NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ENGLISH x\NH TẾ Q,ớ Ve NGUYEN HOANG CONG SON A STUDY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MARKETING MIX ELEMENTS TO INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS’ BOOKING DECISION AT BESTPRICE TRAVEL NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ENGLISH NGUYEN HOANG CONG SON A STUDY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MARKETING MIX ELEMENTS TO INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS’ BOOKING DECISION AT BESTPRICE TRAVEL Hanoi, April, 2023 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor at BestPrice Travel, Ms. Dang Thi Hong Nhung, for her invaluable guidance, encouragement and support throughout the course of this research project. Her insightful feedback and expertise in the field of marketing were instrumental in shaping the direction of my research and achieving its objectives. I would also like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to my academic supervisor, Professor Le Thi Ngoc Diep, for her unwavering support and encouragement, as well as for her constructive feedback and insightful suggestions which helped me refine my research approach and methodology.
Additionally, I wish to thank the staff and management of BestPrice Travel for their cooperation and participation in this study, without which this research would not have been possible. Finally, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my family and friends for their unwavering support, encouragement and love throughout my academic journey. Thank you all for your invaluable contributions. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This study examines the importance of the marketing mix elements to international customers’ booking decisions at BestPrice Travel Technology Joint Stock Company.
The research objectives are to identify the marketing mix elements employed by BestPrice Travel, investigate the level of importance of these elements to international customers' booking decisions, and provide recommendations for the company's marketing mix to enhance their ability to attract and retain international customers. The study utilizes a mixed-methods approach, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Primary data was collected through a survey questionnaire administered to 100 international customers of BestPrice Travel between December 2022 and February 2023. Secondary data was also obtained from academic journals, reports, company documents, and online resources.
The results of the study show that the marketing mix elements employed by BestPrice Travel are price, product, promotion, and place. Among these elements, price and product are the most important to international customers’ booking decisions. The study recommends that BestPrice Travel should focus on product development and differentiation, competitive pricing, and effective promotional strategies to enhance their ability to attract and retain international customers. LIST OF ABBREVIATION JSC Joint Stock Company HR Human Resource CEO Chief Executive Officer IT Information technology ii TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY1.
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- 25 SG 1111 TH TH Hà HH HH gà 38 1V 5.2 Recommendations to improve the price element of BestPrice Travel's H0 (0111301010200.3 Recommendations to improve the promotion element of BestPrice Travel’s i18.4 Recommendations to improve the place element of BestPrice Travel’s Marketing MIX. 5 SG cọ HH. c0 G sọ HH TH. 000 000010800000001004040080700600 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Management structure of BestPrice 'TTaveÌ.-- -‹---- «sex 7 Figure 2: The importance of various features in product element to international customers at BestPrice “TTAaV€Ì,.- ó5 11v ng HH tr 31 Figure 3: The importance of various features in the price element to international customers at BestPrice 'TTAV€ÌL.- sscsseesseeseessecsseceeesseesseeaecseesseessecseeeneens 32 Figure 4: The importance of various features in the promotion element to international customers at BestPrice 'Travel.
- -- -- << + < xxx eeeeeeeeeeees 33 Figure 5: The importance of various features in place element of BestPrice Travel”S CUStOMETS .( - - - Ă G << << 1E E1 1111 EEEES SE SE 0 11 1 ket 34 Mái LIST OF TABLES Table 1: HR of BestPrice Travel in the period of 2019 - the first 7 months of 2022 PP. 12 Table 2: Capital structure of BestPrice Travel in the period of 2019 — 2021. 15 Table 3: Total amount of BestPrice Travel’s visits from 2019 to 2021. 16 Table 4: Evaluation Criteria for Likert Scale (QQuestions.---- -- ---<< «<< 29 Vil Nguyễn Hoàng Công Sơn - 11196192 - 61A.Business English INTRODUCTION 1.
Title A study on the importance of the marketing mix elements to international customers’ booking decisions at BestPrice Travel Technology Joint Stock Company. Rationale Tourism development plays an increasingly significant role in the trend of international integration, which implements the policy of facilitating cultural, economic, and political exchanges between nations. Vietnam has always been regarded as a safe destination for international customers due to its stable political climate, culture infused with national identity, majestic, unspoiled natural beauty, and hospitable population. Along with the growth of the Vietnamese economy as a whole, the tourism industry has made significant progress.
