URBAN TOURIST COMPLEXES AS MULTI-PRODUCT COMPANIES: MARKET SEGMENTATION AND PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION IN AMSTERDAM

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate and model the way touristic agents in Amsterdam design and organize their products in order to satisfy the needs of tourists with different geographic origins, characteristics, motivations and purposes. Applying the concept of a multi-product firm to a city, Amsterdam is presented as a multi-product touristic city, where different suppliers offer different services to visitors and are getting benefits from the economies of scope that are generated collectively. The use of the multi-product metaphor aims to analyse how the differentiation of products contributes to meet the needs and motivations of the tourist demand.

A systematic model is designed comprising the various forces as attractions with the city. The model will be fed with available tourism data, both at a micro and a meso scale of observation. A micro-simulation model will next be developed and used, in order to analyse the individual characteristics and behaviour of tourists in Amsterdam. After this first step, a path-analysis will be developed, trying to identify the empirical forces and constraints that shape the conditions for the matching between the needs and motivations of the tourists and the services provided by the touristic agents.