Unit VII Project (Part 2 to Unit VI)

Columbia Southern University

Napa Private Tours Marketing Plan

Operations and destination

Napa Private Tours is a countrywide tour and luxury transportation company that deals in custom wine tours of the Napa and Sonoma areas. The paper presents a marketing plan for the company that is aimed at increasing its customer base through marketing it within and without Napa Valley.

Marketing plan

Marketing is defined as the “process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion as well as distribution of ideas, goods and services” (Gronroos, 1989, p.54); in order to exchange and realize consumer and organizational objectives. The following is the company’s marketing plan on the basis of a SWOT and Porter analysis of Napa Private Tours.

SWOT analysis

According to Valentin (2005), SWOT analysis is the strategic planning tool that analyzes an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The primary aim of strategic planning is to bring a given company into balance with its external environment, as well as to ensure that such a balance is maintained at all times.

· Strengths

The main strength of the company is its luxurious fleet. The company owns one of the most luxurious fleets in the area comprising of Cadillac Escalade, Mercedes GL SUV, and Lexus SUV. The other strength of the company is that it has leveraged technology and blogging for its marketing operations. For instance, the company has received TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence for the 2nd straight year (2014 & 2015) and this means that it is a true market leader in Napa Valley Wine Tours.

· Weaknesses

The main weakness of the company is its relatively young age. The company has to compete with older companies like the Napa Valley Wine Train which was established in 1864. That is over 100 years of operation. The other weakness is that it lacks larger tour vans and buses for larger groups. This means that it can only cater for individuals and small groups and families.

· Opportunities

There are opportunities for tourist companies in the area to form partnerships with hotels and lodges for commission-based business in case the visitors would like to spend a night or two in Napa Valley. There are also opportunities for tapping into the global market by aggressively marketing their services online via wine tasting forum and blogs.

· Threats

One of the greatest threats to the industry is unforeseen natural events like the recent Californian droughts that almost brought the Napa Valley Wine industries on its knees (Asimov, 2015). Additionally, the global economic recession that affects the attractiveness of the industry to both investors and customers pose threat to the thriving of the company.

Porter analysis

Porter’s forces analysis is a potent strategic analysis tool used for examining the competitiveness and attractiveness of any given business environment using an outside-in perspective (Porter, 2001).

· Industry rivalry-high

Industry rivalry is high, but not cutthroat. Organized players barely possess 10-30% of the marketplace. The industry is mainly comprised of small players with the exception of the Napa Valley Wine Train which in itself is not so personalized like this company.

· Threats of substitutes-low

There is nothing that can substitute the experience of a trip to Napa Valley Wine Tour. Wine festivals come close, but the scenery and serenity of it all cannot be substituted.

· Buyer Power-moderate

Buyers are mainly fragmented and their buying power is moderate

· Supplier power-high

The ability of motor companies to sully the tour operators with vans and motor vehicles even on loans are high

· Barriers to entry-moderate

It’s moderately hard to acquire the necessary fleet and customer base when one joins the Napa Valley Wine Tour businesses. Perhaps the hardest part is marketing oneself, because referrals and repeat customers make up the bulk of this business.

Findings and recommendations

The company can expand and diversify its operations by focusing on external markets; as well as through leveraging the power of information technology to bring in new customers from different parts of the world. It can also partner with local hotels and lodges for a commission-based profit sharing agreement for visitors who would like an extended tour of the Napa Valley Wineries. These are the strategic future plans in the company’s marketing goals.

References