A Visitor Value Management Model: Focusing on the Actual Experience in Managing ‘Visitor Value’ Delivery

Abstract

This is a conceptual paper on the need for tourism sector businesses to better understand the needs, desires and perceptions of visitors so that they can better manage the exchanged value from both the perspective of the visitor and the organisation.  Many of the traditional models of services provision are often too general and not precisely applicable to the tourism situation, where people are “outside their normal zone of existence”, more relaxed, happy and seeking enjoyment. Therefore, the exchange process in holiday situations should not be treated in the same way as normal exchange transactions.  This paper proposes a model for managing “visit value”, which focuses on the service design and development which tempers the product and service offerings to evoke the value adding attributes and the affective offer such as enjoyment, surprise, delight, excitement and pleasure.  Furthermore, the paper suggests that to achieve the “affect” characteristics in service design and delivery, there is a need for visitor feedback and continuous improvement to the exchanged value.

Keywords: Tourism, Value management, Satisfaction, Performance monitoring, Models