SESSION 3:MARKETING RESEARCH
TOURISM MARKETING
GROUP PROJECT TOPICS not allocated as yet
4. AuditingCarry out an audit of the macro and micro
marketing environment for a travel agency of your choice
5. Price
Describe and assess the yield management strategies of an airline or hotel company of your choice.
Marketing Research 1. What is marketing research?2. What is a Marketing Information
System (MIS)?3. Why is marketing research
important in tourism?4. What types of marketing research
are there in tourism?5. What are the uses for marketing
research in tourism?
TOURISM MARKETINGMARKETING RESEARCH
1. What is marketing research?2. What is a Marketing Information
System (MIS)?
Definingthe
Problem
Analyzingthe
Situation
GettingProblem-Specific
Data
Inter-preting
Data
Solvingthe
Problem
EarlyIdentification
ofSolution
Feedback to Previous Steps8-4
Marketing Research Process
Marketing Research Why is marketing research important in
tourism?• Identification of tourism trends• Mapping visitor preferences• Understanding travel decisions,
behaviours on site, post-consumption behaviours
• Collecting relevant statistics for forecasting purposes
– Ad hoc – one-off, ‘snapshot’
– Ongoing – measure and monitor variables over time on a regular basis• E.g. National visitor statistics
Ad hoc – ongoing
2000 2005 2010 201502468
10
Omnibus surveys – syndicated research
• Omnibus - ‘piggybacking’ on existing surveys run at regular intervals
• E.g. Experian Holiday Benchmark and trend report, PhocusWright Consumer Travel Trends Survey
Syndicated research – commissioned by group of
organisations
• PhoCusWright offers four annual, subscription-based, syndicated services that provideeasy-to-access feeds of market forecasts, segment data, consumer survey information, insight and commentary for the corporate and leisure travel, tourism and hospitality marketplace. E.g.
• Global Edition: An efficient feed of business and competitive intelligence for the corporate and leisure travel, tourism and hospitality marketplace.
• European Edition: Designed for European-based firms featuring publications focused on European travel trends for all market segments.
Source: http://www.phocuswright.com/company_about_us
The Market Research Process
• Define the problem and the research objectives– Don’t define the problem too broadly or narrowly– Identify exactly the information sought, what it will be
used for, what decisions will be made and set priorities• Develop the research plan/research design
– Exploratory, descriptive or causal research– Types of research, qualitative vs quantitative– Sources of data, primary vs secondary
THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
• The research objective should be framed so that obtaining the information will ensure that the research purpose is satisfied
• Research objectives – Specifies information decision makers needE.g. To identify satisfaction levels of customers with their holidays– Research objectives should be SMART
RESEARCH PLAN/ DESIGN
• Research design is the detailed blueprint used to guide a research study toward its objectives
• Research methodology – 3 main categories
1. Exploratory – it is used when one is seeking insights into the
general nature of a problem, the possible decision alternatives, & relevant variables to be considered
– There is little prior knowledge on which to build– The research methods are highly flexible,
unstructured, and qualitative in nature
RESEARCH PLAN/DESIGN
2. Descriptive research – it embraces a large proportion of management/marketing research
– The purpose is to provide an accurate snapshot of some aspect of the marketing environment
– There will often be hypotheses in descriptive research
3. Causal research
– when it is necessary to show that one variable causes or determine the values of other variables
– Here descriptive research is insufficient, for all it can show that two variables are related or associated
Qualitative Research
• Textual representations of the research problem under study
• Data are gathered from the perspective of the insider being studies such as the manager, employees, visitor etc.
• Qualitative research is subjective! It cannot represent the view of the wider population
• It provides a slice of life from the participants• It enables researchers to highlight detailed and in-depth
snapshots of the participants under study• The purpose of qualitative research is to find out what is in a
visitor’s mind (tourism field)• Data is collected to know more about things that cannot be
directly observed and measured
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
• Gathers facts about e.g tourist behaviour • The survey - questionnaire is the overwhelming
choice of researchers for collecting quantitative data• Qualitative research is used to improve or
supplement the survey method• The main advantage of survey method is that it can
collect a great deal of data about an individual respondent at one time – collecting primary data
• The survey method is versatile and can be employed in virtually any setting e.g online questionnaires, fax, email
• Effective implementation requires considerable judgement in the choice of a survey method
Collecting Data for Qualitative Research
• Focus Group• In-Depth Interviews• Case Study• Participant observation• Projective techniques• Secondary data analysis
Collecting Data for Quantitative Research
• Surveys• Experiments – in controlled
environment• Structured observation –
mystery shopper• Secondary data analysis –
modelling/forecasting
SecondaryData
Sources
Inside Company
Outside Company
Observation
Questioning
PrimaryData
Sources
AllData
Sources
8-5
Sources of Data
MARKETING RESEARCH TREE
8-6
PrimaryMethods
forCollecting
SurveyData
Telephone
PersonalInterview
Online surveys
Fax surveys
Key Issuesin Data
Interpretation
Population
ConfidenceIntervals
Validity
Sample
Interpreting Data
8-7
EXERCISE
A local hotel is looking to establish satisfaction levels with its food and beverage services and rate of repeat bookings among existing customers,in absolute terms as well as compared to its competitors.
In groups of 3-4, work on a suitable marketing research plan for the hotel.
MARKETING RESEARCH
References/ Further Reading• Holloway, J. Christopher, Marketing for
Tourism (4e), Pearson Education, 2004• www.e-tid.com• www.traveldailynews.com• Marketing Principles, Kotler &
Amstrong• Check out ACNielsen, AVG consulting
group