The Effectiveness of Customer-Centric Approach in Understanding Tourist Behaviour: Selected Tour Companies in Arusha, Tanzania

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