FROM MEASURING VISITOR FLOWS TO TOURISM ATTRACTION MANAGEMENT: A NEW MANAGERIAL APPROACH DAVID WARD-PERKINS & FREDERIC DIMANCHE SKEMA Business School Department of Marketing, France david.wardperkins@skema.edu ; Frederic.dimanche@skema.edu Abstract Cultural tourism can refer to various aspects and perspectives. The term ‘cultural’ is interpreted here broadly to cover heritage, museums and cultural circuits, but also wildlife reserves, natural parks and landscapes of exceptional value. One can notice the paucity of visitor management tools that help managers make decisions. The purpose of this paper is to propose that a management framework, applicable to all managed cultural destinations, would be of benefit not only to the individual organisations but also to the industry as a whole. This case study proposes visitor flow as the most reliable common basis for such a framework. The paper argues that: (a) Any framework should be based on elements that apply universally to all cultural sites and that are undisputedly measurable; (b) Visitor flow offers such an assurance; (c) Such a framework must be able to encompass and address all aspects of management of a visitor destination; and (d) Visitor flow comes closer to any other type of measurement to providing this kind of universality. This paper also argues that there would be a great value in encouraging destinations to undertake measurement and to analyse visitor behaviour in a standardised fashion. This would not only bring management benefits to the individual destinations, but also enable regions, cities and the industry as a whole to establish benchmarks for performance, whereby destinations can set targets, received appropriate training and learn from each other. It would facilitate communication between operators, analysts and academics, enabling them to work together to identify suitable indicators, understand management and consumer trends, and recommend best practice. Keywords: visitor attraction, visitor flow, visitor flow measurement, attraction management, case study.