Marketing strategies to strengthen tourism during national holidays
Keywords:
Tourism marketing, patriotic festivities, cultural tourism, territorial identity, tourist loyaltyAbstract
National holidays are sociocultural events of enormous historical and touristic significance; they constitute strategic mechanisms for boosting the local economy. The objective of this study is to investigate how tourism marketing strategies contribute to strengthening tourism during national holidays in Ecuador. The research was conducted using a quantitative methodology, with a non-experimental, cross-sectional, and correlational design. Data collection was carried out through structured surveys of 424 domestic and international tourists on May 23, 24, and 25, 2016. The questionnaire used a Likert scale, and internal consistency was analyzed using Cronbach's alpha, yielding a result of 0.981. Subsequently, the information was processed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, including frequency analysis, contingency tables, Pearson's chi-squared test, Cramer's V coefficient, and Spearman's correlation. The findings show that promotion, gastronomy, and local businesses are significantly related to the justification of spending. Furthermore, a greater understanding of local traditions reinforces recommendations, while efficient organization of the festivities increases attendees' intention to return. It is concluded that tourism marketing strategies that integrate elements such as cultural identity, community participation, clear communication, appropriate territorial organization, and digital promotion contribute to strengthening national holidays. Consequently, these elements contribute to the positioning and consolidation of these celebrations.
Downloads
References
Abbondio, F., & González Zevallos, D. (2025). Turismo científico: Más allá del producto temático. Realidad, Tendencias y Desafíos en Turismo, 23(2), 71–80. https://revele.uncoma.edu.ar/index.php/condet/article/view/6621/63092
Abhirami, K. S., & Vineeth, K. M. (2025). Antecedents and outcomes of memorable festival tourism experience. Asian Journal of Management, 26(2), 115–123. https://doi.org/10.52711/2321-5763.2025.00018
Ahmed, S. K. (2024). How to choose a sampling technique and determine sample size for research: A simplified guide for researchers. Oral Oncology Reports, 12, Article 100662. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oor.2024.100662
Armutcu, B., Tan, A., Amponsah, M., Parida, S., & Ramkissoon, H. (2023). Tourist behaviour: The role of digital marketing and social media. Acta Psychologica, 240, Article 104025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2023.104025
Buhalis, D., & Sinarta, Y. (2019). Real-time co-creation and nowness service: Lessons from tourism and hospitality. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 36(5), 563–582. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2019.1592059
Chen, H., & Rahman, I. (2018). Cultural tourism: An analysis of engagement, cultural contact, memorable tourism experience and destination loyalty. Tourism Management Perspectives, 26, 153–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2017.10.006
Ellis, A., Park, E., Kim, S., & Yeoman, I. (2018). What is food tourism? Tourism Management, 68, 250–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.03.025
Forero, C. G. (2024). Cronbach's alpha. En F. Maggino (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research (pp. 1505–1507). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17299-1_622
Gretzel, U., Fuchs, M., Baggio, R., Hoepken, W., Law, R., Neidhardt, J., Pesonen, J., Zanker, M., & Xiang, Z. (2020). e-Tourism beyond COVID-19: A call for transformative research. Information Technology & Tourism, 22, 187–203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-020-00181-3
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2022). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (3rd ed.). SAGE.
Hernández-Rojas, R. D., & Alcocer, N. H. (2021). The role of traditional restaurants in tourist destination loyalty. PLOS ONE, 16(6), Article e0253088. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253088
Hernández-Sampieri, R., Mendoza, C. P., & Torres, S. (2022). Metodología de la investigación: Las rutas cuantitativa, cualitativa y mixta. McGraw-Hill.
Imon, S. S. (2017). Marketing heritage tourism. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 12(3), 221–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743873X.2016.1242588
Iqbal, M., Supriono, S., & Yulianto, E. (2023). The role of authenticity on revisit intention: Tourist experience and festival context. International Journal of Event and Festival Management, 14(3), 344–365. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEFM-09-2022-0069
Kotler, P., Bowen, J. T., Makens, J. C., & Baloglu, S. (2022). Marketing for hospitality and tourism (8th ed.). Pearson.
