MARKETING PLAN

Marketing Plan



Marketing Plan

Background of the company

Alton Towers is a theme park and resort located in the grounds of a former stately home in Staffordshire, England. It attracts around 2.8 million visitors per year. Alton Towers is the 11th most visited theme park in Europe. It is based north of the village of Alton in Staffordshire (approximately 16 miles (26 km) east of Stoke-on-Trent), in the grounds of a semi-ruined gothic revival country house of the same name, the former seat of the Earls of Shrewsbury. Also on site are two hotels; The Alton Towers Hotel and Splash Landings Hotel, The Alton Towers Waterpark (Cariba Creek), Extraordinary Golf, Conference Centre and The Alton Towers Spa (Located in the Alton Towers Hotel). Alton Towers is the flagship attraction of Merlin Entertainments. As the resort is so popular, eleven car parks are located around it.

Marketing Mix

Today, the Alton Towers Company is highly diversified - it is divided into 5 major business segments: Studio Entertainment, Parks and Resorts, Media Networks, Consumer Products, and Internet & Direct Marketing. Since this paper stresses on only one strategic business unit of Alton, Parks and Resorts, the following discussion of the elements of marketing mix will be with respect to this SBU only.

Product

The Alton Towers Parks and Resorts is a product line offered by the conglomerate Alton Towers World. This line offers intangible products only.

Since almost all of the total cost of running an amusement park is fixed cost (roller coasters, wages, and electricity) and no matter how few tickets are purchased, every ride has to be operational and every show must go on - the cost of running the park is spread over a large number of customers. Alton is designed the way that it won't allow to spend as little money as the visitor chooses. Admission fees are always paid up front and for shows starting at particular time. To pay the fee a visitor must reach payment kiosks that are located miles away from the community. This is an excellent strategy for Alton to make the customers pay, because only few visitors are going to turn around and leave if they find the admission fee too expensive.

Place

The Alton theme parks are located in UK and US. Alton puts a lot of emphasis on easy accessibility to the theme parks. All theme parks can be reached by public transportation, private shuttles or taxis. The Alton parks have their own highways exits that lead the guest coming by car straight to the Alton owned parking area. On the Alton property there is a company-owned transportation system, which is free of charge that brings the visitors to any location within the Alton property.

Promotion

Alton's advertising strategy is based on its distribution channels through the popular internet sites (Travelocity.com, expedia.com, orbitz.com, and many others) and travel agencies around the world. Promotional brochures could be found in travel agencies which receive commissions for recommendations. Another way to advertise that Alton uses effective is selling products with Alton's logo on ...