Destination authorities invest in sport venues and related infrastructure to attract sport events due to their influence on destination image and visitation. Several studies have revealed a significant influence of image on behavioral intentions of sport or event tourists; however, a comprehensive assessment of consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) inclusive of image, consumer value, brand value, quality, and loyalty by comparing sport and non-sport tourists is lacking. The current study conducted an online survey with a sample of the US population and compared Orlando’s CBBE from the perspectives of sport and non-sport tourists in general and those sport and non-sport tourists who have visited Orlando in the past. Results revealed some differences between sport and non-sport tourists, both in the general sample and in the past visitor group. Although both groups revealed a strong CBBE in general, sport tourists have a better perception of Orlando in some image and loyalty dimensions. General sport tourists’ overall quality, image, and consumer value influence their loyalty, while only image and quality influence loyalty for those sport tourists who visited Orlando before.
Hotel service levels and pricing range are often denoted by the "star" rating system predominant in that country. This rating system depends considerably on travel agencies to disseminate information to consumers to assist them in their hotel selection. Given the popularity of online travel agencies (OTAs) and review websites, consumers can now compare published star and user ratings of hotels online to obtain a complete idea of the hotel service standards from the perspective of other users. This study attempted to analyze the difference among the star and user ratings published in eight popular OTAs. Findings showed that Priceline and Ctrip had the lowest website star ratings, whereas Bookings.com and Agoda had the highest for both local chain and independent hotels. A comparison of the star and user ratings indicated that Priceline, TripAdvisor, and
While a plethora of studies exist identifying tourism segments, limited attention has been directed towards consideration of segment validation. Practically, such an assessment involves carefully thinking about appropriateness of segment selection. Failing to consider whether targeting segments is appropriate based on key criteria limits marketing potential as resources can be wasted targeting differences which are not meaningful. This article involves an assessment of segments using Kotler’s (1988) four criteria to ascertain whether pursuit of different segments is warranted. A total of 2500 winter Northern Norway vacationers’ data was analysed using TwoStep cluster analysis. Two segments were identified but close inspection of the segments using targeting criteria indicated the segments were not actionable. Managerial and research implications are outlined in addition to a research agenda to advance segmentation science.
This study investigates the behavioural relationship between outdoor recreation and vacation tourism in order to facilitate the marketing of nature activities as tourism products. In determining the outdoor recreation behaviour, motivations were explored on the basis of the recreation experience preference theory, and experiences were explored on the basis of the experience economy theory. In order to determine the vacation behaviour, which is an important market segmentation variable, vacation activity preferences were investigated. The implementation was accomplished within the scope of the outdoor recreationists in Eskisehir, Turkey. The data were collected through face-to-face and web surveys and analysed with the support of structural equation modelling. As the result of the analyses suggests, significant relationships were found among outdoor recreation motivations, nature experiences and vacation activity preference structures.
Understanding how satisfaction can be guaranteed when participants arrive from different and diverse national cultures is of crucial importance. The objective of our study is to identify key factors that influence the participants involved in intercultural service encounters in their efforts to solve problems arising during encounters within a hotel context. As part of our study, we carried out in-depth interviews with representatives from both the service provider and the customer. A comprehensive framework was constructed based on the analyses of the interviews with the help of constructivist grounded theory, in order to identify the factors that may prove to be significant in intercultural service encounters. Findings of the study highlight the potential communication and cultural barriers faced by participants of the interaction when their efforts to solve problems, as they transpire, ultimately depends on their personal characteristics and experience as well as their knowledge of and openness to other cultures. Managerial implications of this study suggest that flexibility of the service employees’ behaviour and their adaptation to customer needs are an important part of training programs, but also need to include elements of intercultural sensitivity. An important implication for marketers is that they should reflect on the basic expectations of customers relating to the need for adaptation or the need for exploring the differences. While it is important to know and react properly to customers’ expectations, it is just as important to manage them through communication tools.
Since the 1990s, the Asia-Pacific region’s world market share of international travelers has increased, as America’s and Europe’s shares have fallen. China (People’s Republic of China) has become the world’s biggest tourism source market with an overseas spend of US$292 billion in 2015, fueling opportunities for the region and beyond. Now, Asia Pacific outbound travel is extending past short-haul interregional travel to long-haul destinations, specifically Europe. To realize this potential, European destinations need a better understanding of the Chinese traveler; their perceptions of destinations, awareness, and loyalty. This study measures the brand equity of Switzerland and Austria as perceived by Hong Kong Chinese tourists. Structural equation modeling results indicate that destination brand image and associations significantly impact brand loyalty, whereas destination awareness does not, contrary to past interregional research findings. Understanding the influence of brand components on overall brand equity supports the efficacy of the brand equity model for interregional destinations.
