Relationship Marketing as a loyalty tool: The case of the Vila Gale Hotel Group

The Vila Gale Hotel chain is constantly evolving and expanding, having a strong presence in Portugal, and already having some accommodation units in Brazil as well. It offers a wide range of activities to make the customer feel at home, improving the entity-customer relationship. Currently, relationship marketing is the main tool that encourages a close relationship with the customer, allowing companies to get to know their consumer, adapting their offer according to their motivations and desires. The main objective of this article is to determine how relationship marketing influences the entity-customer relationship, and how it manages to influence customer retention and loyalty, analyzing the Vila Gale loyalty program.