Marketing in travel and tourism

Books This

preamble

is necessary

scribe the somewhat of the main extent

report

to which

statement

air

states

of

that the report

the

constitute

an important literature

The

report

OECD.

But.

it must be said annexes

addition

to the

on the subject

in

makes

two

of

particularly

areas.

to the The

first

which

may

is an analysis

affecting

airline

regulated

of

competition

market,

and

the circumst-

to take action to prevent market

through

airline

The

factors in a de-

ances in which governments dominant

may

and the

the

may need

the abuse of

power

interest because

duty,

1987

in the European

package

sures,

of

ments

should the

Treaty.

the

which

rate-fixing

be granted report

agreements

petition

issues related arrangements

airline

(agreements services,

joint

and

the

types of that six,

competitive

operations.

royalty

capacity sharing,

and

revenue-cost

likely

to have strong anti-competitive

ments,

(cooperation

tions, joint

other

volve

on CRS

may

be

offset

effects.

agreement

(that

a clean

thing

which

ances

would

concerns. a wider

consolidation. experience

of

with tech-

operations)

normal raise

condemnation

the

problems

the

annex

on the

in air transport, entry on

includes

a

has

had

fares.

The

useful

competition

the

has not

and that only a

downward

report

summary

of

the

control,

concludes

tration

in

subject

itself

is not

for measuring

competition,

that.

city-pair

even

emerged

of com-

control

domination from

oligopolistic

the

US

more

markets,

the

of

is the most worrying

market

hub

feature

which

has

post-deregulation

structure

of

the

airline

industry. that

EC Commission

policies

has indicated

to regulate

airline

gers will be an important

mer-

part of the

care should be exercised

tion

oligopo-

a

industry.

objective

do not lead to collu-

in ensuring

produces

airline

of Ministers.

Such

may well be the most impor-

tant factor

of

that liberaliza-

more This

competitive is the

prime

and it is one which deregula-

tion in the USA

sion’.

seems to be in danger

of losing.

This is undoubtedly are

markets of

proposals

a sufficient

markets,

in

put to the Council

concen-

the degree

shown

higher

new package of proposals shortly to be

of merger

that ‘while

and

But other

than the reduction

petition

The

itself

laws of each EC country

and, on the general

yardstick

US

that

theory of market contestability

impact

have

quasi-monopolistic

that various stu-

demonstrated

actual

pre-

mergers and industry

comments

have

concentration

prices in such markets. important

with

sented by airline

‘relevant

true,

markets’?

but what

The

Stephen Wheatcroft A via tion and Tourism In terna tional London, UK

report

an appropriate

point for a definition

starting

is concentration

Serviceindustry marketing MARKETING

IN TRAVEL

AND

is

to the chapter

by Victor T.C. Middleton

text is reinforced

is an

than the list of exemptions in

July

admirably

well structured coming

marketing The

as an

excellence

three-fold. about

from

ism, through

valid

He

internal begins

and tour-

applications

main

sectors,

attraction, and

Second.

Third.

the

by the effective

use

check lists and illus-

inclusive author

of each chap-

chapter

Middleton’s

attention

to de-

at every step is impressive.

term is taken for granted whether introducing

travel

marketing,

product,

access, marketing

and

tourism,

distribution

research

No he is and

and its six

categories,

campaigns,

public

tions,

promotion,

merchandis-

sales

ing, advertising Of

ie

trans-

the

Victor finition

or even printed

relamate-

rial.

to the same disci-

ordering the

up

and techniques

practical

throughout

is

generalizations

accommodation

plined,

builds

and travel

tourist

subject.

structuring

the work

of the five

marketing.

adheres ter.

academic

planning

and on to their

tour

and

and tourism

of the

First,

marketing

port,

thorough

book which marks the

of age of travel

destination,

by the EC Commission

tables,

and which

trations.

in each

of interairline

is presented

drives home the essentials. of charts,

as some-

represent

title

and dis-

closely relevant

the author ends with a summary

Heinemann Professional Publishing, London, 1988,320 pages, f 10.95

circumst-

competitive

what is to be exposed

cussed, then material

TOURISM

carefully

efficiency-

bill of health not

but

one type

These conclusions

agreements granted

by

concerned

under

and

may in-

effects

Only

nical aspects of airline given

In dealing

It notes that studies

have shown a relationship

between studies

sion of liberalization.

