Download Significance of Internal Marketing Communications in

International Journal of
Strategic Innovative Marketing
Vol. 02 (2015) DOI: 10.15556/IJSIM.02.02.005
Significance of Internal Marketing
Communications in Destinations
Gökçe Özdemir1,a, Özge Adan2
1Department
of Tourism Management, Yasar University, Izmir, Turkey
2Vocational
a)Gökçe
School, Izmir, Turkey
Özdemir: [email protected]
Abstract: According to the nature of the sector, tourism is a labor intensive industry and
thereby employees are accepted as part of product or service experience. In this regard,
employees have an impact on the quality of the services and the outcome of the service
process. The concept of internal marketing, which is dealing with relations between
organizations and employees, is used as an effective marketing and management tool at the
tourism organizations as well as in destinations. In this sense, internal marketing enables
the destinations to be positioned and promoted successfully through a single brand image
of the destination. Internal marketing is also vital for the destination marketing
organizations to retain and increase the number of the members among the destination
stakeholders. Success on internal marketing can only be achieved through appropriate
communication channels with a clear message with the right timing to link the private and
public sector in the objective of sustainable tourism development and improvement as well
as enhancing the quality of tourism experience. In this study the internal communication
process and its scope between Izmir Convention and Visitors Bureau (Izmir CVB) as an
urban destination marketing organization and its stakeholders is analyzed and evaluated.
Internal marketing between Izmir CVB and its stakeholders are analyzed through
quantitative research depending on interpretations of several interviews with the member
organizations. This study reveals the deficiencies of the internal communication, internal
marketing techniques and some suggestions on developing the communication techniques
between Izmir CVB and its stakeholders.
Keywords:
Destination
marketing,
Internal
Marketing,
Destination
Marketing
Organizations, Internal Marketing Communications
Introduction
To enhance the tourism experience of the visitor, stakeholders of a destination should
be communicated effectively and motivated accordingly to provide a better service. In
fact, this communication should also result with a possible cooperation of stakeholders
in favor of destination’s management and marketing processes. Since the destination
experience of the visitor depends on the individual or the tourism actors’ services, local
61
62
SIGNIFICANCE OF INTERNAL MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN DESTINATIONS
people and service providers in tourism should be motivated and trained to
enhance the destination experience of the visitor. In this sense, the beginning of
relevant process should be with the stakeholders that are members of the Destination
Marketing Organization. However, Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) should
try to satisfy not only the tourists or travel intermediaries but also its members
considering the needs and wants of each member within an understanding of
cooperation. Though, marketing techniques are mainly used in accordance with the
motivation of stakeholders with various interests at a destination to achieve a mutual
outcome for each party. In order to create a cooperative behavior amongst members,
internal communication should be flawless and consistent which also make the DMO’s
destination brand management more powerful and effective.
Because Destination Marketing Organizations’ utmost objective is to market the
destination, with their very limited budget many marketing efforts are handled such as
familiarization trips, participating in tourism fairs, producing and distributing print
materials and/or creating an informative, attractive and interactive destination website.
In addition, Destination-Marketing Organizations need to communicate these
marketing efforts to its members to keep them informed about the process and
progress. In this sense, internal marketing is considered as a significant means to
manage relationships and coordinate activities beneficial for tourism at the destination.
With the recognition of the role of stakeholders in tourism management, it’s also vital to
increase the number of members of a DMO by providing high quality services in regard
to its functions. Therefore, since members’ support and contribution to the marketing
efforts is essential both monetarily and non-monetarily, the representatives should
have a word in the decision-making process which requires a continuous mutual
communication through a marketing-like approach.
