Development of customer relationship management in small and medium tourism enterprises: A literature review

Customer relationship management (CRM) has become an important strategy for keeping organizations focused on the needs of customers, improve service levels and customer satisfaction and foster long-term relationships with customers, which may result in organizational profits and sustainability. Globally, small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) play a dominant role in the tourism industry, but CRM does not seem to be as well entrenched in SMTEs as in larger organizations. This paper traces the development of CRM, reviews its major components and proposes a cross-functional approach of particular relevance to SMTEs.