Repeat visits to attractions: a preliminary economic analysis

Abstract

This paper examines the way in which repeat visiting to an attraction may affect the visit flow to that attraction over time. The importance of repeat visiting in tourism and its significance in terms of both international tourism flows and of demand for individual tourist attractions is discussed. It is shown that there are important variations over time, and across attraction and visitor types, in the extent of repeat visiting. An analytical framework is provided and the ways in which the pattern of repeat visiting can affect the total visitor flow through time is discussed via a simple 50-period simulation exercise. Some of the implications of the simulation for attraction managements are also considered. The paper concludes by discussing what a more comprehensive approach to the determinants of repeat visiting might look like. It also suggests some avenues for future work.