Marketing Analysis Of Lizard Island Resort In Australia

Importance of Tourism in Australia

Question:

Write an essay on the detailed marketing analysis of a famous tourist resort.

The report is on the detailed marketing analysis of a famous tourist resort in Australia. It will give a clear and concise idea about the target market and position mapping in the tourism industry in Australia. It will describe different segments and position of the chosen tourist resort in Australia. It will provide information on macro and environment of the tourism industry in Australia. Based on the selected resort reputation, it will analyze consumer perception and behaviour about the chosen tourism resort and its branding. The report will also provide a detailed discussion on the marketing mix of the tourism industry. The report will give handful insight into commercialization and management of tourism industry in Australia.

Tourism in Australia is an important part of the Australian economy. Tourism contributed to about 3% of Australian GDP in the financial year 2014-2015. Domestic tourism is also a significant part of tourism industry representing a major part of direct tourism GDP. Tourism has given employment to many people in Australia. It is also a major contributor in total export earning. Popular travel destination includes Sydney, Melbourne, high-profile destinations like Gold Coast and the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest reef. The wildlife of Australia is also a significant place of interest for the tourist (Athanasopoulos et al. 2013).

The focus of Australia’s international tourism campaigns is to the laid back lifestyle of the country and their advertising campaigns. The advertising campaigns in tourism industry target a mass tourist from local population or a different set of the visitor from several parts of the world. Various National Tourism Organizations (NTO) like Tourism Australia adopt a segmented approach to research their market and business. The development of tourism is dependent on several factors like budgets, relevancy of destination, tourist motivation and ease of air access (Morrison 2013). All these factors and segmented approach is the core of Australia’s marketing strategy. The marketing has become more sophisticated depending on famous destinations. The tourism market is driven by factors like quality and quantity of competitors, unique product and offering at a destination and most importantly on the visiting tourist. When establishing a famous tourist destination, they do research to find out the most appropriate target audience or visitor for a particular destination (Pomering 2013).

Tourism Australia has also done extensive research to identify ideal passenger segment in Australia that helps them to meet their critical business goals and objectives. The earlier view was that tourist was segmented according to a country of origin, their mode of travel (Long-destination, inter-regional and domestic), style of travelling (free, independent, package, backpacker, etc.) and channels of distribution. But now they group tourist into segments by characteristics like psychographic, personal motivation and lifestyle of tourist (Forsey and Low 2014). At the psychographic level, very few tourist parts are there that cross national borders for travelling. Different tourist has different motivations and attitudes to travelling depending on the nationality and their cultural difference. All these characteristics influence individuals travelling preferences. So by this kind of research they can isolate global tourist segments that are ready for the   Australian tourism experience. Therefore, the target audience is chosen by filtering out consumers through behavioural science studies, motivation research, segmentation studies and focus group of the total population (Ruhanen et al. 2015).

Types of Tourists in Australia

The type of tourist generally coming in Australia is an international tourist, domestic tourist, and backpackers. New Zealand visitors are a part of Australian tourism market. They take short packaged tours mainly in iconic sights like Sydney, Gold Coast, the Great Barrier Reef, etc. Tourist also comes to view Australian native animals like koala and kangaroo. A major section of tourist to Australia is the backpackers. They come from European countries mainly Britain and from North America. This kind of travellers spent considerably more time in the country. Many backpackers take working holidays to stay longer. Work holiday visas for Australia are available for citizens of Canada, Europe, and East Asian countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, etc. Domestic tourist market is the major contributor to the progress of tourism industry. Australians are good domestic travellers who go for short vacations to sea-side resort towns, mountain retreat, national park, fishing locations, famous tourist spots, etc (McKay et al. 2014).