On the other hand, internal marketing communication should involve a mutual
relationship and dialogue to assure a single destination brand construct. In this regard,
Sainaghi [1] points out that, the channels of communication can be more or less
structured: word of mouth, meetings, newsletters, bulletins, local media (television and
newspapers) and the style of communication tends to be informal. Thus, this study
aimed to find out the effectiveness of DMO’s internal marketing communication process
with its members that are the tourism stakeholders in the destination at the same
time. For this purpose, DMO’s internal marketing efforts are investigated through
structured questions directed to the members after that relevant literature is studied in
detail. Therefore, this research analyzes the point of view of stakeholder representatives
who are in the management positions in terms of internal communication.
Consequently, responses of DMO members to the questions during the in-depth
interview constitute the basis of the study. Overall, it is intended to find out the
necessary process of internal marketing communication with an understanding of its
significance in creating a successfully operating DMO.
1. Stakeholder Approach to Internal Marketing
Sartori et. al. [2] suggest that, several researches have focused on external marketing in
tourism, however interest in internal marketing aspects is increasing due to its
importance in the success of firms and destinations. Papasolomou [3] defines internal
marketing as an emphasis in considering employees as partners to an organization's
efforts of achieving organizational success, rather than a cost. Keelson and Polytechnic
[4] indicate that, internal marketing plays an important role in success of businesses
both in economic and non-economic perspective. Furthermore, internal marketing
practices are designed for attracting and retaining the most qualified and committed
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STRATEGIC INNOVATIVE MARKETING
63
employees for the organization [5]. Moreover, internal marketing dimensions are
needed in the management process in order to motivate employees and to achieve
employee loyalty [6]. According to Foreman and Money [7], this process requires
marketing tools and concepts to be used just as effectively with employees as internal
customers. Thereby, Huang and Rundle-Thiele [8] mention the function of internal
marketing to enable staff to understand their role with the ultimate view of achieving
quality service. So, any function that has either a positive or negative impact on the
market orientation of employees could be considered an internal marketing activity[9].
According to Ferdousa et. al. [10], orientation, development of internal marketing
programs and their implementations and internal outcomes like performance and firmemployee relationship are the utmost important factors of internal marketing. In
addition, Bansala et. al. imply that [5], adopting employee-friendly internal marketing
practices have beneficial impacts both on employee attitudes and behavior and on
organizational outcomes. On the other hand, Kang et al. [11] describe internal
marketing as an important approach for fostering a service-and customer-oriented
culture in an organization. Turkoz and Akyol [12] also explain internal marketing with
the need of a marketing-like approach which cannot be isolated from external
marketing to succeed in achieving organizations’ objectives [13]. Ferdousa et. al. also
mention that[10], during applying internal marketing activities, connection with
external marketing activities, is an essential characteristic of an organization’s internal
marketing activity. Additionally, Grönroos [14] points out the need of a continuous
development of the competencies and resource structure of the firm along with internal
marketing.
Presenza et al. [15] defines tourism stakeholder as any entity that is influenced by,
or that may influence, the achievement of the destination management activities as
performed by the DMO. The success of a DMO in meeting its objectives depends
critically on its ability to address the requirements and aspirations of a wider array of
groups that have their own particular interests, or stake [16]. On the other hand,
cooperative behavior among actors and stakeholder groups in tourism destinations is
considered as an interpersonal business [17]. According to Fyall et al. [18], the DMO is
to be encouraged and supported by its industry partners to provide leadership, clarity,
and consistency of strategic direction for the longer term results to be accrued.
Therefore, a DMO’s one of the functions is to create and maintain relationships with
the destination stakeholders [19] which much of DMO’s activities are focused on
securing stakeholder support to meet short term financial objectives [20]. To realize its
mandate, the DMO must have an understanding of the stakeholders that can influence
the attainment of its objectives to develop and promote tourism at the particular
destination. In this regard, internal marketing of DMOs requires continuous
communication focus that is rich and meaningful in content with the stakeholders
which contributes to the satisfaction of members and results in the increase of
members that are willing to cooperate.