The General Statistics Office reports that the number of international visitors to Vietnam in 2019 reached 18 million, a 116. It is known that inbound customers have high incomes, enjoy exploring natural resources, and are interested in learning about historical and cultural values. This is the item that is willing to pay a high price for the journey. Vietnam has ample natural and human resources, as well as historical and cultural significance.
UNESCO recognizes a growing number of cultural and natural heritage systems in Vietnam. The American travel magazine Travel & Leisure ranked Vietnam sixth among the twenty best tourist destinations for safety and local friendliness. This is a market with tremendous potential for tourism and resort development. The primary tourism models in Vietnam are Business to Business and Business to Consumers and the "Independent Traveler" model has existed for decades.
When destinations in Vietnam are less attractive, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and Taiwanese customers typically travel in groups organized by large travel companies in their respective countries in conjunction with Vietnamese businesses. Partners will direct their guests to travel to another location or country, resulting in a significant loss of market share for the destination. This is the potential market for inbound customers, but in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global tourism industry in general and Vietnam's tourism in particular face significant challenges. According to statistics, the total number of international visitors to Vietnam in the first three months of 2020 was 3.8 million, with European visitors accounting for 671.9 thousand arrivals, a decrease of 96.9% compared to the same period in 2019; Asian visitors alone reached 2.6 million visitors, a decrease of 78.
The inbound tourist market has been a potential customer market in Vietnam, and businesses that cater to this market have developed very effective and highly competitive business strategies. However, there are also businesses that are gradually improving and innovating to develop the most effective growth strategy for this market. Additionally, BestPrice Travel Technology Joint Stock 1 Nguyễn Hoàng Công Sơn - 11196192 - 61A.Business English Company (BestPrice Travel) is a tourism company that sells inbound tour products. Asia and the United States, including Chinese, Thai, British, and French Despite this, the post-pandemic situation of the inbound market for BestPrice Travel recorded "signs that the market is still extremely quiet." This indicates that effective solutions are required to improve the quality of the inbound travel program for the company.
Recognizing this significance, BestPrice Travel always prioritizes marketing strategies that bring tourism products and services closer to customers. Through my internship in the marketing department of the BestPrice Travel and my school-related research, I realized that the marketing policy was not particularly effective. Specifically, the business has implemented marketing, but only at the level of division strategies and sporadic activities in a few policies, such as propaganda, advertising, and pricing. These activities have not been synchronized between management and implementers, resulting in ineffective marketing.
In addition, the company has created its own information and promotion channel but has not fully exploited and utilized this channel's potential. I chose the topic "A study on the importance of the marketing mix elements to international customers' booking decisions at BestPrice Travel” for the theoretical and practical reasons stated above. Research objectives The research aims to identify the marketing mix elements employed by BestPrice Travel and investigate the importance of the elements in the marketing mix to international customers’ booking decisions in the company.Furthermore, this study also provides recommendations for the company's marketing mix to enhance their ability to attract and retain international customers. What are the marketing mix elements mainly used in BestPrice Travel? (2).
What is the level of importance of the marketing mix elements to international customers’ booking decisions at BestPrice Travel? (3). What solutions can be proposed for the marketing mix of the company to maintain and attract more international customers? 5. Research methodology This research study employs both qualitative and quantitative research methods to identify the marketing mix elements of BestPrice Travel the various factors affecting booking decisions of the international customers and the strategies that can be employed to attract international customers. The qualitative component of the study primarily focuses on assessing and identifying the elements in the 4PS marketing mix which are important to international customers.
The quantitative method involves the use of various data collection and analysis techniques to assess both the internal and external factors that are important to customer attraction in the international market. It also demonstrates a 2 Nguyễn Hoàng Công Sơn - 11196192 - 61A.Business English proportional connection between the marketing mix and the customers at BestPrice Travel. Based on these findings, the study proposes solutions to enhance marketing activities in the marketing mix of BestPrice Travel in the international market. To gather data, the study utilizes Likert scales to survey 100 international customers of BestPrice Travel between December 2022 and the February 2023.
The results of this data collection are presented in Chapter 4 of the study.