This study investigates the effects of shopping attributes on shopping satisfaction by considering asymmetric relationships between these constructs. In addition, the study examines how the effects of various attributes differ according to nationality by using data collected from German, Dutch and British tourists in the historic town of Side. First, factor analysis results reflected ‘tangibles’, ‘staff’ and ‘products’ as the underlying shopping attributes. Next, an asymmetric impact performance analysis was used to categorize shopping attributes according to both their performances and their asymmetric effects on shopping satisfaction. Analyses of the results revealed that attributes’ categorization varied according to country of residence. While the products attribute was identified as an excitement factor with high performance for German tourists, it was a basic factor with high performance for the British tourists. These findings confirmed the asymmetric effects of the attributes on satisfaction. The study concluded with theoretical and managerial implications of the findings and future research recommendations.
A global demographic shift is leading to an increasing number of older citizens, particularly in the most developed regions, and social tourism is becoming growingly relevant throughout Europe, especially in Spain, where it has been successfully developed by the Institute for Elderly and Social Services (IMSERSO) programs. The aim of this study is to create a profile of older tourists according to the types of trips they make. It uses a multinomial logistic regression to rate older citizens according to their motivation, travel, and sociodemographic characteristics. Results show that older tourists prefer organized trips regardless of whether they travel on IMSERSO trips or any other type of package tour.
The global phenomenon of visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel is substantial, including in developed countries. In profiling its dimensions, researchers have examined various VFR characteristics including length of stay, origins and travel mode, though no thorough exploration has been undertaken of VFR demographics. Surprisingly this is the first large-scale study to examine VFR demographics and to consider all destination-related VFR data, not only those that are confined to purpose of visit. The researchers drew upon official Australian domestic travel data (n = 81,579) to undertake a profile of the respective demographics of VFRs and non-VFRs. This assessment revealed that many people who would be classified as socio-economically disadvantaged engage in VFR travel. Previous literature has documented the lower participation of socio-economically disadvantaged groups in tourism and this article shows that they participate actively as VFRs. It is concluded that stimulating VFR travel provision may provide a mechanism for extending leisure experiences to those excluded from other forms of tourism.
Information and communications technology (ICT) are widely used by enterprises to enhance their competitiveness. Travel agents (TAs) are among service providers for whom their integration of ICT and Internet technological capabilities could be the best marketing device and a potential promoter for enhancing their competitive positioning in the tourism sector. The study contextualizes ICT usage patterns in an underexplored context, the Middle East countries. This study provides an overview of the current state of affairs of the ICT adoption in small- and medium-size TAs in Dubai in United Arab Emirates. It investigates the usage patterns of the Internet by Dubai TAs, reasons for using the Internet, features of agents’ website content, and perceived significant benefits of e-commerce and barriers to adoption. It is found that the majority of TAs use the Internet for several reasons, ranging from customizing services, attracting customers, communicating with customers, gaining access to international markets, providing TAs with information and finding out about suppliers and competitors. The significant perceived benefits identified in this study are establishing a reputation in the global markets, increasing sales, revenues and profits, improving distribution channels, increasing competitive advantage and customizing services to customer needs. On the other hand, it was found that the principal barriers hindering e-commerce adoption are limited resources versus the high cost of e-commerce adoption, online security concerns, lack of skilled information technology labour, a lack of customer readiness, and a lack of advice and support. The study identified the need for more training facilities for adopting e-commerce in TAs and the need for the government to provide incentives, professional advice, and guidance regarding appropriate e-commerce products and services at an affordable cost for TAs operating in the emirate.
This article aims to expand our understanding of the main drivers of traveler’s intention to visit a long-haul holiday destination drawing on a model of consumer-based brand equity. The authors propose and test a conceptual model using data from a sample of 152 Chilean travelers who have not visited Australia previously. The findings show that the image and value of Australia are positively and significantly related to Chilean traveler’s intention to visit this destination for holidays. Awareness of Australia has only an indirect effect on intentions to visit this destination through its effect on brand image. Finally, perceptions of brand quality were not significantly related to Chilean traveler’s intention to visit Australia for holidays. This study contributes to the tourism and leisure literature by identifying the main drivers for attracting long-haul potential travelers who have not visited the destination previously.
Price, service-quality expectations and emotions have all been found to play a key role in customers’ assessments of offers, but little attention has been given to how these variables interrelate. This article presents an original model to study these interrelations. The model was tested on a sample of 841 hotel customers using structural equation modelling. The results show that the stronger the customers’ emotions, the more likely they were to perceive the product as cheap and the higher their predictive expectations of service quality. Additionally, although the observed price level influenced customers’ predictive expectations, the perception of a product as expensive or cheap did not. These findings have important business implications.
