The Business of Leisure 2009
Marketing and Promotion
in Leisure and Tourism
Marketing and Promotion
in Leisure & Tourism
• What is Marketing?
“The development of goods and services that
meet customers’ ever changing needs.”
• For discussion today:
Marketing Research
Target Marketing
The Marketing Mix
Marketing and Promotion
in Leisure & Tourism
• Ensuring a sufficient number of guests visit and ideally stay over
• Developing and communicating the product in line with our
brand vision.
• Ensuring that guests are aware of our total resort offering;
At the right time
Using the appropriate medium
Key messages
The Alton Towers Resort
Market Research
• Market Research is a process that helps us to identify who our
customers are and what their needs are.
• This allows us to understand ways to target these audience types
and allows us to identify ways in which we can provide new or
improved products and services
• It also allows us to identify patterns in the ‘type’ of guests that
visit Alton Towers Resort and whether they are likely to visit
again in the future
– This is known as “Intention to Visit”
Market Research
• Types of Research
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Database
PDA
CSQ
Touch Screens
• We target every car in the car park
with a feedback questionnaire.
– This amounts to approximately 1
in 4 guests, or around 500k guests
per year – the response
rate is around 10%
Market Research
• Results from our 2008 research
revealed:
• 28% of guests staying away from home
overnight stayed at one of the two
Alton Towers Resort Hotels
• 96% of guests were already aware of
the Alton Towers Resort Hotels before
their arrival at the Park
• 93% of guests would recommend
Alton Towers Resort to friend
Target Marketing
• Target Marketing is the development and promotion of
products & services that appeal to a specific market
segment.
• We target people on both their demographic and their
attitudes
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Age
Gender
Social group
Ethnicity
Lifestyle
Propensity to visit a theme park
Marketing Mix
• The simple marketing mix is made up of the 4 P’s
Product
Price
Promotion
Place
The Marketing Mix
•
The marketing mix at Alton Towers Resort:
Product:
Britain’s number one short break destination
Price:
Competitively priced for the available product, offering value for money options to
suit all audience types
Promotion:
Communications mix including TV, radio, digital and press to maximise awareness
and entice people to visit
Place:
A unique, accessible environment
The Marketing Mix: Product
• The product covers both goods and services that we offer
• Goods
• – something that you can use or consume e.g. food and drink,
photography, merchandise
• Services
• – something that someone does for you e.g. the ride experience
A brand name sets goods/services apart from other products
Alton Towers Resort
Sharkbait Reef by SEA LIFE
Oblivion
SW6 ???
The Marketing Mix: Price
• Alton Towers Resort ensures that it is competitively priced and offers many
value for money options to appeal across its target markets
• On occasion, we are able to drive guests to visit the resort at quieter times of
the year through price incentives and special offers.
• Ticket types include:
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Adult
Child
Under 4’s
Senior Citizens
Disabled
Family 4; Family 5
Groups of 10+
Annual Pass
The Marketing Mix: Promotion
• Alton Towers Resort works
with specialist agencies in
order to develop a suitable
campaign strategy
• Promotional techniques are
ways that an organisation
communicates its product
and services to drive
awareness and promote trial
• ADVERTISING
METHODS
• TV, Radio, Press, Digital,
Cinema, Outdoor
• Direct marketing – Door
drop, E-shots, Schools,
Parent & Toddlers
• Public relations
• Personal selling
2009 Resort Advert
2009 Resort Thrill seeker
radio advert
The Marketing Mix: Promotion
• Sponsorship
• Although Alton Towers does not use
sponsorship as a promotional tool,
other companies approach us to
sponsor our rides. Sponsorship can be
used to:
• Create a corporate identity
• Improve a corporate image
• Launch a new product
• Enhance effectiveness of A&P
• Create merchandising opportunities
The Marketing Mix: Promotion
• Sales Promotions
– Promotion techniques can be defined as:
– Immediate: where the reward is given to the
customer at the time of purchase e.g. discount
coupon
– Delayed: where the reward requires further action on
the consumer’s behalf e.g. collect vouchers
– Alton Towers Resort uses two forms of promotion
– Solus: builds brand awareness/association
– Multi-brand: heavyweight coverage to drive volume
through greater offering
The Marketing Mix: Promotion
• AIDA helps ensure that promotional materiel grabs
the attention of the customer
A
Attention (gets the attention of the customer)
I
Interest (keeps the interest of the customer)
D
Desire (creates a desire to want to do something)
A
Action (drives the customer to action)
The Marketing Mix: Place
• A unique, fantastical
resort offering for
people of all ages
• Guests can reach Alton
Towers Resort by a
range of methods
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Car
Coach
Bus
Train
Conclusion
• Market Research can be conducted in a variety of ways to identify who our
guests are and what they want when they are here.
• Target Markets can be split by demographics and attitudes. This helps us to
offer relevant goods and services to the appropriate audience through the
correct communications mix
• The marketing mix comprises of Product, Price, Promotion and Place. By
adapting our marketing mix, guests are more likely to visit and more likely to
return in the future.
• Promotion is the communication of a product or service to a customer. A
range of promotional techniques are available and a mixture of these
elements will make sales of a product greater.
Any Questions?
Thank You