Alton Towers is one of the largest theme parks in the United Kingdom today and it continues to draw large numbers of visitors using a combination of innovation marketing programs as well as continuing investments in newer and more exciting rides and attractions. These efforts are absolutely essential in the highly competitive environment that exists in London and its environments for the tourist dollar, the marketers at Alton Towers and its controlling group do not enjoy the luxury of sitting still and watching their competitors erode their market share. Because the travel and tourism industry remains the largest industry in the world and air travel has even increased in recent years after recovering from its downturn following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, identifying opportunities for promoting attendance at the park by foreign visitors represents a timely and important enterprise. One nationality in particular that requires further attention by the park are Thais who represent a significant percentage of the annual visitors to the UK but who may be unaware of or uninterested in visiting the park for reasons described further in the study. This study is concerned with identifying such opportunities for promoting and marketing Alton Towers to Thai markets. The research uses a review of the secondary research together with the collection of primary data specifically for the purposes of the study using a questionnaire and interview of the sample of 20 Thai students who are studying in UK. The report highlights the elements needed to promote the Alton Towers to Thailand market such as the advertising in Thai media and contacting personal service and online tour agencies. A summary of the research and important findings are presented in the concluding chapter.
An International Marketing Strategy for Alton Towers
Introduction
Alton Towers is one of the biggest theme parks in UK, according to the World Tourism Organization (2008); the United Kingdom was ranked in 6th place on the world leading tourist destination. Focusing on England, tourism plays important part in the economic. Most tourists visiting the park are from American, Australia, and Europe. In spite of its size and popularity, Alton Towers is in fierce competition for the entertainment dollars being spent in the area, particularly given the primary themes of the other tourist attractions that draw many visitors to London and other parts of the country. For example, the UK’s popular tourism products are cultural and heritage tourism, particularly in London. Hosting many well-known tourist attraction liked the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, and London Bridge. Outside the capital, there also are many interesting sites such as Roman baths, Brighton’s seaside, famous university town liked Cambridge and Oxford, Nottingham as a home of Robin Hood, and world’s heritage like Stonehenge. There also are Ecotourism as England also has some distinctive natural surroundings. For example: Eden Project in Cornwall, a national park and Windermere lake at Lake District, and the Jurassic Coast in Dorset and Devon.
Besides cultural and heritage tourism and ecotourism, there are many entertainment attractions, zoos and theme parks all over the countries, for example: London Eye and London Dungeon, Windsor Lego land, Alton Towers and Thorpe Park. The management of Alton Towers enjoys the fact that the park is part of Merlin Entertainments, and it is the organization’s flagship attraction. According to Themed Entertainment Association report in May 2008, it was ranked in the 11th place for most visited theme park in Europe. It is amongst the top five tourist attractions in the UK. Located near big cities like Manchester and Birmingham made travelling to the site very easy and convenient with chooses of transportation modes; visitors can go with a private car and public transportation. Moreover, Alton tower have many activities for families to enjoy. There are many rides and activities both parents and kids, or even teenagers can enjoy their time at Alton towers. Besides the theme park, it is also very popular because of its short break resort. The uniqueness is the site itself was set on historical land of Staffordshire countryside with the Towers themselves forming a unique and historic centre piece (see Figure __ below).
Figure ____. Alton Towers from Morris’s Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alton_Towers_from_Morris%27s_Seats_of_ Noblemen_and_Gentlemen_%281880%29.JPG
With the wild range of activities, it is suitable for all age visitors: the site provides the Europe’s largest indoor water park, two hotels, luxury spa, and dazzling rides and attractions. Even thought it was very popular among Britons and European tourists, many Thai tourists visiting London and its environs had never even heard the name. For many Thai tourists, the UK is one most popular destination for holidays, recreation and historical interests. The Thai tourists also come for shopping at Harrods and Oxford Street, visiting castles and heritage sited, and taking a ride on the London Eye.
The aim of the report is to make an international marketing strategy for Thais market. Thailand is the one of the biggest tourist market in UK over 70,000 Thais nationals visited UK each year, according to Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) the statistics of outgoing Thai nationals (2007) which have increase each year. All of those statistic demonstrate that the Thai people are one of attracts market for Alton Tower to do the marketing, which in this research will provide some strategy to promote Alton Tower to Thais market.
