Marketing Plan

1. 1.1 Market Summary Market Need

T&L is providing its customers with a wide selection of adventure, cultural, religious trips for HNIs and foreign nationals. Virtually all companies that provide these facilities in a luxurious environment appeal to a high income client. Hard adventure activities involve difficult physical requirements. They carry a higher level of risk than do soft activities. Soft adventure activities may involve some physical exertion, however they involve a low level of risk and can be engaged in by non-athletic people. T&L seeks to fulfill the following benefits that are important to their customers. Selection: A wide selection of different theme based trips. Accessibility: The customer can be located anywhere as long as they have access to an airport. Customer attention: The patron will be impressed with the level of personal attention that they receive.
1.2 Market Trends

The travel industry is in an upward growth mode. There are several reasons for this increase. First, a relative healthy domestic economy over the last several years and the devaluation of currency in other regions has made travel less expensive for U.S. residents. Pleasure travel has increased by 6.5% Adventure travel is a growing segment of the travel industry. One theory of the recent increase in extreme sports has to do with the strong competitive nature of younger Americans. Statistics show that 8,000 U.S. companies offer adventure packages that generated $18 billion in the previous year.
More than 50% of the U.S. adult traveling population, or 147 million people, have taken an adventure trip in their lifetime, 98 million in the past five years. 31 million adults have engaged in hard adventure activities like white water, rafting, scuba diving and mountain biking. An additional 25 million engaged in both a hard and soft adventure activity. Six-percent of those who participated in adventure trips, spent more than $2,500.

According to the World Tourism Organization, an estimated 300 to 330 million pilgrims visit the world's key religious sites every year. According to

the U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, Americans traveling overseas for "religious or pilgrimage" purposes has increased from 491,000 travelers in 2002 to 633,000 travelers in 2005 (30% increase) Agri tourism in India is also increasing and has had a high growth trajectory with the growth over 5% in the previous year.

1.3 Market Forecast : Travel and Living is targeting on High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs) and the foreign nationals who have a deep interest in culture, religion or adventure. Based on the marketing reasearch, the following forecasts have been made by collecting information to better understand who is served, their specific needs, and how AEU can better connect with them.

Customers Ist Year II nd Year III Year IV Year

2.

Total 200 320 560 980

Growth % AgriTourism 50 60 80 75 70 75 490

Trekking 50 80 70 245

Religious 100 160 280 245

Competition Analysis

The competitors in this market are of two primary types. First there is the adventure providers which are mainly trekking based(Goechala Trek, Manchenda Trekkers), religious package provider(Pilgrimage India, TCI Travels) or a few agri based providers(ATDC, Agri Tourism Development Corporation, Mahabhraman Tourists) who specialize in a single type of hard adventure activity/religion/cultural package designing activity . They typically serve clients who purchase trips for less than $2,000 and closer to the mean purchase price of around $900. Their strength is their expertise in a given sport. Their weakness is that they provide an undifferentiated product in a competitive market. In addition, they do not have the resources, ability or desire to target and/or accommodate a customer demanding more accommodation and a more luxury/adventure oriented service. Secondly, companies that offer higher-priced, more luxurious packages generally provide a "soft" adventure(Nilgiri Travels Pvt. Ltd, Hindustan Travels Ltd.). These activities are more along the lines of low-risk alternatives like sight seeing etc. The advantages these companies have include established reputations, extensive

knowledge of the industry, and key personnel and management. Some have been in operation for more than twenty years. They are familiar with local service providers and have established strategic relationships. Disadvantages to us: It will be difficult to price ourselves competitively when we first enter the market. Some of the AEUs activities are seasonal. Recurring revenue will depend upon successful trips in various regions. The weather for a given year is hard to predict. Poor conditions will threaten the success of trips. Competitive Edge T&Ls competitive edge is the extensive number of activities that relate to the theme based packages effectively, a complete itinerary giving the client full knowledge of his schedules and trip activities, extensive customer attention and customer service. Also, T&L focuses on providing luxury in villages, religious spots etc. .It has a very low client to employee ratio, allowing it to provide close personal attention to the clients. This is the level of service expected at this price point and AEU intends to exceed the customer expectations.
3. Marketing Strategy

3.1 Marketing Objectives 3.1.1 Short Term

Maintain positive, steady growth each quarter. Experience a growth in new customers who are turned into long-term

customers. To increase the share of heart and mind among clients To focus on cost savvy advertising media which can reach to different age

groups and people with varied interests. 3.1.2 Long Term To be recognized as the premier high-end luxury trip providers. To extend the product line to include health tourism, education tourism etc. To make Travel & Living generic to luxury holiday providers To establish T&L as an international provider of luxury trips.

