Segmenting global tourism markets: A panel club convergence approach

Abstract

This study adopts an advanced panel club convergence approach to analyzing global tourism market segmentation. We empirically examine the convergence process of Turkish global tourism source markets over the period of 2001-2015, covering 81 markets. We further employ a recently developed procedure to test for structural breaks in our data. Three groups of breakpoint-homogenous countries are identified. We then examine within-group club formation and reveal a number of convergence clubs (or segments). The results show the importance of Asian source markets in the post-break periods. This study illustrates the application of structural break and club convergence analysis for segmenting global tourism markets, and generates important implications for tourism organizations to develop global marketing strategies.

Segmenting Tourism Markets Based on Demand Growth Patterns: A Longitudinal Profile Analysis Approach

“…Over a dozen studies inspired by Narayan (2006) have tested the hypothesis of various numbers of converging tourism markets over different time periods for different destination countries, where economic growth is driven largely by international tourism. The number of markets in a study ranged from 8 in Narayan (2007) to 81 in Lin et al (2019), with the majority falling between 10 and 20. The length of period in a study spanned from 8 years in Solarin (2018) to 32 years in Narayan (2007) and Tiwari (2016), while most studies examined between 10 and 20 years.…”

“…Various econometric testing approaches have been adopted based on different assumptions about the converging process’s characteristics—for example, nonlinearity (e.g., Solarin & Lean, 2014), structural breaks (e.g., Ozcan & Erdogan, 2017; Tan & Tan, 2013; Tang, 2011; Yilanci & Eris, 2012), monthly seasonality (e.g., Hepsag, 2016), club or clusters (e.g., Kaplan et al, 2017; Mérida et al, 2016; Solarin, 2014) and dynamics (e.g., Lin et al, 2019; Valadkhani & O’Mahony, 2018). These quantitative analytical methods are mathematically sophisticated and interpretable only to econometrics experts.…”

“…Additionally, different models tend to provide inconsistent conclusions. For example, Turkey is the most researched destination regarding tourism market convergence; however, the structure of its source markets is still not clearly understood, as previous studies report different and even contradictory findings (Lin et al, 2019).…”

“…The length of period in a study spanned from 8 years in Solarin (2018) to 32 years in Narayan (2007) and Tiwari (2016), while most studies examined between 10 and 20 years. The most researched destinations include Australia (Kourtzidis et al, 2018; Valadkhani & O’Mahony, 2018), Singapore (Lee, 2009; Tan & Tan, 2013), Malaysia (Lean & Smyth, 2008; Tang, 2011), and Turkey (Abbott et al, 2012; Hepsag, 2016; Kaplan et al, 2017; Lin et al, 2019). Other popular destinations examined include Fiji (Narayan, 2007), the Seychelles (Solarin & Lean, 2014), the Caribbean (Lorde & Moore, 2008), South Africa (Solarin, 2014), India (Tiwari, 2016), Spain (Mérida et al, 2016), Greece (Katrakilidis et al, 2017), and Taiwan (Solarin, 2018).…”

New Challenges of Quality of the Market of Health-Resort and Tourist Services: Case Study of Krasnodar Krai (Russia)

“…The integration processes in the markets of healthresort and tourist services (by the example of Australia) are studied in the work Kourtzidis et al (2018). The necessity and high complexity of segmenting of the global market of healthresort and tourist services due to the specifics of consumer preferences in different countries are emphasized in the work Lin et al (2019). The important role of state regulation in the modern markets of markets of health-resort and tourist services is emphasized in the work María Martín-Martín et al (2019).…”