Competitive Positioning among International ...

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Competitive Positioning among International Convention Cities in the East Asian Region a

b

Samuel Seongseop Kim , Seunghyun Yoon & Youngmi Kim a

c

College of Hospitality & Tourism, Sejong University, Seoul, Korea

b

Department of Convention Management, Hanam University, Daejeon, Korea c

Graduate School of Culture, Chunnam National University, Gwangju, Korea Version of record first published: 16 Jun 2011

To cite this article: Samuel Seongseop Kim, Seunghyun Yoon & Youngmi Kim (2011): Competitive Positioning among International Convention Cities in the East Asian Region, Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 12:2, 86-105 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15470148.2011.566760

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Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 12:86–105, 2011 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1547-0148 print / 1547-0156 online DOI: 10.1080/15470148.2011.566760

Competitive Positioning among International Convention Cities in the East Asian Region SAMUEL SEONGSEOP KIM College of Hospitality & Tourism, Sejong University, Seoul, Korea

SEUNGHYUN YOON Downloaded by [Sejong University ] at 17:01 28 August 2012

Department of Convention Management, Hanam University, Daejeon, Korea

YOUNGMI KIM Graduate School of Culture, Chunnam National University, Gwangju, Korea

The main aim of this study is to conduct a comparative investigation into five international convention cities in East Asia, namely Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo. A total of 160 questionnaires were collected from 3 countries and used for data analyses. Of the many outcomes of the data analyses, Shanghai scored the highest on “good image of the host city,” while Beijing scored the lowest on this attribute. In respect to “safety of a city,” Hong Kong and Seoul were seen as the most favorable destinations. Additionally, respondents considered Hong Kong and Seoul to be better cities to host conventions than the other three. This article provides a useful picture of competitiveness among East Asian convention cities with many insights for practitioners. KEYWORDS ing

convention, destination, competitiveness, position-

INTRODUCTION The meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE) sector plays a key role in attracting people whose purpose is to share updated information and ideas, to sell or buy new products, or to launch new products to reach a consensus on various challenges (Hiller, 1995; Weber & Ladkin, 2004). The global share of the convention market held by Asia is gradually growing, with the Union of International Associations (UIA) reporting that Address correspondence to Professor Samuel Seongseop Kim, College of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Sejong University, Seoul, Korea 143-747. E-mail: [email protected] 86

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TABLE 1 Number of Conventions among Convention-Host Cities in the Asian Region (2005–2009)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

City

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

Singapore Seoul Tokyo Bangkok Beijing Jeju New Delhi Yokohama Kuala Lumpur

689 151 134 80 80 61 57 54 49

637 125 150 42 75 53 49 68 55

466 121 126 62 88 50 39 54 60

298 89 58 68 80 33 30 16 44

177 103 56 50 82 22 37 6 44

Downloaded by [Sejong University ] at 17:01 28 August 2012

Source: UIA (2010).

Asian countries had a 14.6% share of the international convention market in 2005 (Convention News, 2006). Among the cities in these countries, Singapore ranked first in the Asian market, followed by Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, New Delhi, Hong Kong, and Busan (Convention News, 2006). In 2009, Singapore was at the top, followed by Seoul, Tokyo, Bangkok, Beijing, and Jeju (UIA, 2010). These statistics are reported in Table 1. East Asian countries, such as Japan, South Korea, and China, recognize the convention industry as a high value-added, knowledge-based industry with strong economic impact. More economically advanced governments have, therefore, taken the initiative to develop their convention industries by constructing state-of-the-art convention centers, promoting conventionrelated industries (such as hotels, restaurants, shopping, and entertainment), and establishing convention development laws. Three aggressive efforts at the government level are due to the nature of the economic impact of this industry. The economic impact of the convention industry on a national economy is much greater than that of the traditional tourism industry. The reasons for this follow (Astroff & Abbey, 2002; Kim, Chon, & Chung, 2003; Rogers, 2003). First, the number of delegates at a convention is greater than that of a group of people who travel for personal reasons. Second, the number of stay nights is longer than that of other groups of tourists. Third, participants at international conventions are bigger spenders because they fulfill the dual roles of being both pleasure tourists and business delegates. Fourth, the convention industry interrelates with many other industries. For example, the industry includes a variety of business sectors, such as printing, publishing, audio-visual services, entertainment, shopping, hotels, restaurants, travel, transportation, real estate, and human resource provision. As Table 1 shows, the development of convention tourism in the Asian region has been rapid enough to become a full-fledged industry in little more


