Understanding western tourists in developing countries

Tourists are a poorly explored part of the tourism business despite the fact that within a few decades tourism has grown from a marginal to one of the world’s dominant economic sectors. Leading umbrella organizations such as the World Tourism Organization (WTO) and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) believe that, from a global perspective, the
full expansion of tourism growth has yet to come. In spite of its present importance virtually all parties involved lack sufficient knowledge of the tourism consumer, in particular in relation to sustainable tourism development. ‘Most tourism executives, managers, planners and developers pay respect to the adage “know thy consumer”. Little consistent effort has been directed in research and in academia towards a basic understanding of the consumer’ (Taylor, 1998, p. 267). Failing to understand the complexity and dynamics of the tourist phenomenon, many policy papers and development plans related to tourism are unable to adequately analyse the tourism potential or competitive position of destination areas. Consequently,
both in the fields of product development and visitor management, as well as in the field of communication with the consumer, countless initiatives and interventions by either public or private sector or non-governmental organizations have had limited results or even overreached their goals.

Từ khóa: Understanding western tourists in developing countries, world tourism organization, world travel, tourism potential, khách du lịch phương tây, du lịch thế giới