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This paper reports on a study of consumer loyalty in the holiday destination selection process. The study does not define loyalty, but attempts to contribute to an understanding of the concept by applying a psychological measure of variety seeking directly to patterns of holiday destination choice. The measure used is based on the optimum stimulation level (OSL) concept. The guiding proposition in this study was that tourists with a high need for variety would display a varied pattern in their vacation destination selection and this assumption is modestly supported by the empirical findings. The results suggest that further experimentation with the OSL would be fruitful when combined with attitudinal measures and with precisely defined sets of tourist behaviours. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Value: CCM will be expected as the norm in the travel industry by customers of the future, yet it is only the innovators who gain real tangible benefits from this development. We outline current and future opportunities to truly place your customer at the centre and provide the organisation with some real savings/gains through the use of ICT Practical Implications: We offer tangible examples for travel industry on how to utilise this new technology. The technology is already available and the ICT companies are keen to establish ways how consumers can utilise it, i.e. by providing 'content' for these ICT products the travel industry can fully gain from these developments and also enhance consumers' gains from it. This can result in more satisfied customers for the travel (as well as ICT) companies thus truly adopting the basic philosophy of marketing

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Purpose -Aims to examine the services and facilities provided by public parks revealing that the attributes corresponding to performance of service delivery involve the interaction between non-human aspects of physical environment and emotional experience of users which differ from common human aspects of service quality. Also, a service quality programme without reference to other service providers can easily lead to misguided or counterproductive service improvement strategies. Design/methodology/approach -The present study suggests an integrative approach to diagnosing service quality of public parks that comprises an assessment of performance outcomes and desires to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of service quality and visitor satisfaction as regards frequent users and low users of public parks. Measures pertaining to this approach were examined by a survey of nine public parks in the county of Derbyshire in the UK. Findings -The results show the effect of individual attributes on visitor satisfaction and their diagnostic value for service improvements. The analysis of desires highlights the differences of pre-visit (prepurchase) evaluation variables between frequent users and low users.Research limitations/implications -The integrative approach of service quality analysis proposed by this study accounts for the limitations of relying on a single conventional measure of service quality. Originality/value -The differences may help identify new dimensions for further research and suggest future behavioural intentions such as loyalty and repeat visits. With the knowledge of individual service components that affect overall visitor satisfaction, managers can pin-point areas for improvement to overcome service shortcomings, and allocate scarce resources more effectively.

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Although branding of goods has received increased attention in both the academic and practitioner communities, research on place brand-building process has been sparse. This study seeks to address this lacuna and proposes a four-component place brand-building framework. namely: determining a brand vision, communicating the brand vision, managing partnerships, and measuring brand performance. The validity of this conceptual framework is assessed using Surrey Hills as a case study. Drawing on the findings of the case study, important challenges are identified that face emerging work on place brands. Some of the emerging issues include control, funding, and stakeholder commitment.