Marketing of a tourism enterprise. Specifics of marketing in tourism Marketing in travel and tourism article

The tourism industry is one of the most dynamically developing sectors of the economy. According to WTO data, over the past twenty years, the average annual growth rate of foreign tourism was 5.1%, and the average annual growth rate of foreign exchange earnings from international tourism was 14%; in 1993, international tourist arrivals were 576 million, and international tourism receipts reached $372 billion. By 2010, the number of international trips is expected to increase to 937 million. Many highly developed countries, such as Switzerland, Austria, and France, have built a significant share of their wealth on tourism income. In Western countries, tourism is recognized as a profitable industry that receives government support.

In Russia, tourism is not yet perceived as a full-fledged segment of the economy and a subject of scientific analysis. The Russian tourism industry is experiencing a period of its formation as an independent economic sector. Every year the need for qualified personnel in the field of tourism increases, numerous higher educational institutions and advanced training courses are emerging that train tourism personnel.

In the rapidly developing Russian tourism market, marketing activities play an important role: research, strategy and planning. In tourism (both in Russia and in European markets), insufficient attention is paid to marketing, since entrepreneurs are mainly practice-oriented and act in accordance with their experience. The most important reason for this state of affairs is the fact that until recently most tourism enterprises could, without much effort and marketing research, constantly increase and expand their clientele and the volume of production of tourism services. The extensive growth in demand for tourism services in Russia, due to the huge quantitative potential, the high level of education of the population, the willingness to spend money on vacation and the traditional generosity of Russian tourists during their vacation in the recent past, were not incentives to intensify the marketing activities of tourism enterprises.

At the same time, the individualization of consumer demand, the use of both mass-standardized and differentiated offers of tourism goods and services, the concentration of capital and technological processes in the tourism industry necessitate increased attention to the problems of marketing research, strategies and planning. In Russia, this practice began to develop on the eve of the 21st century, especially in the most developed geographical areas, for example in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod.

However, unlike the marketing of many consumer goods, marketing in tourism has its own specific features, which arise primarily due to the specific nature of tourism services.

The relevance of marketing research is due to the fact that in the process of intensive development of the tourism industry and the ever-increasing role of tourism in the global economy, there is a need to generalize various scientific developments in the field of tourism, the experience and methods of work of Western and Russian entrepreneurs in the field of tourism. The relevance is also determined by the rapid development of the tourism services market, the characteristic features of which today are internationalization, integration and regionalization to the same extent as dynamic changes in tourism demand and supply. In these conditions of the modern tourism market, the role and place of marketing are continuously increasing. An in-depth study of marketing activities and the features of their use by Russian tourism enterprises is required.

Chapter 13. The essence and features of marketing in tourism

§ 1. Specifics and comprehensive nature of tourism marketing

Marketing- This is the activity of promoting goods and services from producers to consumers. There are many definitions of marketing as the process of directing the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer or user. Marketing is a broader concept than sales and advertising activities. Sales and advertising activities are only one aspect of marketing. Marketing is a targeted, strategic and managed activity that goes through all stages - from product development, its promotion on the market to sales and after-sales service. Marketing is the complete process of moving products and services from producer to consumer.

Marketing in any organization is the management activity of planning and implementing decisions related to the production and sale of certain goods and services in order to meet the needs of a certain group of people who have set a specific goal. Marketing is the standard of social life.

Marketing plays an important role in the activities of all organizations, be it non-profit educational institutions, resorts or manufacturers of tourism goods and services in order to generate their own profit. The essence of marketing is to provide the right product or service at the right time and in the right place at the right price.

Marketing events include product planning and development, pricing, product distribution methods, sales promotion, and promotion of products and services.

The need for marketing activities is determined by:

The existence of free competition between organizations;
- the opportunity for buyers to choose similar goods and services from different manufacturers;
- good awareness of consumers regarding other available goods and services;
- the goals of the organization, which can be expressed in measurable terms.

Marketing arises and exists as a response of an organization in conditions of free market competition in the presence of relative freedom of choice for buyers.

Marketing activities aimed at:

1) marketing analysis and planning with subsequent identification of groups of potential buyers;
2) production of goods or provision of related services for these target groups;
3) coordination of the organization’s activities to achieve the most advantageous position in the market;
4) determining ways to control the conduct of business in accordance with pre-established goals.

So, marketing is the strategic philosophy of a company that establishes what goods and services should be produced and for which group of consumers. Marketing defines goals and evaluates their achievement, thus coordinating the activities of the enterprise. Marketing establishes discipline within an organization through setting goals and monitoring to ensure its effective functioning.

The most important task of marketing management is to influence the level, timing and nature of demand in one or more target markets of the enterprise. The most effective demand management requires an organization to be customer-focused and systematically apply technology and marketing tools.

Marketing in tourism- this is the activity of planning and developing tourism goods and services, selling, promoting goods and services, stimulating demand for them and pricing.

This activity helps to promote goods or services from producer to consumer in order to obtain maximum profits while most effectively meeting the needs of the target group of tourists.

The specific nature of marketing in tourism is determined by the features and distinctive characteristics of the tourism product (in comparison with other consumer goods and services), as well as the characteristics of consumers and producers of tourism goods and services.

Tourist product- this is a set of tangible (physical goods) and intangible (in the form of services) consumer values ​​necessary to satisfy the needs of the tourist that arose during the period of his travel. A tourism product consists of three parts: a tour (a tourist trip along a specific route); tourist and excursion services (accommodation, meals, transportation, excursion programs and other services along the route related to the purpose of travel) and goods - consumer goods.

Tourist services have 7 distinctive characteristics:

1. Inability to store. If there is no demand for them at the moment, hotel or airplane seats cannot be stored for the purpose of selling them in the future. Therefore, managers need to make efforts to stimulate demand for these services in a given short-term period.
2. Intangibility of services. There are no measured values ​​for assessing a tourism product: it is impossible to have an idea of ​​the quality of the product before purchasing and consuming it. In this regard, the image of the company in the market and the prestige of its goods (services) are of particular importance for consumers when purchasing.
3. Susceptibility to seasonal fluctuations. The marketing activities of a travel agency will differ during the peak season and in the off-season. In the off-season, additional measures to stimulate demand are needed: low prices, various additional services, varying different types of tourism (diversification of supply).
4. Significant staticity, attachment to a specific place (camp site, airport, since they cannot be moved to another place).
5. Discrepancy in time between the fact of sale of a travel service and its consumption. The purchase of tourism goods (services) is made weeks or months before the start of their consumption. In this case, advertising printed materials play an important role, providing visual information about the purchased tourism product and allowing one to create a sense of the benefits that can be derived from its consumption in the future. At the stage of selling a tourism product, great importance is attached to the degree of reliability of information, as well as the reliability of the product (the quality of the product corresponds to its price).
6. Territorial disunity between consumer and producer in the tourism market. Information and advertising activities on a broader (international) level are important.
7. The buyer overcomes the distance separating him from the product and the place of consumption, and not vice versa.

Producers and consumers of tourism services also have their own specific characteristics. The demand for travel services is highly elastic depending on market conditions, income, level of education, advertising, and price. Assessing the quality of travel services is quite subjective: the consumer’s assessment is greatly influenced by external factors or persons who are not directly related to the package of purchased services (local residents, other vacationers, members of a tour group, family members).

Tourism marketing is addressed not only to “end consumers” - tourists, but also to intermediate authorities - travel agencies, partners, public tourism associations, and government tourism regulatory authorities.

The characteristics of tourism service providers include such distinctive properties as complementarity and interaction with each other. This connection is especially visible in the long term, reflecting the composite nature of the tour product: the profitability of transport companies depends on the occupancy and quality of accommodation facilities, and their survival in the market is determined by the quality of attractions and the degree of attendance of a given destination.

In a short period of time, various travel service providers do not take into account each other's interests in developing their marketing programs. Practice shows the predominance of this short-term orientation in the development of marketing strategies.

Manufacturers in tourism- this is a significant number of independent and different in profile and specialization travel enterprises (tour operator, travel agency, hotel, restaurant, travel agency) with various goals.

There are several levels of marketing here: enterprises, public organizations and government agencies. Tourism is a complex system, a symbiosis of economics, politics, sociology, ecology and culture, therefore, to achieve a positive marketing effect, close coordination of the marketing of various tourism organizations is necessary.

The components of the overall marketing system in the tourism field are: the state, local authorities, national and local (regional) tourism organizations and enterprises.

Western experience shows that the joint efforts of private firms and official government tourism organizations in promoting the tourism industry give the greatest effect.

There is a close relationship between the different levels of marketing: the state, local authorities and associations take market data, including information from enterprises, and enterprises, in turn, base their marketing concepts on national and local tourism concepts. Marketing developments of the state are not a directive, but a recommendation, a guideline for the enterprise.

The following functions fall on the share of national organizations and regional levels:

Conducting marketing research at the national level;
- development of marketing concepts with recommendations for their implementation for enterprises;
- legal and investment support for the development of tourism infrastructure;
- consulting services on the implementation of the marketing concept;
- assistance in conducting public relations and advertising events (exhibitions and fairs, prospectuses);
- creating a positive image of the country, promoting the country as an attractive tourist destination for foreign tourists.

Government body- The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism, by its position, must carry out marketing research at the national level, collect statistical data on tourism, advertise and promote Russian tourism products on the world market (for this purpose, foreign representative offices have been created abroad). Considering the importance of increasing tourism receipts, as well as the role that Russian regions play in this, the Russian Ministry of Sports, in order to promote Russian tourism products, provides regional tourism offices with free places at the stands of international exhibitions in London, Berlin and Moscow.

Regional offices The Russian Ministry of Sports and local tourism committees 1 are called upon to represent the interests and develop tourism in their regions. Not only the traditional routes - Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also numerous regions have something to offer Russian and foreign tourists. However, despite having great tourism potential, most regions have a poorly developed tourism infrastructure, as there is a lack of legal and financial support. Tourism is a profitable industry, therefore it is necessary to create tourism offices and committees in the regions, attract financial resources to invest in infrastructure development, and represent the region on the national and world markets.

An example of the successful work of the tourism committee can be considered the activities of the committee for tourism, resorts and international relations under the administration of the Tver region. If in the early 90s the recreation centers located near Seliger were not in demand, then for the summer season of 1999 it was difficult to get a ticket there. To improve the situation with the hotel infrastructure, the committee agreed with 20 small travel agencies in Germany to sponsor the construction of the small Osnabrück hotel, which began to operate at almost 100% occupancy and was soon able to pay for itself. In the future, the regional administration plans to build several similar hotels. The development of tourism in the region is facilitated by an extensive network of highways and a modern airport to serve domestic and possibly international flights. In addition, significant attention in the region is paid to training personnel for the tourism industry. The priority areas of tourism are environmental, medical, pilgrimage, recreation on rivers and lakes, as well as winter types of tourism.

In 1998, the region received 37 thousand foreign tourists from 41 countries. For domestic tourism, the priority markets for the Tver region are Moscow and St. Petersburg. To attract this category of tourists, weekend tours with recreation on Seliger, in the upper reaches of the Volga, were developed. In 1997, the regional budget received income from tourism in the amount of 300 thousand rubles, and in 1998 - 340 thousand rubles. The number of travel agencies increased from 6 to 30, and as a result of the crisis (August 1998), only two firms ceased their activities 2. Thus, thanks to the efforts of the regional administration and the tourism committee, tourism has become a profitable area of ​​activity for the region, which can also create jobs.

According to Russian legislation, tourism committees do not have the right to earn funds for the maintenance and development of tourism in the regions, so they are in favor of amending the law on tourism in order to be able to receive funds for advertising, participation in exhibitions and for other purposes.

Tourism enterprises are engaged in the development of new products, tour programs, pricing, improving product quality, as well as developments in the marketing of tourism products and the implementation of national and local marketing concepts.

The state plays a specific role in supporting and developing tourism at the national and international levels. The experience of different countries shows that the success of tourism development directly depends on how this industry is perceived at the state level and the extent to which it enjoys government support. State programs to stimulate inbound tourism developed in a number of countries provide for tax benefits, simplification of border and customs regimes, creation of favorable conditions for investment in tourism, increased budget allocations for infrastructure development, advertising in foreign markets, and personnel training.

An example of such a country is Turkey, which provides benefits to local and foreign investors and tour operators. Thanks to financial support from the state and local authorities, Turkey's tourism industry is on the rise. If in 1994 the number of tourists was 6.7 million people, then in 1998 this figure reached 9.2 million, and income for the year amounted to 8 billion 300 million US dollars 3.

In Russia, there is a lack of necessary tax support for tourism from both federal and local authorities. The formation of market relations in Russia, the opening of the market for foreign firms - all this led to a radical change in the ratio of export-import operations in the international tourism system. Russia has turned into a country of predominantly outbound tourism. At the same time, the number of foreign tourists visiting Russia annually is at the 1986 level.

The reduction in the volume of domestic tourism and reorientation towards outbound tourism reduces the income of both Russian tourism service producers and local and state budgets.

In the current conditions, it is necessary to stimulate the development of domestic tourism by improving the quality of service and competitive pricing, since the great demand of Russian residents for holidays abroad is due to the offer of higher quality service at reasonable prices.

To improve quality, it is important to look for ways to invest in developing the material and technical base of domestic tourism. The current state of domestic tourism enterprises indicates that they themselves are not able to fully finance their own modernization.

In order to develop inbound tourism that is beneficial to the state budget, legal support is required, activities are required to create a positive image of the country and promote Russia as an attractive tourist region for foreign tourists. Russia's income from this sector of the economy and the number of arrivals of foreign tourists in 1998 are significantly less than those of most Western European countries (in France, income from inbound tourism amounted to 29 billion 700 million, in Spain - 29 billion 585 million, in Germany - 16 billion 840 million, in Austria - 12 billion 164 million, in Poland - 8 billion 400 million, in Russia - 7 billion 107 million US dollars 4).

