Destination Innovation Matrix: A framework for new tourism experience and market development

Destination managers must consider whether to continue to consolidate their experiences and markets or innovate by developing new experiences and targeting new markets when planning their tourism destination development. Although these approaches are not mutually exclusive, adopting a strategic approach to identifying which experiences will be iconic visitor drawcards featured in the destination's brand image and marketing, and which markets to focus their marketing efforts on, is important to destination competitiveness. Most destination managers adopt a consolidation strategy because this is often the most efficient, safest and least controversial approach. The alternative is to innovate through developing new experiences and attracting new visitor markets to expand the destination's appeal. This paper studies this destination development challenge in a popular, yet mature tourism destination, the Gold Coast, Australia. Four experience development strategy options are proposed and organised into a Destination Innovation Matrix. These options are then tested using an online survey (N = 1759), followed by four focus group interviews. This matrix provides a new framework to assist managers to prioritise innovation opportunities for a destination.