Marketing - Blue Mountain - SWOT Analysis? - Report Writing Assessment Answer

Marketing Assignment

Assignment Task

Part A

Bluemountain, a suburb in not far away from Sydney city, has traditionally targeted and attracted high end customers who can afford to have a luxury getaway. Assuming that this group of customers is dropping in terms of number, and the Council decides to look into other markets to boost its tourism income.

In a group of 2 to 3, prepare a 3000 words marketing plan to promote

Blue mountain as a tourism destination or preferred getaway destination in Sydney.

In your report, you will need to need to provide the following: ? Executive Summary

o Include the key marketing strategyo The target market segment (s) that you have chosen Table of Contento Included on a separate page

o Includes all main headings of the report o Includes page numbers for each headingIntroductiono The purpose of your report

o The introduction of the location and the purpose of your marketing plan Backgroundo A general description of Bluemountain’s tourism industry including trends, market size and product segments o Destination background

? Environmental forceso What are the environmental forces that affect tourism industry?

? SWOT analysiso Conduct a SWOT analysis of Blue mountain as a tourism destination

? Target marketo Identify your target market (tips: upcoming market of the Asian rich, international students etc). ? Targeting strategy

o Provide an explanation of the targeting strategy

Marketing plan and recommendationo Give a description and justification on how you intend to reach the target market through packaging of the product (Bluemountain).

o A brief description of your advertising and promotion strategy will be useful, even if the topics are not yet covered (Bonus marks will be awarded).

Part B Instructions:

• Do a group presentation of around 20 minutes to present your marketing plan.
• As a group, each student should be presenting about the same amount of time.
• You should try to be creative in your presentation and engage your audience.
• Reading from notes can only give you a mere pass.
• A copy of the PowerPoint slides should be given to your teacher on the day of the presentation.

Introduction Blue Mountain is a mountain range and mountain region located in New South Wales in Australia. The borders of this region start from metropolitan area of Sydney. Geologically this region is located in the central parts of the Sydney Basin. Blue Mountain range is much liked tourist spot because of its natural beauty. There are a number of tourist attractions in these regions. The Giant Stairway is the most appreciated point by the tourists (Sonmez, Apostolopoulos, & Tarlow, 2008).This walking track runs down into Jamison Valley near the Three Sisters that provides very good access to nature. There are series of limestone caves knows as Jenolan Caves. The Katoomba Scenic Railway is the steepest funicular railway in the world and due to that it is also registered with Guinness World Record. There is a toy and railway museum and as well. Along with that there are various other tourists’ attractions in the region with a wide range of recreational activities. Besides all these factors the Bluemountain region is losing is popularity since the number of customers is dropping and this is further affecting the income of the council. This calls for a need to prepare a market plan by doing intense research to attract new customers.

Thus the major objective of the market plan is to target new customer base from different markets and even from international markets. This will be done by analysing the background of the tourism industry to understand the latest trends in the market. This will be followed by the analysis of environmental factors and this will then discuss the SWOT analysis of Blue Mountain. After that the marketing plan will identify target market and will also provide targeting strategy. In this manner the marketing plan will be undertaken to resolve the problems of Blue Mountain as a tourist destination.

Background

Tourism is a very significant component of the Australian Economy. As per the latest figures of the year 2014/15 , the total representation of tourism in the GDP of Australia was around 3%which is around A$47.5 billion. This implies that tourism industry contributes in the national economy in a very significant manner. Along with that domestic tourism accounts for 73 % of the total direct tourism GDP. The tourism industry employs over 580,800 people which accounts for 5% of the total workforce of the Australia. In the year 2015 there were 7.4 million visitor arrivals in the Australia (AustrlianGovernment, 2015).Tourism also contributes in the export earnings. The tourism industry in Australia plays a significant role in the development of economy (Getz, 2008). Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne are the popular destinations in Australia since these are coastal destinations. Gold Coast and Queensland are also popular destinations of Australia. The Australia also has unique wildlife and this is also a major attraction.

