Chapter 4 Distribution at the Destination

Abstract

Distribution at the destination is in itself a critical topic for hospitality businesses. One might argue straight away, that a hospitality company such as a hotel does not distribute and particularly not to any parts of destination beyond the facilities of the hotel itself. In addition, distribution is rather abstract: distribution of wealth, of risk, of commitment? This chapter is going to mainly focus on the distribution of people, as this is the factor that will positively (or negatively) influence the destination the most, and will also result in a distribution of benefits and reduce/spread negative impacts on all three dimensions of sustainability.

Hence, this chapter introduces the importance of this topic for a hospitality business and, indeed, shows that many hotels or accommodation businesses are already heavily involved in the distribution at the destination. It will show how hospitality businesses can enhance positive impacts and reduce negative effects on the economic, social and environmental dimensions. Finally, from a sustainability standpoint it is also argued more and more that hospitality businesses are responsible, both for their guests (which might include tourists coming from far away and who are not a all familiar with the destination), for the resources that their guests use, and for the people at the destination on whom the guests leave an impact. The word distribution is often applied to goods being distributed in a region. However, in relation to the hospitality and tourism industry, distribution is a bit more complicated. You are certainly familiar with the fact that hospitality and tourism products are classified as service products, and that service products have different characteristics from goods in that they are intangible (cannot be touched), heterogeneous (different people will experience them differently), perishable (cannot be stored, e.g. an unoccupied hotel room is lost). In addition, services are directly delivered to people by people, so both the supplier and the guests are part of the product and the production process. There is one more characteristic of a service that is crucial to understand when linked to the concept of distribution at the destination, as services are also in most cases place-bound (a hotel can only deliver its services within its facilities). The location where the service takes place cannot usually be moved; it is the customer that has to be moved. If you think of going to visit a city for a weekend that include a hotel stay, visits to restaurants and cafes, an evening at the theatre, a shopping tour and a guided tour; all of these services are bound to their place, and you are the one that moves.