TOURISM PROMOTION

Tourism promotion means stimulating sales through the dissemination of information. It means
trying to encourage actual and potential customers to travel. According to Salah Wahab, the objectives of
promotion are:

1. To make the tourist product widely known.

2. To make it very attractive in order to encourage many people to try it.

3. To make the message attractive without being dishonest.

Promotion and Communication

Good promotion is good communication. Essentially, developing the promotional mix is an exercise in
communication. The communication system is made up of a sender, receiver and a message.

The sender (travel organization) transmits certain information that will change people’s attitudes and
creates in them a desire to use the product or services.

The receiver is the potential tourist.

The message can be verbal (radio) visual (press, advertising, television, film, shows, exhibition,
periodicals etc.)

For communication to take place, there should be a common understanding between the sender of
the message and the receiver of the message.

The end goal of promotion is behavior modification. Its task to initiate a purchase where none
has been made before; initiate a change purchase behavior by having the tourist buy a different
destination package or to reinforce existing behavior by having the tourist continue to buy the brand being
promoted. The goal is accomplished through messages that seek to inform, persuade, or remind the
customers.

Three Types of Promotion

1. Informative Promotion is more important during the early stage of the product life cycle when
owners of new resorts and other attractions will seek promotional outlets to inform the public of
the facilities and amenities that would make their vacation experience worthwhile.

2. Persuasive Promotion is used when an attraction is in its early stages of growth, so its owners
put very much promotional effort in devising persuasive messages and sending them through
several channels.

3. Reminder Promotion is important upon reaching a mature stage. Owners will then remind
people of their positive experiences. These reminder messages serve to jog the memory and keep
the product in the public’s mind.
Promotion and Traveler’s Buying Process

The relationship between the goals of promotion and the buying process of the traveler is
explained in figure 5. to achieve the goal of behavior modification the three types of promotion described
above are used. Informative is important to the tourist at the attention and comprehension stages of the
buying process. Persuasive promotion tries to change attitudes, develop intentions to buy and then initiate
the purchase. Reminder promotion is used after the purchase has been made.

Promotion and Visitor’s Buying Process

 Informative Promotions are most effective at the earlier buying process stages (attention and
comprehension).

 Persuasive Promotions work better at intermediate buying process stages (attitude, intention,
and purchase).

 Reminder Promotions are most effective after the first visit or use.
Relationship of Promotion to Marketing

Marketing is a total process which includes all elements from production and product
improvement to the final exchange of a product or service for something of value whereas promotion is
one of the major elements in the marketing mix. Promotion is one of the major tools used in marketing a
tourist product. It is the responsibility of people involved in promotion to devise methods of
communication that will make the greatest number of potential consumers aware of their product.

Promotion Planning

Promotion planning determines the objectives or goals the organization should strive to
accomplish and the plan of action to attain these goals.

According to G.A Schmoll, the following are the results of the planning process

1. The objectives of promotion that are consistent with the general marketing plan;

2. The identification of the market group to which the promotion is targeted;

3. The identification of the specific advertising, sales support and public relations programs to be
organized;

4. The budget allocation to the various market segments and target groups; and

5. The methods to be used to control and assess the effectiveness of the promotion.

Goals

Goals are important in developing promotional strategies. To be effective, goals must be specific,
quantifiable, measurable, realistically attainable and have a time frame. They should be written clearly
and concisely and be as specific as possible. Example:

a) To create and measure the awareness of a particular tourist attraction in a specific market.

b) To communicate a specific tourism appeal in your promotion to a specific market and then
determine how many people can recall it.

c) To communicate a basic campaign theme to a specific market and then determine how many
people can restate the premise without aided recall.

Elements of the Communication Process

 Sender (Destination/organization)

 Target market (Audience)

 Promotional Objectives

 Promotional Budget
  Message Idea

 Message Format

 Promotional Mix Elements

 Promotional Media

 Merchandising

 Public relations and publicity

 Internet marketing (sometimes called digital marketing)

Market Target (Receivers)

A common theme is necessary in establishing a market target. Promotion would be useless if the
plan is assumed that all people had the same travel inclinations. It is also important to understand that the
travel companies cannot provide services for the whole population. It is mandatory that a promotion plan
recognize both characteristics of marketing.

Segmentation provides the necessary guidelines for isolating target markets. It identifies people
according to their socioeconomic status, social influences, personality features, attitudes, values,
motivations, and expectations. Certain markets are not compatible for the same destination.

The Message

The message which is chosen for the advertisement follows the goals and objectives of the
promotion plan. It should be understandable, distinctive and believable. It is promoted in various ways to
make it visible until it becomes very familiar to potential customers. Its purpose is to create an awareness
of the attraction.

Promotion Mix

Promotion mix are the tools that convey the message to the customers. The major types of the
promotion mix are:

Advertising- any form of paid for, non personal presentation and promotion of ideas, products or services
by a specific sponsor using some forms of mass media.

Personal Selling- an oral presentation to one or more prospective customers on a face-to-face basis;

Sales Promotion- activities, other than advertising and Personal selling, that stimulate a purchase.

Public Relations- the presentation of ideas, goods or services about an organization using mass media,
unlike advertising it is not paid for. It is designed to create favorable image of the product, service or
business unit.
Advertising

• Advertising uses several forms to attract attention, arouse interest, convert information, and
encourage the potential tourist to act in specific manner.

Some Forms of Advertising

• Newspapers

• Direct mails

• Television

• Magazines

• Radio

• Yellow pages

• Outdoor advertising

• Novelties

• Directories

• Display materials such as; posters, cardboards stands, window displays, dispensers for sales
literature and etc.