Besides the fact that there were economic challenges and natural disasters in the year 2010-11 the growth of Australia’s tourism was not hampered and it was supported by increased consumption. The number of visitors from overseas has also increased significantly (AMI, 2015). The latest trend in tourism industry is that the number of international tourists in increasing and the number of domestic tourists is declining. The growth of domestic tourism is very slow as compared to that of international tourists. The Australian government has released 2020 Tourism industry potential in the year 2010 and this suggests that the tourism industry will be worth $140 billion (AustrlianGovernment, 2015). The number of Chinese tourists is increasing gradually and there is also an increase in the number of visitors from UK. This trend is very beneficial for the growth of the tourism industry in Australia. The visa policies of the country are also easy and due to that the number of visitors is increasing gradually. There have been a number of international tourism campaigns in Australia to attract domestic as well as international visitors.

The Blue Mountains is 1215 m elevated rugged region in The New South Wales of Australia. This region is well known among domestic as well international visitors for its dramatic scenic beauty. The region has unique flora and Fauna. It comprises of eucalyptus forests, steep cliffs, guesthouses, waterfalls, gardens and galleries. The Bushwalking track of the region has attracted a lot of tourists since so many years. The total area of the mountain range is 11,400 km square (AustrlianGovernment, 2015). The climate of the region varies with the elevation and in summer the maximum temperature is around 22 Degree C and it extends to 30 Degree C on few days. The temperature during winter is around 10 to 11 degree C. There are two to three snowfalls every year in this region. There are a number of tourist attractions in these regions. There are series of limestone caves knows as Jenolan Caves. Due to its beauty the mountain range is also listed in UNESCO heritage list (ADMA, 2015). The Giant Stairway is the most appreciated point by the tourists. This walking track runs down into Jamison Valley near the Three Sisters that provides very good access to nature. The Katoomba Scenic Railway is the steepest funicular railway in the world and due to that it is also registered with Guinness World Record. There is a toy and railway museum and as well (AustrlianGovernment, 2015). In this manner the Blue Mountains range was of the most sought after gateway in Australia. Due to the changes in travelling patterns and other associated reason the number of tourists dropped in last few years and this is a matter of great concern for the tourism council.

Environmental forces

There are a number of environmental forces that affect the tourism industry in Australia. These factors are natural disasters, biodiversity, climatic conditions, temperature and flora and fauna. These are the major environmental forces that affect the tourism industry in Australia. The most significant environmental factors affecting Blue Mountain are climate and flora and fauna. The number of visitors in the region was very high initially and the most significant reason was serenity of the climate and favourable climatic conditions (Joseph, 2009). Now, the environmental conditions have changed to a very great extent and due to that the climate has also changed. The changes in the climate affect the tourism on a particular location. Previously the climatic conditions of the Blue Mountains were very pleasant and due to that a number of visitors came to enjoy its serenity. The temperature is increasing gradually due to that change in the environmental condition of the location and this is the result of man-made changes in the region. Due to rise in day temperature people prefer not to come here during summers. This has decreased the number of visitors during summers. Due to variations in the climatic conditions the tourists are not able to decide the most significant time to travel and due to that they cancel their travel plans (Aghaei, 2014). The climate of this region has become unproductive and generally tourists do not refer to travel to such locations that have changing climatic conditions. This environmental factor is very dominant and it has resulted into decrease in the number of tourists in Blue Mountain regions.

The region has always been popular for its distinctive flora and fauna. Due to its flora and fauna a number of visitors used to come here. Now, there are many species that are in danger and a tourist is not able see it while visiting the park. This is the major reason why number of tourists has declined in this region. Due to man-made changes in the natural environment a number of factors have changed and these changes proved to be fatal for the tourism in this region. The major reason behind the visits of tourists to this place was to enjoy distinctive flora and fauna and study them. With a lot of species being threatened for the existence the number of visitors is declining (Barret & Weinstein, 2014). The reports suggest that a number of trees and plants now come in threatened species and because of that they are not widely available in the region. This has resulted into decrease in the number of visitors to this region.

