Performance measurement and management ...

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Performance Measurement and Management Performance Measurement and Management in Tourism – An introduction

Dimanche, F. (2014). Performance measurement and management in tourism – An introduction. Tourism Analysis, 19(4), 397-399. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ta/2014/00000019/00000004 It is common to say that the business environment is constantly changing. This is particularly true in the tourism sector: Globalization, technological changes, consumer trends and other critical factors all contribute to make success more difficult to reach for destinations and businesses. The growing body of literature in the tourism competitiveness area is an indicator of the increasing concern for value creation and for developing and sustaining competitive advantages (e.g., Ritchie and Crouch, 2003; Dwyer & Kim, 2003). This concern is changing how we view performance, its measurement and its management. In a fast-changing business environment, managers and researchers are looking for new frameworks to measure and manage performance. Traditional financial performance measures, albeit important, may not be the most appropriate, particularly in tourism. More than 20 years ago, Eccles (1991) already suggested that every company should redesign how it measures business performance while Quinn, Thomas, and Penny (1990) proposed that traditional accounting measures are no longer appropriate for service operations in a modern business environment. In the tourism sector, researchers have explored alternatives performance measures and have investigated performance management for destinations (e.g., Assaf & Josiassen, 2012; Barros, Botti, Peypoch, Robinot, Solonandrasana, & Assaf, 2011; Choi & Sirakaya, 2006; De Carlo, Cugini, & Zerbini, 2008; Vila, Costa, & Rovira, 2010; Xiang, Kothari, Hu, & Fesenmaier, 2007; Yilmaz & Bititci, 2012) and for businesses (e.g., Atkinson & Brander Brown, 2001; Avci, Madanoglu, & Okumus, 2011; Garrigos-Simon, Marques, & Narangajavana, 2005; Patiar, Davidson, & Wang, 2012; Phillips, & Louvieris, 2005; Reichel & Haber) but, according to Assaf and Josiassen (2012, p. 388), “the literature has yet to provide concrete insights into the determinants of tourism performance and their relative importance.” This special issue on performance measurement and management in tourism does not attempt to investigate the relative importance of various performance factors. Rather, it proposes a set of studies whose objective is to advance our understanding and practice of tourism performance measurement and management, either at the destination or at the organization level. The following set of articles was originally submitted for the annual conference of the Travel and Tourism Research Association Europe whose theme was “performance measurement and management in tourism.” As a result of the conference, a number of authors were invited to submit a contribution for this special issue of Tourism Analysis. Eight papers were then accepted for this special issue, most of which from European authors. Researchers in this issue tested or refined a number of new measurement methods, addressed destination management issues, and covered topics that, in the end, should all contribute to a better understanding of tourism competitiveness and performance. In the lead paper, Hjalager investigates innovation policies. This time, her focus is not on the businesses or on the destination itself, but on policy-makers. Who are they and how do various stakeholders influence innovation policies and performance of rural tourism enterprises in Denmark? She discusses a multi-level situation, laments the lack of

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Performance Measurement and Management coordination between EU, national and regional policies, and discusses the relative power roles of the policy-makers. Zins chose to address competitiveness and performance benchmarking; he reports on the development of a monitoring and benchmarking tool for European destinations, inspired by the balanced scorecard method, which aims at overcoming prevailing weaknesses of existing instruments. Following is an article by Andrades-Caldito, Sanchez-Rivero, and Pulido-Fernandez, that contributes to the extant literature by discussing determinants of destination competitiveness from a demand point of view. The paper proposes and tests a new model with a sample of visitors to Andalucía that shows that competitiveness could be better explained from a demand point of view. Kuščer then takes us to Alpine environments and identifies factors and indicators of mountain destination development that can prove useful for mountain destination managers and other stakeholders. The measurement of those indicators helps managers to identify areas of improvement towards achieving sustainable destination development. Also related to sustainability issues, Prayag and Brittnacher compared two methods of evaluation of visitor perceptions that could be useful in improving environmental quality and destination competitiveness. They found importance-performance analysis to be a valuable destination performance assessment tool. They used it to understand how international tourists evaluate environmental impacts at a popular seaside urban destination. Gnoth and Martin focus further on the visitor experience: They modeled the impact of tourists’ “recreational needs on the perceived importance of destination attributes and intentions to participate in activities” and they show how a customer’s emotional state can influence performance evaluations. Stickdorn, Frischhut, and Schmid explain how an innovative mobile ethnographic approach to service design can be used in service design to help managers better understand and improve a consumer experience. Their paper is based on an EUfunded project that involved seven destinations. Finally, to end this special issue, Papadopoulos, Elliot, and Szamosi measured the perceptions of professional meeting planners about destination choice attributes and the images of selected convention destinations in Greece. They combined a country-image approach to a more traditional approach to meetings and convention destination attributes. They point to factors that may be more effective differentiators for convention destinations than traditional tourism factors. Measurement is necessary for any organization to assess performance and to determine whether it is making progress towards its objectives. In addition, it helps assess the organization’s respective strengths and weaknesses and choose best courses of action to improve organizational performance (Amaratunga & Baldry, 2002). But measurement is only a tool in our efforts towards better and more effective management. It does not find, by itself, the solution; it does not help understand what happened or why something happened. To be effective, an organization needs to go from measurement to management. It is hoped that this special issue will encourage researchers to increase their interest for performance measurement and management in tourism. References Amaratunga, D., & Baldry, D. (2002). Moving from performance measurement to performance management. Facilities, 20(5/6), 217-223. DOI: 10.1108/02632770210426701

