Customer churn is a term used to describe customers leaving a company by no longer using their services or products. Companies should develop and target retention strategies towards customers at risk of churning, because customer acquisition is more costly than customer retention. At-risk customers can be identified using predictive machine learning. Previously, predictive churn modelling has typically been made for companies offering contractual products, where payments are made on a regular basis following a subscription or other contract. In these cases, the moment a customer churns is intuitively identified. Defining when a customer churns from a company offering non-contractual products, where the purchase occasions are sporadic, is more difficult, as the exact churn moment is both subjective and hard to identify. No studies of non-contractual customer churn have been made in the winter tourism industry, the industry in which non-contractual churn is defined and predicted in this thesis. The purpose of this thesis is to define and predict non-contractual customer churn in the winter tourism industry. The purpose is fulfilled by creating two different definitions of customer churn; one where the complexity of non-contractual churn is captured through the integration of industry knowledge and the theoretical background, and one that is based solely on the theoretical background. Five frequently used machine learning classifiers are evaluated for the prediction, revealing that our first definition of churn yields the highest AUC performance when predicting customer churn in this case. We conclude that if the definition of churn is sufficiently complex, non-contractual churn in the winter tourism industry can be predicted with a high performance using an XGBoost classifier. When data of previous reservation and purchase patterns is considered, the classifier achieves what is considered to be an excellent AUC performance at nearly 86%.

The Diploma Thesis focuses on proposing of possibilities how the results of tourist industry in village Bilovice nad Svitavou may be improved. The theoretical part presents explanations of terms relevant to this theme. The practical part consists of an analysis of actual situation in the village and data evaluation gained from the survey. Based on these results are defined suggestions and recommendations to increase development of tourist industry and attractiveness of the village.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Value underlies the notion of marketing, yet it has not received as much attention in marketing literature as it demands. The importance of value co-creation and co-production has confirmed the importance of the active role customers play in value creation. Customers use functional and emotional benefits to guide their interactions with suppliers, which stem from value perceptions. To attract customers to engage in co-production, suppliers offer certain benefits via their value propositions, requiring suppliers to have a thorough understanding of these benefits to incorporate them into their co-production interactions. This study sets out to develop a scale to measure the benefits customers seek from their co-production interactions with suppliers in the travel planning context, because of the inherent nature of interaction, customisation and active customer participation in the ‘production’ of a trip. To develop a reliable and valid instrument to measure the benefits of co-production, Churchill’s (1979) scale development paradigm was followed in the present research design. Exploratory research in the form of a literature review, insight-stimulating examples, and in-depth interviews with tourism suppliers and travel customers were undertaken to specify the domain, define the construct, identify the dimensions, and generate a pool of 323 items, which was refined in two purification phases. Initially 10 benefit dimensions were proposed: customisation, convenience, confidence, expertise, enjoyment, exploration, financial, support, social and symbolic benefits. The pool of 323 items was subjected to expert judging, resulting in a 64-item scale measuring the 10 benefit dimensions. The questionnaire was formatted into an online survey to collect a convenience sample of 269 responses. The results of an exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach alpha estimates reduced this conceptualisation to 32 items measuring six dimensions: convenience, customisation, expertise, psychological, financial, and support benefits. The revised scale was used in a second purification phase to collect a judgement sample of 565 responses. A confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach alpha estimates were used to reduce the scale to 19 items, measuring three benefit dimensions: functional, financial, and psychological benefits. The final scale exhibited an acceptable model fit, and showed strong evidence of reliability and validity, therefore achieving the objective of the study. The study concludes with a reliable and valid instrument for academics and practitioners to measure the benefits of co-production in the tourism industry. The scale provides academics with empirical insight into the gap between conditions prior to customer participation and active customer participation in co-production. The scale enables travel agents to identify deficiencies in their co-production processes, and to evaluate the extent to which customer benefits are met. Once travel agents are aware of these benefits they can be integrated into their values propositions and co-production interactions. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Waarde is onderliggend tot die idee van bemarking, maar dit geniet nie die aandag in bemarkingsliteratuur wat dit verdien nie. Die belangrikheid van waarde mede-skepping en mede-produksie het die gewig van die aktiewe rol wat kliënte speel in waarde-skepping bevestig. Kliënte word gelei deur funksionele en emosionele voordele gedurende hulle interaksies met verskaffers. Hierdie voordele spruit uit waarde persepsies. Om kliënte aan te moedig om aan mede-produksie deel te neem, bied verskaffers sekere voordele in hul waarde aanbiedings. Dit vereis dat verskaffers 'n goeie begrip moet hê van hierdie voordele sodat dit geïnkorporeer kan word in hulle mede-produksie. Hierdie studie se doel is om ‘n skaal te onwikkel wat die voordele wat kliënte rakende hulle mede-produksie interaksies soek met verskaffers sal meet. Die skaal is ontwikkel binne die konteks van reis beplanning in die toerismebedryf. Dit is as gevolg van die inherente aard van interaksie, aanpassing en aktiewe kliënt deelname in die ‘produksie’ van sulke beplanning. Om ‘n betroubare en geldige skaal te ontwikkel wat die voordele van mede-produksie meet, is die skaal ontwikkeling paradigma van Churchill (1979) gevolg in die huidige navorsingsuitleg. Verkennende navorsing in die vorm van 'n literatuurstudie, insig-stimulerende voorbeelde en in-diepte onderhoude met toerisme verskaffers en reiskliënte is onderneem om die domein te spesifiseer, die konstruk te definieer, die dimensies te identifiseer en 'n poel van 323 items te genereer wat in twee suiweringsfases verfyn is. Aanvanklik is 10 voordeel dimensies voorgestel: customisation, convenience, confidence, expertise, enjoyment, exploration, financial, support, social en symbolic. Die poel van 323 items is aan ’n paneel van kundiges voorgeleê en 'n 64-item skaal het hieruit voortgevloei. 'n Aanlyn-opname is gebruik en 'n gerieflikheidsteekproef het tot 269 response gelei. Die resultate van 'n exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis en Cronbach alpha analises het die 'n 64-item skaal konseptualisering tot 32 items verminder wat ses voordele dimensies meet: convenience, customisation, expertise, psychological, financial, en support. Die hersiene skaal is gebruik in 'n tweede suiweringsfase en die steekproef het 565 response gehad. Die resultate van ‘n confirmtory factor analysis en Cronbach alpha metings het die skaal verder verminder tot 19 items, meet drie voordele dimensies: functional, financial en psychological. Die finale skaal stel uit 'n aanvaarbare modelpassing, en het sterk bewyse van betroubaarheid en geldigheid en derhalwe is die doel van die studie bereik. Die studie sluit af met 'n betroubare en geldige instrument wat dit moontlik maak vir akademici en praktisyns om die voordele van mede-produksie in die toerisme-industrie te meet. Die skaal bied akademici met empiriese insig tot die gaping tussen die toestande voor deelname en na aktiewe kliënte deelname in mede-produksie. Die skaal sal reisagente in staat stel om leemtes in hul mede-produksie prosesse te identifiseer, en die voordele wat die kliënt uit die mede-produksie uit pit te meet. Sodra reisagente bewus is van hierdie voordele kan hulle die voordele ïntegreer in hulle waarde aanbiedings en mede-produksie interaksies.

Neste trabalho, analisou-se o turismo (no período de baixa estação) do município de Ilhéus, Estado da Bahia. A avaliação da estrutura turística local foi realizada através de indicadores referentes às concepções de estoques de capital (físico, financeiro, humano, social e natural), das características do turista e de sua viagem, por meio da análise fatorial e análise de regressão. Os resultados dão informações importantes relacionadas aos produtos e serviços turísticos. Em média, a avaliação geral, ou satisfação total do turista foi considerada satisfatória. O item mais criticado foi "manifestações populares". As "amenidades ambientais" revelaram ser o atributo mais desejado e bem avaliado pelos visitantes. Das características dos turistas, foi possível traçar um perfil da demanda. Com relação ao estado de origem do visitante, observou-se uma distribuição equivalente procedente de unidades territoriais não litorâneas e próximas a Ilhéus. Os dados revelaram inter-relações entre alguns indicadores: a maioria dos visitantes é composta de indivíduos casados e adultos; grande parte possuí nível superior e renda relativamente alta. Das características da viagem dos turistas, é importante ressaltar algumas informações: do total dos visitantes, poucos foram influenciados pelas agências de viagem (8%) e propaganda e publicidade (4%), meios tradicionais de venda ou distribuição do produto e serviços turísticos. No que diz respeito ao motivo da viagem, 81% dos abordados afirmaram que vieram a Ilhéus a passeio/lazer, mas os indicadores referentes ao entretenimento/diversões foram os mais criticados. Outros resultados das análises econométricas acrescentam informações importantes. A análise fatorial resumiu 35 indicadores da estrutura turística de Ilhéus em 7 fatores. Os coeficientes do modelo de regressão linear, referentes aos fatores extraídos, revelaram que, quanto mais qualificada a estrutura turística, melhor a avaliação geral do visitante. O "fator 2 - Capital humano associado aos serviços de entretenimento" foi o de maior importância (peso) na nota geral. Os outros 6 fatores também contribuíram, significativamente, para a explicação da nota geral (ou avaliação geral) dada pelo turista aos produtos e serviços oferecidos. As análises revelam que, na baixa estação, o turismo local teve avaliação não muito boa. Portanto, a análise da estrutura turística de Ilhéus indica que a atividade necessita de maior investimento nos estoques de capitais, capazes de manter a procura e o crescimento do setor. / The study presents an analysis of the tourism industry in the county of Ilheus, Bahia State, Brazil. Local tourism structure was evaluated by using the concepts of capital stocks of the basic production factors (physical, financial, human, social, and natural) and by describing some personal characteristics of the tourists and some specification of the trip. Factorial and regression analyses were the utilized analytical tools. Tourist satisfaction was found to be reasonable in the overall evaluation of the sampled individuals. Among the attractions demanded