02-180-3475-43-i

ECONÓMICAS

Carbache & Bazurto / Económicas CUC, vol. 43 no. 2, pp. 35–52, July – December, 2022

CUC

Marketing strategy for the commercialization of the tourist destination Jama, Manabí

Estrategia de marketing para la comercialización del destino turístico Jama, Manabí

	DOI: https://doi.org/10.17981/ econcuc.43.2.2022.Org.1	Abstract The purpose of this research is to address the marketing strategies for the commercialization of the Jama tourist destination in the province of Manabí (Ecuador). The methodological design used was descriptive, quantitative-qualitative, since a Likert scale questionnaire and an interview with the mayor of the Decentralized Autonomous Government were applied. The main results found are that 47.9% stated they fully agree that the offer of tourist products: sun and beach, archeology, sports, culture, gastronomy; attract visitors. For this reason, 43.8% consider that Jama should be a tourist destination with a city brand image. And for this, 52.1% think that the use of digital platforms would be the appropriate tools to market this tourist destination. It is established that consumers of the Jama destination, due to its tourism products, can become a tourist power after the passage of the pandemic. Keywords: Marketing; Strategies; Commercialization; Tourist Destination Resumen La presente investigación tiene como finalidad, abordar las estrategias de marketing para la comercialización del destino turístico Jama en la provincia de Manabí (Ecuador). El diseño metodológico utilizado fue de tipo descriptivo, cuantitativo-cualitativo, ya que se aplicaron un cuestionario de escala de Likert y una entrevista al alcalde del Gobierno Autónomo Descentralizado. Los principales resultados encontrados son que el 47.9% manifestaron estar totalmente de acuerdo en que la oferta de los productos turísticos: sol y playa, arqueología, deportes, cultura, gastronomía; atraen a los visitantes. Por ello el 43.8% consideran que Jama debe ser un destino turístico con una imagen de marca ciudad. Y para ello el 52.1% piensa que el uso de las plataformas digitales sería la herramienta adecuada para comercializar este destino turístico. Queda establecido que los consumidores del destino Jama, por sus productos turísticos, pueden llegar a convertirse en una potencia turística luego del paso de la pandemia. Palabras clave: Marketing; Estrategias; Comercialización; Destino Turístico

	Scientific and technological research article. Date of reception: 09/02/2021 Return date: 29/07/2021 Date of acceptance: 22/02/2022 Date of publication: 01/03/2022

	César Carbache Mora $E:\Users\aromero17\Downloads\orcid_16x16.png$ Universidad Laica “Eloy Alfaro” de Manabí Extensión SUCRE - Bahía de Caráquez (Ecuador) cesarcarbache@gmail.com

	Jorge Bazurto Guerrero $E:\Users\aromero17\Downloads\orcid_16x16.png$ Universidad Laica “Eloy Alfaro” de Manabí Extensión SUCRE - Bahía de Caráquez (Ecuador) jorgebazurtoguerrero31@gmail.com

	. How to cite this article:: Carbache, C. & Bazurto, J. (2022). Marketing strategy for the commercialization of the tourist destination Jama, Manabí. Económicas CUC, 43(2), 35–52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17981/econcuc.43.2.2022.Org.1
	JEL: M30, M31, M37, L83.

Introduction

Jama is a town located north of the province of Manabí in Ecuador, it has a population of 23 253 inhabitants. Its administrative headquarters is the city of Jama. The majority of the population is dedicated to livestock farming, fishing and tourism. Scholars of history, based on archaeological findings assured that before the Spanish influence, Jama was the settlement of a cultural civilization which bore that name. It is also said that the word Jama means small iguana. It is considered the cradle of the ceremonial mask of the Golden Sun of the Jama Coaque Culture. According to studies carried out by archaeologists from the University of Pittsburgh, the Jama culture is the oldest and most advanced in Latin America at the time.

Jama has charming beaches between large cliffs. Hotels have been installed on top of the hills that allow visitors enjoy a wide view along its coastal lines and profile. It enjoys semi-humid tropical primary forests, a varied fauna and a hydrography where aquaculture activities take place. With varied gastronomy from dishes based on shellfish, freshwater fish, to native chicken and dairy products due to its livestock activity. Jama is a potentially rich town, a pioneer in captive shrimp production. The name comes from an indigenous tribe called Jama, which means small iguana.