The partnerships between the public and private sector, and close co-operation
between all local suppliers are the keys to the ability of destinations to offer quality
products [21]. DMOs potentially have a great diversity of its stakeholders [22]. Cox et.
al. [23] states that, because stakeholders within a network brand are championing
their own brand as well as combining to create the network brand, communication and
leadership as management tools for destination brand networks is essential. This
multiple networks of actors exist in proximity to each other forming mutual service
chains, service networks, and interactions [24]. It is therefore important to discover
ways in which each of the entrepreneurs at a tourist destination feels that his/her
64
SIGNIFICANCE OF INTERNAL MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN DESTINATIONS
company is affected by tourism, so that suitable models and tools can then be
found to involve different enterprises in the effective marketing of their destination [25].
The context of cooperative behavior among actors and organizations in tourist
destination communities comprises various areas and intensities of cooperation [17].
DMOs should join and pool resources to develop and implement comprehensive
marketing strategies that enable them to compete with other destinations [21]. On the
other hand, the collaborative marketing relationships can further be complicated by the
fact that local tourism-related organizations and businesses in a destination may
conduct marketing activities with others at different levels and in various dimensions
[26].
With so many different stakeholders involved in the tourism phenomenon, it becomes
very challenging to find common grounds among the various agenda [27]. Ultimately,
the competitiveness of destinations depends on their ability to maximize their
performance for each individual element assessed [21]. As the tourism system context
becomes increasingly fragmented and volatile, its stakeholders are pressured to adapt
collaboration principles to everyday practice, particularly in the planning and
marketing areas [28]. Thus, marketing of destinations should balance the strategic
objectives of all stakeholders as well the sustainability of the local resources [21].
Instead of competing against each other independently, tourism firms are ‘cast’ as
actors in a tourism business network trying to ‘out-rival’ other destination
networks[28]. Thus this network, created by a DMO and managed through an internal
marketing framework by the coordination of stakeholders, enables destinations to be
more competitive, and effective in branding practice. Especially in the branding of
destinations, collaboration and cooperation of the stakeholders is vital to achieve a
strong brand image of the destination through development of valuable partnerships.
Moreover, Cox et. al. [23] point out that, communication as a means to build
relationships and of creating brand knowledge, communication styles need to be
flexible to reach the diverse range of network stakeholders. Hence, the communication
styles have tremendously changed over time with the rise of social media and related
platforms such as forums, blogs and etc. which ensure communication of the
destination brand with each stakeholder on a continuous manner. In addition,
according to Kemp et. al.[29], with the commitment of residents to branding of
destination, residents will act like ambassadors and this will increase touristic
revenues of the destination. In addition, motivation of residents also enable them to
support and perform in consistent with the destination brand that facilitates the
destination to differentiate itself from its counterparts. Furthermore, to generate
destination brand awareness, to obtain support from the residents, and to increase
long term revenues of tourism,
internal branding for residents has become
essential[30]. In this case, it is very important to gain local residents’ support while
creating a destination brand and maintaining touristic activities successfully in the
destination [29]. Desirable incomes from residents of destination could be increased in
terms of destination marketing and branding, if destination marketers understand their
role in the process [30]. Destination branding should have a consistent mix of brand
elements to identify and distinguish a destination through positive image building [31].
Instead of acting independently and performing individual or institutional destination
marketing activites, Buhalis propose that[21], tourism establishments and other actors
should join and pool resources to develop and implement comprehensive marketing
strategies that enable them to compete with other destinations. Given the importance
that image of a destination changes over time, and it is developments at the destination
that steer the processes of change that form and shape the special characteristics of
the destination [25], imaging of a destination is handled by the DMO’s marketing
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STRATEGIC INNOVATIVE MARKETING
65
experts or a professional marketing agency handles the whole process. Although
organic images are not controllable, they can be borrowed, leveraged, and managed to
supplement the intended image building to the extent that they benefit spreading
activation and consequently enhance the brand identity of the destination [31]. In this
regard, since re-imaging and branding of destinations require a professional approach,
Therefore, ensuring that senior management’s desired positioning in the market is
consistent with what is actually being delivered is vitally important if the brand is to
succeed [32].
