Conceptualising a contemporary marketing mix for sustainable tourism marketing

Marketers look to the concept of the marketing mix to help them create and present product offerings to target markets. Various conceptualisations of the marketing mix can be found in extant literature, from the traditional Four Ps, to seven Ps for the marketing of services, and broader frameworks for tourism marketing. In this paper we make two contributions to tourism marketing: (1) we synthesise three extant marketing mix frameworks to propose an optimal mix for tourism marketing managers, consisting of ten controllable elements; and (2) we further develop this marketing mix by cross-referencing each of its ten elements with the three elements of the triple bottom line reporting concept, People, Planet, and Profit to assist tourism marketing managers deal with critical challenges surrounding sustainability. The result, we argue, provides tourism marketers with an effective marketing mix for sustainable tourism marketing. The marketing mix is not just one functional aspect of the tourism organisation, but captures and reflects all the organisation’s values and decisions concerning sustainability, and signals these to key stakeholders. It is therefore a critical gauge of a tourism organisation’s sustainability stance, vital for differentiating tourism brands on a key performance attribute.