B Y Company Gold Coast Business meeting Fun, Networking Z Hotel 8-Sep-09 13-Sep-09 Offline C Z Company Gold Coast Business event Tourism, Fun X Hotel 10-Sep-09 14-Sep-09 Online D X Company Gold Coast Investment purpose Networking, Business opportunity Y Hotel 12-Sep-09 15-Sep-09 Offline E W Company Gold Coast Corporate visit Business meeting, Networking Bread & Breakfast 14-Sep-09 16-Sep-09 Offline F N Company Gold Coast Business event Tourism, Fun Y Hotel 16-Sep-09 17-Sep-09 Offline 7.2 PRICE Price the only element of the marketing mix which brings revenues for the companies. Before determining the pricing strategy for the products and services, the companies have to consider their costs first. According to Botha, Strydom & Brink, the marketers, (2005), has to consider the price sensitivity of the customers first because the price-demand concept of demand and supply curve shows that by increasing price the demand decreases for the normal goods. There are different pricing strategies which the companies can follow. The companies which want to earn long term profit by sacrificing the short term profit usually go for price penetration strategies while the companies which want to earn short term profits go for price skimming strategy such as technological companies. Two other strategies include premium price and cost plus strategies. In the case of Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN), customers are not sensitive to price because it’s a luxurious service. The company will focus on premium price strategy. Since, our customers are not price sensitive therefore; our demand would not decrease by charging high prices for the service. Demand Curve for Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) Price demand curve for (CTSN) Demand 7.3 DISTRIBUTION (PLACE) The third component of marketing mix “place” refers to how the company will distribute its products and services. There are three distribution strategies which a company can use to develop the marketing mix of its product or service. The first strategy is intensive strategy, which focuses on low price or impulse buying. The second is exclusive distribution that focuses on high price and exclusive outlets. The third distribution strategy is selective distribution in which few outlets are selected.7  Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) is the service which does not need the physical outlet because of the nature of the service. Therefore, the distribution strategy will be the selective distribution strategy. We are not recommending the exclusive strategy because we will affiliate our service with other travelling websites to increase its reach. Moreover, our service will be also available on the government owned website of Australian tourism so that we can achieve the government support in providing our service across the international borders more reliably. The online distribution network will provide the benefits such as geographical flexibility, low cost benefit, innovative promotional campaigns etc. Distribution System 7.4 PROMOTION DECISIONS Advertising: The banner ads on the internet would be given and website will be linked as affiliated website. In addition, ads in newspapers will be also published. Personal Selling: As an initial campaign, the few corporate agents will be hired who would give presentations in different companies across Australia, so that through direct communication the feedback of the corporate people would be known. Sales Promotions: For the sales promotion a campaign will be conducted, according to which the corporate people who will get two times registration on Corporate Tourists Social Network (CTSN) every time when they visit Australian, will get third registration free. Sponsorship: Corporate events and international business meetings would be sponsored frequently. 1.5 PEOPLE/PHYSICAL EVIDENCES/INTERNET The degree of intensity of customers which people show while consuming the service is considered as level of involvement. In service sector, level of involvement is high because customer has to get the service after passing through the complete service layout and experience. For satisfying the customer, good staff hiring is required and for our company, our staff will provide online immediate helpline service. Our immediate response and “aim to achieve full customer satisfaction” will make us distinguishable from the customers. Since we will provide only online services therefore, the color of the website and its design will be selected in consideration to professional look. The head office of the company will be the only physical outlet and its atmosphere would be kept open. For ensuring the full functionality of the website, web hosting and search optimization services would be taken. RECOMMENDATIONS After this analysis, we have proposed a recommendation for the next year. Basically the aim of our new service is to increase tourism in Gold Coast City by corporate events. However, we suggest that it is very important to integrate the environmental planning with tourism strategies and planning. In other words, once the country’s tourism industry starts flourishing, and then we would give focus on increasing tourism