Attraction Product

Literature Review

Thesis statement: “Development of sites and attraction as a product and the importance of understanding the product’s life cycle to prevent it from failing”

Abstract: Developing sites and attraction as a product is the best way for a country being a tourist destination to capitalize of its tourism offerings. Sites can be described as a piece of land where something was, is, or is intended to be located. While an attraction on the other hand, is a permanently or temporarily established area or destination that is open to the public and is capable of attracting visitors and tourists. Sites and attraction like any other product needs proper planning and development, marketing, management and most importantly maintenance.

Introduction

The product life cycle is the period of time over which an idea or item is developed, brought to the market and eventually removed from the market, (Investopedia.com, 2010). The main purpose of the product life cycle regarding attraction products is to aid in marketing decisions based on the changes in tourist products and the changes in visitor preferences. The product life cycle in other words, provides guidance in the decision making process. This further suggests that tourist destinations and businesses should be mindful of the stages in a product’s life and adopt a long term planning horizon in order to utilize the cycle as a framework for marketing and development decisions (Witt, Cooper, Moutinho, & International,

Along with these skills, it would be assumed that the attraction would have ease of access from major routes and popular tourist areas, adequate on-site amenities and quality service. Reach Falls, being situated in Portland, the birth place for tourism and having several attractions in the surrounding area, makes it convenient for visitors in the area to visit this attraction. With all tourist product offerings, it is expected that a high level of customer service is evident in the service delivery and employees are knowledgeable and competent in their field of work. At Reach Falls, after UDC took over the operation of the attraction in 2007, they started out having 15 employees. As the years went by, due to recession among other factors a few employees venture off to better opportunities reducing the number to eleven (11) employees. Currently, this number remains the same as well as the employees are the same since UDC reopened Reach Falls. There are no specific academic level requirements for employment at Reach Falls. The employees however, are required to have at least basic communication skills for the lower level positions, such as grounds man. For higher level employment positions, employees are required to have at least five (5) CXCs including English Language, for example, positions such as customer service representatives/cashier. It is mandatory however,