by the tourist the most reproved item was 'popular manifestations'. The attribute 'environmental charm' was considered most desirable and scored best in the visitors' evaluation. Based on the characteristics of the tourists, a demand profile could be drawn. The visitors’ states of origin were distributed equally between inland territories and regions near Ilheus. Inter-relations were observed among some studied variables: the majority of visitors are adult and married and most of them have a university degree and a relatively high income. The characteristics of tourist trips revealed that among all visitors, few had been influenced by travel agencies (8%) and by advertisement and publicity (4%), the traditional means of selling tourist products and services. In most cases, tourists had come to Ilheus looking for fun and leisure, while the research showed that the most criticized items were precisely entertainment/amusement. Factorial analysis combined 35 items evaluated by the tourists into 7 factors. The coefficient of the linear regression model showed that the higher the qualification of the touristic structures, the better the overall evaluation of the tourists. Factor 2, called "human capital linked to entertainment services", was found to be most important (higher weight) in the overall score. The other six factors also contributed significantly to the explanation of the overall score (or overall evaluation) given by the tourists. It can be said that tourist structures in Ilheus need higher investments to increase capital stocks in order to maintain demand and growth of its tourist business.

This essay is about EURES functionality and efficiency with a particular focus on tourism. By using a number of research methods, the efficiency of EURES is studied and compared to the Swedish public employment service website. By using the research results, EURES strengths and weaknesses have been carefully analyzed and suggestions for improvements of the network are presented. In the introduction, the company and network EURES and the Swedish public employment service are presented. Their background information and functions in society are further explained in this section. The purpose and the key questions are also included here. The key questions are the questions, which the researchers aim to answer to the best of their knowledge by the end of this study. The methods, which the researchers have used in this study, are described and examples of past studies are then introduced in the theory. The researchers have used information from past studies and applied it to EURES and the Swedish public employment services. After collecting and analyzing an array of empirical data the researchers finally yet most importantly, reveal the answers to the key questions in the conclusion of the essay. EURES= European Employment Services,Arbetsförmedlingen = The Swedish public employment service / Uppsatsen handlar om EURES funktionalitet samt effektivitet med särskilt fokus på turism. Genom ett antal forskningsmetoder undersöks EURES effektivitet och jämförs med Arbetsförmedlingens databas som är platsbanken. Med hjälp av de forskningsresultaten analyseras svagheter inom EURES och därefter presenteras förslag på förbättringar. I introduktionen presenteras nätverket EURES och myndigheten Arbetsförmedlingen. Bakgrundsinformation samt deras roll i samhället förklaras i denna sektionen. Frågeställningarna är de frågor i detta arbete som ska besvaras vid slutet av undersökningen. Metoderna som har tillämpats i detta arbete förklaras och därefter introduceras relevanta teoribildningar. Materialet har baserats på olika teorier och tidigare forskning som tillämpas i analysen av EURES och Arbetsförmedlingen. Genom sammanställningen och analysen av empiriska data besvarar vi i slutsatsen dem centrala frågeställningarna om EURES effektivitet. EURES= European Employment Services

Neste trabalho, analisou-se o turismo (no período de baixa estação) do município de Ilhéus, Estado da Bahia. A avaliação da estrutura turística local foi realizada através de indicadores referentes às concepções de estoques de capital (físico, financeiro, humano, social e natural), das características do turista e de sua viagem, por meio da análise fatorial e análise de regressão. Os resultados dão informações importantes relacionadas aos produtos e serviços turísticos. Em média, a avaliação geral, ou satisfação total do turista foi considerada satisfatória. O item mais criticado foi "manifestações populares". As "amenidades ambientais" revelaram ser o atributo mais desejado e bem avaliado pelos visitantes. Das características dos turistas, foi possível traçar um perfil da demanda. Com relação ao estado de origem do visitante, observou-se uma distribuição equivalente procedente de unidades territoriais não litorâneas e próximas a Ilhéus. Os dados revelaram inter-relações entre alguns indicadores: a maioria dos visitantes é composta de indivíduos casados e adultos; grande parte possuí nível superior e renda relativamente alta. Das características da viagem dos turistas, é importante ressaltar algumas informações: do total dos visitantes, poucos foram influenciados pelas agências de viagem (8%) e propaganda e publicidade (4%), meios tradicionais de venda ou distribuição do produto e serviços turísticos. No que diz respeito ao motivo da viagem, 81% dos abordados afirmaram que vieram a Ilhéus a passeio/lazer, mas os indicadores referentes ao entretenimento/diversões foram os mais criticados. Outros resultados das análises econométricas acrescentam informações importantes. A análise fatorial resumiu 35 indicadores da estrutura turística de Ilhéus em 7 fatores. Os coeficientes do modelo de regressão linear, referentes aos fatores extraídos, revelaram que, quanto mais qualificada a estrutura turística, melhor a avaliação geral do visitante. O "fator 2 – Capital humano associado aos serviços de entretenimento" foi o de maior importância (peso) na nota geral. Os outros 6 fatores também