§ 2. Types and purposes of marketing research

Marketing research is essential for a particular company in the process of systematically collecting and analyzing information in order to identify threats, weak and strong features and opportunities of the tourism market, as well as to develop an appropriate marketing strategy for successful business.

Research conducted in tourism provides an information base for tourism managers to make the right management decisions. Research reveals:

Problems that interfere with the effective conduct of business;
- causes of problems and possible ways to resolve them;
- future trends in the tourism market.

Research also allows you to: see new opportunities; determine effective ways of doing business; better understand the needs of the market and reduce the likelihood of risk in accordance with the changes that constantly occur there.

Research that reduces risk in the decision-making process largely determines the success of a tourism enterprise.

Thus, managers can plan, implement and control tourism service activities more successfully if they have the necessary information.

All management decisions must be made taking into account data obtained during marketing research.

The intensive growth of tourism in Russia did not facilitate marketing research and planning of marketing activities. However, the August 1998 crisis forced many businesses to re-evaluate their operating methods in order to survive the crisis and competition. When making management decisions, managers pursue the goal of making a profit. But, as long-term practice in the European tourism market shows, the main tasks of any tourism enterprise, if its strategic goal is to obtain long-term profits and maintain demand for its goods and services, are to determine the needs of consumers and satisfy their needs. The marketing concept of doing business, which arose in the late 70s in the Western market, involves conducting market research and planning marketing activities at the very beginning of developing a tourism product: firms need to know the needs of potential customers, determine the possible number of buyers of a product or service, how and where they want this is to buy, at what price and what they expect from the purchased product or service. To obtain such information, there are certain research technologies. Tourism enterprises choose the most appropriate ones from many different approaches.

Conducting marketing research is necessary at all stages of a company's activities - from product development and promotion to sales and after-sales service.

Firms can conduct two types of research:

1) current research, carried out constantly in order to identify all the changes and trends taking place in the tourism market (even minor changes in the environment surrounding the company can affect the results of management decisions);
2) study of one specific situation (problem) in order to test an assumption or analyze changes in the tourism market.

The company conducts a comprehensive study of the tourism market in order to assess the current general situation, the problems and threats arising from it, and emerging opportunities. The company may also allocate resources to conduct research on one or more problem situations that arise during the daily functioning of the enterprise. In addition, the company examines external and internal influence factors, studies the effectiveness of an advertising campaign, market potential, and trends in business development.

Objectives of marketing research in tourism:

1. Identify significant problems. The intensity of daily business activities leaves little time for performers to concentrate on problematic areas of activity that are an obstacle to the successful functioning of the enterprise. Identifying the causes and problems that cause business inefficiency is often one of the many simple contributions that research makes to the management process.
2. Maintaining the connection of the enterprise with its target markets. Tourism research allows us to identify future trends, provide an opportunity to better understand market demands and monitor changes in markets in order to develop appropriate policies. Research reduces the risk of unexpected changes in markets. To a certain extent, the study provides a guarantee that the company will not produce a product that, due to changes in the market, has become outdated for the given market.
3. Cost reduction. Research helps determine the most effective business methods and eliminate ineffective ones.
4. Development of new sources of profit. Research can lead to the discovery of new markets, new products, and new uses for products already on the market.
5. Help in stimulating sales. The results of the study are interesting not only for a particular company, but also for society as a whole and can be used in advertising campaigns and to stimulate sales. This primarily concerns studies of consumer attitudes towards a product, service, and those studies in which consumers are asked to evaluate certain goods and services.
6. Creating a favorable attitude on the part of buyers. Consumers are receptive to tourism enterprises conducting research. They believe that companies that engage in such activities truly care about them and are making an effort to create a product or service that satisfies their needs. So, if in the preamble to the questionnaire you indicate the purpose of the survey, for example, improving the quality of service, clients will be more willing to answer the questionnaire and they will have a favorable impression of the company as caring about maintaining or improving the quality of the services provided.

§ 3. Stages of marketing

Research in tourism takes various forms: from primitive to more complex, from simple fact collection to the use of complex, mathematical models.

The process of conducting tourism research is represented by the following stages:

1. Definition of the problem. First, it is necessary to define or identify the existing problem and formulate the objectives of the study. The goals may be exploratory, involving the collection of some preliminary data that sheds light on the problem, and possibly helps to develop a hypothesis; descriptive, i.e. explaining certain phenomena; experimental, involving testing a hypothesis about some cause-and-effect relationship.

2. Conducting a situational analysis. At this stage, all available information related to the problem is collected and processed. The purpose of this stage is to find out whether any other company has already had similar situations or to check whether the information that contains a ready-made solution to this problem has not been missed.

situational analysis is a thorough search of all data related to a given company, a particular product, industry, market, competitors, advertising, consumers, suppliers of products and services, technology, economics, political climate and other similar data. Knowing all the information about a problem helps to identify possible causes of its occurrence. An organization will receive more from the results of research if its internal environment and goals, strategies, aspirations, available resources, as well as the limitations beyond which it should not go in its activities are clearly defined.

In addition to obtaining the necessary information on a given issue from available sources, it is also necessary to extract useful information from conversations with customers, distributors and other key figures in the tourism industry. During situation analysis and information gathering, assumptions are made that must then be tested.

3. Development of a research scheme. After collecting relevant data and defining the problem, it is necessary to develop a specific procedure (or structure) according to which the research will be carried out. At this stage, which is the core of the research process, hypotheses are developed that will be tested, and the type and sources of necessary information are determined. If it is determined that field research is necessary, a sample for interviewing, questionnaires, or other forms of information collection, as well as instruction sheets and coding and tabulation methods, must be developed. Finally, a supporting study needs to be done to check all the previous elements. The results are presented in the form of a detailed plan that is intended to serve as a guide in the research process, and any qualified research participant must adhere to this plan.

4. Data collection. In cases where data can be obtained from secondary information sources, desk research is carried out on all existing information. In collecting primary information, however, actual field research is used, the main methods of which are observation, survey or experiment. The success of data collection depends on the quality of the field research, the quality of the interviewers or people conducting the field research, and the skill level of the researchers.

5. Presentation of information in tables and analysis. Once data has been collected, the information must be coded, tabulated, and analyzed. This and the previous steps must be carried out with the greatest care, otherwise many erroneous conclusions may be drawn if the process of collection, tabulation and analysis is not carried out properly. For example, if a survey method is used to collect data, interviewers must be carefully selected, trained and supervised. Presentation of information in tables is carried out using a computer.

6. Data interpretation. The result of presenting data in tables is a variety of computer inferences and a number of statistical conclusions. The data obtained is interpreted in order to find the best solution or develop a series of specific recommendations to determine the actions of the company or organization. The transition from interpreting information to making recommendations is the most difficult task in the research process.

7. Report preparation. The presentation of the research results is very important. All the work and expense of conducting research will be in vain if the data obtained is not presented in a form that helps the manager act in accordance with them. At this stage of the research process, a full report should be compiled with approved recommendations for solving a particular problem situation.

8. Control. The research work is considered unfinished until the research results are put into action. Research is money invested and time spent. The task of those conducting the research is also to ensure that the monetary investment and time spent produce good results.

§ 4. Sources of information

Both primary and secondary data can be used in research work. Primary- this is data collected for the first time specifically for the purpose of solving a specific problem in the tourism environment. Secondary- data collected previously for other purposes, which can be obtained simply by visiting a library or other secondary data repositories. When researchers conduct a survey of cruise passengers to determine their attitudes and opinions, they are collecting primary data. When they turn to statistics obtained from previous surveys and questionnaires of passengers, they use secondary data.

It is a mistake to conduct tourism research aimed at obtaining primary data without verifying the necessary information from available secondary sources. Only when, after studying all relevant secondary sources of information, there is not enough data to solve the problem, you can turn to primary sources.

Secondary data is collected through desk research. Over the past 10 years, a large amount of information on tourism, travel, recreation and leisure has accumulated. Competent tourism researchers should be familiar with these sources and how to find them.

Secondary sources of information are divided into internal and external.

TO internal sources include: profit and loss statements; balance sheets; sales reports from travel agents and other distribution channels; traveling salesmen's reports; invoices; reports of previous studies.

By analyzing internal company documents, a manager can identify new opportunities and emerging threats and problems. From internal sources you can obtain historical data that will help you see important trends and patterns. Historical data may contain information: on the market (capacity, market share); about the marketing activities of the enterprise (history of advertising campaigns, pricing policy); on costs and profits; relating to changes in technology; in the field of legal regulation; about demographic trends and other useful information about the external environment.

An income statement provides information about a firm's sales volume, cost of goods sold, and expenses at a specific point in time. By examining reports on the results of business activities over successive periods of time, an enterprise can identify the emergence of favorable or unfavorable trends and take appropriate action.

Analyzing sales performance metrics will help managers take appropriate action. For example, if sales in one region are more effective than in others, the manager can resort to the following measures: organize an advertising campaign, intensify incentives for regions lagging behind in terms of indicators to be more effective in sales activities.

A comparison of actual and planned indicators can be made from detailed sales forecasts: by territory; products; buyers and travel agencies. Forecasts establish a sales target against which actual results are then compared. Sales analysis is one of the cheapest and most important sources of marketing information.

TO external sources information includes: officially published internal reports of companies on sales indicators, prices (price lists); publications of state tourism authorities; books and periodicals (newspapers and magazines, such as "Tourinfo", "TTG", "Tourism and Travel: Practice, Problems, Prospects", "Tour Business", "Extra-M", "Foreigner", "5 Stars" , "Voyage", etc.); official statistical materials providing data on demographic (census), economic, social and other aspects; publications of hotel associations; advertising materials about the services of commercial organizations.

The publications provide data on market size, market shares of various companies, consumer preferences and behavior, as well as booklets and brochures on travel destinations, hotels, and carriers. The use of government statistics provides the company with information about potential consumers, their purchasing power, market size, and sociodemographic characteristics of the population (income per person).

Secondary data serves as the starting point of the study. If suitable secondary sources of information are found, a large amount of money and time can be saved. The low cost of secondary information is an undeniable advantage of this source. When secondary sources are available, there is no need to create and print questionnaires, hire interviewers, or pay for travel costs or coding of information. Secondary data can also be collected much faster than primary data. When conducting actual field research, data can be collected in at least 60-90 days; secondary data can be obtained from the library within a few days.

Secondary data also has its drawbacks, the main one being its obsolescence. For example, a population census is conducted every 10 years; by the end of this period, the population data may have changed and will no longer be as useful.

When it is impossible to obtain information from available secondary sources, or when the available information is outdated or insufficient to solve the problem being studied, or there are doubts about its reliability, it is necessary to turn to primary data (obtained first-hand). If you need to obtain information regarding the opinions of travelers, then it is advisable to turn to the original source, that is, interview travelers directly. As noted earlier, it is necessary to resort to collecting primary data only after all the information available on a given issue from secondary sources has been studied.

§ 5. Methods of collecting information

After determining the need to collect primary data, you need to choose a method for obtaining it. The most widely used method of collecting information is the survey. Other common methods are observation and experiment.

Collecting primary information requires significant costs, but the data obtained has a greater effect in solving the problem. During the collection of primary information, secondary data is periodically updated. Necessary amendments are made to them.

Survey method(survey technique) collects information through asking questions and includes factual survey, opinion survey and explanatory survey. Surveys can be conducted through personal interviews, mail or telephone.

Actual survey. Analysis of all types of survey shows that actual survey has more advantages. Question "When and where did you vacation with your family last year?" requires the respondent to answer accurately. The actual survey yields excellent results, although the data may be subject to inaccuracies due to respondents' poor memory or their desire to make the best impression.

Consumer Opinion Survey. When using this method, respondents are asked to express their opinion, to make an assessment of something. For example, the respondent will be asked which tour product was attractive to him: A or B, or which product’s advertising was of better quality? This opinion poll can yield valuable results.

Explanatory survey. Here the respondents act as reporters. For example, they are asked to explain why they made this particular decision (i.e. why they took part in this particular recreational activity), why they chose a specified airline, why they chose a given country (region) for their holiday, why they chose This is exactly the means of accommodation.

While respondents answer the “what” question accurately and promptly, sometimes confusion arises when answering the “why” question. Thus, it can be concluded that it is appropriate to obtain data through the survey method, using a factual survey or opinion poll and using more in-depth interviewing or psychological study to obtain answers to the question "why".

As mentioned above, consumer surveys can be conducted through personal (face-to-face) or group interviews, by telephone or by mail. The purpose of the study is to collect data through interviewing a specific group of people (sample, i.e., a segment of the population intended to represent the population as a whole at the moment). When analyzing the main research methods, advantages and disadvantages can be identified.

Personal interview. There are two types: pre-planned and organized interviews and street interviews. When conducting a pre-arranged interview, respondents are selected randomly, at random, and the interview is conducted by telephone or in person. The second type of interview involves interviewing people on the streets.

An interview is a more convenient way of collecting data than a survey by mail or telephone, since the interviewer can adapt questions to a specific situation, to the respondent, and give the necessary clarifications during the interview. Interviews can provide much more information than surveys by mail or telephone, which tend to be relatively time-limited. The person conducting the personal interviews can make the necessary observations on the spot and at the same time ask questions. For example, a home interviewer may collect information regarding the socioeconomic status of interviewees through direct questioning, supplementing the interview with personal observations. The personal interview method allows better than other survey methods to monitor compliance with the sample.

The main limitation in using personal interviews is the relatively high cost of conducting them. This method is the most cost-intensive of all three methods and requires significantly more time to complete. A negative point is also the possibility of the interviewer influencing the respondents’ answers.