The purpose of this research work is to address marketing strategies to market the Jama tourist destination while knowing the current situation presented by the tourism sector in the face of the covid-19 pandemic.

It is very important to consider that marketing strategies, when applied efficiently, activate the commercialization of a destination, therefore, it is a set of actions aimed at achieving a competitive advantage that is sustainable over time and defendable against competition. The research is carried out because of the need for the tourist destination to be marketed.

This research consists of identifying relevant aspects that will influence the commercialization of the Jama tourist destination through marketing strategies, it will also give room for a better analysis of the current situation of the place and further propose strategies that will contribute to the effective commercialization of the Jama destination.

Theoretical Approach

Marketing strategies

Marketing is an organizational function and set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders (Ferrell & Hartline, 2012, p. 8).

The understanding of marketing strategies demands prior knowledge of the basic concept of marketing as highlighted by the author. It is that element that is part of the company as an internal process of designing, informing and generating value for the customers and the other company’s internal customers.

In addition to describing how a company is going to satisfy the needs and desires of its customers, a well-established marketing strategy can also include activities related to maintaining relationships with other reference groups, which allow them to attract and retain them (Ferrell & Hartline, 2016).

Marketing strategies are the set of tools that allow a product to be marketed in the target market, with a correct formulation and execution that lead to the success of the organization (Ferrell & Hartline, 2016).

Importance of marketing strategies

The importance of marketing strategies lies in the fact that they are varied and are what essentially sustain the organization. Without marketing strategies, a company will have serious challenges, since it does not have those elements to react to its adversities and even more so, to competition, implementation helps create environments that influence customer behavior (Cruz & Alencar, 2014).

Marketing strategies for a tourist destination

Marketing strategies considered in this research are essential elements to market a tourist destination and include the following:

Positioning strategy and its importance

“Positioning defines how a company wants to be perceived by target customers. Therefore, positioning is the application of the strategy of differentiation” (Sánchez, 1998, p. 116).

Positioning is the way in which a company or organization wants to be perceived by customers or users, given that this part of the application of a differentiation strategy, whose objective is specified in defining the promise offered by the product, its purpose is to occupy a unique position in the market and thus distinguishes itself as much as possible from the competition (Ugarte, 2007).

Positioning is important as it is a key point in current marketing practice as it relates to the product and its strategy. From here they can derive a series of decisions that will condition: the product strategy, price, communication, distribution and, in general, all aspects of marketing (Coca, 2007).

Positioning in the environment of commercial or service companies is essential to remain in the market. One of its strategic objectives is that in the end this will have an outstanding benefit that is normally reflected in the positive perception by consumers.

Experiential marketing

The marketing of experiences is that form that supposes motivation and stimulation in the purchase decision, that is, it seeks to connect the customer with a brand and company because customers are rational and emotional. Therefore, the strategies based on experiences generate a greater stimulus is their decisions, this is why it is very important in the tourism sector for visitors to have a motivation from the reason of visiting a destination, and more so, when the situation due to covid-19 pandemic has occasioned the lack of tourism consumers in the destination. However, Moral and Fernández (2012) stated that in experiential marketing, the client does not just evaluate the product by exclusively analyzing its characteristics and functional benefits, but in addition, studies what the experiences provided are depending on the situation on which consumption is done.

In experiential marketing, the value of a product or service offer is based on the emotions that it causes on communication and consumption that gratify the consumer and favor the brand. The change focuses on the experiences derived by the consumer when he relates with a brand (Galmés, 2015).

According to Schmitt (2006) the following are key characteristics of experiential marketing.

The primary framework is the customer experience, because this, unlike traditional marketing, considers that the user experience results from a stimulus generated by the consumer’s mind in certain situations, allowing him to connect in this case with the tourist destination; customers are rational and emotional people, real and potential customers are considered as a subject that base their decision making on rational elements, it is also based on emotions that awaken a consumption experience (p. 43).

Therefore, experiential marketing highlights the need to have a vision of the consumer as a person who is not only rational but also a subject who wants to capture stimulation and experience. Test of the consumption situation consists of experiential marketing where the customer evaluates the product by exclusively analyzing its functional characteristics and benefits, but also studies what experiences it provides depending on the consumption situation that is used. The experiences gotten by the customer during consumption is a key factor to achieve greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.

