Marketing Tourist Destinations in Emerging Economies: Towards Competitive and Sustainable Emerging Tourist Destinations

ISBN-13: 9783030837105 / Angielski / Twarda / 2021 / 330 str.

Ishmael Mensah; Kandappan Balasubramanian; Mohd Raziff Jamaluddin

Spis treści

Chapter 1- Nature and scope of tourist destinations in emerging economies

Emerging economies which are also known as emerging markets are low or middle-income economies with high economic growth potential.  However, they are usually less stable and imperfect with regards to the efficiency and impartiality of their markets due to lapses in their institutional frameworks which are commonly known as institutional voids (Meyer & Peng, 2016). They are countries that are transitioning from the developing phase to the developed phase. There are a number of countries that fall into this category. However, in the context of this book  they include the newly industrialized economies in East Asia such as Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore (Asian NIEs), Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICS), Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey (MINT), Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa (CIVETS), Countries of Central and Eastern Europe including the former Soviet Union, China and Mongolia (Transition economies), and the new emerging economies of Africa namely, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Emerging economies differ significantly from developed countries in terms of their cost and factor conditions, their stages of economic, social and political development, as well as in their business systems (Enderwick, 2007). In spite of this, these economies have lots of potentials and have become increasingly important in the global economy in recent years. Emerging market economies accounted for close to 70 percent of global output growth and just over 70 percent of global consumption growth during 2010–15 (IMF, 2014). These prospects also translate to the marketing of tourist destinations in emerging markets. Tourism growth over recent years has largely been driven by emerging economies (Kester & Croce, 2011). Emerging tourist destinations are becoming particularly attractive to tourists from the key generating markets in North America and Europe because they are offering cultural, ecological and other alternative tourism products to break the monotony of traditional SSS tourism in developed countries.   In spite of this, emerging economies are far from achieving their full potentials as they are confronted with a number of challenges which hinder effective destination marketing. These include informality and less developed government and regulatory infrastructure (Marquis & Qian, 2014; Marquis, Zhang, & Zhou, 2011), susceptibility to external conflicts, coups, and internal tensions (Hiatt & Sine, 2014), less transparency, state intervention and high volatility of key economic, political and institutional variables (Xu and Meyer, 2013) as well as a youthful population, expanding workforce and rapid urbanization (Marquis & Raynard, 2015). This is against the backdrop that tourist destinations are becoming increasingly competitive, especially for emerging destinations which have to compete with the well-established tourist destinations. This requires DMOs in emerging economies to develop and execute a well-thought-out marketing strategies.

This introductory chapter will tackle the foundational issues of emerging economies, emerging tourist destinations and destination marketing. Issues such as definition of concepts of destination marketing, tourist destination, and emerging economies, geographical scope of emerging economies, as well as features of emerging tourist destinations, destination marketing challenges of emerging tourist destinations, destination mix and destination marketing organizations in emerging economies. The chapter will set the tone for the rest of the chapters examining the implications of the issues discussed for destination marketing in emerging economies.

 

Chapter 2- The travel decision-making process and motivations for travel to emerging tourist destinations

Travel motivation has been defined as a psychological/biological need that awakens, directs, and integrates an individual’s behaviour and activity (Park & Yoon, 2009). Thus, travel motivation could be described as what causes the individual to make certain travel choices. However, different motivational factors push travellers towards different destinations and travel types. This is also the case with the motivations for travel to emerging tourist destinations many of which are “off the beaten track”. It is therefore imperative to examine the decisions and motivations for travel to emerging tourist destinations.  Generally, travel motivations include escape, relaxation, strengthening family bonds, self-fulfilment, prestige, shopping and social interaction. Studies have established strong linkages between travel motivations and destination choices (Bansal and Eiselt, 2004).  According to Gartner (as cited by Pike, 2008) motivation initiate the decision-making process. Thus, knowledge of tourists’ motivations for choosing a destination is key to developing those aspects of the destination that would enhance tourists’ experiences (Pansiri, 2014). Travel motivations and choices are therefore crucial to the competitiveness of emerging tourist destinations.

