Marketing culture and customer retention in the tourism industry

During the last few years considerable attention has been focused on the es sence of cultivating a culture which fosters the effective operationalisati on of marketing practices in tourism firms. This issue is considered an imp ortant source of competitive advantage in the tourism industry where sophis ticated marketing is still in its developmental stages. Considering the hig h level of interaction between a tourism firm and its customers, the signif icance of effective marketing activities cannot be overstated. In addition, marketing academics and managers assert that a strong marketing culture wi ll leas to customer retention via customer satisfaction. This study is base d on an empirical examination of the link between UK tourism firms' marketi ng culture and customer retention. Our results reveal a moderately strong r elationship between marketing culture and customer retention. Finally, impl ications of the findings for tourism managers and avenues for future resear ch are discussed.