Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Niloufar Yazdi Esmaeili ¹
• Zahra Nadalipour ²

¹ M.A. in Tourism Marketing, University of Science and Culture, Tehran, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Department of Tourism, University of Science and Culture, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Today, customer orientation is one of the most important marketing indicators in the tourism system. On the other hand, one of the most up-to-date and efficient programs or strategies for attracting, retaining and satisfying customers is managing electronic communication with the customer. In this regards, understanding the role of electronic customer relationship management in facilitating destination selection from the perspective of managers and senior marketing experts of active travel and tourism agencies in Tehran, is the main purpose of this study. Regarding the tourism system, ignoring the ECRM can be considered as one of the main weaknesses of tourism in Iran, especially in tourism and travel agencies. The present study has been conducted through qualitative method with the aim of providing a model explaining the role of ECRM in facilitating destination selection. Therefore, grounded theory method and a non-probabilistic purposive sampling was used in to determine sample of study. In current study, use of grounded theory method tools such as data fragmentation, open coding and axial coding led to the identification of six main categories of causal conditions, subject-oriented, contextual or environmental conditions, intervening conditions, strategies and consequences. Causal conditions affecting decision-making and facilitating the choice of tourist destination include six psychological components (emotional and personality), ECRM, financial and economic, advertising, security and environmental, each of which has several sub-categories and concepts.
Introduction:
With the beginning of the 21st century and at the same time with the improvement of the living standards and livelihood of people all over the world, as well as rapid increase in the proportion of tourism expenses in the consumption basket of leisure time of families and the development of information technology, traditional tourism is more and more connected with the Internet and new technologies (Linking Lane, 2020). This combination of tourism and new communication technologies led to the emergence of Electronic Customer Relationship Management (ECRM), which in simple words is the practical use of Internet-based technologies including email, website, chat rooms, forums and other e-channels for achieving the goals of customer relationship management is done in a more efficient way using IT. Interacting, maintaining and creating customer loyalty is one of the basic steps of managing electronic communication with customers, which includes all the processes of marketing, sales and customer service in a psychological way (Mirf Kharaldini, Hatami Nasab and Talei Far, 2009).
Today, organizations are widely looking for ways to interact and communicate effectively with customers in order to influence them. Internet technology enables organizations to attract new customers, track their online behavior and performance, and personalize communications, products, services, and prices (Zamani Babgehari et al., 2023). ECRM was first proposed in 1999 in the seminar of the Tourism Association of Customer Relationship Management in England (Ivanuska, 2008). This new technology grew and expanded at such a speed that only after two decades of its emergence, many conquered the touristic countries of the world. Now, the question is, to what extent has the development of ECRM technology spread to Iran's tourism industry, and the owners of tourist service offices active in Tehran use this technology to facilitate the choice of tourists' destinations? Also, what role does it play in facilitating the destination selection process by tourists? In order to answer the questions raised, the method of grounded theory has been used.
 Materials and Methods:
This research was designed and conducted based on the methodology of grounded theory regarding its theoretical foundations, research method, data collection method, data analysis, and data validation. The population and statistical sample in this survey are made up of 10 managers and experts of travel service offices active in Tehran. According to the steps of the research strategy, the researchers referred to relevant experts to collect information to obtain first-hand data. Therefore, the sample of research in the database method is directed under the influence of each case (specialized semi-structured interviews or referred texts). In this way, the analysis of each interview will be the guide for the next interview. Sampling process continued until the theoretical adequacy was achieved, and for this reason, a total of 10 specialized semi-structured interviews were conducted considering the above criteria. The interviews were conducted and recorded between 30 and 60 minutes, so that by reviewing the conversations several times, a more accurate analysis and examination of the views of the participants could be done.
 Findings:
The main question revolves around the issue of "What role does the management of electronic communication with customers in active travel service offices in Tehran play in facilitating the process of choosing a destination for tourists?" Obtaining the answer to this question required the implementation of the central coding stage of the grounded theory method in order to establish a network between all discovered categories. Based on this, the categories extracted in the previous step (total of 6 categories) were cast in the form of core coding classes and arranged around the core category of "travel destination selection" as described in Figure 1.
Discussion and Results:
The primary goal of the current research was to investigate the role of ECRM in facilitating the process of destination selection by tourists. The achievement of conducting this research for the researcher and based on the interviews that were conducted was the understanding that not only the ECRM as a successful marketing technique, but also its components, in Iran, for offices Travel services - even with a long history of activity - are not very well known, but in practice, the managers of these offices prefer to attract and retain tourists using the same traditional methods such as telephone communication, verbal communication and face-to-face interactions. This study can have useful results for managers and planners in the related agencies. Nowadays, Managers will face challenges in the way of implementing programs related to ECRM. Communicating remotely and offline and impersonally through the Internet is a challenge to attract and gain trust. Trust can be basically an important obstacle in the way of implementing ECRM. In addition, the increased risk of data manipulation or loss of information can be another factor that slows down the management of ECRM. The lack of face-to-face contact play a big challenge in the implementation of ECRM. In addition, in an effort to quickly implement the ECRM, a large number of companies start implementing it before formulating a strategy, but many of them are dissatisfied with this system. The prolongation of the implementation process can be a sign of weakness in the establishment of ECRM. On the other hand, since the current research has examined and analyzed the issue from the point of view of managers and experts, it is suggested that in future researches, the demand side- the tourists' point of view-should also be in the center of attention for more precise dimensions of the subject to be determined.

Keywords

• Electronic Customer Relationship Management
• Tourism destination selection
• Travel Agencies
• Tehran

Main Subjects

• Information systems
• New tourism technologies