Market segmentation - A neural network application

The objective of the research is to consider a self-organizing neural network for segmenting the international tourist market to Cape Town, South Africa. A backpropagation neural network is used to complement the segmentation by generating additional knowledge based on input-output relationship and sensitivity analyses. The findings of the self-organizing neural network indicate three clusters, which are visually confirmed by developing a comparative model based on the test data set. The research also demonstrated that Cape Metropolitan Tourism could deploy the neural network models and track the changing behavior of tourists within and between segments. Marketing implications for the Cape are also highlighted.