Research on the effectiveness of tourism advertising has relied on conversion studies, an attempt to ascertain how many inquirers from travel ads are converted into visitors. In spite of the methodological improvements in conversion research, only descriptive statements can be made. Severe conceptual problems remain when using conversion re search. The approach presented here develops a behavioral model of tourism visitation with advertising as an independent variable. The approach is equivalent to estimating how aggregate advertising affects aggregate sales by estimating parameters of a general demand function.
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