This chapter promotes the value of the Repertory Test technique, also referred to as Repertory Gr... more This chapter promotes the value of the Repertory Test technique, also referred to as Repertory Grid Analysis and Kelly’s triads, for eliciting attributes that are important to consumers when they are differentiating a competitive set of brands. Underpinned by Personal Construct Theory, the Repertory Test is ideal for identifying scale items in the development of destination image questionnaires.
Travellers are spoilt by holiday choice, and yet will usually only seriously consider a few desti... more Travellers are spoilt by holiday choice, and yet will usually only seriously consider a few destinations during the decision process. With thousands of destination marketing organisations (DMOs) competing for attention, places are becoming increasingly substitutable. The study of destination competitiveness is an emerging field, and thesis contributes to an enhanced understanding by addressing three topics that have received relatively little attention in the tourism literature: destination positioning, the context of short break holidays, and domestic travel in New Zealand. A descriptive model of positioning as a source of competitive advantage is developed, and tested through 12 propositions. The destination of interest is Rotorua, which was arguably New Zealand’s first tourist destination. The market of interest is Auckland, which is Rotorua’s largest visitor market. Rotorua’s history is explored to identify factors that may have contributed to the destination’s current image in the Auckland market. A mix of qualitative and quantitative procedures is then utilised to determine Rotorua’s position, relative to a competing set of destinations. Based on an applied research problem, the thesis attempts to bridge the gap between academia and industry by providing useable results and benchmarks for five regional tourism organisations (RTOs). It is proposed that, in New Zealand, the domestic short break market represents a valuable opportunity not explicitly targeted by the competitive set of destinations. Conceptually, the thesis demonstrates the importance of analysing a destination’s competitive position, from the demand perspective, in a travel context; and then the value of comparing this ‘ideal’ position with that projected by the RTO. The thesis concludes Rotorua’s market position in the Auckland short break segment represents a source of comparative advantage, but is not congruent with the current promotional theme, which is being used in all markets. The findings also have implications for destinations beyond the context of the thesis. In particular, a new definition for ‘destination attractiveness’ is proposed, which warrants consideration in the design of future destination positioning analyses.
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 2020
This research note reports an investigation into the personal values that are salient to consumer... more This research note reports an investigation into the personal values that are salient to consumers when considering stopover destinations during long-haul travel. The findings, from personal interviews using the Repertory Test and laddering analysis, present destination marketers with potential brand positioning themes based on personal values. One of the greatest challenges facing destination marketers is developing a succinct brand positioning theme representative of a multiattributed entity that effectively differentiates from competing places offering similar attributes and benefits. It is argued that the development of a brand identity based on personal values, which subsume a myriad of attributes and benefits, has the potential to appeal to a broader range of travelers. This study, in the context of international stopover destinations for Greek travelers, replicated a similar investigation undertaken in the context of Australian domestic short-break holidays. The commonality b...
Destination marketing organisations (DMO) will soon no longer exist in their current form, and so... more Destination marketing organisations (DMO) will soon no longer exist in their current form, and so now is an opportune time for tourism academics to engage in innovative thinking about the future of these entities. While the general structure and core activities of DMOs have remained uniformly constant around the world for several decades, powerful forces are converging in a manner that is stimulating debate about the future relevance of the traditional DMO. The travel industry operates in a macro environment, over which the DMO has no control, featuring continuous discontinuous change; where change is increasingly in the form of forced disruption rather than incremental improvements, and DMOs are not immune to the effects of this phenomenon. It is timely therefore, for researchers to consider how innovation will shape DMOs in an increasingly uncertain future. In particular, three intertwined areas of research gaps related to DMOs stand out: politics, performance, and paradigm.
This chapter promotes the value of the Repertory Test technique, also referred to as Repertory Gr... more This chapter promotes the value of the Repertory Test technique, also referred to as Repertory Grid Analysis and Kelly’s triads, for eliciting attributes that are important to consumers when they are differentiating a competitive set of brands. Underpinned by Personal Construct Theory, the Repertory Test is ideal for identifying scale items in the development of destination image questionnaires.
Travellers are spoilt by holiday choice, and yet will usually only seriously consider a few desti... more Travellers are spoilt by holiday choice, and yet will usually only seriously consider a few destinations during the decision process. With thousands of destination marketing organisations (DMOs) competing for attention, places are becoming increasingly substitutable. The study of destination competitiveness is an emerging field, and thesis contributes to an enhanced understanding by addressing three topics that have received relatively little attention in the tourism literature: destination positioning, the context of short break holidays, and domestic travel in New Zealand. A descriptive model of positioning as a source of competitive advantage is developed, and tested through 12 propositions. The destination of interest is Rotorua, which was arguably New Zealand’s first tourist destination. The market of interest is Auckland, which is Rotorua’s largest visitor market. Rotorua’s history is explored to identify factors that may have contributed to the destination’s current image in the Auckland market. A mix of qualitative and quantitative procedures is then utilised to determine Rotorua’s position, relative to a competing set of destinations. Based on an applied research problem, the thesis attempts to bridge the gap between academia and industry by providing useable results and benchmarks for five regional tourism organisations (RTOs). It is proposed that, in New Zealand, the domestic short break market represents a valuable opportunity not explicitly targeted by the competitive set of destinations. Conceptually, the thesis demonstrates the importance of analysing a destination’s competitive position, from the demand perspective, in a travel context; and then the value of comparing this ‘ideal’ position with that projected by the RTO. The thesis concludes Rotorua’s market position in the Auckland short break segment represents a source of comparative advantage, but is not congruent with the current promotional theme, which is being used in all markets. The findings also have implications for destinations beyond the context of the thesis. In particular, a new definition for ‘destination attractiveness’ is proposed, which warrants consideration in the design of future destination positioning analyses.
