The short-break holiday: Assessing its understanding in the Northern Territory, Australia

The paper is based on a national study of the 'Short-break holiday market in Australia'. It was conducted on behalf of the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Center (STCRC). The study relates to specific market segments and examined a range of issues including: consumer attitude and behavior of the short-break holiday market; destination choice sets of that market; market potential vis-à-vis other travel and leisure offerings; destination attributes. Primary data was obtained by conducting local focus groups with actual and potential short break tourists in the relevant areas, followed by interviews with local tourist associations and industry representatives regarding current market and product strategies and possible adjustments to the evolving economic conditions. A key finding (the focus of this paper) indicates significant conceptual divide between the demand and supply side responses in terms of their understanding of the dimensions and key issues of 'short break holidays'. Consumers view this in a very broad manner compared to a more precise definition provided by the industry stakeholders. This disparity has obvious implications in terms of the relevance of strategies deployed by the industry stakeholders.