In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, the need for towns and cities to create a unique identity, to differentiate themselves from competitors, has become critical. Many places promote spectacular scenery, good quality of life, friendly people, and a sound business infrastructure. However, these factors are no longer differentiators, so places need a strong brand identity to stand out in order to attract people to live, work, and play. But brand development is often driven by short-term top-down approaches with limited community participation, where the primary tool of brand expression becomes the final marketing campaign. This article reports on a qualitative approach to build a place brand from the bottom up, with wide participation from all members of the community. With a methodology based on place brand-building theory, charettes and in-depth interviews were conducted with local stakeholders, resulting in a positioning statement that was used to develop brand communications materials. Based on the research process and results of the case study, the authors present a community-based place brand development model.
This article discusses a change in the positioning strategies by countries as tourism destinations from cognitive components to affective ones. The tourism literature recognizes destination personality as an affective evaluation. While previous literature has established that place personality traits are important for Destination Marketing Organizations to consider, little empirical work assessing the personality metaphor in destination branding has been undertaken. This study uses a multistage methodology using a combination of content analysis and correspondence analysis to analyze the use of the personality metaphor in the official English tourism websites of South American countries. Results reveal that South American countries can be classified in four main clusters of different personality profiles: Ecuador is somehow associated with agreeableness; Brazil and Paraguay with openness to experience and conscientiousness; Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay as strong in extraversion and emotional stability; and Bolivia, Venezuela, and Colombia do not display any dominant personality characteristics. Overall the results indicate that South American countries are not yet using in a substantial way the affective cues of personality traits to create a clear positioning among international tourists.
Previous studies largely treat the on-site travel experience as a single stage of homogenous tourist behavior, despite widespread recognition that tourist behavior is complex and consists of temporal decision processes. In particular, little attention has been given to what changes during the course of the long-stay holiday. The purpose of this exploratory study is to understand changes in tourist behavior, if any, from point of arrival through to the end of a long-stay relaxation holiday. In-depth interviews were conducted with mature-aged international travelers from the United States, Europe, and Australia visiting Phuket, Thailand. The findings illustrate changes that can be characterized, into four distinct stages of on-site behavior, through key activities, uncertainty levels, intercultural interactions, information needs, and sources of information. Important implications for destination marketing organizations are suggested which require innovative strategies to match the changing needs and activities of long-stay tourists at various stages of the holiday.
The so-called ‘Monte Carlo of the Orient’, Macau, has an economy that relies heavily on gambling. By 2006, Macau’s gambling revenue had exceeded that of Las Vegas. Mainland Chinese gamblers are a major source of customers for many Macau casinos. However, the nationwide crackdown on corruption in China has resulted in a tremendous revenue decrease in Macau. As a result, tourist managers need to learn how to adapt to these new changes and begin to segment tourists markets and address the different market segments more systematically by providing a varied range of services. This study aims to gain insight into Mainland Chinese travelers and to categorize these travelers according to their motivations. Three clusters of tourists emerged: ‘freedom seekers’, ‘multipurpose seekers,’ and ‘entertainment and gambling seekers’. Each cluster had a different sociodemographic profile and assessment regarding the gambling destination attributes. To attract tourists from these heterogeneous categories, managers should incorporate the corresponding responses into their marketing strategies.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have had a significant impact on both the travel and tourism experience and industry. In particular, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) have found ICT a powerful ally to harmonize and coordinate the activities of local stakeholders as well as to reach travellers. The aim of this research is to analyse destination brand communication strategies, especially those applied to online communication (official websites, social media and mobile applications). Data were collected from Spanish destinations – regions, provinces and cities – via an online survey addressed to destination brand and communication managers. Results show that destination brand communication is not fully standardized or professionalized yet; online tools (websites, social media and mobile applications) are used tactically and not strategically and the usefulness of social media and official websites is clearly more appreciated by DMO managers than the usefulness of mobile applications.
Reports from the UN World Tourism Organization, the World Travel and Tourism Council, the European Travel Commission, Amadeus, and other similar organizations are all unanimous, the future of tourism and hospitality is prosperous. Tourism destinations and hotels have suffered paradigmatic shifts from Fordist to post-Fordist and then to neo-Fordist modes of production and consumption. The current century is bringing us new neo-Fordist forms of hotel businesses, and due to the industry’s steady growth, more and more companies are required to develop new perspectives in order to stay relevant and to gain competitive advantage in the various fragmented markets. In an era of impermanency and fluidity, destinations and their businesses are forced to be dynamic and innovative. Considering the current and unforeseen developments in technology, consumption, management and operations, the hotel of tomorrow will not be incrementally but radically different from today. In this context, this article focuses on describing, interpreting and anticipating the changes the hotel industry is expected to face in the coming years. The study uses service design approach and various data collection instruments such as e-Delphi and Lego® Serious Play® to depict how the hotel of the future will be. Involving current and future hospitality and tourism professionals, this study synthesizes three possible scenarios, thus portraying a foresight into the hotel of the future.