According to Pine and Gilmore (2001), an experience can engage customers in the following dimensions:

The degree of customer involvement. This variable can take two values: participation is active when the individual becomes a key element in the development and creation of his own experience, and passive participation of the client, in which the degree of his role in the development of said experience is not decisive for its success or good performance (p. 66).

The degree of connection or relationship of the client with the environment of the activity or event. Therefore, two levels of connection are distinguished; absorption, in which a person mentally evaluates the experience he enjoyed; and immersion, where the subject participates directly in the experience itself, whether physically or virtually, in the carrying out of the activity.

Sensation marketing

Sensory experiences can be created through sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. In the area covered by this research, marketing would have as its objective the management of the commercialization of a tourist destination, impacting the five senses of the public, in order to influence their behavior when visiting it. However, Caridad, Castellano and Hernández (2015) stated that the sensory experience refers to how individuals react to a stimulus in the offering of goods and services, ratifying the fact that the five senses participate in the purchase and consumption process.

Relational marketing

Relationship marketing means greater profitability and growth, it is not a change of procedure but a structural change. Relationships cease to be confrontational and become cooperative. The objectives pass from participation in the market to increasing customer share. Relationship marketing enhances the company’s learning about its customers and how they modify the company, its services and emerge as an added value (Guadarrama and Rosales, 2015).

However, “relationship marketing seeks to promote a stable relationship over time as long as both parties obtain value for its maintenance” (Aguado, 2015, p. 108). For Kotler (2000):

Relationship marketing aims to build long-term, mutually satisfying relationships among key parties (customers, suppliers, distributors) in order to win and retain long-term preferences and business. Effective salespeople achieve this by promising and delivering high quality products and services at fair prices to the other parties over time (p. 7).

Increasingly, the competition is not between companies, but between the network marketing options adopted as a link that is intended to unite buyer-seller, and in this case, the destination-tourist in which it is necessary to obtain adequate information while maintaining necessary continuous and interactive communication to strengthening the relationship, consolidate and establish long-term relationships (Córdoba, 2009).

Given this statement, relational marketing consists of the design of a marketing network, in which those involved (tourist, accommodation, servers, gastronomy, bars officials, the academia and others) provide their support, in this case the marketing of the destination to which they belong, a relationship that will generate a greater attractiveness of the destination, so that consumers feel satisfied when they visit the Jama tourist destination.

Touristic marketing

Touristic marketing permits knowing and understanding the market to be able to create a truly attractive, competitive and diverse offer in order to acquire customers who are willing to consume tourism products or services (Marmol and Ojeda, 2016, p. 8).

Tourism marketing is part of marketing strategies which is responsible for guiding the marketing of products or services of companies and organizations that make up the tourism sector. However, Lemoine, Montesdeoca, Víllacis and Hernández (2020) consider that for this, the behavior of the tourism consumer and their needs must be analyzed, in addition to knowing the characteristics of the markets and environment that surround the companies in the tourism sector and the marketing strategies that are intended to be executed to take advantage of both the design, creation, distribution, communication of tourist products, thus promoting the satisfaction of tourists to generate a competitive advantage that differs from other tourist destinations. This is the reason for the joint importance of the analysis of the consumer behavior in their economic, social, cultural and environmental environment to verify how each of them affects consumer behavior.

Tourism marketing offers parameters to make the sale of tourism services or products more tangible and using the media (films, catalogues, photos, exhibitions, sketches, etc.) to try to simulate the materialization of its promises. Therefore, when a potential customer or target consumer group finds it impossible to physically taste, feel, smell a product, it is the promise of satisfaction that induces a purchase (Aires and Nicolau, 2010, p. 246).

Digital marketing

Digital marketing is everything related to the digital environment, that is, the set of actions related to the research, creation and promotion or marketing of a product through the various platforms provided on the internet, it also detects the needs of consumers through this medium, for the creation of strategies that are implemented in the digital environment (Cibrián, 2018).

More and more tourism entities or companies are using ICT (Information and Communications Technology), especially the Internet, as a means of promoting their tourism products and services. New technologies have changed people’s perception of life in terms of consultation on prices and speed of information on different travel services, forcing cities to market themselves as a product (Andrade, 2016).

