Introduction to multi-criteria decision-making modelling (MCDM)

The tourism and hospitality areas are multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary in nature. For these reasons, there are a lot of gaps in types of phenomenon, theory, approaches etc. in order to conduct research in these fields. Therefore, researchers seek proper methodology with suitable examples related to their research interest. The purpose of writing this chapter is to make an introduction to methods that can give researchers a different perspective in the field of tourism and hospitality. As is known, one of the most basic requirements of managing successful processes is to make the right decisions. Due to the many features of tourism and hospitality fields, the decision-making process becomes difficult and correct decision making becomes vital. In this study, the importance of decision making in tourism and hospitality will be explained and an introduction to decision-making techniques will be made and it is explained why we need to employ a multi-criteria decision-making method. As a case study, a field research will be presented that includes making the most appropriate tourism product decision for a destination and making decisions for the development of the selected tourism product. Cappadocia, which is a well-known tourism destination, was preferred as the study region. Although the region is currently a destination for tourism activities, when the statistics are analyzed, it is seen that due to problems of number of low overnight stays, average expenditures, and seasonal demand fluctuations, the tourism sector does not receive its deserved share of tourism uptake. When the literature is examined, it is suggested that studies on the tourism “product” can be a solution to the problems that Cappadocia has.