Group interview. When conducting a group interview, 6-10 people gather. The interviewer must be objective, otherwise the results will be incorrect. Interview participants are typically paid a small amount of money for their participation. The interview is conducted in a pleasant and distraction-free environment. The interviewer organizes an easy, relaxed discussion, hoping that the respondents' answers will reveal their deeper feelings and opinions, and directs the discussion in the right direction. The interview is recorded on video or audio equipment. The records are carefully examined to ascertain the opinions, beliefs and better understanding of the behavior of the respondents. To find out the attitude of customers towards a certain product, a tourism enterprise can ask its foreign partners - the local travel agency of the tourists' host country - to ask the opinion of consumers of the tourism product directly on the spot during and at the end of consumption of the product. A business may hire part-time people, such as students, as interviewers. Group interviews are becoming one of the main marketing research tools to gain a deeper understanding of the thoughts and feelings of consumers.

Telephone survey. Telephone surveys are generally shorter in time and more labor intensive than personal and group interviews. The negative point here is that not enough time is given for explanations to the questions asked; they are not as convenient as in the case of personal contact. The telephone survey should be short, concise and non-personal. Another disadvantage of this method may be that not every potential respondent has a telephone. The main advantages of a telephone survey are the speed of data collection and the low cost of conducting it.

Surveys by mail. This research method does not require large expenses. Typically, the mail survey procedure begins with the preparation and mailing of a questionnaire to a group of respondents who are asked to return the completed questionnaires to the address on the envelope. This method has a significant advantage when it is necessary to interview geographically dispersed groups of respondents and when it is difficult to interview them using other methods. Another positive feature of this approach is that it does not influence the respondents’ answers, as happens in the case of a personal interview. Thus, respondents fill out survey sheets or questionnaires at their own discretion.

The main challenge when conducting a mail survey is to design the questionnaire clearly in order to obtain accurate responses. The next thing you need to pay attention to when conducting this type of survey is the number of questions in the questionnaire. Although it is possible to ask more questions when sending a questionnaire by mail than during a telephone survey, there should not be many of them. Mail surveys require simple, clearly stated questions that will not confuse respondents. To increase the number of questionnaires received, the following steps are usually taken: give a subscription to some printed publication and send a toll-free number; a letter with questionnaires is sent to the director of the organization where the respondents work, so that he can control the return of completed questionnaires; a paid envelope with a return address is placed in the envelope with the questionnaire; The questionnaire is attractively designed.

Before conducting a survey, it is necessary to determine the sample. When collecting primary information, it is necessary to draw up a sampling plan, thanks to which the selected population would meet the objectives of the study. To do this you need to define:

Sample composition: who to interview? It is necessary to identify the target population. Decide whether to include only businessmen or vacationers in the sample, or whether it will consist of both. It is necessary to decide what information is needed and who exactly has it;
- sample size: how many people need to be interviewed? Large samples are more reliable than small ones. However, to achieve more accurate data, it is not necessary to include a large number of people in the sample. If the composition of the sample is well defined, a survey of no more than 1% of the population can give good results;
- method of determining sample participants. To do this, you can use the random sampling method. You can select survey participants based on membership in a particular group or category, such as age group, or location. Selection may be based on intuition, the feeling that these particular people can be a good source of information.

Observation method consists of direct observation of people and situations while collecting data. A travel enterprise could, for example, ask travel agents or other intermediaries working with its competitors to observe their performance and the reactions of their customers, and encourage suppliers of goods and services to report on the affairs of competitors and how they solve their problems. Finally, representatives of the tour enterprise themselves can fly on an airplane, stay in a hotel, or buy a tour from a competing organization in order to evaluate the level of service, see customer reactions and identify any advantages, and if they lead to achieving a competitive position in the market, then introduce them at your enterprise. If competitors make mistakes, the enterprise must take them into account in order to avoid them in its activities.

The method of observing people's actions is more impartial than using the survey method. Using this method, information can be collected through either personal observation or observation through mechanical means.

The advantage of the observation method is that it helps to collect more accurate information and describes consumer behavior. It also prevents the interviewer from influencing the answers. The disadvantage of this method is that it is more expensive than the survey method and that it may not be applicable in some cases. The observation method describes people's behavior, but does not identify the reasons that motivate them to behave in one way or another.

Observation is not able to delve into the motives of behavior and people’s attitudes towards something; it is not able to identify the opinions of consumers. Thus, if it is necessary to find out the reasons for behavior and answer the question "why", observation is the worst method for achieving this goal.

An experiment involves conducting tests to identify cause-and-effect relationships. Experimental research requires selecting comparable groups of subjects, creating different environments for these groups, controlling for variables, and establishing the significance of observed differences. When properly controlled, this method provides the most convincing data. The conclusions of an experiment may be relied upon to the extent that its design and execution preclude alternative assumptions by which the results could be explained. It is difficult to conduct experimental research in tourism because it can be difficult to control the constancy of variables. However, resort regions or tourism enterprises may conduct advertising or pricing experiments to help managers make management decisions.

For example, a tour operator on the Golden Ring of Russia needs to establish how a decrease in the price of a tourist product will affect the increase in its sales volume. Let's assume that the initial price for the tour was 560 rubles. Then the company decided to reduce the price of the tour in the same period of time to 490 rubles. If, as a result, the number of clients who contacted the company remained the same, then nothing depends on the price. If the flow of tourists has increased significantly, then we can conclude that the number of tourists depends on changes in the price of the tourism product.

The main research tools in tourism are questionnaires and mechanical devices. A widely used tool for collecting primary information is a questionnaire, or questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of a series of questions to which the respondent must answer. A questionnaire is a very flexible research tool because questions can be asked in different ways.

It must be carefully developed, tested, and all identified shortcomings of the questionnaire must be eliminated before its widespread use. When preparing a questionnaire, tourism organizations can contact a marketing specialist or specialized marketing research companies that will help select the necessary questions, their form, the correct wording and location of the questions. The most common mistakes when writing a questionnaire are: asking questions that cannot be answered, that people will not want to answer, and that do not require an answer, and the absence of questions that should definitely be answered. Each question must be checked to ensure that it meets the purpose of the study Questions that are not very important for the purposes of the study should be omitted, since they delay the procedure and irritate the respondents.

The form of the question may also influence respondents' responses. There are two types of questions in marketing research: closed and open.

Closed question includes all possible answer options. The respondent simply selects one of them.

Open question gives respondents the opportunity to answer in their own words. Open questions can be presented in various forms. They give greater results because respondents are not limited in any way when answering questions. This type of question is especially useful in the exploratory phase of research, when you need to determine what people think without determining how many of them think one way or another. On the other hand, closed questions help elicit answers that are easy to interpret and tabulate.

It is important to pay attention to the wording of the questions. In this case, you need to use simple, unambiguous words that do not affect the direction of the answer. Questions should be tested (before the questionnaire is compiled).

Determining the sequence of constructing questions in the questionnaire also requires special attention. The first questions should generate interest among respondents; difficult and personal questions should be asked at the end, so that the respondents do not have time to withdraw into themselves. Questions should follow a logical sequence.

The 1998 crisis forced many tourism enterprises to reconsider their operating methods and change their strategy in order to survive in conditions of fierce competition. More attention was paid to marketing planning and market research.

The specificity of marketing research in the Russian tourism market is that market research is limited only to conducting desk research using secondary information, but some of the information may already be outdated, and some may simply not be suitable for solving the problem situation that has arisen.

The results of an analysis of the activities of the largest Russian tour operator in Spain, Natalie Tours, show that market research allowed the company to identify target segments, select permanent reliable partners, and significantly increase sales volume and market share. This determined the most efficient functioning of the company and allowed it to become a leader in the Spanish direction.

To conduct the most in-depth marketing research, sophisticated technology, various statistical techniques and decision-making models based on computer technology are used. To conduct such research, it is necessary to involve marketing specialists and specialized marketing research companies.

The most common marketing research tool for Russian companies is a questionnaire that allows one to identify opinions, preferences and other characteristics of target markets.

Marketing research requires significant financial investment and is often inaccessible to small and medium-sized tour operators. Therefore, it is advisable for them to unite to conduct joint marketing activities, including market research in order to reduce costs and attract marketing specialists and specialized companies.

Tourism is one of the leading and most dynamic sectors of the global service sector. Thanks to its rapid growth rate, tourism was recognized as an economic phenomenon of the 20th century. The Russian tourism market is also developing.

The volume of the Russian tourism market has been steadily increasing throughout the last decade. In 2012, its volume (compared to 2011) increased by 14% (or by 149 billion rubles), exceeding 1 trillion rubles (about 1.7% of the Russian Federation’s GDP). If current growth rates are maintained, in 2013 the tourism services market will reach 1.35 trillion rubles.

Rice.

The prerequisites for the positive dynamics of the tourism market in the Russian Federation are the increase in the solvency of the population and the consistent development of tourism infrastructure, the increase in the level of penetration of remote banking services, the Internet and Internet services in our country.

The tourism industry is one of the striking examples of the introduction, development and active use of information and communication technologies in the world. Booking tickets, choosing and paying for a hotel room in any city around the world at any time, anywhere using a mobile device, using electronic payment methods is becoming commonplace for tourists of all ages with a wide range of income levels.

The tourism services market is moving towards greater transparency and accessibility for the end consumer. According to Aviation EXplorer 1, the increase in the share of tourist services issued on the Internet was recognized as the most noticeable trend in the Russian market in 2012. The structure of demand is changing, shifting towards the independent registration of tourist services on the Internet by the population.

The development of the tourism market in the Russian Federation will inevitably lead to an increase in the level of competition in this sector of the economy, which, in turn, will require companies operating in the tourism industry to reconsider their attitude to the role of marketing in the company. To remain competitive in the new environment, tourism companies need to move from a customer-centric culture to a market-centric one.

At present, a unified approach to defining tourism marketing has not yet been developed. Therefore, let's consider different views on the problem.

• ? forming contacts with consumers of tourism services;
• ? developing contacts through innovation;
• ? control over service results.

Establishing contacts with clients aims to convince them that the proposed holiday destination and the existing services, attractions and expected benefits are fully consistent with what the clients themselves want to receive.

Developing contacts involves designing innovations that can provide new sales opportunities. Such innovations must meet the needs and preferences of potential customers.

• 1 http://www.aex.ru
• 2 Adopted at the international WTO conference in Budapest in February 1993.

Control involves analyzing the results of activities to promote goods and services to the market and checking to what extent the results reflect the full and successful use of opportunities available in the field of tourism, a comparative analysis of expenses for advertising marketing activities and income received.

French scientists R. Lancard and R. Ollier give the following definition of tourism marketing: “Tourism marketing is a series of basic methods and techniques developed for research, analysis and solution of assigned problems. The main thing that these methods and techniques should be aimed at is identifying opportunities to most fully meet the needs of people from the point of view of psychological and social factors, as well as determining the most rational ways from a financial point of view for conducting business with tourism organizations (enterprises, bureaus or associations), allowing to take into account identified or hidden needs for tourism services. These kinds of needs can be determined either by leisure motives (entertainment, vacation, health, education, religion and sports), or by other motives that are often found among business groups, families, various missions and unions.”

Swiss specialist E. Kriendorf puts a more complete content into the concept of tourism marketing: “Tourism marketing is a systematic change and coordination of the activities of tourism enterprises, as well as private and public policies in the field of tourism, carried out according to regional, national or international plans. The purpose of such changes is to best meet the needs of certain groups of consumers, while taking into account the possibility of obtaining appropriate profits.”

The concept of marketing in the field of tourism is developing in accordance with modern trends in the development of marketing theory and service marketing theory.

The tourism product has the distinctive characteristics inherent in the service described in the previous paragraph, namely, intangibility, inseparability from the source, non-storability and variability of quality (4 “NOTs”). The four “NOTs” of a tourist service as a product seriously affect the specifics of activities in the field of tourism .

To the traditional elements of the marketing mix: product - Price - place - Promotion, used in traditional marketing as a set of strategies controlled by the company to influence the consumer, in tourism it is recommended to use additional strategies for the marketing mix of services. These include:

• ? material environment ( Physical evidence),
• ? service process ( process) and staff (People).

Material environment ( physical evidence)(the atmosphere of a hotel, restaurant, travel agency office) involves work on influencing the sensory channels of customer perception: visual (space organization, lighting, color), auditory (volume and tempo of accompanying music), olfactory (room ventilation), tactile (room temperature) 1 .

Service process (Process) guests, customers can be developed using diagrammatic design techniques, touch points, customer scenario and reengineering 2 .

Staff (People) contact personnel are company personnel who simultaneously produce and sell tourism services. This is why contact personnel in services marketing are sometimes called “part-time marketers.” (part timemarketers) 3.

Together with the other marketing mix strategies (product, price, distribution channels, promotion), these additional three elements form the tourism marketing mix.

The result of activities in tourism is a tourism product, which has its own distinctive features:

• ? demand for tourism services is elastic in relation to the consumer’s income level and prices, and is subject to seasonal fluctuations;
• ? dependence of the tourism product on variables such as space and time;
• ? The tourist services offered are divided geographically: tourists receive a booking of a tour with a travel agency, booking a hotel or air tickets via the Internet at their place of permanent residence, transport services can be received during a tourist trip, hotel accommodation, participation in festivals, excursion services, meals - in place temporary stay;
• ? The supply of tourism products is characterized by inflexible production. Hotels, airports, museums, theme parks cannot be moved at the end of the tourist season to another region to adapt to changes in demand and seasonality;
• ? assessment of the quality of a tourism product is highly subjective. Local residents and members of the tourist group can influence the perception of a tourist’s quality of service;
• 1 Novatorov E. Peculiarities of behavior of service consumers. Journal "Sales Management", 2003.
• 2 Ibid.
• 3 Ibid.
• ? The assessment of the quality of a tourism product can be influenced by factors such as weather and natural conditions, and political events.