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Performance Measurement and Management Avci, U., Madanoglu, M., & Okumus, F. (2011). Strategic orientation and performance of tourism firms: Evidence from a developing country. Tourism Management, 32, 147157. Assaf, A. G., & Josiassen, A. (2012). Identifying and ranking the determinants of tourism performance: A global investigation. Journal of Travel Research, 51(4), 388-399. DOI: 10.1177/0047287511426337 Atkinson, H., & Brander Brown, J. (2001). Rethinking performance measures: Assessing progress in UK hotels. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 13(3), 128-35. Barros, C. P., Botti, L., Peypoch, N., Robinot, E., Solonandrasana, B., & Assaf, G. (2011). Performance of French destinations: Tourism attraction perspectives. Tourism Management, 32, 141-146. Choi, H. C., & Sirakaya, E. (2006). Sustainability indicators for managing community tourism. Tourism Management, 27(6), 1274-1289. De Carlo, M., Cugini, A., & Zerbini, F. (2008). Assessment of destination performance: A strategy map approach. Tourism Review, 63(2), 25–37. Dwyer, L., & Kim, C. (2003). Destination competitiveness: Determinants and indicators. Current Issues in Tourism, 6(5), 369-414. Eccles, R. G. (1991). The performance measurement manifesto. Harvard Business Review, January/February, 131-137. Garrigos-Simon, F. J., Marques, D. P., & Narangajavana, Y. (2005). Competitive strategies and performance in Spanish hospitality firms. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 17(1), 22–38. Lebas, M. J. (1995). Performance measurement and performance management. International Journal of Production Economics, 41, 23-35. Patiar, A., Davidson, M. C., & Wang, Y. (2012). Competition, total quality management practices, and performance: Evidence from upscale hotels. Tourism Analysis, 17(2), 195-211. DOI: 10.3727/108354212X13388995267904 Phillips, P., & Louvieris, P. (2005). Performance measurement systems in tourism, hospitality, and leisure small medium-sized enterprises: A balanced scorecard perspective. Journal of Travel Research, 44, 201-211. DOI: 10.1177/0047287505278992 Quinn, J. B., Thomas, L. D., & Penny, C. P. (1990). Beyond products: Service-based strategy. Harvard Business Review, March/April, 58-68. Reichel, A., & Haber, S. (2005). A three-sector comparison of the business performance of small tourism enterprises: An exploratory study. Tourism Management, 26, 681-690. Ritchie, J. R. B., & Crouch, G. I. (2003). The competitive destination: A sustainable tourism perspective. Wallingford, UK: CABI. Vila, M., Costa, G., & Rovira, X. (2010). The creation and use of scorecards in tourism planning: A Spanish example. Tourism Management, 31, 232-239. Xiang, Z., Kothari, T., Hu, C., & Fesenmaier, D. R. (2007). Benchmarking as a strategic tool for destination management organizations: A proposed framework. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 22(1), 81–93. Yilmaz, Y., & Bititci, U. S. (2006). Performance measurement in tourism: A value chain model. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 18(4), 341-349. DOI: 10.1108/09596110610665348

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Performance Measurement and Management