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Question: Identify a real market segment and demonstrate an understanding of its needs, wants, and willingness and ability to pay for the proposed tourism product/service. Answer: Introduction: Adventure Tourism refers to a distinct form of tourism that enables the tourists and travellers experience an adrenalin rush and derive thrilling experience from the places visited. Australia is regarded as the best place for adventure tourism, simply because the country offers exciting opportunity to the travellers to undertake adventurous activities in various parts- Gold Coast, Canberra, and Gold Coast. The adventure tourism in Australia allows its travellers to enjoy adventurous activities starting with rock climbing, skiing, snowboarding, to parasailing and bungee jumping (Pomfret, 2006). While the number of domestic visitors participating in adventure tourism in Australia remains as high as always, the majority of the participants are international tourists, and after Europe, the largest overnight adventure tourism participants were coming from Asia, especially China (Jin Sparks, 2017). Considering the increasing popularity of adventure tourism amongst the people of Asia, the present business plan intends to attract the attention of the Asian tourist base, who might be likely to be thrilled about undertaking adventure tourism in Australia. The Northern Territory of Australia has been chosen, where the travellers can be led to the forest, where they can explore shady monsoon forest lands, and ancient rock art, while also getting thrilled at the sight of wildlife existence. Arnhem Land is one of the true wilderness areas that the tourists might wish to explore, which is not only popular as the most spectacular natural destination, but also as a habitat to abundant wildlife that includes salt water crocodiles, dugong, buffalo, migratory birds and nesting turtles (McLennan et al., 2017).Besides, the place is also known as a great fishing spot that is sure to appeal to the taste and choice of the adventure tourists. However, despite the immense potential of the area to a ttract the attention of the tourists, it is important to critically analyse the prospects of such a tourist service offering as far as Asian consumer base is concerned, and to comprehend how far the Asian market shall permit its consumers to spend money in such tourist activities. Further, the report, presenting a market plan, also intends to chalk out branding and promotional strategies that can help in attracting the attention of the potential consumer base. Market Analysis: The adventure tourism industry is still considerably young and a newly emerging one, and even twenty years from today, this form of tourism was completely unheard of. As of now, almost half of the international tourists are travelling to Australia are adventure tourists, and the average duration of their stay at Australian adventure tourist spots is approximately 15 days. Compared to the year of 2013, the year of 2014 witnessed a considerable rise in the number of international tourists coming to Australia for this form of tourism (Ruhanen et al., 2015). There are very few tourist companies in Australia that are offering tours and trips to the adventure tourists. Although Adventure Tours Australia (ATA) does offer adventure tourism service to the people of Australia and abroad, it is suitable for the active budget tourists only. Herein lays the competitive advantage of the organization to permeate the market and attract the attention of the tourist consumers (Khan, 1999). Despite the explosive growth of tourism in Australia and abroad, there is very little scope of adventure tourism in the Asian countries. It should be noted in this connection that adventure tourism is defined as a guided tour activity, that involves outdoor recreation that offers excitement to the client through visiting the sights of the natural terrain as well as offering specialized equipments. However, due to the huge expenses involved, most of the commercial adventure tourist activities involve nothing beyond mere skiing and surfing activities across the Australian locations. It approximately takes $400 for a single person to travel to Australia and experience adventure tourism (Ruhanen et al., 2015). Needless to state, that the living cost in Australia is high, and the accommodation and travelling cost is even higher. The market of adventure tourism is highly competitive, with most of the companies charging higher each day, simply because of the growing popularity of this form of tourism amongst the young people, who are mostly reckless while spending money as well. Most importantly, the cost of hiring specially trained guides, in supporting the adventurous activities of the tourists as well as the specialized equipments provided to the tourists add up to make the travel highly experience. In such a situation, while most of the companies are charging exorbitant amount of money, the selection of adventure tourism along the forest of Arnhem Land is sure to cost low. It will present an array of nature and adventure based activities, which will require less