Marketing Planning in Tourism and Hospitality: A Marketing Philosophy Approach
Kitchen and Burgmann (2010) define marketing as the coordination of the elements of promotion, place, product and price with a goal of promoting movement of services and goods from their state as a business concept to the point of consumption. However, this definition is generalized and therefore not aligned with industry-specific marketing philosophies. In the context of the tourism and hospitality industry, marketing refers to the integration of production processes, service delivery and consumer experiences with a purpose of achieving the highest level of customer satisfaction (Finne and Gronroos, 2009). This definition is relevant to the three main concepts upon which marketing in tourism and hospitality is based: relationship, delivery of value and trust. Therefore, marketing plans in tourism and hospitality must be aligned with the unique philosophy of the industry in the context of the marketing elements of production, selling and service delivery.
Peter and Donnelly (2011) point out that the production concept in tourism and hospitality is based on the philosophy that consumer favor services and products that are both affordable and available. This explains why companies such as the InterContinental Hotels Group focus on improving the efficiency of their production and distribution processes. The industry’s service and product concepts are grounded on the philosophy that guests favor services and products that offer the most innovative features, performance and quality. In this sense, effective marketing plans are those that define strategies of promoting innovation, performance and quality. Tsiotsou and Ratten (2010) point out that the marketing philosophy that defines the selling concept in tourist and hospitality is that guests consume services and products which are promoted across every channel. It is this marketing philosophy that motivates the use of the integrated marketing communication model by companies operating in the tourism and hospitality industry (Figure 1). A marketing philosophy approach helps to summarize the principles that influence marketing planning in tourism and hospitality. They include focus on consumer needs, delivery of satisfaction and superior value.
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