contribuíram, significativamente, para a explicação da nota geral (ou avaliação geral) dada pelo turista aos produtos e serviços oferecidos. As análises revelam que, na baixa estação, o turismo local teve avaliação não muito boa. Portanto, a análise da estrutura turística de Ilhéus indica que a atividade necessita de maior investimento nos estoques de capitais, capazes de manter a procura e o crescimento do setor. / The study presents an analysis of the tourism industry in the county of Ilheus, Bahia State, Brazil. Local tourism structure was evaluated by using the concepts of capital stocks of the basic production factors (physical, financial, human, social, and natural) and by describing some personal characteristics of the tourists and some specification of the trip. Factorial and regression analyses were the utilized analytical tools. Tourist satisfaction was found to be reasonable in the overall evaluation of the sampled individuals. Among the attractions demanded by the tourist the most reproved item was 'popular manifestations'. The attribute 'environmental charm' was considered most desirable and scored best in the visitors' evaluation. Based on the characteristics of the tourists, a demand profile could be drawn. The visitors’ states of origin were distributed equally between inland territories and regions near Ilheus. Inter-relations were observed among some studied variables: the majority of visitors are adult and married and most of them have a university degree and a relatively high income. The characteristics of tourist trips revealed that among all visitors, few had been influenced by travel agencies (8%) and by advertisement and publicity (4%), the traditional means of selling tourist products and services. In most cases, tourists had come to Ilheus looking for fun and leisure, while the research showed that the most criticized items were precisely entertainment/amusement. Factorial analysis combined 35 items evaluated by the tourists into 7 factors. The coefficient of the linear regression model showed that the higher the qualification of the touristic structures, the better the overall evaluation of the tourists. Factor 2, called "human capital linked to entertainment services", was found to be most important (higher weight) in the overall score. The other six factors also contributed significantly to the explanation of the overall score (or overall evaluation) given by the tourists. It can be said that tourist structures in Ilheus need higher investments to increase capital stocks in order to maintain demand and growth of its tourist business.

Thesis (M.A. (Sociology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2000 / Please refer to the document

M-Tech Tourism Management / Residents’ attitudes towards and opinions about tourism is important as they are the ones dealing directly or indirectly with tourists and the development of the industry. As one of the key stakeholders their support is needed to grow the industry in a sustainable manner. For South Africa as a developing country tourism is one of the focus areas of development. This growth is supported by a number of initiatives to create more (but also more sustainable) tourism destinations especially for small towns such as Parys (Free State; South Africa). The primary objective was to analyse the social effects of tourism and determine the factors influencing these effects on the local community of Parys, located in the province of the Free State. This was done by conducting an empirical study among residents in Parys. The questionnaire was developed based on similar research done in other communities. The questionnaires were captured in Microsoft Excel and analysed in the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v 23.0). From a negative point of view residents highlighted the increase in prices of goods and services due to tourism development. From a positive perspective residents felt that the development of tourism lead to more opportunities for people to have fun, more tourists visit the area and the image of Parys has improved. From the factor analysis for social effects the following factors were evident: Business and community effects, Negative social effects, Opportunities for residents, Environmental effects and Cost of living effects. The latter two factors were rated the highest and thus residents felt that tourism lead to an effect on the environment and an effect on their cost of living. This should be monitored so that residents remain positive and do not start to blame tourists for negativities happening in Parys. When analysing the image of Parys from the perspective of the residents the factor analyses revealed three factors namely Infra- and suprastructure, Nature and cultural attractions and Hospitality of which they felt the strongest about the first and the last factor. Clearly from the results these residents enjoy staying in Parys, do not consider tourists to be a threat and welcomes visitors to the area. The social effects of tourism development is, to a certain extent, influenced by gender, language, level of education, age and number of years living in Parys. Overall it can be concluded that residents are fairly happy with tourists visiting Parys and the development taking place due to tourism. They are aware of the negative impacts but the positive impacts currently outweigh the negative impacts. It is recommended to include residents in the development process or at least keep them aware of what is happening, why it is happening and what opportunities it might bring to them. The results of this study differ from that of others indicating that communities are unique and there are unique aspects influencing their opinions regarding the social effects of tourism. The researcher recommended that the private and public sectors of Parys should continue their current practices to uphold the positive attitudes but also consider options where residents can become more involved in the development of the industry.