Chapter 2 highlights the motivations for travel to emerging destinations and the travel decision-making process. Issues to be discussed include factors influencing travel to emerging destinations, motivations for travel to emerging destinations and the travel decision-making process. The chapter concludes by examining the implications of travel motivations and behaviour for the marketing of emerging destinations.

Chapter 3: Destination marketing research and planning approaches in emerging economies

Tourist destinations are operating in a growing competitive environment (Avraham & Ketter, 2016) and there is a growing need for tailor-made tourism products designed to meet the needs and expectations of tourists from different market segments (Murphy, 2013). This calls for a well-thought-through market plan for destinations because good marketing does not happen by accident, but the result of careful planning and execution effort. Market planning is the planned application of resources to achieve marketing objectives. Destination market planning is essential to the successful marketing of tourist destinations. It helps to position the destination in a competitive environment, promote the destination and its tourism products and attract tourists and visitors. In spite of this many destinations in emerging economies are confronted with a number of planning challenges Including political instability, leakage of tourism benefits, weak infrastructure, increased foreign ownership of tourism enterprises and the high level of unskilled labour ( Cobbinah, Black, and Thwaites (2013) which tend to impede proper planning and sustainable tourism development. The incidence of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic poses further planning challenges. Therefore, gaining insight into the destination through research will help identify further opportunities that will reinvent and transform the industry post pandemic. The intensity of the competition has slowed down due to the immobility of people and inactive economy thus making it imperative for the researcher to inject renewed element in the existing destination planning and competitiveness framework. In this highly competitive environment, tourism marketing provides an essential tool for attracting tourists and visitors as well as increasing market share and enhancing the competitive advantage of destinations (Cox & Wray, 2011).

In this chapter, the market planning function in relation to the marketing of tourist destinations in emerging economies will be examined. Topics to be discussed include marketing research in emerging destinations, destination planning challenges in emerging economies, destination market planning, and destination market plans of emerging economies.

 

Chapter 4 – Image creation and branding of emerging tourist destinations

Destination branding has evolved from merely an impression people have about a place to consumption experience through a series of process that begins from marketing communication to post travel evaluation (Manhas, Manrai & Manrai, 2016). Before the shift in focus toward destination image and branding, Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) in many emerging economies put tremendous efforts into creating extraordinary promotional campaigns which did not emphasise on communicating stories about destinations. Gertner and Kotler (2004) define destination image as the sum of beliefs and impressions people hold about place. Natural disasters sand anthropogenic environmental problems may have harmful effect to the image of destinations thus disrupting tourism performance of the destination (Hong et al., 2020).    

Destinations in developing countries are confronted with a number of external influences which tend to affect the destinations’ image, over which the tourism industry has little control. Whilst developed countries can diffuse negative press through effective destination marketing, many developing countries struggle due to limited marketing budgets and subsequently, they become blighted by long-established, negative images.  

Closely related to the concept of destination image, is destination branding. A destination brand image is defined by Cai (2002) as “perceptions about the place as reflected by the associations held in tourist memory”. Branding has been employed by destinations to give value to the destination, so that tourists are able to recognize and share the brand identity. It also helps to establish a unique identity for a destination and build a favourable image for the destination.

In this chapter, the concepts of destination image and destination branding will be explained. The chapter includes types of destination images, destination image of emerging economies, factors influencing destination image formation process, destination brands, and branding destinations in emerging economies.

