Contents

Executive summary.....................................................................................................................................2
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Project research problem.........................................................................................................................3
Importance of right marketing communication........................................................................................3
Current marketing strategy......................................................................................................................3
Marketing issue.......................................................................................................................................3
Unawareness of the management............................................................................................................3
Significance of the project...........................................................................................................................4
Research questions......................................................................................................................................5
Objectives of the research project................................................................................................................5
Literature Review........................................................................................................................................6
Research methodology and Design............................................................................................................11
Conceptual frame work..........................................................................................................................11
Primary Data..........................................................................................................................................14
Secondary data......................................................................................................................................14
Ethical Considerations...............................................................................................................................15
Outcomes...................................................................................................................................................15
Schedule for completion............................................................................................................................15
References.................................................................................................................................................16
Appendix A...............................................................................................................................................16
Appendix B...............................................................................................................................................17
Executive summary
For this research the company selected is the Kithulgala Adventure Tourism Company. On the
face of the research the nature and the processes of the business is discussed in terms of
marketing management of the company. That will reveal how each function of the businesses is
integrated together. The facts about the industry of tourism in Sri Lanka is also analyzed in order
to understand how the industry is working on the tourism industry.

Establishment of research problem stresses the approach of coming up with the facts that are
giving rise to the marketing issue that Kithulgala Company has and in identifying what kind of
new strategy can help the Kithulgala company.

Introduction
Adventure tourism industry in Sri Lanka has been a very booming industry with the post war
conditions and all the favorable environment and social atmosphere that has been created in Sri
Lanka where so many foreign tourists are attracted to Sri Lank as they have identified Sri Lanka
as one of the most attractive holiday destinations around the world

The tourism industry in Sri Lanka is aiming at higher growth levels and all the promotion
activities are carried out with that in mind. In order to hit these targets Sri Lanka must work on

Improving air access

Enhancing the corporation within regions
Undertaking upmarket promotions

In the process of building up the image of the country in terms of tourism that procedures should
be aiming at the higher

The tourism industry is also aiming to reposition the countrys tourism image to the high value
end of the market.

Kithulgala Adventure Park have been engaged in providing the adventure tourism experience for
a long time for a long time where they are having very good reputation over providing the best
adventure tourism experience to both local and foreign tourists. According to the financial
statements 2014/2015 currently they are running the place well in terms of revenue but it seems
the entity requires some insight in to it.

Project research problem

Importance of right marketing communication

Marketing can be very important in looking out for new opportunities and creating strategies for
the company to take advantage of them. Marketing also contributes to expressing the competitive
advantage, fostering good will of the company attracting talents and most importantly informing
investment community.

Current marketing strategy

It is apparent that current Marketing strategies at the company are not adequate. They have the
normal businesses coming in but at a lower rate in comparison to the immediate post war period
according to the financial statements of Kithulgala adventure park financial statements
2014/2015. In considering the advertising and marketing expense line it seems the company is
not investing in marketing much. So it is very clear that currently the marketing strategy at the
company is not well attended.

Marketing issue
Kithulgala Adventure Park in the context of Sri Lankan community has the identity as an
adventure experience provider in the adventure tourism industry for tourists who are willing to
have a different experience in Sri Lanka. So this perception of the company helps Kithulgala
adventure tourism provider as stated in the annual report of Kithulgala Adventure Park for
2014/2015. The communication cycle the Kithulgala Adventure Park have around them is built
around very limited community and their access to the communication channels to reach more
general public is not acquired or used properly it seems. So building up the proper marketing
strategy that is required for better business is an issue in the context of Kithulgala Adventure
Park.

Unawareness of the management

On the other hand the management of Kithulgala Adventure Park are unaware of the
effectiveness of marketing strategies and how it can be the toll to enhance the business with the
new changes in to the industry. There is a challenge of justifying why marketing strategies
should be incorporate into the central business strategy.

In the process of coming up with an effective and comprehensive strategy for the marketing
function of the company there are so many things that needs to be taken in to the consideration.
The consumer expectation stands in the front and the strategy should be underpinned by the
detailed analysis of the operations of the company. This will ensure that the company is putting
themselves in to the shoes of the customers and looking at the point in the customers view.

