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Assessing the viability of university alumni as a repeat visitor market

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  • Schofield, Peter
  • Fallon, Paul

Abstract

Both student and repeat visitor markets have been recognised by tourism academics and destination marketing agencies, but the alumni repeat visitor market has been neglected. The paper examines alumni propensity to return as tourists to their university city using a sample of graduates from a university in the North West of England. The large majority returned to the destination as tourists within six months of graduation, although visitation declined sharply after the first return visit. A cluster analysis using both motivation and constraint dimensions identified six a posteriori segments. Three of these were found to have significant potential because of their strong emotional attachment to the destination rather than the university. The accessibility of segments for targeting, through the development of links between the DMO and the educational institution, also supports their commercial viability.

Suggested Citation

  • Schofield, Peter & Fallon, Paul, 2012. "Assessing the viability of university alumni as a repeat visitor market," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1373-1384.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:touman:v:33:y:2012:i:6:p:1373-1384
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2011.12.021
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    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517711002895
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Campo-Martínez, Sara & Garau-Vadell, Joan B. & Martínez-Ruiz, María Pilar, 2010. "Factors influencing repeat visits to a destination: The influence of group composition," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 862-870.
    2. Fuchs, Galia & Reichel, Arie, 2011. "An exploratory inquiry into destination risk perceptions and risk reduction strategies of first time vs. repeat visitors to a highly volatile destination," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 266-276.
    3. Assaker, Guy & Vinzi, Vincenzo Esposito & O’Connor, Peter, 2011. "Examining the effect of novelty seeking, satisfaction, and destination image on tourists’ return pattern: A two factor, non-linear latent growth model," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 890-901.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bokolo Anthony, 2021. "Information Flow Analysis of a Knowledge Mapping-Based System for University Alumni Collaboration: a Practical Approach," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(2), pages 756-787, June.

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