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 2020
This research note reports an investigation into the personal values that are salient to consumer... more This research note reports an investigation into the personal values that are salient to consumers when considering stopover destinations during long-haul travel. The findings, from personal interviews using the Repertory Test and laddering analysis, present destination marketers with potential brand positioning themes based on personal values. One of the greatest challenges facing destination marketers is developing a succinct brand positioning theme representative of a multiattributed entity that effectively differentiates from competing places offering similar attributes and benefits. It is argued that the development of a brand identity based on personal values, which subsume a myriad of attributes and benefits, has the potential to appeal to a broader range of travelers. This study, in the context of international stopover destinations for Greek travelers, replicated a similar investigation undertaken in the context of Australian domestic short-break holidays. The commonality b...
Destination marketing organisations (DMO) will soon no longer exist in their current form, and so... more Destination marketing organisations (DMO) will soon no longer exist in their current form, and so now is an opportune time for tourism academics to engage in innovative thinking about the future of these entities. While the general structure and core activities of DMOs have remained uniformly constant around the world for several decades, powerful forces are converging in a manner that is stimulating debate about the future relevance of the traditional DMO. The travel industry operates in a macro environment, over which the DMO has no control, featuring continuous discontinuous change; where change is increasingly in the form of forced disruption rather than incremental improvements, and DMOs are not immune to the effects of this phenomenon. It is timely therefore, for researchers to consider how innovation will shape DMOs in an increasingly uncertain future. In particular, three intertwined areas of research gaps related to DMOs stand out: politics, performance, and paradigm.
Handbook of Research Methods for Tourism and Hospitality Management
This chapter promotes the value of the Repertory Test technique, also referred to as Repertory Gr... more This chapter promotes the value of the Repertory Test technique, also referred to as Repertory Grid Analysis and Kelly’s triads, for eliciting attributes that are important to consumers when they are differentiating a competitive set of brands. Underpinned by Personal Construct Theory, the Repertory Test is ideal for identifying scale items in the development of destination image questionnaires.
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 2021
Abstract This paper examines the influence of sensation seeking and perceived ambience on attitud... more Abstract This paper examines the influence of sensation seeking and perceived ambience on attitudinal loyalty towards two traditional stopover destinations (Singapore, Hong Kong) and two emerging stopover destinations (Dubai, Abu Dhabi). A quasi-experimental design with two separate samples of participants shows that travelers’ perceived positive ambience and attitudinal destination loyalty was higher for the traditional stopover destinations than for the emerging destinations. In addition, sensation seeking tendency moderates the effect such that travelers with lower sensation seeking tendencies have higher attitudinal loyalty towards the traditional stopover destinations while the effect is mitigated for those with higher sensation seeking tendencies. This paper contributes to the recently emerging stopover destination literature, and the findings have implications for the destination marketers and stakeholders of stopover destinations.
Stopover tourism is an important but neglected area of study. This article combines a discrete ch... more Stopover tourism is an important but neglected area of study. This article combines a discrete choice experiment with eye-tracking measures and self-stated attribute importance ratings to analyze stopover destination preferences. A sample of Australian residents shows safety is the most critical determinant of stopover destination attractiveness based on both the importance ratings and choice model results, but that it does not receive the greatest amount of visual attention. Seven attributes showed little consistency between the methods. However, when the measures are combined into one choice model, there are insights into associations between ratings, amounts of visual attention, and the final impact of an attribute on the choice outcome. Findings indicate the overall importance of each attribute and show how attribute importance varies across the sample and during the choice process. The article thus illustrates how different measures can be combined to study preferences for dest...
Destination marketing organisations (DMO) will soon no longer exist in their current form, and so... more Destination marketing organisations (DMO) will soon no longer exist in their current form, and so now is an opportune time for tourism academics to engage in innovative thinking about the future of these entities. While the general structure and core activities of DMOs have remained uniformly constant around the world for several decades, powerful forces are converging in a manner that is stimulating debate about the future relevance of the traditional DMO. The travel industry operates in a macro environment, over which the DMO has no control, featuring continuous discontinuous change; where change is increasingly in the form of forced disruption rather than incremental improvements, and DMOs are not immune to the effects of this phenomenon. It is timely therefore, for researchers to consider how innovation will shape DMOs in an increasingly uncertain future. In particular, three intertwined areas of research gaps related to DMOs stand out: politics, performance, and paradigm.
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