Class Tourism Products and Destinations Marketing

The curricular unit’s main goal is to address basic marketing concepts and discuss their application to tourism, in the context of both destinations and organizations. In this context, the discipline aims to prepare students to apply this knowledge in practical contexts, aiming to obtain competitive advantages in the domestic and global markets.

1. Marketing Strategy

• Strategy elements and steps
• Planning tools
• Characteristics of tourism products and services

2.Differentiating characteristics of tourism products

• Positioning products and services
• Differentiating characteristics of services
• Differentiating characteristics of tourism services

3.Consumer motivations and behaviour in tourism

• Influencing factors 
• Tourist decision-making model
• Relationship marketing

4. Marketing mix in tourism

• The 4 Ps applied to tourism products
• The 8 Ps applied to tourism services
• The digital context of tourism communication

5.Formulating tourism products

• Components and benefits
• General and specific product components
• Co-creation and consumer participation

In addition to lectures, classes include activities such as debates, case studies and quizzes. Assessment consists of three elements: A final assignment, a test and other activities. The final assignment consists of creating a new tourism product. Students must carry out a market analysis, define a target audience and develop an appropriate marketing strategy for it, combining a practical component with a market case with theory through a literature review. 
The test is objective, but requires a high degree of interpretation, as well as the ability to apply the content in practice. The activities include, in addition to quizzes and debates, the presentation of a seminar aimed at developing autonomy in research. Performance in this component is monitored by submitting the activities on Moodle and by recording participation and performance in the activities carried out and/or practised in the classroom.
Work - 55%  
Test - 30%.
Participation - 15%

Achrol, R. S., & Kotler, P. (2022). Distributed marketing networks: The fourth industrial revolution. Journal of Business Research, 150, 515-527.
Buhalis, D., Leung, D., & Lin, M. (2023). Metaverse is a disruptive technology revolutionizing tourism management and marketing. Tourism Management, 97, 104724.
Deb, S. K., Nafi, S. M., & Valeri, M. (2022). Promoting tourism business through digital marketing in the new normal era: a sustainable approach. European Journal of Innovation Management.
Hassan, A., Pulido-Fernández, J. I., Sharma, A. (2020). Sustainable destination branding and marketing strategies for tourism development, CABI, Oxfordshire
Middleton, V., Fyall, A., Morgan, M. (2009). Marketing in Travel and Tourism, Oxford, Elsevier