The problem of defining a tourism product remains controversial. Let's consider the most common definitions of a tourism product, presented in Table 1.

Definitions of tourism product

Table 1

	Definition of a tourism product
	The policy of a tourism product can be considered and conducted from two positions: a certain territory and a certain enterprise
Medlik S„ 1995	Tourism product in the narrow sense ( sensustricto) and broad sense ( sensulargo). A tourism product in the narrow sense is everything that tourists buy separately (for example, a transport service, a hotel room reservation) or in the form of a package of services. A tourism product in a broad sense covers the totality of impressions received from the moment of leaving home until the moment of return
Middleton V.T.C., 1996	A tourism product is a combination of three main components: attractiveness, tourist infrastructure, and accessibility."
Middleton V.T.C., 1996	From the perspective of a potential customer considering any form of travel, a product can be defined as a package of tangible and intangible
Holloway J.Ch., Robinson Ch., 1997	A tourism product is a complex product covering a place, services and some material products
Golembski G., 1998	A tourism product combines all goods and services created and purchased in connection with traveling outside one’s place of permanent residence and before the start of the trip, and during the trip, and during a stay outside one’s home area.
Mazurkiewicz L., 2002	Tourist product - an arbitrary combination of services of a place and tourist services
Nowakowska A., 2002	A tourism product can be called a package of tangible and intangible components available on the market that allows you to realize the purpose of a tourist trip.

As can be seen from Table 1, most often in approaches to defining a tourism product, a structural or component approach can be traced, where, along with material objects, various services, images, places, plans, and ideas are considered.

Less common are definitions of a tourism product that place the main emphasis on meeting the needs and expectations of tourists (Middleton V.T.C.).

S. Medlik was the first to attempt to combine two points of view on the tourism product, considering it in a narrow and broad sense.

Thus, the tourism product can be viewed from three perspectives:

• 1) from the position of a tour operator company (mediation sphere);
• 2) from the position of territorial authorities (sphere of supply);
• 3) from the client’s perspective (sphere of demand).

According to Federal Law No. 132-FZ “On the Fundamentals of Tourism Activities in the Russian Federation”, “a tourism product is a set of transportation and accommodation services provided for a total price (regardless of the inclusion in the total price of the cost of excursion services and (or) other services) under a contract on the sale of tourism products."

According to this definition, the tourism product is identified with the concept of a tour. They must be distinguished. The tour is an integral part of the tourism product. It is a set of primary services that a tour operator provides for a specific route and during a specific period of time. As a rule, the tour includes transportation, accommodation and meals according to the type chosen by the tourist. A tourist product is a much broader definition.

Let's consider a simplified classification of tourism products according to characteristic elements that determine the essence of a tourism product (Table 2).

As we can see, the tourism product is diverse and is created by the efforts of many enterprises and organizations, each of them having its own methods of work, technologies, specific goals and objectives for the creation, promotion and sale of a tourism product, using various marketing policy tools. This objectively creates great organizational difficulties in coordinating actions in the production, offering and sale of a tourism product and ensuring a high level of service for tourists. It should also be taken into account that the final goals and content of the marketing process for enterprises involved in the creation, promotion and sale of a tourism product are also different. There are several levels of tourism marketing organization:

• ? marketing at the level of tour operators and travel agents;
• ? marketing at the level of territories and regions - tourist destinations.

Classification of tourism products

table 2

tourist product		Example of a tourism product
Tourist	Material item - guidebook, tourist map, tourist equipment, souvenirs, multimedia products: multimedia city plans, guides to museums and historical sites, presentations of regions on Internet sites, mobile applications	Virtual travel of the Kizhi nature reserve-museum (http://kizhi.karelia.ru/); Virtual walks through the Russian Museum (http:// www:virtualrm.spb.ru/) Virtual trips through the streets of London (http://virtualizacija.ru/)
Tourist product - service	Single service - hotel, gastronomic, transport, excursion, etc.	Booking a hotel room, lunch at a restaurant, air ticket, etc.
Tourism product - event	Thematic focus of the event, specific localization in time and space	Tourist exhibitions - WorldTravelMarket (London), ITB (Berlin), MITT (Moscow), INTURMARKET (Moscow); Oktoberfest (Wiesn, Munich); Olympic Games Sochi 2014; Cartoon Festival (http://www.multfest.ru/); music festival “White Nights” in St. Petersburg, etc.
Tourist	A tour that includes a certain set of services (transportation, accommodation, meals, excursions	“All Spain” (http://www.natalie-tours.ru/); Music Festival

Ending

tourist product	Characteristics of the tourism product	Example of a tourism product
	etc.), the total selling price of which is equal to the cost of its elements	to Sanremo (http:// www .tez-tour.com); “Petersburg every day”, etc.
Tourist product - object of display	The presence of one main attraction (service) and several additional services located in one place - a museum, historical monument, natural monument, etc.	St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, the Kremlin in Moscow, Madame Tussauds in London
Tourist product - route	Several places or objects united by a certain idea and interconnected by a specially designated route (pedestrian, water, automobile), having a developed infrastructure, the elements of which are located along the route	“Golden Ring” (Russia), Wine and gastronomic tour (Nice - Avignon - Marseille), Die Goldene Strasse (Nuremberg - Pilsen - Prague)
Tourist product - place	Region, locality, national park, etc., identified on the basis of a specific spatial localization and having the character of a tourist attraction	Paris, Disneyland, Carinthia - the land of lakes

At the same time, marketing at the level of tour operators and travel agents and marketing at the level of producers of tourism services belong to the sphere of commercial marketing, and marketing at the level of the national tourism administration and marketing at the territorial level belong to the sphere of non-commercial marketing.

The comprehensive nature of the concept of marketing in tourism involves consideration of the marketing process at various levels of management of the creation, formation, promotion and sale of a tourism product. The subjects of the marketing process are not only commercial enterprises, but also government authorities in the field of tourism, as well as territories.

In Fig. 9 presents an approach to the concept of marketing in tourism, as a system, based on a three-dimensional coordinate system.

Rice. 9.

On a functional basis at all levels of tourism product formation it is necessary to use strategic and tactical (operational) marketing tools.

Strategic and operational marketing complement each other and find their concrete expression within the framework of marketing policy.

Operational marketing focuses on variables such as price, distribution, sales, advertising and promotion; strategic marketing focuses on selecting product markets in which the company has a competitive advantage and forecasting overall demand in each target market. Based on this forecast, operations marketing sets goals for capturing market share, as well as the marketing budget required to achieve this.

No matter how powerful an operations marketing plan is, it cannot create demand where there is no need, and it cannot sustain a business that is doomed to extinction. Therefore, to ensure profitability, operational marketing must be based on strategic marketing, which in turn is based on the needs of the market and its expected evolution.

Market orientation is the main condition that determines the sustainable economic growth of a company operating in the tourism industry.

According to structural characteristics In the tourism sector, marketing of goods and marketing of services can be distinguished. The combination of trade in services and trade in goods in tourism, according to experts, is 75% and 25%, respectively.

When developing marketing strategies for companies operating in the tourism sector - travel agencies, hotels, catering establishments, tourist attractions - it is necessary to take into account the specifics of the “intangible” product. The development of a marketing program should not only be built on the traditional elements of the marketing mix, but also need to involve additional elements - the service delivery process, contact personnel (personnel working in direct contact with guests and customers) and the physical environment.

Experience of international hotel chains such as Hyatt, FourSeasons, Marriott, Intercontinental and others, large tour operators - TUI, Carlson tourism indicate that the key competence in the field of tourism is the strategy of “preventive and perfect service”.

Creating a system of perfect service that meets the values ​​of clients of tourism enterprises is a long-term competitive advantage that cannot be copied.

In this regard, the main task is to establish a connection between the needs and expectations of customers and the internal processes of creating a value model for customers in the tourism industry aimed at meeting these needs.

The customer value model includes five main elements that determine the customer's perceived value and level of customer satisfaction. This is the quality of the product itself, the quality of service through the technology of its provision, the image of the enterprise, the price and the relationship between the service provider, the client and the contact staff of the tourism company.

The implementation of the customer value model is facilitated by the internal marketing assets of the tourism company, which include:

• ? the image of a tourism enterprise, the level of its corporate culture;
• ? technology for organizing the process of quality customer service, a system of service quality indicators;
• ? customer base of a tourism company and an information system for data on customer opinions and preferences;
• ? a system of service quality indicators, a system for tracking customer complaints;
• ? human resource management system, including the principles of training company personnel in the tourism sector, empowering personnel, studying the degree of personnel satisfaction with their work, i.e. availability of qualified and motivated personnel.

Each of these elements is a direct result of various processes within a tourism company.

Providing quality customer service will allow you to:

• ? stand out from competitors;
• ? enhance the attractiveness of your image in the eyes of clients;
• ? minimize sensitivity to price changes;
• ? increase the profitability of work;
• ? increase customer satisfaction and retention;
• ? gain the maximum number of supporters of a tourism company who promote its services;
• ? improve your reputation;
• ? increase the degree of staff loyalty.

Achieving a sustainable competitive advantage for a tourism company is possible through the introduction of the concept of internal marketing.

The concept of internal marketing is to combine the motivation of employees and the formation of their professional knowledge to identify the brand of a tourism company. The motivation and high level of knowledge of employees is the source of high-quality services.

The implementation of the internal marketing concept will allow us to build the relationship “loyal staff - loyal client - company profitability”. The output of this process will be a developed technology for high-quality customer service and control over it, a system of indicators for evaluating staff performance depending on customer satisfaction, a marketing information system for a tourism company that gives staff the opportunity to provide quality customer service, as well as the development of loyal employees who provide excellent service.

This approach differs from traditional product promotion in the tourism sector, since it is aimed not at solving current issues of attracting and retaining customers, but at building a system of relationships with customers on a long-term basis.

The implementation of external marketing strategies implies organizational changes within a tourism company, primarily related to issues of resource allocation, organizational structure and building relationships with clients. Thus, the most careful attention must be paid to working on the organizational environment through internal marketing in order to achieve the goals of the company as a whole.

In the service marketing models discussed in paragraph 1.2, Western marketers recognize the need to use internal marketing as an additional strategy. A characteristic feature of these models is the attitude towards the personnel of a service enterprise as an internal client. Motivating staff and meeting their needs contribute to the growth of the company’s customer service quality.

Internal marketing has the same theoretical basis as traditional marketing. The peculiarity is the object and subject of studying the concept of internal marketing.

The object of internal marketing is the employees of a tourism company and its internal environment, considered from the point of view of the client's expectations and perceptions.

The task of internal marketing is to create an environment within the company that is as customer-oriented as possible.

By subject can be distinguished:

• ? marketing at the level of public tourism organizations - national tourism administrations (NTA); tourist information centers, public associations in the field of tourism;
• ? marketing at the level of territories and regions - tourist destinations;
• ? marketing at the level of producers of tourist services - accommodation facilities, catering establishments, transport enterprises, excursion service enterprises, etc.;
• ? marketing of tour operators and travel agents.

The presence of a marketing strategy is a necessary element not only in the activities of individual companies in the tourism industry, but also in the activities of coordinating and regulatory bodies and organizations in this area.

The tourism marketing strategy within the state consists in its implementation of tourism policy. State tourism policy is a set of government measures and activities that determine the conditions for the development of the tourism industry, rational use of tourism resources, increasing the contribution of the tourism industry to the country's GDP.

The tourism marketing strategy at the state level is reflected in the adoption of relevant legislation, state long-term programs and plans. The state, entering the international tourism market, enters into a system of competitive relations with other states and regions of the world. The role and place of the state in the global tourism market depends on how correctly and effectively the tourism marketing strategy is constructed and implemented. The state's tourism marketing strategy is aimed at creating, promoting and selling a national tourism product on the global tourism market and within the country, i.e. aims to develop international and domestic tourism. A state entering the international tourism market enters into a system of competitive relations with other states and entire world regions. The tourism marketing strategy is reflected in the adoption of relevant legislation, government long-term programs and plans. The role and place of a particular state in the global tourism market depends on how correctly and effectively the tourism marketing strategy is constructed and implemented.

1 Karpova G.A.,Khoreva L.V. Economics and management of tourism activities: a textbook in 2 parts. Part 1. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house of St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Economics, 2011.

The national tourism product is a set of available natural, climatic, natural, historical, architectural and cultural resources attracted and used in tourism activities, tourism and related infrastructure, as well as the activities of tourism companies, expressed in the creation, promotion and sale of specific tourism products aimed at to attract tourists from other states and regions of the world.

In government activities, the concept of marketing in tourism is based on the analysis of market opportunities, selection of target markets, and development of a marketing mix. The implementation of these components makes it possible to correctly develop the state’s tourism policy, i.e. state tourism marketing strategy. The main link in the implementation of tourism marketing in the state is the state body responsible for the state and development of tourism as a whole - the national tourism administration (NTA). In the Russian Federation, this role is played by the Federal Agency for Tourism of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

The state's tourism policy is based on strategy and tactics.

Tourism strategy is the development of a general concept for the development of tourism in the international and domestic markets, targeted programs, the implementation of which requires time and large financial resources. For example, at a meeting of the Presidium of the Government of the Russian Federation on July 28, 2011, the Federal Target Program “Development of Domestic and Inbound Tourism in the Russian Federation (2011-2018)” was adopted. The implementation of the Program will increase the competitiveness of the domestic tourism market, create conditions for the development of tourism infrastructure, and attract investment into the industry. The Program’s activities are also aimed at increasing the efficiency of promoting the national tourism product in the domestic and international markets. This program is an example of Russia's strategy in the field of tourism.

