Rob Edgeley
University of Central Lancashire
BA(Hons) International Tourism Management
TL2008 - Marketing Management for Tourism & Hospitality
“DISCLAIMER: This entire website including all linked pages has been submitted as partial fulfilment for the degree of BA(Hons) in International Tourism Management at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), Preston, UK. Specifically, this website has been submitted to module code TL2008 as an assessed undergraduate project within the Division of Tourism, Hospitality and Events Management. This website is not related to any specific organisation/product/service but is meant to demonstrate my understanding of visitor economy marketing in a real-world environment. No intention is made to any specific organisation, product, service and/or person. Any similarity to real-world organisations, including branding, images, and/or product and services are purely coincidental. Copyright of images remains with the original copyright owner”.
The organisation which has been created for this website is Pride Tours, with a primary aim to provide packages to Gay Pride events throughout the world. The target market is gay men who live in the UK within the age bracket of 18-50. The reason for the wide range of age is because gay men of all ages will travel to Pride events, however there are various packages available within each destination which encompass differing target markets within the key target market. The website is hypothetical and has been developed to demonstrate understanding of the 4 P’s of marketing which extend into the 7 C’s of website design.
Rayport and Jaworski (2000) formed a framework which should be considered when creating and designing a website intended for commerce and sales. It is said consumers shop online for a variety of reasons; however the most important ones are convenience, cost, wider choice, and a sense of control over their purchases. As consumers can shop anywhere they have an internet connection, the organisation needs to create a website which will drive traffic, appeal to the target market and create a lasting experience which will create loyalty.The framework developed is referred to as the 7 C’s and is defined as follows, with aspects of the website design also explained:
Context
The design of the Pride Tours website is uncluttered and easy to navigate with the navigation bar at the top and clear, defined links to other web pages. The homepage is eye catching and makes use of colour and imagery to capture the consumers attention instantly. It is clear that a tourism website must have an eye-catching home page with sufficient information which is organised in a creative manner with easy navigation (Fryc, 2010). The colour scheme used takes influence from the rainbow which is synonymous with gay culture, therefore a selection of these colours have been used, these are pink, purple, yellow and orange. The text is in black or grey as this makes it easy to read, especially against the white background. The ‘white space’ at either side of the page also add to the readability and overall design of the website. Lawrence and Tavakol (2007) state that context also incorporates how user friendly the website is, Pride Tours is easy to navigate and uses imagery and media to add to the user friendliness.
Commerce
Currently Pride Tours only allows bookings to be made through the call centre, however consumers can email Pride Tours for further information and to tailor make packages. The main reason for this is that Pride Tours want to discuss individual needs with their customers to ensure they put together the best possible experience, this may include flights from other UK airports and other hotels and add-on’s to improve the customers experience. To improve functionality and customer retention, online purchasing can be added onto the website. The lock symbol would need to be present to indicate all data is encrypted.
Connection
There are numerous links on Pride Tours which lead customers to other websites, the main reason for this is to educate website users, especially regarding the history of pride. Links are also used on each of the destination pages to direct customers to the official website of the Pride event. In order to ensure customers buy from Pride Tours, special offers will be available which will not be available on the official website. Links to social media sites have also been included to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, this is especially important as these websites allow customers to see real life photographs, videos, and read opinions and reviews of existing customers. There is also a link to the IGLTA (International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association), they are the world's leading global travel network dedicated to connecting and educating LGBT tourists and the businesses that welcome and support them along the way (IGLTA, 2013). This adds security to the consumer as well as Pride Tours as the company is endorsed by a recognised body within LGBT travel.
Communication
This stage is how Pride Tours communicates with their target market, the primary way in which this happens is through the links to the social media sites. On the contact page there is also a live chat option as well as a message option which will allow customers to get instant answers or email Pride Tours with complex questions if they have more time. Contact details have also been provided, and customers will have the option of email, telephone or face to face visits if local to the area.