This

opera-

agreements

anti-competitive

these

in 1989 for an exten-

are

of agree-

agreements),

enhancing

174

pools),

types

code-sharing scheduling

of

revenue

pools

Three

it pre-

city-pairs.

in the USA

ifying

pooling

it concludes

effects.

later

when

to the Council

to interairline

to suppress

agreements,

of

examines

10 different

agreement

pursue

within

the

agree-

and the com-

capacity

Of

mea-

indicate which

exemption

rules

OECD

agreements.

Ministers

suggests that

December

airline

competition

The

has

liberalization

to decide

from

Com-

the Commission

following

will

listic structures

mergers.

munity

however,

that, within relevant

achieved

first of these issues is of great

current

may,

lines of policy

sents its proposals

worked

is its

(or

not) be in the public interest. second

inlitera-

on the kinds of interair-

agreements

They

future

dies

contributions

commentary

the

the

deregulation.

teresting

line

by

and its three

extensive

ture

a policy

transport

198X. the

Commission

and the qualified

having made this point,

airline

status

it represents

on

member

to de-

uncertain

by clar-

these,

merits

clearly

the lengthy

ment it receives. marketing

briefly

‘as a dominant

philosophy

tematic

thought

TOURISM

itself treat-

The preface presents

agement integrated

marketing definitional

or culture,

process

and

set of techniques

MANAGEMENT

mana sysas an

focused

June 1989

Books on customer Chapter

needs

and

2, drawing

literature

on marketing

on the author’s account

that

of ‘what

has appeared

The

big

point

marketers,

and

gives the is’

so far outside

the

Michael

to

to

in

the

non-

Hence

business

The successful answer get

the

search

Victor

pervised

to mannge-

carries the discus-

is potentially

forms

is beginning

to

understood

-

commonly

expressed

almost

a fact

a cliche,

about

finding

be

manifest

in the

belief,

that

now

‘marketing

out what

to fit those

new book,

J.C. Holloway the

is

the customer

for

a pro-

have

used

just

those

effort

the student. by

That such

implicitly (1985)

to make

recognized edition

Baker’s

of

in

the

is

fourth Michael

Introductory

Baker

has these

timely words of warning - ‘Usually mistaken

marketing

preted

as give

wants,

which,

concept

the customer ruin’.

the

the

topic

neither

into,

nor

to fall into, any such

trap.

he does

Although

explicitly,

ity that marketing

say so

people

in advanced

tourism dard

operational

treat

overall

management

side

conform

to

adjust

convinces

want,

the

to adjust

latter

price.

ing of a product

through

resumes

must

be entitled

The the

interest

and.

who

book

by

persuading

requirements to produce

The

actual

to a market

to

at an match-

happens

the promotion

to

to offer the

chapters tourism

goes

and

tourism

the

reader’s

tion’, Chapter

issue

or in a narrow mail or he or she

monitoring

part of a

is that,

10 on ‘Organization

which

Victor

on

plea for further

marketing

TOURISM

MANAGEMENT

June 1989

often

clamour

out

is crucial to

in industry’.

author says, ‘Effective integrated erations,

thor’s

with

the

of service production

op-

with personnel

with

but

deci-

have to be

and co-ordinated

management

the

marketing

sions in travel and tourism

financial

management,

management

I agree strongly further

remark

parts of the travel

and

with the au-

that

‘in many

and tourism

try, sales and marketing

indus-

are still often

seen as an extra or ‘bolt on’ specialist service,

not

business

. . . the value of marketing

people

an integral

is often

tactical,

only

reactive

customer

demand

nization

forms in

applied The

part

of the

understood

in a

sense of generating when it is needed’.

