Collaborative Destination Marketing Research Articles

Post-pandemic collaborative destination marketing: Effectiveness and impact on different generational audiences

In a break from the traditional focus on destination image recovery in post-crisis scenarios, the COVID-19 pandemic required a different approach to collaborative destination marketing. This research aims to fill a gap in knowledge about the factors that drive post-pandemic collaborative destination marketing strategies, the objectives that are set, their effectiveness, and the different impacts on diverse age groups. Grounded in stakeholder and generational theories, this study examines an innovative collaborative marketing campaign for Spain in 2022. Spain's tourism rebounded swiftly that year, almost reaching pre-pandemic international visitor numbers. The campaign was collaboratively developed by TourSpain, the Spanish National Tourism Organisation (NTO), along with six regional and local Spanish Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs), Expedia, and TripAdvisor. In-depth interviews were conducted with all stakeholder groups involved in the campaign, and this was complemented by focus groups with U.K. residents, grouped by generation. The findings revealed how the stakeholders reoriented their post-pandemic collaborative strategies to considering variables, such as customer journey stages and sociodemographic factors, to achieve branding and conversion objectives. The study also discovered that the campaign's effectiveness varied across different generational audiences. This research provides valuable insights for NTOs and DMOs in designing future post-crisis collaborative marketing initiatives.

Innovation networks on aeronautical Portuguese heritage

This study intends to develop a tourism product by adding value to Portuguese aeronautical resources, contributing to existing knowledge by: i) exploring aeronautical heritage as a collaborative destination marketing: the Portuguese Aeronautical Route (PAR); ii) developing tourism product through innovation networks. The PAR incorporates collaborative destination marketing and proposes a product that could qualify Portuguese heritage. Our findings suggest the opportunity to promote the country as an aeronautical destination brand, supported by a multi-destination route. The PAR also enables a continuous resource valorization and ensures sustainability by involving collaboration which feeds an innovation cycle and reinforces its marketing potential.

Segmenting visitors’ motivation, price perceptions, willingness to pay and price sensitivity in a collaborative destination marketing effort

ABSTRACT While several studies segment the motives of travellers, the relationship between these segments, and the travellers’ price perceptions, their willingness to pay (WTP), and price sensitivity remains scantly researched. Applying a neural gas algorithm to segment the travel motives of 714 visitors to Langenfeld, Austria, reveals the existence of three motivation clusters that are different in terms of the minimum, maximum and fair prices that travellers are willing to pay. Also, based on four self-assembled holiday packages offered as part of a collaborative destination marketing effort by different providers in Langenfeld, we demonstrate that visitors are willing to pay different prices for the selected packages and this has an influence on profitability of the destination. Implications for destination marketing and pricing strategies are offered.

Collaborative destination marketing and PWYW

Innovative pricing methods such as auctions, Name-Your-Own-Price and Pay-What-You-Want (PWYW) are fairly recent. These pricing approaches allow sellers and customers to collaborate in the price setting process (Amor, 2000; Shapiro & Zillante, 2009). PWYW, in particular, goes a step further by allowing customers to decide which price they want to pay after consumption. As such, this approach takes away the power of price setting from the seller. The customer is free to set any price (even zero) and the seller has to accept it (Kim, Natter, & Spann, 2009). Studies on PWYW provide insights into why the approach works in certain societies (Bolton, 1991; Elster, 1989; Gneezy, Gneezy, Riener, & Nelson, 2012), which factors (e.g. satisfaction, income and price consciousness) impact on the PWYW price people pay, and its profitability for various services (Chao, Fernandez, & Nahata, 2015; Kim et al., 2009; Schons et al., 2014). There is currently no study in the tourism field that either applies PWYW at the destination level to evaluate profitability or the impact of PWYW on subsequent tourist satisfaction. The study contributes to the dearth of literature on collaborative pricing in the tourism field.

Rise and fall of community-based tourism – facilitators, inhibitors and outcomes

Purpose– The aim of the current study is to use a city case study from Costa Rica to evaluate the Nash equilibrium point and Anna Karenina Principle in relation to community-based tourism (CBT), collaborative destination marketing (CDM) and strategic destination branding (SDB) – all of which require similar facilitators and suffer from similar inhibitors.Design/methodology/approach– The study combines a case study approach with in-depth interviewing of local business stakeholders as the aim is to reveal a specific event in a specific setting.Findings– In-depth interviews with local tourism product and service suppliers provided evidence that numerous deficiencies stem from the lack of collaborative destination marketing and branding in Costa Rica. This undermines the Nash equilibrium, namely successful CBT marketing and branding.Research limitations/implications– The results support the theory that the success (i.e. Nash equilibrium) or the failure situation (i.e. Anna Karenina Principle) in CBT – similar to CDM and SDB – depend on similar critical factors, including a shared vision, all-inclusive stakeholder involvement and participation; and cooperation and collaboration.Practical implications– Results indicated an urgent need for governments, donor organizations, universities and NGOs to partner to collectively develop campaigns and educational and training programs for human and social capital development.Originality/value– This study integrates sustainable tourism, tourism development, poverty alleviation, community-based tourism (CBT), collaborative destination marketing, strategic destination branding (SDB), Nash equilibrium and Anna Karenina Principle to explain the successful application of community-based tourism, which has not been previously reported.

Collaborative Destination Marketing

Collaborative initiatives are voluntary arrangements between tourism organizations involved in managing and promoting destinations. In the tourism domain, although collaboration issues have been studied from various perspectives, relatively little research has been conducted on the process of collaborative marketing at the destination level. This study attempts to examine the process of collaboration formation in the context of a destination within the domain of theories of interorganizational relations. The study chooses a destination as a case of investigation with a focus on marketing activities between and among the local tourism industry facilitated by the local destination marketing organization. Implications are discussed from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

Collaborative destination marketing: Roles and strategies of convention and visitors bureaus

The development and marketing of tourism destinations has increasingly focused on collaboration and community approach in which convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) are playing important roles in coordinating marketing activities and developing desired image of the destination in the marketplace. However, the fulfillment of the CVB's destination marketing role has been challenged by a number of issues related to governance and positioning. Taking a case study approach, this study attempts to understand the roles and strategies of CVBs in collaborative destination marketing and assess the collaborative marketing relationships and activities between the CVB and local tourism businesses. Discussions and implications are provided based on the study results.

Toward a Theoretical Framework of Collaborative Destination Marketing

Marketing a destination has been a challenging task for many communities that rely on tourism for economic development. Collaborative marketing efforts of the tourism organizations representing the destination provide solutions to this challenge. This article develops an integrative theoretical framework in an attempt to explore the nature and dynamism of collaborative marketing efforts at the destination level. Specifically, a model of collaborative marketing is proposed that integrates the preconditions, motivations, processes, and outcomes of destination marketing alliances and networks based upon theories of interorganizational relations. Implications are provided and discussed from both practical and theoretical perspectives.

Collaborative destination marketing: A case study of Elkhart county, Indiana

The fragmented nature of the tourism industry requires a substantial degree of coordination and collaboration among the variety of different players in destination marketing. However, the studies on partnerships and collaboration have taken very narrow perspectives of cooperation relationships and therefore, none of them individually can explain the nature of marketing alliances and networks among tourism organizations. Based upon the results of previous research and a case study of Elkhart County, Indiana, this paper proposes a more integrative theoretical framework in an attempt to better describe and explain the nature and dynamism of collaborative destination marketing. The implications of this framework are provided from both practical and theoretical perspectives.