To implement this strategy, a number of measures (tourism tactics) are proposed, including:

• ? zoning of tourism territory in the state;
• ? creation of a regulatory framework for tourism development that corresponds to international practice;
• ? formation of economic mechanisms to stimulate the development of foreign and domestic tourism;
• ? attracting investments in this area, etc.

The main objective of the state’s tourism marketing concept is the creation of a national tourism product and its promotion in the global and domestic tourism markets. The implementation of the marketing tourism concept begins with an analysis of market opportunities, where by the producer we understand the state, the product - the national tourism product, competitors - other states or world regions, consumers - tourists from other countries.

At the territorial level, the national strategy for promoting the tourism product is being clarified, and the details of projects, territories and tourist destinations are being determined. The main focus is on developing a general policy and strategy for development and marketing programs, for example:

• ? the creation of large transport systems for transporting tourists to and from the country, as well as across its territory;
• ? protection of landmarks such as state reserves and national parks;
• ? creation of an information and advertising system promoting destinations and countries as tourist centers.

The tourist essence of each region can be revealed more deeply and its tourism product promoted more effectively by identifying different types of tourism products by destination within the region.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) identifies tourist destinations as the main elements in the tourism system that attracts tourists to travel and where they spend some time 1. A tourist destination includes tourist attractions, tourist infrastructure, and related services.

In conditions of global competition, when tourist destinations become substitute products, destination management bodies are involved in the competition for the attention of tourists and investment resources for the development of the destination.

Marketing of tourist destinations can be defined as a management process in which destination management bodies and businesses identify target groups of tourists, establish communications with them in order to find out the preferences of tourists, their expectations, motivation for choosing a travel destination in order to adapt the tourism product in accordance with the expectations of tourists for achieving their maximum satisfaction.

UNWTO data show that to additionally attract one foreign tourist, providing an average of 1,000 euros into the country's economy, the state spends from 3 to 10 euros on non-commercial advertising of a tourism product. In accordance with this, the average amount of budget funds allocated in European countries for the promotion of a tourism product is 31.7 million euros 2 .

• 1 Pike S. Destination branding. An integrated marketing communication approach. - Oxford: Elsevier, 2008.
• 2 Page S.J., Connell J. Tourism: a Modern Synthesis. - London: Cengage Learning EMEL, 2009.

Tourist destination marketing is part of a broader concept of territory management - territorial marketing. Territorial marketing is marketing in the interests of the territory, its internal entities, as well as external entities in whose attention and actions the territory is interested. Territorial marketing is carried out with the aim of creating, maintaining or changing the opinions, intentions and behavior of residents and non-residents represented by individuals and companies regarding a given territory. The founder of the concept of territorial marketing is Philip Kotler. In his work Marketingplaces, he notes that area marketing is successful when the primary target audiences - residents and businesses - are satisfied with their region, and when the region meets the expectations and needs of visitors and investors. This is the philosophy of managing a territory, which contributes to its socio-economic development by meeting the needs of individuals and economic entities for resources for the purpose of living and (or) conducting activities in the territory without reference to a specific level of territorial entity - region, country, city.

Before the emergence of the concept of territorial marketing and destination marketing as its component, “selling territories” was the dominant form of regional promotion. However, destination marketing is part of the overall concept of territory development and works for comprehensive sustainable socio-economic development.

The basis of the marketing approach to destination management is to consider the tourist destination as a complex tourism product consisting of:

• ? attractions of a destination - what directly attracts tourists (natural, cultural, historical attractions);
• ? tourist infrastructure (accommodation facilities, catering establishments, excursion bureaus, museums, souvenir shops, etc.);
• ? accessibility (transport, visa, etc.);
• ? events calendar;
• ? support services (banks, telecommunications, security system, healthcare system);
• ? the presence of marketing intermediaries - tour operators, travel agents, etc.

The marketing approach to a destination involves the development of a comprehensive destination product. And here it is important to understand that a tourist does not travel to visit a hotel, beach, or restaurant. He travels to get new experiences, the opportunity for intercultural enrichment, to improve his health, etc. Tourists are attracted not by the characteristics of a destination, but by its functional ability to satisfy certain needs.

The marketing strategy of a destination must determine what tourism resources the destination has, what tourism product can be developed based on them, who this tourism product is aimed at, how it will be promoted and what resources are needed for this.

The marketing strategy of a destination is an integral part of the region’s marketing strategy for tourism development, which includes infrastructure development, optimization of local legislation regarding tourism in the region, distribution of financial flows, attraction of investments, and development of public-private partnerships in the field of tourism.

Tourism enterprises producing various services - hotel business, catering, excursion activities - are an integral part of the complex tourist product of the destination, as well as an area of ​​​​joint interests of business and local authorities in the implementation of projects on the basis of public-private partnership for the construction of hotels, theme parks, development of the food system, etc.

Control questions

• 1. Give a description of the market for tourism services.
• 2. Describe the concept of “tourist product”.
• 3. Types of tourism products.
• 4. What are the features of the formation of the concept of marketing in tourism?
• 5. Describe the levels of formation of the tourism product.
• 6. Why is a tourist destination the basis of the tourism system?

• http://www.gks.ru Kiryanova L.G. Destination marketing as a modern approach to tourism region management. - News of Tomsk Polytechnic University, 2010.

The essence of marketing in tourism

Marketing is the most important component of the activities of any organization. The main goal of marketing in the service industry is to ensure efficiency through complete customer satisfaction.

Definition 1

Marketing in tourism is a system of constant coordination of services sold with services that are in high demand in the market, and which a tourism company is able to offer more efficiently from an economic point of view than competing firms do.

Initially, marketing found its application in the manufacturing industry and only then began to be actively used by tourism enterprises. This was led to increased competition and commercialization of the tourism industry, which became the reason for the need to introduce key marketing elements into the practice of tourism enterprises. However, it is important to take into account certain features of tourism, which are related to the specifics of the services provided, the form of sales, etc.

The main aspects to pay attention to when studying tourism marketing are the following:

1. Marketing is not a separate action, but a whole system: an interconnected process of providing services depending on demand.
2. Marketing cannot end with one action as the market is constantly changing and evolving. In other words, we can say that marketing is a continuous process.
3. All actions within a travel company must be coordinated with the external environment.
4. Marketing should be based on planning and forecasting the state of the market under the influence of certain factors.
5. Marketing is one of the main tools to increase the profitability of a company.

So, marketing is a kind of compass in the process of studying supply and demand for a specific tourist service, setting prices for new services, developing an advertising campaign, etc.

Principles of tourism marketing

The essence of marketing in tourism determines its key principles. Among them:

• focus on economic results;
• comprehensiveness of the approach to achieve the intended goals;
• taking into account market conditions and requirements and simultaneous targeted influence on the market;
• all goals must be developed for the long term;
• active, offensive and enterprising steps in the process of responding to external stimuli.

Being a specific economic phenomenon, tourism marketing should be used under a number of conditions:

• saturation of the market with tourist services;
• the presence of intense competition between travel companies for clients;
• free relations in the market.

The first of these conditions determine the relevance of the marketing approach. The third condition is designed to ensure the effectiveness of marketing in the conditions of a particular enterprise. A tourism company, as an economically independent entity, must apply a systematic approach to managing its marketing activities, since in the presence of fierce competition, unsystematic management makes it a weak link in the market.

Key functions of tourism marketing

It is customary to identify such key functions of tourism marketing as:

• establishing contact with the client in order to convince him that this service fully meets his needs and expectations;
• development for the purpose of designing innovations to search for new markets and sales channels;
• control, which involves analyzing the results of marketing activities for their effectiveness.

Thus, with the help of marketing it is possible not only to effectively satisfy market needs, but to increase the competitiveness of a tourism enterprise.

Note 1

So, marketing ensures not only the effective satisfaction of market needs, but also the success of the enterprise in competition.

Specific features of tourism marketing

Tourism is one of the most dynamically developing sectors of the global service sector. Thanks to its rapid growth rate, tourism was recognized as an economic phenomenon of the twentieth century. Despite the fact that in our country tourism is not yet perceived as a full-fledged sector of the economy and as a subject for scientific analysis, the state pays increasing attention to tourism every year.

Example 1

The global economic and political situation has become an impetus for the active development of domestic tourism in Russia in recent years. The closure of major tourist destinations for Russian tourists turns Russians to domestic resorts and cultural and historical territories.

Every year the need for qualified personnel in the hospitality and tourism industry increases, the capabilities of universities emerge and expand, and advanced training courses appear that train tourism personnel.

Note 1

However, a specific feature that distinguishes tourism from other sectors of the economy is the peculiarity of the tourist “product” - services. According to experts, the share of services and goods in tourism is distributed as 75% and 25%, respectively. The result of activities in the field of tourism comes down to the tourism product.

The tourism product is a complex of services that best meet the desires of tourists and satisfy their needs for recreation, health improvement, knowledge of the surrounding world, accommodation, food and others.

The tourism product has the distinctive characteristics of a service, namely intangibility, non-storability, inseparability from the source and variability of quality (4 “NOT”). The four “NOTs” of a tourist service as a product significantly influence the features of tourism marketing.

Functions of tourism marketing

Tourism marketing is aimed primarily at developing a company in order to maximize profits, promoting its tourism products, and meeting the consumer expectations of tourists, based on the study of tourist demand.

According to the provisions of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), there are three main functions of tourism marketing:

1. Formation of contacts with consumers of tourism services. Establishing contacts with clients aims to convince them that the proposed holiday destination and the existing services, attractions and expected benefits are fully consistent with what the clients themselves want to receive.
2. Developing contacts involves designing innovations that can provide new sales opportunities. Such innovations must meet the needs and preferences of potential clients. Development of contacts through innovations; ¢
3. Monitoring service results. Control involves analyzing the results of activities to promote goods and services to the market and checking to what extent the results reflect the full and successful use of opportunities available in the field of tourism, a comparative analysis of expenses for advertising marketing activities and income received.

Tourism marketing mix (4P + 3P)

The traditional marketing mix consists of the following interrelated elements, known as the 4Ps: Product - Price - Place - Promotion.

1. the service process (Process), developed using various design and reengineering methods, is aimed at improving the service functions of the tourism product;
2. staff (People). Contact personnel are company personnel who simultaneously produce and sell tourism services. Contact zone employees in marketing are often called “part-time marketers”;
3. material environment (Physical Evidence). This refers to the atmosphere of a hotel, restaurant, travel agency office, from a marketing point of view, the impact on human sensory channels: visual (harmonious design and interior, color schemes, organization of space, lighting), auditory (style of music, its tempo and volume), olfactory (room ventilation, pleasant smells), tactile (room temperature).

Note 2

Together with the other marketing mix strategies (product, price, distribution channels, promotion), these additional three elements form the tourism marketing mix.

Introduction 3

1 The concept of marketing in the tourism industry 5

2 Structure of the tourism product 12

2.1 Types and purposes of marketing research 15

2.2 Stages of marketing 19

3 Elements of the marketing strategy of Russian tourism enterprises 22

23

25

3.3 Distribution channels 28

3.3 Demand stimulation methods 31

4 Analysis of marketing of tourist services of the company "Sacvoyage" 35

Conclusion 42

Literature 43

Introduction

Tourism is one of the leading and most dynamically developing sectors of the world economy. The relevance of the topic is that tourism today plays a major role in the global economy and is currently one of the most profitable types of business in the world. Due to its rapid growth rate, it is recognized as an economic phenomenon of the past century and a brilliant future is predicted for it in the coming century. According to the forecast of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), the growth of the tourism industry will be irreversible in the 21st century, and by 2020 the number of international tourist visits will be 1.6 billion.

Tourism in its main characteristics does not have any fundamental differences from other forms of economic activity, therefore all the basic provisions of modern marketing can be fully applied in this area. At the same time, tourism has certain features related to the nature of the services provided, labor, forms of sales, etc. Because of this, marketing in tourism has a number of characteristic features that distinguish it not only from trade in goods, but also from other forms of trade in services. Here there is trade in both services and goods (according to experts, the share of services in tourism is 75%, goods – 25%), as well as the special nature of the consumption of tourism services and goods at the place of their production and in a certain situation. The marketing complex in tourism has its own characteristics that must be taken into account when doing business in this industry.

The main components of marketing of tourism services are: design of services, development of their organizational foundations (the relationship between the production process and sale of services), price of services, advertising activities, sale and promotion of services (commercial work).

The main thing that tourism services marketing methods should be aimed at is identifying opportunities to most fully satisfy people's needs from the point of view of psychological and social factors, as well as determining the best ways to finance the activities of travel companies based on available resources.

Tourist services are a special “invisible” product. The relationships being its implementation are varied and specific. The distribution system and baggage distribution channels are much different through the material distribution of physical goods.

The successful business of an enterprise depends not only on the manufactured product. It is not enough to produce a quality product; it must meet its consumer. Meeting a product with a potential consumer is the most important condition for its implementation. Therefore, some manufacturers offer bait products to the market through intermediaries, forming their own distribution channels.

Marketing in tourism is the continuous coordination of the services offered with services that are in demand in the market and which the travel agency is able to offer at a profit for itself and more effectively than competitors do.

Purpose of the study: analysis of the features of tourism marketing. Analysis of marketing of tourist services of the company "Sacvoyage"

The following tasks arise from this:

Consider the concept of marketing in the tourism industry, the structure of the tourism product.

Study the types and purposes of marketing research .

Consider the elements of the marketing strategy of Russian tourism enterprises.

Conduct an analysis of the marketing of tourism services of the Sacvoyage company.

1 The concept of marketing in the tourism industry

Tourism marketing is often used in one of the following three meanings.