The report is based on the famous Lizard Island Resort in Australia. The resort is located on the Great Barrier Reef and nestled around 1013 hectare Lizard Island National Park. The resort island is situated on the western side of Lizard Island operated by Voyages Hotel and Resort since November 2009. It focuses on providing seclusion and water sports activities taking advantage of The Great Barrier Reef location. The resort has direct access to the Sunset Beach. The resort offers exquisite sea and garden views from the elegant and luxurious rooms and suites. Each room and suites have balconies or decks along with smart lifestyle amenities like Smart TVs, mini-bars, coffee maker, huge villas and private plunge pool. It also has an area for free sports activities like tennis, snorkelling, paddle skiing; diving trips to Cod Hole, etc (Anderson et al. 2015). The resort has a restaurant with a relaxed environment and daily changing menus. They also arrange 7-course beachfront dinners. There is also an arrangement for a casual bar, freshwater pool, a gym and a spa. The Lizard Island is a secluded spot with 24 white-powdery beaches and 40 luxurious suites. It is the northernmost resort in tropical Queensland and located directly in Great Barrier Reef. Lizard Island situated in Lizard National Park has many sandy beaches and lagoons. It is accessible only by private charter from Cairns Airport in northern Queensland, Australia. The resort gives the fortunate few an unforgettable holiday experience like no other resorts. A tourist enjoys secluded picnics on private beaches and five-star cuisine Salt Water restaurant. There is an option for an essential day spa. It gives the tourist option to relax in style in private suites and absorb the beauty of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (Green and Wood 2015).

The Lizard Resort Island is operated by Delaware North. This resort is listed in worlds to 10 hotels of the world. It has gained reputation mainly for its unrivalled Great Barrier Reef location. It offers exceptional marine diving, five-star dining, high-class spa service and other incredible experience to visitors. It is ideal for those tourists wanting some days of seclusion from work as the resort is located in secluded part on the northern most side of the Reef. It gives the tourist option to choose from 40 luxurious rooms and suites. They guarantee every guest sensational view and privacy at their suites. It has activities of interest for almost all age groups. They can explore the reef and its surrounding crystal blue waters, relax in white private beeches, indulge in water sports like diving, snorkelling, relax by a spa treatment, etc. It also gives tourist advantage of guided tours, cruise voyage, and private charters (Economics 2013). It services include:

Overview of Lizard Island Resort and its Facilities

Food and Beverage: They are a leader in food service management. The resort has many restaurants, and they have the distinction of having the busiest and famous kitchens in the world.

Retail: Delaware North is the chief operator of Lizard Island Resort. It has the experience of operating about 300 stores in resorts, famous attractions, airports, sport-venues, marketplace, etc. So its gives the unique experience to visitors staying at the resort. They want their consumers to come back to the place and enrich themselves with exciting activities at the resort (Billies 2016).

Lodging: Delaware’s experience of hotel management extends from different countries in North America to Australia. Organizing different event requires specific skills and Delaware North has excelled in this department. They have developed luxury hotel suites such as in Lizard Island Resort and wilderness camps. They want every event to be a one-time unique experience for their consumers. So put a lot of efforts in organizing exciting events. So on the whole Lizard Island Resort is a stunning retreat for tourist giving luxurious seclusion and world-class facilities (Marshall et al.  2013).

The Great Barrier Reef is a famous tourist destination in Australia. So Lizard Island resort location is very appropriate for attracting large tourist as the place is famous destination due to the Great Barrier Reef. The location attracts more than two million visitors every year. The place has been carefully managed for the interest of the tourist. They have taken permits for camping and other commercial marine tourism within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Those staying at Lizard Island have the advantage of closer reach to these location and marine activities as the resort is located nearby the Great Barrier Reef. Despite the number of traffic of visitors to this place every year, Tourism Australia has checked that the traffic does not have any effect or damage on the reef. There are also many other natural attractions like Uluru, Fraser Island, and Kakadu National Park. Uluru was awarded for being the best tourist attraction in Australia (Tourism and Jennings 2012).