Review of the Relevant Literature
An analysis of the chosen attraction’s current provision and marketing activity
The marketers at Alton Towers position their park as a “short break resort” that offers a combination of rides, attractions, concessions and other features that makes the destination family-friendly and affordable. For instance, the park’s Web site enthuses, “Alton Towers Resort is the UK’s leading short break resort, offering as it does an unrivalled selection of attractions for the whole family to enjoy together. The origins of the Towers themselves date back to the 8th century, although the theme park and hotels are slightly less historic!” (About Us 2010, 1-2). The park has entered into a number of strategic partnerships and sponsorships in recent years in an effort to promote its various world-class rides and attractions, with one of the most prominent examples being its latest — and perhaps scariest — megarides, “Thirteen.” According to a recent report from Pollara (2010), “Thirteen, despite having an almighty mountain of expectation to climb, does not disappoint. it’s fast, it’s frightening and it makes you scream. It is also accompanied by clever viral marketing, with builders and organisers telling us that not only is the terrifying Thirteen built on an unearthed ancient burial site – the very name of the ride itself is intended to cast an irreversible spell on all Alton Towers’ aficionados, making certain they will visit again” (2-3). Some relevant statistics and facts about Alton Towers’ newest ride attraction include the following:
1. It was a £15 million pound investment.
2. It is built on a burial site that is part of the original Alton Abbey, Thirteen will be themed around a crypt, with one of the main features of the ride taking place inside the unearthed crypt.
3. The ride was tested and built in Europe before being shipped to the UK.
4. Thirteen has been in design for 2 years and taken 9 months to build by a team of 35 working round the clock, to ensure the ride’s readiness for launch in March.
5. The ride is replacing the old Corkscrew roller coaster which closed in November 2008 after 28 years and was the nation’s first double-helix roller coaster (New roller coaster at Alton Towers 2010).
The marketers at Alton Towers have also responded to the growing demand for video mementoes of visitors’ experiences. Using a new video-capture system that was developed in the United Kingdom, visitors to Alton Towers are now able to record themselves using surveillance cameras. The video initiative, entitled “Magic Moments,” was launched in April 2007 (Tucker 2006). According to an article in the Futurist, the video program uses state-of-the-art radio frequency identification technology to pinpoint those visitors who subscribe to the service: “Visitors to Alton Towers who purchase the service will receive an RFID (radio frequency identification) band to wear around their wrist, ‘marking’ them to the park-wide video-capture system. As you go about your day at the park, footage of you enjoying rides, eating hot dogs, peeling gum off of the bottom of your shoe, and so on is routed, catalogued, and digitally stored. When you’re ready to leave, you signal a computer to begin assembling the personalized footage, which is then transferred to a 30-minute DVD, available for purchase” (10).
Although not everyone would want a video of their less admirable moments in the scream- and vomit-invoking environment created by some of the park’s rides, it is clear that many visitors appreciate the opportunity to go about their visit to the park without having to worry about taking pictures and keeping their camera gear safe and dry. Although the video surveillance system also has distinct security advantages, its primary purpose remains focused on providing visitors to the park with a unique, custom souvenir of their visit at an affordable price (Tucker 2006). This analyst adds that Andy Davies of the Tussauds Group that operates Alton Towers reports that park visitors subscribing to the “Magic Moments” DVD “simply see it as a fun souvenir,” and adds, “Research shows that our visitors have a positive propensity to purchase these products, providing themselves with a personalized reminder of the day they and their friends and family had at Alton Towers. The system proposed will allow guests to relive their unique day time and time again through personalized digital video footage'” (quoted in Tucker at 10).
These types of innovative marketing initiatives are important for a theme park competing in the United Kingdom today because of the approaching saturation levels that appear to be developing in some regions of the country. For instance, besides the historic attractions that are ubiquitous throughout the United Kingdom, Alton Towers is also in competition with a number of other theme parks and resorts in the area that a part of the Merlin Entertainments Group, including Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures, Sea Life and Legoland Windsor.