<p>The current research aims to identify the variables that influence turnover intentions. In particular, this research explored the concept of turnover intentions by investigating the mediating effects of job satisfaction and psychological capital amongst a sample of 70 employees involved in the tourism industry. The study highlights that employees within the tourism industry within the Western Cape were the most satisfied with work content, and the least satisfied with leadership / supervision. The results emanating from the current study indicate that there is a strong, inverse relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention amongst tourism employees in the Western Cape. Furthermore, the study revealed that a statistically significant, inverse relationship exists between psychological capital and turnover intention. Multiple regression analysis revealed these variables significantly explained the variance in turnover intention.</p>

This paper intends to show how micro- and small businesses in the tourism and experience industry makes use of social media as a marketing tool. The study also shows the possibilities for businesses to market themselves to customers through social media. Small businesses usually don’t have the same conditions or the same marketing resources that larger companies have. For small businesses that lack marketing resources, social media is a great addition to marketing since the technology around social media is relatively simple. For micro- and small businesses in the tourism industry social media increase the opportunity to reach (potential) customers in a relatively cost-free way. In the study, three companies working in the tourism sector were chosen, two micro-enterprises and one small business. Representatives from the three companies were interviewed about how the company worked with social media. I conducted a literary review to see what marketing opportunities social media provide for small businesses. I also conducted a content analysis where I analyzed each company's social media. The results of the study showed that Facebook was used by all companies and it was also the medium that was used most frequently by the companies. Facebook has a large number of members and on Facebook companies can integrate several different media such as images, video, text-based messages, information, applications, etc. in a way that the other social media cannot offer. The study also showed that YouTube was considered by many to be an important medium for tourism and experience businesses. However video marketing is used very little by companies. This was verified by my interviews and my content analysis; the companies in the study used YouTube and video marketing in a very small extent. / Denna uppsats avser visa hur mikroföretag och småföretag inom turism- och upplevelseindustrin använder sig av sociala medier som marknadsföringsverktyg. Studien visar även vilka möjligheter det finns inom sociala medier att marknadsföra sig mot kunden. Småföretag har oftast inte samma förutsättningar eller samma marknadsföringsresurser som de stora företagen har. För småföretag som saknar marknadsföringsresurser är sociala medier ett bra komplement då tekniken kring sociala medier är relativt enkel. För mikroföretag och småföretag inom turismnäringen ökar sociala medier möjligheten att nå ut till (potentiella) kunder på ett relativt kostnadsfritt sätt. I studien valdes tre företag ut som arbetade inom turismsektorn, två mikroföretag och ett småföretag. Representanter från de tre företagen intervjuades om företagets arbete med sociala medier. Jag utförde en litteraturgenomgång för att se vilka marknadsföringsmöjligheter sociala medier ger för småföretag. Jag genomförde även en innehållsanalys där jag analyserade företagens respektive sociala medier. Resultatet av studien visade att Facebook användes av alla företagen och det var även det medium som användes mest frekvent av företagen. Facebook har ett stort antal medlemmar och på Facebook kan företagen integrera flera olika medier så som bilder, videos, textbaserade inlägg, information, applikationer etcetera som andra sociala medier saknar. Studien visade även att YouTube ansågs av flera vara ett viktigt medium för turismföretag och upplevelseföretag men att videomarknadsföring användes väldigt lite av företag. Detta verifierades av mina intervjuer och den egna innehållsanalysen då de aktuella företagen använde sig av YouTube och videomarknadsföring i väldigt liten utsträckning.