Destination Marketing through a Utility Business Model: The Case of Cyprus

Traditional business models that used to govern the operations of travel and tourism businesses defined in a rigid way their functional areas and the relationships among them. The advent of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has driven the transformation of these business models into novel destination marketing models. The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) recognising the need of establishing an explicit model for managing the process of destination marketing has developed an integrated marketing model to guide the management of the destination’s marketing process. Moreover, the CTO, aiming at enhancing the country’s tourism industry electronic marketing deployment levels, has put in place a utility business model that aims at optimising the industry’s potential to engage in integrated marketing activities. The key for optimising destination’s marketing processes is the successful implementation of the model through ntegration of traditional with electronic marketing activities.