Marketing communications in the tourism business
УДК 338.46
MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN THE TOURISM BUSINESS
S.I. Mosiіuk , PhD in Economics,, Associate Professor of the Department of hotel and restaurant business and tourism NULES of Ukraine
ORCID 0000-0001-6970-1073
E-mail: 4stefani2@gmail.com
Abstract. In the article, the author revealed the essence of marketing communications in the hospitality industry, researched and characterized marketing communication tools that are relevant in the application of improving relations between participants of the tourist market environment. The effective activity of the enterprises of the tourism industry is based on taking into account the satisfaction of the complex of material, social and spiritual needs of consumers, and the use of innovative marketing communication tools. Global conditions of existence and competitive business activity require the use of innovative, effective marketing communication elements, which is covered in this article.
The methodological basis for solving the main theoretical and methodological problems was the use of techniques of theoretical generalization, a combination of historical and logical, comparative, and structural-functional approach, and in order to highlight the economic importance of the tourism industry, the methods of information analysis and synthesis, the comparative-legal method, as well as statistical and economic analysis, etc.
The article analyzes the factors that significantly determine the competitiveness of a tourist enterprise on the services market and substantiates the need to use innovative marketing communication tools for effective interaction with consumers in the market tourism environment.
The work highlights and argues, taking into account the challenges facing the tourism business, market requirements, the use of marketing communication elements: advertising; communication with the public; sales promotion and maintaining the company's image policy. With a professional approach to tourism marketing, you can, using appropriate communication tools, show ways to influence the consumer of tourist services.
Therefore, the creation of an effective system of marketing communications in the tourism sphere will allow the formation of a positive image of Ukraine in the market of tourist services, which will lead to investment inflows to the country, reduction of unemployment, etc..
Keywords: hospitality industry; tourism; communications; advertising; marketing; tourist product.
Introduction. The tourist hospitality industry occupies one of the leading places in the world economy. In addition to the fact that the tourism business stimulates the accelerated, market-oriented innovative development of all sectors of the country, it also allows to increase foreign exchange earnings. The peculiarity of the tourism business is to satisfy the needs of consumers, and the need does not decrease even in conditions of a pandemic or war (Mosiyuk et al., 2019).
Even in such a difficult time, Ukraine is open to cooperation in the development of tourism.
The development of the tourist business is undoubtedly a strong argument in the economy of the state in the conditions of market relations. Such states as Egypt, Turkey, Greece, etc., having concentrated all their efforts on tourism, have achieved considerable success. As for Ukraine, the development of tourism in the country was only gaining momentum before the start of the war (National tour operator of Ukraine ).
The development of tourism business is hard to imagine without marketing communications, which are the main part of tourism marketing. Unfortunately, many companies neglect this, not considering it necessary to pay so much attention to communications, or even make mistakes in this area.
The development of tourism as a profitable business industry requires improvement and due attention to both marketing and communications in order to fully satisfy the set of material, social and spiritual needs of consumers. "The ability to communicate with people is a commodity, and I will pay more for it than for anything else in the world," claimed JD Rockefeller (John Rockefeller: the best quotes and sayings of the first billionaire in history).
I suppose the relevance of marketing communications research will always be relevant.
Analysis of recent researches and publications. Marketing research in the tourism industry is highlighted in the works of Ukrainian and foreign scientists. The main attention is paid to the research of marketing tools for the popularization of tourist attractions. Since one of the main participants of the tourist market is the consumer, the research efforts are aimed at the analysis, study and influence of communication elements on demand. Great attention was paid to these issues: Gurzhii N. M. (2013), Drachuk Yu. Z. (2016), Dultseva I.I. (2016), Day G.S.(2006), Zhukovich I.A. (2017), Kampov N.S. (2017), Kozhukhivska R.B.(2004), Kudla N.E.(2011), Lyubitseva O.O . (2019), Trytenko A.V. (2013), Mosiiuk S.I. (2021), Wensley R. (2006), Porter M.E. (2004), I. G. Smirnov (2019), R. Wensley (2006), etc.
However, the subject of marketing communications in the hospitality industry remains open for research.
