Competitiveness Analysis of Umrah Products at a Leading Conventional Travel Agents in Bandung City

Abstract

The Indonesian umrah travel industry has grown rapidly over the past three years, intensifying competition among Umrah Pilgrimage Travel Organizers (PPIU) and requiring travel agencies to build measurable, consumer-based competitive advantages. Prior studies on the 7P Marketing Mix in the umrah and broader tourism sector have mostly tested the framework's influence on downstream outcomes such as satisfaction or loyalty through inferential modeling, while fewer studies use 7P scores directly as a diagnostic tool for formulating actionable strategy at the level of a single travel agency. This study addresses that gap by measuring the competitiveness of the umrah products offered by a conventional travel agency (PT. X) in Bandung City from the consumer's perspective, and by translating the resulting score pattern directly into prioritized business development strategies. A descriptive quantitative approach was employed using a 30-item questionnaire built on the seven dimensions of the 7P Marketing Mix (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical Evidence), measured on a 1-4 Likert scale and administered to 31 prospective umrah pilgrims selected through purposive sampling. The overall results show in “Good" category, with Physical Evidence as the strongest dimension and Promotion as the weakest -- the only dimension not yet reaching the "Good" category. Based on this score pattern, three priority strategic pillars were formulated: (1) strengthening digital promotion and marketing; (2) diversifying and differentiating umrah products; and (3) improving human resource competence and umrah-specific service standards. This study contributes empirical, consumer-data-based evidence as a practical foundation for strategic decision-making among small and mid-sized umrah travel agencies, while acknowledging the limits to generalizability associated with a small, single-firm, non-probability sample.