Managing and Marketing Tourist Destinations—Strategies to Gain a Competitive Edge

Destination marketing is more challenging than other goods and services. The basis of competitive advantage shifts from tourism resources only (destination marketing) to a location-based or city-wide integrated management (place marketing). In this book, tourism scholars Metin Kozak and Seyhmus Baloglu discuss and synthesize theories, models, techniques, and principles for strategic marketing and management of tourist destinations, and demonstrate ways in which to further develop the concept of destination competitiveness for application within these destinations. The authors highlight the need for managing brand equity, tourist experience, and information systems, as well as involving internal and external stakeholders in strategic planning and implementation.

This book offers practical information directly related to the tourism industry, using the examples of real-world cases to bridge marketing theory with practice. With its international focus and applications for developing a competitive advantage in today's global marketplace, this research will be indispensable to students and scholars of tourism, hospitality, and leisure and recreation programs, as well as practitioners within these industries.

Metin Kozak serves as Professor of Marketing, Mugla University, Turkey. Kozak has published in international journals and presented over 40 papers at countless conferences. He is the author and co-editor of six books. His main research interests focus on consumer behavior, benchmarking, competitiveness, cross-cultural research, destination management and marketing, and European tourist markets.

Seyhmus Baloglu is Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, UNLV, USA. Baloglu is a prolific author and the recipient of numerous national and international research awards. His research interests revolve around Destination Image and Branding, Customer Loyalty, Internet Marketing, Data Mining, and TQM.