An application of 7 PS of marketing mix for the SME sector during COVID19 pandemic with special reference to Sigiriya. University of Colombo.

Abstract

Tourism industry is one of the major industries which can basically generate foreign exchange and employment opportunities to a country. There, the SME sector is playing a vital role in creating business opportunities for the industry of tourism and hospitality. COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected to the Sri Lankan tourism and hospitality industry being threaten to the SME sector. The general objective of the study is to identify the application of 7 Ps of marketing mix for the promotion of SME sector in Sigiriya area in the post COVID 19 pandemics. Also, the research question of the study is how to apply 7 Ps of marketing mix to enhance the market share and awareness in the global market in order to enhance both profits and sales. Further the problem statement is that whether there is an application of 7 Ps of marketing to SME sector, after the COVID 19 breakdown. The study is primarily based on qualitative method while using secondary data such as library material, journals and reports, media publications and various internet search engines. Also, data was basically analyzed by using secondary data throughout the study. As per the empirical study done, it was revealed that due to the change in the customer behaviour after the covid-19 pandemic, application of the concept of “marketing innovations” along with the concept of 7Ps is the latest way of marketing to stay competitive and profitable especially during a crisis like Covid-19.