Quality Service Issues: a Multivariate Analysis of Association-Meeting Planner Perceptions of Caribbean Destinations

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Abstract
From 1979 to 1989, meeting industry expenditures, particularly corporate meeting expenditures, grew explosively-more than tripling. The recent world-wide recession and the international concern for security, however, have caused many association-meeting planners to reassess the need to continue holding overseas meetings, regardless of the destination. This presents a unique marketing challenge to overseas destinations traditionallydependent upon the United States association- meetings industry. The primary purpose of this research was to determine the quality and service issues that most affect the attractiveness of 10 Caribbean destinations as perceived by U. S. association-meeting planners who actually planned meetings in the Caribbean. Results indicated that the planners perceived the 10 selected Caribbean destinations differently when comparing grand means as well as indi vidual-cluster means for the categories of Facilities & Services, Recreation, and Entertainment. Consequently, specific marketing strategies for each segment may now be developed and implemented by Caribbean governments, hotel associations, tourism organizations, and individual properties.