Marketing

Every day of our life we can see examples of travel and tourism marketing around us – adverts on TV, adverts in newspapers and magazines, brochures in travel agencies, internet pages, posters in stations, etc. This is because all tourism businesses need to market their products if they hope to be successful. But marketing is not just advertising; it is about researching and identifying the needs of a specific group of customers, and then creating a product that satisfies them.

Once the company has the right product, it will use different promotional techniques to let its clients know about it. All travel and tourism products need good marketing. The marketing process includes four stages:

1. customers’ needs and wants;

2. create your products and services;

3. promote your products and services;

4. obtain and evaluate feedback.

The marketing process does not end after a product has been sold, however. Customers might not be happy with it, and, of course, people’s tastes change with time. Because of this, it is essential to evaluate how customers feel about a product. It is then possible to improve your product, and in this way continue to meet your customers’ expectations.

Promotion

The idea of promotion is to sell your product. How do we do this? The answer begins with awareness, with making the customer aware that the product exists. It’s also about creating a demand. Another use of promotion is to make customers understand that your product is better than other similar products.

Creating a demand is a question of promotional techniques. Advertising is one of the things we do in promotion, but it’s not the only technique. Apart from advertising – you know, magazines, TV, the media in general – there’s also PR. There’s also what we call direct marketing. The provider – that could be a tour operator with a package holiday, or an airline with a special offer – the provider contacts the customer directly, usually by mailing information and news directly to the customers on their database. A lot of small tour operators use email, but for most big companies, direct marketing is letters through your door. There’s also personal selling. It is a travel agent sitting with a client. Personal selling’s your smile. It’s the human touch.

Лексичні і граматичні вправи

1. Read the text below and choose the correct answers.

Brad Pitt – Actor or architect?

Brad Pitt is currently one of the world’s biggest international 1) characters / celebrities. Constantly chased be the 2) paparazzi / programme, he lives a life in which he is permanently in the limelight. But although acting has brought Pitt wealth and fame, it seems that his true passion is architecture.

His interest began in 2001 when he 3) revitalized / restored a 4) misunderstood / run-down mansion in Beverly Hills. He asked Frank Gehry, the Canadian architect who designed 5) innovative / insoluble Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, to help him with the design and the two became good friends.

Now Gehry has received a 6) commission / design to build a $250 million seafront development in the English seaside town of Hove, and he has asked Pitt to help him with the project. This 7) networking / collaboration between a film star and a famous architect is a new development in the world of design. The drawings produced so far show a very 8) contemporary / derelict structure covered in metal. Gehry’s designs are always 9) masterpiece / thought-provoking and 10) dilapidated / controversial, and this scheme may not be popular with local residents who are more familiar with the 11) retrospective / traditional Victorian architecture of the area. But there are rumours that Pitt may buy one of the apartments in the development, which might well 12) overcome / rebuild the objections of the locals.

2. For questions 1 – 15, read the text below and decide which word (A, B, C or D) best fits each space.

No one knows for certain how many fiestas take place in Spain, but there are more than in almost any other country in the world. There is a story about somebody who once tried to (1) ……… a list of all the Spanish fiestas, but gave (2) …….. when they got to 3,000.

I was seventeen and had just (3) ……… college when I began photographing fiestas in Puertollano, my hometown, in the (4) ……… 1960s. In those days there were fewer fiestas and people were not as interested (5) ……… them as they are now.

Some people even considered them to be silly and embarrassing. I, on the other (6) ………, loved them and even now, over twenty years later, I am (7) ……… fascinated by fiestas. At different times they have moved me to laughter, tears, and pain. At a true fiesta, there are no (8) ………, only participants. Everyone from babies to (9) ……… people take part, (10) ……… behind everyday life to act their fantasies. No other event can do that, and I have recorded these special (11) ……… with my camera.

Fiestas also show how time (12) ……… and ideas change. In the 1980s many were revised or updated. Women and children demanded a (13) ……… beside men in the Holy Week procession. The Rocio pilgrimage grew into a 72-hour round-the-clock party (14) ……… by more than a million people. There are also new fiestas. Many of them, invented in our time, could become the traditions of (15) ……… generations.

1 A do B make C fix D form

2 A off B through C up D out

3 A run B abandoned C left D dropped

4 A half B central C medium D mid-

5 A in B to C for D about

6 A side B hand C end D place

7 A yet B however C still D already

8 A witnesses B viewers C spectators D audiences

9 A ancient B antique C elder D old

10 A leaving B falling C letting D getting

11 A minutes B instances C moments D frames

12 A travels B passes C goes D moves

13 A part B role C place D standard

14 A visited B attended C presented D done

15 A next B late C following D future

3. Choose the correct adjectives.

Dear Rachel,

I’m writing this letter in my hotel room which overlooks a (1) calm / pebbly lake. The luxurious hotel I’m staying in is built on a (2) sandy / grassy green hillside and the view from my window is fantastic. There are a lot of guests here who have come to relax and enjoy the fresh air.

Until a couple of days ago, the weather was kind to us. (3) Blue / Grey skies and (4) bright / light sunshine made it ideal for day-trips to the surrounding countryside. On cloudless (5) moonlit / bright nights I enjoyed sitting outside looking at the (6) starry / gloomy sky. It was like looking at thousands of sparkling diamonds. However, (7) strong / heavy rain has been falling in the mountains for the past two days, and (8) strong / thick winds even caused some damage to the small boats on the lake! So, unfortunately, we’ve had a lot of time indoors lately. Well, see you in a couple of weeks.

Love,

Paula