NEW MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERIPHERAL TOURISM SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SME’S): THE RENAL PATIENTS’ MARKET

Abstract

Competition in the tourism sector is becoming extremely intensive worldwide. This paper shows that an additional opportunity is offered to small tourism SMEs located in peripheral destinations, occurring from a new market: kidney patients in the UK, in search for holidays abroad. Due to the latest medical technology, this category of patients is nowadays enabled to follow their daily machine assisted haemodialysis treatment even away from home in remote destination, with the provision of adequate medical infrastructure in the accommodation at destination. Kidney patients form a special group of potential customers with similar needs and characteristics, hence a market niche. This paper aims at examining and assessing in-depth alternative niche marketing strategies that may be used by tourism SMEs for effective positioning at kidney patient’s markets.