As it stands today due to the situation of the pandemic, the digital environment has become the main tool for marketing particular products or services. This way, the tourism sector, as the main economic activity in the area, has been the most affected, for which the members (tourism workers, officials, and the academia) must go to the digital medium to get informed on actions that must be carried out for obtaining economic income. The protagonist of digital marketing is the customer due to the fact that, in the planning of a marketing strategy, currently there has been a shift from concern about communicating the characteristics of the product to considering the consumer’s experience for the development of a communication with the client as that protagonist.

Commercialization

This is the strategy that uses the human psyche, and it also represents a set of rules that must be observed in the growth of a product, service or business. Therefore, the marketing decision is made up of four essential components: when, where, to whom and how, in addition, marketing consists of identifying the wishes or needs of consumers to provide them with better satisfaction than competitors to obtain a profit (Rizo-Mustelier, Villa-Tabares, Vuelta-Lorenzo & Vargas-Batis, 2017).

One of the peculiarities of the tourism market is that in tourism, the demand has to travel from its usual place of residence to the location of the tourist destination in order to obtain its services which undoubtedly implies a marketing approach that is different from placing the product at a marketplace.

As there is no physical transfer of a tourist product or service from the place it is offered to the residence of the real or potential consumer, there must be a mechanism to arrange for the market to be interested in acquiring it, therefore its commercialization must be carried out through the media more frequently to offer to the tourist demand an experience supplied (Gândara et al., 2012).

In the marketing of the tourist product it is difficult to separate the communication and distribution tools, but it is a key factor in the success of the destination, in addition to the satisfaction and quality expectation of potential tourists. It is for this reason that the communication and distribution action go together and are carried out at the same time (brochures, special promotions, sales promotions, fairs), for this reason, market studies, available resources, the business and competitive environment, the market segments that can be addressed, among others, are essential (Idelhadj, Rivera and Rodríguez, 2012).

Tourist destination

A tourist destination is a physical space in which a tourist spends at least one night. It includes tourist products such as support services, tourist attractions and resources that can be consumed in a round trip on the same day, it has the physical and administrative limits that determine its judgment just as images and perceptions determine its position in the market. Destinations incorporate various agents, including local society, and can establish networks that form larger destinations. Among the components of the destination are the resources, accommodation, equipment, tourist infrastructure, perception, where the image of the place is an essential element of positive or negative perception that the visitor might have (Barrado, 2004).

In the case of the Jama destination, it has a register of lodging places (Figure 1):

Figure 1. Lodging register.

Source: ULEAM Tourism Observatory (2020).

Stages in the process of selecting a destination

In this process there are three successive phases; before the purchase and purchase decision, during the vacations and evaluation of the tourist after his trip. It can be seen that the first phase is subdivided into three stages; recognition of need, search for alternatives and obtaining information, and evaluation of alternatives. Consequently, the second phase includes the purchase and consumption decision, and finally after the experience, the customer evaluates the perceived attention (Bigné, Font and Andreu, 2000).

Advertising and media to market a destination

At present, the advancement of technology has once again proven the evolution in the communication process over time, because the integration of new media leads to changes in society, adapting to the new media from the first writing method, then radio, television and finally the internet, the latter that has revolutionized a boom in times of the pandemic (Véjar, 2006).

Tourism promotion is one of the great pillars of Integrated Marketing Communication (CIM). This refers to communicating to potential tourists (customers) about a tourist offer. In the case of the promotion of destinations, tourism instruments of traditional and non-traditional promotion are identified (Castillo-Palacio and Castaño-Molina, 2009). Promotion is understood as the activities that communicate product attributes and persuade consumers towards its acquisition (Ejarque, 2005).

Materials and methods

The methodological design used was descriptive, quantitative and qualitative, since an 11-item Likert scale questionnaire and 4 individual questions were administered. The SPSS (version 2.0) program was used for the validation and reliability of the questions administered. An interview was conducted with the Mayor of the Decentralized Autonomous Government (GAD) of the Jama town.

Results

The results of the administration of the survey on a sample of 73 consumers of the Jama tourist destination, indicate that 61.6% are female, and 38.4% are male. That 47.9% of those consulted were in the age range of 18-35 years; 34.2% were in the age range of 36-55 years, while 17.8% were in the age range of 56-65 years.

Table 1.

Promotion

		Frequency	Percentage	Valid percentage	Accumulated percentage
valid	Totally agree	43	58.9	58.9	58.9
	Okay	26	35.6	35.6	94.5
	Neither agree nor disagree	4	5.5	5.5	100.0
	Total	73	100.0	100.0