2. Internal Communication
Several authors stress the necessity for effective internal communications as part of an
internal marketing program[33]. According to, Hume and Bus[34], internal marketing
generates and disseminate knowledge by taking input from internal and external
sources. Internal communication, often perceived as a synonym for intra-organizational
communication, is quite often associated with employee communication [35]. In fact,
giving information to employees about policies, procedures and processes of a company
could be done by means of internal communication in the management process[6].
Developing a sense of community through internal communication efforts involves
creating and maintaining strong relationships between an organization, supervisors,
and employees [36]. Thus, in order to build trust, it is important that organizations
function in a transparent manner [5] which internal communication can enable.
According to Welch [37], successful internal communication can stimulate employee
awareness of opportunities and threats, and develop employee understanding of their
organization’s changing priorities. Employees also entail information on customer
needs, on their organization, and on how their contribution is vital to the organization
and its customers [9]. Even though conventional channels, such as via paper, email,
and face-to-face communication remain important for communicating in organizations,
intranets and social media have regularly been adding to these channels [38]. Knowing
the types of internal communication (vertical, horizontal, grapevine and consensus;
formal and informal) is not enough when trying to create a fruitful and reliable
communication atmosphere within an organization [39]. So, internal communication
assessment currently focused on process explanations should be more focused on the
content of the communication itself, how well it is provided, or understanding [40]. In
fact, if employees feel such communication is conducted incorrectly, the poor
communication process could unintentionally damage internal relationships [37].
However, Menga ve Pan [41] suggests five essential elements in measuring internal
communications: conducting extensive research to generate tiered communication
objectives; connecting communication messaging with organization’s internal business
process; introducing multiple dialogs/approaches to drive effectiveness; actively
managing employee feedback to drive higher level of satisfaction in learning and growth
objectives; integrating measurement quality, response time, and continuous
justification with its strategic initiatives. Internal communications can also contribute
to organizational commitment and play a part in developing a positive sense of
employee identification [37]. In this sense, Ruck and Welch [40] points out the
necessity of a stronger balance between communication related to an individual’s role
and wider internal corporate communication which according to Welch[37] contributes
to positive internal relationships by enabling communication between senior managers
and employees. Karanges et. al. [36] also focuses on the importance of internal
communication in facilitating supervisor–employee relationships as a vehicle to express
66
SIGNIFICANCE OF INTERNAL MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN DESTINATIONS
values and goals, and in turn, pave the way for favorable organization–employee
relationships.
According to Omilion-Hodges and Baker [42], internal communication plays a
significant role in organizational functionality; mainly in strategically influencing the
ways employees talk about the organization with one another and with those outside
the organization. Despite the fact that, internal marketing plays such an important
role, Welch [37] highlights the prominent role of communicators with persuasive
writing and rhetorical messaging skills in addition to detailed understanding of media
affect. Thus, intelligence concerning employee needs includes formal and informal
internal communications as well as the receptiveness of the organization to meeting
employee needs in the long run [43]. Omilion-Hodges and Baker [42] also comes with
the idea that internal communication should be done as opposed to engaging,
informing, and dialoging with associates in a strategic, purposeful, and authentic
manner. In fact, whereas external stakeholders may influence an organization’s profit
margin, internal stakeholders shape its identity and can arguably also have a great
effect on the organization’s bottom line due to the variability of organizational
boundaries [42]. Hence, internal communication needs to be managed strategically to
be as effective as possible to function successfully [44]. Such communication is enacted
through the careful development of not only message content and careful attention of
the source and timing of the message, but also consideration regarding the way the
message will be received and understood by employees [42]. However, as Borcaa and
Baesua [39] imply, creating efficient and effective internal communication is not an
easy process.
