Azerbaijan as a tourism destination Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Azerbaijan as a tourism destination - Term Paper Example Hence, the foreign tourist may decide to stay in a five star hotel; whereas the domestic tourist may decide to stay in a hotel which is relatively less luxurious in nature. From the perspective of economics though, it has to be mentioned that a foreign tourist may decide to come to certain cities of a country on frequent basis and hence should given proper attention. On the other hand the domestic tourists are also of equal importance as the local population of a country also acts like brand ambassador of the nation. Overall the Azerbaijan must make sure that the products or services offered are as per the nature and the need of the target market segment. For foreign customers, including the people who would visit the country for business purposes there should be availability of five star and equivalent luxury hotels. However, the needs of the domestic customers should be kept in mind. The domestic customers may not have the same purchasing power or may not want to spend so much of m oney while travelling. Hence, hotels that are not so luxurious in nature should also be a part of the overall product mix. But, quality of the products offered in the both the cases hold not be compromised. Market Segmentation Ever before segmenting the market it must be mentioned that the segmentation has been done based on the criteria of actionable market segments such as discrete, measurable, viable, appropriateness. Discrete means that the segment must be separately identifiable by the marketer based on specific variables of segmentation. Measurable means that the main features of the segments must be measurable through appropriate market research data. Viable means that the segments must be viable enough to generate revenue in the long run. Appropriateness refers to the fact that the segments must be mutually contribute to the positioning of the service or producer offered by the producer. Azerbaijan is the largest nation in the Caucasus region. It is on the cross roads of Wes tern Asia and Europe. It is the one of the largest population in the southern Caucasus. However, more importantly the country is the wealthiest population mainly due to the oil and gas reserves. Total GDP per capita of the country is $10, 340. The travel industry of the country started with various international travel agencies like AMEX or HRG. But now the country has other home grown leisure operators. The main travel season starts from June to August and New Year. Average time span of stay for foreign customers is seven to fifteen days. When it comes to foreign tourists Russia and Georgia are the two major sources of inbound arrivals due to the high level of business and neighboring locations (Czinzota, Ronkainen, Moffett, Marinova & Marinov, 2009). Domestic travelers (Azeri) travel in small groups which include children, parents and grandparents. The foreign tourists mainly include young professionals mainly from neighboring countries as well as people belonging to the upper mid dle class. The Geographic target market segments include both native and foreign citizens. Ideally the native citizens would most likely belong to the urban cities of the country and the foreign tourists would be most likely from countries like Russia, Turkey, and Georgia. Such tourists may visit the city for business and (or) vacation. For Demographic Segmentation people belonging