through natural attractions, wild life, theme parks, beach ways and other nature-based projects. REFERENCES Bailey, Hon, F. (2008). Tourism budget facts. Department of Industry Tourism and Resources. URL http://www.tourism.australia.com/content/News%20Centre/media_releases_2007/tourism_budget_facts_2007_08%20.pdf BMG Learning. URL http://learning.bmj.com/learning/channels/gp/peerreview.html Botha, Johan & Strydom, Johan & Brink, Annekie. (2005). Introduction to Marketing. Juta and Company Limited Denholm, Matthew. Lack of hotels a threat to tourism. URL http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25964187-5006788,00.html Hiebing Roman G. R., & Scott, W. C. (2003). The successful marketing plan: a disciplined and comprehensive approach. McGraw-Hill Professional Retrieved from NetLibrary database. International Tourism Snapshot .(2009). URL http://businessgc.com.au/uploads/international_tourism_snapshot%20yending%20march%2009.pdf McNamara, Carter. (n.d.). Free Management Library. Competitors Analysis. URL http://managementhelp.org/mrktng/cmpetitr/cmpetitr.htm Sandhusen, Richard. (2000). Marketing Barron's business review series. Barron's Educational Series. Retrieved from NetLibrary database. Soriano, Claudio. (1990). El marketing mix : concreptos, estrategias y aplicaciones. Ediciones díaz de santos. Retrieved from NetLibrary database. Southern Australian Tourist Plan 2009-2014. (2009). URL http://www.tourism.sa.gov.au/tourism/plan/Tourism%20Plan_Insert_web.pdf Tourism Australia. (2009). URL http://www.indigenoustourism.australia.com/nitpm.asp Tourism Industry In Australia. (2009). A report prepared for OECD KISA Project. Australian Government. URL http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/61/33/34609098.pdf Gold Coast City Tourism Strategy. (2009). URL http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/attachment/tourism/ts_part3_10.pdf www.hull.ac.uk/workbasedlearning/documents/PESTLE.doc www.tourism.sa.gov.au/tourism/plan/Tourism%20Plan_Insert_web.pdf APPENDIX FIGURE 1 SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Online existence Lack of corporate linkages Development of new products Lack of proper organization of events Geographical flexibility and reach Not established brand name Corporate event growing Industry Insurance problems Low costs high yields Need of niche market development Crime rate increasing Developed Infrastructure Greater demand of cultural products Absence of proper management, Limited airlines and poor transportation system FIGURE 2 PESTE ANALYSIS Political, Economic, Social, Technological/Technical, Legal, Environmental ‘Thing’ which may change Short, Medium or Long term ? Importance or Impact & Relevance? V. High, High, Medium, Low V. Low Internal or External ? Action we intend to take or Possible action we could take Political Long term (5 years) Very high External Government support is required Economic Medium to long terms (2 to 5 years) Very High External Stabilizing economy by boosting tourism Social/Cultural Short term High External Introducing social and cultural products Technology Short term High Internal/External Technology innovation and development is required Environmental Short term High External Reduce uncertainty by proper management Source: www.hull.ac.uk/workbasedlearning/documents/PESTLE.doc FIGURE III Questionnaire 1) Your Name …… 2) Your Age …………. 3) Your Occupation …………. 4) Your Designation ………….. 5) Have you even been to Australia (Gold Coast Tourism Industry)? Yes No 6) Do you think there is a need of introducing more tourism services? Yes No 7) Refer (6), If yes, then List them: ……………. ……………. ……………. 8) Do you have high social nature? Yes No 9) Is Social Networking important for you? 10) Do you think Australian tourism industry is competitive? Disagree neutral Agree 1………………………2………………………3…………………4…………………………5 Strongly disagree Strongly agree 11) What are the problems which you have faced during your trip? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 12) What would you say about the steps which can be taken to improve Gold Coast Tourism Industry? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. FIGURE 1V POSITIONING MAP High Social Networking High Cost Low Social Networking FIGURE V PEER REVIEW FORM Name David Jones Date August 2009 Base Jones's current role How long have you known Jones in this role? (fill in as many as apply) In this working relationship are you: 1. A colleague (at approximately similar level to Jones or senior to him?) 2. Reporting to Dr Jones or working with him in a less senior role? 3. A peer? What do you particularly value about Jones's contribution at work? If possible, please give an example of a positive experience of working with Jones. a) As a Manager b) As a Colleague c) As a Subordinate What things would you most like to change about Jones's working practices? If possible, please give an example of a difficult experience. Would you highlight any significant achievements or disappointments in Jones's work over the past year? Do you have any other comments that would help Jones's personal or professional development? Source: BMG Learning. URL http://learning.bmj.com/learning/channels/gp/peerreview.html Read More