Marketing Cyprus as a tourism destination for the United States: theory, marketing and public relations strategies

Abstract

This paper provides a framework for segmenting Cyprus as a tourism destination and discusses ways for reaching various target markets in the United States. Prior research using multi-dimensional scaling demonstrates (Yiannakis & Gibson, 1988, 1992, 2002; Gibson 1994; Foo, McGuiggan & Yiannakis, 2004) that when tourists go on vacation they seek a balance among three fundamental or core push factors: familiarity-strangeness, structure-independence and stimulation tranquility. When the above are matched with various product categories (pull factors) that represent what Cyprus has to offer (e.g., heritage/cultural tourism, escapist tourism, sport tourism, eco-tourism and the like), we are able to develop a targeted framework that can help us market Cyprus as a tourism destination to various markets in the United States. The authors also discuss some of the major selling points that make Cyprus attractive as a tourism destination and suggest how these may be employed in an overall strategy for reaching the relatively untapped markets of the United States. The authors make a number of recommendations involving new market exploration and discuss strategies for increasing the island's exposure through both marketing, as well as public relations activities. In closing, the authors recommend that in addition to economic impact studies Cyprus needs to assess the socio-cultural and environmental impacts of tourism on the island and its people. Such findings may help the tourism industry and the people of Cyprus determine the kind of tourism product they want, and the type of tourist they would prefer to attract to the island.

Keywords

• Cyprus
• Tourist Roles
• Tourism Destination
• Marketing