An inventory of marketing skills essential for tourism entrepreneurs: a 3–domain approach

Abstract

This article postulates that specific marketing skills contribute to the success of a tourism entrepreneur. The purpose of the research was first, to identify the marketing skills that are critical to the success of tourism entrepreneurs, and secondly, to present findings and recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of skills development in tourism management higher educational programmes for the benefit of both tourism entrepreneurs and academics in the field of tourism, entrepreneurship and marketing. Based on previous theoretical discussions regarding marketing skills, an empirical study was conducted to identify the most important skills, using multiple item indicators from previous studies. A descriptive research design was employed, whereby a questionnaire survey was conducted into skills development for tourism entrepreneurs. The findings of the study provide important insights into the marketing skills that tourism entrepreneurs require in order to be successful in the current economic climate, based on a comprehensive empirical investigation of the perceptions of tourism entrepreneurs, tourism management academics and tourism management students.