1.1 DEFINITION OF TOURISM MARKETING
The Tourism Marketing has been defined in many ways. There is no single, universal of definition of tourism marketing. Seaton and Bennet (1996) suggested five essential features of tourism marketing. These include: research technique, organisational structure, strategic decision areas, defined and well known target market and analytical procedures. A successful tourism company tends to use its strategy in order to achieve their goals. Strategic decisions are considered to be one of the most important aspects for successful organisation. According to Lumsdon (1997) who identified that tourism marketing tend to be the process of satisfying customers and meeting their expectations by creating more competitive suppliers or destinations. It is a significant point to understand the way tourism marketing is defined. Authors suggested a variety of definitions. The primary point is to understand the target market and choose appropriate marketing strategies to achieve company goals.
1.2 THE IMPORTANCE OF TOURISM MARKETING
Marketing plays an important role in the tourism sector. This is due to the differentiation of the tourism product. The product offered to customers is often intangible. A product cannot be touched or seen before purchase is made. Additionally, a service product can be considered as perishable. For instance the airline seats cannot be stock for future use. Therefore, tourism marketing tends to focus on product value. To create product value in organisations an appropriate business strategy has to be involved. Middleton (2001) suggested that business strategy consider marketing as an important part of organisation hierarchy. The author emphasizes the importance of the seven common elements. These are systematically integrated in many organisations. The marketing department is the centre of the organisation. Marketing corporate with additional departments including: Legal Department, Finance, Operations, Sites,...