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than a decade. The phenomenal development of the convention industry has increased competition among destinations that endeavor to host large-scale conventions. Only a few studies on the competitiveness of convention-host destinations have been undertaken (Baloglu & Love, 2005; Go & Govers, 1999; Kang, Suh, & Jo, 2005; Kim & Kim, 2003; Oppermann, 1996; Priporas, 2005; Qu, Li, & Chu, 2000). These studies have contained some weaknesses, including interpretations that are open to doubt due to low response rates or small sample sizes (Go & Govers, 1999; Kang et al., 2005; Qu et al., 2000) or comparisons that include only two cities (Kim & Kim, 2003; Priporas, 2005; Qu et al., 2000). In addition, since most respondents in previous studies were regional or local meeting planners, their career experience was relatively limited, and they could not be considered convention experts. Thus, there is a need to evaluate the competitiveness of convention destinations from the viewpoints of a variety of experts with established careers in the fields of convention center management, exhibitions, convention hosting, convention service supplying companies, convention and visitors’ bureaus (CVBs), and public agencies. Moreover, most studies have only used respondents of one nationality, which may have distorted the outcomes, because a sample group of one nationality will tend to be unaware of the situation at other nations’ venues or will tend to evaluate its own national convention destinations more highly. This study, therefore, attempts to identify the perceptions of convention experts from three national groups. Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo were selected as competing international convention destinations in the East Asian region for this study. As mentioned above, they rank second, third, sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively, in the region, whereas Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Bangkok rank first, fourth, and fifth. There were a number of reasons for selecting only these five cities for this study. First, there would have been too many competing destinations, and the inclusion of all of them would have led to difficulty in interpreting results of competitiveness of international convention destinations. Second, it would have been difficult to select experts for the sample groups from different nationalities who knew all the cities well enough to be able to answer each attribute item in the questionnaire precisely. Third, this study was designed to assess competitiveness among the three major East Asian countries—China, South Korea, and Japan. The aim of this study was to assess the comparative position of five East Asian cities as international convention destinations, using the perceptions of convention experts with established careers from the three countries. The first objective was to investigate the respondents’ different perceptions of the importance of the attributes of convention destinations. The second objective was to assess how the five convention cities relate to one another on the basis of the respondents’ perceptions of their attributes. The third objective was to investigate what the ideal convention city would be as perceived by convention management experts. The fourth objective was


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to identify relationships between preference for a particular convention city on the one hand, and nationality, length of career in the convention field, and type of work in the convention field on the other. The second and the third objectives were explored using multi-dimensional scaling (MDS) applications.


LITERATURE REVIEW There have been many studies into the relative positioning of tourist destinations (Andreu, Bigne, & Cooper, 2000; Botha, Crompton, & Kim, 1999; Calantone, Di Bendetto, Hakam, & Bojanic, 1989; Chen & Uysal, 2002; Crompton, Fakeye, & Lue, 1992; Gartner, 1989; Goodrich, 1978; Haahti, 1986; Kim, 1998; Kim & Agrusa, 2005; Kim, Guo, & Agrusa, 2005; Kozak & Rimmington, 1999; ´ 2003; Uysal, Chen, & Williams, 2000). Melián-González & Garc´ıa-Falcon, Most previous studies have concentrated on identifying influential factors in the process of convention site selection (Choi, 2004; Crouch & Ritchie, 1998; Edelstein & Benini, 1994; Hall, 1980; McCleary, 1978; Upchurch, Jeong, Clements, & Jung, 1999; Var, Cesario, & Mauser, 1985). However, little effort has been made to identify the positioning of locations as convention-host countries or cities (Baloglu & Love, 2005; Go & Govers, 1999; Kang et al., 2005; Oppermann, 1996; Priporas, 2005; Qu et al., 2000). This section summarizes the results of reviews of recently published studies on convention-host destinations. In his initial efforts to compare the competitive positions of convention destinations, Oppermann (1996) analyzed the images of 30 convention destinations in North America as perceived by association meeting planners. His study found that respondents placed value on meeting rooms/facilities, hotel service quality, hotel room availability, clean/attractive location, safety/security, air transportation access, food and lodging costs, overall affordability, city image, transportation costs, restaurant facilities, exhibition facilities, scenery/sightseeing opportunities, climate, and nightlife. The study then ranked 30 convention-host cities in North America by calculating scores for these cities based on perceptions of these 15 attributes. San Diego was perceived to be the most attractive destination, followed by San Francisco and then New Orleans. A study by Qu et al. (2000) compared 20 attributes of Hong Kong and Singapore relevant to their status as top international conference destinations in Southeast Asia. Surveys were administered to end users, conference organizers, directors of sales, and directors of marketing venues in both locations. In the case of Hong Kong, the respondents indicated that they felt that there were significant limitations to holding a convention there, including lack of venue space, such as lack of meeting rooms for concurrent sessions and lack of a large theater/ballroom for accommodating over 500 delegates, and that the venues have been fully booked for other purposes. In general, Singapore