Normally the top board or the senior managers of the company (in case of Kitulgala adventure
the management team) is in responsible for coming up with a effective marketing strategy.
Companies need to ensure that they are ending up with a business wide approach and should
make sure that it is very focused. Other than that the management should ensure the fallowing
are achieved.

Strategy should be realistic

Multi-faceted
Implemented consistently over the period of time
Providing the right governance and discipline company wide

Organisations also need to tailor their marketing strategies to a specific audience. An effective
marketing strategy should consider customer preferences and interests. Firms should attempt to
instigate a data-capture strategy wherever possible. By capturing data from customers and
clients, companies can build and develop trusting relationships which will further enhance the
firms offerings. They can determine which issues and products are important to their customer
base and tailor their offerings accordingly.

Significance of the project

This research will evaluate the current situation of Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt) Ltd in the
fronts of reaching the customers with their services that they provide and how a properly
organized marketing strategy which includes specific marketing tools are going to help them in
improving the revenue of the company in the short term and in the long term.
Irrespective of the company being a multinational company with huge roots or a newly started
company the marketing strategy that they are going to lay down will have a greater importance in
the business because it is the road map for the growth of the business. Kithulgala Adventure
tourism provider will have to come up with a well-considered and coherent strategy for the
marketing function. In order to promote there business they have to identify the core factors that
are involved and address them appropriately

Research questions
Developing the marketing strategy for the company is very important for the long term survival
of the company. So in case of the research that is going to conducted in this regard the following
questions will be answered

What kind of the perception currently the community has on Kithulgala Adventure Park
(Pvt) Ltd (To identify the most certain issue to be out of vague assumptions)?

What current Marketing strategies that Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt) Ltd has in place
right now?

What kind of marketing strategies and tools can be used by Kithulgala Adventure Park
(Pvt) Ltd?

What kind of results can be projected (Revenue projection after the use of marketing
tools)?

Objectives of the research project

The purpose of this project is to

evaluate the current marketing strategies at Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt) Ltd
to identify and understand the best marketing strategies and methods that can be practised
by in case of
 Improving the customer perception of the Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt)
Ltd as an Adventure Tourism experience provider.
Identifying and Understanding the Tools and mechanisms available for
effective marketing strategies specific to Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt) Ltd
To make the management at Kithulgala Adventure Park understand the importance of
proper marketing strategies and implementing them at Kithulgala Adventure Park

The key areas of this research investigation will be an in-depth analysis of the current customer
awareness of Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt) Ltd and an in-depth analysis of specific Marketing
strategies available for Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt) Ltd.

Literature Review
The project examines the current market strategies at Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt) Ltd and
how the existing methodologies and techniques can be improved so enhance the business
awareness.

According to the understanding that I gain throughout the reading that I did for the project on the
marketing it is very clear that marketing is a collection of elements that are put together.
According to Davis in 1994 and Gummesson in1997 so that the accumulated effect will work on
the different focused channels to contribute to the growth of the business.

Marketing function of the company is very important where its considered as a management
process of a particular organization and it has its affairs with audiences of different types. The
marketing strategy of a company provides the different audiences that they have affairs, with
more value and the companies expect to response to those messages through the behavior of the
addressed community. According to the reading that I did for the research work, at Kithulgala
also once the marketing function is going to cement the foundation of the company and is going
to take the company a long way in the tourism industry of Sri Lanka.

It proves the fact throughout that Strategic marketing function of a company is greatly have a lot
to do with the processes which have the direct connection to the planning function of the
company and looking and the core value drive which is the value provided to the customers
through providing a value added services. According to Firat and Shultz in 1997 in case of
coming up with a marketing strategy the company has to have in mind that the strategic business
units of the company is having a direct relationship with the successful marketing strategy. As
per Ferguson in 2008 the marketing strategy should be in line with the other business processes
and this is a whole business and the marketing function should cover the overview of the mission
statement of the company

In case of the hospitality and the adventure tourism industry the marketing strategy would
directly have the communication line with the different functional strategies. Because the
structure they have is pretty much flat in comparison to benchmarks. These should be supported
by a set of fundamental principles together with the directives and decisions that are important
for the company performance.

