Measuring Segment Attractiveness

K. Lazarevski, University of Wollongong
S. Dolnicar, University of Wollongong

Article comments

This conference paper was originally published as Lazarevski, K & Dolnicar, S, Measuring Segment Attractiveness, European Marketing Academy Conference EMAC2009, Nantes, France, 26-29 May 2009. Original conference information available here

Abstract

Market segmentation has been widely employed to give tourism destination planners market understanding, identify attractive target segments, and develop a marketing offer customised to their needs. While a number of authors have proposed general criteria for assessing the attractiveness of segments, measurable indicators of attractiveness have not been proposed to date. This study uses a set of indicators to make “Segment Attractiveness” measurable and illustrate the usefulness of the proposed measure in the context of a generic tourism destination and a destination focusing on reachability. Results indicate (1) the proposed indicators discriminate between different market segments, thus guiding destination managers, and (2) weighting of indicators can help destinations with specific aims select segments in line with their priorities.