The north cyprus conference sector: Establishing a competitive advantage

Journal: Tourism Analysis

Volume: 15

Issue: 4

Pages: 411-424

eISSN: 1943-3999

ISSN: 1083-5423

Abstract:

© 2010 Cognizant Comm. Corp. North Cyprus had recently positioned itself as a conference destination. Given external and internal factors such as political isolation and the over dependency on casino tourism, policy makers have recognized the importance of the conference sector in creating sustainable growth for North Cyprus's tourism-driven economy. Increasingly, Turkish conference organizers are choosing North Cyprus as a destination to host conferences. As such, Turkish conference organizers were questioned via an Internet-based questionnaire to determine attributes considered important within the conference destination selection process. An Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) was performed; the findings identified that North Cyprus was perceived as a high performer with reference to: ease of accessibility, distance of destination, conference venue and accommodation price, safety and security, climate, hospitality, quality, quantity, and availability of hotel rooms. However, in relation to North Cyprus, a unique application of IPA identified macro- and microdestination attributes that North Cyprus should improve on: transportation within destination, availability of technological resources, the range of conference venues, conference staff training, destination's marketing activities, and quality of local restaurants. The findings provided implications for destination managers in terms of branding, as well as conference venue and accommodation providers in terms of targeting conference organizers more effectively and promoting North Cyprus to conference sector stakeholders.

Source: Scopus

The North Cyprus Conference Sector: Establishing a Competitive Advantage

Authors: Oral, J. and Whitfield, J.E.

Journal: Tourism Analysis

Volume: 15

Pages: 411-424

ISSN: 1083-5423

DOI: 10.3727/108354210X12864727453142

Abstract:

North Cyprus had recently positioned itself as a conference destination. Given external and internal factors such as political isolation and the over dependency on casino tourism, policymakers have recognised the importance of the conference sector in creating sustainable growth for North Cyprus’s tourism driven economy. Increasingly, Turkish conference organisers are choosing North Cyprus as a destination to host conferences. As such, Turkish conference organisers were questioned via an internet based questionnaire to determine attributes considered important within the conference destination selection process. An Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) was performed, the findings identified that North Cyprus was perceived as a high performer with reference to; ease of accessibility, distance of destination, conference venue and accommodation price, safety and security, climate, hospitality, quality, quantity and availability of hotel rooms. However, in relation to North Cyprus, a unique application of IPA identified macro- and micro-destination attributes that North Cyprus should improve on; transportation within destination, availability of technological resources, the range of conference venues, conference staff training, destinations marketing activities and quality of local restaurants. The findings provided implications for destination managers in terms of branding, as well as conference venue and accommodation providers in terms of targeting conference organisers more effectively and promoting North Cyprus to conference sector stakeholders.

Source: Manual

Preferred by: Julie Whitfield