Measuring Event Planners' Perceptions of Place Image Attributes: The Case of Greek Convention Destinations

Abstract

Meetings, convention, and exhibition tourism is a growing and relatively high value segment of the industry. As a result, it is often put forth as a strategic focus to enhance overall tourism revenues, particularly in the tourism off-season. Professional meeting planners play a major role in this sector, given their critical intermediary position and function which enable them to influence, and often determine, location choice. Therefore, knowing their views of various competitive destinations and the dimensions on which they base their evaluation can be important information for marketers engaged in destination branding and promotion. This study evaluates the perceptions of professional meeting planners concerning the relative importance of destination choice attributes and the images of selected convention destinations in Greece. Research instruments from earlier tourism studies are used and enhanced by scales from the related literature on product–country image effects on product choice, where place image is also important. The findings support those of earlier studies but also point to factors related to places and their people, which may be more effective differentiators for convention destinations than traditional tourism factors. Implications for research and practice and potentially interesting areas for future studies are discussed.