A discussion of the nature of international visitors that the attraction receives presently
International visitors to London and its environs have a veritable smorgasbord of destination choices available to them, and some indication of the respective popularity of some of the leading attractions in the area can be discerned from the “top fifteen” list provided in Table __ and Figure __ below (Figure __ illustrates the top ten tourist destinations for clarity’s sake).
Table
Top Fifteen Tourist Destinations in London and Environs
Destination
Number of Visitors
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
6,700,000
British Museum, London
5,800,000
National Gallery, London
3,900,000
Palace Pier, Brighton
3,500,000
Alton Towers, Staffordshire
2,600,000
Westminster Abbey, London
2,500,000
Madame Tussaud’s, London (a part of Merlin Entertainments Group)
2,400,000
Pleasure Beach, Great Yarmouth
2,400,000
Tower of London
2,300,000
York Minster
2,200,000
Canterbury Cathedral
2,200,000
Pleasureland, Southport
2,000,000
St. Paul’s Cathedral, London
1,900,000
Tate Gallery, London
1,800,000
Natural History Museum, London
1,700,000
Figure __. Top Ten Tourist Destinations in London and Environs
Source: Munson 1999
As can be seen from Figure __ above, Blackpool Pleasure Beach was the top destination draw in terms of the number of visitors, with Alton Towers following in fifth place among these selected destinations. According to a report from Munson (1999), ”
It is interesting to note that apart from Alton Towers and Southport’s ‘Pleasureland’ (both ‘leisure parks’), the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and the three cathedrals, the other venues were all creations of the nineteenth century” (2). Although this data was from several years ago, it does provide a useful benchmark by which informed estimates of the number of Thai visitors who would likely select these destinations from the array of choices available to them. There are some important considerations involved in this analysis, though, including the fact that Thailand enjoys numerous beaches and scenic vistas that are unmatched in the world, suggesting that Thais might prefer something different from a beach-based experience. Moreover, many Thais may not be aware or interested in a theme park adventure because of the lack of comparable facilities in their own country. In many ways, the offerings of amusement parks in Thailand are similar to the situation in the UK. For instance, Bangkok has several outdoor amusement parks and a growing number of indoor facilities that are being constructed as additions to department stores and shopping centers (Thai amusement parks 2010). For example, Thais can enjoy Siam Park in Minburi, Dream World, or the Siam Water Park (Suan Siam) which offers a large man-made swimming pool that features artificial surf, beach, whirlpools, fountains, waterfalls and towering water slides; the park is heavily landscaped and also contains additional attractions such as children’s playgrounds, aviaries, an open zoo and botanical gardens (Thai amusement parks 2010). Other attractions include Thailand’s largest open zoo, Safari World (Thai amusement parks 2010). Outside of Bangkok, though, there are few attractions available, with the resort city of Pattaya offering an indoors Ripley’s World of Entertainment and Pattaya Park providing a package deal where park visitors are provided with an overnight stay in the hotel included (Thai amusement parks 2010).
The competitive environment in which Alton Towers competes is also characterized by this concentration of attractions in the capital city. In this regard, Munson advises, “Again, the problem London faces in ‘managing tourism’ is seen in the fact that of the fifteen top attractions, eight were in the capital. Holidays have been for many decades a marked feature of British life and it was an Englishman, Thomas Cook, who created the idea of the ‘package holiday’. As a result, various seaside resorts like Blackpool or Great Yarmouth sprang up in the nineteenth century, places where urban residents could escape the pollution and noise for the fresh air and, relatively, clean water” (2). As noted above, because some Thai visitors may be uninterested in a beach-based adventure but will be unaware or uninterested in a theme park adventure for various reasons, any marketing initiative intended to promote interest and attendance by Thai visitors must take these factors into account. Furthermore, it is reasonable to suggest that some mix of the remaining top non-beach destinations noted in Figure __ above were among the most attended by foreign visitors in general and Thai visitors in particular, an assertion that is supported by Munson’s observation that, “It is interesting that of 56,000,000 ‘long holidays’, 33,000,000 were taken in Britain itself. This statistic, and not the foreign visitor, explains the estimate of 6,700,000 visitors to Blackpool, the most famous Victorian seaside resort” (1999, 2).
