Key priorities for visitors when selecting destinations are access, natural and cultural resources, gastronomy, infrastructure, scenery, events, shopping, safety and security, and so on. These highlights draw in the tourists to the destination and add to the general attractiveness of the destination.
Understanding the target market for destinations is useful for tourism development. One key requirement is to ‘pull’ visitors by positioning. It is also important to ensure that the experience is a pleasant one right from arrival.
There are two expansive directions destination attractiveness can move towards;
- Destination attractiveness based on physical attributes, which is providing an inventory of the various tourism products of the destination in an attractive way to promise a memorable destination experience;
- Destination attractiveness on the basis of tourists’ image perception, whose directions are crucial for both the image formation and memorability of the staged destination experience.
Tourists are increasingly seeking unique experiences that go beyond the mere consumption of products or services. Tourism operators in destinations are therefore shifting from a “delivery-focused” market to a “staged” experience market for destinations.
For tourism in West Africa to be attractive, inclusive and sustainable, curative experiences must be designed to be wholesome with the customer in mind. This can be achieved by integrating tourism products, to create clusters and provide access to them.