This research investigates the imagined social distinction of young Asian travelers. Factors such as culture, language, and distinction were found to influence the development of young Asians. A disparity in the impact of these factors on personal development is evident in the comparison of two groups of travelers, with and without prior travel experience to Western countries. This supports the claim that social distinction is imaginary. The study advances the understanding of travel as a social phenomenon by operationalizing and verifying the imagination of social distinction in the context of travel. Practical implications suggest that tourism professionals might engage with these lucrative travel segments.
The marketing literature suggested that customers are adding incremental value to a product by its brand, conceptualizing this phenomenon in terms of brand equity. This article is a contribution to this area of study as it provides a new understanding of the process of brand equity building, when approached from the customer point of view. The empirical research is centred on the hospitality industry, more specifically, upscale (i.e. four- and five-star) hotels in Croatia. The data were collected from 475 guests in 24 upscale hotels. The results reveal that image and loyalty exert a direct impact on the overall brand equity, while the influence of trust and affective commitment is mediated by loyalty.
Many people enjoy theme park and other leisure experiences with their families; however, today a great number of single, geographically mobile individuals desire to partake in such experiences. ‘Meetup’ is the world’s largest social network of local groups and thus allows for both online and off-line (in person) interactions. Using an ethnographic approach, this study examines how individuals can enjoy activities centered on common activities, interests, and opinions (AIO) via immersion in a Meetup group over the course of a year. Notably, members visited with greater frequency, had less tolerance for long lines, and were more likely to attend special events, eat at specialty restaurants, and consume alcohol. Group members also exchanged travel advice and both contributed and detracted from the enjoyment of the theme park experience. Membership in this Meetup group increased the frequency of visits and deeper exploration of the theme park resort, thus improving behavioral loyalty among annual pass holders. Managers can learn from these online communities to foster interactions among their guests and better target this new market.
Entrepreneurial marketing is used to understand new venture creation in the vacation tourism sector through a case study of private art museum in Tasmania that has become a tourist destination of major international significance. The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) has emerged as a major driver of tourism in the region. Interrogation of the arts and cultural tourism literature sets up a key research proposition – in arts and cultural tourism, the unique artistic tastes of the entrepreneur often trump customer needs and preferences by shaping the visitor’s experience through creative artistic innovation. The findings support our proposition, with additional grounding through the impact of the owner/manager and associated entrepreneurial marketing and effectuation impacts.
The study presented in this article provides a valuable insight into the impact of human-induced environmental destruction on the travel market’s image perceptions of a World Heritage-listed tourism icon: the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The study employs a pre-/post-experimental design to explore how tourists are likely to respond to the media hype surrounding the construction of a port terminal, known as the Abbot Point Project, which will inevitably have some perceived environmental consequence for the ecological sustainability of a section of the GBR. We measured the change in respondents’ image perceptions and travel intentions as a result of their exposure to information about the Abbott Point Project and explored how existing knowledge, past experience and demographic background may influence this change. The findings reveal a significant change in tourists’ perceptions concerning Australia’s conservation efforts towards the GBR, and consequently a change is noted in terms of the time frame in which tourists intend to visit the icon. The results of this study provide valuable information for destination managers responsible for marketing the GBR and other destinations subject to human-induced, and often controversial, environmental destruction.
This article explores the use of design thinking as a method to develop scenario for the future of hotels. Using a Dutch case study, this article shows how a new concept for hotels – the Lifestyle Hub – was created using design thinking as methodology. The Lifestyle Hub concept provides ingredients to hotel owners as well as public policymakers to help understand how future guests may expect to make use of individually tailored hospitable facilities in destinations around the world. Moreover, design thinking allows researchers and businesses to generate highly differentiated customer-centred, experience-based business concepts, thus adding to the toolkit of futures researchers. We conclude that design thinking provides new insights for hospitality and tourism and presents a valuable alternative to current future scenarios approaches.
Travel and hospitality were among the commercial sectors profoundly changed by the massive use of the Internet since the 1990s. Whilst initially predictions were that the platform would lead to disintermediation, after the first decade, a new type of intermediary appeared that represented a new value proposition to end users and substantially reduced the marketing power of hotel companies. We will analyse this evolution as a ‘two-sided market’ phenomenon. The understanding of how the Internet environment affects business models will then be used to elaborate plausible scenarios for the future of hotel distribution following the Framework Foresight method. The article proposes a baseline scenario with the Internet evolving in its current form and an alternative scenario in which an oligopolistic market emerges.
Over the past few years the sharing economy has grown tremendously, disrupting the traditional tourism industry via the mass deployment of exponentially increasing capacity. In this new economy, ownership and access are shared by individuals creating, broadcasting and exchanging their own products and services. Rather than compete against the sharing economy, hotel chains have the opportunity to oversee this communal sharing and leverage the strength of their brands by extending them to peer-to-peer (P2P) rentals. This potential future of P2P rentals offers an attractive option for guests looking for a unique stay free of the current uncertainty of the informal economy in safety, legality and quality. This paper introduces propositions regarding the future state of the P2P rental market, presents a scenario detailing branded marketplaces, discusses the drivers of change, explores branding considerations and offers recommendations for future research.
