Visitor flows, trajectories and corridors: Planning and designing places from the traveler's point of view

• Published in: Annals of tourism research Vol. 82; no. May; p. 102936
• Main Authors: Beritelli, Pietro, Reinhold, Stephan, Laesser, Christian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2020
• Subjects: Business administration; Corridors; Destination marketing and management; Företagsekonomi; Place design; Tourism; Tourism planning; Trajectories; Turismvetenskap; Visitor flows; Visitor flows; Corridors; Destination marketing and management; Trajectories; Tourism planning; Place design
• ISSN: 0160-7383; 1873-7722; 1873-7722
• DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2020.102936

Recent research underlines the importance of understanding the tourist destination as a demand-driven construct. Visitors activate different configurations of supply elements that produce a complex and dynamic fabric referred to as a space of flows. Today, we have the means to understand how these flows shape the evolution and gestalt of tourist places. This article proposes a new framework combining three concepts and related foundational theories: visitor flows, trajectories, and corridors. In tandem, they describe how tourism manifests itself in space and time. Trip decision, trip execution, and tourist performance unfold through social mechanisms generating the totality of visitor flows. Stakeholders must understand how visitor flows in their destinations emerge and evolve in order to decide on specific design interventions.
•Visitors assemble during their trips their destination experience.•Corridors make visitors generate traceable trajectories.•Trajectories collectively produce visitor flows.•All of this takes place in continuous situations of decisions.