Purpose Experiential marketing is arguably marketing's most contemporary orientation, but as with many marketing innovations it has been

n largely overlooked by those involved in tourism and hospitality marketing and promotion. Whilst in many industries companies have moved away from traditional features and benefits approaches, to putting experiential marketing centre-stage, marketing in the tourism and hospitality sectors does not appear to have explicitly engaged the theoretical issues involved. This raises the question what, if anything, does experiential marketing have to offer marketers in the disciplines of tourism and hospitality? In this paper, I will seek to introduce the experiential marketing debate and demonstrate how the questions raised by the concept are critical to an understanding of marketing theory and research within the tourism and hospitality sectors. Design/methodology/approach Following the authors previous publications which sought to investigate alternative paradigms for studying hospitality consumers, this research attempts to consider the practical applications of one such model. Findings The tourism and hospitality sectors cannot be seen to be immune to fundamental changes in the orientation of marketing. Innovative experience design will become an increasingly important component of tourism and hospitality firms core capabilities. Those who go beyond service excellence, and market experientially will lead the creation of value in the sector. Originality/value Provides a framework as to how organisations might usefully implement an experiential marketing strategy.

Marketing for Hospitality & Tourism

Main topics of study:

Introduction: Marketing for Hospitality & Tourism:

Customer Orientation What is Hospitality & Tourism Marketing? Marketing in the Hospitality Industry Undesirable Customers Marketing Management

Marketing Management Philosophies Marketings Future The Internet Changes How We Market Hospitality Products Great Leaders

Service Characteristics of Hospitality & Tourism Marketing:

The Service Culture Characteristics of Service Marketing Management Strategies for Service Businesses Ritz-Carlton: Taking Care of Those Who Take Care of Customers Overview of Service Characteristics: The Servuction Model

The Role of Marketing in Strategic Planning:

Nature of High-performance Businesses Corporate Strategic Planning A Strategic Look at Starbucks Coffee Business Strategy Planning Unique Challenges of the Hotel Industry

The Marketing Environment:

The Companys Micro-environment The Companys Macro-environment Managing in Uncertain Times Popcorns Cultural Trends Linked Environmental Factors Responding to the Marketing Environment

Marketing Information Systems & Marketing Research:

The Marketing Information System A Questionable Questionnaire Research Problem Areas The Internet: A Great Source of Marketing Information Marketing Research in Small Business Marketing Research in Smaller Organisations

Consumer Markets & Consumer Buying Behaviour:

A Model of Consumer Behaviour Personal Characteristics Affecting Consumer Behaviour Senior Consumers The San Diego Padres Baseball Club The Buyer Decision Process Unique Aspects of Hospitality & Travel Consumers

Organisational Behaviour of Group Market:

The Organisational Buying Process Participants in the Organisational Buying Process Major Influences on Organisational Buyers Organisational Buying Decisions Group Business Markets Dealing with Meeting Planners The Corporate Account & Corporate Travel Manager

Market Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning:

Markets Market Segmentation Jollibee: A Regional Fast Food Chain Targeting Families by Targeting Kids Market Targeting Elite-Napping the Business Traveller Market Positioning Airline Positioning: Southwest Airlines

Designing & Managing Products:

What is a Product? Product Levels Augmented Product Brand Decisions New Product Development The National Food Laboratory Helps Restaurants Develop New Products & Improve Existing Products Restaurants & Hotels Develop New Product Ideas Product Development Through Acquisition

Product Life-cycle Strategies

Internal Marketing:

Internal Marketing When Employee Communications Go Against Customer Expectations The Internal Marketing Process Nonroutine Transactions

Building Customer Loyalty Through Quality:

Defining Customer Value & Satisfaction Tracking Customer Satisfaction Relationship Marketing Retaining Customers The Link Between Marketing & Quality What is Quality? Benefits of Service Quality Developing a Service Quality Program The Five-gap Model of Service Quality Forecasting Market Demand

Pricing Products: Pricing Considerations, Approaches, and Strategy:

Price Factors to Consider When Setting Prices Aspen Skiing Company Knows Out-of-State Visitors Are Less Price Sensitive General Pricing Approaches Pricing Strategies Segmented Pricing: The Right Product to the Right Customer at the Right Time for the Right Price Price Fixing Other Pricing Considerations Price Changes The Internet Makes it Easy for Customers to Find Price Information

Distribution Channels:

Nature & Importance of Distribution Systems Nature of Distribution Channels

Marketing Intermediaries Top Ten Ideas for Working with Travel Agents Channel Behaviour & the Organization The Hilton Model Restaurant Franchising Selecting Channel Members Responsibilities of Channel Members & Suppliers Business Location

