Essay on Destination Marketing: Dolnicar and Grun's Elaborative Discussion

Dolnicar and Grun in their article entitled In a Galaxy Far, Far Away... Market yourself differently argues that the focal point of tourism marketing activities is the destination. In this article, the authors give an elaborative discussion on how destination managers can investigate the destination perception of the consumers by taking not only vital but also positioning action (Dolnicar & Grun, 2016). Sara Dolnicar and Bettina Grun claim that over the years the various definition of destination has been unclear from the perception of the consumer at early stages of making choices about the destination. In this article, the authors challenge the fact that the way consumer perceive destination choice process is critically crucial and matters a lot. The two authors give elaborative discussion by claiming that consumers have deeper knowledge about the destination (Dolnicar & Grun, 2016). Further, the article argues that the distance between the consumer's home and the destination impacts the geographical area size that determines the destination. Also, the authors argue that under-research is done mainly in a geographically larger destination.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

In this article, the authors aim at indicating whether the consumer has a very broad position on what a destination is ?, Does the distance between the destination and home affects the size of geographical area perceived as destination and is geographically larger destination severely under-researched?. The research design used by the author's exploratory research, since it involved two survey studies using a full-service international online panel company. In the two studies, every representative of the country respondent was invited to participate. The data was collected through a survey process (Dolnicar & Grun, 2016). The global population was targeted where a sample involving a representative from every country was collected. Participants were recruited through a panel by using a wide range of channels that aim at aiding limiting panel membership, especially to heavy internet users.

From the findings, it was concluded that in academic literature tourist interest in cities, regions, and countries is well researched. Based on the findings, the authors argue that theoretical prediction with respect to cognitive structures displayed that namely; tourists that reside in countries far much away from the destination are likely to have less refined cognitive structure about the destination. This article claim that, if a tourist is closer to home, the tourist is likely to have more refined cognitive structure (Dolnicar & Grun, 2016). The authors assert that in this case, most of the tourist would use smaller and more refined geographical units as destination. Also, the aforementioned questions have no relationship as destination is concerned. The article claim that the findings conducted have implication for tourism marketing and tourism research to claim that destination should differ in marketing styles to long-haul tourists.

In my view, different nature and entities determine destinations to tourists. Since nature determines the destination the consumer makes, there is insufficient evidence from this article to support the fact. Thus, even though the argument is effective, there is insufficient evidence. In my opinion, sample representation is key for the present study to aide in determining what consumers perceive as destinations. Therefore, it shall help in different proportion view of destination in another way.

References

Dolnicar, S., & Grun, B. (2016). In a Galaxy Far, Far Away . . . Market Yourself Differently. Journal of Travel Research, 56(5), 593-598. doi:10.1177/0047287516633529