Article Entrepreneurial marketing and

The development of tourism and the hospitality industry has paved the way for the proliferation in this region of many small- and medium-accommodation businesses, which are usually dependent on the attractiveness of tourism products offered in each tourist destination. The present study focuses on the entrepreneurial marketing aspect of accommodation businesses in three urban cities and islands in East Peninsular Malaysia. Mixed-method research was conducted on 64 urban hotels and 52 island chalet operators in East Peninsular Malaysia. The results indicate that urban operators are more entrepreneurial than island operators. To remain competitive, urban operators adopt various marketing practices. Different tourist destinations attract different tourist profiles and deploy different marketing strategies. The present study explores in detail the significant differences in the types of entrepreneurial marketing practiced by urban and island operators