The International Marketing of Travel and Tourism

Book excerpt: Tourism marketing has long been considered as a branch of traditional marketing. However, in recent years, tourism marketing has gone through fundamental changes: the pursuit of global strategies based on strategic alliances, the breakdown of commercial borders and advances in new technology have all facilitated the commercialisation of tourism products. This book sets out to examine the changes shaping the international marketing of tourism and travel. The book begins in defining the role of international marketing in tourism and describes the strategic marketing process, from analysis and strategy formulation to implementation techniques. It provides the marketing theory for the rest of the text. Part two focuses on specific issues that are currently influencing tourism marketing. As such, it explains how technology is affecting the way tourism firms operate, the impact and influence of environmental awareness, human resource strategy and service quality on tourism marketing. Finally, it presents the strategic responses of each of the sub-sectors - hospitality, air transport, tour operation, travel agency and the tourism destination - to the pressures of the changing tourism industry. The International Marketing of Travel and Tourism is aimed at final year undergraduate and postgraduate students of tourism providing a strategic approach to marketing within this growing sector.