A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Göksu, Ali; Kaya, Seniye Erdinç Article Ranking of Tourist Destinations with Multi- Criteria Decision Making Methods in Bosnia and Herzegovina Economic Review: Journal of Economics and Business Provided in Cooperation with: Faculty of Economics, University of Tuzla Suggested Citation: Göksu, Ali; Kaya, Seniye Erdinç (2014) : Ranking of Tourist Destinations with Multi-Criteria Decision Making Methods in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Economic Review: Journal of Economics and Business, ISSN 1512-8962, University of Tuzla, Faculty of Economics, Tuzla, Vol. 12, Iss. 2, pp. 91-103 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/193841 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. 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Economic Review – Journal of Economics and Business, Vol. XII, Issue 2, November 2014 /// RANKING OF TOURIST DESTINATIONS WITH MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION MAKING METHODS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Ali Göksu *, Seniye Erdinç Kaya ** ABSTRACT 1. INTRODUCTION Developments in communication and Millions of people travel abroad for transportation technology have increased commercial, educational, and tourist purposes access to formerly distant destinations in an among many others. Governments or tourist unprecedented way. Tourist centers develop agencies should provide and afford this kind new strategies to increase their share in this of request for tourist satisfaction, and tourist growing market. Travel agencies put up companies should show some effort to meet advertisements to keep their present customers the extreme demand from people in making and attract the new ones. Because customers decision. Moreover, travel agencies are have a wide array of alternatives to choose required to prepare a detailed table about all from, appropriate strategies should be the criteria and alternatives before people developed to persuade customers during their make their decisions. According to Bosnia and decision-making process. In this study, six Herzegovina (BiH) tourism report, tourist centers in Bosnia and Herzegovina approximately four hundred thousand (BiH) were analyzed according to the criteria tourists visited the country in 2011, which used by customers as they decide on their means tourism is a rising-value in BiH vacation destinations. The data were collected (Agency for Statistics 2012). from four travel agencies by means of focus group interviews. The interview data were The study employed AHP and TOPSIS analyzed with Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process methods as well as fuzzy logic, owing to the (FAHP) and Technique for Order Preference by ambiguous structure of tourism and tourist Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), which are decision making. The obtained data were methods of multi-criteria decision making evaluated by the fuzzy analytic hierarchic (MCDM). The criteria used in the study were process. determined by the teams in the agencies that Specifically, every tourist has an individual were the experts in the local conditions of the opinion about tourist center selection, and country. The aim of the study was to extract the therefore the following factors have been main criteria that influence tourists to visit BiH considered: easy transportation, cost, belief and provide a ranking of tourist destinations in and doctrines from history and culture, terms of popularity. natural beauty, and entertainment. Keywords: Tourist Centers, Fuzzy AHP, The study aimed at ranking tourist TOPSIS, Multi Criteria Decision Making, Bosnia destinations in BiH using multi-criteria and Herzegovina decision making methods and fuzzy analytic JEL: C44, C61 hierarchy process. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and other similar methods have been * International Burch University, Faculty of Economics, [email protected] ** International Burch University, Faculty of Economics, [email protected] 91 /// /// . Göksu A., Kaya S. E. employed in the studies regarding the field of marketing promotional strategy are the best tourism. Such methods are considered strategies for enhancing the tourism revival appropriate for this study as well. Therefore, process. this study seeks answers to the following questions: Nekooee, Karami and Fakhari (2011) assessed prioritization of urban tourist attractions 1. What is the ranking of important tourist based on analytical hierarchy process in Iran. destinations in BiH? They examined various tourist attractions of 2. What is the ranking of the criteria Birjand in cultural-historical, man-made and considered by visitors in selecting natural dimensions through multi-criteria tourist destionations in BiH? assessment method of analytical hierarchy process (AHP). They emphasized that the 2. LITERATURE REVIEW main tourist attractions at the international Earlier studies used Fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS to and national levels were cultural attractions determine tourist destinations in the world. In such as local music, dance, and lifestyle along the studied regions, each tourist destination with Akbarieh Garden, Rahim Abad Garden, was found to have its own specific properties. Lanai, Birjand Citadel, Archaeological and This study contributes to the literature by Anthropological museum, Forg Fort, analyzing a region that has not been studied. Charderakht Jama Mosque. They also Some researchers who studied certain regions indicated that the key influential criteria in are presented in the following part of the assessing and prioritizing tourist attractions paper. in Birjand were economic, infrastructural and tourist products, respectively. Jeo and Kim (2011) developed a Strategic Plan for a Tourist Destination using AHP. They used 3. DECISION MAKING fifteen SWOT factors and examined the Sometimes people with dominant roles in life relative weight of SWOT groups through focus have to solve a problem because of their group interviews with policy-makers in missions. Problems may occur when there is a Chuncheona tourist destination in South conflict between the intended situation and Korea. They indicated that policy makers the actual situation and at that very moment should be aware of strategic importance of the decision making process runs. Sometimes, internal factors in their planning to turn if it is possible to make the situation and the tourism resources into profitable products for decision closer to each other, there may be the tourism market. In addition, they additional problem solving perspectives. It is suggested a new approach to enhance policy the first step of decision making. makers’ decision to obtain a more comprehensive decision making tool for their Everybody in management positions faces effective strategic planning than using a new conditions and is engaged in the traditional method (e.g. SWOT). problem-solving process to appraise new opportunities. If administrators are able to Wickramasinghe and Takano’s (2009) study understand all this before the event occurs Application of Combined SWOT and Analytic they can then make many decisions to solve Hierarchy Process (AHP) for Tourism Revival the problem. Decision making means Strategic Marketing Planning used TOWS determining and choosing appropriate matrix to formulate alternative recovery options in a short period of time. After any strategies and identified the SWOT factors. decision, new conditions will bring new needs They found that proactive communication and operations (Eren 2003). strategy and isolation strategy with effective /// 92 Economic Review – Journal of Economics and Business, Vol. XII, Issue 2, November 2014 . Ranking of tourist destinations with multi-criteria decision making methods in … /// Decision making is a selecting process for perspective, it can be applied in government’s alternative action plans towards aims or budget distribution for maximum economic targets (Kuruüzüm & Atsan 2001, p. 86). goals or strategic steps of large international Proper and well-timed decision making will companies (Chen & Hwang 1992). give maximum advantage and benefit to the decision maker. Triantaphyllou (1998) says “Some of the industrial engineering applications of MCDM The first step in decision making is to accept contain the use of decision analysis in the existence of a problem and then to choose integrated manufacturing (Putrus, 1990), in the best solution if there are several of them. the evaluation of technology investment Here, the alternatives are evaluated against decisions (Boucher & McStravic, 1991), in certain