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scored higher than Hong Kong, except that Hong Kong offered more in the way of attractions and entertainment. Kim and Kim (2003) evaluated Seoul as a convention destination by assessing the overall satisfaction level of foreign meeting planners. They selected 22 items as attributes of convention destinations after reviewing studies of previous convention location selection. According to their study, Seoul had some perceived inadequacies concerning the ground transportation system, the friendliness and foreign language skills of local people, and the price of hotels. On the other hand, other support facilities and services, such as the restaurant services and the airport and city image, were found to be relatively satisfactory. The findings in Yoo’s (2004) study, which analyzed the current convention market using an SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis, indicated that accessibility and convenient transportation, geographical diversity, newly built convention facilities, and advanced technology were strengths of the current South Korean convention industry. However, four attributes were found to be weaknesses, namely rising hotel rates, shortage of skilled staff, low proficiency in English, and negative media images. In contrast, opportunity factors were identified as expanding economic relations with foreign countries, increased awareness of the convention industry, and an improved country image after the World Cup Games. Finally, as possible threats to the South Korean convention industry, the author cited increased competition in the region, oversupply of convention facilities and low return on investments, a lack of cooperation, and a lack of promotion activities. A study by Baloglu and Love (2005) evaluated the images of five major U.S. convention cities from the perspective of association meeting planners. They used image items with both a structured instrument, including the concepts of cognitive, affective, and global impression, and an unstructured instrument, which consisted of open-ended questions. The results of factor analysis using 21 cognitive image items produced five domains: restaurant/retail/accessibility, facilities, logistics, city image, and CVB services and support. The results of this study showed that Chicago was seen as the preferred convention destination in terms of restaurant/retail/accessibility, whereas Orlando was regarded as the most favorable destination with regard to city image. Las Vegas was perceived as having the most arousing image as a convention destination, while both Las Vegas and Orlando were felt to have the most exciting image. Kang et al. (2005) analyzed the competitiveness of Asian international meeting destinations, including Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, and Tokyo, basing their study on the perceptions of both meeting planners and buying centers. The destination selection attributes included accessibility, attractions, cost, environment, facilities, image, information, safety and security, and service. Meeting planners saw Tokyo as the most suitable convention destination in terms of the five domains of accessibility, attractions,



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environment, information, and safety and security. The response of buying centers differed from those of the meeting planners. Unfortunately, the survey suffered from various problems, such as an e-mail survey method with a very low response rate. To sum up, previous convention studies have focused on factors influencing destination selection or on the attributes of destinations as convention hosts. However, only a few studies have sought to identify the relative competitiveness of convention locations by comparing more than two destinations (Baloglu & Love, 2005; Go & Govers, 1999; Kang et al., 2005; Oppermann, 1996; Qu et al., 2000). The studies noted above discussed competing convention destinations from the perspective of meeting planners or organizers, using a respondent group of only one nationality. Consequently, there is a need to conduct a study of the perceptions of the competitiveness of convention destinations using a convention expert group composed of members of different nationalities.

