Tourism and Hospitality Marketing (Essay Sample)

Tourism and Hospitality Marketing
 
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Introduction
It is easy to wonder what tourists/consumers bring back after several days of total relation and or enjoyment of the great facilities, wonderful views and delicious food. Nonetheless, experience is an important benefit of the vacation. Consumers’ needs and wants noticeably differ, but gaining some positive (or negative) experiences is a predictable result of consuming the services/products they buy. Experience, or rather consumption experience, relates to the total outcome to a consumer from the combination of goods, environment as well as services purchased (Lewis & Chambers, 2000, p. 46). Altogether, the nature of such experiences is vital for the tourism and hospitality industry especially considering that products associated with this industry are always experiential. This assessment demonstrates an understanding of the experiential nature of tourism and hospitality marketing. This is achieved through addressing various issues such as; the nature of the experience economy, importance of experiences in tourism and hospitality, and the concept of experimental marketing from a broad perspective.
The first issue to examine is the nature of the experiece economy. Economic experience is rather a new vision for a new economic era. In this fast growing economy, consumers are after affective memories, symbolism and sensation which combine to generate a long-lasting personal experience. In today’s world, conventional marketing approaches focusing on functional product attributes and quality are ineffective. Rather, consumers look for experiences that engage them personally, dazzle their senses and stimulate their minds whilst indulging in fun or fantasies (Williams, 2006, p. 489). What is more, experience economy entails search for unique experiences by consumers. Therefore, consumers go beyond mere consumption of products and services, since the consistent high level of service and product quality cannot be used to discriminate the choices for the consumers.
Experience economy is mostly associated with the four realms of experience including education, entertainment, esthetics as well as escapism (Lewis & Chambers, 2000). These realms are differentiated in terms of participation and involvement of consumers. The esthetics and entertainment dimensions involve passive participation, and a consumer does not necessarily influence the experiential outcome. On the other hand, education and escapism dimensions entail active participation since consumers play a significant role in their subsequent experience. Altogether, experience economy revolves around these realms, and combines to create the optimal consumer experience.
Importance of experiences in tourism and hospitality is another issue to be dealt with in this section. The global tourism and hospitality industry has significantly evolved into an area of fierce competition. As a result, a fundamental challenge for marketers is to understand the differentiating characteristics of tourist experiences. Tourism is for all intents and purposes a pioneering example of the experience economy. According to McIntosh and Siggs (2005, pp 74-81). The tourism experiences are unique, emotionally filled and of high personal value. In essence, experiences are important in tourism and hospitality because they offer an alternative experience of time. This relates to an alternative rhythm, free from daily constraints. Consumers in tourism and hospitality industry are after sensational authentic experiences. In this manner, experiences create/leave an impression on consumers in tourism and hospitality industry. All in all, experiences set off a steady flow of feelings, fantasies as well as fun.
A personal experience involved my tour to the Living History Farm (Iowa). The visit left long-lasting experiences including farming history spanning about 300 years. As a matter of fact, I attended shows of historical farm skills including weaving, wood carving and rope making. In this visit, I engaged the mind and the body all of which left a lasting impression on me. I would definitely tour the place again. Altogether, it is evident that the experiences achieved from the place are vital to the success of the industry. Creating memorable experience is crucial to retaining old consumers as well as attracting new ones. It is through developing memorable experience where various tourists attractions site or destinations create their rank in the global environment.
A comparable issue addressed is the concept of experimental marketing. Reflecting on studies, it is clear that experiential marketing is often seen as a marketing approach designed by a business to fulfil various functions. For instance, it serves to stage the whole physical environment as well as the operational processes for its consumers to experience (Williams, 2006). In other words, experiential marketing entails consumers developing recognition as well as purchasing goods/services of an enterprise or a brand after getting experiences from attending activities and identifying stimulations. As an emerging form of marketing, it focuses not only on products and services but also on the whole experience that a company creates for its consumers. Compared with conventional marketing, experiential marketing focuses more on the consumers’ experience creation process including pre-p...