Marketing research of consumers of tourism services

Marketing research consumers of a tourism product is a process of development, promotion and implementation of services, focused on identifying the special needs of clients. It is designed to help clients evaluate the services of a service organization and make right choice

Customer orientation is the basic principle of marketing

Factors influencing consumers of tourism services

Motives of consumer behavior

Characteristics of the decision-making process on the purchase of tourism services

Customer orientation is the basic principle of marketing

Consumer research, identification of the main motives for purchasing tourism services and analysis of consumer behavior equips the company's managers and specialists with a powerful arsenal, without which successful activities in the world are impossible. modern market, namely, knowing your client. “Know your customer” is a basic principle of marketing.

Correct understanding of consumers provides a travel company with the opportunity to:

Forecast their needs;

Identify services that are in greatest demand; improve relationships with potential consumers;

Gain consumer trust by understanding their needs;

Understand what guides the consumer when deciding to purchase tourism services;

Find out the sources of information used when making purchasing decisions;

Establish who and how influences the development and decision-making on the purchase of a tourism product;

Develop an appropriate marketing strategy and specific elements of the most effective marketing mix;

Create a feedback system with consumers of tourism services;

Establish efficient work with clients. Forming a correct understanding of consumers in marketing is based on the following principles: the consumer is independent;

Consumer behavior is understood through research;

Consumer behavior is socially legitimate.

Consumer behavior can be studied through marketing research. This is done by modeling consumer behavior, studying the motives and factors that characterize customer needs and ways to satisfy them.

Consumer behavior can be influenced. Marketing can have a fairly strong influence on consumer motivation and behavior. This is achieved provided that the proposed tourism product is truly a means of satisfying the client's needs. At the same time, we should not talk about any manipulation of consumer behavior.

Consumer behavior is socially legitimate due to the fact that their sovereignty in the conditions market economy is based on a number of rights. Compliance with them is the most important task not only society as a whole, but also individual enterprises. The social legitimacy of consumer rights serves as a guarantee of meeting their needs. Deception, misrepresentation, low quality of services, lack of response to legitimate complaints and claims, and others similar actions represent nothing more than a violation of the legitimate rights and interests of clients.

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I. Theoretical part. A biological research method is a method that involves reproducing a physiological or pathological process in an experiment

Analysis of consumers, discovery of the main motives for purchasing travel services and consideration of consumer behavior give the manager and specialist of the enterprise a large arsenal, without which successful activity in the market is impossible, namely, knowing your consumer.

A correct understanding of clients gives the travel agency the opportunity to:

1) predict their needs;

2) discover services that are in greatest demand;

3) improve connections with potential consumers;

4) earn the trust of clients by understanding their needs;

5) know what the client is guided by when making a decision to purchase travel services;

6) find out the sources of information used when making decisions about purchasing travel services;

Consumer behavior is learned by studying it. It is carried out in the process of creating a model of buyer behavior, analyzing motives and factors characterizing needs and ways to satisfy them.

Consumer behavior can be influenced. Marketing can have quite a powerful impact on customer motivation and behavior. This can be achieved if the proposed tourism product is actually a tool to satisfy consumer needs.

Consumer behavior is socially fair because their independence in a market economy is based on a number of rights. Following them is the main task of both society as a whole and individual organizations. Social justice of the rights of buyers is a guarantee of meeting their needs. Lies, misrepresentation, low degree quality of services, lack of response to fair complaints, claims and other similar actions are nothing more than a gross violation of the legal rights and interests of consumers.

In the course of marketing research, a travel agency should obtain answers to some basic questions.

1. Who is the company’s client at the moment, and who may become one in the future?

2. What are the needs and wants of consumers?

3. What factors influence customer needs?

4. What arguments influence consumers when purchasing tourism services?

5. What unmet needs do consumers have that can become a significant source of ideas for developing and improving the activities of an enterprise?

6. How does the decision-making process about purchasing travel services or joining a travel agency take place?

A methodological technique in finding answers to these questions is to create a model of consumer behavior.

Buyers react in a certain manner to external causes that contain environmental factors and marketing mix factors. But a travel agency can have a direct impact only on marketing factors. It is possible to influence the client through motivating factors only indirectly. The decision to purchase travel services is also influenced by the individual characteristics of the consumer and his motives. Therefore, the role of marketing comes down to research:

1) factors influencing the consumer;

2) motives of consumer behavior;

3) the process of making a decision on the purchase of travel services.

Factors influencing consumers of tourism services

When considering consumer behavior, you need to be extremely careful in your assessments. Buyer behavior is never simple as it is influenced by many factors.

The whole variety of factors influencing consumers of travel services must be divided into two groups:

1) external motivating factors;

2) internal factors related to the consumer’s personality.

External motivating factors include:

1) marketing factors;

2) environmental factors.

Marketing factors are the so-called four “p” (product, price, place, promotion): product policy, pricing policy, policy of creating sales channels and product distribution, promotion policy, i.e. generating demand and stimulating sales.

