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364 long range
London: Longman. �Specifically addresses longitudinal
studies in tourism.)
PreÂau, P. �1983) `Le changement social dans une
touristique de montagne: Saint-Bon-Tarentaise
�Savoie)', Revue de GeÂographie Alpine 71�4): 407±29,
and 72�2±4): 411±37. �An example of a longitudinal
study of tourism impacts.)
long range
JOHN TOWNER, UK
Long range is a time frame for tourism strategic
planning where demand or supply conditions
are predicted or proposed for a considered distance
into the future. It is often related to national or
regional provision of tourism-related facilities,
services and infrastructure in response to a
forecast of tourist demand. Usually this is integrated
into national policy. Some tourism industry
suppliers have long-range plans and forecasts.
See also: longitudinal study
loyalty
RUSSELL ARTHUR SMITH, SINGAPORE
Customer loyalty is a preoccupation of marketers
in all areas, including tourism. Loyalty represents a
construct central to the study of tourist behaviour.
It is a well-known fact that keeping customers is less
expensive than creating new ones. The challenge is
to understand and appropriately use the factors
that will determine customer loyalty. What triggers
the emotional link so different to being just a
regular purchaser is an important focus. Customer
satisfaction is one thing, loyalty is another.
Tourism companies must find out what drives
loyalty and customer retention, which are two
different issues. It is the emotional factor that
appears to be so important in developing loyalty
drives. Loyalty is much more than just repurchase;
it is people's reaction to the brand �see branding),
its image and its past performance.
Past research has offered different conceptualisations
of loyalty. However, the view most commonly
held today comes from the distinction
between intentional and spurious loyalty. Some
researchers suggest loyalty indexes should be based
on a mix of attitudinal and behavioural measures.
Customer loyalty should be viewed as the strength
of the relationship between an individual's relative
attitude and repeat patronage. The relationship is
seen as mediated by social norms and situational
factors. Cognitive, affective and conative antecedents
of relative attitude are identified as contributing
to loyalty, along with motivational,
perceptual and behavioural consequences. Retention
is seen as being preceded by loyalty, and
service quality and/or customer satisfaction/
dissatisfaction are widely seen as antecedents of
customer loyalty. This can be seen as an attitudinal
construct, whereas customer retention as a behavioural
one.
Loyalty schemes should also be used to ensure
that the right customers are targeted. Lifetime
tracking of customer behaviour and purchase
patterns can bring unexpected results. Tourism
companies also need to research key drivers of
defection or dormancy. Issues such as loyalty and
defection are much more emotional than physical.
Defection is often internally defined as the loss of a
customer, but a customer may see it completely
differently. It appears also that when it comes to
customer loyalty, researching staff attitudes is just as
important as knowing what the customers think.
Further reading
Dick, A.A. and Basu, U. �1994) `Customer loyalty:
towards an integrated conceptual framework',
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 22�2): 99±
113.
Dimanche, F. and Havitz, M.E. �1994) `Consumer
behaviour and tourism: review and extension of
four study areas', Journal of Travel and Tourism
Marketing 3�3): 37±57.
Pritchard, M., Howard, D.R. and Havitz, M.E.
�1992) `Loyalty measurement: a critical examination
and theoretical extension', Leisure Services
14: 155±64.
LUIZ MOUTINHO, UK