Relationship marketing in tourism sector. The case of rural tourism: a theoretical approach

En el actual contexto competitivo de los mercados, parece que el marketing relacional se revela como una estrategia capaz de dar continuidad en el tiempo a las organizaciones a través de la fidelización de sus clientes, lo que permite rentabilizar el valor que éstos le aportan. Dentro del sector turístico, las características específicas del turismo rural hacen necesaria la búsqueda de una definición de fidelidad, pues la multiplicidad de destinos y alojamientos que ofrece el turismo rural es tan amplia y variada que la probabilidad de repetición de la visita puede ser baja. El presente trabajo pretende dar luz a este interrogante a través de un abordaje teórico que siente las bases para proponer un modelo para estudiar la fidelidad en el turismo rural. Su justificación se encuentra en la necesidad de dar a las áreas rurales una alternativa a su desarrollo socioeconómico tradicional, con actividades basadas en el turismo; y por la necesidad de mejorar el desempeño de estas empresas turísticas dedicadas al turismo rural, fundamentalmente PYMES, a través de las técnicas de marketing relacional. Para ello se ha realizado un abordaje teórico del tema propuesto incidiendo en las cuestiones conceptuales del turismo rural, haciendo una pequeña revisión de las bases del marketing relacional y realizando una primera aproximación al estudio del marketing relacional en el terreno del turismo, constatándose que estos estudios son escasos, más aún en el caso específico del turismo rural. Tras analizar estudios sobre la fidelidad a los destinos turísticos, se ha verificado que los constructos imagen del destino y satisfacción son los más utilizados para su estudio. Por ello, finalmente se ha optado por utilizar el estudio de Chi y Qu (2008) como la base que constituya la propuesta de un modelo para el estudio de la fidelidad hacia un determinado destino y/o alojamiento de turismo rural. En cuanto a los resultados esperados a partir de la contrastación del modelo, se intentará definir la fidelidad en el campo del turismo rural y encontrar los factores que generan fidelidad hacia un determinado destino y/o alojamiento de turismo rural. El fin último de estos trabajos habrá de desembocar en la creación de herramientas que contribuyan a la mejora y consolidación de las relaciones entre turistas y empresas, que van a permitir a las empresas rentabilizar y mejorar su desempeño, más aún en el caso de estas PYMES turísticas.In the current competitive context of markets, relationship marketing shows itself as a strategy capable to give continuity to organizations along the time through their customers´ loyalty. That permits to get profitability of value given to them. In tourism sector, the specific characteristics of rural tourism make necessary the searching of a loyalty definition. The wide variety of destinations and accommodations that rural tourism offers makes the probability of repeating the visit very low. This work tries to answer this question though a theoretical approach that will be the basis to support a model to study the loyalty in rural tourism. Its justification is the necessity of give to rural areas one alternative to its traditional social and economic development, with activities based on tourism; and the necessity to improve the performance of these touristic companies focused on rural tourism, mainly SME, throughout relationship marketing techniques. Thus, a theoretical approach of the proposed topic has been realized, highlighting the conceptual matters of rural tourism. Then, a small revision of relationship marketing basis was made, making an initial approximation to relationship marketing applied to tourism. It was checked that these studies are limited, especially in the specific case of rural tourism. When analyzed the loyalty studies about tourism destinations, it was verified that the constructs destination image and satisfaction are the most utilized for its study. It is for that reason, that finally it has been opted by using the work of Chi and Qu (2008) as a base for building the model proposed for the study of loyalty to a destination and/or accommodation of rural tourism. In related to the expected results, after get a contrast of the model, it will be tried to give a definition of loyalty in the rural tourism context and found the factors that generate loyalty to a destination and/or accommodation of rural tourism. The last objective of these works will be the creation of tools that would be able to improve and consolidate the relations between tourists and these companies. This has to permit that these companies get profitability and improve its performance, moreover in the case of these touristic SME

The state of the art in research into rural tourims in Spain : an analysis from the perspective of marketing

The study of rural tourism has been addressed from different perspectives, such as geography, sociology, psychology, economics, business management, tourism marketing, etc. This positions it as a multidisciplinary research field of great interest which is growing in strategic importance. However it requires appropriate tools to improve its performance and become more professional. The level of interest it now produces is palpable in the quantitative increase in the attention devoted to it in the scientific literature over recent years. Nevertheless there is a need to improve the quality of this research effort, especially in fields related to economics and the management of businesses and even more so with regard to issues related to marketing, all of which would contribute to a better understanding of issues such as the planning, management and marketing of these destinations and businesses. This paper is an analysis of rural tourism as an area of scientific research that aims to classify the most relevant topics in the field, with particular reference to those that focus on marketing and market research. Its main contribution is a proposal of a research agenda for the coming years.El estudio del turismo rural ha sido abordado desde diferentes perspectivas, como geografía, sociología, psicología, economía, gestión empresarial, marketing turístico, etc. Esto lo posiciona como un estudio de campo multidisciplinario de gran interés que está creciendo en importancia estratégica. Sin embargo, requiere las herramientas adecuadas para mejorar su rendimiento y ser más profesional. El nivel de interés que produce ahora es palpable en el aumento cuantitativo de la atención que se le dedica a la literatura científica en los últimos años. Sin embargo, existe la necesidad de mejorar la calidad de este esfuerzo de investigación, especialmente en los campos relacionados con la economía y la gestión de empresas y más aún con respecto a temas relacionados con marketing, todo esto contribuiría a un mejor entendimiento de temas como la panificación, la administración y la comercialización de estos destinos y empresas. Este documento es un análisis del turismo rural como un área de investigación científica que tiene como objetivo clasificar los temas más relevantes de este campo, centrándose en el marketing y la investigación de mercado. Su principal contribución es una propuesta para una agenda de investigación para los años próximos

