Marketing Plan: Sentir Aveiro

The aim of this master thesis was the elaboration and development of a marketing plan for the tours company, Sentir Aveiro. Its main objectives were increase the company’s sales and its brand awareness. Besides these, increase the number of international partnerships and online comments and reviews were important goals as well. The collection of primary and secondary data allowed to reach many important insights and conclusions about Sentir Aveiro and the tourism industry. To support this plan, it was necessary to make a deep analysis of the external and internal environment of the Sentir Aveiro market. Thus, this master thesis presents an implementation proposal composed by a strategic plan - segmentation, targeting and positioning, and by a set of actions within the marketing mix, highlighting the communication ones hence its importance in the marketing-mix on services and especially on tourism. Within the proposed actions, these are the main ones: the creation of packages for companies, be present on international tourism fairs, change the after-sale process, be present on the online tours platform Viator, creation of an online newsletter, having a different communication and content on Facebook and Instagram, offer and sell Sentir Aveiro merchandising, uniformize the dress code of the guides and establish a partnership with the University of Aveiro.O objetivo desta tese de mestrado foi a elaboração e desenvolvimento de um plano de marketing para a empresa de "tours", Sentir Aveiro. Os seus principais objetivos foram aumentar as vendas da empresa e a notoriedade da marca. Além disso, aumentar o número de parcerias internacionais e o número de classificações e comentários "online", foram também outros objetivos traçados. A recolha de dados primários e secundários permitiu a obtenção de informações e conclusões importantes sobre a Sentir Aveiro e a indústria do turismo. Para apoiar este plano, foi necessário fazer uma análise profunda do ambiente externo e interno do mercado em que a Sentir Aveiro atua. Assim, esta tese de mestrado apresenta uma proposta de implementação composta por um plano estratégico - segmentação, target e posicionamento, e por um conjunto de ações dentro do marketing mix, destacando a comunicação, devido à sua importância no marketing de serviços e especialmente no turismo. Dentro das ações propostas, estas são as principais: a criação de pacotes para empresas, estar presente em feiras internacionais de turismo, alterar o processo pós-venda, estar presente na plataforma "online" "Viator", criar uma "newsletter" "online", ter uma comunicação e publicar conteúdo diferente no Facebook e Instagram, oferecer e vender "merchandising" da "Sentir Aveiro", ter um dress code para os guias e estabelecer uma parceria com a Universidade de Aveiro

An Exploratory Study on Sustainable ICT Capability in the Travel and Tourism Industry: The Case of a Global Distribution System Provider

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity today. Environmental values have spread globally and consumer beliefs are pressurizing firms in almost all industries to comply with green regulations. Sustainability has become such an important part of business strategy that almost every major company now has an executive with “sustainability” in their title. The travel and tourism industry produced 14 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2010. Policy makers have responded with ambitious targets. The European Union aims to achieve a 60 percent reduction in transport sector emissions by 2050. This exploratory study draws on the sustainable ICT capability maturity framework (SICT-CMF) and the case of the Amadeus IT Group, a large travel and tourism industry corporate enterprise that specializes in IT solutions. The study investigates the current capability maturity level of sustainable ICT in the company. The findings suggest that the company is a market leader in terms of sustainability initiatives and that it demonstrates an “advanced” level of sustainability capability. We discuss the lessons learned from Amadeus’ experience

Positioning Axes of Sustainable Tourist Destinations: The Case of Aragón

The purpose of this research is to determine the optimal positioning strategies of Aragón as a sustainable tourist destination. An exploratory research is carried out based on the analysis of statistical information sources, the identification of global and multisectoral macro-trends with direct impact on the evolution of the tourist sector, and the use of the qualitative technique of the focus group. The main and secondary axes to provide a basis for the positioning strategy of the autonomous community are presented as a resul

Las Vegas Versus Macao as Diversified Travel Destinations

Events and festivals can help attract people to a destination, and this study was to examine how events and festivals can build and diversify tourism. With their programs of pleasurable activities and entertainment, events and festivals have a historical trajectory of delivering development outcomes such as economic restructuring and tourism revenue generation. In addition, events and festivals can provide an opportunity for a leisure, social, or cultural experience that is outside the normal range of visitors’ choices. Furthermore, events and festivals can raise market awareness and boost the local economy. Based on secondary data from books, research papers, and websites, this study compared Macao and Las Vegas in their events and festivals, visitor data, and expenditure data. The findings indicate that Macao is primarily a day-trip destination for gaming and shopping, with a narrow base of customers mostly from China and Hong Kong. On the other hand, Las Vegas seems to be more diversified in events and festivals, and its visitors are younger and more international. Events and festivals have played a major role in the growth and diversity of tourism for Las Vegas. On the other hand, Macao lags far behind Las Vegas in quantity and variety of events and festivals, but it can learn from the Las Vegas experience and diversify its tourism though continued development of festivals and events

