New Toy of Marketing Communication in Tourism: Gamification

Abstract

Digital technologies have become completely indispensable in our daily lives; therefore, there is an urge for demand on new technologies and services based on these technologies. The change in marketing trends is mainly affected by the traditional methods that are insufficient to attract and maintain consumer interest. The new marketing communications tools embrace new approaches based on non-traditional tools and the old ones are no longer considered as appropriate for the new consumers of this age. Gamification is a very new marketing communication strategy that aims to unite loyalty programs with the most recent innovations in game design. This chapter attempts to explore the use of gamification as a tool for marketing communication in tourism. We argue marketing communication efforts in tourism and give examples of this tool in tourism enterprises, after a clarification of what gamification is and is not.