Page 154 - Tourism The International Business

8. Developing tourism

destination's attracting power. It may be that these measures would vary by season. From these figures an estimate
can be made as to whether or not visitors would take more, the same, or less time to travel to the area than to
appreciate its attractions.

The second step in targeting a market geographically is to take the above estimates of attracting power and
estimate the distance, travel time and travel expense for someone to drive or otherwise reach the destination. From
this a radius of potential markets can be drawn with the area at the center.
The third step in this four-step process involves using a map. The maximum distance that people would be
willing to travel is estimated and towns and cities within these boundaries are identified. It is important to consider
also the tourists who might stop en route to another destination. An examination of tourist flows can uncover this
data.

In the final step the potential competition for each geographic segment is identified. If it is determined, for
example, that tourists from a particular city will drive up to 320 kilometers to vacation, then be sure to examine all
other competing destinations up to 320 kilometers from the area. The destination area under development
consideration can be compared to the others in terms of number and type of attractions. This may allow us to
eliminate certain market segments because of the strength of the competition.
Time and money permitting, it is also possible to survey existing tourists as to where they come from in order to
establish the attracting power of the area.

Exhibit 54: It is important
to know your market. (Courtesy
Hong Kong Tourist
Association.)

Psychographic segmentation. While demographic segmentation divides the market into segments based on
socioeconomic characteristics, psychographic segmentation divides tourists on the basis of personality. Segments

are identified in terms of:
• Why does the tourist travel?
• What does the tourist like to do on vacation?

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