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PPRRIINNTTEEDD MMAATTEERRIIAALLSS AADDVVEERRTTIISSIINNGG –– TTOOUURRIISSMM MMAARRKKEETTIINNGGCCOOMMMMUUNNIICCAATTIIOONN TTOOOOLLSS

Silvia Muhcină

Elena Condrea

Veronica Popovici

University “Ovidius“ of Constanta

Elena Botezat

University of Oradea

Abstract

The advertising through printed materials is situated among the most frequently used advertising instruments. Its goals are: to inform the tourists on the present offer or on the new products or services, to influence the tourists’ attitude in a favorable way towards the firm and its offer, to convince them to buy these tourism products or services etc. It can also be used as a communication support and additional instrument and as part of other communication approaches (direct marketing, marketing events), amplifying their effects. It is used by the tourism services suppliers and also by the tour-operators and travel agencies.

Key words: advertising, printed materials; communication; marketing; tourism.

The advertising is included in the wide area of marketing communication, among other newer or traditional instruments (such as: sales promotion, public relations, brand using, direct marketing, sales forces, marketing events). The advertising plays an essential role in the communication and promotional activity unfolded by the tourism organizations: independent services suppliers (hotel agents, food&beverage suppliers, transporters), hotel chains, tour-operators and travel agencies.

The main characteristic of publicity is that it represents a mean of mass communication, as (Florescu, etal, 1992: pp. 384):

− The advertising messages are transmitted to not only one person, but at least to a group of people, simultaneously;

− The transmitter-receiver relation is realized not directly but through a mass communication channel;

− The answer to a sent message is received indirectly, after a certain period of time.

The advertising through printed materials is situated among the most frequently used advertising instruments. Its goals are: to inform the tourists on the present offer or on the new products or services, to influence the tourists’ attitude in a favorable way towards the firm and its offer, to convince them to buy these tourism products or services etc. It can also be used as a communication support and additional instrument and as part of other communication approaches (direct marketing, marketing events), amplifying their effects.

As part of this type of advertising are supports such as: catalogues, prospectuses, folders, guides, maps, tourism brochures etc., to which there can be added business cards (when they are used with advertising purpose), as well as agendas or calendars offered especially to business partners on the occasion of winter holidays, combining the advertising approaches with those included in the public relation domain (Balaure, etal, 2005: pp. 361-368).

As part of the tourism promotion, the role of catalogues, guides and brochures rises especially on certain annual periods, correspondent to holidays. Designed in an attractive way, elaborated in languages of international circulation, including useful pieces of information, the tourism publications are successfully used at a local scale as well as at a national or international one (being published by important tour-operators, travel agencies, national authority tourism organizations as well as by independent services suppliers -transporters, hotel chains etc.).

Traditional instruments of marketing work, brochures, catalogues and tourism guides are very popular among the tour-operators or the tourism travel agencies as they “tangibles” the products, thus contributing on reducing the risk of their acquisition by the tourists.

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Tourism printed materials have a significant dimension in marketing budget. Otherwise, tourism specialists appreciate that, on tour-operators level, is necessary to sell 10 catalogues or brochures to sell one voyage (Lanquar, 1995: pp. 29).

The role of the tourism printed materials is not only that of appeal (an attractive design can increase the interest of potential tourists) but also that of informing the clients (through an adequate content of advices, pieces of information and useful facts for potential tourists). Bearing in mind the importance of this advertising media, the publications are printed and offered by a wide range of services suppliers, tour-operators, travel agencies and even local and national public authorities, from which we can differentiate (Gherasim, etal, 1999: pp. 144-147):

1. Independent services suppliers (independent hotel agents, transporters etc.)

They offer to the individual tourists and travel agencies folders, posters, fliers that contains images and suggestions that refer to convenience, the services’ quality, their price etc. Spreading these documents may be realized by the hotel reception staff or in airports and railway stations, by mail, by tourism products distributors, in shopping centers.

The main goal of the advertising message consists in attracting the potential clients’ interest.

When the object of the message is a hotel, it should be presented in such a way that the tourists are attracted by that presentation.

Moreover, in marketing literature it is considered that the elaboration and illustration of a tourism folder should respect certain rules, such as (Durrieu, 1980):

− The exterior view of the hotel should be framed in the natural scenery (mountainous, seacoast); − The interiors (the hotel rooms, the restaurant etc.) should be presented in a manner that does not

give the impression of loneliness, of an empty space (tough there are few tourists who want total isolation);

− There should be taken pictures of those elements that individualize the respective tourism offer (certain elements of architecture, ambience, convenience etc.);

− The staff responsible with public relation should be shown smiling while doing their specific activity (receptionists, bartenders etc.).

2. Hotels chain, tour-operators, independent intermediaries

By all promotional efforts unifying process, the hotels chain members (voluntary associations, financial groups etc.), big tour operators etc., assure the promotional activity –near by fliers or prospectus, by more advanced means like: brochures, tourism guides or even periodicals.

On tour-operator level, the majority of this kind of printed materials is targeting two public categories:

− Individual tourists − The distributors as travel agencies.

For the majority of tour-operators, the brochures, the guides and the catalogues represent the most obviously way to underline their presence in tourism activity.

Through a special artistic realization way, those tools are valorizing the tourism destination in an attractive style.

Usually, there are draw up with the specialists contribution, are published by prestigious editors, in high circulation and are serving in the negotiation process. Near suggestive images, the guides are contenting a big number of information and useful advices for tourists, referring to hotels placement, the hotels classification, convenience, rooms number and types (single, double, flats), prices, seasonally differentiations, special offers etc.

