The economics of destination cards

Sonia Messori, Alessandro Fedele and Paolo Figini

Annals of Tourism Research, 2025, vol. 115, issue C

Abstract: Destination cards have been recognized as effective tools for promoting tourism destinations. However, their role as mechanisms for coordinating tourism service providers within the destination remains underexplored. We address this gap by developing an enriched version of the Hotelling price competition model to investigate the welfare effect of destination cards. We assume that a destination with two price-setting attractions and one complementary good (transportation) introduces a card offering discounts on attractions and free access to local transportation. We find that the card is welfare-improving, although it also alters the pricing strategy of the attractions and, under certain conditions, might reduce tourist surplus.

Keywords: Destination card; Tourist card; Tourism destination; Coordination; Welfare effects; Hotelling model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L13 L83 Z3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Working Paper: The Economics of Destination Cards (2025)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:115:y:2025:i:c:s0160738325001422

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2025.104036

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