Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
allocentric might indeed travel to Africa on an annual vacation, but might also take weekend trips to a
typically psychocentric destination during other times of the year. Similarly, though probably not as
likely, psychocentrics could conceivably vacation in essentially allocentric destinations (with the
exception of people with extremely low incomes). For instance, a psychocentric may travel to a
remote area under the security provided by traveling with a group of similar tourists, which, being
escorted at all times, may persuade a psychocentric to travel, say, to Asia.
What, then, is the link between the types of tourists and the types of destinations? To develop such
a linkage, which will provide a method for predicting travel patterns, two things must be realized. First,
as already pointed out, a tourist may travel for different reasons from one trip to the next. Second, a
given destination can provide a variety of travel experiences, suitable to a wide range of tourists,
depending on the manner in which the trip is planned. The only way in which a systematic linkage can
be developed between the types of destinations and the types of tourists is to consider each trip in
isolation and examine the motivations that have prompted the trip.
Plog first developed his model in 1972, about 40 years ago, and it has been widely cited in tourism
literature since that time. It was one of the first attempts to provide a framework within which to
analyze tourist behavior. The world has changed considerably since Plog introduced his model. For
example, today there are fewer countries that are considered exotic. Also, there are now other ways to
look at tourists, such as through lifestyle analysis or bene t segmentation. Plog
s pioneering efforts,
however, should not be overlooked. His model still provides a way to examine travel and think about
developments using current market conditions. But most importantly, it served as a pioneering effort
to motivate those who study tourist behavior to search for a theoretical basis for understanding why
tourists behave as they do.
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MARKETING PLANNING: THE TOURISM
MARKETING PLAN
To this point, the chapter has examined a broad
range of fundamental marketing concepts and
attempted to give selected examples of their
utilization in a tourism context.
In order to make these concepts truly valuable
from a tourism standpoint, they must be applied
in a comprehensive, integrated manner. The pro-
cess of application is known as
marketing plan-
ning
. The end result of this process is the
marketing plan.
The
for a destination or rm is
one of the most important working documents
that exists. It serves to translate the many
ideals of tourism policy into an active process
for attracting visitors and providing the range of
experiences they seek from a destination.
marketing plan
Couples on a honeymoon
or celebrating an
anniversary remain a
popular target market for
resorts and cruise lines,
which have developed
marketing campaigns
promoting the romance of
travel and the thrill of
visiting exotic destinations.
PhotocourtesyofCarnival
CruiseLines.
The California Tourism
Marketing Plan
Although tourism marketing plans can take differ-
ent forms, an exemplary state tourismof ce plan is
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