Positioning mapping: It is a tool used by marketing people to deal with products that they are marketing. The concept is that different person has different perception of goods. Similarly in the tourism industry, different people have a different preference for choosing a holiday destination. So to analyse the market, positioning map is created. The tool is necessary for comparison of various products to gain more knowledge and give better services or better product. The positioning mapping of tourism marketing can be segmented by factors like perceptions and attitude of terrorist. It has been explained above in segmentation section how tourist industry targets particular visitor after different filter process. Based on that they identify consumers and develop their strategies (Chang 2015).

Figure 1: Positioning map of the tourist industry. Etravelweek.com. (2016). E-Travel Week. [online] Available at: https://etravelweek.com [Accessed 26 May 2016].

So from above position map, it is seen that Lizard Island Resort analyzed both low-service and high-service element. They analyzed a different kind of preference of customers from different parts of the world. Based on those preferences they plan the kind of services that they want to offer. As the resort is located in a strategic location in Great Barrier Reef, it is understood that it will attract influential visitors from different part of the world. So their focus is on giving luxurious high-class experience in the form of serene view, elegant surrounding, grand rooms, and suites, sports activities, etc. They have excelled in their service that is why it is distinguished as the best hotel in the world (García-Palomares et al. 2015).

Consumer Perception and Behavior towards Lizard Island Resort

            Marketing has two external marketing environments-one is the micro-environment and the other is macro-environment. The factors are not under the control of service giver, but they influence their decision while developing the strategic marketing strategy. These factors will be discussed here tourism industry:

Micro environment factors:

• Suppliers: The success of any business depends on the suppliers. Suppliers have the main power as they are the main suppliers of goods and services. The quality of supplier’s product and service is crucial to the business. In the case of Tourism Australia, all tourists related activities are checked by Tourism Australia. They have analyzed the demand of tourist to offer luxurious resorts and fascinating holiday destination to tourist coming in Australia. Lizard Island is an example of giving exceptional holiday experience to visitors coming in the Great Barrier Reef (Wang and Ap 2013).
• Resellers: Any product or service offered by the organization is transferred to the market by third-party resellers like retailers, wholesalers, etc. Tourism Australia has promoted the tourism industry in Australia by strategic planning and organizing promotion campaigns of the new tourist destination. In the case of Lizard Island Resort, Delaware North is its key operators. It acts like its reseller which handles the services of the resort and arranges for exception events that tourist will remember forever (Gustavo 2013).
• Customers: Customer is crucial to any business. Before making any product, marketers analyze why people will buy their products or why they will promote their product in the market. In a case of tourism in Australia, we have discussed how tourism industry does segmentation study to identify their target audience. Lizard Island has got visitors from all parts of the world due to its unrivalled location in the Great Barrier Reef (So et al. 2014).
• Competition: Competition is there in every business. So in order o excel in their business, the way they sell or offer their services is critical. They analyze how price and product differentiation affects customers. In the case of the tourism industry, we see that tourist traffic is crucial to their business. To attract more customers, they have to offer some unique features to their holiday destination and resorts. Lizard Island excelled in this regard as it gives exception holiday experience by its different services like world-class dining, spa, sports activities, etc (Gallarza et al. 2012).

Macro Environmental Factors:

