CHPTER THREE
BUSINESS STRATEGIES
This chapter will establish a business strategy to promote domestic tourism in Limbe.
1.1.1. Proposed name and description
FAKO ATLANTIC TOURS Ltd (FAT) will provide travel planning services for domestic pleasure vacation and most especially, will specialize in the creation of special events, initially in and around the Limbe locality, and with time, extend to other localities in the 10 Regions of Cameroon.
The service industry including tourism agencies is one of the fastest growing business sectors of the economy and Fako Atlantic Tours intends to capitalize on the success of this industry by taking advantage of the fact that Limbe is endowed with potential tourist attractions and receptive to events.
This tourism agency will be based in Limbe, Fako Division, South West Region and will target individuals with a job situation (corporate) and interested in pleasure and incentive tours. This region includes towns like Idenau, Tiko, Buea, and Mutengene. Limbe is situated about 45 minutes from Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon where most industries are concentrated with appreciable human forces who are potential clients.
1.1.3. Mission statement
The mission statement of Fako Atlantic tours is to become the premiere organizer of special events and provider of pleasure vacation (incentive hours) for 25-45 year old professionals. Fako Atlantic Tours is dedicated to building long-term relationship with customers and the company’s goal is to grow steadily.
FAKO ATLANTIC TOURS will offer a wide range of services to support the pleasure traveler including pre- and post-vacation briefing, travel insurance, a directory of services specific to each destination and activity and will have as key production, the creation and organization of special events initially in Limbe and with time throughout the national territory.
Field market research, carried out on 1200 clients, shows that there is a considerable potential in the pleasure travel business. According to results from this study entertainment is a major influencing factor on the vacation choices of the target population .This traveling public wants to have fun, be entertained, to enjoy fantasy and to escape from the realities of every day’s life. Also, research shows that entertainment has risen to a new level in the vacation decision-making process and special events have the ability to spread tourism geographically and seasonally, allowing regions and communities to celebrate their uniqueness, promote themselves, develop local pride and enhance their economic well-being. Unfortunately, there is no tourism structure in the Limbe locality that organizes special events. Meanwhile customers in this market (about 45%) have as one of their main motivations for traveling, leisure and entertainment.
Research also shows that most of the target population enjoy traveling a lot; a great majority travel within the national territory, about 70% have been on a pleasure trip organized by their employer (incentive tour) and also the fact that 70% of our target customers have never been in a pleasure trip organized by their employer but would consider taking one, from a reputable agency with proven expertise in this market portrays that this target population indeed constitutes a potential market segment to be exploited, which is therefore an advantage for Fako Atlantic Tours.(Appendix IV)
Also, from the results of the study, it was observed that most of the customers who travel or have knowledge of tourism activities have as information source either friends, personal research or colleagues. This shows that the existing tourism agencies have not, and are not exploiting the domestic market yet. FAT needs to take advantage of this existing vacuum. This in essence justifies its creation.
The quality of services and the number of providers in the travel industry is increasing. Our competitive edge will be in convincing, attracting and retaining our customers. The quality of our services will be guaranteed by highly trained and motivated personnel, the attractive package of incentive tours and information provided to our clients and the creation and organization of events.
With Fako Atlantic Tours’ expertise in incentive travel, we can customize travel itineraries for our clients and provide the most thorough and informative pleasure travel services available. By offering superior customer services, Fako Atlantic Tours can distinguish itself from competitors by organizing special events.
Market research shows that publicity has the greatest impact on people’s choice of a pleasure travel agent. This is followed closely by having the right location and a recommendation from a friend, a relative or a colleague.
Our advertising and promotion will centre around six key strategies: public relations, our shop front, a website, customer relations, press advertising and mailing.
- Public relations: We will make considerable effort in preparing and disseminating regular press releases. These will be based on stories about our destinations, events, activities, corporate clients and our staff. We will employ a public relations adviser to help us write, copy and locate publication editors.
- Shop front: We plan to have an exciting informative and actively managed display window. There will be a video display showing pleasure vacation in progress. Different destinations can be selected from outside the window via a control panel.
- Website: This is fast becoming a major promotional channel and we believe it will increase in importance over time. Also, it is the most convenient way for us to have a global presence at the outset.
- Customer relations: We will keep a record of all sales contacts. Data such as sources of inquiry, client needs, previous vacations, job and maybe income will be included. By having superior information on our clients and prospects, we intend to offer a truly personalized service. Our database will contain full details on all our clients including the vacations they have taken and their post-vacation appraisals. We will use this data to encourage our satisfied customers to recommend our services to friends, relatives, colleagues and employers.
- Press advertising: We will undertake a small amount of press advertising in order to enhance our public relations activity. There is considerable research to support the argument that the more often a potential client hears about you the more likely they are to approach you when they have a need for your type of service.
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