Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
geographic concepts of
distance decay
, the
gravity model
and
intervening opportunities
provide an
explanatory framework to understand variations in tourist-generating markets (McKercher and
Lew, 2003; Nyaupane and Graefe, 2008).
Spatial clustering
is another geographic concept that has
provided some insight into the structure of destinations and how they are marketed, though
more research in this area could probably be done (Lin and Morais, 2008). Also related to
tourism product space is
location analysis
, which is used to identify the best sites for new tourism-
oriented facilities and retail establishments (Goodchild, 1984; Miller, 2008).
The geographic space between a tourist's home and a potential destination is both
absolute
,
with a fi xed and measurable distance, and
relative
, refl ecting changeable economic relation-
ships and human perceptions. For example, in addition to physical geographical barriers
(e.g. mountains, seas and national borders), the tourist's perceived or cognitive distance of a
destination tends to overestimate more culturally different or exotic destinations and under-
estimate the d istance to more fam i l iar or cu ltura l ly sim i lar destinations (Har r ison-Hi l l, 2000 ;
Lin and Morais, 2008). Today, the internet has become a major platform for overcoming
some of the barriers of cognitive distance by offering tourists more information on more
potential destinations than ever before (Lew, 2008; Liu
et al.
, 2008), making it a new tool in
the geo-marketer's management of space.
Consumers in space: tourist decision making and travel behaviour
The consumer's decision to take a particular trip is related to the perceived image they hold
of the destination and judgements of how accessible the destination is for them, based on
time, cost and effort. As such, both geographic place and geographic space are major consid-
erations in the decision-making process and the resulting travel patterns of tourists. For both
these studies and those on destination accessibility, Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
have proven to be a powerful research technology (Farsari and Prastacos, 2004; see also Hall,
Chapter 21
and Shoval
, Chapter 22
of this volume). GIS is often used to augment traditional
demographic and survey assessments to further segment potential market populations by
postal code, for example (Hess
et al.
, 2004; Miller, 2008). Geodemographic analysis of this
type enables destination marketers to more precisely target print and media advertising and
public relations efforts (Elliott-White and Finn, 1997).
In addition to helping to understand and infl uence the tourist decision-making process,
GIS has also been used to help understand tourist behaviour at both macro-geographic (i.e.
regional and international) scales and at micro-geographic (site and destination) scales. GIS
has been used to identify the most popular transportation routes taken by tourists through a
region, as well as the key linkages between a tourist source and a destination (Chancellor and
Cole, 2008). This can be augmented by GPS, though that tool is more frequently used in site
behaviour studies, where it adds a much fi ner understanding of both routing and time spent
in transit and at each stop (Tchetchik
et al.
, 2009). Despite the great potential that GIS and
GPS technologies offer for enhancing traditional marketing studies, they have not yet been
widely adopted by destination-marketing organisations. This is mostly likely due to the
higher levels of technical skills required for both their execution and analysis, in comparison
to surveys, interviews and even census-based demographic analysis.
Consumers in place: tourist experience and identity
In addition to tourist behaviour at a destination, geographers are interested in their experi-
ence of the place and how the place can contribute to a positive tourist experience and the
