All about Hospitality and Travel Marketing(4th Edition): an interview with the author, Professor Alastair M. Morrison

2009-06-18

The much anticipated fourth edition of Hospitality and Travel Marketing by Professor Alastair M. Morrison was recently released on sale. This widely referenced textbook puts the focus on destination marketing and hospitality industry, along with up-to-date examples drawn from around the world. Over two years were spent editing a fully revised edition.  The contents, refined and expanded upon, use the author’s extensive practical and academic research experience in hospitality and travel marketing as well as outstanding teaching and training work in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia.

In order to learn more about this new edition of Hospitality and Travel Marketing, an interview was conducted with the author, Professor Alastair Morrison. Let’s find out what he has to say about his new book!

Q: What's new in the 4th edition of Hospitality and Travel Marketing?

There’re quite a few features that are new to this edition.  For the first time, this book has been printed in full-color version, with colorful photographs and artwork.  A new set of “Global Perspective” and “Industry Players” case studies are provided, which makes the book practical as well as academic.  Extensive content updates have been made in this new edition, with a stronger emphasis on recent trends, for example the globalization of the hospitality industry, the impact of green tourism, and corporate social and environment responsibilities. A new Internet Marketing feature demonstrates effective examples of e-marketing in hospitality industry.

Q2: Can you highlight some of the unique concepts and approaches recommended in Hospitality and Travel Marketing?

Well, I think each of the 20 chapters has its own highlights and the major ones include:  The hospitality and travel marketing system (five key questions) in chapter 3; Five Ds of positioning in chapter 8 and the process for preparing a marketing plan in chapter 9 is very detailed and unique.  It provides a unique profile of the industry and major marketing trends by industry groups and group sectors in chapter 10 whereas chapters 13 to 18 provide detailed information of how to plan and implement an integrated marketing communications program.  Overall it puts a strong emphasis on marketing control (How do we make sure we get there?) and marketing evaluation (How do we know if we got there?) in chapter 20.

Q3: How can the materials in this book be applied in China?

To my mind, all of the contents and concepts are relevant to China and can be applied here. There’re two major reasons to support this thought:

Currently I’m living and workingas a tourism consultant in China so that I’ve got plenty of research and marketing experience in the Chinese tourism industry.  Secondly, we have three Chinese case studies in this new edition, one case from Jiangsu (pages 85-88) and two from Hong Kong (pages 493-495; and pages 558-563). 

Q4: How is the book organized and what makes it different from other texts on tourism and hospitality marketing?

It is organized according to the hospitality and travel marketing system model, the five key questions. (i.e. Where are we now? Where would we like to be? How do we get there? How do we make sure we get there? How do we know if we got there?) This book is different from other texts in the following aspects: a) This book is truly global in its contents with cases, examples, photos and illustrations from around the world; b) It’s the only major tourism and hospitality marketing textbook that is written by only one author and c) It’s a very practical book
because of hands-on experience in tourism and hospitality marketing.

Q5: How popular is this book and who are its major users?

Well, it is ranked among the top three textbooks in tourism and hospitality marketing in the world.  It’s a popular book around the world and especially in the USA, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Korea, South Africa, New Zealand, and U.K.  The book is used in more than 100 universities and colleges as the
required textbook in introductory classes in tourism and hospitality management
and is also used by marketing practitioners as a practical reference book.

Hospitality and Travel Marketing
(4th Edition)

Contents of the book:

Part I  Introduction to Marketing (What Is Marketing?)

Chapter 1 Marketing Defined
Chapter 2 Marketing Hospitality and Travel Services
Chapter 3 The Hospitality and Travel Marketing System

Part II  Planning: Research and Analysis (Where Are We Now?)

Chapter 4 Customer Behavior
Chapter 5 Analyzing Marketing Opportunities
Chapter 6 Marketing Research

Part III  Planning: Marketing Strategy and Planning (Where Would We Like To Be?)

Chapter 7 Marketing Strategy: Market Segmentation and Trends
Chapter 8 Marketing Strategy: Strategies, Positioning, and Marketing Objectives
Chapter 9 The Marketing Plan and the 8 Ps

Part IV  Implementing the Marketing Plan (How Do We Get There?)

Chapter 10 Product Development and Partnership
Chapter 11 People: Services and Service Quality
Chapter 12 Packaging and Programming
Chapter 13 The Distribution Mix and the Travel Trade
Chapter 14 Communications and the Promotional Mix
Chapter 15 Advertising
Chapter 16 Sales Promotion and Merchandising
Chapter 17 Personal Selling and Sales Management
Chapter 18 Public Relations and Publicity
Chapter 19 Pricing

Part V  Controlling and Evaluating the Plan (How Do We Make Sure We Get There? How Do We Know If We Got There?)

Chapter 20 Marketing Management, Evaluation, and Control