Class Tourism 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 tourism products
• 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 communication in tourism

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 discussions, case studies and quizzes. The evaluation is comprised 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. The test is objective, but requires a high degree of interpretation, as well as the ability to apply the contents in practice. Activities include, in addition to quizzes and discussions, 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 trained in the classroom, which is worth 30 per cent of the final grade. The assignments and activities account for 50 per cent of the final grade, while the test accounts for 20 per cent.

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