A recent news article (“Win 5 Family Breaks to Alton Towers Resort” 2008) illustrates some of the ways the park has teamed up with local media sources to promote itself. According to this report, in an event that was intended to celebrate Father’s Day, Alton Towers Resort teamed up with Homes & Holidays to award five lucky families with so-called “Family Breaks” that are described as follows: “Our lucky winners can imagine they’re on the high seas in one of the resort’s new Pirate-themed areas, Mutiny Bay, as each prize includes two days’ entry to the theme park and water park, a round of Extraordinary Golf and access to the Alton Towers Spa. There’s also overnight accommodation in the Pirate-themed room at the Splash Landings Hotel with dinner and breakfast included” (“Win 5 Family Breaks” 2008).
A report from Brown (“Merlin Will Rival Disney with [Pounds Sterling]1bn Tussauds Deal” 2007) noted some of the corporate reorganizations that have taken place within Merlin Entertainments Groups that will likely have at least some impact on attendance at Alton Towers and which make the parent company one of the world’s largest entertainment enterprises (second only to Disney). “Madame Tussauds’ waxworks museums are being bought by the owner of Legoland and the London Dungeon in a deal that creates a [pounds sterling]2bn leisure giant, second only to Disney in the visitor attractions market,” Brown notes, and adds that there is an enormous amount of incentive involved for management of Alton Towers: “Merlin Entertainments Group could now head for the stock market in a few years time – a move that would net around 100 staff, including managers of theme parks such as Alton Towers, an average of [pounds sterling]720,000 each. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, means Merlin’s Legoland, Dungeons and Sea Life brands will come under the same umbrella as Tussauds Group’s six waxworks museums, the British Airways London Eye, Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures” (Brown 73).
In July 2006, Alton Towers sponsored a “Fun Day” for Moslems that met with mixed reactions from the public; although the event was intended to be for both Moslems and non-Moslems, the Muslim Public Affairs Committee did not in any way endorse this fun day and took efforts to emphasize that it has been organized by Muslim Leisure (Fun day for all faiths, 2006). Likewise, other marketing initiatives by Alton Towers that have been intended to increase weekday attendance have been met with mixed reviews. In article entitled, “Theme park ‘pushing absenteeism'” Lorimer (2004) emphasizes that, “One in three adult weekday visitors to Alton Towers lied to get time off. The theme park Alton Towers has been strongly criticised by business groups for encouraging people to make false excuses to get time off work to visit. The park has discovered one in three of its adult visitors during the week has lied to employers to spend a day there” (3). In response to claims by the Federation of Small Businesses that the marketing efforts by the park are contributing to these trends, Alton Towers counters that it is not their responsibility to address absenteeism in the workplace, notwithstanding the seriousness of its own findings (Lorimer 2004). In fact, a study by the park found that fully 33% of the adult visitors during the week were supposed to have been at work, but Alton Towers’ management still responded by stating: “It’s not up to us to reduce absenteeism, and if workers want to take advantage of the mid-week deals, why not?” (Lorimer 2004, 3).
Methodology
In order to test the hypothesis, the researcher need to use data to support a research which one could be the primary data that collected by the user himself for the purposes of the study. The user also collected data form questionnaire and interview the selected sample group, plus the secondary source like the organization’s record. However, some data collected may be out of date since the limit of access to available source, which beyond the research control.
The sample group, 20 people both male and female, was selected to answer questionnaire and to be interviewed. They are Thai student studying in UK. The questionnaire and interview are focusing on the brand acknowledgement among Thais for both Merlin entertainment and its flagship attraction, Alton Towers.
Results
An identification of a new potential overseas market (this must include an analysis of this market and justification for choice)
Marketing for the theme parks has a special technique because Alton Tower is in Merlin Entertainments flagship which covers most of the attraction of the London. With the good marketing and strategy, Alton Tower can build up the fame in international tourist. This report will elucidate the elements and identify a suitable marketing strategy for Alton Towers including a marketing analysis and program development related to the Thai market.
