SWOT and PESTEL Analyses and the BCG Matrix

This chapter discusses three analytical tools used in marketing planning: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis, political, economic, social, technological, ecological, and legal (PESTEL) analysis, and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix. These business models are tools that can help tourism and hospitality managers understand their organizational environment and think more strategically about their businesses. The “SWOT analysis” gives managers a better insight into their internal and external business environments. The “PESTEL analysis”—a technique for understanding the various external influences on a tourism and hospitality business—divides the factors in the macroenvironment into six constituents: political, economic, social, technological, ecological, and legal. The “BCG matrix” is a strategic marketing model for assessing a company’s portfolio of different products/services in terms of relative market growth and sales volume. All three strategic analytical models are simplifying tools and, although long-standing, are still widely cited and applied in modern-day marketing practice.