Relationship Marketing and Destination Loyalty : Evidence from Penang, Malaysia

• Relationship marketing is a strategy to obtain a competitive advantage in tourism destinations. The termis defined as marketing activities for creating and maintaining customer loyalty. Despite the fact thatcreating customer loyalty is the main objective of relationship marketing, there is little agreement onwhich antecedents could be used to achieve it. This is particularly true in the competitive market oftourist destinations. This study attempts to examine the level of international tourists’ satisfaction withbasic elements of destination (attraction, amenities, accessibility, image, price, people working intourism), as well as the relationship between ‘overall satisfaction’ and destination loyalty in terms ofrevisit intention and recommendation. The results support the existing relationships between overallsatisfaction and destination loyalty. We find that overall satisfaction is significant for revisit intention andrecommendation. Finally, the paper discusses managerial implications as well as potential for furtherresearch in light of the findings.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Relationship Marketing

Satisfaction

Basic Elements

Destination Loyalty

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)