supervision and equipments that in other cases would have made the tourist activity expensive. The people can wander around the local place, and experience adventure simply by having camp meals, that will be an integral aspect of the adventure prog ram only, and this can also save the accommodation expenses as well. According to a research study conducted by West Australia Tourism Research, a tourist opting for Adventure Tourism will tend to look out for four aspects- Unique natural scenery Exploration of the local culture Pristine natural environment Beautiful coastal scenery By satisfying the above criteria by taking the travellers through the forest regions of Australia, it is possible to satisfy the requirements of the tourists at a cheap cost. As and when a tourist company tries to provide hard adventure trips to its consumers, it is likely to lose out on its consumers, for the higher expenses involved as well as the higher risk factors involved therein as well (Beech, J. and Chadwick, 2006). Research suggests that as far as the international tourist market of Australia is concerned, Australia ranks first. However, other countries such as India and Japan are exhibiting equal enthusiasm in exploring beyond Melbourne and Sydney, and taste the local flavours of the regional, remote locations of Australia. Since this is expected to be cheaper, this is expected to be highly profitable for the tourists here. However, despite their intense passion for adventure, the tourists coming from Asian continent are still non-athletic by nature, and hence soft adventu re activities can do wonders for them. Situation Analysis: In order to critically analyse the future prospects of the tourist company in future, a SWOT analysis has been conducted, explaining the strength, weakness, opportunity and threat of the company in the Australian market. Strength Weakness Low cost of operation Highly competitive price for the tourist product and services Unique, high-end service offering Soft adventure activities and sigh-seeing to make the experience unique Newly emerging company, and lacks recognition in the domestic and foreign market Targeted customer base located in Asia with whom it is difficult to establish connection Low price strategy at the beginning may lead to financial loss at the start Opportunity Threat Promote sustainable tourism and attract consumer attention and government investment Growing popularity amongst the millennial to undertake adventure tourism in the less explored regions of Australia The adventure tourist market is expected to grow at the rate of 10% (Huveneers et al., 2017). The Asian GDP is unstable, with Chinas GDP dropping to a 26 year low, whereby tourist may not immediately opt for luxurious and unnecessary activities (Divisekera Nguyen, 2014) Lack of trained and skilled tourist guides can hinder companys growth Intense competition from ATA, Intrepid Travel, Cosmos and Globus. Competitor Analysis: It is also important to develop an understanding of the competitors of the tourist company, as it needs to formulate its strategies accordingly. First of all, the major competitors in the market are ATA, Interprid Travel, Cosmos and Globus who are recognized tourist service providers and can easily become the first choice of the tourists coming from a different continent. Besides, Kangaroo Island Adventure Tours, Wilderness 4WD Adventures, Adventure North are some of the less recognized competitors who however can pose threat to the present company owing to high quality services at extremely competitive prices. Branding Position: Brand Name and Marketing Image: Positioning of a product is defined as a strategy adopted by a business organization to create a perception within the consumers regarding a specific product or service. Accordingly, brand positioning is an important concept that helps the organizations generate a meaningful image or identity for the product through which the consumer can associate with the core values of the company or the fundamental attributes of its services (Aarstad et al., 2015). There is no point denying the fact that branding has become an inextricable part of product marketing, and as consumers are flooded with too many tourist products and services to choose from, it is important for the tourist company to stand out of its competitors (Page Connell, 2006). As far as tourist branding of the company is concerned, it is primarily important to develop an understanding of the core brand values that the company is connecting itself with. As it is a well-known fact the brand name represents the unique brand value s of an organization that helps to distinguish its service from its competitors. The core brand values of this company are : Adventurous as it intends to attract the attention of the young, energetic and passionate travellers Natural as it helps in connecting the tourists with the natural environment of the forest regions of the Northern Territory Fun and daring as it offers an opportunity to the travellers to explore beyond the mediocre, monotonous daily life. Since the brand name of the tourist company is bound to offer a visual representation of the companys unique product