Tourism planning by testing seasonality: regional approach

Tourism is characterized by seasonal patterns that provoke substantial implications on tourism development. This paper quantifies the seasonality of tourism demand in selected countries in the region by computing several indicators for measuring dispersion and concentration in tourism. The calculations are done with monthly series of total number of tourists for the period 2007-2013. The results vary in regional frames, from low seasonality with no substantial meaning for tourism development, to high seasonality and considerable concentration of tourism demand. Although the study found certain similarities in tourism flow distribution and concentration, yet the detected differences in the levels of seasonality effects within the region, point to conclusion of applying different tourism policies at national level. Hence, the paper underlines a justification to develop diversified tourism product by implementing different tourism strategies. Additionally, by understanding the process of seasonality, the key-tourism players are in a better position to develop plans and strategies to assist potential tourists negotiate through the constraint process thereby influencing the aggregate patterns of seasonality