Other than that according to Holm in 2006, marketing strategy contributes in the management of
level of costs, Actions taken on the marketing front and budgets. At the same it decides how the
resource allocation should happen throughout the business. This is carried out based on the
different needs of the various sections of the company. The marketing strategy would result in a
series of marketing plans that will be executed time to time which are milestones of achieving
the marketing strategy of the company.

According to Balmer and Greyser in 2006 Strategic Marketing contributes in the decision
making regarding the marketing in the fronts of the coordination of the marketing resources.
These all stuff are happening while giving the priority to ensure the competitive advantage is
maintained throughout.

This competitive advantage is a very important thing at the term itself stresses cause the
competitive advantage is a collection of appropriate principles in achieving the long and short
term goals of a company.

According to Christian in 2001 with a proper marketing analysis a company has the chance to
come up with opportunities and different possibilities. So to a certain extent the management of
the company should be fallowing the strategic milestones on the fronts of marketing which are
sent beforehand so that the company will have a chance to evaluate each of the options and
possibilities against the preset milestones.

Strategic marketing function of a company differentiates and separates itself from in case of
Time when it comes to the subject of operative marketing, because the one with strategy is
generated in order to achieve the objectives in the longer term with the existing and potential
evolutions in the markets in relation to the revealed opportunities on which the strategies are
based on.

This thinking proses has a lot to do with developing a proper marketing strategy in case of the
fallowing sections.

The objectives:

In the subject of marketing strategy development subject one of the most common term used in
the definitions is Objectives it simply says that almost everything is done in order to achieve
the underlying objective. Marketing is a function which has a heavy demand for the future
would look like. The controlling of the fact is that are involved in this fact is very much difficult.
So on coming up with objectives for the marketing strategy the forecasting and the other process
that are involved in setting up a marketing strategy should be studied care fully in case of
Kithulgala Adventure tourism marketing strategy too.

The profitability.

Profitability is where the company would be headed to after achieving the objectives stated
above. And the profitability is where all the results of the strategic analysis in to marketing
function gets reflected in.

The profitability is the primary and ultimate aim of a company. In the view point of strategic
marketing the factors like completeness and appropriate ness of the services and the products that
are delivers, the stability of the company the market share the company has the nature and the
processes of the company together with the profitability takes a greater area of importance.
Profitability is one of the measures that reflects to what extent the financial policies of the
company and the marketing plans are aligned together.
Analysis.

In the definition of the strategic marketing the analyzing also have a greater importance. From
the point of gathering data, evaluating, doing the reading required and generating the relevant
information from the systems that are available on the intelligence in marketing, to the point of
putting up a report together allowes the authorizes who are responsible for the marketing
function to come up with the most appropriate option. The Marketing strategy of a company
should be essentially underpinned by really good marketing analysis.

Planning Process

The strategic marketing plan comprises of the fallowing which are the validity, Opportunity,
feasibility, vulnerability, flexibility coherence and profitability. This is one of the main aspects
when it comes to the generation of the strategic marketing formula.

According to Gronroos in 2004 the planning function in case of strategic marketing should be
aiming at the future markets and products whereas the market and the product attractiveness
should be evaluated along the process together with the future opportunities that might emerge in
the market with the time. There is no clear definition of the planning function in to the marketing
strategy whereas the authors are still and more evolving the definitions.

Resource allocation.

Strategic Marketing stresses the importance of sharing and managing resources of various types.
It can be regarding the marketing budget, human production, financial or etc. in case of any of
the marketing decisions that the company is going to take on the ace is influenced greatly by this
fact such as introducing new products to the market, coming up with guarantees diversification
decisions and divestment decisions. The marketing manager in that will have to have some kind
of understanding on the financial statements and economic flows.

According to Ravald and Grnroos in 1996 Strategic marketing is defined as the process by
which a company is identifying the best options and how to come up with methodologies to
implement whatever the formula on the markets with the aid of 4 ps of marketing mix
The management process of strategic marketing forces and requires managersto come up with
decisions based on:

1. Which market or, segment, or territories to compete?

2. What methodologies are used to compete with interaction to the marketing strategy?
3. What is the right time to enter in to the market?