RESEARCH METHODS Measurement A review of the literature was conducted in order to identify the characteristics of international convention destinations. In this study, an international convention destination is defined as a “city that hosts an international convention or accommodates visitors for the purpose of holding a conference or meetings.” The attributes of an international convention destination are defined as “characteristics of convention cities that can attract overseas convention participants and that can influence their decision to participate and their satisfaction level.” The convention destinations were required to have internationally known convention and exhibition centers and to provide good support for hosting conventions of a more international nature in terms of aspects relating to international law or regulations, finance, and collaboration between convention-hosting stakeholders. Questionnaire items were selected from a literature review of materials relating to convention destination selection and positioning, a pre-test, and a pilot study. An extensive literature review was undertaken. Previous studies include convention destination selection (Choi, 2004; Crouch & Ritchie, 1998; Edelstein & Benini, 1994; Hall, 1980; McCleary, 1978; Upchurch et al., 1999; Var et al., 1985), the attractiveness of a specific convention destination (Go & Zhang, 1997; Kim & Kim, 2003; Priporas, 2005; Yoo, 2004), and the position of convention destinations in relation to other destinations (Baloglu & Love, 2005; Go & Govers, 1999; Kang et al., 2005; Oppermann, 1996; Qu et al., 2000). Previous studies have commonly recorded the importance placed on accessibility (ease of access), transportation (transportation system), attractions


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(e.g., shopping, nightlife, sightseeing), cost (transportation cost, food cost, and room rate), facilities and services (e.g., on-site assistance, hotel room availability, staff services, convention and exhibition facilities), safety, and climate. These factors, it has been argued, have a significant influence on whether convention delegates choose to participate in a convention and on their level of satisfaction with a convention. It was felt that there were a number of things a convention city should be equipped with in addition to convention facilities or services, including a variety of tourist attractions, accommodation of the right quality and price, a positive image, an attractive climate, public safety, ease of access, and friendly inhabitants. The ease of access attribute could, however, be evaluated differently according to the nationality of each respondent, because the degree of accessibility varies according to the convention delegate’s point of departure. Since the ease of access is subject to the geographical location of each respondent with a different nationality, this factor is not likely to be one objective criterion in evaluating competitiveness of destinations. Consequently, the ease of access item in this study was excluded. Using 9 items extracted from the literature review, the pre-test was undertaken from June 27–30, 2005, in Seoul with a sample of 16 experts in the convention management field, including 12 managers at the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX), 2 professional convention organizers (PCOs), and 2 convention hosts. Each expert had more than five years experience in the convention industry. According to the results of the pre-test stage, “price of commodities in a convention city is not expensive” was excluded because the respondents indicated that the range of commodities could be very wide. Additionally, “shopping center or entertainment facilities are well equipped” and “there are historical resources” were integrated as one item, namely “there are a variety of tourist attractions.” A pilot test followed, using a sample of 54 experts who were working in the convention field. They consisted of eight convention or exhibition hosts, three managers at COEX, seven PCOs, two employees from a conventionrelated association, and one employee of the Seoul CVB. Their mean scores on the following items were as follows: “it has many tourist attractions” (mean = 5.43), “it has good accommodation facilities” (mean = 5.57), “hotel room rates are reasonable” (mean = 4.90), “the image of the host city is good” (mean = 5.24), “the climate of the host city is pleasant” (mean = 4.90), “it is a safe city” (mean = 5.29), and “local people are kind” (mean = 4.62). However, some questioned the meaning of “reasonable” in the item “hotel room rates are reasonable.” Consequently, the wording of the item was changed to “hotel room rates are inexpensive.” The basic method of statistical analysis used in this study was MDS, which is used to identify the relative positions of tourist destinations. Among the different MDS techniques, this study adopted PROFIT and PREFMAP analyses. In the application of the PROFIT approach, respondents were asked to



