SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE ONLINE MARKETING PERFORMANCE FOR DOMESTIC TOURISTS AT VNTOUR JOINT STOCK COMPANY

HOSPITALITY & TOURISM INSTITUTESUMMARY GRADUATE THESIS THESIS: SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE ONLINE MARKETING PERFORMANCE FOR DOMESTIC TOURISTS AT VNTOUR JOINT STOCK COMPANY INSTRUCTOR: M.A... T

HOSPITALITY & TOURISM INSTITUTE

SUMMARY GRADUATE THESIS

THESIS:

SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE ONLINE MARKETING PERFORMANCE FOR DOMESTIC TOURISTS AT VNTOUR

JOINT STOCK COMPANY

INSTRUCTOR: M.A TRAN THI TU NHI STUDENT NAME: DO THI BICH TRAM STUDENT CODE: 2320716431

Da Nang, 2021

DUY TÂN UNIVERSITY

The instructor: M.A Tran Thi Tu Nhi

Defender:……….

The graduation thesis will be defended for the committee

at Duy Tan University,

at time date month year 2021

This graduation thesis can be found at the library of

Duy Tan University

1 The statement

After 24 years of development, when officially connecting to theglobal network in 1997, Vietnam's Internet has made great progressand had a strong impact on all aspects of today's social life TheInternet has played an "indispensable" role in parallel with thecountry's socio-economic development In Vietnam, it is easy to seethat the Internet has crept into all corners of life, even a farmer, aworker, a student, an engineer, a doctor and a worker can findinformation on the Internet According to the Vietnam InternetNetwork Information Center, Vietnam ranks 18th out of 20 countries

in terms of the largest number of Internet users in the world, 8th inAsia and 3rd in Southeast Asia Moreover, according to the DigitalMarketing report in 2019 of WeareSocial and Hootsuite, the number

of Internet users in Vietnam is very high, Vietnamese users spend anaverage of 6 hours and 42 minutes a day participating in Internet-related activities and spend 2 hours and 32 minutes using the socialmedia, 2 hours and 31 minutes watching streams or online videosand 1 hour and 11 minutes listening to music Due to the availability

of Internet access, people are more and more dependent on everydayactivities Therefore, the Internet has become an important milestone,influencing many customer decisions This has led to the fact that theonline promotion of products, brands or sales is something that anybusinesses or organizations need to do to operate effectively Takingadvantage of the online marketing market, businesses ororganizations have seized opportunities and developed onlinemarketing policies to attract customers to their products

The strong explosion of the Internet has also brought a lot ofopportunities for businesses, especially for travel services Alongwith that, the utilities that the Internet brings to users are quickness,easiness, 24/7 service and the introduction of a series of increasinglyupgraded applications to fulfill the needs of visitors Facing thisissue, in order to survive and develop, travel businesses need toactively integrate and learn how to adapt to the online marketingtrend to optimize their business activities in Vietnamese travelbusiness industry.

In the context of the strong development of the Internet in generaland e-commerce in particular, the application of technology featuresand worldwide online marketing has become very common InVietnam, they have not yet exploited these activities well as well asstill have not paid attention to the application of search engines Thepromotion through the media is not effective In other words, most ofthe communication and advertising activities, product marketing stillfollows traditional trends There are also travel businesses that areinterested in the growth of Online Marketing but do not know how torank high in the search engines? How do customers find theirbusiness first while they're consulting a product line? It can be seenthat the benefits that Online Marketing brings to travel businesses aregreat because this is the fastest and the most effective tool forcustomers to know and access to the products of travel businesses

In 2020, due to the impact of the COVID -19 pandemic,Vietnam's tourism has suffered heavy losses But facing thedifficulties and challenges, Vietnam's tourism has made efforts toproactively adapt, promote internal strengths and restore operations

in the situation The policy of tourism development in 2021 is that

domestic tourism will be an important lever for the industry torecover from the COVID - 19 pandemic and the target of Vietnamtourism in 2021 will serve 80 million domestic tourists To meetcurrent practical needs, businesses need to pay more attention to newtourism trends, especially online marketing tools, in order to competeand attract more domestic tourists to their businesses while thenumber of travel agency is increasing and that of service isincreasingly diversified.

