In this module, students will become more familiar with developments and practices of marketing applied to the hospitality, tourism, and maritime cruise sector. Enriching their knowledge with principles which underpin market competitiveness, students will review theory definitions to identify management and marketing practices in the hospitality, tourism, and cruise industry context. They will elaborate on the significance of market orientation, to understand what the essence of marketing philosophy and implementation is. Services will be distinguished from traditional products, based on specific characteristics, justifying that hospitality and tourism are largely considered part of the service industry.
To demonstrate how tourism players can differentiate from the competition, both the external and the internal environment, in which hospitality and cruise firms operate, will be discussed. Moreover, the students will progressively be exposed to the core components of cruises marketing plan. In this way, they will better comprehend the importance of initial research, before continuing to the next steps of the process. They will learn how to identify and closely monitor the market segments (beyond traditional criterial e.g., by travel motivation), how to develop the final offering at a specific pricing level through the most appropriate distribution channels and following the suitable communication activities. Current trends will be an integral part of the module; it will help students explain how cruise firms and tourism destinations are marketed in a largely competitive arena.