The environmental conditions of this region are gradually becoming fatal for the tourists. Along with these two major environmental forces there are various other associated reasons as well that have resulted into decline in the number of tourists to the blue mountain regions. Most of the tourists prefer to go to the places about which they can predict in advance (Cutler, 2010). The environmental forces not only affected the tourists from domestic market but also affected the tourists from international market.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis denotes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that an organisation, group or council faces. Strengths and weaknesses are based on internal aspects whereas opportunities and threats are based on external aspects (Cho, 2008). The SWOT analysis of Blue Mountain ranges as a tourist destination will help in determining the problems that are being faced at present and it will help in solving those problems on the basis of strengths and opportunities of the region. In this manner SWOT analysis is a significant part of market plan of the destination (Ali & Talwar, 2013). Following is the SWOT analysis of Blue Mountain ranges as a tourist destination:

Target Market and Targeting strategy

At present the target market of the council for Blue Mountain range as tourist destination is high end customers but this is decreasing gradually and due to that the council is looking for new target market. The latest trend in the industry show that travellers from Asian regions are actively travelling to foreign destination and this is especially true for China (Ashworth, 2011). The number of Chinese tourists is increasing gradually and there is also an increase in the number of visitors from UK. This trend is very beneficial for the growth of the tourism industry in Australia. Thus the target market of the council shall be Asian regions like China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore and Malaysia. The Air tickets are gradually decreasing and tourist have started taking advantage of this. For instance Air Asia is a leading Airline company in Asian region providing cheap flights to Australian regions (Homewood, 2016).Due to that these markets are potentially strong and there are high chances that the tourists from these regions will visit Blue Mountain Ranges. The council shall also attract international students coming in Australia. The latest trend suggests that the number of students coming from Indian subcontinent and Chinese region is gradually increasing and this can be a potential target market for the council (Grewal & Bart, 2015).

The targeting strategy denotes the selection of potential customers that the council will target. This strategy involves segmenting the market, choosing the appropriate segments for availing the opportunities of the market and determining the services that will be offered in each segment (Haung & Sarigollu, 2012). The council will adopt differentiated marketing strategy and multi-segment targeting. This strategy will help the council in serving profitably by developing specific marketing mix for its different target markets.

The council will develop a different marketing mix for tourists from China, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore and for the international students.

For Tourists from Asian countries (market segment 1)

• The council will use intense promotions like advertising.
• The pricing strategy for this segment will be skimming pricing since they are rich and they can afford (Hanssens, 2013).
• The Exclusive Place strategy will be used.
• The Product mix will have qualities like catchy names, premium services, customised tour plans, etc.

For International Students (Market Segment 2)

• The Product mix will deal with nice services at reasonable prices.
• The Pricing strategy will be penetration pricing initially.
• The Place strategy will be intensive (Karna & Hansen, 2003).
• The Promotion strategy will be advertising and sales promotion.

Marketing Plan and Recommendation

The marketing plan for the council is prepared in four steps. Following is the market plan along with timeline to reach the target market:

On the basis of marketing analysis of the Blue Mountain as a tourist destination following recommendations can be provided:

• The council shall prepare infrastructure to cater to the needs of international tourists.
• The council shall control man made activities in Blue Mountain range to prevent climatic changes and environmental changes.
• There is a need to take benefits of rich growing Asian markets with proper planning.
• It shall be noted that the marketing plan shall be tailor made for both the segments. Applying one plan on both the segments may lead to failure of marketing plan.
• It is also important to change the practices as per the market dynamics because trends in tourism industry keep on changing (Stella, 2010).
• It is also recommended that the council shall advertise its services on international platforms to attract more customers.

Conclusion

Blue Mountain will be able to boost its income by targeting travellers from Asian countries and international students. It has become very necessary for the council to target new market due to saturation in existing market. The market plan presented above will help it in targeting new segments. In this manner the council will be able to generate income by increasing footfall of travellers.