Situation Analysis
As a part of Merlin Entertainments Group, Alton Towers has failed to develop a significant brand recognition among Thai tourists compared to other attractions from the same company like London Eye and Madame Tussauds. The most logical explanation could be its location which is outside London where most of Thai tourists spend their holiday for going to attractions, sightseeing, and shopping. The below diagram (Figure __) provides a SWOT analysis to identify the respective strengths and weaknesses of the organization and to examine the opportunities and threats to the organization from the perspective of increasing marketing to Thai tourists.
Positive
Negative
Internal Factors
STRENGTHS
A part of well-known establishment.
Availability of marketing resources and expertise as part of larger Merlin Entertainments Group
Location
Pricing
Rides
WEAKNESSES
Closed December to February
Promotion
Advertisement
Geographic proximity to London
External Factors
OPPORTUNITIES
Leading theme park in the UK
New and Exciting
THREATS
Disneyland Resort
Economic Climate
Currency exchange
Geopolitical Events (i.e., terrorists attacks)
Figure ____. SWOT Analysis of Alton Towers
Based on the themes that emerged from the SWOT analysis, Alton Towers has a lot going for it that it can use to its advantage. One to be most obvious is to be a part of well-known name like the Merlin Entertainments Group. Even thought it was located outside London (see Figure __ below), the main holiday destination for Thai tourists, but situated near big cities like Manchester and Birmingham, plus the fact that it is near major motorways. This beneficial location could be one of factors which attract more customers to the site. The visitors could reach the site by driving a car or taking public transportation at their convenience. Moreover, it is on a vast ground with huge opportunities in the site expansion and development. Plus features which the theme park couldn’t live without: good services, stage of art technology, and most thrilled and stunning rides.
http://www.altontowers.com/plan-your-visit/how-to-find-us/car/
The trip from London to Alton Towers typically requires 3 hours for traveling by public transport, but the actual time required depends on the actual departure point in London.
Everybody loves a bargain: Thai tourists normally purchase tour package, especially trip to European countries including the UK, and travel in a big group which means they could get a group ticket deal. Or if they travel as a family, there is also a family ticket deal. Plus comparing to Disneyland-Paris, Alton Towers’ ticket price is lower and this could be one of competitive advantages as it is a second largest theme park next only to Disneyland-Paris itself.
Disneyland is well-known by Thai tourists, no doubt about that. But being new to the market is not such a bad thing. Alton Towers could be an optional exciting theme park besides Disneyland when the tourists take a trip to the Europe.
Unfortunately, such opportunity to generate profits was limited by the site opening time which is between March to November each year. Moreover, the current promotions were mostly focusing on the Britons and Europeans, not to broader scales. More factors that beyond the company control but needed consider are the economic climate and difference in currency rate. Besides economic recession worldwide, the UK Pound sterling is normally way stronger than Thai Baht. This may make Thai tourists reconsider which attractions they want to visit or whether they want to make the investment in a trip to the UK in the first place. Therefore:
1. A strategic marketing plan should be produced in order to target this potential new overseas market.
2. Any potential challenges of international marketing must be identified and approaches developed to overcome them.
Strategy and Program Development
According to the SWOT analysis approach, Alton Towers should consider its marketing strategy using the 4P’s which are product, price, promotion, and place which are discussed further below
Product. The product of the Alton tower is entertainment, which assumes various forms in the park. There is the enjoyment of the life style and relaxing for the family which every one can enjoyed. What make this Themes Park unique than other themes parks in the UK is that Alton tower can provide the facility that can fulfil everyone like; Water Parks, Alton Tower Resort, and Spa. In Alton tower resort the themes parks divide into two resort which is; Alton Tower resort and Splash Landing Hotel which are inside the water park suitable for the family and kids because the Pirate Themed room for family and kinds to have fun.
Pricing. Alton Towers uses many price methods to satisfy the customer which the customer can control the money to spend in the themes parks, for example customer pay the entry door just one off pay and they can enjoy every ride in the themes park and they can provide the customer with the fast track ticket which the customer can by it separate inside the themes parks. Other method that themes parks use is the gift shop and food court inside the themes park which is in suitable price for customer to pay.