characteristics, both functional and non-functional, keeping a meaningful brand name in compliance with the core brand values (Okonkwo, 2016). Accordingly, the brand name Off-roads Ecstasy has been chosen. It is also important to explain the reason behind the choice of this name. The very word Off-roads implies doing something off the track, something exceptionally adventurous, that few people would lack the courage to do. On the other hand, since the company also intends to help the travellers explore the tranquil, natural beauty of an exotic culture that the tourists must feel ecstatic about, the word Ecstasy has also been added to the brand name. The very brand name is sure to excite the tourists of the foreign location, and owing to the absence of hard adventure activities, the company uses a brand name that is not essentially suggesting any hard core physical acti vity. The marketing image also plays a crucial role in this connection as it will help the consumers associate with the brand and form meaningful connections. The consumer base that the company intends to attract comprises of Asian tourists, especially from China and India, belonging to the age group of 18 to 35 years. Accordingly, the marketing image should be one that must appeal to the enthusiastic mindset of the young, active and passionate tourists, and hence the use of prominent logo and relevant slogan is highly required (Dowling Donnelly, 2013). At the very same time, it should be noted that the tourists undertaking the tourist service of the Off-roads Ecstasy will also look for the opportunity of cherishing the natural environment of the forests, its greenery and interacting with the Aboriginal people of the region. Hence, a mixture of a robust adventure and delightful journey needs to be expressed through the logo. Accordingly, the logo chosen for the company is as follows: As seen from the above image, the logo image is clearly suggesting refreshment and relaxation derived through experiencing a beautiful natural scenario, while also suggesting thhe beautiful opportunity of a rocky, daring adventures to be enjoyed by the tourists at the very same time as well. It is important here that the company will promote its sustainable approach to tourism, while marketing its service and the use of green colour in the logo will help in reinforcing the same. It should be remembered that brand image creation is an integral aspect of the brand promotion of any company (Lim et al., 20 e brand image that can help in rendering a sense of uniqueness to the product. Since the core 14). Accordingly, it is important to create a strong, favourable and most importantly a unique brand values of the company, as promoted through its logo, suggests the opportunity for relaxation as well as adventure, the non-athletic consumer base will get attracted to this company only, and th is in turn will reduce the substitutability of the company. The selection of an effective and interesting slogan is equally important as it helps in reinforcing the sense of brand. According to academic literature, the destination marketers often use slogans related directly to the geographical position of the destination that the consumer is anyway aware of. Hence, conveying more inspirational and concrete message about the brand is important. The Asian people are still unaware of the existence of the forests across the Northern Territory, and hence the use of geographical names of the tourist destinations will fail to allure the consumers. The slogan chosen for this tourist company is Live it, Feel it, Believe it. Since most of the travellers are coming from Asia, the slogan will create an urge of travelling and exploring the unexplored region of the Northern Territory forests, and the word believe clearly will rouse enthusiasm to see the unseen and to explore the unexplored (Aaker, 2013). While one will be motivated to live through the for est adventures, the idea of feeling refreshed at the sight of the delicate beauty of nature will also arouse love amongst the tourists. Chosen Market Segment: Identification of Needs, Wants and Willingness to Pay for Service: The market segmentation is highly important as it helps the tourist company determine who the expected consumer base is, how to target them, and how to promote the products before the relevant customer base as well. As far as the market segment of Off-roads Ecstasy is concerned, the company intends to attract the attention of the tourists of Asia engaged in recreational activities and enjoying active lifestyles. Since the service offered is adventure tourism, the company intends to focus primarily on the male tourists as they tend to wander for adventure as well. The age group of the adventure tourists will be between 18 years to 40 years, and the marital status of the consumer base will be mostly unmarried, though a few married couples may also admire the idea of undertaking adventures. The target consumer base will comprise of the travellers from Asia- China and India. Although offering tourist service at a highly competitive price is one of the most attractive features of the comp any, yet adventure tourist activities will