Environmental factors cannot be controlled by the travel agency, but they significantly influence consumer behavior. As a result, they need to be taken into account not only when making a serious marketing decision, but also in everyday work.

Among the environmental factors are:

1) economic; 2) political; 3) cultural; 4) social.

Knowledge of factors that directly affect the consumer has important for tourism activities. This is due to the fact that they affect:

1) type of services offered;

2) selection of purchase points;

3) the likely price that the client is willing to pay for these services;

4) ways in which you can influence the consumer and win him over to your side.

The most important factors include:

1) age; 2) occupation; 3) education; 4) financial situation; 5) personality type and self-esteem;

6) lifestyle.

Since buyers differ from each other in age, preferences, level of financial status, etc., they purchase a variety of goods and services, and therefore the scales of their personal preferences differ significantly from each other. Some tourists choose, for example, a ski holiday, others are just going to relax and sunbathe, others get satisfaction from pilgrimages to religious shrines. The scale of preferences in relation to various travel options helps to understand the behavior of potential tourists, but it does not interpret the choice process. The buyer's choice depends not only on his taste, but also on economic factors.

Motives of consumer behavior

Actions are always the result of several motives, each of which influences the others. In tourism research, efforts may be focused on finding the value that the purchase of a particular vacation package contains. The consumer can take into account the objective value and various minor benefits associated with the purchase of a particular tourism product. As a result, the travel enterprise faces difficulties - it is necessary not only to foresee the main reasons for the tourist’s market actions, but also to establish the importance of each of the motives. This is extremely important in order to, with the help of marketing actions, awaken the tourist’s desire to make a particular purchase. To do this you need to have information about the following:

1) how the tourism offer is perceived;

2) what needs does it satisfy;

3) what factors stimulate or, conversely, restrain the development of demand;

4) what is the behavior of consumers in terms of purchasing certain services;

5) what opinions are expressed by people regarding the success of the tourism sector.

A. Maslow's theory of motivation proceeds from the fact that an individual's behavior is based on the need to satisfy needs at various levels. It is based on a conditioned hierarchy of needs - from “lower” (physical) to “higher” (spiritual), from more persistent to less persistent.

Initially, the individual will try to satisfy the need that is most significant to him at the moment. When it is satisfied, its motivating influence passes and the individual feels motivated to satisfy the next most important need.

It follows that higher needs are satisfied only when the previous ones are satisfied. This means that a product that provides self-expression will be purchased only when there are already products that provide primitive needs.

Based on this theory, countless programs are being implemented to offer tourism products based on status, authority, respect, recognition, promoting self-realization and self-expression of a person. In addition, the use of this theory helps not only to determine the motivation of tourist demand, but also to increase the influence of certain motives. Almost all tourists worry about their safety (threat of terrorism, criminal offenses, health). The travel agency is obliged to take this into account, promising people personal safety, good insurance conditions and medical care. Guarantees of a caring, friendly attitude towards people on the part of hotel staff and local residents aimed at satisfying esteem needs. If we take the level of self-affirmation needs, then it can be used to sharpen the motivation for striving for extreme types of tourism and routes that contain any difficulties, obstacles or even elements of risk (rafting on mountain rivers, survival tourism, mountain tourism, speleology and etc.).

D. Schwartz's theory of motivation distinguishes between rational and emotional motives. Let us note the main rational motives that encourage a person to purchase travel services.

Quality. When purchasing a tourism product, in many cases the determining factor is its expected quality. And since a person often determines the quality of a product or service by price, it is too low prices often have a negative impact on expectations associated with certain travel services.

Guaranteed service. This motive is directly related to the level of service for tourists, since when choosing a holiday destination, the guarantee of quality of service from manufacturers and sellers of services is a determining factor.

Reputation is one of the important reasons when choosing a travel agency and assessing the need to purchase certain services from this company. The reputation of a company is one of the main factors when a consumer decides whether the services offered are worth his trust.

It is not only rational motives that push tourists to purchase travel services. Emotional motives are no less significant in this situation.

"My Self." Every individual wants personal recognition. A person wants to be valued, loved, and always wants to feel important, so the staff of a travel agency needs to provide its consumers with such conditions. This justifies itself in many ways and gives tangible results.

Confession. Aiming at increasing one’s status, prestige, and changing one’s image. Some find satisfaction of this need by buying certain tourist products, while for others the service process itself is more significant.

Cognition is a steady focus on new discoveries, knowledge, and research. Discovering possible clients whose actions are driven by such a motive is extremely important, especially when introducing a new tourism offer to the market.

Following fashion. In each group of possible clients there are those whose behavior in the market is determined by this very reason. The task of the travel agency is to identify them in a timely manner and develop an appropriate offer for them.

