Marketing communications in tourism and hospitality

Abstract

Tourism and hospitality represents one of the most valuable economic sectors in the world. Arguably, tourism marketing, communications and advertising have played a major part in weathering the recessional storms. Digital environmental forces have required marketers to dramatically alter their approaches to strategic decision making and in particular focus has been placed on the philosophical foundations of marketing and consumer behaviour. With the proliferation of new and emerging communication formats and technologies, those marketers who have not shifted away from the mass approach to communication and distribution are being left behind by their consumers. The traditional paradigm of marketing communications, based on a model of mass communication, assumes a linear process where the message sender is active, the receiver is passive and in a single step, the message is processed resulting in a behavioural response. The media landscape has changed dramatically, largely due to technology and its constant and uncompromising evolution.