Crises are becoming increasingly common in the world and the tourism industry is undoubtedly one of the most vulnerable industries of this. When a destination is hit by a crisis, the destination's image and attractiveness are damaged. A weak, unattractive or negative image of a destination is very detrimental to the development of tourism. One condition in order for a destination to recover after a crisis is based on how different actors convey their marketing of the destination. Travel agents or tour operators' projected image and knowledge of destinations have great influence on potential travelers in the decision-making process for choosing a holiday. The aim of the study is to provide insights on how strategies in marketing a crisis-affected destination should be managed. The study examines how different travel sellers work to market a tourist destination that is affected by a crisis and how much influence travel sellers have through their marketing. The study also examines to some extent how the normal marketing of travel sellers is performed in order to be able to compare how it changes after a crisis. The topic is studied through designed questions based on the purpose of the study. The study's scientific approach is based on social constructivism with a hermeneutic focus that forms the basis for the qualitative choice of method in form of interviews. The theoretical framework highlights five themes; Destination marketing, Strategies and models to apply after a crisis, previous marketing strategies after a Crisis, The role of tour operators and travel agents for a destination, and Trust and ethical assessments through marketing. The survey consists of five semi-structured interviews with different travel sellers. The result is presented on the basis of different themes where different companies' answers are compared in their own categories. The result is analyzed with the theoretical framework and identifies different connections. The study's purpose and questions are answered in the conclusion. One conclusion is that marketing is significantly different depending on the type of travel seller it is. The perception of how much responsibility or influence a travel seller has in marketing a crisis-hit destination also differs. Large charter companies have a significant impact on a crisis-affected destination compared to small niche travel sellers. Another conclusion is that no travel vendors have worked with any special strategies or models in order to market a crisis-affected destination.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:kau-73039 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Karlsson, Amanda, Emtängen, Frida |
| Publisher | Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för geografi, medier och kommunikation (from 2013), Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för geografi, medier och kommunikation (from 2013) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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