Advantages of Newspaper Advertising

• It facilitates geographic segmentation because markets for distribution can be clearly defined;

• The cost of newspaper advertising is relatively low;

• Most newspapers are daily have extensive coverage

• It is quick and advertisements are easy to schedule, and most Sunday editions have a travel
section.

Major Disadvantage of Newspaper

• Is the quality of the advertisements and the short life span.

• Direct mail, although expensive, ranks high as an advertising medium. Direct mail materials are
sent to people who will most likely use the service offered.

• Brochures, leaflets, travel catalogs, and sales letters are often used in direct mail. Brochures
are smaller in size than a travel catalog but offer more information than a leaflet or folder.
 • Illustrated travel catalogs present a complete travel program with lists of many destinations,
services, accommodations, activities, excursions, and information about the destination.

• Leaflets or folders are usually single sheet which provide minimum information. Sales letters
are similar.

• Television is a very effective audio and visual medium when coverage is required. It is an
expensive medium, so only large organizations use it.

• Magazines offer high quality print and graphics. They are kept longer than newspapers, and are
used in waiting areas.

• Radio is more flexible and cost-efficient compared to other forms of mass media.

• Yellow pages gives information to those requiring service.

• Outdoor advertising is usually seen in there areas; in areas with high visibility(public), benches,
billboard. Outdoor advertising is not suitable for long and complicated messages.

• Point-of-sale advertising uses windows, floor displays, counter displays, and literature racks.
The main purpose of point-of-sale advertising is to remind customers of the advertising messages
and themes communicated to the media.

Websites

• Websites become one of the most powerful means of directly communicating with persons in the
market place.

Sales Promotion

• Sales promotion such as free tickets to special events, trade shown, exhibition and free trips have
become very common present. A common sales promotion is the familiaritization trip. This is
used by airlines, hotels, destination areas to draw attention to other services or development of a
new service.

Public Relations

The objective of public relations is to build a strong positive image of a organization for the
public. There are three principal characteristics of public relation:

1. It communicates to potential customers in method other than normally paid advertisement

channels or direct sales effort;

2. It recreates a public awareness in order to enhance advertising and sales; and

 3. It creates a positive image for a product, service, or destination in the minds of those who make
public opinion such as journalists, travel writers, and those who act as intermediaries such as
travel agents and tour operators.

The major form of public relations is new release.

Other forms of promotion

• In addition to the major forms of sales promotion, there are sale gimmicks that are worth
mentioning. For example, the sale of souvenirs and other mementos whose purpose is to promote
or stimulate sales and generate income. Souvenirs and mementos help remind tourists of a
pleasant vacation and a good experience.

Budgeting

Table 7 show how the tourist promotion budget for the different segment of the travel industry is
divided. It can be seem that the major part of the promotion budget goes to advertising.

The principal cost in the budgeting process are the cost per message, the cost per reader, and the
cost of repeated messages.

A single message has seldom sufficient impact, thus a television or radio spot must be aired many
times. The number of the times a message is shown is considered part of the cost. In constructing a
budget, the impact, appeal. Retention, reader shift and cost of advertising are taken into account.

Table 7. Tourist Promotion Budget

Type Advertising Sales Public

Support Relations
Travel trade 60% 35% 5%
(Travel
Agents, Tour
Operations)

Air Carriers 65% 25% 10%

Hotels, 70% 20% 10%
Motels
National 70-80% 70-80% 5-10%
Tourist
Officers

Major Issue of Promotion

• The major consideration of promotions are accuracy and reliability of information on one
hand and false and misleading advertising on the other. Promotion techniques use words
that evoke emotion and create awareness of a product or service.

• Superlatives such as exotic, outstanding superior, the best, the target, the deluxe are
usually used. In many instances, the travel agency creates a high expectations of an
attraction that it oversells it, thereby creating problems.

False, deceptive, and misleading advertisement can lead action by national governments.
Some examples of unfair or deceptive practices are:

1. False, oral, or written statement, which has the capacity or tendency of misleading
consumers made in connection with the offer for sale, lease, rental, or loan of consumers
goods or services.

2. Representations that consumer goods or consumer services have a sponsorship, approval,

characteristics, ingredient, use, benefit, or quality which they do not have; consumer
goods or consumer services are of a particular standard, quality, grade, style, or model
which they are not;

3. Failure to state a material fact if the failure deceives or tends to deceive;

4. Disparagement of the goods, service, or business of another by false or misleading

representation of material fact; and

5. Advertisement or offer of consumer goods or consumer services without the intention to

sell them as advertised.
 Examples of false and misleading advertisement are brochures which suggest that a hotel
has rooms facing a beautiful view of the beach when in reality it is only the hotel, not the
rooms that have a view of the beach. The statement that “after dinner, we will go to a
cultural show” is not clear because it does not state whether it I part of the tour or
optional.

SUMMARY

Tourism promotion means stimulating sale through information dissemination. It means

making the tourist product attractive and widely known so that actual and potential tourist will
buy it.

Promotion is an exercise communication. Good promotion is good communication. The

communication system is made up of the sender, receiver, and a message. Communication will
take place when there is understanding between the sender and the receiver of the message.

There are three types of promotion—the informative, persuasive, and reminder

promotion. Promotion is not synonymous with marketing because promotion is only a major
component of the marketing mix.

THANK YOU!!!

BSHM 1-C GRP. # 11

• KENNETH DAVA

• CRIZEL VILLANUEVA

• JESSA Y. SUMADIA

• LEAH GRACE CANJA