As competition for scarce resources increases, cities are turning toward marketing strategies to attract economic and social development. Innovation is a key component of success for destination marketing organizations (DMOs), but there is a need for additional empirical and theoretical development. Findings from this research based on analysis of interviews with 12 DMO leaders illuminate the need for (1) an innovation-centered organizational culture, (2) the ability to use external stakeholders as knowledge sources, and (3) the ability to use and develop knowledge internally. An organizational capabilities perspective is used to understand these influences. The results offer managers a road map for successful innovation implementation and benefit researchers by providing clarity into the antecedents of the innovation capability with the DMO context.
The current study aims to examine the influence of information agents and cultural differences in reputation building of Pakistan and its subsequent effects on tourism prospects of the country. The data were collected from foreign and local students studying in Chinese and Malaysian universities. The results determined that the perceptions attributed to Pakistan vary considerably around the world, with more favorable views in China, Middle East, and Africa and the least affirmative views in Europe and North America. The media and the Pakistani diaspora had statistically significant but a diametrical relationship with Pakistan’s reputation. Pakistani diaspora are playing an instrumental role in cultivating a favorable reputation of Pakistan, as affirmative impressions of Pakistan were determined in the foreign audience through them. On the other hand, the perceptions constituted through media have a strong negative influence on the reputation of Pakistan. Lastly, social appeal, cultural appeal, and physical appeal of Pakistan are optimistically received and influence the people’s intention to visit Pakistan, but Pakistan has a very low leadership appeal, which does not allow it to communicate an appealing vision of the country to the world. For policy makers and academicians, it is recommended that a reality-induced framework would work best for countries suffering from sustained crises instead of an advertising-led marketing model of country branding. Thus, the present study bears theoretical and practical relevance by adding to the branding theory of countries in crisis.
The aim of this study is to develop a better understanding of the use of social media in tourism pre-trip information search patterns for small regional leisure destinations. Only limited research has previously focused on how small regional destinations use and adopt social media strategies. This study addresses this gap in the literature by developing a better understanding of the challenges faced by small regional destinations. The results based on a visitor survey of 986 tourists found that social media was important for 27.9% of respondents when searching for information about their upcoming trip. Surprisingly, only a small number of respondents (15.6%) reported using apps to assist them make travel decisions. The growth in the use of social media allied with increasing ownership levels of smartphones indicates that destination marketing organizations of small regional destinations need to pay greater attention to social media and its delivery systems including smartphones. Implications are discussed for managers and stakeholders of small regional destinations, who may find this study valuable in guiding their future social media marketing efforts.
Hotels are diverse and constantly evolving, changing over time, inter alia, in their shape and appearance, their size, purpose, location and, perhaps above all, their representation of luxury and comfort. These changes have been and, intuitively, will continue to be driven by a complex amalgam of drivers. Representations that depict hotels of the future accommodate the consequences of change in varying ways – design, service, interaction with systems and technology among other considerations. This article is concerned less with the consumer and the physical properties of the establishment but rather seeks to focus consideration primarily on the possible changing roles of service workers within various conceptions of what hotels in the future may look like through to 2030 and beyond. The article applies a qualitative approach involving a literature review and subsequent Delphi method to develop and examine in depth three key drivers affecting the roles and skills of employees in hotels of the future. The attendant alternative workforce implications of each are discussed in turn.
This study investigates the impact of place perception on tourist well-being to provide an understanding of how destination attributes influence tourists’ response behaviors. Data were collected in a self-administered survey from 631 respondents in three Austrian tourism destinations. Factor analysis and structural equation modeling (Mplus 7.0) were employed to test the hypothesized relationships. Results provide empirical evidence that tourists perceive destination settings holistically and will report higher levels of psychological well-being if a destination provides an adequate combination of sensemaking (i.e. access and amenities) and exploratory attributes (i.e. attractions and activities, entertainment options, and local community). Findings also show that tourists’ well-being has a significant, positive impact on their intention to return and their desire to engage in positive word of mouth about the destination. Most importantly, an indirect-only mediation of well-being on the relationship between both sense-making and exploratory attributes and behavioral outcomes was found. An integrated view of the results can provide important considerations for tourism research and fruitful suggestions for destination management organizations.
This article focuses on one of the hotel industry’s key challenges: sustainable development. By reviewing the current impact and characteristics of this industry, its high potential to contribute to this challenge is established. The key question addressed here – especially interesting from a futures perspective – is whether the hotel industry is prepared to fulfil that potential. Through a review of relevant literature and 12 in-depth interviews with hoteliers in leading positions in Dutch hotels, this article evaluates to what extent the hotel industry’s current business models and its managers’ willingness and capabilities are ‘future proof’ from a sustainable development perspective. It concludes that the hotel industry is not yet able to make an optimal contribution and needs assistance to do so in the future, especially with respect to addressing guests’ needs and wants and (subsequent) institutionalization of sustainability, but the potential is there and maybe even more so than before.