3. Methodology
The research comprises of a qualitative study to analyze the internal communication
process among the DMO and its members. In this study, the mutual communication of
Izmir Convention and Visitors Bureau and its members has been analyzed through a
qualitative research. During the research, 45 members of Izmir CVB which consist of
hotels, travel agencies, destination marketing companies and municipalities are subject
to study. Therefore, each member is contacted to find out the internal marketing
communication process and its significance in the marketing of destinations through
studying Izmir CVB with an in-depth analysis. Since the number of the members is
not very high to conduct a quantitative research, the authors preferred to conduct
qualitative research through structured interviews that comprised of 15 questions.
These 15 questions for the structured interview were prepared depending on the
previous researches in the field of internal marketing and the questions were
determined after a detailed literature review to facilitate in the identification of the
communication process and the analysis of its effectiveness through internal
destination marketing process managed by DMOs. Qualitative questionnaire was
developed by adapting the Nigel et al. [45] questionnaire through restructuring and
reevaluation of the questions that thought to provide useful and significant information
in terms of internal communication.
After identifying the list of Izmir CVB members, the researchers contacted each
member via office telephone to ask for an appointment in regard to the planned
research. The relevant managers are informed about the research and explained about
the possible results of the study to the tourism. However, DMO members that
researchers contacted neither accepted the interview nor gave an appointment with an
excuse of lack of time when asked to answer some questions during the interview. The
members indicated the reason to reject to spend time for the interview because of their
busy jobs, but they accepted to answer the questions via e-mail. Accordingly, questions
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STRATEGIC INNOVATIVE MARKETING
67
within the structured interview were sent via e-mail to the ones in the managerial
positions of DMO members. Later, the answers collected from the managers who
accepted to participate in the research were analyzed and discussed in view of the
creation of a suitable approach that can be applied by the DMOs in terms of internal
marketing.
4.
Findings and Discussion
The questionnaire was covering structured questions that help the researchers to
analyze the approach of DMO members in regard with internal marketing. Members of
the DMO stated that there is a mutual trust between their establishments and DMO
which in fact underlies the basis of organizational success. There was also an emphasis
in the statements of the respondents that years-long cooperation along with mutual
climate of trust was established with DMO and their members. On the other hand, a
few members indicated their opinions in favor of not having complete mutual trust.
Additionally, members complained about not having adequate communication between
the management of DMO and the members. Since DMOs are umbrella organizations of
the service providers particularly in marketing of destinations, it’s understandable that
members are willing to take part in the decision making process. The research
indicates that members are expecting a continuous communication through various
channels such as e-mails or meetings instead of only getting together in general
meetings. The members also stated that they would like to participate in the decision
making process more actively since they are part of DMO that pay fees as a financial
support to the organization. One of these DMO members stated that, they were
communicating to the organization only when DMO informed their establishment.
Another member explained himself as having an effort to cooperate with DMO within
the scope of a project that was related with the accommodation sector for the
promotion of their city.
In the study, members admit in their statements that DMO’s decisions about their
city certainly have a positive effect on their services and also the destination’s image.
Additionally, members agree on each and every decision in favor of the city’s
development that enhances the quality of services and the tourist experience. The
study adds to the existing literature on the cooperation of different stakeholders so that
the best results from such communication emerge [46], [47]. The efforts of DMOs
especially affect CVBs in the candidacy process that aim to highlight the city as a
convention destination and impress meeting planners. Thus, some members argue that
the representation of city and service providers in the international platform provide
positive feedback in terms of both social and economic perspective. On the contrary,
some other members implied that DMO’s marketing efforts don’t have any influence on
the service providers’ business. For instance, one of Turkey's biggest convention
centers which is a member of Izmir CVB especially stressed disappointment about the
fact that they had too many expectations as a member and partner of the DMO, but
unfortunately substantial contribution was not observed by their own establishment.