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To preface the material in this paragraph, we’ll tell you a little about what the tourist market is and highlight its main features and elements. In broad terms tourist market means the place where the purchase and sale of a tourist product (tours, individual tourism services or goods for tourists) takes place. It should be borne in mind that such transactions are not always carried out in the same place. Many experts consider the tourism market as a tool for coordinating the interests of buyers and sellers of a tourism product, the scope of its implementation and the manifestation of economic relations between buyers and sellers of a tourism product.

Tourist market there is an area of manifestation of socio-economic relations between producers and consumers of a tourism product, combining supply and demand to ensure the process of its purchase and sale. The market will function effectively only if the following conditions are met: free competition, in which all market participants strive to achieve their goals (sell a product with maximum profit or buy it with minimal costs); the presence of basic rules in the field of quality and safety of the manufactured product and services provided; possibility of free choice of the consumer.

The tourism market can be more fully defined as the sphere of sales of the tourism product and the economic relations that arise between its buyers and sellers, i.e. between a tourist, a travel agency, a tour operator. Hence, subjects of the tourism market are consumers of the tourism product (tourists); producers of tourism products (travel agencies); government (externally regulating the tourism market in accordance with state policy). There is also a point of view according to which the subjects of the tourism market are:

tourist - consumer of a tourism product, any individual who uses, purchases or intends to purchase tourism services for personal use;
tour operator - entity, a developer of tourism services that carries out the formation, promotion and wholesale sale of tourism products in the form of general agreements, contracts, vouchers, contracts and other things based on the article on financial guarantees;
travel agent - a legal entity or individual that promotes and retails a tourist product in the form of contracts, vouchers, and also carries out the departure of a tourist from his place of permanent residence and some exit formalities;
counterparty - a legal or natural person, a provider of tourism services in a country or region of temporary stay, acting in accordance with the legislation of the host country and international agreements.

The tourism market is an economic system of interaction between four main elements: tourism demand, supply of tourism products, prices and competition. Features of the tourism market are determined by the basic characteristics of tourism services. Firstly, tourism services are intangible, changeable and lost over time. Secondly, when selling a tourism product, there is a time gap between the fact of purchasing a tourism product and the fact of its consumption. Thirdly, the tourism market is characterized by significant seasonal fluctuations in demand. Fourthly, in tourism, quality largely depends on the performers, that is, on the service personnel. Fifthly, in the tourism market there is territorial disunity between the consumer and the producer.

Under marketing research of the tourism market understand the systematic determination of the range of data needed in connection with the marketing task facing the company: their collection, analysis and reporting on the information obtained, conclusions and recommendations. The areas of marketing research are constantly expanding. F. Kotler lists 28 areas, and other authors list more than a hundred, among which the most important are research:

market capacity and potential;
distribution of market shares between specific firms;
income of the population, consumer behavior and motivation;
price policies and price elasticity;
business trends;
advertising, its perception and effectiveness;
channels of product distribution and information flows;
image of goods, their sellers and manufacturers;
legislative regulation and restrictions;
main trends in socio-economic development;
research methods themselves;
public (basic) values.

There are four areas of marketing research: search (collection additional information and generating hypotheses); descriptive ( detailed description individual facts and phenomena); experimental (testing marketing hypotheses); exculpatory (reinforcing the formed opinion with objective information).

Marketing research should be carried out purposefully, following certain stages: a) determining the goals and objectives of the research; b) development of research plans;

c) collection of information; d) analysis and presentation of results. When planning the collection of information, the marketing service makes decisions on four positions: methods (observation, interviews and experiment); methods of contact (personal, postal, telephone, Internet); sample (sampling unit, size, procedure); instruments (questionnaires, mechanical instruments).

Five common ways of presenting the results are: speech, report, report, review, brochure. It should be emphasized that marketing research in a tourism enterprise must be carried out on a systematic basis and be comprehensive. The main directions of this activity are research of the external environment, tourism product, market, consumers and competitors.

In terms of features and content marketing activities The following markets stand out:

target - the market in which the company realizes its goals;
barren- a market that has no prospects for selling services;
basic - the market where the main part of the enterprise’s services is sold;
additional - a market in which the sale of a certain volume of services is ensured;
growing - a market that has real opportunities for sales growth;
sandwiched - a market in which business activity is unstable but has prospects of becoming an active market under certain conditions.

In addition, for marketing purposes, there are various levels of market analysis. From the total number of consumers stands out potential market- a set of buyers who show interest in a given tourist offer. A group of consumers who are interested in and have income and access to a particular service is called accessible market. The totality of buyers who show interest, have income, access and the right to use a particular product is qualified market. A company can choose a marketing strategy to cover not the entire qualified market, but direct its efforts to a specific segment of it, which is called target market. The set of consumers who have already purchased the products of a given company is called developed market.

Marketing market research is carried out in two main directions: the current (market) situation is assessed and the market capacity is measured. Then research is carried out on market segmentation, selecting a target segment and positioning its product in this segment.

Under conditions of the tourist market the economic situation at a certain point in time is understood as the result of the relationship between supply and demand for these services, as well as the level and dynamics of prices for them. The market conditions for tourism services are characterized by: the ratio of supply and demand; price level for travel packages; competition and barriers to entry; commercial conditions for the sale of services; seasonal fluctuations in demand; degree of government regulation of the industry.