Exploring the brand image of Shenzhen Happy Valley and Chimelong Paradise

Adopting Aaker’s(1996) framework, this study explored the effect of Micro-blogging marketing in brand image, with the cases of two popular theme parks in Guangdong province, namely Shenzhen Happy Valley and Chimelong Paradise. Brand image is an overall perception about the brand or the product from customer’s perspective. Most scholars and pioneers in marketing consider the success of certain product or service relies more on the brand image, rather than the physical characteristics or specific functions (Aaker, 1991). Brand identity is the one way to achieve company’s expectation, on the basis of which, the brand image could be built. This study applied the brand assessment model, and revealed the brand images of these two theme parks on the basis of brand identity model. Results of analysis indicated that both theme parks’ promotion messages emphasized their brand images. However, Happy Valley’s public relations efforts were more successful than Chimelong Paradise in transferring projected brand image to its Micro-blogging fans. Keywords: Brand image, Brand identity, Theme park, Micro-bloggin

The nexus of internal market orientation and international HR management

This paper examines Internal Market Orientation (IMO) in the context of international businesses (Multinational Corporations, MNCs) that execute international human resources management (IHRM) to manage their workforce overseas. Grounded in conventional IMO theory, this study suggests a novel iIMO framework that introduces the utilisation of ICTs in IMO and sets business performance metrics as an outcome of iIMO implementation. The viability of the iIMO model was verified following empirical research, which included surveying 650 employees who represent 147 international organisations in the Russian Federation. This paper posits the suitability of the iIMO concept application in the IHRM and affirms its efficacy in the improvement of the MNCs’ business performance

Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Indonesia; an empirical case study on Bali’s tourism industry