According to the responses, most of the members stated that that DMO hadn’t given
compromise. It was pity that there was also a statement of having no necessary
knowledge about the DMO’s efforts which are quite extraordinary impression for a
member. On the other hand, few of the members stated that they believe the
compromise was given to organizations which were located in stanbul. Almost all the
managers indicated that their objectives were matching up with DMO’s objectives. The
members also believe that an increase in international reputation of the city through
promotional efforts of the DMO would also result with a substantial increase in tourist
68
SIGNIFICANCE OF INTERNAL MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN DESTINATIONS
arrivals. Another objective of the service providers in addition to organizational
economic gains is that every company should contribute to the social and
environmental values of the district it locates. Additionally, one of the objectives DMOs
have is to increase the share of the city in the convention tourism market where the
service providers can also benefit from. While members were satisfied with the common
objectives that they carry out, there were also some criticisms about DMOs objectives
and to what extent it has reached its objectives. The research indicates that members
have a little doubt about marketing practices of the DMO. Therefore, DMO should be
clearer in its objectives and should let the members participate in the decision making
process.
In their statements, members emphasized that they have knowledge about DMO’s
priorities which is particularly creating and promoting products in terms of convention
and event tourism. However, there was lack of information about additional issues
related to the organization. On the other hand, members indicated that they would like
to get information about the activities and the processes more often and with more
detail. It’s promising that most of the members are aware of how to contribute to the
DMO through their businesses. According to a member’s statement, their common goal
was to attract customers meetings that took place in the city. Besides, members believe
that in order to attract several conventions to Izmir, firstly DMO has to convince
meeting planners that they are successful in the organization of these conventions with
remarkable outcomes.
During the research, for the question related to communication channels, nearly all
the members stated that mostly electronic mail was used sufficiently that increases
efficiency in terms of speed and accessibility with DMO and phone was rarely used in
communication. Almost every member stated that there wasn’t any online network
besides electronic e-mail which could be great to have. Others indicated that there was
an additional online platform that was not used very efficiently according to some
members. Most of the members believe that DMO’s website provides easy access to
information with its functional interface. However, members agreed among each other
that DMO website is not an efficient information resource and has to be developed with
the wider details regarding information about the city. In addition, they have declared
that, in order to have an increase in the visitation of the website, the content should be
updated more frequently and the appearance should be more appealing. Research has
shown that DMO’s websites are among the most important communication tools that
visitors of a destination employ [48], [49], [50].
The members’ role in the management of DMO and in which context they have the
right to speak was also investigated through this research. Nearly all the members
stated that they do not have any role in management and decisions are taken by the
president and board of directors but the board is open to suggestions. Another concern
of the members is that they are not being briefed regularly on the objectives or about
the managerial and promotional issues of DMO because they cannot communicate on a
regular basis.
5. Conclusion and Implications
References
[1] Sainaghi, R. (2006). From contents to processes: versus a dynamic destination
management model (DDMM). Tourism Management, 27, 1053-1063.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STRATEGIC INNOVATIVE MARKETING
69
[2] Sartori, A., Mottironi, C., and Corigliano, M. A. (2014). Tourist destination brand
equity and internal stakeholders: An empirical research. Journal of Vacation Marketing,
18(4), 327–340.
[3] Papasolomou, I.D. (2003). Internal marketing in the UK retail banking sector:
rhetoric or reality. Journal of Marketing Management, 19, 197-224.
[4] Keelson, S. A. and Polytechnic, T. (2014). The moderating role of organizational
capabilities and internal marketing in market orientation and business success. Review
of Business and Finance Studies, 5(1), 1-17.
[5] Bansala, H.S., Mendelson, M.B. and Sharma, B. (2001). The impact of internal
marketing activities on external marketing outcomes. Journal of Quality Management, 6,
61–76.
[6] Narteh, B.and Odoom, R. (2015). Does Internal Marketing Influence Employee
Loyalty? Evidence From the Ghanaian Banking Industry. Services Marketing Quarterly,
36, 112–135.
[7] Foreman, S.K., Money, A.H. (1995). Internal marketing: concepts, measurement and
application. Journal of Marketing Management, 11, 755-768.
