“Santa Claus is coming to town” : Christmas holidays in a tropical destination

Originally a Christian festival to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas is now amajor secular festival celebrated in numerous Christian and non-Christian countries. Itis also a major holiday period that from a destination perspective offers an opportunity to attract significant numbers of visitors. The aim of this paper is to explore issues related to developing a Christmas-themed holiday product in a destination that has not previously used the festive nature of Christmas as a major destination pull factor. This paper finds that while its religious significance has waned, the celebration of Christmas remains an important tradition reflected in the expectation that Christmas symbols and activities are present at holiday destinations. The paper also finds that the development of a Christmas product needs to include an authentic “Christmas feel” that is able tobe created by street and shop decorations such as Christmas lights and trees, nativity scenes and Santa Claus, as well as Christmas carols and the availability of special foods associated with Christmas.