TY  - JOUR
T1  - Space Tourism Market Analysis. Current Situation and Future Trends
JO  - International Conference on Marketing and Business Development Journal
VL  - I
IS  - 1
SP  - 97
EP  - 103
PY  - 2015/7/21/
T2  - 
AU  - Bunghez, Corina Larisa
SN  - 2344-5130
DO  - 
UR  - http://www.mbd.ase.ro/RePEc/aes/icmbdj/2015/ICMBDJ_V1_2015_73.pdf
KW  - space tourism
KW  - market potential
KW  - suborbital flights
KW  - consumer behavior
AB  - Nowadays, tourists benefit from a substantial variety of destinations to choose from. In the near future, with the development of new technologies, tourism activities could exceed the boundaries of our atmosphere. Access to space to the common person could become a reality very shortly. The objectives of this study are to analyze the current situation of space tourism and determine the potential of this activity, both economically and socially. Space tourism is currently accessible only to the very rich. The most promising segment in opening space tourism to the masses is represented by the suborbital flights, segment dominated by the company named Virgin Galactic. According to the research presented in this study, it is observed that there is a significant public demand for this kind of activity. With the entry of more operators of such services and with the increase of the consumer flow, prices will decrease and the space tourism sector will become one of the main tourist activities to generate profit. Given the uniqueness of the product offered, the space tourism industry will not compete with other tourism sectors, bringing economic benefits untapped to date. We can compare the beginnings of space tourism with those of aviation. Nobody would have imagined 100 years ago that, one day, millions of people will be traveling immense distances by air in a very short time, safely and comfortably. Drawing a parallel, we can speculate, without risk, that public access to outer space will lead to the development of new industries and technologies, bringing huge benefits to our society and transforming it in a way that is unimaginable today.
ER  -