This chapter introduces the pivotal concept of tourism product markets as a key
to understanding contemporary tourism marketing. This chapter begins with a
discussion of tourism products, stressing that a contemporary approach to
tourism products recognizes that the tourism consumer is a co-producer of products,
delivering a marketing approach that allows interaction with the tourist in a
continuous process. A contemporary approach is to engineer experiences as
tourism products, appealing to the ‘post-tourist’ market and delivering memorable
engaging tourism experiences that ‘transform the visitor. This chapter then
considers tourism markets and how consumer behaviour is changing. It is clear
that to reach and understand these new markets demands deep and meaningful
research and contemporary approaches to market segmentation. The main message
of this chapter is that tourism products and markets are inextricably linked.
The chapter introduces the concept of tourism product markets to provide a framework
for the interaction of buyers and sellers in tourism. Tourism product markets
allow the clear definition of tourism products and the boundaries between them.
Finally, this chapter examines the nature of the continuous exchanges and interactions
in tourism product markets and the response of marketers to the challenges
that these present.