require sufficient expenditure on part of the company, and hence the consumers belonging to the upper middle class to upper class of the society will be only targeted. The household income of the tourists must be above $50,000 (Horner Swarbrooke, 2016). As far as the psychographic segmentation of the consumers is concerned, it should be noted that the adventurous, passionate, energetic and yet nature-loving tourists have only been targeted (Gunter Furnham, 2014). The tourist consumers are fitness freaks, as only then will they be attracted to the natural beauty of the forests and would invest money on the outdoor activities in the forest areas. However, since these forest tourist adventure activities are less physically demanding, and the Asian people do not prefer hard adventure activities, the soft adventure lovers, non-athletic people have been targeted. Tourist Service to be offered: Adventure tourism is primarily a tourist activity that helps in offering experience to the tourists, and hence it is important to understand the possible tourist services to be offered by Off-roads Ecstasy. The first and foremost service to be offered is Wildlife Safari. The tourists will be able to enjoy bird watching activities in the forests of the Northern Territories, especially Arnhem Land. The tourists will also be guided to the Arafura Swamp, the very popular diverse wetland that is popular for being a habitat to over 3, 00,000 waterbirds (Moyle et al., 2014). The exploration of the nearby woods while watching the playful activities of the Magpie Geese, Egrets and Brolgas will be thrilling to the tourists looking for adventures. The tourists will also be taken to Kakadu which is famous for the Kakadu National Park, where the tourists can be left to explore the natural surrounding as well as nature and wildness adventures. Under proper guidance of the tourist guides, the adven ture tourists will be allowed to experience the Roos kangaroos bouncing about the bushlands, dingoes stalking along the rocky outcrops, dugongs wallowing off the coast as well as the crocodiles patrolling the waters of the famous Alligator River. The tourist service here will include Wildlife Safari, sightseeing, swimming at the waterfalls as well as camping at nights and eating the bush food as well. Next, apart from this, tourist guided service through professionally experienced, local residents of Australia will also be provided by the company, so as to lead and guide the tourists in exploring the ancient and native cultures of the Northern Territory regions. The tourist guide services will help the tourists gain understanding about the local culture of the remote areas located nearby, as well as know the names of the special plants, wild animals and landscapes as observed by them along the forest belts (Tapar et al., 2017). At the same time, outdoor activities will also be an important service to be offered here, and rock climbing, animal hunting under supervision, camping, climbing on balance logs, Tarzan swings and fishing and bird watching are the outdoor activities offered by Off-roads Ecstasy (Hassan Shahnewaz, 2014). Apart from local food and wine service, aboriginal safari is also an important service to be provided. The aboriginal safari will help in environmental as well as cultural interpretation of the forest areas by the local indigenous tourist guides only (Divisekera Nguyen, 2014). Maps of Location and Pictures of Places to be Visited: Figure 1: Maps of the Locations to be Visited Source: (Divisekera Nguyen, 2014) Figure 2: Wildlife Safari Along the Forest Locations in the Northern Territory Source: (Divisekera Nguyen, 2014) Tourist Service Distribution: Market Entry and Promotion: Understanding the distribution system is highly important for any company, and it is doubly important for an emerging company like Off-roads Ecstasy as the company still requires recognition. Direct and indirect marketing efforts are required for proper distribution of the tourist services. Since the company intends to target the young, enthusiastic and passionate group of tourists, the best way to reach out to them will be through online social media tools. First of all, the official website of the company will be filled up with multiple adventure photos of the sights, forests and wildlife adventure activities undertaken by the tourists along the Northern Territory (Armstrong et al., 2015). Google + will be utilized in exploring the interest of the Asian people, and on identifying travel and adventure as the interests or favourite activities of the Facebook users, the website link of the company along with details of the service will be sent. Next, the videos, audios and photos of t he forests will also be shared on Instagram. Since most of the adventure travellers read National Geographic and National Geographic Traveller, and similar magazines, promotional content will be published on these magazines only. The above strategies are known as the direct transaction, and the second category is called the indirect distribution system that involves the intervention of third-party sellers in promoting the company. Accordingly, the company will also employ the