According to this thought process there is no such unique definition for strategic marketing but
lot of thinking and principles are built around the topic and lot of discussions are happening
within the authors and the professional community.

It is very important to go through the important elements exhibited such as having a proper
understanding of the environment that the company is operating and its market.

According to the discussions happening around and relative to kithulagala adventure tourism
service the marketing manager will have to come up with different market segments, to establish
the boundaries of relevant markets , evaluating the demand, growth and size and developing the
competitive strategy according to the environment.

The formulation of strategies and objectives for the identified market are also important and will
ensure that the management is given the proper support and information to come up with an
appropriate strategy for gaining the competitive advantage. There are various perspectives
within strategic management and marketing management below is a brief description about those
various perspectives.

Emphasis on Long Term Results.

The results of the strategic management will be reaped in the long term only. According to Sheth
in 2002 formulations of marketing strategies is a type of commitment. It is not an action. It
reflects how dedicated the business towards achieving the preset long term goals. These long
term goals and stratergy of the organization is dully connected and stands really big importance
for the business.

Corporate inputs.
Corporate culture of the organization, corporate resources and the corporate public are the three
main corporate aspects in decision making regarding strategic marketing.

Corporate culture stands for whims, style, taboos, fancies, customs, traits, and rituals of top
management that throughout the time have been there in the organization and is accepted and
indulge in the corporation.

Varying roles for different Products / Markets.

Strategic marketing takes its start from the concept where each of the product or rather in relation
to the Kithulagala Adventure Tourism provider the different products have different roles that it
plays. The product life cycle is great example. So this understanding of the company on this is
pretty much important since the marketing strategies that the company is going to come up with
will have a greater influence on these product or service categories or rather the portfolios. The
planers have to understand the fact that each of the product or rather the service is unique and the
strategy that needs to be put in place for the particular product will be appropriate.

Research methodology and Design

This section is mainly paying attention on how the research models are applied on achieving the
preset objectives that are underlying for the research. Other than that this stresses the path of
controlling the approach to the research in achieving the research objectives according to
Bryman and Bell (2011). While being in line with the conceptual framework the research area
will be studies and analyzed.

This project will be based on a single case study conducted at Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt)
Ltd to evaluate the current perception of the community to be specific on the matter and then
looking at the current activities that Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt) Ltd is having in place to
enhance the awareness of the services provided by the Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt) Ltd.

According to Yin 2014 this method especially come very much handy in testing the theoretical
models by application them in practical situations. As Workman 2010 states this method allows
to collect information from multiple sources such as secondary, primary etc.
Conceptual frame work

The gaps of the Marketing strategy in Kithulgala adventure Tourism provider will be studied
with the expectations of the company or rather the objectives of the management as the current
situation in place

On this case the marketing targets or rather the objectives of the top management are the main
areas to look at. In this case the employees of the company will be interviews for the collection
on the data. (Please refer the Primary data and interview sections). So this study will allow to get
an understanding of how the current strategy is formulated and the gaps between the targets to be
achieved and the current status.

Research resources and research approach

Target population

The target population for thr research will be the community within 20 to 60 of age. Here the
data required will be coming from both Primary and secondary ends. Primary data collection
will be carried out in the interviews that are planed to hold in the premises and through the
survey of people. Secondary data will be coming from the sources mentioned in the section
Secondary data

Sample frame

Sample frame refer to the population source from which the sample for the research is derived
at.as per William & Barry, (2012). Target population in case of the Kithulgala Adventure Park
this is a more extreme version because the sample will be collected from the community. The
framing is going for the existing employees in the adventure park and the customers who have
come to the place. But here there isi a limitation where it is not sure whether the exact customers
acan be contacted. No in order to not get results affected the frame would be the people in the
community within the age of 20 to 60.

Sample size
The sample size of the research reflects the reliability and the accuracy of the research as per
Evans et al, (2000). Higher the sample size higher the reliability and accuracy of the research.
With the limitations Sample size of the research would be 100 people from the community for
the survey to come up with a reasonable result from the research.

