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

sectors that although providing products in low volume are able to make a profit by providing a greater variety of products,
contrasting the short head theory where profit is based on a narrower product range sold in high volumes. From a tourism
perspective the long tail destination is one which is highly individualised providing specialised products and services that are
demanded by niche consumers. The Long Tail approach emphasises creating value for niche markets and individual consumers
and success is measured by the value that the volumes of consumers places on the product (Lew, 2008). Long Tail product
development therefore focuses on small, niche market segments supporting and growing diversity and innovation (Anderson,
2004). The supply side is marketed and sold on-line and the demand side is the wealth of information that is available to tourism
consumers leveraged through social media tools such as blogs, discussion groups and podcasts (Brynjolfsson, Hu and Smith,
2006). This internet based approach therefore enables small, niche tourism operators to compete and expand in a global
marketplace and is worthy of further debate.
2.7 Destination Development through Niche Tourism Products.
Research has also shown the importance of studying emerging or micro niches and the final part of the research context will
examine the contribution of this element of the niche tourism framework to destination development. Due to the emergent nature of
these niches the literature is scarcer and the areas chosen cover a small, but significant, segment of the micro niche tourism
spectrum.