Another important area of market research is determining its capacity. This indicator shows the potential ability of the company to operate on specific market. Under market capacity understand the volume of tourism services sold on the market over a certain period of time. Nevertheless, more informative and practically significant for marketing purposes is the indicator of market share, that is, that part of it that is covered by a given enterprise.

The implementation of the target marketing strategy occurs in three stages - market segmentation (division into consumer groups); identifying the target market (selecting one or more segments for subsequent work); positioning the product on the market and developing an appropriate marketing mix. There are also three main marketing strategies for reaching a market: undifferentiated marketing, differentiated marketing and concentrated marketing. Applying strategy undifferentiated marketing, the company ignores differences in market segments and comes out with some kind of proposal that is common to all. Differentiated Marketing provides for the development of a separate mix complex for each segment. Concentrated Marketing is especially suitable for small companies with limited resources and consists of the company entering small markets and gaining a large share of them.

So, the main directions of marketing research are: a) research of the marketing environment; b) research of competitors; c) consumer research; d) research of tourism products and services. In this section, we will consider the basic principles of marketing research of competitors and consumers of tourism products and services. Researching the marketing environment of a tour operator is an extremely complex issue and will be discussed in the next paragraph. The basic principles of tourism product marketing were discussed in Chapter 3.

The design of tours is based on the results of marketing research of the tourism market. Marketing research can be carried out by the tour operator itself or with the involvement of professionals. Marketing market research consists of performing a number of successive stages:

1) market segmentation;
2) determining the needs of members of each selected segment;
3) determining the operator’s capabilities in qualitatively and effectively meeting the needs of selected segments;
4) determining the degree of coverage of consumers of a particular segment by competing tour operators;
5) selection of focus group(s);
6) detailing the needs of focus group members;
7) positioning of the tourism project.

Under competition is understood as competition in any area between individual legal entities or individuals - competitors interested in achieving the same goal. Accordingly, all the real and potential capabilities of a company that oppose competitors constitute its competitiveness. Tour operator competitors- these are other subjects of the tourism market that are active, focused on the consumer segment, in the qualitative and quantitative satisfaction of whose needs the tour operator has the greatest opportunities.

Analysis of competition in the industry is carried out at two levels: assessment of the industry’s place in the system of sectors of the national economy; study of intra-industry competition. To solve the first problem, use national diamond concept M. Porter, which analyzes the connections between four fundamental concepts: parameters of resources necessary for the company’s activities; industry organization strategy; demand parameters; related and supporting industries. The main idea of the concept is to determine the competitive advantage of an industry in relation to other industries. To study competition within an industry it is used five forces of competition model M. Porter (Fig. 4.1).

Rice. 4.1.

The most well-known technique for assessing the competitiveness of an organization is SWOT analysis. It is based on identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, as well as opportunities and threats, which makes it possible to assess the competitive potential of the company and the range of strategic issues that it will have to solve in the future.

As practice shows, the toughest competition takes place in tourism markets that have the following features: a large number of functioning tour operators; the ability to create and implement identical tours; the presence of many competing service providers; the presence of low barriers to entry in the tourism market; the presence of high exit barriers from the tourism market; maturity and saturation of the tourism market.

On the other hand, the emergence of new competitors in the tourism market can be prevented: by the efforts of existing large tour operators to constantly reduce costs and market prices of tours; the efforts of tour operators to differentiate the tours offered and switch to branded advertising that emphasizes the uniqueness of the tours; growing needs for capital required to open a travel agency; rising costs of training and reorientation of personnel; the need to create new agent networks.

The tour operator’s direct competitors can be divided into five types:

1) commutators(“gray mice”) are tour operators that are small in scope of work, flexible, and easily adapt to changes in market demand. They are rather weakly tied to a specific job profile and easily move from one market to another, changing the focus of tours on certain segments. The advertising strategy of such companies is not aimed at promoting tours and destinations, but at promoting the operator’s brand. These types of competitors are unstable in terms of market position and pricing;
2) patients(“sly foxes”) are highly specialized tour operators-competitors who have well mastered their market niche and are the strongest competitors. They have the lowest costs, the greatest pricing and market power, and a strong market share;
3) violents(“elephants” or “lions”) are giants of the tourism business, whose power allows them to be multidisciplinary in their work and control several large consumer segments at once, as well as dominate the market and pursue their own pricing policy, without paying attention to competitors. However, neglecting to analyze the competitive environment, they often become victims of young and daring operators;
4) explerents(“moths”) are new firms on the market that choose innovation and the latest technologies for the formation and sale of tourism products and services as a competitive advantage. They do not strive to capture the maximum market share and do not have a well-developed strategy. Most often, such tour operator companies are a division or subsidiary of larger tourism organizations and holdings;
5) litalents(“dying”) - these tour operator companies have obvious problems with their business, expressed in a decrease in key financial indicators, the presence of an ineffective organizational structure, and the absence of an effective development strategy. The development of such firms can go in four directions: a) winding down the business; b) repurposing; c) introduction of new products and technologies;
d) destructuring and refinancing of the company.

