Journal of Investment and Management 2015; 4(1-1): 30-38 Published online December 30, 2014 (http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/jim) doi: 10.11648/j.jim.s.2015040101.15 ISSN: 2328-7713 (Print); ISSN: 2328-7721 (Online) Tourist destinations positioning: From indexes to managerial implications Jean Paul Lemaire 1 , Milena Viassone 2, * 1 ESCP Europe, Paris, France 2 Department of Management, University of Turin, Turin, Italy Email address: jplemaire@escpeurope.eu (J. P. Lemaire), milena.viassone@unito.it (M. Viassone) To cite this article: Jean Paul Lemaire, Milena Viassone. Tourist Destinations Positioning: From Indexes to Managerial Implications. Journal of Investment and Management. Special Issue: Attractiveness and Governance of Tourist Destinations. Vol. 4, No. 1-1, 2015, pp. 30-38. doi: 10.11648/j.jim.s.2015040101.15 Abstract: Despite the numerous attempts to define Tourist Destination Attractiveness (TDA) and Governance (TDG), there are no identified contributions concerning the analysis of these elements in a systemic way. This paper creates a TDA-TDG matrix able to map destinations on the basis of these dimensions, in order to draw development strategies. Drivers of TDA and TDG are chosen by means of literature and validated by 15 tourism stakeholders. TDA index is got throughout Delphi method while TDG index throughout an adaptation of the SERVPERF questionnaire. The paper results in a mapping of tourist destinations that allows tourist managers to draw paths of development. Keywords: Tourist Destination, Destination Attractiveness, Destination Governance, Delphi Methodology, Likert Scale, SERVPERF Questionnaire 1. Introduction In the last decades the study of tourist destinations has been more and more at the centre of international academic debate. In particular the competition in global tourism market is increasing thanks to a large number of emerging destinations putting the traditional ones under pressure to innovate and to enhance their quality in order to remain competitive [1]. Many authors [2, 3] have recognized importance of tourism attractiveness as one of the most important dimensions in tourist destination studies. Anyway, the management of tourist destinations involves a high number of stakeholders who are interconnected among themselves and could be more or less ready to cooperate together. This can cause several problems of coordination that can negatively affect the attractiveness of a destination. For these motivations several researches have been carried out on the way the government manages such issues of public interest and promotes suitable industrial policies [4]. Despite the numerous attempts to define and measure tourist destination attractiveness and governance, there are no identified contributions concerning the analysis of these important elements in a systemic way. This research aims at bridging this gap through the proposal of offering a descriptive and prescriptive framework capable of measuring the level of attractiveness and governance of a tourist destination, allowing to assess how to improve its level. In order to carry out this objective, this paper designs both an index of TDA and of TDG which could be associated in a matrix allowing to position any touristic destination, thus getting a classification of possible tourist destinations on the basis of their position in such a matrix leading, for their respective stakeholders, to improve the ranking of the destinations they administrate. Taking into account the growing interest for these important topics of touristic competition, the purpose of this paper consists of creating a TDA-TDG matrix able to map tourist destinations on the basis of two variables (governance and attractiveness) in order to suggest possible development strategies to the concerned stakeholders.  The first step of the research process designs an index of tourist destination attractiveness to be validated by a panel of experts (authorities, tourist operators, tourists, academics), throughout the Delphi method: TDA dimensions/indices will stem from the review of literature, then validated and weighted by the Delphi panel before being segmented by SPSS, in order to create the TDAI (Tourist Destination Attractiveness Index).  The second step measures the level of governance throughout the TDGI (Tourist Destination Governance Index), upon the basis of a questionnaire –sent to a