This chapter introduces the pivotal concept of tourism product markets as a key
to understanding contemporary tourism marketing. We begin with a discussion
of tourism products, stressing that a contemporary approach to tourism products
recognises that the tourism consumer is a co-creator 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. We then consider 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. We introduce the concept of tourism product
markets to provide a framework for the interaction of buyers and sellers in
tourism. The main message of the chapter is that tourism products and markets
are inextricably linked; it will be seen that tourism product markets allow the
clear definition of tourism products and the boundaries between them. Finally we
examine the nature of the continuous exchanges and interactions in tourism product
markets and the response of marketers to the challenges that these present.