The WEF Tourism Competitiveness Report: Measuring the non-Measurable?!

This article discusses the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum in the context of existing research on this topic as well as from a methodological perspective. A positive ranking can be achieved when ranking the tourist competitiveness of individual countries, however, a critical examination of the procedure is appropriate. Main criticisms are in particular the missing embedding of the report into the existing research, the lack of traceability (rationalization) of the selection and weighting of the measured variables (which is partly arbitrary and demonstrably ignores important quantities), the type of data collection (survey and hard data) and their amalgamation. For this reason, the results may only be noted with a critical eye. This is particularly true for Switzerland, which has lost its appeal - despite having been in first place for some time - due to its price disadvantage. (©Christian Laesser. All rights reserved.)

How to waste less on vacation (Sara Dolnicar)

Do not teach but do nudge tourists to behave environmentally friendly!

Have a look at this very refreshing TedX by Sara Dolnicar from the University of Queensland.

There is hope and there are ways that one can nudge tourists to behave environmentally friendlier.

https://youtu.be/gtv4BHqEpN8

Switzerland constitutes a very good reason for Chinese people to travelto Europe - but the competition is intense

Switzerland contributes a great deal to the attractiveness of Europe as a destination for Chinese people. But the number of easily accessible destinations – e.g. due to the abolition of visas, visa facilitation, and better air links - is rapidly increasing for Chinese tourists worldwide. In the competition for their holiday budgets, Europe and Switzerland, therefore, have a difficult time. This shows a first trend-analysis of data on the travel behavior of the Chinese population, data which I collected in a survey in China together with Survey Yes.

Destination branding: It is time to surrender in ​dignity to theimpossibility of this task!

Destination branding is one of the key instruments in destination marketing. The article shows that we should end the dance around this golden calf sooner than later.

Only a few are claiming that branding is not one of the key instruments in destination marketing. A destination must be positioned in the market, and guests should get a clear picture of what is going on, and what values, etc., a destination embraces. In short, destinations should have an emotional and thus binding meaning for their guests.

I allow myself to raise my critical voice at this point: Let's stop burning our budgets specifically for destination branding. Why? Because I think we've all gotten a wrong picture for years. Let me bring forward some arguments to explain how I come to this conclusion.

Local suppliers in the world of global sales platforms: David vs.Goliath?

Hotels, in particular, holiday hotels, are challenged by the dominance of global booking platforms. As shown in the following remarks, it is worthwhile to pause and take a look at the sales and distribution as a whole.