Content
The predominant text used on the website is called Jura and this was picked to portray a young, dynamic and fresh image which is a stereotypical portrayal of gay men. For text which requires some reading such as on the Pride event details pages, Arial has been used as this is a simple text to read at length. The imagery that has been used is that which appeals to gay men, typically of other gay men or Pride events. YouTube videos have also been used on several pages to portray what the event is actually like from a personal point of view. Music was going to be used on the homepage however from speaking to various people who use websites on a regular basis this was discontinued as the majority of users tend to turn the music off instantly as this causes annoyance.
Community
Pride Tours creates a community through their social media channels, which are linked at the bottom of each page. A blog was also created with specific interest in gay culture which will appeal to the website users.
Customisation
The website is not customisable, however packages offered by Pride Tours are, Stark (2007) puts forward the notion that there is a growing demand for customisation as consumers are better equipped to compare brands and products more easily. Customisation can often lead to higher sales as the consumer feels as though they have more control. Customisable features often include translation, but as Pride Tours will operate in the UK market this will not be necessary. Customers will be able to customise their package through the call centre with various extras such as airport parking, cruises, attraction tickets and travel insurance.
References
Fryc, L. M. (2010). ‘Are Tourism Websites Useful for Travellers? Applying an Information Rubric for Tourist Destination Websites’. Tourism and Hospitality Research. 4(1) pp. 47-58.
IGLTA, (2013). ‘About IGLTA’. Available at: http://www.iglta.org/about-iglta/. Accessed: 17 March 2014.
Lawrence, D & S, Tavakol (2007). Balanced Website Design. Springer, USA.
Rayport, J. F., and Jaworski, B. J. (2000). E-Commerce. Wiley, New York.
Image References
Amsterdam Pride (2014). ‘Photos’. Available at: http://www.amsterdamgaypride.nl/photos/. Accessed: 17 March 2014.
Cape Town Pride (2014). ‘Main Events’. Available at: http://www.capetownpride.org/#!main-events/c23d3. Accessed: 17 March 2014.
Google Images (2014) ‘Pride Eye’. Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=gay+pride+eye&espv=210&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5BwnU8GkGYiThQeQ2YHQBQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1517&bih=741&dpr=0.9#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=_n1_8e4AMi9coM%253A%3BAeggOMmyvORVhM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Findeclaration.files.wordpress.com%252F2010%252F06%252Fpride_eye.png%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Findeclaration.wordpress.com%252F2009%252F10%252F29%252Fpersistence-of-vision%252F%3B1008%3B756. Accessed: 17 March 2014.
Google Images (2014). ‘Rainbow Lips’. Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=gay+pride+man+glasses&espv=210&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=ch8nU-_KGJSjhgegtYD4Cw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1517&bih=741&dpr=0.9#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=yd-xJv-nFOmStM%253A%3BAwnr5FTPEqCvgM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fdarkroom.baltimoresun.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2012%252F06%252FAFP_Getty-511590211.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fdarkroom.baltimoresun.com%252Ftag%252Fgay%252F%3B1200%3B801. Accessed: 17 March 2014.
Manchester Pride (2014). ‘What’s On?’ Available at: http://www.manchesterpride.com/whatson/. Accessed: 17 March 2014.
Maspalomas Pride (2014). ‘Home Page’. Available at: http://www.gaypridemaspalomas.com/. Accessed: 17 March 2014.
Miami Beach Pride (2014). ‘All Events’. Available at: http://www.miamibeachgaypride.com/events. Accessed: 17 March 2014.
New York Pride (2014). ‘Images’. Available at: http://www.nycpride.org/gallery/. Accessed: 17 March 2014.
San Francisco Pride (2014). ‘Heritage and Photos’. Available at: http://www.sfpride.org/heritage/. Accessed: 17 March 2014.
Sydney Mardi Gras (2014). ‘Gallery’. Available at: http://www.mardigras.org.au/gallery/. Accessed: 17 March 2014.