Market research urged for tourism

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