Tourism and the Media

Executive Summary

This report discusses and evaluates different forms of media which could be used for the Adventure Company promotions. The forms of media which has been evaluated are; print media (newspapers and magazines), electronic media (television) and social media by having a list of the advantages and disadvantages of each form of media can help make a decision whether it would be suitable form of media to use for promotion. The recommendations given are to use all the different forms of media discussed in the report, however use them is multiple ways and during different periods of the year. The main form of media that should be used is social media such as Facebook, Twitter and blogging due to them being free, easy to update and can market different markets.

Introduction

Communication is a process, whether we recognise it not or not, we have no choice but to communicate. Lasswell (1948, cited in Baran 2010 pg. 4) discussed that communication should be about five questions; Who? Say What? Through which channel? To whom? With what effect? This questions can help make sure that companies are communicating correctly and efficiently.

One model of communication is the Osgood and Schramm’s model (figure 1). This model discusses that communication between people is that there isn’t an identifiable source or a receiver, but it’s an on-going process. The encoder sends the message, the decoder receives the message and the interpreter tries to understand; analyse and interpret the information. Baran (2010, pg 5) said that “the Osgood-Schramm model demonstrates the on-going and reciprocal nature of the communication process…as communication is happening, both interpreters are simultaneously source and receiver”.

Media

O’shaughnessy & Stadler (2008, pg.34) stated that “The media shows us what the world is like; they makes sense of the world for us”. The process of representation, interpretation and evaluation are absolutely central to the media. Representation is the form of media used; where people receive most of their information. Interpretation in the representation the company has used for representation and then the explanations, the ways of understanding the world we live in, it teaches us how to make sense of the world. Evaluation, which we create a critical view about the world we receive; it can persuade and change people’s opinions about the world.

The media plan is to find the most appropriate media platform for the company, it includes; media objectives (reach and frequency), media strategies (targeting and continuity), media selection (the specific type of media used, the media mix is “a combination of traditional media vehicles (print, broadcast etc) non-traditional media (electronic media, unexpected places like the floors of stores) and marketing, communication