Role Of Communication In Tourism

Introduction
Tourism has come to play essential economic role for many countries. Globalisation has allowed for airlines to extend their operating routes. Even the most remote of locations have come to use tourism as a fundamental tool to economic growth. With this newly globalised world has increased demand and competition. Destination marketers and managers are constantly being met with the challenge of learning to attract newer tourists and to encourage their revisiting to the destination. The keys to such actions lie in the understanding of tourist behaviours and the antecedents involved in influencing consumer loyalty to destinations. A common assumption made is that an overall satisfied tourist plays a fundamental role in that tourist’s

George (2011) proposes that only though “the effective use of communication” can marketers offer “tangible cues about such intangible experiences”. This concept is also applicable to the idea of recommendation of a service or product e.g. a destination, to others. Only through communication with others, be it via the web or face-to-face, can one share their experience or be the recipient of a recommendation. Yoon & Uysal (2005) investigated communication through language as being an element involved in destination loyalty. They found that language is a “main factor of why tourists travel”, and being understood in a destination where another language is spoken, was a positive for tourists and which most likely would encourage them to revisit in the future. Lai & Vinh (2013) investigated communication through online promotion as a major influencer for destination loyalty. They found that online promotion allows for tourists to familiarise themselves with a destination before going, thus decreasing the chances of tourists being unsatisfied by a destination ‘not being what they thought’. The existence of travel sites such as TripAdvisor and Booking.com allow consumers to review destinations visited leaving recommendations and feedback, a positive and free advertising tool for

The model refers to Crompton (1979) framework of push and pulls motivational factors. Push factors are considered to be the “socio-psychological motivations that predispose an individual to travel” e.g. rest and relaxation, health and fitness. Pull factors relating to the factors that “attract that particular individual to a destination & one’s perception and expectation of the marketed image” e.g. beaches (Crompton, 1979). These push and pull motivations are analysed as being the “instrumental and expressive” attributes that play a compulsory role in the fulfilment or completion of overall satisfaction in a destination (Yoon & Uysal, 2005). It proposes that only through the fulfilment of these attributes can satisfaction occur and subsequently incur loyalty to a destination (Altar, 2010). This suggests that destination marketers should only focus mainly on these push & pull motivators to enhance the destination 's competitiveness and in turn subsequently increase loyalty (Altar, 2010). It’s clear that the model focuses primarily on proving the existence of a relationship between internal and external motivational factors in tourist satisfaction. However, the model proves simplistic in nature and fails to provide valid enough proof of an identifiable link between the satisfaction of