In this situation, VNTOUR Joint Stock Company requires thepolicies reform and finds directions, applications, solutions toimprove the ability to apply Online Marketing to business activities,which is essential for the company in the face of fierce competitionamong travel companies

From the reasons mentioned above, I decide to choose the topic

"Solutions to improve the efficiency of online marketing activitiesfor domestic tourists at VNTOUR Joint Stock Company" will be theresearch topic, then provide solutions to foster online Marketingactivities to attract domestic customers to VNTOUR Joint StockCompany

2 Aims of the study

- Research on the rationale of Online Marketing activities in thetravel business

- Analyzing the status of Online Marketing activities to attractdomestic tourists at VNTOUR joint stock company

- Proposing a number of solutions to improve Online Marketing activities to attract domestic tourists to VNTOUR joint stock

company

3 Subject and scope of the study

- Subject of study: Online Marketing activities for domesticcustomers at VNTOUR Joint Stock Company

- Study period: from March 1, 2021 to May 8, 2021

- Scope of the study: VNTOUR Joint Stock Company, Da Nangbranch

4 Study method

- Document research method

- Observation method

- Synthesizing and processing data method

- Collecting information method

- Expert interview method

5 Structure of the study

In addition to the following contents: Introduction, table ofcontents, table of figures, appendices, references, the thesis willinclude:

Chapter 1: Literature review of Online Marketing in tourismbusiness

Chapter 2: Current status of business activities and onlinemarketing policies to attract domestic tourists of VNTOUR jointstock company

Chapter 3: Some solutions to improve online marketing activitiesfor domestic tourists at VNTOUR joint stock company

CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW OF ONLINE MARKETING IN

TOURISM BUSINESS.

1.1 Overview of travel agencies and travel products.

1.1.1 The definition of a travel agency

1.1.2 The product system of a travel agency

1.2 Literature review for marketing in tourism

1.2.1 The definition of marketing in tourism

1.2.2 Factors affecting marketing activities in tourism

1.2.2.1 Macro environment

a Economic environment

b Political and legal environment

c Cultural and social environment

d Competitors

1.2.3 Market segmentation and target market selection

1.2.3.1 Market segmentation

a Market segmentation definition

b The requirements and criteria to segment the market in tourism marketing.

1.2.3.2 Selecting the target market and options for selecting the target market

a.Target market definition

b.The importance of determine target market

c.Target market selection options

1.3 Literature review for online marketing activities in tourism business

1.3.1 Online marketing definition

1.3.2 Advantages of online marketing.

1.3.3 Online marketing tools

1.3.3.1 Marketing via Website

1.3.3.2 Marketing via social networks

1.3.3.3 Marketing via Email

1.3.3.4 Marketing via SEM – Search Engine Marketing

1.3.4. The role of online marketing in tourism promotion 1.3.4.1 For travel companies and agents

1.3.4.2 For customers and consumers

1.3.4.3 For the localities possessing tourism resources

1.4 Characteristics of consumer behavior in tourism and communication of the domestic tourism market.

1.4.1 The trip purpose

Chapter 2 CURRENT STATUS OF BUSINESS ACTIVITIES AND ONLINE MARKETING POLICIES TO ATTRACT DOMESTIC TOURISTS OF VNTOUR JOINT STOCK

COMPANY 2.1 Introduction about joint stock company VNTOUR.

- Company name: VNTOUR JOINT STOCK COMPANY

- Business license number: 0312646818 issued by the Department ofPlanning and Investment of Ho Chi Minh City on February 12, 2014

- English transaction name: VNTOUR CORPORATION

- Company English name: VNTOUR JOINT STOCK COMPANY

- Legal representative: NGUYEN THI PHUONG DIEM

- Head office: 39B Truong Son, 4 Ward, Tan Binh District, Ho ChiMinh City

- Branch: 85 Ong Ich Khiem, Thanh Binh Ward, Hai Chau District,

2.1.1 The process of establishing and developing the VNTOUR joint stock company

2.1.3 Tourism products at VNTOUR joint stock company.

2.2 Business performance of VNTOUR joint stock company

from 2018 to 2020.