goes on to a lucid

exposition

of marketing

of

orga-

advanced

manufacturing

and

they

how

might

be

in tourism. chapter

on budgeting

ways to structure

students

pointing

of product con-

cepts in travel and tourism effective

one

notes in his

reading.

that ‘an understanding

for which

in

the author

of

is a surprisingly

Middleton

two

prices are considered

and

It is an important

makes the sort of clear cut statements

at alternative

budgeting

it does provide

perhaps,

each topic, where justified,

products

11 on ‘Planning

some sharp insights into lvhat, for the

large

of alternative

for man-

is the least successful part

only at the end of a search in which a number

and

formula-

results’.

enterprises.

given to them. strength

product

of the book although

alternative

additional

stimulat-

discussion on the definition

Many such topics

An

inThe

8 on ‘Travel

campaigns:

of marketing

or substantial

-

the role of marketing

marketing

of

It has

experienced.

and Chapter

agers’,

He

action.

business

the practitioner

highly

marketing:

from

for students

the

products:

control’.

travel

broad

is far

I found particularly

of the real world

have a chapter,

and

marketing.

ing were - Chapter

The

whether

of museums,

enter

much cluding

will find reflections

chapter,

be

lectures

book

and tourism

and

from

indeed

is in a relatively

preparing

case

is also a

such as organization,

to

exposi-

examples.

one such as the use of direct

product

to

the idea and

reasoned

academic

into

for su-

On the subject of organization,

if left at that.

and numerous and

practitioner.

be suc-

context’.

whole is what might be expected a respected

and

that stan-

the

and

it is feasible

‘affordable’

travel

pursues

tion of principles study

of

a work

travel

taxing subject.

is not firm enough

and we would

this

newcomer

are

to ensure

it with scepticism

However.

there

and the produc-

as closely as possible to what

customers

an

suitable

means

convinces

principles

experience

against

are so domi-

cess

business

getting

which

adapted

deeply

by

of

implications,

marketing

business organiza-

succeed

that

considerably

act as middlemen

They

‘experience industry

services,

in

by

help-

indepen-

and may readily

being exclusively

The

ground shared b)

in their

on

the product

rests. says that,

characteristics

orientated’

brokers.

them.

Middleton

some

in the West

‘market tions

not

the author conveys the real-

The these

of common

But the author

handling

falls

response’. It is upon

in the

evidence

he

of travel particular

fully justifies

publication

marketers,

what

allows his reader

what

marketing

many

Quoted

Middleton

in his brief but sophisticated

all

is inter-

in many cases, is a sure

to commercial

characteristics

after all. that the case for a specificall!

nant

In a new section on

segmentation,

are impor-

which require

propositions.

Victor

an

Te.xt (Macmillan). market

tion

and that ‘there

of

evidence

Professor

Marketing

before applied

tant common

in a mis-

many have been led

generic charac-

be understood

and tourism,

things easy for

oversimplification

to

can be successfully

in practice’

dedicated

astray

of

must

marketing

book, as it unfolds,

Yet this is to oversimplify

road

ples but

initial

sets out

which do not alter the princi-

forms

by

terms. guided

He

about all

. service indus-

*.

In another

and R. Plant (Pitman),

authors

that

Tourism

needs’.

Marketing

teristics.

partially

wants first and then producing duct

marketing.

tries display particular

as after production. This

of

demonstrate

built

reading

while

reading

is also ideally

views

of debate.

projects.

Middleton

tration,

as well

student

to the

dently,

sion well beyond generalities

production

the approach.

ful

nlia

down

of different

up the possibility

Therefore,

and

and adminis-

is that marketing

ties or the existence -opening

markets

able proportions.

upper

he proceeds to discussion of uncertain-

helps inter

reaches of management about action before

business

are we in’?’

for

products

mar-

the significance

the first strategic

-What

matching

Baker.

make

especially

of perhaps question

needs and

powers of alternative

ket segments.

to

of such founding

as Professor

of the known

purchasing

marketing

full book treatments fathers

in general

experience,

best

the context

aspirations’.

on the substantial

useful

sections

contains

on the different

and decide

the size

175

Books

of the budget - the ‘affordable and percentage of sales’ method and the ‘objective and task’ approach. The reviewer would add to Victor Middleton’s text the following observations: 0

0

setting the size of the marketing budget in many organizations, public and private. remains an art rather than a science and is too often a matter even of guesswork; and getting the size of the budget, particularly the advertising budget, right is one of the things which marks out the true professional with solid experience.