The role of analyzing the competitive environment of a tour operator at the initial stage of tour design comes down to determining the degree of coverage by competitors of the segments in which the tour operator has the greatest prospects in meeting the needs. The process of identifying weaknesses and strengths the position of competitors in relation to the focus groups selected as a result of segmentation consists of several stages: a) identification of competitors and analysis of their offer on the market; b) assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of each competitor; c) assessing the strengths and weaknesses of competitors’ offers; d) assessment of the degree of coverage by competitors of focus groups of interest to the operator; e) making decisions regarding further competition.

Identification of competitors and assessment of its strengths and weaknesses is carried out on the basis of advertising messages of competing operators in the media, statistical reporting, PR campaigns carried out by them and sales promotion activities. They often resort to rumors, tourist reviews and even espionage.

From available sources, you can obtain information that allows you to form a first impression of a competitor, namely: the market share it covers; age of the competitor; location and type of office; qualifications and number of personnel; advertising intensity; principles of work of a competitor with agents and clients; size of the agent network; competitor's image and reputation; activity profile. Less accessible sources can provide the following information: forms of relationships with suppliers; Availability customer base; the presence of connections in law enforcement agencies; organizational structure and management style; atmosphere in the work team; competitor innovations; actual volume of shipments; financial sources of activity.

An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of competitors’ offerings is carried out at the next stage competitive analysis and includes the following positions: characteristics of the hotel base of competitors’ offers; timing and duration of tours offered by competitors; regularity of tour organization; the amount of discounts and benefits provided by competitors; assessment of the quality of carrier services used by a competitor; assessment of the quantity and quality of additional services on the tour; analysis of prices and tariffs of competitors; analysis of the size of commissions for travel agents.

Evaluate strengths and weak sides proposals of competitors can be based on advertising information, reviews of tourists working with competing agents, on information obtained as a result of a competitive test (when employees of a tour operator or third parties, posing as interested tourists, communicate with managers of a competing company by phone or in the office).

After analyzing competitive offers, the tour operator determines the prospects for possible competition, guided by the division of consumers covered by the competitor into two categories, which can be conditionally called “choosing with the mind,” or rational consumers, and “choosing with the heart,” or irrational consumers. Rational tourists, preferring tours of competitors, are guided by the price and quality of services offered by competitors. You can attract such tourists by introducing a product with optimal ratio"price quality".

Irrational clients resort to the services of competitors out of habit, without even paying attention to the more advantageous offers of other tour operators existing on the market. This is the category of customers “most loyal” to the competitor’s brand, which appears as a result of: their participation in a very successful tour; disseminating information about the competitor and his tours from friends, relatives, neighbors, work colleagues; a very positive image and fame of the competitor and its brand; good location competitor's office.

As a result of analyzing the competitive environment, the tour operator makes one of the following three decisions in relation to the segment selected as a focus group: refusal to orient the tour project and further work with a specific focus group; involvement of a competing tour operator in working with the target segment as an agent; entry into competition. Before entering into competition, the tour operator must develop a strategy. There are four main competitive strategies in marketing: leader; pursuer; flank attack and guerrilla warfare.

Market leader - a tour operator with a large share of it, which must always defend its leading position. The leader must respond to each competitor’s proposal with new proposals and at the same time reduce costs, improve the quality of service, and develop new tours. The obvious advantages of such a strategy are a strong position in the market, large profits, and a perfect organizational structure. However, the loss of even a small market share leads to significant losses and loss of leadership.

Pursuers they are attacking the market leaders, putting pressure on its weak points, and the attack is not carried out on all fronts, but in one particular direction or segment of the tourism market. Competitive struggle is conducted only with the leader, and, accordingly, the main goal of such struggle is only to seize leadership.

Flanker tour operators do not participate in direct competition with leaders or pursuers, but are constantly searching for unfilled niches and market segments, on which they concentrate their further work. A flank attack is good when the market is filled with empty niches and untapped segments. Otherwise, tour operators will have to make do with what is left from other competitors. However, flanking tour operators are distinguished by competent and strict work, qualified and experienced personnel who can work with any segments.

Guerrilla warfare strategy can be characterized by the phrase “quietly doing your job.” Guerrilla firms find a market segment that they can actually protect and defend, work with tourism products that are in great demand, strive to look inconspicuous, and also do not show ambitions for leadership. This strategy is chosen by new tour operators, who are distinguished by their small size, simplicity of organizational and management structure, flexibility, mobility, small market share, and inability to influence tourists.