The alpha-galactosidase A p.Arg118Cys variant does not cause a Fabry disease phenotype: data from individual patients and family studies

Lysosomal α-galactosidase A (α-Gal) is the enzyme deficient in Fabry disease (FD), an X-linked glycosphingolipidosis caused by pathogenic mutations affecting the GLA gene. The early-onset, multi-systemic FD classical phenotype is associated with absent or severe enzyme deficiency, as measured by in vitro assays, but patients with higher levels of residual α-Gal activity may have later-onset, more organ-restricted clinical presentations. A change in the codon 118 of the wild-type α-Gal sequence, replacing basic arginine by a potentially sulfhydryl-binding cysteine residue – GLA p.(Arg118Cys) –, has been recurrently described in large FD screening studies of high-risk patients. Although the Cys118 allele is associated with high residual α-Gal activity in vitro, it has been classified as a pathogenic mutation, mainly on the basis of theoretical arguments about the chemistry of the cysteine residue. However its pathogenicity has never been convincingly demonstrated by pathology criteria. We reviewed the clinical, biochemical and histopathology data obtained from 22 individuals of Portuguese and Spanish ancestry carrying the Cys118 allele, including 3 homozygous females. Cases were identified either on the differential diagnosis of possible FD manifestations and on case-finding studies (n=11; 4 males), or on unbiased cascade screening of probands’ close relatives (n=11; 3 males). Overall, those data strongly suggest that the GLA p.(Arg118Cys) variant does not segregate with FD clinical phenotypes in a Mendelian fashion, but might be a modulator of the multifactorial risk of cerebrovascular disease, since the allelic frequency in stroke patients was 0.0087 (p=0.0185 vs the general population). The Cys118 allelic frequency in healthy Portuguese adults (n=696) has been estimated as 0.001, therefore not qualifying for “rare” conditio

THE STATE OF THE ART IN RESEARCH INTO RURAL TOURISM IN SPAIN: AN ANALYSIS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF MARKETING

The study of rural tourism has been addressed from different perspectives, such as geography, sociology, psychology, economics, business management, tourism marketing, etc. This positions it as a multidisciplinary research field of great interest which is growing in strategic importance. However it requires appropriate tools to improve its performance and become more professional. The level of interest it now produces is palpable in the quantitative increase in the attention devoted to it in the scientific literature over recent years. Nevertheless there is a need to improve the quality of this research effort, especially in fields related to economics and the management of businesses and even more so with regard to issues related to marketing, all of which would contribute to a better understanding of issues such as the planning, management and marketing of these destinations and businesses. This paper is an analysis of rural tourism as an area of scientific research that aims to classify the most relevant topics in the field, with particular reference to those that focus on marketing and market research. Its main contribution is a proposal of a research agenda for the coming years

El estudio de la lealtad en el turismo: Una revisión de la literatura

Since the 1990´s, relationship marketing and loyalty has aroused the interest of researchers and practitioners, as a tool capable of giving continuity to the organization through the establishment of long-term relationships with its stakeholders. It verifies that loyalty in the tourism industry has been little studied. This paper aims to identify and analyze the research on the determinants of loyalty in tourism. The results attempt to summarise what has been investigated, who addresses these issues, where the main focuses of research are and what methodologies have been used. The goal is to obtain the state of the art of research on this issue and identify future lines of research.A partir de los años noventa el marketing relacional y la lealtad ha suscitando el interés de investigadores y profesionales, como herramienta capaz de dar continuidad a las organizaciones a través del establecimiento de relaciones a largo plazo con sus stakeholders. Se verifica que la lealtad en la industria turística ha sido poco estudiada. Este trabajo se propone identificar y analizar las investigaciones sobre los determinantes de la lealtad en el turismo. Sus resultados tratan de dar respuesta a qué se ha investigado, quién trata estos temas, dónde se encuentran los principales focos de investigación o qué metodologías han sido utilizadas. El objetivo es obtener el estado del arte de la investigación sobre este tema e identificar futuras líneas de investigación

Attachment as a factor in generating satisfaction with, and loyalty to, rural tourism destinations

Place attachment has recently become a research topic of interestas a relevant concept in understanding some tourist behaviours. Itis a relational concept based on cognitive and emotionalconnections with destinations, yet it has seldom been studied as aloyalty predictor. The objective of this research is to test theinfluence that attachment exerts on satisfaction with, and loyalty to,rural tourism destinations, through destinations’ main dimensions:identity and destination dependence. The application of attachmentto rural tourism is considered interesting because of the particularrelationships that tourists establish with the associatedenvironments. In addition, this field lacks causal studies related tomarketing, to better plan, manage and commercialise thesedestinations and their companies. To test the theoretical model, asample of data on 464 rural tourists was collected through an onlinesurvey. An analysis was carried out using a partial leastsquares technique through structural equation modelling. Theresults reveal that both destination identity and dependence aresignificant antecedents of overall satisfaction with, and loyalty to,rural tourism destinations, but destination dependence has agreater influence. The model shows a good capability to explain theendogenous constructs of overall satisfaction and loyalty

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)