3.2 Value Proposition: The core product of Travel & Living Pvt. Ltd. Is the customized tourist packages but the value offered to the customer is the complete fun and entertainment satisfying their social needs of spending quality time with their friends and family in a comfort, luxury based ambience in the non-luxurious parts of India. Whether, it is trekking, religious packages or agri tourism, the value delivered to the customer is ultimate luxury and a complete packages that provide a variety of activities which are complete in themselves to thrill them(trekking packages), make them see the real colourful India (agri based) and the Religious India. Thus, the value given to them is satisfaction of their cultural, adventurous and religious interests. 3.3 Target Segment : Since the business is into providing customized tourist packages with a fore set to provide maximum luxury to the customers, the market has been segmented on the basis of the following : Demographics : Age : Agri Tourism All Age groups (Family Packages) Religious Tourism (30 60) years Adventure Based Tourism (20-35) years Socio Economic Classification : Uppers, Upper Middles Geographical : AEU's customers are most likely to come from the following states: California, Florida, New York, Texas, Illinois, Nevada, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. Located in urban areas of major cities. Psychographic : Spiritual Tourism - Religious people Agri Based Tourism Culture Loving People Trekking Fun Loving, Adventure Loving Youth 3.4 Positioning

T&L will promote/position itself as a differentiated provider of luxury of theme based tourism mainly agri, adventure and religious packages. It will price itself accordingly within the chosen service niche. T&L positioning will leverage its competitive edge: T&L intends to use the same service providers but provide more exclusive trips. Accommodations will be primarily in luxury hotels and resorts. Meals will be exceptional, more like gourmet cuisine. 3.5 Marketing Mix T&L marketing mix is comprised of the following:
3.5.1 Product

The core product of the business is to provide tourism packages. Yet, the value is delivered to the customer by customizing them according to his interests and the desire to adventure, visit the latent beauties in India , the desire to feel close to God , desire to feel and experience adventurous trips. 3.5.1.1 Agri Tourist Packages : These packages are designed for those people who have always experienced the urban lifestyles but want to see and feel the TRUE INDIA which lies in villages. They want to unveil the true picture behind the reels of glimpses of rural India. Utmost care is taken to ensure that they see and feel every aspect of village life and connect themselves to their lives for vacation period. This is becoming one of the preferred tourist places for not only for HNIs who have always been in their luxurious life or the foreign nationals who come to India for experiencing the tradition. They are provided rich experience by Animal Feeding, Guided Crop /Vegetables / Fruits farms visits and tours, Watching domestic animals and How to care for cattle , U-Pick Operations, Harvest festivals, Rural Festivals/ Jatra , Farmers' markets at the village and taluka place, Taluka Milk Collection centers Village fairs, Roadside produce stands , Milking the Cow,Religious Temples Visits, Agricultural education programs: how to grow sugar cane, grapes,pomegranate, guava, watermelon, tomato, other vegetables etc. Fun is inculcated by making them to play rural games like Bullock card and tractor Rides,Vittidand, Gotya, SurparanbhyaKabaddi, Langadi, Kho-Kho, Bullock Ploughing,Lagore&Gallori etc. Several Evening Entertainment Programs are organized and special events and fests seasons are emphasized to enable the visitors to see the colourful and festival nature.

3.5.1.2 Religious Packages India is a land of tradition and religion. The religious packages will be covering different religious places of India like the Char Dhaam, Kolkata, puri, Mathura, Vrindavan, Dwarka, Konark etc. The clients will be given high treatment with helicopter services to the places like VAISHNO DEVI, Amarnath Yatra etc. and their trip will be planned in luxury hotels with luxury based travelling. 3.5.1.3 Trekking Packages The trekking packages will be adventure based packages that will involve not only trekking but also other adventure based activities like river rafting, paragliding etc. However, there will be a minimum and maximum age limit for availing these adventure based activities.
3.5.2 Pricing:

T&L does not compete on price, it competes on service. Additionally, the target market is not price sensitive. To a large degree price is irrelevant as long as it is reasonably proportional to the services offered.