2.2.1 Business results from 2018 to 2020.

Bảng 2 2 Business results at VNTOUR joint stock company

Profit 4118.26 4871.59 2648.10

(Source: Sales department of VNTOUR Joint Stock Company, 2021)

2.2.2 The current situation of attracting domestic tourists at

VNTOUR joint stock company

2.2.2.1 The fluctuation of visitor source at VNTOUR joint stock company in the period of 2018-2020.

2.2.2.2 The current situation of domestic tourists exploitation by regions at VnTour Joint Stock Company in the period of 2018- 2020

2.3 Market segmentation and target market selection of VNTOUR joint stock company.

2.3.1 Market segmentation of VNTOUR joint stock comapany 2.3.1.1 Segmentation by geographical criteria

2.3.1.2 Segmentation by demographics

2.3.2 Target market selection of VNTOUR joint stock comapany

2.4 The Current status of online marketing policies to attract domestic tourists of VNTOUR joint stock company from 2018 to 2020.

2.4.1 Marketing via Website

2.4.2 Marketing via social networks

2.4.2.1 Via facebook

2.4.2.2 Via Youtube

2.4.2.3 Via Instagram

2.4.2.4 Via Zalo

2.4.3 Marketing via Email

2.4.4 Marketing via SEM

2.4.4.1 Marketing via SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

2.4.4.2 Marketing via PPC ( Pay Per Click)

2.5 The evaluation of advantages and disadvantages of online marketing policy to attract domestic tourists at VNTOUR joint stock company.

2.5.1 Advantages

With more than 7 years of experience in the tourism industry,VNTOUR has had certain success in the Vietnamese tourism market.With a diversified product system and day-by-day improved productquality, unique travel programs, and the expansion of branch offices,VNTOUR has become a partner with many companies and thenumber of customers every year has steadily increased With theseadvantages, VNTOUR has already had a step to develop thepotentiality to attract domestic tourists, and even internationaltourists Here are the advantages of online marketing tools that thecompany has achieved:

- About Website: In general, the Website has a simple, clear design

and layout, harmonious colors and provides a full range of existingtours as well as additional services The website with a searching barhelps visitors easily find information and save a lot of time Inaddition, the company has two websites in Vietnamese and English

to promote the company's brand, products and services exclusivelyfor domestic and international markets

- About social networks: The company has accounts of famous

social networks with many users such as Facebook, Youtube,Instagram These are social networks that help the company promote

online marketing to increase engagement, reach potential customersand increase the brand identity.

- About Email: This is a tool that the company made very good use

of With the data of customer information collected over the years,VNTOUR has built a very good relationship with customers usingthe company's services by contacting via emails, recommendingspecial occasions and proactively reaching out to potential audiences.This has made customers remember the company more and improvethe popularity of the VNTOUR brand

2.5.2 Disadvantages

Despite the fact that the company has gained certain success,Marketing Online which is to attract domestic tourists in VNTOURstill faces many limitations such as:

- About Website: the color interface is quite simple, not eye-catching

and the design is not creative, making it difficult to make a strongimpression to catch the attention of visitors In addition, the companystill does not have regular staff members to directly answercustomers' questions The website has not been updated to removethe outdated travel programs, and hence causing misinformation tocustomers

- About social networks: Most of the customers do not know about

the website, fanpage of VNTOUR Company Although VNTOURhas used media sites such as Facebook, Youtube and Instagram topromote and advertise the program, it seems that these channels arenot really effective The Facebook Fanpage is developed with theonly form of posting and has not really be invested in running ads toreach customers The content of the videos posted on the Youtubechannel is unattractive as they mainly provided information about the

company Moreover, information is also gradually becoming date, with no updates on tour programs or company-specificproducts The interaction of the video is also very low so theviewership is not high Most of them are from the staffs of thecompany, their friends and family members but not from the newcustomers or viewers.

out-of About Email: Although VNTOUR focuses on email tools, it has

not yet effectively approached potential domestic customers Itfocuses more on the customer care of the old ones In addition, thecompany still does not have a specific plan to foster the database ofpotential customers and target customers Notably, it has indifferencetowards email content, therefore, most of their sent emails received

no response from the customers

- About SEO tools: VNTOUR has not paid attention to this type of

tool since it does not have a team of experts in the SEO field, whichmay decrease the effectiveness from the search engine and thekeyword

The reasons

VNTOUR Joint Stock Company still has some disadvantages inOnline Marketing activities that come from the following reasons:First, the company still has no clear strategy as the above-mentionedmarketing activities are still sporadic, making online marketing evenmore difficult

In addition, the company's human resources are limited, and hencethe lack of professional staffs in charge of online marketing, websiteadministration, and management of Facebook, Youtube andInstagram accounts The company still does not have designers and