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For several hundreds of years printing has been the only effective channel for spreading mass communication. During the 1900s several new media channels have been invented and, with the addition of the Internet, this has both changed the way media is consumed and has increased the competition between different channels. This qualitative case study of 37 firms reports on how relationships are used in the printing industry to relieve some of the impact of the competitive forces from new, and easily accessible, media as a means for marketing and, furthermore, on the impact on the printing industry as an industry. The results from the case study show that there are both internal and external effects of forming relationships and those vertical, as well as horizontal, relationships are of great importance to create a sustainable competitive situation for the printing industry. Relationships are used to increase both the strategic flexibility of the firm and the flexibility of the print media channel. Furthermore, the study illustrates that the printing industry, and print as a medium of communication, is drifting gradually away from the actual customer due to the new paradigm of value creation.

This chapter sought to overcome the current theoretical lack of understanding of the memorable tourism experiences (MTEs) phenomena and provide a conceptual framework for guiding destination managers who seek to design and deliver memorable experiences appropriate to their particular destination.

This chapter employed literature-based research methods. More specifically, it sought to (1) summarize the understanding of MTEs gained from a review of others’ work, and conduct a retrospective examination of my own empirical research on the topic; and (2) convey the insights I have formulated regarding the implications for destination managers of this understanding for designing, delivering, and evaluating programs, which may increase the probability a visitor will return home with truly memorable experiences.

The literature review and the content analysis and synthesis identified seven conceptual and theoretical components of MTEs, such as hedonism, refreshment, novelty, local culture, meaningfulness, knowledge, and adverse feelings.

The current study suggested what characteristics of tourism experiences lead to strong memorability and how to measure each component of MTEs. Thus, the findings provide important implications for destination managers to develop tourism programs that last long in visitors’ memories.

Previous researchers suggested some practical strategies to prepare environments and design experiences. However, a comprehensive, theoretically sound understanding of the fundamental factors of MTEs was left out. This study investigated tourism experiential factors that enable and facilitate MTEs. It also tried to demonstrate the managerial importance of these theoretical components to the design of “on the ground” destination programs, which initially create excitement and anticipation among potential visitors (within the context of a highly competitive marketplace), to the point where a given destination is selected over a multitude of others and where it subsequently delivers the kind of high-quality “truly memorable” experiences that fully meet the inflated expectations initially “promised” by the destination brand.

This research looks at the significance of friends and relatives as an information source for consumers planning holidays. Recent research has largely ignored friends and relatives as destination information sources and has focused instead on the Internet. Two categories of friends and relatives are identified, friends and relatives who live in a destination and friends and relatives who have visited a destination of interest. An exit survey of 1,203 tourists departing a major international destination in Australia found that while the Internet was an important source of information, friends and relatives were as important, if not more, regardless of country of origin and age. These findings indicate that information from friends and relatives and the Internet are complementary rather than exclusive in the minds of consumers.

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to demonstrate an understanding of:

Understand the complex and nuanced nature of relationship marketing.

Define the relationship dimensions in human relationships and the variables relationship marketing which develop the customer–company relationship.

Develop a conceptual understanding of how these dimensions and variables build customer–company relationships.

Understand how the key characteristics of social media can be leveraged to build customer–company relationships.