 

 

 

Chapter Five: Competitiveness of emerging tourist destinations

The competitiveness of a destination is “its ability to increase tourism expenditure, to increasingly attract visitors while providing them with satisfying, memorable experiences, and to do so in a profitable way, while enhancing the wellbeing of destination residents and preserving the natural capital of the destination for future generations” (Ritchie & Crouch 2003: 2). Thus, the international competitiveness of a tourist destination depends on its ability to attract non-resident tourists (Dupeyras and MacCallum, 2013). Emerging economies have not yet managed to fully exploit their tourism potential (Sanches-Pereira et al., 2017). Emerging economies accounted for only US$ 486 billion of the US$ 1260 billion international tourism receipts in 2016 (UNWTO, 2017). There are a number of factors that hinder the competitiveness of emerging tourist destinations.  These include

poor infrastructure, lack of new product development and management, ineffective marketing, poor linkages between tourism and other sectors of the local economy, poor institutional and technical capabilities, and shortage of skilled and qualified personnel (Mitchell, 2006). For sustainable competitiveness of tourist destinations to be realized, major stakeholders of the supply side, such as national tourism organizations and local tourism operators  must work together (Dredge, 2006). However, in most emerging tourist destinations coordinating the efforts of a variety of independent stakeholders towards a common goal is a difficult task (Laws, Richins, Agrusa, & Scott, 2011).

This chapter delves into issues relating to the competitiveness of emerging destinations and the implications for marketing. Specifically, the chapter looks at the concept of destination competitiveness, comparative and competitive advantage of emerging destinations, competitiveness of tourist destinations in emerging economies, Factors influencing the competitiveness of emerging destinations, and the implications of competitiveness of emerging destinations for destination marketing.

 

Chapter Six: Marketing emerging tourist destinations during crisis and pandemics

One noticeable feature of emerging economies is their susceptibility to crisis which then tends to impact adversely on the tourism industry.  For instance, Steiner, (2007) asserts that the Middle Eastern tourism industry is familiar with tourism crisis because over the years, the area has experienced wars, terrorist attacks and violent conflicts all of which hamper tourism.

Crisis is defined as an unexpected adverse incident that may be self-inflicted (Ritchie, 2009). Emerging economies have had to deal with the debilitating effects of a number of crisis which could be categorised into financial crisis, energy crisis, political issues, epidemics/pandemics and natural disasters. Over the last decade, there have been a number of crisis including terrorist attacks, global economic crisis, natural disasters like earthquakes, typhoons and hurricanes as well as outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),  Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), H1N1 Swine Flu and Ebola Virus. However, in terms of speed and impact, Covid-19 is the most serious crises the tourism industry has ever faced (Cetin, 2020; Gössling, Scott & Hall, 2020). According to the UNWTO (2020), tourism has been one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic has had far more disastrous implications for emerging markets and developing economies compared to advanced economies (Çakmaklı, et al., 2020).

Crisis usually render tourist destinations unsafe and unattractive for tourism. On one hand, there is a decline in travel to destinations with crisis situations due to the perceived risk of travel to such destinations (Neuburger,  & Egger, R, 2020). On the other hand, destinations in emerging economies have to deal with negative media reportage on the crisis, in order to redeem the image of the destination (Avraham & Ketter, 2008; Scott et al., 2008).

This chapter examines the issue of crisis management at emerging tourist destinations during periods of crisis and pandemics. Topics to be examined are forms of crisis in emerging economies, impacts of crisis on tourism, implications of COVID-19 for destination marketing in emerging economies, crisis and destination image, crisis management process and crisis management strategies in emerging economies.

 

 

Chapter 7: Market segmentation, targeting and positioning of emerging tourist destinations

Since destinations cannot appeal to all buyers in the market in the same way, segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) has become imperative. Camilleri  (2018) defines market segmentation as the actual process of identifying segments of the market and the process of dividing a broad customer base into sub-groups of consumers consisting of existing and prospective customers. It involves dividing the market into segments and developing products or services tailored to these segments. It helps to customise the marketing mix accordance with the needs of different market segments because different market segments have different motivations and needs. Though traditionally, segmentation has been undertaken on the basis of demographic, psychographic, behavioural and geographic variables, Clemons, Hann, and Hitt (2002) has argued that the division of the market based on demographic and social criteria appears to be too rigid a segmentation tool. Emerging economies should adopt more innovative approaches to segmenting their tourist markets. This is also against the background that one of the main reasons for the choice of emerging tourist destinations is their natural attractions (Kester, 2011). Thus, the traditional approaches for segmenting the well-established destinations may not fit the emerging destination context. The fact is different destinations appeal to different segments of the travel market so destinations should identify segments that they appeal to and develop products that appeal to those segments.