Promotion. The promotion of Alton Towers has variety of promotion for the customer to choose from which Alton Tower give a convenience way for the customer to book online with special discount. Also the themes parks provide the group tickets which have a special price depend on how big are the group.
Place. The location of the Alton tower is located near big cities like Manchester and Birmingham which have the verity of transportation provide to Alton tower which are the public bus or it’s easy to travel by the private car which Alton tower located nears motorways and the themes park provide the large space of the car park for the customer.
The discussion & the main findings
Besides being similar in population size and the fact that both countries drive on the left side of the road, there are few similarities between Thailand and the UK that could be used as a point of departure for an effective marketing program for Alton Towers. Indeed, few other countries in the world are just so starkly different from each other as the UK and Thailand in cultural terms as shown in Figure ____ below.
Figure __. Comparison of Hofstede’s Five Cultural Dimensions: Thailand and the UK
Key:
Power Distance Index
Individualism
MAS
Masculinity
UAI
Uncertainty Avoidance Index
LTO
Long-Term Orientation
Source: Hofstede 2010
As can be seen from Figure __ above, in cultural terms, Thais and Britons are night-and-day different, but it is reasonable to suggest that the enormous variety of offerings available at Alton Towers are capable of transcending these cross-cultural differences provided that an effort is made to effectively communicate the marketing message to this nationality. The importance of taking these cross-cultural differences into account was demonstrated in a study by Stage (1999) that examined the relationship between a parent company and its Thai subsidiaries using a series of extensive interviews with employees in the Thai operation. Based on her findings, Stage reported that cultural issues were at the core of a successful outcome in Thailand. These cultural issues included understanding local customs and customers, negotiating the locus of decision-making between local company policies and practices and worldwide directives, and respect for employees’ value orientations, all of which seemed to influence a productive venture that was capable of transcending geography and time zones (Shape 1999). Although the venture was different, the message is clear: The Thais are a unique and proud people who live in the only Southeast Asian country that was not colonized by the West; although briefly occupied by the Japanese during World War II, the Thais managed to come out of the war with their political institutions — and culture — virtually intact. Unlike many of their neighbors, the Thais have co-opted those aspects of the West that they admire and find useful such as dress and fashion while remaining faithful to their own values and standards (Burling 1985). All of this means that the Thai people have an amenability to Western ideas and offerings that is not marked by the same levels of hostility that may affect such perceptions in other, less Westernized countries in the region.
The analysis of the data collected from the questionnaire and interview of Thai students studying in the UK concerning their knowledge and interest in the Alton Towers as a potential destination are presented below. The sample consisted of students studying in UK at both the graduate and postgraduate level.
Figure __. Percentage of Thai Respondents who Knew or Didn’t Know about Alton Towers
The pie chart in Figure ____ shows the percentage of the interviews of the students over the questionnaire of the focus group; the chart shows that just 40% of the Thai students knew about the Alton Towers, which is one of the biggest themes park in UK. Fully 60% of the students did not have any idea about what Alton Towers was or what it featured.
Over the age of the focus group most of the student in the research are study in UK in both graduate and postgraduate, those focus group can divide into two age group; 21-24 and 25-30
The bar graph above represent of the age group of research focus group of Thai student in UK, whereas the most group who were interest to go to Alton Tower after have giving the information about Alton Tower. The bar graph above show that students between age 21-24 are more interest to visit Alton Tower than the age group of 25 — 30, which most of age group 21 — 24 are study in bachelor’s degree.
On the other hand, there are the interest findings of Thais student who interest to take a ride in Alton Tower.
The pie graph in Figure ____ above shows that 75% of Thai students whose are interested in visiting Alton Tower are female, and the main reason is to have fun with the friends or to take photographs. Based on empirical observations, this lifestyle it is normal to the Thai female lifestyle. It is interesting to note that this study indicates that Thai females are more likely to be more adventurous than their male counterparts.