[8] Huang, Y. and Rundle-Thiele, S. (2014). The moderating effect of cultural
congruence on the internal marketing practice and employee satisfaction relationship:
an empirical examination of Australian and Taiwanese born tourism employees.
Tourism Management, 42, pp. 196-206.
[9] Conduit, J. and Mavondo F.T. (2001). How critical is internal customer orientation
to market orientation?. Journal of Business Research, 51, 11 – 24.
[10] Ferdousa, A. S., Herington,C. B. and Merrilees, B. (2013). Developing an integrative
model of internal and external marketing. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 21, pp. 637–
649.
[11] Kang, G. D., James, J. and Alexandris, K. (2002). Measurement of internal service
quality: application of the SERVQUAL battery to internal service quality. Managing
Service Quality, 12(5), 278-291.
[12] Turkoz, I. and Akyol, A. (2008). Internal marketing and hotel performance.
Anatolia: An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research, 19(1), 149-177.
[13] Palmer, A. (1996). Linking external and internal relationship building in networks
of public and private sector organizations: a case study. International Journal of Public
Sector Management, 9(3), 51-60.
[14] Grönroos, C. (1998). Marketing services: the case of a missing product. Journal of
Business & Industrial Marketing, 13(4-5), pp. 322-338.
[15] Presenza, A., Sheehan, L. and Ritchie, J.R.B. (2005). Towards a model of the roles
and activities of destination management organizations. Journal of Hospitality, Tourism
and Leisure Science, 3, 1-16.
[16] Garrod, B., Fyall, A., Leask, A. and Reid, E. (2012). Engaging residents as
stakeholders of the visitor attraction. Tourism Management, 33, 1159-1173.
[17] Beritelli, P. (2011). Cooperation among prominent actors in a tourist destination.
Annals of Tourism Research, 38(2), 607–629.
[18] Fyall, A., Callod, C. and Edwards, B. (2003). Relationship marketing: the challenge
for destinations. Annals of Tourism Research, 30(3), 644–659.
[19] Elbe, J., Hallén, L. and Axelsson, B. (2009). The destination management
organisation and the integrative destination marketing process. International Journal of
Tourism Research, 11, 283–296.
[20] Hankinson, G. (2009). Managing destination brands: establishing a theoretical
foundation. Journal of Marketing Management, 25(1-2), 97-115.
[21] Buhalis, D. (2000). Marketing the competitive destination of the future. Tourism
Management, 21, 97-116.
[22] Sheehan, L.R. and Ritchie, Jr.B. (2005). Destination stakeholders: exploring
identity and salience. Annals of Tourism Research, 32(3), 711-734.
70
SIGNIFICANCE OF INTERNAL MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN DESTINATIONS
[23] Cox, N., Gyrd-Jones, R. and Gardiner, S. (2014). Internal brand management
of destination brands: Exploring the roles of destination management organizations
and operators. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 3, 85–95.
[24] Gursoy, D. and Mccleary K.W. (2004). An integrative model of tourists’ information
search behavior. Annals of Tourism Research, 31(2), 353-373.
[25] Grangsjö, Y.V.F. (2003). Destination networking: co-opetition in peripheral
surroundings. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management,
33(5), 427-448.
[26] Wang, Y. and Fesenmaier, D.R. (2007). Collaborative destination marketing: a case
study of Elkhart County, Indiana. Tourism Management, 28, 863–875.
[27] Bornhorst, T., Ritchie, J.R.B. and Sheehan, L. (2010). Determinants of tourism
success for DMOs & destinations: an empirical examination of stakeholders’
perspectives. Tourism Management, 31, 572–589.
[28] D’angella, F. and Go, F.M. (2009). Tale of two cities’ collaborative tourism
marketing: towards a theory of destination stakeholder assessment. Tourism
Management, 30, 429–440.