This chapter examines the segmentation, targeting and positioning of tourist destinations in emerging economies. Topics include tourism markets of emerging destinations, steps in the STP process, benefits of segmentation to emerging economies, variables for segmenting tourist destinations in emerging markets, and the use of ICT for STP of destinations in emerging economies.

 

Chapter 8 – Destination distribution systems and disintermediation in emerging economies

Marketing intermediaries play a very important role in promoting tourist destinations through marketing channels, which build customer relationships and ultimately increases brand loyalty and awareness. These intermediaries traditionally include travel agents, tour operators and speciality channellers.

 

Tourist destinations have in recent years witnessed significant changes in travel intermediation due to advances in  Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) which have revolutionized all business processes and modified the relationships within the Tourism Global Value Chains [TGVCs] (Guttentag, 2015). Researchers have stated their anxiety over unsure future of traditional intermediaries in the industry (Law et.al, 2015), since internet and mobile technology empower consumers to obtain travel information and buy tourism product from tourism suppliers directly (Morosan, 2014). A robust and stable ICT infrastructure is imperative for an online distribution system. However, many emerging economies face significant challenges in expanding their ICT infrastructure (Ngwenyama & Morawczynski, 2009).

Also, there has been the emergence of an array of online intermediaries, especially Online Travel Agents (OTAs) such as Travelocity by Sabre or Expedia by WorldSpan and Microsoft. Moreover, issue of disintermediation is arise, which is the thought of eliminating the middleman/mediator from the supplier– intermediary– consumer network (Kaewkitipong, 2010). Thakran and Verma (2013) stated that disintermediation results from suppliers being excited to distribute products through emerging online technologies. Disintermediation has become increasingly intense, particularly in the tourism industry where many large hotels and airlines have successfully utilized the Internet and website as a direct channel to sell to their customers. this means that tourist destinations in emerging economies cannot continue to employ the traditional channels else they risk losing out to the more established tourist destinations.

This chapter highlights issues relating to the tourism distribution channel of tourist destinations in emerging economies. Topics to be treated include nature of travel intermediation in emerging economies, tourism distribution channels of emerging destinations, destination marketing intermediaries in emerging economies, challenges of travel intermediation in emerging economies, role of online travel intermediaries in the marketing of emerging tourist destinations, disintermediation in the travel and tourism industry in emerging economies, and the future of travel intermediation in emerging economies.

 

 

Chapter 9 – Marketing of emerging tourist destinations: Digital and technological applications

Information is the lifeblood of tourism; timely and accurate information, relevant to customers is a key to tourism production and satisfaction of demand (Buhalis, 2003). One of the significant forces driving change in the tourism industry is information technology. Since the year 2000, we have been witnessing the truly transformational effect of ICTs and the Internet, in particular, ICTs thus play a critical role in the competitiveness of tourism organizations and destinations as well as in the entire industry as a whole (Buhalis, 2011). The use of ICT applications has become the norm especially in a COVID-19 Era with all the social distance restrictions. Innovations in ICT has altered not only the ways people search for information about destinations and purchase travel products but also how they experience, communicate and perceive destinations (Buhalis, 2003). The proliferation of ICT with particular emphasis on the internet presents new opportunities for the marketing of emerging destinations. The e-tourism concept involves all business operations from e-marketing, e-commerce, and e-finance to e-procurement, e-accounting, e-R&D and e-HRM (Buhalis, 2003). E-marketing is the use of information technology in the processes of creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers, and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders (Frost & Strauss, 2014).

The scope of this chapter relates to the application of ICTs to destination marketing in emerging economies. In the first part of the chapter, the nature and scope of e-tourism and v-tourism are presented. The chapter also elaborates on the different components of e-tourism and v-tourism and their application to destination marketing in emerging economies, including destination management systems, e-marketing of tourist destinations, e-CRM, intelligent data management systems as well as the use of advanced multimedia techniques, digital maps and virtual reality for the promotion of emerging destinations. The chapter also discusses the challenges of ICT utilization for destination marketing in emerging economies.  