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read the following: “In this part, please select the number that best indicates how you feel about the following attributes of the five convention cities.” One of the attributes was “hotel room rates are inexpensive.” Respondents were asked to respond on 7-point Likert-type scales (1 = least preferable, 4 = neutral, and 7 = strongly preferable). Respondents were instructed as follows in relation to the PREFMAP technique: “In this part, please rank convention cities from first (most preferable) to fifth (least preferable) depending on how you perceive the five cities on each of these seven attributes.” A request designed to identify an ideal point was made as follows: “For each statement below, please check the number that best describes how you perceive the following five destinations.” The responses to the five convention cities were operationalized with 7-point Likerttype scales (1 = least preferable, 4 = neutral, and 7 = strongly preferable). To compare respondents’ perceptions of the importance of each attribute among the convention cities, respondents were told: “Important attributes that a convention destination should furnish delegates with are described below. Please check the level of importance of each attribute.” Responses to the items were measured on 7-point Likert-type scales (1 = least preferable, 4 = neutral, 7 = strongly preferable). Questions designed to obtain comparisons of attributes among convention cities were the same as those used for the PROFIT technique.

Data Collection A survey was administered using a sample of convention professionals throughout South Korea, China, and Japan. At first, a list of 80 samples for each country was made. The list included employees above the team leader level who were working in the convention or exhibition management field at convention centers (n = 15), convention organizers (n = 30), exhibitors or service suppliers (n = 20), and workers in convention-related associations, government, or public agencies (n = 15). All respondents were expected to understand current convention trends in the Asian region or convention cities as a result of actual participation or everyday work experience in this field. One of the authors, a senior manager who has been working at COEX in Seoul for about 20 years, made a list of South Korean senior managers for the samples. Additionally, he asked for assistance from his counterparts in China and Japan who had worked at China International Exhibition Center (CIEC) in Beijing and at Tokyo’s Big Sight in listing convention expert samples and collecting data. The surveys were conducted from July 15 to October 20, 2005. For the survey using South Korean samples, a personal interview was conducted or e-mails were sent to those who were on the sample list. When the respondents did not answer via e-mail, polite personal telephone calls were made. The final response rate was 75.0% (n = 60). The Japanese survey was


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implemented by a senior Japanese manager at Tokyo’s Big Sight. As with the South Korean survey, personal interviews and e-mails were used. Some respondents sent faxes or letters through the post after they received e-mails. Polite calls were made to those who had not returned their questionnaires. The final response rate was 73.8% (n = 59). In the case of the Chinese survey, 80 people were contacted either personally or by e-mail to form the sample group. As with the other two surveys, personal calls were made to ask for the return of questionnaires. The survey was undertaken by one convention team manager who worked at CIEC in Beijing. The response rate for the Chinese survey was 76.3% (n = 61). The overall response rate was high because of the length of the survey period and because participation was solicited through phone calls or e-mails. However, 20 questionnaires included answers that either did not follow the instructions or had many missing values. After ruling out these 20 questionnaires, 160 questionnaires were used for further data analysis. A main reason why convention organizers selected as a sample showed the highest percentage (37.5%) compared to those of other groups was that their role on deciding on convention centers or convention cities are very influential in a buying center group. On the other hand, other stakeholders, such as exhibitors, convention center employees, convention-related associations, convention service suppliers, and government or public agency employees, tend to be not directly committed with convention destination decision process. Thus, it is particularly important to clearly understand convention organizers’ perceptions of competitive convention cities in establishing destination marketing strategies.

RESULTS Profiles of Respondents Table 2 shows a summary of the profiles of the respondents. Approximately 71.3% of the respondents were male. About 56% of them were in the 25–39-year age group, and 23.9% were in the 45-or-older age group. About 76% had a college degree, and 24.4% had attended graduate school or had a higher degree. In terms of respondents’ nationality, the three nationalities—Korean, Chinese, and Japanese—were almost equally represented. Concerning the sector of the convention industry in which they worked, the biggest proportion (42.5%) were convention organizers, followed by exhibitors (15.0%), convention center employees (14.4%), convention-related associations (11.9%), convention service suppliers (9.4%), and government or public agency employees (6.9%). The majority of the respondents were field managers (56.0%), team leaders (32.5%), or top managers or directors (16.9%). To a question about the length of their career in the convention field, 65.0% of them responded

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Competitive Positioning in the East Asian Region TABLE 2 Characteristics of Respondents (N = 160)