Taken together, the foregoing indicates that there is a fundamental lack of awareness of the fabulous features that are available at Alton Towers among most of the Thai respondents. In fact, just a small number of Thais knew about Alton Towers at all or the facilities they offered such as the Alton Towers Hotel, Splash Landings Hotel, Spa, and the Water Park; all of these attractions could represent potential draws for this segment of the market. These are just some of the reasons that Alton Towers is failing to capture more of the Thai market and it is clear that the marketers at the park should improve the situation by developing an appropriate marketing strategy, which is discussed further below.
Firstly, advertisement of the Alton Towers are seriously lacking among the Thai people. According to the research, just a small percentage of the Thai students studying in the UK even know about Alton Towers, even though the destination is one of the top five attractions under the Merlin Entertainment flagship in the UK today. Alton Towers should invest more in advertising to the Thai market to help raise the level of awareness concerning the brand (second only to Disney) and to disseminate information to the markets which can compare strategy to promote with other attraction of the Merlin Entertainment flagship by point the target market on teenage, family, and group tour. Moreover, Alton Towers can attend the Thailand travel fair to promote the parks and other attraction of Merlin Entertainment which Thailand are hold exhibition event of world travel fair every year. Beyond the foregoing, Alton Towers can also advertise in new venues such as universities through the UK to promote the themes park which the target market of this strategy is aim at international student in every university around UK, which can increase the income of the international tourism into the market. Moreover, student attendance can be a very beneficial to Alton Towers because student can use word-of-mouth to expand the advertising into the international market which most of the student would talk to their family and friend and invited their family and friends to the themes park during holiday time.
Secondly, other lack of marketing is that Alton Tower should also consideration to PR which will contact the tour agency in Thailand to promote their promotion and give information with the great deal to agency to bring tourist in to the theme park. As so we know that Alton Tower is one of the Merlin Entertainments Flagship which has top five UK’s attraction under their name so this can guaranty of the attraction theme park. Moreover, Merlin Entertainment can use this opportunity to promote their attraction in Thai market like London Eye, Madame Tussauds, Lego Land, and the Dungeons, which those attractions are well, know in UK. Thailand always holds the world travel fair every year for tour agency to advice and let customer to buy their tour package. In this opportunity Alton Tower can sell their own package directly to the customer. To be more success on the Thais marketing, both PR and advertising should work together and must be continues in order to make the brand well know in Thai market.
In addition, promotion of Alton Tower has only small choice for tourist to select for their holiday especially for the Thai market because Thais tourism most of the time they travel in the group or family which main destination is London for their holiday which will make Thais avoid travel in different way of the group tour. However, Alton Tower can create a special package for the Thais tourism and/or international tourism to motivate the tourist to come to the themes parks, which in this stage Alton Tower can cooperate with the big cities near by like Manchester and Birmingham to help promote and/or set up special package to motivate the tourist in London to come and visit the big cities with the themes park.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the review of the literature and analysis of survey data of Thai students living in the UK indicated that Alton Towers should focus more on international tourism because themes parks are one of the few places that entire families can enjoy themselves in a fashion that will be a once-in-a-lifetime memory. Being a new attraction in the Thai market can work to the park’s advantage but the survey of Thai students suggested that several factors would help to make Alton Towers a more attractive destination in the Thai market. The advertising and information provided to potential Thai visitors are very important because Thais are typically careful in making decisions concerning their expenditures during overseas visits (pers. obs.) and, because everyone loves a bargain, special promotional offers with reduced prices would likely appeal to them. Moreover, the marketers at Alton Towers should incorporate additional cost-saving features into their package offerings to motivate Thai people to respond to the promotion. Finally, other significant numbers of international students who are studying in UK may represent yet another target, as the sample used in this study consisted of just Thai students studying in UK.
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“Win 5 Family Breaks to Alton Towers Resort,” 2008, June 15. Sunday Mirror: 4.
Chart1
14
4
Age Group
Age
People
Sheet1
Age 21-24 Age 25-30
14 4
know don’t know
8 12
Sheet1
Age Group
Age
People
Sheet2
Sheet3
Chart1
8
12
The percentage of student know Alton Tower
Sheet1
know don’t know
8 12
Sheet1
0
0
The percentage of student know Alton Tower
Sheet2
Sheet3
