The Role of Niche Tourism Products in Destination - Repository ...

where tourists can relax and rejuvenate themselves, away from the stresses of daily life. Research is sparse, but Lehto et al. (2005)
produced the first profile of yoga tourists as mainly female, professional, well-educated, aged 35-54, spiritual but not religious and,
interested in holistic therapies and healthy lifestyles.
Destinations can specialise their experience offerings and package them in such a way that they will resonate with this new post
tourist market. In Florida’s (2002) ‘Creative Class’ he cites travel to interesting locations that engage with them physically and
intellectually as being paramount. They are seeking experiences, specialisations and display an understanding and respect for the
environment. Thus, by focusing on niche markets in which a destination has particular strengths (i.e., the growth of Yoga and
Wellness Tourism to India has resulted in one state, Kerala, promoting its Ayurvedic practices and marketing the destination as
‘Gods own Country’) and appealing to distinctive and focused market segments and the use of psychographic and demographic
profiles, the destination can help to create a long terms sustainable competitive advantage (Hsu et al., 2002).
2.6 Niche Tourism as a contributor to Destination Development
In 1981, Ries and Trout argued that the concept of positioning is not only applicable to a brand but also to a place. The positioning
of a destination therefore involves the positioning of that place in the eyes and mind of the consumer (Gartner, 1989). Most studies
examining destination image and positioning have followed the traditional approach based on image creation through attributes that
reflect the destinations most attractive products. However, it has been suggested that for effective destination positioning it is
important to first identify the attributes that the visitor perceives as important and those that are unique and differentiate it from
other destinations (Crompton et al., 1992; Botha, Crompton and Kim, 1999; Morgan, Pritchard and Piggott, 2002).