Purpose. The purpose of the article is to study marketing communications in the tourism industry both on the world and Ukrainian markets.
Materials and methods of research. The development of the tourism industry should be based on theoretical and practical methods of conducting profitable business activities. Marketing activity in this area is an integral part of popularizing tourist services, creating a positive image of both the company itself and the country, etc. The use of innovative marketing tools supported by appropriate methods will ensure the profitability of campaigns.
The methodological basis for solving the main theoretical and methodological problems was the use of techniques of theoretical generalization, a combination of historical and logical, comparative, and structural-functional approach, and in order to highlight the economic importance of the tourism industry, the methods of information analysis and synthesis, the comparative-legal method, as well as statistical and economic analysis, etc.
Such a statement indicates that today it is important to study the communicative sphere of tourism, namely the means and methods of marketing communications in the sphere of providing tourist services.
Results of the research and their discussion.
Today, there are a number of factors that have an impact on the activities of companies in the tourism industry. These are the long-term downward trends in the economy, the difficult political situation in the country, military operations, and the deterioration of the welfare of citizens. In this situation, tourism companies are paying more and more attention to marketing activities, which would allow them not only to stay in business in difficult socio-economic conditions, but also to convince their regular customers that they have not forgotten about them, offering them innovative, qualitatively new tourist products. In order to create and maintain a positive image among consumers, to consolidate the acquired positions in the market of tourist services, tourism companies pay more and more attention to marketing communications. Marketing communications are one of the fundamental tools of marketing, because it is with their help that the desired influence on the consciousness and behavior of the consumer is carried out (Lyubitseva, 2003).
The field of tourism can be classified as one of the largest and fastest growing economic sectors in the world. According to the World Trade Organization (UNWTO), 1.4 billion people took advantage of the opportunity to travel to another country in 2021. According to global research forecasts, their number may reach 1.8 billion in the next decade. The tourism industry accounts for 9% of global GDP and creates one job out of eleven and thus becomes a key driver of socio-economic development, creating the well-being of communities and people. At the same time, tourism is an integral part of the lifestyle of a large part of society and provides tourists with a unique experience for their personal growth (Lyubitseva, 2003).
Modern marketing in the hospitality industry was formed on the basis of the experience of already existing production companies, and taking into account the trends towards the rapid expansion of the service sector and the intensive use of distribution methods, it improved and combined the achievements of the general theory of marketing and the practice of its application.
However, marketing in tourism has a number of features due to the specifics of the activity. It has been studied that some of them are: establishment of close relations with the most important target groups; ensuring a high degree of consumer satisfaction and loyalty; increasing the profitability of interaction with partners and consumers; changing approaches to market segmentation; individual approach to the service, etc. (Mosiyuk et al., 2020).
From a marketing point of view, communication is a process aimed at persuading the consumer by the producer in order to influence the behavior and attitude of the former. Regarding the relationship of the concept of "communication", many Western scientists consider conviction and argumentation to be necessary components of a single communicative process (Kozhuhivska, 2009).
In the most common vision, communications is understood as a system of relationships between market participants, aimed at increasing the efficiency of tourism enterprises and meeting the needs of consumers.
Among the many existing definitions of marketing communications, it is possible to focus attention on the main functions that must be performed: informative, reminder, persuasive and image.
Thus, the informative function ensures informing the target audience about the goods manufactured by the firm, their advantages over competitors' goods, properties and qualities, about the firm's activities and its policy; receiving feedback on the state of the market situation in general, from partners, etc. (Kudla, 2011).
As for the reminder function, its main task is to remind the target audience about certain principles and measures of the company, the trademark, product advantages
The persuasive function consists in persuading the target audience in its decisions in favor of a positive attitude towards the goods manufactured by the firm, its activities and its own brand name (Kudla, 2011).
And finally, the image function consists in forming the prestige of the company and its products on the market.