Consequently, the competitiveness of tourism services is influenced by the following factors:

Quality - one of the main factors without which there is no demand and clientele. Quality is a rather complex value in tourism, having a complex nature. As for the tourist product (tour), at a minimum, the concept of quality includes: consumer quality of each individual service, compliance of the set of services with the type and type of travel, optimality of the program and service technology, compliance of all services with the level of service, etc.

Reliability - compliance of actual service with advertising and information. The client must be confident that during the service he will receive exactly what he paid for. In case of some changes in the service delivery program, which may occur for various reasons, including objective ones, he must be guaranteed compliance with service standards and, in extreme cases, appropriate compensation.

Safety - important point, which has a great influence on the choice of direction and type of vacation and travel. Safety in tourism depends on many factors that must be taken into account when planning tourist services. The system of measures to ensure the safety of tourists includes: preventing risks for tourists associated with natural and man-made disasters in tourist centers; prevention of epidemiological, bacteriological and other medical risks and compliance with relevant formalities; organizing the safety of tourists during transportation; travel insurance for tourists, as well as liability insurance for tourism organizations; creation of a special tourist police.

Price justification - the price must correspond to the level of services and maintenance. Pricing is the most important issue in the market policy of an enterprise. Indeed, in tourism, for the most part, the choice of product is determined by price. Price competition increases consumer attention to price issues.

Consumer segmentation. Tourist services and services should be aimed at specific target groups of tourists (youth, the elderly, rich or not very rich people, parents with children, athletes, etc.) and focus on the needs of certain groups. Since the needs of different consumer groups vary significantly, the tourism product cannot be unified. On the contrary, it must be differentiated, diverse and targeted (in composition and level of services) to a specific group of consumers.

Seasonal price differentiation necessary in tourism, since this field of activity is characterized by seasonal fluctuations in demand. Season is a period of demand for services or lack of demand. As a rule, there are: low season(blue) when the product is not in demand or there is very little demand for it. At this moment, the so-called “buyer’s market” is formed, when firms compete for a small client. It is typical to issue “special offers” (“last minute tours”) with significant discounts on transport and accommodation, so the low season is unprofitable. Discounts work at this time for advertising the company. The lowest point of the low season is the low season; off-season(transition period) is characterized by equalization of supply and demand; high season(red) - demand, as a rule, exceeds supply, and prices for tourism services increase greatly. A “seller's market” is coming. The highest point is the peak of the season.

Differentiated system of discounts - a very attractive factor for purchasing tours; discounts are especially common for families traveling with children. In addition, tourism offers a number of different discounts, applied in combination or differentially: for group tours, for advance booking, repeat visits, as well as for regular customers, etc.

Based on the results of a study of competitors, the tour operator determines market segments on whose needs all its future activities will be based. The selected segment for work must have the following characteristics:

the needs and requirements of the segment must be objectively determined;
the tour operator has the necessary capabilities to meet the needs and requirements of tourists in the most high-quality and efficient manner;
customer demand must correspond to the commercial interests of the operator;
the segment must be stable or have a tendency to increase in capacity;
consumers representing the selected segment must be active buyers of tourism services;
consumers must be either weakly covered by competitors or influenced by weak competitors;
consumers must be accessible - all information from the tour operator must reach them without hindrance.

Depending on the specifics of the selected market segment, the tour operator determines the principles further actions: tour planning; pricing; positioning; timing of travel arrangements; discounts and benefits; tools and ways to promote the tour; tourism product sales channels; tourist service classes.

Depending on the needs of tourists, the operator at the tour planning stage determines: travel route and duration of trips; list of enterprises - suppliers of tourism services; approximate composition and number of excursions, walks, schedule of visits to tourist attractions; the number of tourists participating in the trip; type of transport used on the route; the need for ex-course guides.

For example, the tour operator Sfera-Tour from Saratov plans to organize a group tour (50 people) to the Kazantip festival in Crimea, aimed at young people of low and partly middle income. At this stage of tour design, the future trip will take the following form:

1) Saratov - Simferopol - Kerch - Saratov, 5 days in Crimea + 3 days for the road there and back, distance 1400 km;
2) overnight stays in a private hotel and a tent camp at the festival field, requirements for accommodation facilities: closer to the sea, amenities per block, with a sea view;
3) presumably two meals a day (breakfast + dinner) with the possibility of refusing it during your stay at Kazan-tip;
4) two excursion programs (second and fifth days): sightseeing tour along the southern coast of Crimea; excursion to Sevastopol or Bakhchisarai;
5) transport support along the route: comfortable bus, transfers;
6) the price of the tour on sale is no more than 200 euros per adult tourist.

If there are competitive offers on the tourism market, the tour operator must highlight and popularize a number of competitive advantages of the tour being developed in order to stand out from competitive offers; this procedure is called in marketing differentiation. Differentiation is necessary in the operator’s project activities for several reasons, since: a) it allows consumers to realistically evaluate the advantages of the proposals of various operators; b) is an additional factor in increasing the attractiveness of the tour; c) demonstrates the focus of the tour on certain consumers (Ushakov D. S., 2004).

