Abstract
Organisations can make use of high levels of customer service delivery to stimulate positive word-of-mouth referrals. Referral marketing is primarily applied by organisations when the budget is the marketers largest limitation. The purpose of the paper is to indicate what the current status is of the relationships which travel agencies in the Western Cape have with their referral market and will provide recommendations to the management of travel agencies in the province regarding the improved application of the principles of relationship marketing to this market. The target population for this study was 118 travel agencies of which 61 managers and/or owners participated through personal interviews in the completion of questionnaires. Data analysis was done by calculating averages and standard deviations, Explorative Factor Analysis, Cronbach Alpha-values and practical significance by means of effect sizes. The owners and managers of travel agencies view their current ability to stimulate customers to provide positive word-of-mouth referrals as good. They also indicate that referral groups are used as a marketing instrument forming part of their marketing strategy. Travel agencies must create and establish more integrated relationships with strategic suppliers to increase the value offering of their (travel agencies) products and services to customers. The travel agency hereby ensures that the needs and wants of customers can be satisfied more successfully which, in the long run, can lead to positive word-of-mouth referrals.