In this study of domestic hotels in Thailand, a timeline approach was used to build a cumulative set of insights. Using archival analysis, the study initially traces the development of the domestic hotel in Thailand by exploring hotel sector growth in Thailand from 1962 to 2012. Building on these insights, the perspectives of key stakeholders towards the current state and future development of Thai domestic hotels were then studied empirically. Questionnaire and interviews were conducted with 334 domestic tourists and 33 hotel operators in Prachaup Khirikhan, Chon Buri and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces. Broadly, the prospects for these types of properties were seen as sound with operators and customers predominantly adopting an optimistic view. Key action features for attention to ensure this optimism is not unfounded were identified. The analysis of domestic hotels and change in a leading Asian destination adds novelty and broadens the patterns of trends that can be detected in the global, smaller scale hotel sector.
The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to assess the perceived importance of the attributes that form the destination image (DI) based on general vacation experiences and opinions of travelers and (2) to compare the expected performance of Turkey’s attributes in attracting travelers from the emerging markets (i.e. China as well as Arab countries) using importance–performance analysis (IPA). The data were gathered from a sample of 426 prospective Chinese and Arab travelers during two prominent travel expositions in Dubai and Shanghai using face-to-face interviews with structured questionnaires. Comparative factor analysis and two generated IPA grids for each sample provided important insights into the perceived DI of emerging markets. More specifically, study findings provide valuable practical management information to destination management organizations in Turkey that want to design tailored marketing strategies for emerging markets. Further practical and theoretical implications are discussed in detail.
The concept of the environmental bubble was introduced by Cohen to describe the ‘psychological comfort’ sought by mass tourists. However, there has been little empirical research to investigate the underlying structure of this construct. This study provides insight into the psychological motivations of those who choose mass tourism and provides a scale, named Tourist Interaction Avoidance, which measures the extent to which tourists seek to avoid uncertainty during their trips and can be used as a predictor of travel style. A sequential mixed methods research design was adopted with qualitative data collected through focus group interviews followed by a self-completion survey to collect the quantitative data. The findings identify three underlying components: ‘protection’, ‘food’ and ‘avoidance’. These provide deeper understanding of the needs of tourists from South Korea by identifying the three components that underpin the dimension and provide a means to measure individual tourist preferences.
The reasons for human desire to wander away from the normal environment for pleasure purposes have long been the focus of academic attention. Empirical studies revealed many scales for assessing needs in different contexts and for different groups of travelers. The objective of the current study is to develop and validate a comprehensive yet concise Travel Needs Scale (TNS) with a general applicability in different types of travels. The initial pool of items is developed from the literature, followed by a survey design applied on an online research platform. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis support the psychometric property of the scale. The resultant TNS, comprised of self-actualization, social affiliation, arousal, and escape, reflects the fundamental needs of various types of travelers and provides a framework to guide future research. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
This study investigated the moderating role of tourist prior knowledge in the relationship between major destination experience components (i.e. attraction, infrastructure, restaurants and service performance) and tourist satisfaction. Data were collected from international tourists visiting Shiraz, Iran, via a questionnaire survey. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied to analyse the data, and the multi-group comparison approach was adopted to test the moderating role of prior knowledge. Findings reveal that tourist prior knowledge moderated the effects of destination experience components on tourist satisfaction in a differentiated way. The effects of service performance and restaurants on tourist satisfaction were more significantly moderated by tourist prior knowledge than the effects of attraction and infrastructure on tourist satisfaction. This study suggests that destination experiences enabled by human performance are more important in contributing to tourist satisfaction for those tourists with little knowledge about the destination. Destination marketing implications are discussed.
Following a multidisciplinary perspective (that combines the literature from management, information systems, marketing and engineering telecommunications perspectives), the purpose of this article is to create and analyze a conceptual framework and to propose a new methodology that encompasses different techniques for pervasive information gathering in hotels and for identifying clients’ habits. Focusing on the future of hotels, this work presents new technologies for hotels suitable for correlating the customers’ on-site activities with online activities including passive location tracking using Wi-Fi devices’ connectivity, customer satisfaction evaluated via facial or voice recognition using inbuilt cameras/microphones altogether with data mining analysis. Moreover, this article explains how multidisciplinary consumer behavior can be analyzed by data mining to include this information in the vacation marketing approach for efficient business administration.
