2007 Annual International CHRIE Conference & Exposition 143
FINANCIAL PORTFOLIO APPROACH TO OPTIMAL TOURIST MARKET MIXES: AN APPLICATION TO TAIWAN SooCheong (Shawn) Jang
Purdue University
and
Ming-Hsiang Chen
National Chung Cheng University
ABSTRACT This study applied a financial portfolio theory to estimate optimal market mixes to minimize the instability of
the inbound tourist market demand. An empirical analysis was applied to inbound tourists to Taiwan. The results
based on the portfolio analysis can shed light on the issue of diversification in the tourism markets and offer the
tourism authorities and policy-makers explicit guidelines for risk management in the destination planning process.
Consequently, the use of the optimal mixes with various return/risk options can facilitate a more stable pattern of
arrivals from foreign countries.
Key Words : Financial portfolio theory; optimal market mix, inbound tourists; Taiwan.