Marketing is advertising, sales promotion and pressure on the buyer, in other words, a set of particularly aggressive sales tools used to capture existing tourism markets. In this, the most mercantile meaning of the word, marketing is considered mainly in relation to the mass consumer market and to a much lesser extent to the high technology sectors, financial, social and cultural services.

Marketing is a set of market analysis tools (such as sales forecasting methods, simulation models and market research) available only to large enterprises, where they are used to develop a forward-looking and more scientific approach to analyzing needs and demand.

Marketing is the architect of the consumer society, i.e. a market system where sellers commercially exploit consumers.

Behind all this complex thinking lie three aspects of the marketing concept: the active aspect - penetrating markets; analytical aspect - understanding markets; ideological aspect - way of thinking.

Most often, one can observe a tendency to reduce the concept of marketing to its active dimension, i.e. to a number of sales techniques, and an extreme underestimation of its analytical aspect.

This vision of the role of marketing is based on the fact that with the help of marketing (and in reality, sales promotion) and advertising, you can force the market to accept anything. However, this is very flawed, since such sales methods are often developed without taking into account the real needs of potential buyers, but only on the basis of the seller's desire to make a record number of sales.

In fact, the marketing ideology is completely different. It is based, in essence, on the theory of individual choice, based on the principle of consumer priority. Within this approach, marketing is nothing more than the social expression and translation into operational terms of the management principles put forward by classical economics at the end of the 18th century. These principles were formulated by Adam Smith and form the basis of a market economy. They can be summarized as follows: “...the prosperity of society is the result not so much of altruistic behavior as of ensuring that the mutual interests of buyer and seller are matched through competitive exchange.”

A. Smith viewed human society, first of all, as a barter union, which is based on the exchange of various types of labor. He considered the tendency to exchange to be a fundamental property of human nature, considering it ahistorically, regardless of the stage of social development.

Despite the fact that in modern economics the basic principle derived by Adam Smith has been adjusted, it nevertheless remains the main principle governing the economic activities of an efficient firm operating in a free competitive market. Moreover, it is now clearer than ever that countries that rejected Adam Smith's ideas are finding themselves falling behind economically. The recent upheavals in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union clearly demonstrate this lag on many fronts.

At the heart of a market economy we find four central ideas.

People strive to get rewards from life. It is the pursuit of personal interest that motivates people to work, is the engine of growth, individual development and determines general well-being.

The nature of the reward is determined by individual preferences, which depend on tastes, culture, values, etc.

It is through free and competitive exchange that people and the organizations with which they interact best achieve their goals. If exchange is free, it will occur only when its terms create utility for both parties, and if it is competitive, then the risk of producers abusing their market position is limited.

The mechanisms of a market economy are based on the principle of individual freedom and, in particular, on the principle of consumer priority. The moral justification of systems is based on the recognition that people are responsible for their own actions and have the ability to decide what is good for them and what is not.

It must be recognized that there is a large gap between what marketing claims to be “in theory” and what it is in real life. However, the concept of marketing is the ideal to which every company should strive. Even if this is a myth, it is a guiding myth, guiding the company in its actions.

From the above principles emerges a philosophy of action that is relevant to any organization engaged in satisfying customer needs. The scope of this marketing action can be divided into three main areas:

1) consumer marketing, when transactions are carried out between firms and final consumers, individuals or families;

2) industrial, or intercompany, marketing, when two parties in the exchange process are organizations;

3) social marketing, covering the areas of activity of non-profit organizations such as museums, universities, etc.

The marketing concept suggests that all company activities should have the main goal of satisfying user needs, since this is the best way to achieve its own growth goals and increase the company's income.

This philosophy of action involves two directions of activity of the company.

Systematic and ongoing analysis of the needs and requirements of key consumer groups, as well as the development of new product or service concepts that allow the company to serve selected customer groups better than competitors, and thereby provide itself with a sustainable competitive advantage. Strategic marketing combines these tasks.

Organization of sales, sales and communication policies to inform potential buyers and demonstrate the distinctive qualities of the product while reducing the cost of finding buyers. Such tasks are assigned to operational marketing.

Thus, the vast majority of Russian tourism companies adhere to the position of operational marketing. Strategic marketing is a very expensive activity, and therefore it remains the domain of only large tourism companies, corporations and hotel holdings. Among the Russian hospitality industry companies engaged in strategic developments are VAO Intourist, GLO Moscow, OJSC Aeroflot, government agencies of the executive branch and some others. Some Russian travel companies resort to the help of specialized marketing companies that carry out market research on order. However, as a rule, these studies are carried out with the aim of determining only the market potential for an already finished product, and only a small number of orders involve preliminary market research and identification of its needs.

Strategic and operational marketing complement each other and find their concrete embodiment within the framework of the company's marketing policy. Thus, by combining the two approaches, we can propose the following definition of marketing.

Marketing is a social process aimed at satisfying the needs and desires of people and organizations by facilitating the free, competitive exchange of goods and services of value to the buyer.

In other words, if a market player has done a good job of identifying consumer needs, has developed a suitable product or service, set an appropriate price for it, established distribution systems and effectively stimulated its sales, then such goods or services will probably easily find their buyer. This expresses the basic elements of marketing.

In today's competitive environment, no one really disputes the importance of marketing. There is little doubt that focusing all business activity on the needs of the customer or user is the only way to do business. Despite the general agreement, many companies in practice limit themselves only to operational marketing (actually organizing and promoting sales), leaving other components of marketing without attention. Understanding the concept of marketing is one thing, following that philosophy is another.

A company that embraces this philosophy will be faced with the need to build a market-driven organization whose behavior and actions are aligned with the marketing concept. Creating superior customer value while generating profit is more than a function of marketing. This is the purpose of all activities of the organization, and not just one department. In other words, strategic marketing is very important for the organization as a whole, and it cannot be considered as a purely functional unit of commercial services.

To achieve performance above the market average, an organization must achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. It can be achieved by four key components of market orientation: customer orientation, intermediate customer orientation, competitor orientation, and cross-functional coordination.

Focusing on the end consumer means focusing efforts at all levels of the organization on creating value for the consumer, understanding and anticipating their needs.

Orientation towards an intermediate client implies a willingness to treat trading firms not as simple intermediaries, but as their clients, i.e. desire to take into account their specific needs.

Focusing on competitors involves understanding the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, calculating their strategy and quickly responding to their actions.

Cross-functional coordination means sharing market intelligence within the organization, functional integration in formulating strategy, and using the vision and knowledge of various departments, not just the marketing department, to assess customer needs and problems.

A fifth component of a market-driven organization should be added: environmental monitoring. In other words, it is an ongoing analysis of alternative technologies, social changes, and government regulations that may present opportunities or threats to the firm.

In the tourism and hospitality industry, the fifth component of the organization takes on particular importance, since the industry is very susceptible to the external environment, its changes, both internal and external, it reacts sharply and very quickly to them, and incorrect or untimely assessment can sometimes lead to negative consequences , to the point of ruin.

Relationship marketing is also important in the hospitality industry. Company specialists and managers constantly work to establish good relationships with valuable customers, distributors, suppliers and communications representatives. The fate of the company or enterprise largely depends on their work in this direction. After all, the result of building relationships will be the conclusion of profitable transactions for the company.

Thus, marketing covers an area much broader than the traditional sphere of management, since it includes the organizational culture and climate that most effectively stimulate the behavior necessary for the successful implementation of the marketing concept.

2 Structure of the tourism product

Tourism in its main characteristics does not have any fundamental differences from other forms of economic activity. Therefore, all the essential provisions of modern marketing can be fully applied in tourism. At the same time, tourism has its own specifics that distinguish it not only from trade in goods, but also from other forms of trade in services. Here there is trade in both services and goods (according to experts, the share of services in tourism is 75%, goods - 25%), as well as the special nature of the consumption of tourism services and goods at the place of their production, moreover, in a certain situation .

In traditional production, having a specific result of labor, the concept of marketing has a more specific content. In tourism, the result of activity comes down to the tourism product. In essence, a tourism product is any service that satisfies certain needs of tourists and is subject to payment on their part. Tourist services include hotel, transport, excursion, translation, household, utility, intermediary and others. At the same time, “tourism product” can be considered in a narrow and broad sense. A tourism product in the narrow sense is the services of each specific sector of the tourism industry (for example, a hotel product, a tourism product of a tour operator, a transport enterprise, and so on). In a broad sense, a tourism product is a complex of goods and services that together form a tourist trip (tour) or are directly related to it. The main tourism product is a comprehensive service, i.e. a standard set of services sold to tourists in one “package”.

The tourism product, along with the general specific characteristics of services, has its own distinctive features.

This is a complex of services and goods characterized by a complex system of relationships between various components.

Tourism services have seven distinctive characteristics:

1. Inability to store. If there is no demand for them at the moment, hotel or airplane seats cannot be stored for the purpose of selling them in the future. Therefore, managers need to make efforts to stimulate demand for these services in a given short-term period.

2. Intangibility of services. There are no measured values ​​for assessing a tourism product: it is impossible to have an idea of ​​the quality of the product before purchasing and consuming it. In this regard, the image of the company in the market and the prestige of its goods (services) are of particular importance for consumers when purchasing.

3. Susceptibility to seasonal fluctuations. The marketing activities of a travel agency will differ during the peak season and in the off-season. In the off-season, additional measures to stimulate demand are needed: low prices, various additional services, varying different types of tourism (diversification of supply).

4. Significant staticity, attachment to a specific place (camp site, airport, since they cannot be moved to another place).

5. Discrepancy in time between the fact of sale of a travel service and its consumption. The purchase of tourism goods (services) is made weeks or months before the start of their consumption. In this case, advertising printed materials play an important role, providing visual information about the purchased tourism product and allowing one to create a sense of the benefits that can be derived from its consumption in the future. At the stage of selling a tourism product, great importance is attached to the degree of reliability of information, as well as the reliability of the product (the quality of the product corresponds to its price).

6. Territorial separation of the consumer and producer in the tourism market. Information and advertising activities on a broader (international) level are important.

7. The buyer overcomes the distance separating him from the product and the place of consumption, and not vice versa.

Demand for tourism services is extremely elastic with respect to income and price, but largely depends on political and social conditions. The consumer, as a rule, cannot see a tourism product before consuming it, and consumption itself in most cases is carried out directly at the place of production of the tourism service. The consumer overcomes the distance separating him from the product and the place of consumption, and not vice versa. The tourism product depends on variables such as space and time, and is characterized by fluctuations in demand. A tourism product is created through the efforts of many enterprises, each of which has its own operating methods, specific needs and different commercial goals. High quality of tourist services cannot be achieved if there are even minor shortcomings, since tourist services consist of these very little things and small details. The quality of tourism services is influenced by external factors of a force majeure nature (natural conditions, weather, tourism policy, international events, etc.).

These specific features of the tourism product have a significant impact on tourism marketing. Some authors put global content into the concept of marketing in tourism, such as the Swiss specialist J. Kripendorff: “Tourism marketing is a systematic change and coordination of the activities of tourism enterprises, as well as private and public policies in the field of tourism, carried out regionally, nationally or international plans. The purpose of such changes is to most fully satisfy the needs of certain consumer groups, while taking into account the possibility of obtaining appropriate profits."

The components of the overall marketing system in the tourism field are: the state, local authorities, national and local (regional) tourism organizations and enterprises.

Western experience shows that the joint efforts of private firms and official government tourism organizations in promoting the tourism industry give the greatest effect.

There is a close relationship between the different levels of marketing: the state, local authorities and associations take market data, including information from enterprises, and enterprises, in turn, base their marketing concepts on national and local tourism concepts. Marketing developments of the state are not a directive, but a recommendation, a guideline for the enterprise.

The following functions fall on the share of national organizations and regional levels:

Conducting marketing research at the national level;

Legal and investment support for the development of tourism infrastructure;

Consulting services on the implementation of the marketing concept;

Assistance in conducting public relations and advertising events (exhibitions and fairs, prospectuses);

Creating a positive image of the country, promoting the country as an attractive tourist destination for foreign tourists.

2.1 Types and purposes of marketing research

Marketing research is essential for a particular company in the process of systematically collecting and analyzing information in order to identify threats, weak and strong features and opportunities of the tourism market, as well as to develop an appropriate marketing strategy for successful business.

Research conducted in tourism provides an information base for tourism managers to make the right management decisions. Research reveals:

Problems that interfere with the effective conduct of business;

Causes of problems and possible ways to resolve them;

Future trends in the tourism market.

Research also allows you to: see new opportunities; determine effective ways of doing business; better understand the needs of the market and reduce the likelihood of risk in accordance with the changes that constantly occur there.

Research that reduces risk in the decision-making process largely determines the success of a tourism enterprise.

Thus, managers can plan, implement and control tourism service activities more successfully if they have the necessary information.

All management decisions must be made taking into account data obtained during marketing research.

The intensive growth of tourism in Russia did not facilitate marketing research and planning of marketing activities. However, the crisis has forced many businesses to re-evaluate their operating methods in order to survive the crisis and competition. When making management decisions, managers pursue the goal of making a profit. But, as long-term practice in the European tourism market shows, the main tasks of any tourism enterprise, if its strategic goal is to obtain long-term profits and maintain demand for its goods and services, are to determine the needs of consumers and satisfy their needs. The marketing concept of doing business, which arose in the late 70s in the Western market, involves conducting market research and planning marketing activities at the very beginning of developing a tourism product: firms need to know the needs of potential customers, determine the possible number of buyers of a product or service, how and where they want this is to buy, at what price and what they expect from the purchased product or service. To obtain such information, there are certain research technologies. Tourism enterprises choose the most appropriate ones from many different approaches.

Conducting marketing research is necessary at all stages of a company's activities - from product development and promotion to sales and after-sales service.