The grounds for differentiating tours may be:

unique opportunities for holiday destinations (“Bali - heavenly sunsets and sunrises”, “Essentuki - a unique health resort in Russia”);
uniqueness of the route (“All of Europe is at your feet!”, “Five capitals in five days!”);
additional or hidden tour opportunities (“Italy: relaxation by the sea + shopping”, “Turkey: shopping + pilgrimage to Ararat”);
high guarantees of tour performance ("WITH with us you will get a lot of impressions and return home safely”, “Your impressions are our guarantees”);
the possibility of modifying the tour (“More than a hundred hotels to choose from”, “Three options for holidays in Egypt”);
unique duration of the tour (“Weekend from Rostov to Dombay!”, “Weekend from Saratov to Kazan Water Park”);
uniqueness transport services(“To Germany by bus”, “By ferry to Iceland”);
unique hotel services (“Cyprus all-inclusive”, “For every trip to Greece - a free night in an Athens hotel”);
the uniqueness of the excursions offered on the tour (“Spice Island Ceylon”, “Unfamiliar Shanghai”, “Multistoried America”);
the uniqueness of the tour operator’s services (“We confirm applications instantly!”, “Call a consultant at home”);
unique qualities of the tour operator’s staff (“We trade what we have seen with our own eyes”, “Our managers have improved their qualifications in Switzerland”);
the operator’s wide agent network (“Look out the window! Maybe our agent is there!”, “Our agents are everywhere!”);
positive image of the tour operator (“Trips from a leading operator in Italy”, “We are leaders in this direction!”);
artificially creating a shortage and excitement around the planned tour (“The number of places is limited!”, “Hurry! There are 10 days left until the end of the season”);
unique price of the offered tours: 1) price-mystery
(“Our prices will pleasantly surprise you!”, “Spain has fallen in price again”); 2) “sliding down” - advertising messages indicate the minimum cost of tours (“Czech Republic for 250 euros”); 3) “stretching upward” - advertising messages indicate the maximum cost of tours (“Tunisia is no more than 500 euros”); 4) a list of price components (“Hurghada for 500 euros and all inclusive”).

Komleva Natalya Stanislavovna
Associate Professor of the Department of Marketing
National Research Mordovian State University them. N. P. Ogareva, Saransk

Komleva Natalia Stanislavovna
Ph. D. in Economics, assistant professor of marketing
National Research Ogarev Mordovia State University, Saransk

Annotation: The article presents the results of a marketing study of consumer preferences in the market of tourism services in the region. The study identified: factors influencing the choice of a travel company, the most preferred types of tourism and countries for vacation, the frequency of purchasing travel services and the price range.

Abstract: the article presents the results of a marketing study of consumer preferences in the market of tourist services in the region. The study identified: factors influencing the choice of a travel company, the most preferred types of tourism and countries for recreation, the frequency of acquisition of tourism services and price range

Keywords: tourism, consumer preferences, tourist service, marketing research, survey

Keywords: tourism, consumer preferences, tourism services, marketing research, survey

Tourism is one of the most profitable and dynamically developing business sectors. Russia, taking into account its natural and cultural heritage, successfully uses tourism as a resource for economic and social development regions. Research conducted in tourism provides an information base for managers in the field of tourism to make the right management decisions. Research allows us to identify problems that impede the effective conduct of business, the causes of problems and possible ways to resolve them. Marketing research also allows you to: see new opportunities for the company; better understand market demands and reduce the likelihood of risk. Research that helps reduce risk in the decision-making process significantly predicts operational success tourism enterprise. Thus, managers can plan, implement and control tourism service activities more successfully if they have the ability to necessary information. All management decisions must be made taking into account data obtained during marketing research.

In order to study consumer preferences in the tourism services market, we conducted a survey; the number of respondents was 500 people. The questionnaire allowed us to accumulate information about the personal characteristics of respondents; identify the frequency of purchasing travel services; factors influencing consumer choice; main sources of information used by consumers of tourism services. The survey also made it possible to determine the immediate preferences of clients.

The results of the survey showed that it is women who most often purchase tourism services. Data about marital status respondents are presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Marital status of consumers of tourism services

From the presented figure it follows that 45% of respondents have families with children. 20% are families without children. 35% of respondents are single clients purchasing travel services.

The division of respondents by age is presented in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Age characteristics of buyers of tourism services

Thus, the majority of buyers of tourism services are middle-aged. 33% of respondents were clients aged 26-35 years, 37% – 36-55 years old. The younger generation aged 18 to 25 makes up 20%. Persons over 55 years of age become consumers of tourism services in 10% of cases.

The division of consumers of tourism services by level of education is presented in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Distribution of consumers of tourism services by level of education

From the presented figure it follows that most of the travel company’s clients have higher education (55%). Secondary specialized education was noted by 25% of respondents. The average level of education is 15%. 5% noted incomplete higher education.

Thus, taking into account socio-demographic criteria, the main segment of the tourism market in the region is young and middle-aged women with a family and higher education.

