Customer value management as a determinant of the competitive position of tourism destinations

Abstract

Destinations are strategic marketing units which consist of territorially delimited, consolidated areas of co‐operation. Options to improve a destination's competitive edge depend on the determinants of competitiveness. A destination's competitive position can be explained by factor conditions and conditions of demand, quality and structure of sectors involved, strategies as well as market and organizational structures. The competitive system depicted above forms the basis for the creation of “customer value” and therefore is a source of future competitive advantages. Customer value is the gap perceived by the customer between the perceived (multidimensional) benefit and the perceived (multidimensional) costs/prices of a destination compared to its competitors. The aim of the article is the explanation of “Customer Value Management” as a key strategy to affect a destination's competitive position by means of supply‐side measures as well as the communicated and achievable relative consumption/cost position.

Citation

Pechlaner, H., Smeral, E. and Matzier, K. (2002), "Customer value management as a determinant of the competitive position of tourism destinations", Tourism Review, Vol. 57 No. 4, pp. 15-22. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb058390