Harvesting the “Business Test Trip”: Converting Business Travelers to Holidaymakers

ABSTRACT

A destination has no chance of being chosen unless it is part of a tourist's early consideration set (Crompton & Ankomah, 1993), implying the tourist's awareness of the destination. Raising awareness for a destination is challenging, especially in times of global competition. We investigate a common, yet empirically untested, assumption that business travelers can be converted to holidaymakers at the same destination at a future point in time. Empirical results indicate that business travelers do use business trips to a new destination to assess the potential for future leisure travel. Marketing strategies which destinations could deploy to entice business travelers back as holidaymakers are discussed.

Keywords:

• Destination choice
• early consideration set
• business travel
• tourism marketing