[29] Kemp, E., Williams, K. H. and Bordelon, B. M. (2011). The impact of marketing on
internal stakeholders in destination branding: The case of a musical city. Journal of
Vacation Marketing, 18(2), 121–133
[30] Choo, H., Park S. Y. and Petrick, J. F. (2011). The Influence of the Resident's
Identification with a Tourism Destination Brand on Their Behavior,
Journal of
Hospitality Marketing & Management, 20, 198–216.
[31] Cai, L.A. (2002). Cooperative branding for rural destinations. Annals of Tourism
Research, 29(3), 720–742.
[32] King, C. and Grace, D. (2005). Exploring the role of employees in the delivery of the
brand: a case study approach. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal,
8(3), 277-295.
[33] Lings, I.N. (2004). Internal market orientation: construct and consequences.
Journal of Business Research, 57, 405-413.
[34] Hume, C. and Bus, M. H.B. (2015). The Critical Role of Internal Marketing in
knowledge management in not-for-Profit oganizations. Journal of Nonprofit & Public
Sector Marketing, 27, 23–47.
[35] Vercic, A.T., Vercic, D. and Srirameshc, K. (2012). Internal communication:
definition, parameters, and the future. Public Relations Review, 38, 223-230.
[36] Karanges, E., Johnston, K., Beatson, A. and Lings I. (2015). The influence of
internal communication on employee engagement: a pilot study. Public Relations
Review, 41, 129-131.
[37] Welch, M. (2012). Appropriateness and acceptability: employee perspectives of
internal communication. Public Relations Review, 38, 246-254.
[38] Huang, J., Baptista, J. and Galliers, R.D. (2013). Reconceptualizing rhetorical
practices in organizations: the impact of social media on internal communications.
Information & Management, 50, 112-124.
[39] Borcaa, C., Baesua, V. (2014). A Possible managerial approach for internal
organizational communication characterization, Procedia - Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 124, 496-503.
[40] Ruck, K., Welch, M. (2012). Valuing internal communication: management and
employee perspectives. Public Relations Review, 38, 294-302.
[41] Menga, J. and Pan, P. (2012). Using a balanced set of measures to focus on longterm competency in internal communication. Public Relations Review, 38, 484- 490.
[42] Omilion-Hodges, L.M. and Baker, C.R. (2014). Everyday talk and convincing
conversations: utilizing strategic internal communication. Business Horizons, 57, 435445.
[43] Toa, W.M., Martin Jr., E.F. and Yu, B.T.W. (2015). Effect of management
commitment to internal marketing on employee work attitude. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 45, 14-21.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STRATEGIC INNOVATIVE MARKETING
71
[44] Hume, J. and Leonard, A. (2014). Exploring the strategic potential of internal
communication in international non-governmental organizations. Public Relations
Review, 40, 294-304.
[45] Nigel, M., Bussy, D., Ewing M.T. and Pitt, L.F. (2003). Stakeholder theory and
internal marketing communications: a framework for analyzing the influence of new
media. Journal of Marketing Communications, 9(3), 147–161.
[46] Kavoura, A. and Katsoni, V. (2013) From e-business to e-commerce: collaboration
and network creation for an e-marketing tourism strategy. Tourismos: An International
Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism, 8(3), 113-128.
[47] Kavoura, A. (2013). Contemporary Approaches of the Scientific Theory of Place
Marketing - Place Branding in Globalized Conditions and Economic Crisis. USA: Nova
Publishers.
[48] Stavrianea, A. and Kavoura, A. (2015) Social Media’s and Online User-Generated
Content’s Role in Services Advertising, AIP, 1644, 318-324.
[49] Kavoura A. and Stavrianea, A. (2015) Following and Belonging to an Online Travel
Community in Social Media, its Shared Characteristics and Gender Differences,
Procedia, 175, 515-521.
[50] Királová, A. and Malachovský, A. (2014). Developing destination marketing strategy
for success, the case of the Cz Republic. International Journal of Strategic Innovative
Marketing, 1( 2), 91-102.