Firms can conduct two types of research:

1) current research, carried out constantly in order to identify all the changes and trends taking place in the tourism market (even minor changes in the environment surrounding the company can affect the results of management decisions);

2) study of one specific situation (problem) in order to test an assumption or analyze changes in the tourism market.

The company conducts a comprehensive study of the tourism market in order to assess the current general situation, the problems and threats arising from it, and emerging opportunities. The company may also allocate resources to conduct research on one or more problem situations that arise during the daily functioning of the enterprise. In addition, the company examines external and internal influence factors, studies the effectiveness of an advertising campaign, market potential, and trends in business development.

Objectives of marketing research in tourism:

1. Identify significant problems. The intensity of daily business activities leaves little time for performers to concentrate on problematic areas of activity that are an obstacle to the successful functioning of the enterprise. Identifying the causes and problems that cause business inefficiency is often one of the many simple contributions that research makes to the management process.

2. Maintaining the connection of the enterprise with its target markets. Tourism research allows us to identify future trends, provide an opportunity to better understand market demands and monitor changes in markets in order to develop appropriate policies. Research reduces the risk of unexpected changes in markets. To a certain extent, the study provides a guarantee that the company will not produce a product that, due to changes in the market, has become outdated for the given market.

3. Cost reduction. Research helps determine the most effective business methods and eliminate ineffective ones.

4. Development of new sources of profit. Research can lead to the discovery of new markets, new products, and new uses for products already on the market.

5. Help in stimulating sales. The results of the study are interesting not only for a particular company, but also for society as a whole and can be used in advertising campaigns and to stimulate sales. This primarily concerns studies of consumer attitudes towards a product, service, and those studies in which consumers are asked to evaluate certain goods and services.

6. Creating a favorable attitude on the part of buyers. Consumers are receptive to tourism enterprises conducting research. They believe that companies that engage in such activities truly care about them and are making an effort to create a product or service that satisfies their needs. So, if in the preamble to the questionnaire you indicate the purpose of the survey, for example, improving the quality of service, clients will be more willing to answer the questionnaire and they will have a favorable impression of the company as caring about maintaining or improving the quality of the services provided.

2.2 Stages of marketing

Research in tourism takes various forms: from primitive to more complex, from simple fact collection to the use of complex, mathematical models.

The process of conducting tourism research is represented by the following stages:

1. Definition of the problem. First, it is necessary to define or identify the existing problem and formulate the objectives of the study. The goals may be exploratory, involving the collection of some preliminary data that sheds light on the problem, and possibly helps to develop a hypothesis; descriptive, i.e. explaining certain phenomena; experimental, involving testing a hypothesis about some cause-and-effect relationship.

2. Conducting a situational analysis. At this stage, all available information related to the problem is collected and processed. The purpose of this stage is to find out whether any other company has already had similar situations or to check whether the information that contains a ready-made solution to this problem has not been missed.

A situational analysis is a thorough search of all data related to a given company, a particular product, industry, market, competitors, advertising, consumers, product and service providers, technology, economy, political climate and other similar data. Knowing all the information about a problem helps to identify possible causes of its occurrence. An organization will receive more from the results of research if its internal environment and goals, strategies, aspirations, available resources, as well as the limitations beyond which it should not go in its activities are clearly defined.

In addition to obtaining the necessary information on a given issue from available sources, it is also necessary to extract useful information from conversations with customers, distributors and other key figures in the tourism industry. During situation analysis and information gathering, assumptions are made that must then be tested.

3. Development of a research scheme. After collecting relevant data and defining the problem, it is necessary to develop a specific procedure (or structure) according to which the research will be carried out. At this stage, which is the core of the research process, hypotheses are developed that will be tested, and the type and sources of necessary information are determined. If it is determined that field research is necessary, a sample for interviewing, questionnaires, or other forms of information collection, as well as instruction sheets and coding and tabulation methods, must be developed. Finally, a supporting study needs to be done to check all the previous elements. The results are presented in the form of a detailed plan that is intended to serve as a guide in the research process, and any qualified research participant must adhere to this plan.

4. Data collection. In cases where data can be obtained from secondary information sources, desk research is carried out on all existing information. In collecting primary information, however, actual field research is used, the main methods of which are observation, survey or experiment. The success of data collection depends on the quality of the field research, the quality of the interviewers or people conducting the field research, and the skill level of the researchers.

5. Presentation of information in tables and analysis. Once data has been collected, the information must be coded, tabulated, and analyzed. This and the previous steps must be carried out with the greatest care, otherwise many erroneous conclusions may be drawn if the process of collection, tabulation and analysis is not carried out properly. For example, if a survey method is used to collect data, interviewers must be carefully selected, trained and supervised. Presentation of information in tables is carried out using a computer.

6. Data interpretation. The result of presenting data in tables is a variety of computer inferences and a number of statistical conclusions. The data obtained is interpreted in order to find the best solution or develop a series of specific recommendations to determine the actions of the company or organization. The transition from interpreting information to making recommendations is the most difficult task in the research process.

7. Report preparation. The presentation of the research results is very important. All the work and expense of conducting research will be in vain if the data obtained is not presented in a form that helps the manager act in accordance with them. At this stage of the research process, a full report should be compiled with approved recommendations for solving a particular problem situation.

8. Control. The research work is considered unfinished until the research results are put into action. Research is money invested and time spent.

3 Elements of the marketing strategy of Russian tourism enterprises

The marketing mix (marketing program) is a set of controllable marketing variables that a firm uses together in an effort to elicit the desired response from its target market. A tourism marketing manager must constantly create a marketing mix - the right combination of elements that ensure profit by fully satisfying consumer needs and in ways that are more effective than competitors.

The many elements of the marketing mix have been summarized into the four Ps, which include Product, Place, Promotion and Price. This concept is a simple and precise formula that represents all marketing activities and allows you to easily create a marketing program.

A product refers not only to its physical characteristics, but also to the planning and development of a new product or service. Here decisions are made regarding product diversity, branding and packaging. When planning the creation of a product (goods, services), all these aspects must be taken into account.

Place refers to making decisions regarding appropriate methods of distribution of a product, i.e., which channels and which distribution method should be used to create the easiest access for consumers to goods and services of producers.

Stimulation methods are all kinds of activities of a company to disseminate information about the merits of its product and convince target consumers to buy it. Promotion methods include not only advertising, but also personal selling techniques, sales promotion activities, and public relations.

Price is a very important marketing mix variable. It must satisfy consumers and at the same time correspond to the profit goal of the enterprise. The price set by the company must correspond to the value of the offer, otherwise buyers will purchase competitors' products.

The starting point for effective marketing is the consumer. After identifying and analyzing a specific group of consumers, the manager, using all four elements of the marketing tool, ensures effective service to this segment. Since consumer orientation is important, the fifth element of the marketing mix is ​​considered to be the people themselves (consumers of the tourism product), since they are the central point of the marketing program (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Elements of the marketing mix

3.1 Planning and development of a tourism product

The goal of most travel agencies is to run a profitable and long-lasting business. To achieve this goal, companies need to produce a product or service that would satisfy the needs of potential buyers and thereby ensure an increase in business. Product planning is an important component in developing a profitable and lasting business. It is often referred to as "five rules" planning - planning to create the right product, deliver it to the right place, at the right time, at the right price and in the right (right) quantity.

In Fig. 2 presents the life phases that a tourism product goes through: launching a product on the market, growth, maturity, saturation, decline. Due to rapid changes in people's lifestyles and technological changes, the life cycle of individual products and services has become shorter than it was before, so the concept of product life cycle plays an important role in strategic planning and each stage of the product life cycle also has specific objectives for marketing.

Rice. 2. Product life cycle

The stage of introducing a product to the market. This phase of the life cycle requires spending to stimulate demand (this is the best time to advertise a new product or service). This stage is characterized by high costs, slow sales growth, and advertising campaigns to stimulate initial demand.

Growth stage. During this period, the new product (if it is in demand in the market) satisfies the interests of the market, which is expressed in increased sales and profits. Increasing profits can make a market attractive to competitors. The company's sales promotion costs remain high, but here the emphasis is on motivating targeted selection and purchase of a particular company's product, rather than on motivating consumers to buy and try this product. During the growth stage, the number of retail outlets selling a product or service usually increases. During this period, the market becomes attractive to competitors, but due to the effects of scale, prices for goods (services) may decrease.

Maturity stage. A mature product is a product or service that has already been firmly established in the market. The pace of its sales may continue to increase, but at a slower rate. Then they gradually level out. At this stage of the product life cycle, many retail outlets selling the product or service are very competitive. Firms are trying to find ways to maintain their market share. Ski resorts are the most suitable example of a mature product.

Saturation stage. At this stage, sales volumes reach their highest point, the product penetrates the market as much as possible.

Mass production and the use of new technologies make it possible to reduce prices and make the product more accessible to everyone.

Decline stage. Many tourism products remain at the saturation stage for several years. However, many of them become obsolete over time and new products are introduced to the market to replace old ones. During the decline stage, demand for the product decreases and advertising costs decrease. As demand and profits fall, firms that cannot withstand the competition leave the market.

3.2 Strategies for setting prices for tourism products

One of the most important marketing decisions is the decision regarding setting the price of a product or service. Price reflects how consumers perceive the product. It also greatly influences other marketing mix variables.

The costs associated with the production, promotion, distribution and sale of a tourism product, as well as the profit margin, must be included in the price. In order to establish the correct price for a tourism product, it is necessary to analyze many factors.

When setting prices, first of all, the nature of competition in a given tourism market and an analysis of the pricing policies of competitors are taken into account.

In a purely competitive market, no single buyer or seller has much influence on the level of current market prices. Businesses in this market do not spend much time developing a marketing strategy.

In the market of monopolistic competition, enterprises set prices for their goods in a wide range, since the offers of various travel enterprises differ from each other in quality and special properties. Businesses develop different offerings for different segments and make extensive use of branding, advertising and personal selling techniques.

An oligopolistic market consists of a small number of tourism enterprises. It is difficult for new entrants to penetrate this market. Each manufacturer is sensitive to the strategy and actions of competitors. In the more mature Western tourism market, an oligopolistic nature of competition has developed. Here, as a rule, several large travel agencies dominate. For example, in Germany already in 1955, the three largest firms controlled 57% of the tourism market.

In a pure monopoly, there is only one seller in the market. These can be a government monopoly, a private unregulated monopoly, or a private regulated monopoly. In each individual case, pricing is different. A state monopoly may be on tourist sites of unique quality (Moscow Kremlin).

In pricing decisions, firms have a choice of one of three product pricing strategies:

1. Firms may decide to sell their product at the market price, that is, at the price generally accepted in the market. In this case, firms are considered to operate under conditions of non-price competition.

2. Firms can charge a lower price than current market prices. Firms that practice such price discounting policies create a reputation for themselves as firms that charge low prices and thereby try to achieve higher sales volumes than their competitors.

3. Setting a price above the market price. The use of a premium pricing strategy should be based on the best quality of the product in the industry or supported by various attractive benefits and uniqueness of the product to justify the high price. This approach focuses on quality, which many customers believe is a function of price. Quality generates more costs.

Another basis for making pricing decisions is the level of demand for tourism products.

When setting a price for a product, it is necessary to take into account the type and number of potential consumers. If when the price decreases by 1%, demand increases significantly, and when the price increases by 1%, it decreases significantly, then price elasticity of demand occurs. If there are a small number of consumers in the market, then the price must be high enough to compensate for the limited market. However, you also need to consider your purchasing habits and purchasing power.

The price must include gross production costs. The profit included in the price of the product must remain to compensate for the business risk after paying obligations to all contract partners and after paying all taxes.

Travel agents mark up the tour operator's selling price, thereby covering their overhead costs and making a profit. Tour operators determine the minimum price level, below which travel agents do not have the right to reduce prices.

In addition to these factors, you must also consider:

1. Availability of substitute products from competitors. If competitors sell tour packages to the same destination, then with a significant increase in the price of the product, you can lose your customers.

2. Income, degree of saturation of the needs of your target market, changes in the environment (political, economic, legal). All this needs to be constantly analyzed.

3. Product quality. The quality of a product reflects the price-value relationship.

4. Distinctive characteristics of the product.

5. Competitors. When setting a price for a product similar to a competitor's product, the prices of competitors' products must be taken into account.

6. Seasonality. When developing the price of a product, the time aspect must be taken into account.

7. Psychological characteristics. It has been found that consumers respond psychologically well to prices expressed in odd numbers, and there seems to be something magical about prices that end with the number 9.

For the tourism services market, it is not uncommon for there to be a gap in time between the moment the price is set and the moment of purchase and sale of the tourist product.

3.3 Distribution channels

Another difficult decision that a marketing manager must make is the selection of suitable tourism intermediaries who connect consumers of tourism goods and services with producers of these services (airlines, hotels, car rental firms, etc.).

When choosing a particular channel for the distribution of goods and services, it is necessary to:

Product analysis;

Characteristics and determination of market size;

Analysis of distribution channels by sales volume, costs and profit;

Determining the assistance that can be expected from this channel when selling goods and services;

Determining the assistance that will need to be provided to this channel in the distribution of goods and services;

Determining the number of retail points of sale.

American market researchers who have studied tourism intermediaries have identified three main categories of distribution channels: tour operators, travel agents and specialized distribution channels. The category of specialized channels includes incentive travel agencies; persons involved in planning meetings and conferences; hotel representatives, association executives; corporate travel agencies, etc. (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. System of distribution of goods and services in tourism

Intermediaries can influence when, where and how people travel. To some extent, they control what percentage of the business the airline, hotel, cruise line or car rental firm will receive.

