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The intensely competitive environment existing in the restaurant sector makes it vital that firms achieve customer satisfaction in order to survive in the long term. Obtaining customer satisfaction means that customers repeat the experienced service and that they become an effective and efficient communication resource, at no cost to the firm. Prominent among the antecedents that determine the level of customer satisfaction are perceived quality and total perceived price. The research carried out shows that perceived quality has a direct and positive impact on the level of customer satisfaction, while, contrary to what was expected, total perceived price does not influence that satisfaction.

Wine tourism is emerging as a lucrative sector, with the capacity to generate growing and long‐lasting tourism. Despite Spain's tourism and wine potential, wine tourism is scarcely developed. In order to develop it strategically, it is necessary to know both the real and potential customers of this tourism. The purpose of this paper is to ask, who is the wine tourist and how is he or she different from other visitors to a destination?

The objective of this study is to determine the existence of a group of wine tourists who are clearly differentiated from those tourists who have never participated in wine tourism. If such a group exists, the study attempts to determine the type of wine tourists existing in our country.

This study endeavours to provide knowledge about the differences between those individuals who have never participated in wine tourism and those who have. Moreover, the profile of a wine tourist can be divided into two groups, thereby considering the variables of gender, age, wine consumption habits and involvement in activities related to wine.

The effect that wine tourism can have in the area where it is developed means that we must increase our knowledge of wine tourists. The determination of the types of wine tourists and their tastes, desires, preferences, etc. will help to develop suitable marketing strategies.

This paper constitutes one of the first approaches at segmenting wine tourists in Spain.

The curricular profile that businesses demand from their workers is undergoing considerable change, especially in regard to university graduates. Considering the functions that are associated with universities, they should respond to these business demands. As a result, they should educate their students following curricula that fit the needs of the labour market. This fit would allow improving the employability of university graduates. The objectives of this work consist of determining the competencies that firms demand from university graduates and determining the curricula that universities follow to educate their students.

Through a comparison of these objectives, the paper analyses the mismatches that exist between these competencies and the curricula, and action lines are proposed to correct them.

The results show the various competencies that universities must improve upon in the education of their students. This improvement would mean a better fit between university curricula and business demands.

The research was applied in one region of Spain, and it would be appropriate to expand it to the entire country.

University managers can use the information obtained from this study as the basis for designing and subsequently implementing action lines that allow improving the curricular profile of university graduates.

There are few papers that analyse the competencies that firms demand from university graduates and that determine the curricula that universities follow to educate their students.

The university environment is experiencing important changes that have to be managed in order to ensure the university's survival. One of the most notable changes is the appearance of a new kind of student who wants to update and/or expand his/her knowledge. This has caused universities to expand their educational offer through seminars, Master's programmes, special courses. This work endeavours a dual objective: to analyse the elements that determine the attendees' satisfaction with the stated courses; and to analyse the relationship between the satisfaction experienced by the course attendees and their loyalty to the institution that offers the courses.

The information from a survey of the attendees of these kinds of courses at a Spanish university has been used.

The work herein developed shows how the teaching staff, the teaching methods and course administration are key elements to achieving student satisfaction and their subsequent loyalty.

This research has been applied to a specific university, and it would be appropriate to expand the research to other institutions of higher education.

The appropriate management of the determinants of satisfaction is vital to the strategic decisions of universities.

The work centres on the analysis framework, on a new kind of student and on these students' specific demands, specifically on the demands satisfied through short courses aimed at updating previously acquired knowledge. Most prior works focus on analysing the satisfaction with university degrees and on the educational offer that these organisations can provide, such as continuing education and/or complementary courses.

Globalization, competition and market saturation have caused a growing interest by firms in developing strategies directed at creating brand loyalty among their customers, especially in markets with low growth rates. In order to reach this objective, relationship marketing must be applied, which considers the mutual benefits derived from the creation of stable relationships between buyers and sellers. The study herein developed analyses the existence of groups of customers from the service sector who value the offer of relational benefits by the organisation, in which benefits are centred basically on the relationship with the contact personnel. As a result, the customers state greater levels of satisfaction with and loyalty to the organisation.