help of online travel agencies, who in lieu of payment, will contain a link to the official website of the company, and will promote the tourist service offered by Off-roads Ecstasy. Besides, the company will also employ the use of the government run websites, which will offer assistance in promoting he company, considering the huge profit it is likely to generate for the government as well as the sustainability initiative in tourism that the company is promoting. Since the company is new, and is far from having experienced recognition, the retail travel agents as well as the inbound tour operators will be hired to promote the tourist services of the company as well. The tourist consumers willing to avail the service of Off-roads Ecstasy, will require to contact the management authority via the official website or by mailing them on the given address provided on the website. On successful payment of the entire package, they will be offered a ticket which they will require to carry with them, while coming to Australia. They will be offered the opportunity to select a minimum of two and maximum of four of the aforementioned services, and as per their choice, the cost will be determined. Marketing Mix (4 Ps): The marketing 4 Ps help in understanding how an organization can adopt the effective business strategies that can promote the new product in the market in the most effective way, attracting sales growth as well. Accordingly, the Marketing Mix to be adopted has been explained here: Product: The first and foremost service to be offered is Wildlife Safari. The tourists will be able to enjoy bird watching activities in the forests of the Northern Territories, especially Arnhem Land. The tourist guide services will help the tourists gain understanding about the local culture of the remote areas located nearby, as well as know the names of the special plants, wild animals and landscapes as observed by them along the forest belts (Tapar et al., 2017). At the same time, outdoor activities will also be an important service to be offered here, and rock climbing, animal hunting under supervision, camping, climbing on balance logs, Tarzan swings and fishing and bird watching are the outdoor activities offered by Off-roads Ecstasy (Hassan Shahnewaz, 2014). Apart from local food and wine service, aboriginal safari is also an important service to be provided. Price: Since the company is an emerging one, the low price strategy will be adopted to gain competitive edge over the competitors. Place: The company will also employ the help of online travel agencies, who in lieu of payment, will contain a link to the official website of the company, and will promote the tourist service offered by Off-roads Ecstasy. Besides, the company will also employ the use of the government run websites, which will offer assistance in promoting he company, considering the huge profit it is likely to generate for the government as well as the sustainability initiative in tourism that the company is promoting. Since the company is new, and is far from having experienced recognition, the retail travel agents as well as the inbound tour operators will be hired to promote the tourist services of the company as well. Promotion: Since the company intends to attract the young target population, social media will be mostly used for the tourist service promotion. Google + will be utilized in exploring the interest of the Asian people, and on identifying travel and adventure as the interests or favourite activities of the Facebook users, the website link of the company along with details of the service will be sent. Next, the videos, audios and photos of the forests will also be shared on Instagram. Besides, most of the adventure travellers read National Geographic and National Geographic Traveller, and similar magazines, promotional content will be published on these magazines only. Sales and Profit Estimation: Adventure tourism is a field of tourism that is expected to grow at a steady rate over the coming years, and accordingly investment in these areas is expected to be highly profitable. However, while trying to estimate the profit, it should be remembered that the company is still a new one, and lacks recognition. Consequently, in the first few years, its revenue earning capacity may be limited. This is especially because the company is likely to experience intense competition from ATA, Intrepid Travel, Cosmos and Globus, in the initial years, which are far more recognized all over the world. However, the aggressive promotional strategies can help in adding brand value to the company. At present, China is experiencing an economic downturn, while India is still recovering from its sluggish economic growth. Hence, investment in these areas may not immediately bring in profit. Besides, in order to attract consumer attention, the company is following a low price strategy, and although rela tively cheaper and unexplored forest location will compensate the loss to an extent, the outdoor adventure activities involving shuttles, maps, and rental equipments may lead the company to loss during the initial years. 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