MARKETING AND TOURISM

Abstract

Information technology (IT) and its use in marketing is radically altering how companies practice marketing. The widespread availability of information and heighten communication abilities are changing the relationships between marketing and other functions and between marketing and suppliers and customers. Marketing in the 90s operates in a totally altered landscape demanding a radical rethink and redirection for marketing. These include: the key characteristics of leisure activities which are significant to marketing, i.e. the absence of necessity, the pursuit of personal satisfaction, the importance of play, and its social implications; the way that many leisure organizations exist because of the owner's personal enthusiasm, or belief in the intrinsic value of the subject (artistic, scientific, social or political) rather than a simple profit motive; the need to examine the external influences on the market, in terms of the effects they have on the key determinants of leisure demand - time, income and access to facilities.