Traditional pilgrimages were driven by religious beliefs; modern tourists instead visit pilgrimage destinations in response to various motives, including the search for individual, spiritual peace. Despite the increasing popularity of pilgrimage and social network sites (SNS) among tourists, little research has considered what motivates tourists to visit pilgrimage destinations and then post their pilgrimage experiences on SNS. This study identifies travelers’ motivations to visit pilgrimage destinations as well as antecedents of their intentions to share their pilgrimage experiences on SNS. An online survey, administered to 304 adults in the United States, reveals that spiritual, travel, friendship, self-presentation, and status motives relate positively to intentions to visit pilgrimage destinations and share pilgrimage experiences on SNS. The significance of the motives also differs with the level of religious belief. This study provides practical implications that can help the tourism industry develop enhanced pilgrimage destination marketing strategies.
The aim of this study is to develop and test, in an event context, a model describing the relationships between perceived quality, satisfaction, use value and consumer expenditures. A model is proposed and tested using data from a Web and telephone survey of 326 visitors to a Swedish music festival. Findings from bivariate correlation, multiple regression and structural equation models show that links are significant and support a chain of dependencies. Better managed festivals seem to generate higher economic impact at the destination as well as in the festival area. Implications of this are that festival managers can influence the economic impact by careful design, planning and operation of the festival and that the DMO can positively influence the economic impact by monitoring the quality of publicly supported festivals and events. Quality standards and quality certification could provide means for such developments.
A qualitative approach was employed to examine how Chinese hotel guests perceive international chain hotels in different travel destinations (i.e. China and abroad) under the same brand. A total of 13,204 reviews were retrieved from online hotel review Web sites, namely DaoDao.com and
Providing well-being and wellness services are growing trends in tourism. Well-being tourism has considerable potential as well with respect to tourism in rural areas. The objective of this article is to study well-being tourists as a heterogeneous market segment via activity-based segmentation in rural areas. Their online information search behaviour is compared to that of other market segments to ensure that the various segments can be targeted online and to elaborate upon the information search behaviour of various activity segments. Using cluster analysis, three different rural tourist segments can be identified in Finland based on their well-being activities. The results show the possibilities for activity-based segmentation in understanding the preferences for well-being services. The study demonstrates that the various rural well-being activity segments differ from each other based on socio-demographics and in how they use the Internet to search for information, book their holidays and write online reviews. All of these differences have managerial implications when it comes to developing rural well-being products, and they also demonstrate the possibilities for activity segmentation in rural well-being tourism.
This study examines the travel motivation of Chinese outbound tourists at the levels of attribute, consequence and values based on means-end chain (MEC) theory and its associated laddering technique. In-depth interviews with respondents were analysed to identify six key MECs. The two major travel motivation chains are (1) respondents visit destinations that are ‘famous’ or have a ‘good environment’ because they value ‘the beauty of nature’ and ‘pleasure’ and (2) respondents want to visit ‘different’ destinations, because they value experiences and knowledge. These results illustrate the use of MEC theory in understanding travel markets and demonstrate the use of motivation chains as the basis for segmenting the Chinese market. The research findings contribute to the travel motivation literature by identifying directed, hierarchically organized motivation structures with interconnected levels of attributes, consequences and values. Further marketing and product development implications are provided to help attract this emerging market.
Service quality and design researchers in tourism have long been directed by demand-driven paradigms and consumer-centred rationales. Ontologies and epistemologies are largely output orientated and customer centred, that is, performance of services, number of satisfied customers, loyal repeat visitors, overnight stays, financial performance and others. We argue that a need exists to reduce this imbalance. This conceptual article reviews the relevant literature before developing five fundamental premises regarding the enabler-oriented view of the tourism industry. Future research should conduct empirical studies to validate and/or modify the premises presented in this conceptual article.
Camping is a popular form of accommodation and outdoor recreation, providing liminal opportunities to escape, rejuvenate, and socialize with family, friends, and fellow campers. Surprisingly, limited academic research has been conducted on the business and market segments of campgrounds. In order to, at least partly, address this identified gap, a literature review was undertaken of the articles published on campgrounds and caravan parks in the past 50 years, the majority of which have originated in either the United States or Australia. This article presents the results of this investigation, the aim of which was to (1) identify and classify research on US campgrounds and Australian caravan parks, (2) describe the main trends revealed, and (3) present a future research agenda.
Based on an empirical analysis, the author offers an online social network (OSN), user-based brand equity framework, for application in business branding efforts and investigation. The author finds novel elements of brand equity that should be contemplated by travel researchers and practitioners. Elements of brand equity produced from literature review are portrayed in theoretical relationships. The proposed model is examined with data collected from travel-related OSN Web site users in the United States. Findings authenticate the validity and reliability of the designed theory-driven framework.