Each vertical link in Fig. 4 represents a possible intermediary connecting tourists with tourism service providers. The leftmost link shows that consumers themselves book seats on a vehicle, a room in a hotel, and organize their vacation directly with manufacturers (suppliers) of travel services. Each of the subsequent links is not a direct connection, but mediated by one or more intermediaries. The tourism marketing manager must study all the presented links to select the best channel or combination of distribution channels in order to successfully promote the company’s goods and services on the market. The manager must also be always aware of the changes that occur in the distribution system. The entry of new competitors into the system always requires additional methods of distribution of goods and services.

Rice. 4. Channels for the distribution of tourism goods and services at different levels.

In the Russian tourism market, there are two main forms of selling tourism products: through a tour operator and through a travel agent. Tour operator is a tourism enterprise that develops tourist routes and packages tours, ensures their functioning, organizes advertising, calculates in accordance with current regulations and approves in the prescribed manner prices for tours on these routes, sells tours to travel agents for the issuance and sale of tours under their licenses . A travel agent is a company that purchases tours developed by a tour operator, issues vouchers for these tours and sells them to consumers.

3.3 Demand stimulation methods

The purpose of promoting goods and services is to create demand for these goods and services.

The use of funds to stimulate demand in the field of tourism is aimed not only at the end consumer, but also at numerous producers of travel services, intermediaries (travel agents, tour operators), as well as at their contact “audiences” (mass media, financial and insurance companies, public organizations) .

In order to sell a product, you must:

Attract the attention of potential consumers;

Arouse consumer interest in the product;

Create a desire among consumers to buy this product;

Stimulate buyers to take real action.

Both forms of personal selling and advertising are very effective. But the most effective is to use these two forms together. Advertising is ideal for attracting attention and creating interest among potential buyers in a particular product or service.

In tourism, demand stimulation tools such as advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and propaganda are widely used.

Advertising. Advertising can be defined as a form of non-personal communication with customers to present goods, ideas and services, carried out through paid media, with a clearly stated source of funding.

Each travel company chooses the form of appeal in advance, even when the advertising campaign is carried out by order of advertising agencies or media employees.

There are commercial and communication effectiveness of advertising. The sales effectiveness of advertising is determined by the increase in the percentage of sales volumes before and after the start of advertising activities. The communicative effectiveness of advertising is determined by research methods and questionnaires.

The main advertising media are newspapers, magazines, radio, television, signs, catalogues, booklets, stands, leaflets, billboards, advertisements on vehicles. They have the following advantages and disadvantages.

Promoting a new tourist center on the market will require more money than maintaining the image of an object already developed by tourists among tourists. The distribution of advertising budget funds between advertising and sales promotion depends on each specific situation.

A travel agency cannot spend more than 10% of its turnover on an advertising campaign. The specificity of tourism advertising is that the advertising messages of travel organizations must be more targeted than advertising in other sectors of the economy.

Research. Successful tourism marketing relies heavily on research. Activities to stimulate tourism demand without conducting appropriate research are just a waste of effort and time. Advertising costs will not be productive if the following are not known in advance: the contingent of clients, their addresses and preferences regarding travel and recreation, their interests; what tourist destinations they prefer. Answers to these questions can only be obtained through research.

Personal selling techniques. This is the oldest and most widely used method of creating customer demand, the most convincing and effective type of sales promotion, since the seller in this case has direct contact with customers. Unlike advertising, which is not a personal means of communication, personal selling is an individual, personal communication between the seller and the consumer. Many organizations allocate more funds to the personal selling method (8 to 15% of sales) than to advertising.

Sales promotion is the use of a variety of means of stimulating influence, designed to accelerate or enhance the market response.

Incentives (competitions, coupons, bonuses, commissions) have three characteristic qualities:

1) attract attention and contain information that can lead the consumer to the product;

2) involve a concession, benefit, assistance that is of value to the consumer;

Organization of public opinion (public relations), go propaganda. Public opinion organizing activities have several objectives, including providing the company with favorable publicity, creating perceptions of it as an organization with high civic responsibility, and countering the spread of unfavorable rumors and information about it. Public relations can be defined as the social consciousness of a company, where public interests are a priority in the process of making any decision. Public relations permeates the entire tourism organization, including relationships with many entities such as clients, employees, suppliers and local residents.

Constant communication with your clients is the basis for creating or maintaining a favorable image of the company. The reputation and image of a travel company largely determine the method of resolving disputes that arise with clients and partners, as well as the procedure for resolving complaints. Tourist organizations that care about maintaining their positive reputation try not to bring the situation to court, but to resolve everything peacefully. In disseminating favorable information about a travel agency, it is necessary to provide consumers with only reliable and complete information about the product or service. False information will create an unfavorable image of the company in the public mind for a long time or even forever.

Survival in the market requires the use of a direct marketing strategy, the essence of which is the individualization of sales, establishing direct contacts directly with a specific consumer, with each potential client.

The concept of direct marketing involves:

Identification of target groups to which marketing activities should be directed;

Development of a set of measures to stimulate the sale of travel services;

Creation of a data bank on the company’s clientele;

Creation of an effective system of stable feedback and rapid response of the travel service provider to complaints and claims from the client.

4 Analysis of marketing of tourist services of the company "Sacvoyage"

The travel company "SACVOYAGE" was founded on February 29, 1996. Currently a member of the Russian Association of Travel Agencies (RATA)

Travel agency "SAKVOYAZH" 450000, g. Ufa, Lenin st. 44/46

Sale of tours in the following directions:

Turkey, Egypt, UAE, Tunisia, Greece, Czech Republic, Italy, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Thailand, Cyprus, Malta, Andorra, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Scandinavia, Russia, and Bashkiria

Bus tours in Europe

sea ​​cruises

VIP and individual tours

last minute tours.

The travel company "Sacvoyage" has a well-deserved reputation as one of the most reliable travel agencies in Ufa. The work of managers in the office is maximally interconnected and automated. Full computerization and a well-functioning system of work do not allow any loss of information. This allows us to uninterruptedly and efficiently serve our tourists even during the peak tourist season.

Today the company has 15 employees.

Contacts have been established with all the leading hotels in the city, as well as the largest sanatoriums in Bashkortostan. The company's office organizes the sale of air tickets to all directions for flights of Russian and foreign airlines. Based on the results of the 2008 season, the travel company "Sacvoyage" is one of the leading travel companies in the city of Ufa.

Basic parameters of the market and its target segments.

Market segmentation is the division of a market into distinct groups of buyers, each of which may require separate products and/or marketing mixes. Most often, socio-economic criteria are used to segment the market, such as age, gender, income level, education, profession, family size and others.

Sacvoyage employees determine the target segment based on the following characteristics:

Age – 40-45 years

Income level – average and above average

Education – usually higher, but does not play a role

Marital status – usually a family of two to four people

Work, profession - most often - private entrepreneurs

Geography

Life style - an energetic, active person, engaged in trading or management activities, often working on weekends and holidays, takes care of his image, feels a lack of time for rest and family, is receptive to new products, and skeptical of advertising.

The motive for travel is the desire to relax with family, the desire to relax abroad, the desire to receive treatment abroad, the desire to visit an exotic country (entertainment + novelty).

This describes the main segment on which Sacvoyage operates.

Of course, this does not mean that absolutely all of the company’s clients are of this age or status, but most of them fit this definition, and it is this group of consumers that allows them to quickly recoup the costs of producing and promoting a tour product. On the other hand, almost all tour companies are focused on the same segment. This means that the company must strive to win customer favor and trust.

All marketing efforts should be aimed at creating strong and lasting preferences among current and potential customers.

The goal is to attract a large number of clients from the existing market and attract new categories of clients.

2. Assessment of the enterprise’s competitive strategy

Hundreds or even thousands of dollars are spent on advertising and other marketing activities, because it is high-quality advertising that guarantees the competitiveness of an enterprise. Advertisers want to know whether these costs are justified. This can only be known by conducting assessment studies.

While advertising is about image creation and takes time to do so, channel management is about stimulation leading to immediate action, preferably a sale. On the other hand, they perform common tasks, which are to increase the number of consumers and increase the use of the tour product by consumers.

Sales support is the act of offering an additional incentive to purchase. Its main advantage lies in the variety and flexibility of methods. Most often, tour companies use various discounts to promote tours. "Sacvoyage" offers the following system of discounts:

Holiday discounts

Family discounts

Group

Baby

Special (for those who have a discount coupon or for clients who bring a new client to the company)

Another effective way to promote a tour product is various competitions and lotteries. These strategies attract people by promising free benefits and offering impressive prizes. In 1996, Sacvoyage established cooperation with the newspaper. Once every six months they hold a joint game dedicated to tourism and a win-win lottery.

Various printed materials are used by tour companies to stimulate sales directly in the office. At the moment when the client hesitates in choosing a travel agent, vacation spot, hotel or mode of transport, a colorful brochure outlining all the advantages of a given vacation spot, hotel, etc. will help push him to purchase. Various calendars, stands, brochures, magazines and catalogs of our own publication not only attract the client with their appearance, but also offer more detailed information about the route. Their production is relatively inexpensive - it depends on the amount of information printed, the cost of paper, the cost of printing media, and the salaries of designers. It is possible to order such products from specialized companies, which is much more profitable for single copies or small batches.

The next stage of sales channel management is participation in various tourism exhibitions and fairs. Exhibitions and fairs are of great importance in terms of finding partners and establishing business connections. This type of promotion refers to sales promotion aimed at intermediaries. Exhibitions of this kind are held annually not only in Moscow, but also in other cities, both Russian and international. In 1998, the company first acted as a tour operator in the summer program “To Spain directly from Ufa.” In the same year, the company was awarded a diploma from the International Exhibition Center “InterSib” for its professional work. In 1997, for the first time, our own tourism programs in Bashkortostan were offered, which received recognition from Ufa, out-of-town and foreign tourists.

"Sacvoyage" publishes booklets related to their own projects to further attract tourists to these services.

All booklets are printed in a printing house on good, high-quality paper, which shows respect for customers. In addition, all booklets are colorfully designed.

In these advertising brochures, the visual effect is ensured by photographs of these projects. The photographs recreate the atmosphere of these tours. They are the ones who give the potential client the main idea of ​​what awaits him.

Television has ample opportunities to exert targeted influence and evoke the desired response from the viewing audience.

Television provides wide coverage. So, to promote the holiday program “March 8 in the Abzakovo sanatorium,” advertising was given on television on weekends, during the period when interesting programs and feature films were shown on the BST channel, when the maximum number of potential clients were at their TVs. The advertising message that was placed in this newspaper was simple, brief, and attracted the attention of readers. Due to its efficiency, repeatability, and wide market coverage, the press is one of the most effective means of distributing advertising, which is why Sacvoyage most often uses the services of the press to advertise its services.

Corporate style is a set of color, graphic, verbal, typographic design permanent elements that ensure the visual and semantic unity of goods (services), all information emanating from the company, its internal and external design.

The travel company "Sacvoyage" has developed its own corporate style, which allows the consumer to quickly and accurately find the company's product, allows the company to introduce its new products to the market at lower costs, and which increases the effectiveness of advertising. Elements of corporate identity are:

Trademark;

Branded font inscription (logo);

Brand block;

Corporate slogan (slogan);

Corporate color;

So, from the above it is clear that the travel company “Sacvoyage” actively promotes its services through various types of advertising. However, we considered only certain types of advertising. But, it should be noted that “Sacvoyage” also uses other types of advertising, such as: audiovisual advertising, advertising leaflets, outdoor advertising, mail advertising and so on.

3. Conclusions and suggestions for improving the marketing activities of the enterprise.

So, marketing ensures not only the effective satisfaction of market needs, but also the success of the enterprise in competition.

Having originated in the production sector, marketing did not find appropriate application in the tourism sector for quite a long time. However, increasing competition and commercialization of tourism activities have led to the need to quickly introduce the basic elements of marketing into the practice of a tourism enterprise. At the same time, tourism has certain features related to the nature of the services provided, forms of sales, and so on. In order to really use marketing as a reliable tool for achieving success in the market, specialists of tourism enterprises need to master its methodology and the ability to apply it depending on the specific situation. Employees of the travel company "Sacvoyage" are trying to apply marketing in their activities, studying supply and demand for specific tourist services, setting prices for a new project, advertising their services, and so on. And here marketing acts as a compass that allows the company to lead its activities towards its intended goal in a safer way, but as was said earlier, they lack a specialized department of the marketing service, for the best promotion of the company and conquering new frontiers, in my opinion, the creation of such a structure as a separate independently functioning body will not only help to conquer new frontiers, but also occupy a leading position in this market sector for a very long time.

Conclusion

The modern concept of marketing in tourism requires taking into account the holistic and comprehensive nature of the tourism business. To implement such a concept, it is necessary to develop a mechanism for coordinating the marketing of various organizations in the field of tourism.

More effective scientific research is needed. To conduct the most in-depth comprehensive research, you need to invite specialists or create your own marketing department with qualified personnel. It is advisable for small and medium-sized tour operators to unite to conduct joint marketing activities and market research in order to reduce the costs of attracting marketing specialists and specialized marketing companies.

The specific nature of marketing in the Russian tourism market is determined by the fact that the majority of Russian tour operators limit their marketing activities to advertising campaigns, mainly in the form of print advertising. A variety of forms of advertising activity is necessary.

Tourism marketing should be addressed not only to end consumers - tourists, but also to intermediate authorities - travel agencies, partners, public tourism associations, and government tourism regulatory authorities.

Tourism of the 21st century is, first of all, tourism focused on the client, as a consumer of tourism goods and services. A successful and profitable tourism business of the future is a business based on knowledge of international legal norms and regulations, tourism management and marketing, tourism market conditions, and a complete and comprehensive knowledge of the needs and demands of tourists.

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