Doing this to ensure the right intensity of demand may be likened to calculating the thrust needed in aviation to achieve take-off. If there is underspending, it means, to pursue the analogy, that the product does no more

than taxi to the end of the runway - a total waste. In this respect, marketing people would still seem to be dependent, to a large extent, on trial and error, as the early aviators were. That is why experience of what has worked before - varying from product to product and market to market-remains a most important factor. It is also why Victor Middleton’s contribution towards removing some of the present arbitrariness in this area is welcomed. Marketing in Travel and Towism puts all past and present offerings on the same subject in the shade and will surely become the classic work of reference for the next decade.

David Jeffries Visiting Professor City University London, UK

Customer-directedmarketing MARKETING IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY by Ronald Nykiel

Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 7989,305 pages, $27.95 Dr Ronald Nykiel is a Senior Vice President with the Stouffer Hotel Company in the USA and so is well qualified to write a book on marketing in the hospitality industry. He uses a disarmingly simple approach, leading his reader logically from chapter to chapter. Each chapter begins with a reminder of what has gone before, this is followed by the purpose and the objectives and finally a reprise of key words and concepts which have been introduced in the preceding pages. In addition, for the student, there is a short list of assignments. Nykiel draws liberally on case examples, failures as well as successes, some actual and some theoretical, to illustrate various marketing techniques. He introduces checklists which are fundamental to success and SO often not used properly by the marke-

176

ter. These checklists for sales and for increasing sales, for advertising and for brochure production are carefully developed and comprehensive in their coverage. The chapters on market segmentation, pricing and pricing strategies are particularly well developed. The copy throughout has been carefully honed with nothing superfluous, and where jargon is introduced it is always carefully explained, eg *segmentation - a portion of the total market that has customers with common needs’. In the chapter on understanding rates there are clear explanations for corporate rate, rack rate, preferred rate, supersaver, weekend rate, summer rate and club level rate, all used in the hotel industry and similar explanations are developed for rates charged by carriers and rental car companies. In many ways this is a primer for someone entering the marketing field or wanting a guide to marketing techniques. Nykiel clearly assumes that the marketing concept is fully understood and embraced by the organization. This in my experience is not

necessarily so. Marketing is the concern of the whole organization - the entire executive hierarchy. The success of all marketing operations depends on the effective and efficient coordination of all those elements which it embraces and all those tools which are at the disposal of the marketer. It is an attitude of mind of the management of an organization and the marketer should have a large say in the way the product is developed and presented and the prices charged as well as in the way they are distributed and promoted. Unless the organization has knowingly accepted the marketing concept it is unlikely that the marketer will be able to influence those areas of the operation which are outside his immediate control. The marketing orientated organization ensures that marketing is involved in all the operations - from the process of creating the product to ultimate consumption by the consumer. All too often those charged with operations act independently of the marketers, and pricing is often in the control of the financial side of the organization and imposed on the marketing team. Nykiel rightly says that the customer is king and in the checklists which he developed in the chapter ‘Practical steps to maximise marketing’ he provided many examples of the additional steps which can be taken to ensure ‘positive consumer reaction’ as well as those designed for more competitive marketing. I was surprised at the scant reference to familiarization trips and attendance at workshops and trade shows in those sections of the book devoted to selling to the travel trade. The chapter on selling covers organizing the sales effort. face-to-face selling, telephone sales and sales through direct mail, and there are chapters devoted to advertising, public relations. promotions and packaging as well as print. Some guidance on how to get the best out of travel trade familiarization trips and. just as important. out of a journalist’s visit should have been covered. Just as there is an implicit assump tion that the marketing concept is fully understood, there also appears to be an assumption that the consumer will

TOURISM

MANAGEMENT

June 1989