The choice of an organization providing tourism services to clients is influenced by the following factors (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Factors influencing the choice of a travel company

Thus, it follows from the figure that the decision to purchase a tourism service is influenced by the following factors: the quality of the service offered; reasonable price for purchasing the service; recommendations from friends and relatives noted. The listed factors were noted by 25% of respondents. The company's brand and its reputation in the market have a 20% influence. 5% of respondents noted ease of communication and a good microclimate in the organization. It can be concluded that in addition to the obvious factors of price and quality, a travel company can control customer flows, shaping the image and reputation of the company. Raising inner corporate culture and by improving the internal environment in the team, you can also get additional clients.

Data on the frequency of purchasing services from tourism operators are presented in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Frequency of purchasing travel services

From the presented figure it follows that the majority of clients purchase travel services once a year (38%). 25% of respondents answered that they use the services once every 3-5 years. 19% of respondents used the services of travel agencies for the first time. 18% responded that they purchase tours more than once a year.

The results of the answer to the question from which sources clients learn information about tourism services are presented in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Sources of information on the provision of tourism services

From the presented figure it follows that the majority of respondents learn about tourism services through information on the Internet - 40%. 25% of respondents noted advertising on television. 17% gave the answer - recommendations from friends and relatives. It should be noted that the greatest confidence among consumers who intend to make a purchase, and who are not engaged in the current collection of information, is caused by information received from their immediate environment. Therefore, in addition to communication activities, a travel company can create a bank of positive information from the consumer about its service only if the latter is satisfied with the purchased service. A satisfied consumer in a repeat purchase situation can become loyal and, therefore, be a source of positive feedback for his inner circle. According to the survey, a satisfied consumer is one whose goal has been achieved.

Preferred channels for purchasing tourism services are presented in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Channels for purchasing tourism services

60% of surveyed consumers prefer to purchase travel services through travel intermediaries. Only 10% of respondents order directly from operators. Recently, ordering tours via the Internet has become very popular, which necessitates the need to support existing branded sites and other methods that provide feedback to the client via the Internet.

The results of answers to questions about what type of tourism clients prefer are presented in Figure 8.

Figure 8. Most preferred type of tourism

Most of of respondents prefers beach and swimming holidays - 40%. This means that the demand for tour packages to resort towns remains in demand. There is also a demand for holidays in sanatoriums and hospitals, dispensaries and health camps, both in our country and abroad (28%). Educational recreation is in demand among 17%. Shopping tour is 5.V last years Extreme types of tourism, such as mountaineering, biking, drifting, etc., have received active development.

It is possible to assess the level of consumer loyalty in the tourism services market by analyzing the data in Figure 9.

Figure 9. Level of consumer loyalty in the tourism services market

As the results of the study showed, the tourism market does not have a high level of customer commitment, since most customers will buy a trip where a more advantageous offer is offered. Therefore, travel companies need constant work in the area of increasing consumer loyalty.

Figure 10 shows the countries most preferred by respondents for holidays.

Figure 10. Countries most preferred by consumers of tourism services for holidays

32% of respondents prefer to vacation in the Russian Federation. Regarding foreign countries, the following were noted: Turkey 22%, Egypt 7%, Thailand 7%, Finland 5%, China and Greece received 4% each.

The price range for choosing tourist services is presented in Figure 11.

Figure 11. Price range for choosing travel services

From the presented figure it follows that the majority of respondents (40%) prefer to spend 30-50 thousand rubles. per person when purchasing a tour. The next position is occupied by the price range up to 30 thousand rubles. (25%). Vouchers costing 50-100 thousand rubles. purchased by 24% of respondents. The last position is occupied by expensive tours costing 100-200 thousand rubles. per person and premium class tours over 200 thousand rubles.

The conducted research allowed us to draw the following conclusions. The main segment for the tourism market is young and middle-aged women with a family, higher education and a high level of income. The majority of respondents purchase travel services for their families. The results of the answer to this question indicate the need for tourism operators to focus on family vacations. It should be noted that the greatest trust among consumers who intend to make a purchase is generated by recommendations from friends and acquaintances. Therefore, a travel company can form a bank of positive information from the consumer about its service only by meeting the needs of its customers. Most of the respondents prefer beach and swimming holidays. In recent years, extreme types of tourism have received active development. Most of the respondents surveyed prefer to vacation in the Russian Federation; the following foreign countries were noted: Turkey, Thailand, China and Greece.

Research of the tourism services market is one of the key factors in the development of regional business. Most enterprises, firms and private travel companies draw up an action strategy based on the results of marketing research. The main task of conducting tourism market research is to ensure that the tourism product is targeted, since it cannot meet the needs of all consumers at once. Through marketing research, the basic principle of marketing is implemented - consumer orientation. At the same time, the tourism enterprise does not scatter, but concentrates its efforts in the most promising market segments. This achieves an increase in the efficiency of the applied forms and methods of sales, advertising, sales promotion, etc.

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