 

 

Chapter 10 – Special events and destination marketing strategies in emerging economies

Special events have been used by DMOs to develop markets and increase the competitiveness of destinations. Socially, events enhance the awareness of the host destinations, encourage cultural exchange, and promote the preservation of local culture, (Wang, 2019). According to Allen et al. (2012), special events can help the destination to attract more tourists, create compelling profiles for the destinations, position the destination in the travel market and create a competitive marketing advantage. According to Nguyen (2017), special events are important to destination marketing because they help to create unique tourism products in order to attract customers; they are considered to be the key elements of the destination image; they provide a good opportunity to build top projects to help promote destination development, and they serve as attractions.

Unpredictability in the tourism and trade event industry which has been occasioned by COVID-19 and other crisis has made the adoption of new approaches to events management as a destination marketing strategy imperative for emerging destinations. Nilsson (2020) and Pakarinen and Hoods (2018) have proposed the use of interactive virtual events and hybrid events which they noted will define future events. According to them, digitalization and disruptive technologies have changed the way events are organized from traditional brick and mortar to remote attendees’ experiences, live streaming and interactive virtual event. Wreford, Williams and Ferdinand (2019) on the other hand noted that transformational technology like virtual reality will be an alternative method to complement physical event experiences. 

This chapter elaborates on the role of special events in the marketing of tourist destinations in emerging economies. The chapter includes nature and types of special events, event generation and conceptualization, event planning, special events and branding of emerging destinations, marketing of special events in emerging economies, and impacts of special events in emerging economies.

 

Chapter 11 – Collaborative destination marketing in emerging economies

The tourist destination comprises of a  variety of stakeholders,  who must work together in planning and regulating tourism development at the destination (Presenza et al., 2013). Therefore, marketing a destination should be a collective effort that requires various organizations and businesses in a geographically limited area to harmoniously work together to achieve a  common goal  (Grangsjo  2003; Vernon et al.  2005). The DMO must provide leadership by coordinating the efforts of all stakeholders towards the realization of a common goal. However, in emerging destinations, there are often no DMOs, and so the most active stakeholders tend to assume leadership roles in the destination, often those with high economic and analytical capabilities (Zmys′lony (2014).

The tourist product is a composite of products, services, facilities and infrastructure, therefore,  the overall tourist experience at a  destination is usually  the result  of  multiple  and  differentiated interactions with local stakeholders, including private organizations, public actors, and the general public. The  involvement  of  relevant stakeholders  is critical for  the success  of  destination marketing  efforts.

 

This chapter discusses issues related to the collaborative approach to destination marketing in emerging economies. Topics to be discussed include the concept of collaborative marketing, inter-destination and inter-regional collaboration in destination marketing, benefits and challenges of destination collaboration.

 

 

Chapter 12- Marketing mix strategies of emerging tourist destinations

The marketing mix is a set of controlled variables that organizations use to influence the target market. McCarthy (1964) reduced Borden’s factors to a simple four-element framework commonly known as the 4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion and Place). However, with regard to services marketing, an additional 3P elements ( people/ participants, processes and physical evidence) have been added. The marketing mix of tourist destinations include two more P elements (politics and paucity) while Morrison (2009) added partnership, packaging and programming on top of the traditional marketing mix. Pomering et.al (2011) identified 10 marketing mix elements: product, price, place, promotion, participants, process, physical evidence, partnership, packaging and programming.

According to Kamau et al. (2015), the marketing mix of a tourist destination is largely composed of a complex group of a number of factors intervening to accomplish the final product, which should be as a result of increased demand output effectiveness relative to supply and investment in marketing by tourist enterprises.
Marketers look to the marketing mix concept to help them create product offerings that are then presented to target markets (Pomering et al., 2010). Therefore, the right combination of marketing mix elements is crucial in helping destination marketers to accomplish their marketing objectives, create the right demand for their product offerings and project a favourable image of their destinations.

