Satisfaction of European Tourists – Benchmarking of EU Countries

Abstract

High level of satisfaction of tourists is one of the most common goals of sustainable tourism destinations. The general assumption is that higher level of tourists' satisfaction leads to a higher tourists' loyalty to destinations. This research looks on this relationship from macro level of European Union (EU) countries. We have used data from Eurobarometer-Preferences of Europeans towards Tourism between 2013 and 2016to statistically compare and analyse several satisfaction indicators of European tourists incoming the chosen EU countries. The results show significant differences amongst countries as destinations and could be used to identify strengths and weaknesses of EU countries as tourism destinations. The robust data set enables the benchmarking of EU countries as tourism destinations from the tourists' satisfaction point of view. This study shows the ranking of the EU countries in several dimensions of tourists' satisfaction.

Removing Uncontrollable Factors in Benchmarking Tourism Destination Satisfaction

“…None of the previous studies explains how to exclude the weather effect from destination performance, when comparing different destinations from the visitors' satisfaction viewpoint-a process that is necessary in regional policy analysis. If we consider the satisfaction of visitors as one of the main goals of tourism destinations (Mazanec, Wober, and Zins 2007;Štumpf, Vojtko, and Valtrová 2018) and a crucial factor of destination sustainability and competitiveness (Iniesta-Bonillo, Sánchez-Fernández, and Jiménez-Castillo 2016; Jarvis, Stoeckl, and Liu 2016;Sukiman et al 2013), there is a need to benchmark the destinations from the viewpoint of visitors' satisfaction while controlling for factors beyond the control of the destination manager. Generally, if we want to benchmark tourism destinations, it is necessary to measure, analyze, and evaluate more factors and variables (Kozak 2002), what we can consider as a limitation of this study.…”

“…Generally, if we want to benchmark tourism destinations, it is necessary to measure, analyze, and evaluate more factors and variables (Kozak 2002), what we can consider as a limitation of this study. However, satisfaction can be considered as one of the most important parts of destination performance and thus also as one of the greatest signals of competitive advantage (Štumpf, Vojtko, and Valtrová 2018). To recall, there are several approaches that can be used for the tourism destinations benchmarking such as benchmarking against the best, or benchmarking against average values (Kozak 2004a(Kozak , 2004b(Kozak , 2002Kozak and Rimmington 1999).…”

“…The concepts of performance and satisfaction (gap analysis) can be used to benchmark strengths and weaknesses of different destinations by considering actual tourist experiences (Kozak 2002). Satisfaction with a tourism product is also considered one of the essential objectives and indicators of success in tourism destination management (Mazanec, Wober, and Zins 2007;Ryglova and Vajcnerova 2014;Štumpf, Vojtko, and Valtrová 2018) and as one of the most important factors of destination sustainability and competitiveness (Iniesta-Bonillo, Sánchez-Fernández, and Jiménez-Castillo 2016;Jarvis, Stoeckl, and Liu 2016;Sukiman et al 2013;Ryglová et al 2018).…”

“…In practice, among other things, this may influence the interpretation and objectivity of results when establishing benchmarks to evaluate and assess the competitiveness of destinations. This concerns especially those cases when benchmarking of the destination performance is conducted by means of visitor satisfaction or visitor turnout (Foster and Jackson 1979;Fuchs and Weiermair 2004;Johann and Padma 2016;Kozak 2002;Štumpf, Vojtko, and Valtrová 2018).…”