Tourist shopping villages: exploring success and failure

This chapter explores the phenomenon of tourist shopping villages (TSVs) and the dimensions that contribute to their success by combining a traditional literature review with an expert knowledge mapping exercise. While shopping is seldom mentioned as a primary reason for travel, the activity is perhaps the most universal for tourists, and of great economic importance to local merchants. Creating comfortable and exciting shopping districts can entice tourists to visit and to extend their stay in the region. Many places around the world have developed into well-known tourist shopping destinations, whether by default or through deliberate planning. While tourist shopping can take many forms, this chapter is concerned with small tourist villages that base their appeal on retailing. TSVs are a growing phenomenon in many destinations and can be an important tool for regional development. The chapter draws on the work of Jansen-Verbeke (2000) and Getz (1994, 2000, 2006) to develop an initial framework for the systematic analysis of tourist shopping villages. The chapter includes an evaluation of 29 villages in Australia, New Zealand and Canada to explore factors relating to their perceived success. 0n site visits, rich photographic resources and the associated promotional materials offer a close inspection of the physical conditions of the settings. the activities available and the shopping styles and diversity. From this perspective, the perceived success of a tourist shopping village is strongly influenced by a well-developed heritage theme combined with the presentation of the village as larger in scale, tourist focused and tightly integrated. A successful village also is supported by regional distinctiveness in merchandise as well as regional food and wine. Accessibility and seasonality appear to have a minor influence on the success of shopping villages