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Introduction
Metin Kozak and Luisa Andreu
The strategy of market segmentation seeks to achieve competitive advantage by focusing on a specific type of customer segment and designing the existing products and services according to their values or socio-economic and socio-demographic characteris- tics. Those who expect the same benefits or are in the same category of consumption patterns are classified as one segment of the market. Having reviewed earlier studies in the literature, it is possible to suggest several categories of market segmentation strategies relating to the marketing of tourism products or destinations, e.g. by socio-economic and demographic characteristics such as nationality, age, income and occupation, by product-related characteristics such as types of activity, number of repeat visits and length of stay, by psychographic characteristics such as attitudes, interests and motivation, and by geographical characteristics such as day trippers, domestic and foreign tourists (Goodall, 1990; Heath & Wall, 1992). A facility or a destination might offer cheaper services to those with lower income levels in the off-season or attract only explorers for adventure tourism.
The socio-economic and socio-demographic profiles of tourism demand in the poten- tial markets are a determinant for affecting the choice to vacation and its direction towards particular tourism products or destinations. The level of age, income, occupation, time, whom to travel with and personality play a significant role in determining the destination choice process (Um & Crompton, 1990). Visitors will be likely to choose destinations where any or all of these variables are better matched with what the destination offers.
Heath and Wall (1992, p. 91) states that “market segmentation is based on the assumption that different market segments have different needs [and different sets of personality, expectations and wants], different levels of present and potential consumption, different levels of awareness of the product and are exposed to different communication channels”.
Thus, different marketing mix concepts should be devised for different market segments.
As every facility or destination has a different product to attract customers from different markets, it is unlikely that all facilities or destinations are able to compete for all market segments. In this sense, the most important and competitive products should be developed in each segment.
The first chapter of this part on market segmentation explores Timothy’s classification of visitors to historical settings according to their perception of the heritage presented (as World, National, Local or Personal), in segmenting visitors’ expectations of on-site inter- pretation. The study, conducted at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, included 208 par- ticipants. The results indicate that visitors to heritage settings are not interested in an
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educational or cognitive experience alone, but also in its emotional dimension. Overall, three main expectations were identified: the visitors’ wish for the interpretation to provide an emotional experience, provide information about WWII and allow an active learning process. As such, visitors’ perceptions of the site as personal are linked to their expectation that the interpretation will generate emotional involvement. Additionally, perception of the site by all other dimensions is relevant to the expectation for an educa- tional experience. These findings are of helpful to implement different marketing strate- gies according to how heritage is perceived by each segment.
As a result of the waning ability of traditional socio-demographic variables to explain the motivations of individuals in the area of tourism, a need has arisen to go into more detail and show their dependence upon another variable, lifestyle, hitherto neglected in this industry. The second chapter first demonstrates the relevance of segmenting the tourist market and then justifies the need to do it on the lifestyle basis. It then reviews current methodological trends. An application of analytic techniques indicates that motivations and tourist behaviour depend on the variables identified by one of the approaches: AIO (Activities, Interests and Opinions). An evidence of a very significant increase in the dependence of lifestyle tourist variables has been confirmed when homogeneous segments of the population are determined. This signals a need to segment the market using this cri- terion as well as to apply differentiated marketing strategies for each segment established on the basis of such variables.
As already mentioned earlier, choosing a tourist destination often involves dealing with various types of perceived risks. While investigating the perceived risk of travelers, several questions should be taken into consideration to come up with solid conclusions and impli- cations at the end. For example, do tourists differ in their perceptions of risk associated with a particular destination? Can tourist characteristics be identified to distinguish between various risk perceptions as well as between various risk reduction strategies? Is the choice of a particular type of tour associated with specific types of risk? Does the coun- try of origin matter in terms of perceived risk? In order to attempt to answer these ques- tions, the next chapter attempts to examine the relationships between destination risk perceptions, risk reduction strategies, tourist characteristics and type of tour. First, the chapter clarifies the concept of tourist destination risk perception and elaborates through the notion of tourist as a consumer faced with a decision about intangible services. It then analyses the various dimensions of destination risk perceptions in relation to risk reduction strategies as well as tourist characteristics and the type of preferred tour. The findings may serve as a basis for establishing a thorough segmentation strategy that could be useful for dealing with effective destination marketing solutions.
Finally, segmented, either differential or discriminatory, pricing is a widely applied pric- ing strategy in the hospitality and tourism industry; however, in Turkey as elsewhere, there is an application of price differentiation that is contradictory to the requirements of sus- tainable tourism development. It is the purpose of the final chapter of this part to discuss the potential reasons of such a contradictory price differentiation and generate solutions to avoid the negative consequences. To this end, a few hotel managers experienced in the Turkish tourism industry were surveyed on this issue using an online research mode. The chapter presents potential outcomes of such a controversial pricing strategy as well as bet- ter coping strategies for different market segments, e.g. domestic tourists, foreign tourists, 130 Metin Kozak and Luisa Andreu
travel agencies. Generally speaking, the study findings confirm that there is price differen- tiation between domestic and foreign tourists in Turkey, which is in disadvantage to the for- mer market segment.
References
Goodall, B. (1990). Opportunity sets as analytical marketing instruments: A destination area view.
In: G. Ashworth, & B. Goodall (Eds), Marketing tourism (pp. 63–84). London: Routledge.
Heath, E., & Wall, G. (1992). Marketing tourism destinations: A strategic planning approach.
Canada: Wiley.
Um, S., & Crompton, J.L. (1990). Attitude determinants in tourism destination choice. Annals of Tourism Research, 17, 432–448.
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