Destination Marketing

Introduction

The following report is based on a personal observation of a journey from London to a tourist destination in the UK. The observations will refer to the market segment parents with young children under five years' journey, beginning at Kings Cross St Pancras International station to Oxford city.

The purpose of this document is to critically analyse national public transport network suitability as a more sustainable alternative to private transport methods.

1. Integrated public transport system

It allows free/easy movement of people between different transportation

It needs to be well organised for different operators to provide a seamless passenger transfer between transportation in terms of infrastructure, accessibility, etc

1.1 Key aspects

The chosen target market specially requires ease of movement and step free access from one mode of transport to the other, as well as designated space for pushchairs in coaches or trains for the entire journey. Moreover, this type of passengers need an efficient, convenient, safe and fast and form of transport with high quality service from city centre to city centre.

There are various factors that can influence passengers' transport preferences; for instance, a backpacker would prefer to use a coach service to reach a destination, as this transport method might be cheaper than others meeting this way the passengers' need of affordable transportation. On the other hand, parents travelling with small children may prefer and spacious and accessible transport mode providing a faster journey than other transportation types; for instance a car journey can be longer and more expensive than a train journey and they will not need to find and pay for parking space.

2. Illustrative Journey

International passengers arriving to Kings Cross station have three alternatives of public transport for their onward journey including underground lines connecting them to various points within London, trains to destinations in London, Kent, Brighton, the Midlands and Northern England.

The first leg of the journey begins at Kings Cross St Pancras International using the underground Victoria line towards London Victoria station, where a coach will be used to reach the chosen destination.

Kings Cross station is modern and has various passenger facilities including toilets, baby changing facilities and showers, tourist information points, cash dispensers, money exchange, restaurants and shops where passengers can wait before starting their journey. It provides ease of access and movement within the station as well as between transportation modes, as well as a platform of interchange between trains and underground services. There are various lifts located at strategic points around the station providing free step access to and from the upper level of the station to the lower level, for example there are two lifts located between the entrance to the underground and the ticket hall to access platforms Check if there is step free access to platform

In terms of information availability the station provides self-service