• Demographic forces: Different segments of the market are affected by demographic forces like the country of origin, age, ethnicity, education, cultural characteristics and lifestyle of consumers. The tourist choice of destination is also influenced by these demographic factors. It helps tourism industry in the segmentation of their market (Pang 2014).
• Economic factors: Finance is an important aspect of both the organizations production as well as consumer’s decision making process. It is seen that tourism industry is driven by economic help from Tourism Australia. It has spent a lot of money in tourist advertisement to promote popular destinations (Tribe 2015).
• Physical forces: Proper utilization of natural resources like forests, agricultural products, marine products, etc. is also essential in business. This resource has been properly utilized in promoting tourism in Australia. Tourism Australia is also dependent on natural wildlife and national parks. People visit these places in Australia. The Marine resources like seas and beaches are also utilized by resort to giving tourist exciting sports activities in the sea like scuba diving, snorkelling, etc (Goodall and Ashworth 2013).
• Technological factors: Technology is also a crucial part of production or service delivery. The tourism industry also has taken steps in this regard. Like in Lizard Island Resort, there is an option for high-class entertainment in their private suits in the form of high technological gadgets, movie theatres, etc. They also book passengers from online website and provide excellent service to tourist (Buhalis and Wagner 2013).
• Political and legal factors: Marketing decisions are taken in compliance with recent political and legal developments. In the case of the tourism sector in Australia, we see that tourism department took special permits from the government for sports activities like diving and snorkelling activities. They also checked not to damage the reefs in spite of significant traffic at the Great Barrier Reef (Sharpley and Telfer 2014).
• Social and cultural forces: Any marketing strategy should always analyze social and cultural aspects of society. The product and services should not risk the society in any way. So that factor should be considered in any industry whether it is related to tourism or product (Pearce 2013).

            Australia is very popular among world tourist. The country has the goal of Tourism 2020. To do this, they have increased annual spending on tourism. Different popular destination and world class resorts and beaches are the reason for high traffic of passengers from all over the world. The tourist gives positive feedback about their holiday experience in Australia. The International market has high expectation from Australia. To meet these expectations, they are delivering strongly. Its greatest attractions are world class beauty, safe environment, and welcoming citizens. Another perception about Australia is that it is a world class market for tourism, and it offers global travel option. Many consumers aspire and dream to visit Australia. They have the intention to visit the famous location once in their lifetime, and they have a greater awareness of different holiday spots in Australia. It is a place of interest for many people, and people aspire to visit the place to spend their time in leisure (Gössling et al. 2012).

The marketing mix is a tool to determine a product, service or brand offering. It is dependent on four P’s which are:

Price: Pricing is a complicated process in the tourism industry. Any tourism package is dependent on geographic location, mode of travelling like flight, travel, hotel, etc., demand and supply of market. All these factors determine the pricing of tourist products like sports activities, resort lodging, dining, etc. Australia has strategic marketing operations to match current demand, the expectation of consumer and compete with other peer groups (Lovelock et al. 2014).

Place: Tourism marketing depends heavily on distribution strategies. Every travel company works with agents and partners who help them in their business. Famous travels companies like SOTC, Thomas Cook, and Cox & Kings work in this regard as a wholesaler and retailer of tourism. The success of any tourist centre depends on facilities like infrastructure, transportation, communication and ways of promotion of services. Tour operators also give other services like guided tours, hotel accommodation, airline flights, etc. Lizard Island also arranged for guided tours and other services (Vila et al., 2015).

Promotion: Promotion is a crucial aspect for the success of tourism industry. A tourist organization like Tourism Australia plays a role in the creation of awareness through promotional strategies like advertising, publicity, sales promotion, word of mouth promotion and exhibition (Goodall and Ashworth 2013).

Product: Product is a mix of tangible and intangible elements. In the case of the tourism industry, a product offered is the holiday destinations which can only be experienced by the tourist. The whole package of the product may involve destination, accommodation, facilities such entertainment, etc. A lot has been discussed important holiday destination of Australia above and also about product offerings in Lizard Island in this regard.

Marketing Mix Strategies of the Tourism Industry

From the detailed report, we get interesting facts about tourism in Australia. We got a clear idea about world class destination and luxurious resort in and around Australia. Australia is renowned in the world as a famous destination in the world. We see that the greatest drivers of passenger demand in Australia are coastal beaches, aquatic and wildlife experience along with famous places like Tropical Queensland, Sydney, and the Gold Coast. Australia also scores high marks regarding looking after the safety of passengers. Since it is a world class destination, the only recommendation is that they try to maintain their position by constantly improving their services and updating latest tourist destination with unique events. Australia’s perception about food and dining is different, so they can work in this department to give better culinary experience to visitors. It will create a great opportunity for future international marketing.

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