TRệễỉNG ẹAẽI HOẽC Mễ TP. HCM UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY SOLVAY BRUSSELS SCHOOL ECONOMICS & MANAGEMENT MMA7 Authors: TRAN HOANG AN NGUYEN THI NGOC YEN INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 2014 FOR SAIGONTOURIST TRAVEL SERVICE MASTER PROJECT MASTER IN MARKETING & ADVERTISING Ho Chi Minh City (2014) PROJECT APPROVAL This is to certify that I have read and approved the final project of Ms. Tran Hoang An and Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Yen entitled “Integrated Marketing Communications Plan 2014 for Saigontourist Travel Service”. I recommend the project for acceptance in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master in Marketing and Advertising degree. Tran Vinh Project Tutor 1 COMMITMENTS We commit that this final project on “Saigontourist Travel Service’s Marketing Communications Plan 2014” has been done by ourselves in fulfillment of the Master degree in Marketing and Advertising only. All analysis and recommendations are based on the information and data collected from the public and Saigontourist Travel Service. No recycling for commercial uses should be allowed here. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We wish to express our great gratitude to our tutor – Mr. Tran Vinh for his valuable guidance, advice and encouragement during the project. Special thanks are extended to Professor Marianne Claes and other members of the Master in Marketing and Advertising program for your advice and strong support to complete this final assignment. Deep appreciation and thanks also go to Mr. Vo Viet Hoa – Deputy Manager of Outbound Division, Saigontourist Travel Service for providing us the desired data and information for this study. Last but not least, we would like to send a special note of thanks to our families and friends for their constant love and encouragement. 3 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ASTA American Society of Travel Agents ATF Asean Tourism Forum B2B Business-to-business B2C Business-to-customer FDI Foreign Direct Investment FITUR Feria Internacional de Turismo en España GDP Gross Domestic Products ITB International Travel Berlin ITE International Travel Expo JATA Japan Association of Travel Agents MITT Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition ODA Official Development Assistance OOH Out-of-home PATA The Pacific Asia Travel Association PR Public Relations TVC Television Commercial UNWTO World Tourism Organization USTOA United States Tour Operators Association VTA Vietnam Tourism Association WTM World Travel Market 4 GLOSSARY Travel/ tourism Activity of a traveler who moves between different geographic locations, for any purpose and any duration. The visitor is a particular type of traveler and consequently tourism is a subset of travel Domestic Tourism Activities of a resident visitor within the country of reference either as part of a domestic tourism trip or part of an outbound tourism trip Inbound Tourism Activities of a non-resident visitor within the country of reference on an inbound tourism trip Outbound Tourism Activities of a resident visitor outside the country of reference, either as part of an outbound tourism trip or as part of a domestic tourism trip Visitor A traveler taking a trip to a main destination outside his/her usual environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose (business, leisure or other personal purpose) other than to be employed by a resident entity in the country or place visited. A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise Tourist A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay Destination Management Company Professional services companies possessing extensive local knowledge, expertise and resources, specializing in the design and implementation of events, activities, tours, transportation and program logistics 5 TABLE OF CONTENT COMMITMENTS 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 2 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 3 GLOSSARY 4 INTRODUCTION 7 A.THEORETICAL CONCEPTS 8 I.Service characteristics & 7Ps in tourism marketing 8 II.Customer life cycle & the touch point-driven communications planning 10 B.OVERVIEW OF SAIGONTOURIST’S CURRENT MARKETING STRATEGY 12 I.Vietnam tourism market & competitive analysis 12 II.Background of Saigontourist Travel Service Company 15 III.Current marketing strategy overview 18 1.Segmentation, target market & brand positioning 18 2.Marketing Objectives 19 3.Product & services portfolio 19 4.Pricing 22 5.Distribution channels 22 6.Promotional Mix 23 7.People 23 8.Process 24 9.Physical evidence 24 C.ASSESSMENT OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS ACTIVITIES FROM 2010-2013 25 I.Marketing communications objectives 25 II.Target audience analysis 25 1. Inbound tours 25 2. Domestic and outbound tours 25 III.Communications activities reviews 30 1. For inbound tours promotion 30 2. For domestic and outbound tours promotion 31 IV.Evaluation of communications effectiveness 34 6 D.RECOMMENDATIONS & EXECUTION PLAN FOR SAIGON TOURIST IN 2014 36 1. Recommendations for International Partners 36 2. Recommendations for End-users & Individual Travelers 36 3. Communications timeline, budget allocation & key indicators 38 REFERENCE 39 APPENDIX : ONLINE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (1-15 DEC 2013) 41 7 INTRODUCTION Saigontourist Travel Service Co.,Ltd is a leading tour management company in Vietnam that have successfully operated in all three tourism fields including inbound, outbound and domestic travel. The purpose of this project is to provide an intensive look into current communications strategy of Saigontourist and determine which brand touch-points should be further developed in the year 2014 to achieve its communications objectives in alignment with entire marketing goals. All analysis results are based on public data and a web-based questionnaire. Interviews with representatives from Saigontourist management have also been carried out to investigate current brand challenges and customers’ perceptions towards the brand’s core values. At the end, some recommendations are proposed for Saigontourist Travel Service to enhance the brand value in the marketplace and keep business further growing. 8 A. THEORETICAL CONCEPTS I. Service characteristics & 7Ps in tourism marketing  Service definition & characteristics Services are acts or performances offered by one party to another, typically referring to both business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) services which include telecommunications services, financial services, transportation services, healthcare services or all types of tourism & hospitality services. According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), “travel” refers to the activity of travelers who move between different geographic locations for any purpose and any duration. “Tourism” is a subset of “travel” and consequently, “tourist” is a subset of “traveler”. Tourism as a service is characterized by the followings:  Intangible: This implies that service offerings cannot be seen, felt, heard, tasted or smelt before purchase. Total service quality is purely a “promise” from provider, therefore it is essential for tourism marketers to promote “intangible” benefits of tourism as well as make the service more “tangible” to potential travelers.  