Market research urged for tourism

YOGYAKARTA: Regular market research was vital if Yogyakarta was to develop tourism, as it would justify what approach best suited demand, an expert says.

"The results of such research is a guarantee of success to win in the market," tourism expert Janianton Damanik of Gadjah Mada University's postgraduate program on tourism studies said here on Thursday.

Unfortunately, he said, the tourism sector in the province rarely undertook such research, mostly because it was not yet considered important for planning marketing strategy.

As a result, many of the tourism marketing strategies applied were based only on speculative assumptions.

Research was urgent to better know the market and understand tourists' expectations with regard to tourism products. That would enable the business community to develop the best products, as well as a marketing strategy, Janianton said.

"The results of research may be quite different from our expectations. They may reveal that the most wanted product is not ours. But, it will be much better that way than to keep offering unwanted products or applying unsuitable strategies," Janianton said. -- JP