Variables Gender Male Female Age 25–39 40–44 45 or older Type of employer Convention host Exhibitor Association Government/public agency Convention center Convention service supplier Years working in the convention field 10 years or less 11–20 years 21 years or more

Percent (%) 71.3 28.7 56.0 20.1 23.9 42.5 15.0 11.9 6.9 14.4 9.4

Variables Education level College Graduate school Nationality Korean Chinese Japanese Field of work Marketing Planning and management Service supply Research

Percent (%) 75.6 24.4 33.1 33.8 33.1 59.4 25.0 8.1 7.5

Job title 65.0 25.4 9.6

Top manager, director Team leader Manager in a field or section

16.9 32.5 50.6

with 10 years or less and 25.4% with 11–20 years. With regard to the field in which they worked, 59.4% of the respondents indicated they were in marketing, whereas 25.0% of them indicated they were in planning and management.

Results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis Using the AMOS 5.0 software, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on the measurement model, specifying the relationships between the observed data and the underlying constructs of the convention destination attributes. The degree to which the measurement model fit the observed data was assessed on the basis of such goodness-of-fit (GFI) indices as (1) χ 2 statistic where a non-significant value was desirable, (2) GFI greater than .90, (3) adjusted GFI (AGFI) greater than .90, (4) root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) less than .10, and (5) normed fit index (NFI) greater than .90. Cut-offs for the selected indices mentioned were those that had been suggested by previous researchers (Joreskog & Sorbom, 1996; Kline, 1998). Even though the fit of the measurement model was not acceptable on χ 2 = 19.80 (p < .021), it was acceptable on the basis of three indices, namely GFI = .97, AGFI = .90, RMR = .03, and NFI = .951. Their path coefficients for all seven items were greater than .50, indicating significance at the .001 level. Overall, based on the confirmatory factor analysis, the measurement model fit the data adequately. Results for the confirmatory factor analysis are reported in Figure 1.


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FIGURE 1 Results of confirmatory factor analysis.

Additionally, the reliability alpha of the seven items was .9, indicating that Nunnally’s (1978) criterion was met. The coefficient of variation (CV) was computed to establish the consistency of the panelists’ responses (Green, Hunter, & Moore, 1990). It is believed that their responses achieve consensus when the value of CV is less than 40.0 (Green et al., 1990). The results, after computing CV values using data from this pilot test, showed a range of 19.82 to 38.63. This means that respondents showed a high level of agreement on the items that should be considered as convention destination attributes. As a result, a total of seven items was used for the main survey.

Importance of Attributes of Convention Cities Table 3 shows the results of the general linear model with repeated measures to investigate differences in the perceived importance of attributes of


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TABLE 3 Importance of Attributes of Convention Cities (N = 160)

City attributes

Mean

SD

It has many tourist attractions It has good accommodation facilities The hotel rates are reasonable The image of the host city is good The climate of the host city is pleasant It is a safe city Local people are kind

5.82 6.13 5.50 5.77 5.34 6.05 5.22

0.86 0.71 1.01 0.70 1.05 0.83 1.12

Within subject one-way ANOVA F-value

P-value

37.8

.000


Note: The Bonferroni adjustment was used for all univariate tests. The significance level was adjusted at .0071 (.05/7 = .0071).

convention destinations. A Bonferroni adjustment was used for all univariate tests, and the significance level was adjusted at .0071 (.05/7 = .0071). Significant difference on all seven items was found (p < .001). Respondents placed importance on “it has good accommodation facilities” (mean = 6.13), “it is a safe city” (mean = 6.05), “it has many tourist attractions” (mean = 5.82), “the image of the host city is good” (mean = 5.77), “the climate of the host city is pleasant” (mean = 5.34), and “local people are kind” (mean = 5.22).

