Market orientation adoption in rural tourism: impact on business outcomes and the perceived value

Abstract

This is a summary of the author’s European mention PhD Thesis, supervised by Senior Lecturer Dolores María Frías Jamilena, and defended on May 28th, 2010 at the Department of Marketing and Market research of the University of Granada (Spain). In this doctoral thesis it is proposed that suppliers of rural tourism adopt market orientation, together with the use of ICT (information and communications technology), as a mechanism for driving up the value of the offer in the marketplace, and as a means of achieving improved business outcomes. In order to achieve the objectives outlined in this work, two studies have been carried out, one on the supply side of rural tourism and one on the demand side. On the basis of these two studies, a third, combined study of supply and demand in rural tourism has been carried out. The main contribution of the present study is in establishing the adoption of market orientation and the use of ICT as a competitive strategy for rural tourism enterprises, for their effect on the outcomes of business activity and on perceived value for tourists.