The recent changes that have occurred in the Spanish university teaching environment, such as growing competition, have caused these courses to become an important differentiating element of what is offered by each university. Therefore, the authors propose to delve deeper into the relationship existing between satisfaction and the intent to recommend the courses taken by the attendees.

The research developed in the paper endeavours to be a first approximation of the factors that determine the satisfaction of the people who attend the summer courses offered by a Spanish public university. Furthermore, this article analyses whether or not the satisfaction levels of the students translate into one of the positive behaviours that are set forth in specialised literature: recommendation. The information is based on the analysis of a self‐administered survey given to the students of the 2003 summer session after completing the course.

The results obtained show that the teaching staff, enrolment and course organisation are the elements that have an impact on student satisfaction, and they show that this satisfaction is what, to a large extent, explains the intent to recommend the courses. In addition to these three elements, and in order to increase the satisfaction levels of students, it is necessary to know the objectives that the students have.

This paper determines the elements that are potentially capable of generating satisfaction and the subsequent effect of the satisfaction on recommendations for the university (summer courses) have been analysed. Other papers analyse all universities, but this work analyses a university's summer courses.

The main objective of this study is to determine the factors that could have an impact on intentions to participate in regional tourism activities related to wine, from the Spanish customer's point of view.

This study analyses the opinions of potential wine tourists. They are asked about the importance they give to various items regarding intention to participate in wine tourism. These items have been taken from a review of the relevant literature. The dimensions that could have an impact on participation in tourism activities related to wine are determined through a factor analysis. These dimensions, together with the barriers traditionally encountered to any kind of tourism activity, are used in a regression analysis. The predictors of the intention to participate in wine tourism are thus determined.

The services offered by wineries, the possibility of increasing knowledge about the wine product, the possibility of providing leisure activities, and interest in the wine product, are factors that positively affect the intentions of potential wine tourists. In the context analysed, neither cost nor time nor distance act as barriers to the development of wine tourism.

Tourism agents are provided with data for successfully developing wine tourism. Thus, in addition to elements that can be controlled by the provider – such as winery services, activities for children, wine therapy activities and activities to increase knowledge of wine – elements that cannot be controlled also have an influence, such as a tourist's interest in wine. This makes it necessary to develop communication strategies that increase interest in the wine product and in related activities.

A review of the existing literature on the approach to wine tourism development allowed the authors to establish that there are no papers examining the determinants that could have an impact on participation in tourism activities related to wine in Spain. Moreover, the tested model includes incentives for, and barriers to, the strategic development of wine tourism.

Wine tourism is emerging as a lucrative industrial sector, capable of generating considerable economic development, and there are numerous wine‐producing regions that would like to become new tourist destinations. To do so the agents involved must know the incentives for and barriers to (the participation of) potential tourists, as well as the significance of those incentives and barriers. This paper seeks to address these issues.

An analysis of opinions from a sample of residents in Aragón, an important wine‐producing region of Spain, established the main groups of existing incentives. Subsequently, a model of structural equations was considered, to establish what effect the previously‐obtained incentives and different existing barriers have on the intention to generate wine tourism.

The results indicate that the services offered by wineries and the appeal of the destination are the key incentives. Moreover, personal barriers constitute the main impediment to participating in wine tourism, with structural barriers taking second place.

It is necessary to develop strategies that increase interest in the wine product and in related activities, in order to successfully develop wine tourism, considering that, in the case studied, neither cost nor time nor distance act as barriers for developing wine tourism.

A review of the existing literature shows that, in spite of the growing interest in wine tourism over the last five years in Spain, much remains to be explored. An analysis of the factors that could have an impact on participation in tourism activities related to wine in Spain is among the topics receiving little attention. The tested model includes incentives for, and barriers to, the strategic development of wine tourism. This model represents the first empirical proposal for the Spanish case.