Abstract:
Experience shows that the best way to attract
and keep customers is by responding
positively to their preferences. The best
solution is to understand customer needs and
behaviour. Customer-centric approach is
predicted on successful understanding and
management of customer preferences.
However, there is no credible information on
the effectiveness of this approach, especially
in the East African tourist market. This study
examined effectiveness of the approach in
understanding
tourist
behaviour.
It
specifically assessed influence of customer
preferences management and customer-
business alignment on tourist behaviour. Out
of 446 tour companies licensed in 2018 in
Arusha, Tanzania, 210 were randomly
selected and studied. Key respondents were
sales/marketing
managers
purposively
selected from the samples. The study
adopted a quantitative research approach
where a semi-structured questionnaire was
used for data collection. Descriptive and
inferential statistics were used for data
analysis and multiple regression for
hypothesis testing Findings show that the
approach was significantly effective in
understanding tourist behaviour (p < 0.001; r
= 0.984) through customer preferences
management (r = 0.334) as well as customer-
business alignment both internally (r =
0.464) and externally (r = 0.318). This study
recommends automation of tour operators’
business practices focusing on understanding
and addressing new tourist expectations.