3.5.3 Distribution Channels : AEU's services will be distributed throughout India with its clients from all over the world. Thus, the distribution channels are dependent on the location of the trip. The distribution channels will include tie ups with several airlines, hotels, road travelers, guides, customer service executives in different cities etc. who are committed to the overall goals and mission of the organization and keen on providing excellent customer service.

3.6

Communication Strategy

T&L will use several different forms of communication for their marketing strategy. The first effort will revolve around Internet site. AEU's demographic relies heavily on the Internet for information. Resources will be required to maintain the site as well as continually improve it. The website will be constantly tested and optimized according to Google keywords to determine that it is coming up as one of the top results when key words are entered into a search

engine. Another form of communication is magazine advertising (BackPacker, Compass, Travel & Leisure, Outlook Traveller etc.). The advertising will occur in magazines whose readership has wide demographies. The magazine advertisements will be used to increase visibility of AEU and position it as the top service provider in the highend market. As time progresses and a loyal customer base is established, AEU will rely on email newsletters and direct mail to the customers that are on the mailing list. The newsletters will share specials (both trips as well as special deals) to this select group of customers. The goal of the newsletters is to incentivize the past customers to join us for another trip with a special deal. As operations progress, the T&L will continue to measure our progress relative to competitors and to the growth of the market(s) in which we operate. Though the primary target market has been defined, there may be new possibilities to serve additional segments. As the product is defined and the strategy differentiation is defined based on competitive strengths, T&L will be better able to determine whether adjustments in positioning are necessary. The marketing strategy will be to develop long-term relationships with customers T&L will keep a database from which to obtain important demographic & psychographic information. As the business becomes profitable, plans will be implemented to expand. There is virtually no limit to the number and variety of trips T&L can provide. Trips can take place on every continent and in most countries. The goal is to establish AEU as an international provider of luxury trips. T&L will also look up with tie ups with high end clubs like Qutub Golf Course and other organizations like NHRD (National Human Resource) and advertise in luxury malls like Emporio in Delhi that are preferred places for our target segment.
4 Market Research Analysis:

A detailed market research has been undertaken by the group to understand the feasibility of the product and a better understanding of the requirements and better understanding of their behavior.

Two separate questionnaires were designed for the two different target segments to identify the similarities and differences in their behavior and other specific interests/ requirements / expectations. Over 30 foreign nationals and 40 HNIs in India were contacted and their responses recorded to derive the analysis and their likeliness of availing the facilities provided by us. 4.1 HNIs, Frequency of holidays : 45% of the respondents go 1-3 times a year for vacation outside the state. While 35% went for 3-5 times a year, 15% went nearly once in an year while 5% went for more than 5 times. 65% of the respondents went with family, while 20% mostly went out with friends 10% went out with corporate friends and 5% want to go out alone!! A wide trend has been there that a huge majority(nearly 90%) of the respondents go for a planned trip but do not like to plan themselves as it is much time consuming and needs a lot of effort. 80% prefer readymade packages that provide luxury and comfort while 90% of them did not mind paying a little extra for it. 4.2 Foreign Tourists Among the Foreign nationals, 20% visit India for study purpose(admissions to Indian universities etc.), 50% came explicitly for holidays as tourists, 10% visited India for business dealings and another 10% for visiting friends/family etc. Among the tourists, 85% of them wished to go for package tours while 15% wanted to plan and arrange their stay themselves. The major problems stated by the respondents were ineffective unscheduled itinery(35%), 45% mentioned food problems(hygienic issues, variety, taste etc.) while 20% did not have any problem. From the options given, 25% preferred agri-tourism, 50% preferred religious tourism while 25% wanted to go for trekking (adventure based tourism). The sales forecasts have been made depending upon these responses. Luxury mattered a lot to 95% of the respondents and 80% would not mind paying a little extra for the added luxury and a variety of offered services and activities.
5. Sales Forecasts

According to the market analysis the sales have been forecasted as the following:

However the marketing expenses and advertising costs have been calculated as: Adv. Cost Website Dev/ Maintenance 75000 25000 10000 10000 10000 Print Advertisemen t 500000 850000 1000000 1500000 Mall Advertising/ Tie-Ups Cost 300000 350000 350000 600000 600000

Total 375000 875000 1210000 1610000 2110000

1st year 2nd year 3rd year 4th year 5th year