Sampling techniques

These are the techniques that are used in sample selection from the population. In obtainingth
statistically provable representative sample from the population the sampling techniques would
be in much aid as per Papaspiliopoulos & Roberts, (2009). For this research in considering the
population and the sampling frame there would be no choice but to go for Random sampling
Technique which is a probability sampling technique. In this technique the population will be
divided in to different groups. (Male female mainly) This technique rather provides eaqual chace
for each element of the sample to get selected for the sample.

Data collection approach and techniques

A good questionnaire will be prepared for this purpose to do the survey on the 100 people that
are going to get selected randomly. And an interview questionnaire will be prepared separately.
Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods will be used in data collections in the
fronts of qualitative data collection the sample representatives are given the room to provide their
ideas on the questionnaire and through the interview questions which are open ended the
employees of the company can provide more details in to the research. In the fronts of
quantitative methods the reports and the financial data that is collected sometimes as an example
of the revenue generated should be used which is coming from the secondary sources.

Data analyzing techniques

Under data analyzing the collected data would be inspected cleaned converted in to different
versions and would be modified in order to obtain more processed data for for informed decision
making in order to achieve the long term goals of the company as per www.sagepub.com,
(2015).

Techniques used in data analysis involve various methods and they aid the researcher to come up
with recommendations that are logical in relevance to the topic. These are used mainly in
structuring the collected data in a meaningful manner while making an value addition to the data
collected.

In this research the more focus would be on the details collected from the qualitative data on the
research, since the research is mor in to identification of the current situation and coming up with
new stratergies.

Inductive approach is used in identification of the existing relationship between the probitability
of the company and the current market strategy. Data analysis process in Qualitative fronts starts
from basic questions and come to questioning in depth. This is one of the techniques in data
collecting which is direct interviewing. In addition to that the output of the quantitative data will
also be used with the intention of focusing on the narrative and content analysis.

Content analysis is used in summarizing and evaluating the data gathered from oral interviews.
Narrative analysis is used in identify the various opinions and views on the common elements
that people are experiencing

Primary Data
This is the set of generated data through original work specific to the relevant research work
where the data will collected from the original sources of them This research will base on
gathering primary data through a survey and an interview to find out answers to second and third
research questions as explained by Riege 2003. This data is used pretty much to improve the
understanding of the currenty situation on the marketing end at Kithulgala Adventure tourism
(Pvt) Ltd

Secondary data
According to Perry explains in 1998 secondary data is the processed data that already exists at
Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt) Ltd that are collected for other purposes. Here the relevance
reliability and the accuracy of the source of the data should be looked at properly.
The input coming from the Annual reports, Company profile, Marketing plan and market
analysis, Customer survey analysis, Presentations, Customer complaint reports, Detailed reports
on service provided, Industry related articles can also be used as secondary data and would add
value to the study

Interviewing

In this study, an interview will be carried out among 14 employees, including the Marketing
Manager, General Manager and the Marketing Executives who are the total work force
Kithulgala Adventure Park, to find out how effective the marketing strategies at the company are.

Survey

I expect to collect data from 100 different people from the general public and collect information
for the research (Please refer Appendix B for the Survey Questionnaire).

Ethical Considerations
This Project will be in line with the requirements that are mentioned in the learning materials
regarding the ethical conduct of research. This project can be categorized as a negligible risk
project. Project may not involve any discomfort for any participants since there is no existing
relationship between myself and the customers who participate in the interviews.

Interviewing people will be on ethical grounds and any potential discomfort is avoided. All
interviewees will have the right to withdraw from the interview under discomforting situation.
Data will be stored safely and will only be used for the purpose of the research.

Outcomes
The main deliverable of the research would be the research reports which intends provide
document in respect of all significant research work. The research processes can be observed
through the documentation that will be provided. This will be a support for the future researches
too.
Schedule for completion
The below schedule will be followed in conducting the final project report. The project schedule
is given in Table 1 below.