Diese Studie untersucht die Kommunikationspraxis der sozialen Unternehmensverantwortung in der Tourismusbranche auf Bali; (1) was ist das Ziel, die Zielgruppe, der Inhalt, der Kanal, die Integration und die Strategie, (2) die Beziehung zwischen den Unternehmensmerkmalen (Geschäftssektor, Größe, Management- und Eigentumsart sowie finanzielle Leistung) und der Kommunikation zur sozialen Unternehmensverantwortung, (3) und die Umweltfaktoren. Diese Studie testet drei Hypothesen; (1) Das Ziel ist Legitimität, das Publikum ist eine Gemeinschaft, Inhalt ist ein Beitrag zur Gesellschaft, der Kanal ist Social Media, Integration ist auf Fotos und mit Informationsstrategie, (2) es besteht ein Zusammenhang zwischen Unternehmensmerkmalen und der Kommunikation zur sozialen Unternehmensverantwortung, und (3) der Umweltfaktor ist ein kulturelles Merkmal. Diese Fallstudie wird in Bali, Indonesien mit einem Mixed-Method-Design des exploratory sequential design durchgeführt. Zunächst werden 13 halbstrukturierte qualitative Interviews mit Vertretern von 13 Unternehmen geführt. Das Ergebnis wird durch eine quantitative Umfrage unter 528 Unternehmen überprüft. Die Daten werden unter Verwendung einer one-way ANOVA mit Post-hoc-analyse, Hauptkomponentenanalyse und Pearson-Korrelationsanalyse analysiert. Das Ergebnis zeigt, dass die Kommunikationsziele der balinesischen Tourismusunternehmen in erster Linie darin bestehen, Werte zu schaffen und Werbung zu machen. Die Unternehmen kommunizieren Umwelt-, Ethik-, Mitarbeiter- und Gemeinschaftsinitiativen an das externe und interne Publikum, indem sie gedruckte, interaktive, elektronische und digitale sowie Berichtskanäle mit interaktiven und informativen Strategien verwenden, die von soziodemografischen Faktoren und Stakeholder-Drucks beeinflusst werden. Der Geschäftsbereich des Unternehmens hat eine Beziehung zu Ziel, Zielgruppe, Inhalt, Kanal und Strategie, jedoch nicht mit Integration. Die Unternehmensgröße steht in Beziehung zu Ziel, Zielgruppe, Inhalt, Kanal, Integration und Strategie. Sowohl Management- als auch Eigentumstypen haben eine Beziehung zu Ziel, Zielgruppe, Inhalt und Kanal, aber nicht zu Integration und Strategie. Die finanzielle Leistung hängt mit Ziel, Zielgruppe, Inhalt, Kanal und Integration zusammen, jedoch nicht mit der Strategie. Diese Studie hebt einige interessante Einblicke hervor. Erstens haben balinesische Tourismusunternehmen das Prinzip der Unternehmenskommunikation angewendet, indem sie Beziehungen zu internen, markt- und gesellschaftlichen Interessengruppen aufgebaut haben. Zweitens haben die Unternehmen mit dem offensichtlichen Einsatz interaktiver Kommunikationsstrategien erfolgreich das symmetrische Kommunikationsprinzip, Stakeholder-Engagement-Strategie, oder dialogische Öffentlichkeitsarbeit angewendet. Drittens wird soziale Unternehmensverantwortung als eine Form der Kommunikation betrachtet. Schließlich fungieren bestimmte Mitarbeiter (Reiseleiter, Frontliner) und lokale Mitarbeiter als Kommunikationskanäle der soziale Unternehmensverantwortung. Schlüsselwörter: Unternehmenskommunikation, Soziale Unternehmensverantwortung, Strategie, TourismusindustrieThis study investigates CSR communication practice in Bali tourism industry; (1) what is the goal, audience, content, channel, integration, and strategy, (2), the relationship between company characteristics (business sector, size, management and ownership type, and financial performance) and CSR communication, (3), and the environmental factors. This study tests three hypotheses; (1) the goal is legitimacy, audience is community, content is society contribution, channel is social media, integration is on photos, and with informing strategy, (2) there is a relationship between company characteristics and CSR communication, and (3) the environmental factor is culture characteristic. This case study is conducted in Bali, Indonesia with a mixed method approach of exploratory sequential design. First, 13 semi-structured qualitative interviews are conducted with representatives from 13 companies. The result is tested through a quantitative survey involving 528 companies. The data is analyzed by using one-way ANOVA with post hoc, main component analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis. The result indicates that Bali tourism companies’ CSR communication goal is mainly to create value and promotion. The companies communicate environment, ethical, employee, and community initiatives to the external and internal audience by using print, interactive, electronic & digital, and report channel with interactive and informative strategy influenced by socio-demographic and stakeholder pressures. Company’s business sector has a relationship with goal, audience, content, channel, and strategy but not with integration. Company size has a relationship with the goal, audience, content, channel, integration, and strategy. Both management and ownership types have a relationship with goal, audience, content, and channel but not with integration and strategy. Financial performance has a relationship with goal, audience, content, channel, and integration, but not with strategy. This study highlights some interesting insights. First, Bali tourism companies have applied the corporate communication principle by building relationships with internal, market, and society-based stakeholders. Second, with the apparent use of interactive communication strategy, the companies have successfully applied the symmetrical communication principle, stakeholder engagement strategy or dialogic Public Relations. Third, CSR is considered as a form of communication. Lastly, specific employees (tour guides, front liners) and local employees act as CSR communication channels. Keywords; corporate communication, corporate social responsibility (CSR), strategy, tourism industr

Understanding customer satisfaction with services by leveraging big data: the role of services attributes and consumers’ cultural background

User-generated content and online reviews are becoming an increasingly relevant source of information for online customers that use them for purchasing decisions. This study examines the impact of services attributes and consumers’ cultural background on customer satisfaction with services in an online setting using big data. First, almost half a million Expedia.com hotel online reviews related to hotel properties located in five different countries (United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Russia) were retrieved. Second, the resulting dataset was used to investigate if and to what extent the overall customer satisfaction with a service is affected by the evaluation of specific hotel services attributes (operationalized based on an established typology of attributes) and by the consumers’ cultural background (operationalized by means of Hoftstede’s framework). A comprehensive multivariate regression analysis is carried out to test the literature-driven hypotheses formulated. In particular, the analysis reveals that critical service attributes such as hotel condition, room comfort, service and staff, and cleanliness positively affect the overall online satisfaction ratings. The cultural dimensions of power distance, individualism and uncertainty avoidance negatively affect overall online satisfaction, while long-term orientation and indulgence positively affect online satisfaction. Masculinity seem not to play a significant role. We also observe that reviews’ text length exerts a negative impact on online ratings. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed