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PublicationDoes size matter? On the productivity and profitability of cableway operationThis paper discusses the impact of size, measured in turnover on profitability, i.e. EBITDA per turnover, exemplified by one of the leading industries in alpine tour-ism - cableways. It empirically investigates practitioners' as well as scholars' claim according to which the cableway industry could become more productive and prof-itable by consolidation. The results, drawn from multiple types of regressions, show that there is a significant and logarithmic association between size and profitability. From the nature of that association one can conclude that smaller companies are more likely to gain in productivity and profitability from consolidation than larger companies, which have to find other ways to improve their performance.
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PublicationMaking sense of destination promotion - On the impact of promotional measures on overnight stays and income from tourismThis paper studies the effectiveness of promotional measures. For that the relations are investigated between the composition of promotion in terms of content and a number of potential success indicators, such as of overnight stays and its composition (domestic vs. international) as well as federal tax revenue in a destination. The results reveal the following: (1) The decision on how to use promotional surface (in print products) is basically made between visuals and informational text (not emotional text), either including information about other than typical touristy suppliers or not. (2) This separation however does not significantly explain differences with regard to the success indicators and their recent changes. (3) In con-trast, it is information about supra structures as well as emotional text, but not visuals, which is strongly associated with positive overnight stays and tax income development. Additionally, a small number of non-generic products such as MICE (meetings, incentives, convention, events, which normally are produced for a specific target group) also contribute to a positive demand and income development. The conclusions drawn from these results include the following: (1) invest in MICE products, (2) communicate less by non-informational visuals but rather by more emotional-informational text, (3) assume that a majority of travelers is familiar with what to expect in general but less what to expect in particular.
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PublicationThe relevance of revealed preferences in market oriented innovations(Ed. AIEST, 2005-08-28)Most of the traditional destinations and cable car companies in alpine regions oper-ate in mature, stagnating markets. To attract new and bind existing customers, inno-vations are needed. The starting point of innovation can be the company's compe-tencies (push approach) or the customers needs (pull approach). Referring to the market pull approach an increasing emphasis should be put on the issue of stated versus revealed preferences. To go for the right innovations, knowing the real, the revealed preferences is crucial. This paper deals with revealed preferences, examplified by customers of a major Swiss cable car company. The goal is to identify revealed preferences by applying the Kano model of customer satisfaction. In combina-tion with an analysis of the perceived service quality the consequences for innova-tions based on revealed preferences are worked out. By this, a better understanding of methods to guide demand pull innovations is provided. The article concludes with theoretical learnings and practical implications for service and product development.
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