Internet Tourism Marketing: Potential and Constraints
Hotel Online: Ideas and Trends. July 2000. Liu, Zhenhua.
(Fourth International Conference "Tourism in Southeast Asia & Indo-China: Development, Marketing and Sustainability June 24-26, 2000 ")
Part 1: THE
ADVANTAGES OF THE INTERNET AS A MARKETING TOOL
Summary:
It is generally held that the Internet offers substantial advantages over traditional means of communication: reduced costs of information exchange; increased speed of information transfer and retrieval; increased customer involvement in and control of transactions; and greater flexibility of using the marketing mix.
Addressability
Print, radio and television, follow a passive one-to-many communication model:
Of these three points, the first two seem logical enough, but the third point is interesting. Unfortunately the author does not elaborate on this but surely the actual web sites will compete, and if the surfer is interested in the area they will look for other sites. In addition to this the site will also be competing with other sites if a subject/ topic area is used within the search engine as opposed to the companies actual name.
In essence, it represents the opportunity to customise and tailor the product and/or the marketing effort to one consumer at a time.
The main way that this is done is through cookies. This then introduces a number of other aspects no discussed. People as building a more and more negative perception of this tool, and the association is easily passed from the web site to the firm. In addition to this, there is also the problem of groups of people using the same computer, if the use of un-username customisation is used then the web site may be customising it for the wrong person.
In fact, Internet marketers can do what a sales-force can but with much more flexibility, better memory and less cost.
This may be true, but a computer does not have the same effect as a person communicating. People are aware of the technology and the relative ease at which a company can set up a database for customisation. While they may value this, it is unlike that it could ever compare to the actual ‘feel’ of a human doing the same job.
Interactivity
In other words, it is entirely in the customer's power to decide whether to surf the net, which web site to visit, which web page to browse, for how long, how often and how much information to obtain.
This is very true and demonstrates one of the major advantages of the web.
The company-to-company interaction not only provides competitive intelligence but also provides opportunities in partnering and co-operation, especially in improving supply-channel and distribution-channel relationships.
While this is true and may be of great use in establishing potential alliances, an actual personal meeting will still need to take place and negotiation conducted.
The consumer-to-consumer communication helps to establish cyber or virtual communities, which has significant implications for marketing segmentation and customer service. These online "clubs" can be an important venue for consumers to exchange information or experiences.
This too is a major advantage of the web, it does allow people who are not geographically close to communicate about areas of interest. This could mean that extra traffic is brought through your site because of this feature.
Flexibility
It can gather fresh and updated information based on the direct feedback received from consumers. A virtual catalogue can be gradually developed and organised based on the actual interest of consumers (Kiani 1998). It can also keep consumers constantly informed of the company's new product offerings, latest price changes and sales promotion initiatives.
This is of course very true, but it would be naïve to think that this would happen without establishing a thorough system or process behind the web site to ensure that all information is correct and up-to date.
In addition, large tour operators usually launch their main summer holiday brochures 10 months in advance. Obviously, the preparation and distribution of holiday brochures is a costly and lengthy process during which the demand conditions and competition situation could change greatly.
While it will still be necessary for companies to start designing their communications substantially before the consumer will receive it, a web site does allow for small changes (such as price) to occur easily and with low amounts of effort and cost or lead up time. There is also the consideration that an internet site is only costly to setup and maintain, there is no extra cost depending on how many surf the site.
The online brochure can also be linked to inventory data, so that the user can immediately see whether a particular holiday is available or not.
This is extremely useful for consumers. The danger however may be that a consumer may see that the spots are basically full, can’t fit in with the remaining times and go elsewhere. This is despite the fact the extra session could have actually been filled.
Accessibility
24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Any web user in the world can access its marketing information at any time that is convenient for them.
The global exposure is particularly desirable for tourism destinations which up until the mid-1990s had to depend entirely on promotion agencies in tourist generating regions to market its products.
Service Improvements
The Web helps companies to improve service quality at all stages of customer interaction - pre-sale, during sale and after - sale.
De and Mathew (1999) identified that the Web provides four tangible improvements in customer service: first, larger accessible choice set for customer since a web site can display a vast set of product options and service options; second, faster payment processing for customers - through automatic processing of cyber-cash or credit card charges; third, reduced delivery time for many products such as online software and music distribution; and fourth, easier, faster and greater availability of support literature, and more detailed and particularised help.
Cost Savings
five areas. First, the streamlining and electronic processing of booking and payments cuts down sales cost. Second, automation and the deskilling of tasks reduce the labour intensity and staff training cost. For example, the web-based travel reservation systems (using windows and is menu-driven) are much easier to use than the traditional viewdata systems (using DOS and was command driven where a sales clerk has to remember all the commands and the airport codes). Third, by offering direct links between the producer and the consumer, the Net helps the producer to save huge distribution costs through the disintermediation process. Fourth, the ability of the Net in narrowcasting and electronic communication leads substantial savings on promotion in both "above and below the line" costs. Finally, cost savings in the form of reduced office and sales space, furniture and decoration outlay, and administration overheads.
The cost of setting up a promotional web site (i.e., without the booking facilities) is relatively low. Microsoft FrontPage
The more comprehensive and powerful web-sites, such as a destination site offers complete information, a tour operator site with a virtual multimedia brochure to include thousands of product offerings, and a site which integrates information, reservation and transactions, will cost more and take longer to develop. However, compared with the tens of millions of dollars spent by airlines, tour operators and hotel chains on TV and magazine ads, the Web is a low cost medium for promotion. The simple web-presence, by providing information on the Net, and allow customers to find answers to their inquiries themselves can also help to reduce telephone charges based on toll-free numbers.