STS Tours... taking you around the world

STS Tours... taking you around the world

Presented by: Mark W, Amaan F, Annaelisa HPresented by: Mark W, Amaan F, Annaelisa H

Agenda

Company Background

Environmental Analysis

Critical Issues

History of Issues

Organizational Analysis

Alternatives

Recommendation

Timelines and Controls

Company History

Started in 2001

Group Tours Worldwide

Customized tours, not price-focused

Family run & part-time employees

Business partners in foreign areas

Market Conditions

1USD = 1CAD - 20% increase from 2009

Food and gas costs increase flight costs

Decrease in tourism rates in 2009

forecasted increases for 2011/2012

Internet bookings increase

group bookings must be done over telephone

Competitive Analysis

EF Tours

low cost, minimal customization

Meridan Tours

high cost, fully customizable, cadillac

Competitive Analysis

Explorica

average cost, customizability available

use of social media

interactive website

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFMaGFXDMwU

Student Travel Abroad

lowest cost, no customization, grouping individuals

Company Situation

Stagnant growth (fluctuating)

Require a communications plan to contact secondary schools

Weak online presence

Goals:

$5 million revenue per. year

Retire in 10 years

Critical Issues

Improve the communication plan for future strategy to achieve long-term growth

Increase potential client response rate within the secondary school market

Increase effective online company presence

Refine the promotional strategy to uniquely position the business within the market

Historical Factors

Communications plan + response rate

minimal advertising

1.2% response rate (action) rate - 200 mail/2-4 clients

rely on referrals

Promotional strategy

shotgun, no competitive advantage in advertisment

Online presence

website very difficult to navigate

no other social media tools used

Organizational Analysis

Promotional spending

varies based on sales, more sales, less promo

no man-power to handle both

year-on-year growth +25%,....+25%

industry profit margin .02%, STS 3%

control of costs to maintain profitability

Internal efficiency = external expansion

Organizational Analysis

Communication - market awareness

small scale advertising

now $7.60/ad, est. $2.45/ad

225% more cost overall, but 750% audience

2 years since last website update

have no social media to build awareness

customer has willingness to search

not present = not searched

Organizational Analysis

Communications - market response

$145.5 million market size (secondary schools)

STS - .73% market share

$760 average acquisition cost, est. $121.60

based on past and suggested advertising initiative

strong loyalty base

75% return, 25% trial (per year)

High costs due to inefficient marketing and potential to obtain many more customers

Alternatives

Status Quo

Continued cost management = 5-10% ^ profit

No growth

Hire New Employee

Part-time

No support for growth, only for busy season mgmt

Full-time

Potential to increase by 11 tours by answering quotes

Covers 82.5% of cost

Supports long-term growth initiatives

Alternative - Increase Online Presence

Website

Search engine optimization

Welcoming front page

Easier to navigate

Add follow on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.

Contact information better accessible

Regular updates

Fix contact form and tour list

Measuring: view counts, visitor count, number of clicks

Alternative - Banners

Search engine marketing banners

1. example: Google adwords

Pops up with relevant search word

Company makes it’s own adds

Banners can be edited often

Easy to measure

Pay only for click-throughs

Banner trade

Also different social media banners available, focus on Facebook banner option

Measuring: Number of impressions, click-through rate,cost per thousand impressions

Alternative - Increase Online Presence

Facebook

Base information on profile, pictures

Status messaging with news, updates and information

Answering customer questions

Measuring with likes, followers

Social mention, icerocket.com, etc.

Twitter

Shorter messages

Especially good with fast response and feedback

Measure: followers, tweets and trends

Tweetstats and trendistic

Alternative - Increase Online Presence

Youtube

own video footage, video footage from pleased customers

Flickr

Pictures featuring travel targets

Invite happy customers share their own experiences in social media with videos, pictures and stories

creates reference feedback

Increases presence and number of mentions online

Consumer Generated Data most often more relevant to customers when making decisions than own marketing

Alternative - Increase Awareness at Secondary Schools

Presentations at schools

presentations in classes, assemblies, professional development days

Scholarship/bursaries

Book donations

Alternative - Increase Awareness at Secondary Schools

Measuring:

Brand development index

Marketing penetration

Recommendation

Rent new location

Support new employee & business growth

Hire new Employee

Traditional Marketing

Revamp brochure/flyer Ad

Phone call follow up

In-school advertising

Tour booklets

Tourism Booklet Distribution

Bursary Program

Website management

Social media addition

Implementation Timeline

Controls

Comparison of Yearly Incomes

Quote Requests

Active Tours

Group Sizes

Canadian Market Share

Evaluation of Repeat Customers

Website Hits

Fans, Followers, Likes, Mentions, etc.

Conclusion