Results of the PROFIT Technique Figure 2 presents the results of the PROFIT analysis. The figure shows the final plots of the stimulus points (convention destinations) and the property vectors (convention destination attributes). The property vectors assist in interpreting the perceptual maps because they indicate where the five convention cities are located on each attribute vector. For interpretation, the vector of each destination attribute should be drawn from the origin toward the location of destination attributes. Likewise, the line should also be drawn in the opposite direction through the origin. The next step was to interpret the results that showed that each destination dropped perpendicularly on each attribute’s vector and its opposite direction’s line. The farther the distance from the origin along the attribute vector, the better the destination depicted the attribute when the point of a destination was dropped perpendicularly on the vector of a destination attribute. On the other hand, the farther the distance from the origin along the attribute vector’s opposite direction’s line, the more unfavorably the destination corresponded with the attribute. The final plots of the stimulus points and the property vectors for the five convention destinations are shown in Figure 2. Beijing was perceived to correspond most closely to “the hotel rates are reasonable,” followed by Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Shanghai. Regarding the “good


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FIGURE 2 Final plot of the stimulus points and the property vectors for the convention cities (X1: it has many tourist attractions, X2: it has good accommodation facilities, X3: hotel room rates are inexpensive, X4: the image of the host city is good, X5: the climate of the host city is pleasant, X6: it is a safe city, X7: local people are kind).

accommodation facilities” attribute, Hong Kong and Seoul had the greatest number of positive ratings, followed by Shanghai, whereas Tokyo and Beijing were perceived to be the least favorable destinations. Respondents perceived Tokyo and Shanghai to be the most appropriate destinations in regard to “many tourist attractions” and “local people are kind,” whereas Hong Kong and Seoul were the least preferred destinations in respect of these attributes. Shanghai achieved the highest score on “good image of the host city,” while Beijing scored the lowest on this attribute. Hong Kong and Seoul were seen as the most favorable destinations in relation to “safety of a city.”

Results of the PREFMAP Figure 3 shows a perceptual map of the five convention destinations and an ideal point. Here, an ideal point indicates the extent of preference for each city as perceived by respondents to host a convention. The results were derived from considering both ranking of respondents’ agreement on seven attributes among five convention cities and the level of agreement on



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FIGURE 3 Perceptual map of the five convention centers and the ideal point plotted by PREFMAP analysis.

preference for each city. Based on the results of the PREFMAP technique, the ideal point was located close to Hong Kong and Seoul. However, the point was only a little closer than it was to Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo. This means that respondents considered Hong Kong and Seoul to be more preferable convention-host cities. The level of preference, however, was only a little higher than that of Beijing, Tokyo, or Shanghai.

Results of Correspondence Analysis A series of correspondence analyses was undertaken to indicate a visual picture of the convention destinations and the three variables. Figure 4 provides graphical information about the principal coordinates of the five destinations and three national group points in a two-dimensional solution. The first two principal components accounted for a total of 100% of the variance: 79.9% of the variance for the first dimension and 20.1% of the variance for the second dimension. The results of the correspondence analysis can be interpreted in terms of the proximity between the five convention cities and the nationalities of the respondents in the joint space. Figure 4 shows that South Korean respondents indicated the greatest preferences for Seoul, while Japanese respondents preferred Tokyo, and Chinese respondents showed a tendency to prefer the two Chinese convention cities. In Figure 5, the two dimensions account for 100% of the variance in responses relating to length of employment in the convention field, with the


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FIGURE 4 Correspondence analysis between the five convention cities and the nationalities of respondents.

first dimension accounting for 98.5% of the variance, and the second dimension accounting for1.5% of the variance. The results of the correspondence analysis show that of those who had experience totaling six years or less, most preferred Hong Kong as a convention destination, whereas those who had 16 years or more experience preferred Beijing and Shanghai. In addition, respondents who had 7 to 15 years’ working experience indicated Tokyo as the preferred convention destination. The principal coordinates of the five convention cities and places of work in the convention field are plotted in Figure 6. The two dimensions explained a total of 94.5% of the variance, where 91.4% of the variance was explained by the first dimension and 3.1% by the second dimension. The joint display revealed that convention organizers preferred Seoul over

FIGURE 5 Correspondence analysis between the five convention cities and length of work in the convention field.



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FIGURE 6 Correspondence analysis between the five convention cities and type of work in the convention field.

the other cities, whereas those who worked in convention centers preferred Hong Kong. Additionally, those who were employed by associations and exhibitors tended to prefer Hong Kong as a convention destination.

CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION Only a few studies have investigated the positioning of convention destinations, and these have contained weaknesses, such as making comparisons between convention destinations that were in competition with one another, as they were perceived by a sample of meeting planners at only one regional level, and using a survey process with a low response or a small sample size. Previous studies also relied on simple statistical methods rather than visual and more advanced approaches, such as an MDS technique. This study, therefore, has attempted to assess the positioning of major East Asian convention cities using an MDS approach. In addition the study’s samples were taken from convention experts who were working in three different countries, because this was expected to alleviate concerns that respondents of one nationality would evaluate convention destinations in their own country more highly than those of other countries out of patriotism and lack of information about other destinations. According to the results of the general linear model with repeated measures, which sought to investigate significant differences in perceptions between the importance of attributes of convention destinations, the respondents placed the highest importance on “it has good accommodation


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facilities,” followed by “it is a safe city,” “it has many tourist attractions,” “the image of the host city is good,” “the climate of the host city is pleasant,” and “local people are kind.” Thus, accommodation facilities were considered the most important requirement in an international convention city, whereas climate and the friendliness of the inhabitants were considered to be the least significant factors. Based on the results of the PROFIT analysis, the advantage of Beijing lay in its hotel room rate and climate, whereas it was reported to be the worst in terms of city image. Tokyo was found to have the advantage with regard to the number of tourist attractions and the friendliness of the inhabitants, while it was perceived as having weaknesses with regard to safety and accommodation facilities. Shanghai showed the greatest strength with regard to city image. It was also shown to have the advantage with regard to the number of tourist attractions, friendliness of the inhabitants, quality of accommodation facilities, and safety. However, Shanghai showed weaknesses with regard to hotel room rates and climate. Seoul and Hong Kong were located at the same point in this analysis. The advantage of both places lay in accommodation facilities and safety. This means that the two destinations may be keen competitors in these two factors. On the other hand, the results pointed to a need by both cities to enhance their tourist attractions and the friendliness of their people. Overall, Hong Kong and Seoul were perceived as closer to the ideal convention-host location, but the perceptions of the other three cities were not significantly different. The relationship between the five convention cities and the nationalities of the respondents brought out a strong preference for the convention cities of the respondent’s own countries. These results indicate that if respondents with only one nationality had been selected, the results may have been different. Even though this study used equal numbers of samples from three different nationalities, its findings may still have been affected by patriotism. The results of this study are, however, likely to be more valid than those of previous studies that used respondents of only one nationality. With regard to preference relating to length of employment and type of work in the convention field, Hong Kong was found to be preferred by exhibitors and those who had worked for convention centers or associations for six or less years, while Seoul tended to be preferred by convention organizers. Beijing was preferred by those who had convention experience of 16 years or more, whereas Shanghai was preferred by those who had convention experience of less than 16 years. In conclusion, this study’s findings offer insights for managers when it comes to assessing the strengths and weaknesses of each convention destination. They can be used to establish strategies or plans for convention stakeholders, including a wide spectrum of convention organizers, meeting planners, exhibitors, convention-host destination marketers, convention service



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suppliers, and CVBs. Further research is needed on how to meet the needs of convention-destination-related stakeholders beyond identifying the concept of positioning. In particular, as Berman (2005) indicated, the concept of “delight” should be introduced into convention destination marketing. That is, convention cities should help their stakeholders seek delightful experience beyond naively satisfactory experience, because delighted participants are more strongly loyal to a certain convention city, show a high willingness to attend a convention that the city hosts, and assist hosting conventions in the city. Thus, the convention city will continue to be prosperous and lovable to convention participants and other stakeholders. This study has some limitations or suggestions for future research. First, since convention facilities and services have been newly constructed, more studies for measuring competitiveness of convention destinations should be continuously conducted. Second, this study included a sample of staff working for central convention centers or major convention-related associations. Thus, future research is needed to assess responses of delegates that visit convention centers. Third, this study included two Chinese convention cities—Beijing and Shanghai, while Korea and Japan included one convention city. This may lead to erroneous interpretation according to respondents’ nationality. Thus, there is a need to compare results of this study to those when only one Chinese convention city is included.

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