Importance–performance analysis as a diagnostic tool for urban destination managers

This paper reports on the application of importance–performance analysis to two Australian urban tourism destinations, Sydney and Canberra. The study involved asking tourists to rate the importance of 39 destination attributes and how well each destination had performed in relation to these. These importance and performance scores were then combined. From a management perspective, the most significant combination is where the destination is performing poorly in relation to attributes that tourists regard as most important. The technique represents a very useful diagnostic tool for destination managers, who can use it to identify current problems with tourist experiences and then to assign priorities to measures that are designed to improve those experiences.