Table 1 Time schedule for competition

Week 11
Week 6

Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

Week 5

Week 12
Week 4

Project proposal

Project literature

Data collection

Data analysis

1st draft

Review

Final submission
References

Balmer,J.M.T., Greyser,S.A., (2006) Corporate marketing: Integrating corporate identity,

corporate branding, corporate communications, corporate image and corporate
reputation European Journal of Marketing

Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2011). Business Research Methods, 4th ed., Oxford: Oxford University
Press.

Christian Grnroos, (2001) The perceived service quality concept a mistake? Managing
Service Quality: An International Journal

Davis,J.J., (1994) Consumer Response to Corporate Environmental Advertising Journal of

Consumer Marketing,

Evans, M., Hastings, N., and Peacock, B., (2000). Statistical Distributions, 3rd ed. New York:
Wiley.

Firat,A.F., Shultz,C.J., (1997) From segmentation to fragmentation: Markets and marketing

strategy in the postmodern era, European Journal of Marketing

Ferguson, R., (2008) Word of mouth and viral marketing: taking the temperature of the hottest
trends in marketing Journal of Consumer Marketing

Gummesson,E., (1997) Relationship marketing as a paradigm shift: some conclusions from the
30R approach Management Decision
Grnroos,C., (2004) The relationship marketing process: communication, interaction, dialogue,
value Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

Holm,O.,(2006), Integrated marketing communication: from tactics to strategy, Corporate

Communications: An International Journal

Kithulgala Adventure Tourism (Pvt) Ltd (2015), Annual Financial Report for the year
2014/2015 Kithulgala Adventure Tourism Company

Papaspiliopoulos, O., and Roberts, G., (2009) Importance of sampling techniques for estimation
of diffusions models. Working Paper. Coventry: University of Warwick. Centre for
Research in Statistical Methodology. Working papers, Vol.28.

Perry,C., (1998) Processes of a case study methodology for postgraduate research in

marketing,European Journal of Marketing

Ravald,A., Grnroos,C., (1996) The value concept and relationship marketing, European Journal
of Marketing

Riege,A.M., (2003) Validity and reliability tests in case study research: a literature review with
handson applications for each research phase Qualitative Market Research: An
International Journal

Sheth,J.N., (2002) The future of relationship marketing Journal of Services Marketing

Workman, B., (2010) Work-based projects: what they are and how to do them, Chapter 5 in
Helyer, R, The work-based learning student handbook, Palgrave McMillan

William Z., Barry B., (2012). Essentials of marketing Research. Cengage Learning.

www.sagepub.com, (2015).Qualitative data analysis. [Online] Available from:

http://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/43454_10.pdf, [Accessed
31/07/2015]

Yin, R., 2014, Case study research: design and methods, 5th edn, Sage Publications.
Appendix A

1 What is your Role within the organisation?

2 What are the marketing activities your organisation active in?
3 Specify the importance of marketing activities for your business.
4 Which activities are you engaged in or which part do you perform?
5 To what extent are you directly involved in the above activities?
6 Are you directly involved in designing the Marketing activities or decision making?
7 How much of support do you get from the Supply chain?
8 What areas of Marketing and PR are you willing to learn?
9 What advertising/ marketing Channels interest you the most?
10 What areas of current marketing practices you think need improvements?
Appendix B

Survey Questionnaire

1 Please state your gender

Male
Female

2 Please state your province

3 Please state your age

20 30
30 40
40 50
50 60

4 Please state your income range

15,000 to 25,000
25,000 to 50,000
 50,000 to 75,000
above 75,00

5 Have you heard of Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt) Ltd?

Yes
No

6 How have you heard of Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt) Ltd?

Paper advertisement
Relations
Other (Please Specify)

7 What do you know about Kithulgala Adventure Park (Pvt) Ltd ?

8 Do you like going on adventure trips?

Yes
No

9 Do you refer options before going on an adventure tour?

Yes
No

10 Do you go by the recommendations of marketers?

Yes
No

11 What communication mode do you mostly refer?

Internet
New paper
TV
Radio
Other (Please Specify)

12 Which adventure tourism provider would you recommend? Please name.

13 What do you think can add value to the adventure tourism?

14 Do you consider the brand and name of the service provider in the need?

Yes
No