Using Flexible Pricing Policy to Create More Attraction for Dalat Tourism

Third, the information in conferences and seminars will be a useful source of knowledge to help Da Lat develop its socio-economic life.

However, Da Lat currently lacks almost all the technical facilities to attract large conferences and seminars. These include advanced technical facilities such as telecommunications systems, sound and lighting equipment systems, standard conference halls and especially high-class hotels. Human resources with expertise in organizing conferences and seminars have almost not been trained.

Therefore, to develop this type of tourism, it is necessary to have appropriate research and investment for specific requirements, the most important of which for Da Lat now is the technical facilities and human resources for conferences and seminars.

In addition to the types of tourism that are focused on development, Da Lat needs to have a policy to diversify and improve the quality of tourism products. In particular, in the field of accommodation, it is necessary to encourage current accommodation establishments to invest in improving the quality of services, contributing to improving and strongly developing the tourism service system. Invest in restoring and upgrading the number of state-owned villas in Da Lat city to meet the growing demand for resort tourism. Investing in upgrading, renovating and building new entertainment areas; improving the quality of services of accommodation establishments and service networks will create the premise to attract visitors and extend the length of stay of tourists.

Developing Da Lat tourism also needs to be closely linked with the development of inter-provincial and inter-regional tourism, forming a system of high-quality tours with comparative advantages, such as the "Central Highlands green road" (5 Central Highlands provinces), "urban - sea - mountain" (Ho Chi Minh City - Vung Tau/Nha Trang - Da Lat)... To do this, it is necessary to link on 3 levels: first, link between Da Lat city and other localities inside and outside the country.

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water; second, the connection between the Department of Tourism - Trade of Lam Dong with different departments and branches of the city; third, the connection between local tourism businesses with other domestic and foreign tourism businesses. On the basis of those connections, it is necessary to specify and commit to the connection contents to avoid the situation of only providing general connection solutions so that there is coordination and support from sectors, levels as well as synchronous coordination of tourism establishments to create an attractive tourism environment for tourists.

3.3.3.2. Using flexible pricing policies to create more attraction for Da Lat tourism

Price policy plays an important role in tourism marketing strategy. Because nowadays, although the market is competitive by product quality, or by many other conditions, the price does not lose its important role in business. Price is still the decisive factor to determine the economic benefits of both buyers and sellers. Price policy has a close relationship with product policy. It closely and precisely coordinates production and business activities with the market, and is a conscious lever for market operations. Without a proper price policy, even if the product policy is well-built, it will not bring much efficiency. Goods and products will not be sold if the price is not accepted by the buyer. On the contrary, businesses will also lose a large amount of profit if the price is too low. All are moving towards a reasonable price policy.

With the determination of the target market and product strategy as stated, a flexible pricing policy to create more attractiveness for Da Lat tourism is a necessity. Businesses will have two main goals in setting prices, the first is to attract as many customers as possible in the segment.

target market, second is to attract customers in the most profitable conditions. And of course need to pay attention to exploiting price sensitive factors.

Da Lat's target market is determined to have two types, customers with high spending ability and customers with average spending ability. Therefore, it is necessary to have a suitable pricing strategy.

High price strategy, with target customers being people with high income and requiring especially good quality products and services. High price strategy for good quality products will contribute to creating good awareness and enhancing the value of Da Lat tourism image and products.

Economic pricing strategy is to offer prices suitable for target customers who have average and good incomes and require standard services. This customer market has a lot of potential because currently the middle and good income class is still the largest and their demand for travel is very high.

One of the basic characteristics of the tourism industry is the very high level of cost aggregation. Therefore, to have an economic price requires close linkage between service providers in a package tourism product. We can learn from countries with developed tourism industries in the region such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, etc. Tourism in these countries is really attractive to this group of customers because they have built a very attractive price. The reason for such a price is because companies and industries in the tourism sector work closely together to create a chain of interconnected and mutually supportive tourism businesses. For example, the airfares sold by foreign airlines to travel companies are 20-50% lower than the prices they sell retail to passengers. Accommodation services are also discounted by 50% compared to room rental prices for individual guests. Sponsorship from tourist attractions and shopping centers also contributes to reducing tour prices. Such close cooperation creates

attractive for tourism products, and also a competitive strength with other countries in the region.

A unified price policy for tourism businesses in Da Lat is also important, especially during peak season, holidays and Tet. At this time, the current situation in Da Lat is "everyone is cutting their own prices", even with many accommodation businesses creating a virtual fever to raise room prices with travel agencies and exploit individual customers.

When a standard price is set along with sanctions for businesses that violate the law, which can be dumping prices during low season or arbitrarily raising prices during peak season, it is hoped that prices for tourism products, services and goods will stabilize, creating a comfortable feeling for tourists coming to Da Lat.

3.3.3.3. Perfecting distribution channels

Many important marketing decisions are made in the distribution process. An appropriate distribution channel is one that delivers the product to the consumer at the right price at the right time. In other words, this distribution channel adds value to the product, that is, enhances the image value of the tourist destination.

