Abstract:
The research set out to answer the question, "How does relationship
marketing affect firm performance in the hospitality industry in Turkey?" by
focusing on the mediating impact of customer retention. This motivated us to
investigate three related questions: I how relationship marketing affects business
performance; (ii) how relationship marketing influences customer retention; and (iii)
how customer retention influences the link between marketing relationship and
company performance. Quantitative research was used to collect data from
customers of hotels in Turkey. Total sample size was 230 and SPSS was used for
descriptive analysis while PLS-SEM was used to test the hypothesis.
The findings of this study shows that relationship marketing has a substantial
and significant impact on both the performance of companies and the retention of
customers in the hotel sector of Turkey. The research indicates that hospitality
businesses should prioritise relationship marketing and client retention strategies.
Therefore, the hotel industry has to create integrated strategies for building consumer
relationships and retaining their patronage. The majority of respondents in the study
said they do not plan to stay a client of the Turkish hotel business for the foreseeable
future, suggesting a potential issue with customer defection.