However, in tourism marketing literature is considered that, on tour-operators level, tourism brochures has the next duties (Pender, 1999):

− Support in distribution (placement) activity of the tourism products made by tour-operators, activity which is pointed to the tourism consumers or to the travel agencies;

− Means of “package” and “display” of intangibles elements combinations which are supporting the tourism product structuring process;

− Sales tool, when the tourism brochures are attractive for the tourists, clear and easier to use for the sales points employees;

− Tourists information means, supply and corporate identity communication tool;

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− Light-en tool for tourist holidays and vacations preparation steps (offering a lots of information concerning the tourism destinations nature and the specify, accommodation facilities, entertainment possibilities etc.).

3. Tourism resorts

Through many tourism organizations and public authorities unified efforts, on tourism resort level (for example, in Romania, resorts like Mamaia, Sinaia, Stâna de Vale etc.) are published and distributed in national and international languages some tourism publications which contents complex information, offering many details concerning historical, architectural, cultural details, obtained by valuable specialists contribution (historians, philologists, fine arts specialists etc.). Often, these materials are detached by simple advertising, being sold through different sales points (bookshops, museums etc.).

Near simple tourism information (concerning the accommodation and food possibilities), these materials contains resorts identification information, tourism attractions location plans, access ways (for example, the Michelin Guide was initial printed with the purpose to facilitate the automobilists access), local tourism outlines plans, tourism attractions visiting time-tables (museums, memorial houses etc.).

4. Tourism areas

Usually, the tourism areas are not overlapped with territorial-administrative areas, but the public administration can initiate tourism promotionally actions, by printed materials like guides, catalogues, brochures, published in international languages. A good example for this step can be considered the Tourism Guide “Dobrogea: Black Sea Coasts. Danube Delta”, printed in English and in French languages, with the collaboration of the Foundation for the Promotion of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Tourism Information Center INFO LITORAL of ConstanŃa, ConstanŃa Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Shipping and Agriculture (CCINA), Alliance Francaise de ConstanŃa, with financial support from the Romanian Ministry of Transport, Construction and Tourism – National Authority of Tourism and with the participation and support from tourism organizations like Eforie S.A., Club Vacances Modernes (France), the Travel Agencies Latina and Danubius.

Another example of promoted area by the different institutions and economic organizations common efforts is Bucovina, a Romanian region which is one of the first promoted area on national and international way, today already knew out of the Romanian borders.

5. National tourism organizations (offices, departments, authorities etc.)

These organizations publish and distribute advertising printed materials, especially like brochures, guides or catalogues which contains generally information about tourism attractions and about the culture, history and geography of the respective country that is presented like tourism destination.

In the same time, can be published specialized guides going from the tourism attraction domain (for example, “The Resorts Guide”, “The Sky Track Guide”, “The Protected Natural Areas Guide” etc., published by National Authority of Tourism from Romania.

Because of advertising step importance, when is promoted a country as a tourism destination, the advertising message content in these materials (near other spreading channels) must distinguish its tourism attractions (mountains, lakes, forests, architectural monuments, folklore, customs, gastronomy)…creating in such way an image which is capable to include the essence of natural, sociological and cultural features of a certain country, suggesting to the message receivers both the tourism offer diversity and the unique and attractive tourism products features (Nedelea, 2003: pp. 103).

These printed materials are an information and promotional tool, which support the tourism organizations activity in national borders limits and in foreign countries and there importance is increasing when is participate on marketing events (fairs, exhibitions etc.).

Because of theirs efficiency, the advertising printed materials are published and distributed by more and more services suppliers (transporters, hotel agents etc.) or tourism products distributors (travel agencies), in an attractive formulas and large variety.

Even there are prospectus, brochures, guides etc., the printed advertising materials are made and illustrated based on certain roles. Some of the most important are the fallowing (Gherasim, etal, 1999: pp. 147):

− The title must be placed even on the top, even on the bottom of the cover (is not advised the placement on the middle of the cover);

− Near the proper subject, it must be specified the country or the region where can be find the tourism attraction;

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− The foreign languages translations must be realized by competent persons, that know very good the customs and pretensions of tourists from addressed country; also, its indicated to translate that material only in a single language;

− The information must be presented in a selective way, keeping only those elements which have a high notoriety level, without insignificant details, as to not boring the tourists;

− The printed materials shapes must corresponding to theirs contents, display and distribution ways.

Any kind of presented tourism attractions, theirs portrait must constitute a clear and representative image, as to draw tourists attention, to increase theirs interest and curiosity, to impulse the acquisition steps.

References

1. Balaure, V., Cătoiu, I., Vegheş, C., “Marketing turistic”, Ed. Uranus, Bucureşti, 2005

2. Cooper, C., „Tourism. Principles & Practice”, Longman, London, 1996

3. Durrieu, P., “Le depliant hotelier”, Prestige de l’hotellerie, de la restauration et du tourisme, 1980

4. Florescu, C., ş.a., “Marketing”, CoEd. Marketer-Expert, Bucureşti, 1992

5. Gherasim, T., Gherasim, D., “Marketing turistic”, Ed. Economică, Bucureşti, 1999

6. Krippendorf, J., “Marketing et Tourisme”, Ed. Herbert Lang, Berne, 1971

7. Lanquar, R., “Le tourisme international”, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1995

8. Muhcina, S., “Marketing în turism”, Ed. Muntenia&Leda, ConstanŃa, 2002

9. Nedelea, Al., “Politici de marketing în turism”, Ed. Economică, Bucureşti, 2003

10. Pender, L., “Marketing-Management for Travel and Tourism”, Stanley Thorne Publishers, London, 1999

11. Popescu, I.C., “Comunicarea în marketing”, Ed. Uranus, Ed. a II-a, Bucureşti, 2005

12. Tocquer, G., Zins, M., Hazebroucq, J.M., “Marketing du tourisme”, Gaetan Morin Editeur, 1999

ISSN – 1582 - 5450