Promoting Products: Communication & Promotion Policy & Advertising:

The Communication Process Thank You A Great Personal Communication Establishing the Total Marketing Communications Budget Managing & Coordinating Integrated Marketing Communications Southwest Airlines Manage the Integrated Marketing Communication Process Advertising How Does an Advertising Agency Work? Major Decisions in Advertising Association Advertising

Promoting Products: Public Relations & Sales Promotion:

Public Relations Taco Bell Provided Example of Creative Publicity Major Activities of PR Departments Publicity Singapore Suntec Centre The Public Relations Process Major Tools in Marketing PR Public Relations Opportunities for the Hospitality Industry Crisis Management Sales Promotion Local Store Marketing

Electronic Marketing: Internet Marketing, Database Marketing, and Direct Marketing:

Internet Marketing

Using the Web to Market Tourism Destinations Web Site Development Business-to-Business E-commerce Developing a Marketing Database System Using your Database for Customer Research: Defining the Power of Your Loyal Customers Gazelle Systems Brings Database Marketing to Restaurants Manhattan East Suite Hotels Gives Customers What They Want Before They Ask Direct Marketing

Professional Sales:

Management of Professional Sales Nature of Hospitality Sales Sales Force Objectives Sales Force Structure & Size Organizing the Sales Department Relationship Marketing & Strategic Alliances Recruiting & Training a Professional Sales Force Managing the Sales Force

Destination Marketing:

The Globalization of the Tourist Industry Importance of Tourism to a Destinations Economy Stop the Brutal Marketing Tourism Strategies & Investments Gambling on Central City Segmenting & Monitoring the Tourist Market Maryland Office of Tourism Development Case Study Communicating with the Tourist Market Organizing & Managing Tourism Marketing National Tourism Organizations: How They Work

Tourism and globalization

Dear friends and colleagues, Today, Im pleased to share with you a chapter on Tourism and Globalization from the second edition of Deborah McLarens book Rethinking Tourism and Ecotravel, a fully revised and comprehensive overview of the history and global development of tourism.

This new edition provides updated information on the global tourism and includes many case studies on how local communities in different parts of the world, especially Indigenous Peoples, are affected by this seemingly insatiable industry and have responded to the challenges posed by tourism and ecotravel. Yours truly, Anita Pleumarom Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team (tim-team) ----------------------------Excerpt from Rethinking Tourism and Ecotravel, Second Edition, Deborah McLaren, June 2003, Kumarian Press, Inc., Bloomfield/ USA (Order: via email at kpbooks@kpbooks.com, Online at www.kpbooks.com) TOURISM AND GLOBALIZATION A traveler can decide today to go to the North Pole and be there by tomorrow. Global infrastructures such as transportation and communications and global policies for free trade have created a situation where people and businesses in the global North can easily access natural resources and cultures in the global South. Until 1999, when thousands of people around the world began organizing against it (e.g., the Battle in Seattle), globalization was not regarded as a danger to local economies and cultural diversity. In fact, politicians and the media tout globalization as the path to greater wealth and success. Although globalization may be the most primary transformation of the worlds political and economic structures since the industrial revolution, its implications have yet to be fully understood and debated. Most of the economic restructuring is in the interest of big business, not in the interest of the public. Under the banner of free trade, corporations have come to shape our lives through the consumer products we buy (including technology), the media that feed us information, even the educational system that trains us. Politicians chant the mantra of privatization and globalization. What does that mean for individuals? According to Martin Khor, president of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Third World Network, globalization is a leading threat to local communities, particularly in the global South: Before colonial rule and the infusion of Western systems, people in the Third World lived in relatively self-sufficient communities The modes of production and style of life were largely in harmony with the natural environment. Colonial rule changed the social and economic structures of Third World societies. The new structures, consumption styles, and technological systems became so ingrained in Third World economies that even after the attainment of political independence, the importation of Western values, products, technologies and capital continued and expanded