The following tools are used for the effective use of marketing communication appeals to product consumers:
- advertising is any form of communication paid for by a specific person, designed to promote goods, services or ideas. Although some types of advertising (for example, direct mail) are targeted at a specific individual, most advertising messages are intended for large groups of the population and are distributed by such mass media as radio, television, newspapers ((Lyubitseva, 2003);
– sales promotion is various types of marketing activities that for a certain time increase the initial value of goods or services and directly stimulate the purchasing activity of consumers (for example, coupons), the work of distributors and sales personnel;
– direct (direct) marketing is an interactive marketing system that helps consumers easily receive information that interests them and acquire goods through the use of various information distribution channels. This system involves direct mail, the use of ordering through printed catalogs and online catalog sales.;
– personal selling is establishing personal contact with one or more potential buyers for the purpose of selling goods. Examples of such contacts can be telephone negotiations of regional representatives of manufacturing firms with local companies or retail enterprises, selective calls to potential buyers directly at home, or sales of goods by telephone orders (Kozhuhivska, 2009).
Marketing communications in the tourism industry are determined by the following components:
- the need for the establishment and development of an information society in which communications are of leading importance;
- the interaction of the participants of the tourist market, whose activities should be aimed at achieving common goals and be based on the creation and strengthening of relationships;
- communications are given a leading role in the formation of the strategy of promoting the services of tourist enterprises;
- the logistics of economic relations leads to the formation of large entities of the tourist market, the organization of whose activities is possible only on the basis of strict coordination (Zhukovych, 2017).
In the field of tourism business, more and more attention has recently been paid to the importance of such marketing elements of the communication complex as public relations and publicity. Some tourism companies spend half of the funds allocated for advertising purposes on them. The reason for this lies in the fact that public relations is a powerful tool and can sometimes have more influence on a potential customer than advertising (Lyubitseva, 2003). This may be one of the factors that should be taken into account when forming the communication activities of tourist enterprises.
Marketing communications occupy a special place in the activity of a tourist enterprise, because they represent the most active part of the marketing complex. The communications complex includes four main elements:
- advertising;
- Public Relations;
- sales promotion;
- personal selling (Porter , 2004).
Advertising is the most significant element of the communication complex. It has a great potential impact on all other elements of this complex (can attract large masses of people) and is the most expensive. A characteristic feature of advertising as one of the main means of marketing communications in the field of tourism is the specificity of both advertising itself and the specifics of the industry and its tourist product. Playing the main role in the entire communication system, advertising simultaneously informs about the enterprise, its product, convinces potential consumers to stop their choice on the tourism product of this enterprise, strengthens the confidence of regular customers in their choice, etc. (Mosiiuk, 2021).
In the tourism business, as well as in other areas, the importance of such an element of the communication complex as Public Relations has been increasing recently. Some tourism companies spend half of the funds allocated for advertising purposes on them. The reason for this is that Public Relations is a powerful tool and can sometimes have more impact on a potential customer than advertising. According to foreign experts, effective Public Relations is a management tool with which the organization presents its product in the mass media from the best side. However, the difference between Public Relations and publicity is that the latter only compiles information (this information can represent the organization both from the best and from the worst side), intended specifically for mass media. As for Public Relations, with its help, the organization exercises a kind of control over publicity and ensures that only a positive opinion is created about its product (Martynov, 2011).
Sales promotion - various types of marketing activities that for a certain time increase the initial value of a product or service and directly stimulate the purchasing activity of consumers, the work of distributors, etc. (Melnychenko, 2008). Sales promotion is a means of short-term influence on the market. However, the effect of sales promotion measures is achieved much faster than as a result of using other elements of communications.
According to the definition of F. Kotler, personal selling is understood as an oral presentation of a product during a conversation with one or several potential buyers with the aim of making a sale ( Day & Wensley, 2006).
Personal selling or direct selling for the tourism industry is one of the important elements of the communication complex. They refer exclusively to the sales process and represent marketing carried out in relation to customers. Their importance is determined by the opportunity for sellers to meet with consumers (National tour operator of Ukraine). Personal selling is one of the elements of the company's marketing plan. They are almost the only element of the communication complex that provides feedback to the client, regardless of whether it was carried out through the sales staff or directly from the company's management or its employees. The employees of the tourist enterprise must inspire trust, be able to convince and provide qualified advice to consumers (Porter, (2004).