Li, T., Liu, F., & Soutar, G. N. (2021). Experiences, post-trip destination image, satisfaction and loyalty: A study in an ecotourism context. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 19, Article 100547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2020.100547
Li, Y., & Xie, Y. (2020). Is a picture worth a thousand words? An empirical study of image content and social media engagement in tourism. Journal of Travel Research, 59(6), 1102–1114. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287519863884
Likert, R. (1932). A technique for the measurement of attitudes. Archives of Psychology, 22(140), 1–55. https://legacy.voteview.com/pdf/Likert_1932.pdf
Meleddu, M., Melis, G., Pulina, M., & Zapata-Aguirre, S. (2019). Expectations and service quality: Perceived performance at low-season events. International Journal of Event and Festival Management, 10(2), 110–137. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEFM-12-2017-0079
Ministerio de Turismo del Ecuador. (2025a). El feriado por la Batalla de Pichincha sumó 604 mil viajes y 38 millones de dólares por gasto turístico. https://www.turismo.gob.ec/el-feriado-por-la-batalla-de-pichincha-sumo-604-mil-viajes-y-38-millones-de-dolares-por-gasto-turistico/
Ministerio de Turismo del Ecuador. (2025b). Feriados nacionales. Turismo en cifras. https://servicios.turismo.gob.ec/turismo-en-cifras/feriados-nacionales/
Mishra, P., Pandey, C. M., Singh, U., & Gupta, A. (2018). Scales of measurement and presentation of statistical data. Annals of Cardiac Anaesthesia, 21(4), 419–422. https://doi.org/10.4103/aca.ACA_131_18
Padrón-Ávila, H., Croes, R., & Rivera, M. (2022). Activities, destination image, satisfaction and loyalty in a small island destination. Tourism Review, 77(1), 302–321. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-12-2020-0607
Papadopoulou, N. M., Ribeiro, M. A., Prayag, G., & Woosnam, K. M. (2023). The influence of perceived overcrowding and overtourism on tourist satisfaction and loyalty. Journal of Travel Research, 62(2), 413–429. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875221089049
Park, E., Choi, B. K., & Lee, T. J. (2019). The role and dimensions of authenticity in heritage tourism. Tourism Management, 74, 99–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2019.03.001
Richards, G. (2018). Cultural tourism: A review of recent research and trends. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 36, 12–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2018.03.005
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2023). Thematic factsheet: Culture & sustainable development. UNESCO. https://www.unesco.org/en/thematicfactsheetculture
Vera-Peña, V. M., Guillen-Herrera, S. R., Neira-Reyes, I. A., & Fuentes-Torres, N. A. (2025). Raíces vivas: Turismo comunitario e identidad cultural en el Ecuador. Sophia Editions.
Villavicencio, E., & Castillo Nechar, M. (2025). Perspectivas de la valorización del patrimonio gastronómico: Revisión sistemática de la literatura académica. Realidad, Tendencias y Desafíos en Turismo, 23(2), 1–22. https://revele.uncoma.edu.ar/index.php/condet/article/view/5483/63058
Yulianto, A., Setiadi, R., & Herniah. (2023). How visitor satisfaction and intention to revisit are created by event quality and perceived value? A lesson from the local food festival in Brebes. Business Review and Case Studies, 4(3), 215–228. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/6778781.pdf?abstractid=6778781&mirid=1
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Nataly Silvana Chimborazo-Toapanta, Daniela Michelle Tatés-Morales, Darío Javier Díaz-Muñoz
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in Revista UGC agree to the following terms:
1. Copyright
Authors retain unrestricted copyright to their work. Authors grant the journal the right of first publication. To this end, they assign the journal non-exclusive exploitation rights (reproduction, distribution, public communication, and transformation). Authors may enter into additional agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in the journal, provided that acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal is given.
© The authors.
2. License
The articles are published in the journal under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). The terms can be found at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en
This license allows:
- Sharing: Copying and redistributing the material in any medium or format.
- Adapting: Remixing, transforming, and building upon the material.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if any changes were made. You may do this in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses or sponsors your use.
- NonCommercial: You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
- ShareAlike: If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your creation under the same license as the original work.
There are no additional restrictions. You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