Third World governments were loaned billions of dollars to finance expensive infrastructure projects They were also supported by foundations, research institutions, and scientists in the industrialized countries that carried out research on new agricultural technologies that would modernize the Third World that is, that would create conditions whereby the Third World would become dependent on the transnational companies for technology and inputs. (1) The development of vast infrastructures such as roads and other transportation routes goes hand in hand with tourism development. As more tourists seek out hard-to-reach frontier destinations, those areas become popularized, and soon private industry takes over. Once an area is targeted for tourism development, the process begins with road building and displacement of the local population. Communication systems go in, as do energy-intensive and pollutive accommodations for visitors. The roads and communications in turn provide other industries with easy access to cheap labor and natural resources. This cycle of development is occurring at alarming rates in small communities and villages throughout the world; many of these areas are considered the most important biologically diverse regions of the planet. At the same time, roads built into places like the Amazon to serve primarily as transportation routes for extractive industries such as oil, logging, and mining inevitably become new corridors for colonists, including tourists. Tourism increases local reliance upon a global economy, leaking many economic benefits outside of the community back to the companies and countries that control most of the travel infrastructure. At the same time, tourism decreases dependence on local resources, as technologies, food, and health services are imported. Local people may also be pushed out or sell out, and local prices for commodities and services rise, as do taxes. A number of groups and individuals are concerned about the negative impacts of economic centralization via free trade and regional agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the European Union. These organizations point out that the promotion of greater economic units and the expanded transport infrastructures they require result in urbanization in the global North and South alike, placing greater pressures on wilderness areas and destroying family farms and rural communities around the world. Proponents of free trade promise that all trading partners will be better off and that the practice will usher in a new era of global cooperation and prosperity, but according to a report by the International Society for Ecology and Culture: The reality is far different. Increased levels of world trade will lead to a widening of the gap between rich and poor, to further environmental decline, and to the enrichment of corporations at the expense of people in both the North and South.

Small farmers and shopkeepers will be driven under by producers and marketers whose activities are undertaken at an ever larger scale, and many local economies will simply not survive. Rural communities will be hardest hit, intensifying the trend toward urbanization. These free trade agreements are fundamentally anti-democratic. The ease with which corporations will be able to transcend national boundaries to move wherever environmental and health standards are the weakest and wages lowest will strip voters and even governments of their power to curb corporate excess In the new global economy, production everywhere will be focused on the needs of a single, Western monoculture, while Indigenous cultures and diverse location-specific adaptations will be steadily erased. Local self-sufficiency will become an ever more distant memory. (2) Since September 11, 2001, the threat of global terrorism has been a key factor in government relationships and the tightening of restrictions for travelers. That days events and aftermath have had an enormous impact on the airline industry. Tourism plays an increasingly important role in international relations. Links exist between tourist flow and regional integration, governments, military, and economic aid. Most nations have several policies toward foreign tourists that are based not only on anticipated length of stay, but also on the degree of international cooperation existing between the two countries. (3) Tourism is big business for governments and private enterprise alike. Any country with still-pristine areas of forests, beaches, mountains, and parklands or with ethnic tribes and other unique rural cultures has something to market in the global economy. Some of the largest corporations in the world are designing and carrying out policies that open up borders and allow them to operate in areas once restricted to individual country corporations. The tourist industrys entrance into and operations in China, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, parts of the African continent, and countries with human rights abuses show that government and big business can work together despite trade restrictions and political differences. Corporations have become dominant governing institutions, often exceeding governments in size and power. As David Korten states, Increasingly, it is the corporate interest more than the human interest that defines the policy agendas of states and international bodies, although this reality and its implications have gone largely unnoticed and unaddressed. (4) Nowhere is this more true than within travel and tourism. Governmental instruments and international organizations that help shape international tourism policy encourage the growth and involvement of transnational corporations

because they provide quick money and expanded trade and services. In supporting and increasing the power of such corporations, governments are ignoring the numerous inequalities, exploitation, and dislocations they foster. Countries create lax trade environments to attract the tourism industry, lifting restrictions that are applied to other industries and offering many incentives. As Alexander Goldsmith explains: Free trade zones [FTZs] are regions that have been fiscally or juridically redefined by their host country to give them a comparative advantage over neighboring regions and countries in luring transnational corporate activity. Most FTZs share the following characteristics: lax social, environmental, and employment regulations; a ready source of cheap labor; and fiscal and financial incentives that can take a huge variety of forms, although they generally consist of the lifting of customs duties, the removal of foreign exchange controls, tax holidays, and free land or reduced rents. (5) The travel industry benefits greatly from these FTZs, sometimes even performing what may be considered advance work in doing away with free trade barriers for other industries. NOTES: (1) Martin Khor, Global Economy and the Third World, in The Case against the Global Economy, ed. Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books,1996), 47-48. (2) Quoted from The Trouble with Trade, in ISEC/Ladakh Project Newsletter 12 (Bristol, UK, and Berkeley,Calif.): 1,6. (3) IFC/World Bank, IFC Tourism Sector Review, 4. (4) David Korten, When Corporations Rule the World (West Hartford, Conn.: Kumarian Press, 1996), 54. (5) Alexander Goldsmith, Seeds of Exploitation: Free Trade Zones in the Global Economy, in The Case against the Global Economy, 267. ------------------------------NOTE: The articles introduced in this Clearinghouse do not necessarily represent the views of the Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team (tim-team).