The major key factor to be a well-developed conference destination: A case study of Jordan and Chengdu- China

Abstract

Having a successful conference business or becoming a well-developed conference destination is a critical topic that has rarely been examined. In fact, due to its direct or indirect impact on the host destination, it has been long recognized as one of the most lucrative sectors of the hospitality industry in terms of economic benefits as well as the fame and the good reputation of those countries. Reviewing literature shows that researchers have mainly focused on different attributes of conference businesses as being independent of each other. However, this study claimed that becoming a well-developed conference destination requires to work on different attributes of conference businesses as being dependent on each other. To achieve this, the study has employed the quantitative approach, where it attempted to evaluate conference business from the conference attendees’ perspective. This was done by examining comparatively two conference destinations in a case study that involved Jordan as a developed destination and Chengdu-China as a well-developed destination. Data was collected by a questionnaire and analysed by using weighted average and ANOVA test to evaluate and compare conference quality in both destinations. The results revealed that even though Jordan seems to be on the right track to follow leading destinations in conference industry, Jordan was perceived as less competitive compared to Chengdu. We argue that the major cause for Jordan to be less competitive could be due to the lack of coordinating, dependently, the efforts between the different attributes or elements of the conferencing processes in Jordan. This finding can help organizers to pay more attention as it could be the missing link that may explain why some conference destinations are advancing over others, and consequently, gaining the insight about the major key factor that mainly lead to be a well-developed conference destination.