Taking into account the capacity for rapid development of the hospitality industry, attention should be paid to the application of information technologies that can be used in three main areas of communication activity of tourist enterprises: for the implementation of marketing communication functions; to implement the function of providing the enterprise with market information as a basis for making effective management decisions and to ensure sales and logistics functions (Gurzhii &Trytenko, 2013).
Therefore, the formation of the communication policy of tourist enterprises is a complex and systematic process that requires taking into account all the necessary elements, namely, communication policy elements, communication subjects, data distribution channels, information and communication system elements, the appropriate management mechanism, etc..
Conclusions and future perspectives of the study.
All the mentioned communication elements differ among themselves in certain parameters. Therefore, in order to ensure effective marketing activity, their use in a single complex is necessary, since the combination of various marketing communication tools leads to the creation of a synergy effect, when the simultaneous use of communication elements makes it possible to obtain a greater economic effect than if they were used separately.
So, the main elements of marketing communications in tourism are advertising, public relations, sales promotion and personal selling. In our opinion, the most effective means of marketing communications in the field of tourism is advertising. It has a great potential impact on all other elements of this complex, as it can attract large masses of people. Public Relations is also a powerful tool and can sometimes have more influence on a potential customer than advertising, as it affects the consumer indirectly and creates more trust. Sales promotion is used mainly to stimulate demand, increase customer awareness of the offered products, and create the necessary image. A special role is played by sales promotion during the introduction of a new tourist product to the market. The result of personal selling should not be underestimated.
Companies in the tourism industry, which fully use the appropriate set of communications in their marketing activities and take care of the company's image, will have competitive advantages on the market.
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МАРКЕТИНГОВІ КОМУНІКАЦІЇ В ТУРИСТИЧНОМУ БІЗНЕСІ
С.І.Мосіюк , кандадат економічних наук, доцент
Національний університет біоресурсів і природокористування України
ORCID 0000-0001-6970-1073
E-mail: 4stefani2@gmail.com
Анотація. В статті автором було розкрито сутність маркетингових комунікацій в індустрії гостинності, досліджено та охарактеризовано маркетингові комунікаційні інструменти, які є актуальними в застосуванні щодо удосконалення взаємовідносин між учасниками туристичного ринкового середовища. Ефективна діяльність підприємств індустрії туризму опирається на врахування задоволення комплексу матеріальних, соціальних та духовних потреб споживачів, та використання інноваційних маркетингових комунікаційних інструментів. Світові умови існування та конкурентоздатної бізнесової діяльності вимагають використання інноваційних , ефективних маркетингових комунікаційних елементів, що і висвітлено в даній статті.
Методологічною основою для вирішення основних теоретичних і методологічних завдань використовувалися прийоми теоретичного узагальнення, поєднання історичного та логічного, порівняльного, і структурно - функціонального підходу, а також задля виокремлення економічної важливості індустрії туризму було взято методи аналізу та синтезу інформації, порівняльно-правовий метод, а також статистичний та економічного аналізу тощо.
У статті проаналізовано фактори, які суттєво визначають конкурентоздатність туристичного підприємства на ринку послуг та обґрунтовано необхідність застосування інноваційного маркетингового комунікаційного інструментарію задля ефективного взаємозв’язку із споживачами в ринковому туристичному середовищі.
В праці висвітлено і аргументовано , враховуючи виклики, які ставлять перед туристичним бізнесом, ринкові вимоги, використання маркетингових комунікаційних елементів: реклама; зв'язок з громадськістю; стимулювання збуту та підтримання іміджевої політики підприємства. Професійно підійшовши до маркетингової туристичної діяльності можна , застосувавши відповідні комунікативні інструменти, показати шляхи впливу на споживача туристичних послуг.
Отже, створення ефективної системи маркетингових комунікацій у туристичний сфері дозволить сформувати позитивний імідж України на ринку туристичних послуг, що призведе до інвестиційних надходжень у країну, зменшення безробіття тощо.
Ключові слова: індустрія гостинності; туризм; комунікації; реклама; збут; туристичний продукт.