Distribution strategy is the issue of determining how to bring the product to the selected market. In deciding on a distribution strategy for tourism products, the top factors to consider are market size, distribution costs and efficiency in distribution. When choosing a distributor, criteria such as the ability to impact the market and the ability of the distribution channel to impact tourists should be considered. The tourism industry relies heavily on distribution channels such as travel agencies, travel agents, and customers.

hotels or hotel representatives, automated reservation services, central reservation systems, airlines…

Travel agents sell directly to customers, therefore, travel agents are considered the most important channel in tourism distribution. Travel agents sell package tourism products of travel companies, including main services such as transportation, accommodation services, and food services. In addition, agents also provide consulting and information about services. In order to effectively distribute tourism products and services in Da Lat, first of all, travel companies in Da Lat need to open many agents and branch offices in key markets and major cities. These agents will contact and sell directly to customers.

In addition, tourism companies in Da Lat also need to expand cooperation with large tourism companies and travel agencies in other localities in the country, and eventually with foreign travel agencies to connect tours, introduce and sell Da Lat tourism products. To support this distribution channel, Lam Dong Department of Tourism and Trade needs to organize many customer conferences, exchanges, and meetings between Da Lat - Lam Dong tourism businesses and tourism businesses in other localities, so that businesses have the opportunity to exchange, learn, and sign cooperation agreements.

Along with traditional distribution channels, information technology has now brought to the tourism industry sales systems via the Internet, through computer reservation systems (CRS) or global distribution systems (GDS), mobile devices, digital television and central telephone channels. Tourism product suppliers have taken advantage of new opportunities from the advancement of information technology to develop online business applications that allow customers to book directly through their reservation systems. The

The development of online tourism has greatly reduced the procedures for tourists by selling tourism products online. On these websites, tourism service providers can introduce and distribute their products to customers, allowing customers to choose products and pay by credit card. Through the website, travel businesses establish a direct communication channel and reach a large number of customers, with more opportunities to develop close relationships with customers via the Internet. The Internet also helps customers communicate with travel businesses at any time. In addition, the Internet also helps companies implement customer relationship management programs and increase understanding of customer needs. This communication creates a series of new requirements for travel businesses, because all information about the company must always be available for customers to access and exploit at any time.

3.3.3.4. Tourism promotion strategy

Tourism promotion activities are the most focused activities in tourism marketing activities, especially for countries and localities where the tourism industry is still young. Recognizing the importance of this work, the leaders of the General Department of Tourism and the leaders of the Department of Tourism - Trade of Lam Dong province have spent a lot of time and effort directing tourism promotion activities. The Department of Tourism - Trade of Lam Dong has implemented many activities to promote Da Lat tourism through various methods such as publishing publications, propaganda tapes, seminars, professional conferences on tourism, fairs, festivals, festivals, etc. In general, these activities are assessed to have made certain progress in promoting the development of tourism in Da Lat city. However, it must be admitted that,

Tourism promotion in Da Lat in particular and the whole country in general is still far behind other tourist destinations in the region and the world. As Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan - Head of the State Steering Committee for Tourism assessed, there are "3 shortcomings": lack of knowledge, lack of professionalism, lack of cultural behavior of tourism workers.

Tourism promotion activities are often associated with market expansion activities of the aviation industry, with diplomatic activities, cultural propaganda, sports activities, trade promotion and investment promotion. But it is an economic activity, because it is market-oriented, aiming to profit from potential customers. It is the economic requirements and goals that require the professionalism of tourism promotion activities, from research, determining market orientation, methods of approaching and exploiting each market, how to build and use publications, means and organize tourism promotion events. Tourism promotion requires consistency in market orientation and marketing strategy, and must have the coordinated participation of sectors, levels and economic components.

For the promotion of Da Lat tourism in the coming time, we would like to propose the following solutions:

1. Promotion strategy : The goal is to create awareness of Da Lat tourism among target customers. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to effectively convey messages or information about the image of Da Lat tourism to target markets.

To implement a strategy, a plan must first be developed . A tourism promotion plan requires long-term and medium-term planning. Tourism is a seasonal economic sector, dependent on economic, geographical, historical, and customary factors. Traveling requires more spending than usual, so

Tourists often have to plan their trips in advance. Therefore, tourism promotion must be done in advance, with long-term and medium-term calculations. Avoid situations like the recent Flower Festival 2005 events that took place in a rush, without any alternative backup plan, leaving a lot of time when the programs could not take place due to rain.

Next is the budget for the tourism promotion plan. A reality in Vietnam is that the budget for tourism promotion is too tight, and there are cumbersome administrative procedures, so opportunities are often missed. Implementing the plan requires initiative and flexibility, but due to passive and fixed funding, the effectiveness of promotion activities has been somewhat limited. While waiting for a more open mechanism, mobilizing tourism businesses to join in promotion will be a way to overcome the current difficulties. Costs will be shared, and each participating business will benefit, which is the reputation and products of the business will be known. To do this, the role of the Tourism Association is very important, the Association will be a catalyst to connect units towards a common goal, a common voice for the image and tourism products of Da Lat city.

Determining the means or forms to carry out tourism promotion is also an important factor in creating the effectiveness of the strategy. It is necessary to choose the means/form that has the strongest impact on the target customers.

For Da Lat today, domestic tourists are still the majority (accounting for more than 92%), so choosing the form of organizing events and festivals to promote Da Lat tourism is reasonable. With the Da Lat Flower Festival event held every 2 years, it is a good opportunity for the whole country to know Da Lat and increase

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