This chapter examines the marketing mix strategies of destinations in emerging economies. Topics to be treated are the marketing mix concept, the marketing mix for emerging tourist destinations, product strategies, pricing strategies, promotion strategies, promotion mix, distribution strategies, and the extended Ps strategies. These topics are explained with special reference to destinations in emerging economies. 

Chapter 13 - Service quality, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty in emerging economies

 

Service quality is defined as a function of the difference between service expected and customers' perceptions of the actual service delivered to those customers in an industry or a country (Parasuramanet al., 1988). Tourism enterprises should be able to meet or even exceed tourists’ expectations. This can be done by understanding tourists’ expectations, word-of-mouth, tourists’ current knowledge and past experiences (Bhat, 2012). Satisfaction leads to loyalty. In the context of destination marketing, it results in destination loyalty. Kim et.al (2013) measured destination loyalty by tourists’ intentions to revisit and their willingness to recommend.

Destination loyalty is a major outcome of a successful delivery of service quality and tourism experience in a tourist destination (Demir, 2013). Therefore, destination loyalty is essential for the sustainable development of tourist destinations (Kawada & Naoi, 2018).

The final chapter highlights issues related to service quality, customer satisfaction and destination loyalty within the context of emerging economies. The concepts of quality, service quality, satisfaction and destination loyalty will be explained. Strategies for destination service quality, tourists’ satisfaction with destination quality, factors influencing destination loyalty and the effects of destination service quality on tourists’ satisfaction and loyalty will be discussed.

O autorze

Ishmael Mensah is a Professor of Tourism and Hospitality Management and Ghana Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Cape Coast. He is also an external expert at Hunan City University.

Kandappan Balasubramanian is an Associate Professor with the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Events, Taylor's University, Malaysia.

Mohd Raziff Jamaluddin, is a senior member of the Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management in the biggest university in Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA.

Gina Alcoriza is an Assistant Professor and the program chairperson for the Tourism Management programme at the University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi, Legazpi City, Philippines.

Vanessa Gaffar is an Associate Professor of marketing in the Faculty of Economics and Business Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. She is currently a Vice Dean for Academic Affairs.

S. Mostafa Rasoolimanesh is an Associate Professor at the School of Hospitality, Tourism & Events, at Taylor's University. Mostafa is an editorial board member of more than 10 reputed tourism and hospitality journals.

Blurb

While tourism is a key economic generator for many countries, emerging economies are confronted with additional challenges that those well-established destinations in North America, Australia and Europe normally don’t have to contend with. The potential for terrorism, political unrest, natural disasters, accidents – not to mention epidemics – have the potential to derail tourism in emerging economies. To mitigate these risks, emerging destinations need well-coordinated management and marketing strategies. However, most texts on tourism destination marketing reflect destinations in more advanced countries. 

This book acknowledges the fact that emerging tourist destinations have unique characteristics and challenges, which have implications for destination marketing. Highlighting the marketing challenges, best practices and strategies relevant to emerging economies, this book covers core topics such as image creation and branding, destination marketing during crises and pandemics, market segmentation and the travel decision making process among others. 

Providing up to date knowledge on an otherwise under-explored topic, this collection is ideal reading for upper-level students, researchers and policymakers. 

Ishmael Mensah is a Professor of Tourism and Hospitality Management and Ghana Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Cape Coast. He is also an external expert at Hunan City University.

Kandappan Balasubramanian is an Associate Professor with the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Events, Taylor's University, Malaysia.

Mohd Raziff Jamaluddin, is a senior member of the Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management in the biggest university in Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA.

Gina Alcoriza is an Assistant Professor and the program chairperson for the Tourism Management programme at the University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi, Legazpi City, Philippines.

Vanessa Gaffar is an Associate Professor of marketing in the Faculty of Economics and Business Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. She is currently a Vice Dean for Academic Affairs.

S. Mostafa Rasoolimanesh is an Associate Professor at the School of Hospitality, Tourism & Events, at Taylor's University. Mostafa is an editorial board member of more than 10 reputed tourism and hospitality journals.