Identifying a destination’s optimal tourist market mix: does a superior portfolio model exist?

Mariani, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7916-2576, Platanakis, E., Safylas, D. and Sutcliffe, C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0187-487X (2023) Identifying a destination’s optimal tourist market mix: does a superior portfolio model exist? Tourism Management, 96. 104722. ISSN 0261-5177 doi: 10.1016/j.tourman.2023.104722

Abstract/Summary

Extant tourism research has used various portfolio model types to determine optimal tourist market mixes which simultaneously maximize total tourist expenditure and minimize the instability of international inbound tourism demand. We analyse the three portfolio models that have been applied in the tourism literature: two varieties of a levels model (that use the level of tourist arrivals, or bed nights to quantify tourist activity) and a growth rates model (that deploys the growth in the level of tourist activity). Applying these models using per capita expenditure in four distinctively different destination countries (Australia, Greece, Japan, and USA), we demonstrate that the Levels Model 1 is superior to the Levels Model 2 and the Growth Rates Model. It produces solutions that provide noticeably higher tourist expenditure with less instability of international tourism demand than the status quo. Theoretical contributions and practical implications for tourism policy makers and destination marketers are discussed.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/109813
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Henley Business School > Finance and Accounting Henley Business School > Leadership, Organisations, Behaviour and Reputation
Publisher	Elsevier
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item