Inseparable: In tourism industry, the production and consumption happens almost simultaneously. So there will be an active involvement of customers in creating the service product as a result, either by self-serving or co-working with service staffs in certain situations.  Variable: Service quality varies from customer to customer according to employee performance, customer’s traits (needs, expectations, moods…) or other occasional elements (climates, political events …)  Perishable: Service cannot be stocked. Therefore, if the moment of production and consumption is passed, revenue will be lost accordingly. Three main challenges with services:  Challenge 1 – Satisfaction: How to define service quality as it can only be measured through consumers. Satisfaction is subjective to each consumer’s comparison between what they expect against what they perceive. High satisfaction shall lead to retention and loyalty.  Challenge 2 – Service encounter: Direct interaction between customer and the service provider via contact personnel, service system, service scape (tangible things) and other customers.  Challenge 3 - Productivity: How to make a service more efficient in terms of service complexity, service capacity and allocation of activities.  Tourism marketing & 7Ps concept As defined by James Makens et al. in “Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism” (1999), marketing is “to design a product/service combination that provides a real value to targeted customers, motivates purchase, and fulfills genuine customer needs”. Tourism marketing is an adaptation of basic marketing principles which have been long developed and practiced through the famous 4Ps marketing mix (Product-Price- Place-Promotion). However, when it comes to service marketing or tourism marketing [...]... furnishing, uniforms, signs, printed materials and other visible cues that provide evidence of service quality and guide customers through the service process Figure 2: 7Ps in tourism marketing II Customer life cycle & the touch point-driven communications planning As suggested by Jim Taylor - a communications practitioner - in (2005), communications planning is plan, across marketing and trade marketing. .. connectivity, consumers especially travelers have more freedom to use social media wherever and whenever they want Figure 7: Facebook reach in Vietnam Source: comScore (2013) Before travel - Make travel plan and look for reference information Internet serves as a big source of reference when travelers look for relevant information Their most visited pages during this time are travel forums and websites as well... Northern - Moving forward, the group is expanding its tour services, having recently opened the country's biggest travel information centre in HCMC, offering a range of tourist services across several languages Mission Statement committed to creating the best values with its travel services for its customers, partners and to guaranteeing the sustainable and harmonious Vision Saigontourist Travel Service focuses... Distribution channels For individual travelers: two main distribution channels online and offline Offline: a network of direct tour booking offices opened and operated by Saigontourist Online: different websites targeting at customers in different countries with different travel demands - For foreign travelers: http://www.etravelvietnam.com (English) http://www .saigontourist. de (German) http://www .saigontourist. jp/... Saigontoursist at newly-opened Travel Center Source: Internet 25 C ASSESSMENT OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS ACTIVITIES FROM 2010-2013 I Marketing communications objectives In alignment with entire marketing strategy, Saigontourist did implement a comprehensive communications mix during the period from 2010 to 2013 with following objectives: For inbound tours Target audience: Travel companies in source markets... Vietnam for Vietnamese individual travelers around the world It is also the first travel company in Premium Travel This service is designed to meet special requirements & purposes of distinguished customers with high-ranking and selective services Premium Travel customers are entitled to own Premium Travel Card for international payment, as well as other preferential treatments at home and abroad Budget Travel. .. Business Travel Service (BTS) BTS help customers who would like to combine their business trip to visit, travel around the country By helping customers to save time and money, BTS services include contracts in package services of air-ticket, visa, passport, accommodation, transfer, seminar, workshop, travel program, business travel, market research & survey tour and premium travel Domestic tours Saigontourist. .. quality source of tourism per company Picture 1: Saigontourist Hospitality College Source: Internet 8 9 Process When the customers come to Saigontourist for travel information The front desk team will consult for them to choosing suitable tours with acceptant package price After that, the customers deposit for booking tour and wait for the day of their travel When finishing the tour, the customers can... (Process-PeoplePhysical evidence) for more relevancy The key is to have a well-thought-out marketing plan Figure 1: Strategic Marketing Planning for the Tourism Marketing Source: www.ruf.com Product What is being sold: The creation of a service concept that offers value to target customers and satisfy their needs better than competing primary needs and an array of extra service elements Place The place... report on travel trends 2013 27 Travel occasions - Summer and big holidays are the most preferred occasions to travel, accounting for more than 70% of people joining the online survey - Family is most popular companion for travelers of both genders and all age groups, followed by friend, another favorite choice Chart 10: Travel occasions Source: Vinaresearch report on travel trends 2013 Chart 11: Travel . entitled Integrated Marketing Communications Plan 2014 for Saigontourist Travel Service . I recommend the project for acceptance in fulfillment of the requirements for the Master in Marketing. INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLAN 2014 FOR SAIGONTOURIST TRAVEL SERVICE MASTER PROJECT MASTER IN MARKETING & ADVERTISING Ho Chi Minh City (2014) . that this final project on Saigontourist Travel Service s Marketing Communications Plan 2014 has been done by ourselves in fulfillment of the Master degree in Marketing and Advertising only.