This study presents a hierarchical model of a country’s destination image (DI). The model is empirically tested in the context of Australia as a tourism destination. Data were collected from 600 residents in four countries representing Australia’s main market segments for inbound visitors – China, the United Kingdom, the United States and South Korea. Partial least squares structural equation modelling confirmed that DI is best operationalized as a second-order factor model, which is formed by six first-order factors (destination attributes) of natural and well-known attractions, variety of tourist services and culture, quality of general tourist atmosphere, entertainment and recreation, general environment and accessibility. More specifically, the cross-sectional standardized regression/loadings demonstrate that ‘natural and well-known attractions’ as well as ‘accessibility’ had the largest effects on overall image formation. The attribute of ‘general environment’, on the other hand, had lowest effect on the country’s DI. Thus, the findings from this study advance existing knowledge on DI formation. Through a greater understanding of how DI is formed, the findings are of benefit to both tourism researchers and destination managers. New insights into how DI is formed among Australia’s key inbound markets present opportunities for new and effective marketing strategies.
The purpose of this study is to explore the applicability of brand personality in the economy hotel segment and whether hotel brand personality could differentiate between similar hotel brands. Courtyard and Hampton Inn are used in this study. The results of this study suggest that brand personality dimensions can be clearly delineated in the economy hotel sector, in consistent with Aaker’s dimensions, ruggedness, competence, excitement, sophistication, and sincerity. Moreover, similar hotel brands can be perceived differently based on their personalities. Additionally, although common brand personality factor structure can be used to describe economy hotel brands in general, specific hotel brand does exhibit some unique dimensions.
Opaque selling Web sites are considered to provide deep discounted rates compared with a products’ market price. However, consumers have to endure several uncertainties that are associated with purchasing a product with an unknown identity. This article aims to identify how consumers assess the perceived benefits and risks when purchasing opaque travel products online and how they formulate risk reduction strategies in order to acquire desired outcomes. Two focus groups were conducted in April 2013 with a total of 12 participants. The analysis revealed low price, value-added deal, and enjoyment from playing with the bidding system as the main benefits. The main risks included insignificant value margin, uncertainty of product quality or performance, and potential hidden fees. The study defined the ‘intentional buying’ process and provided insight for hospitality and tourism suppliers to cautiously evaluate and target customers.
This article presents the results of a quantitative study designed to investigate the perceptual and behavioural responses of tourists to a disastrous event. Looking specifically at the 2011 Queensland floods, this article explores the image perceptions held by 2113 members of the Australian tourism market in light of this event. It also investigates pull motivations of tourists who claimed they would be willing to visit Queensland despite the flood event. Tourists’ past experiences with the state of Queensland, namely their visitation frequency and personal affiliations, are considered in terms of their influence on tourists’ attitudes towards visiting the destination and their reasons for doing so. Demographic differences are also explored. The conclusions present marketing implications relating to how to attract the attention of tourists who are willing to visit a destination in the wake of a disastrous event and how to encourage those who are not.
Drawing upon a survey of Taiwanese consumers, this article investigates how the richness of information available through television (TV) travel products and the presence of an ‘information transportation’ effect influences perceived risk and purchasing intentions. The results suggest that information transportation is negatively related to perceived risk, whilst information richness influences purchase intention of TV travel product. It was also found that the less risk consumers perceived, the more purchase intention they showed for the intangible nature of tourism products. This study serves as a starting point to understand consumers’ purchase intentions for travel products in non-store retailing and would provide suggestions for travel operators to attract consumers effectively and increase their purchase intentions.
The mature market in Ireland as a tourism cohort is viable in terms of both size and disposable income. Not only is this, but international travel by the mature market in Ireland is a relatively new phenomenon, presenting opportunities for targeting this group. Previous research has indicated the heterogeneous nature of this cohort and the need for segmentation within this group has been documented. However, in an Irish context little or no research has been conducted into the motivations and behaviour of this tourism segment. Therefore, taking a sample of 500 mature Irish individuals, this article incorporates the multivariate techniques of both factor and cluster analyses to segment the mature tourism market in Ireland based on an examination of their push and pull (Dann, 1977) travel motivations. From this analysis, four distinctive segments are identified, namely enthusiastic travellers, cultural explorers, escapists and spiritual travellers.
By 2006, Macao became the global leader in casino tourism, surpassing the Las Vegas Strip in terms of gross gaming revenue primarily driven by Macao being the only place in China where casino gambling is legal. Conspicuous within Macao’s casino marketing strategy has been the investment in celebrity endorsement to lure Chinese visitors to Macao. China has also emerged as one of the world’s largest and increasingly sought-after high-yield travel markets. As competition intensifies for the emerging Chinese travel market globally, understanding the most optimum communication strategy that can be effectively applied to and influence Chinese outbound travelers can give greater direction to destination marketing agencies and National Tourism Authorities. With a focus on the influence of the celebrity endorsement tactic on travel perceptions and decision making, a face-to-face survey was conducted on 305 Chinese visitors to Macao in 2013. The study revealed that perceptions and destination decision making differed among Chinese visitors with regard to age, gender, education, and income range, when using the celebrity endorsement tactic. The findings showed that celebrity endorsement could be used more strategically to influence and target certain Chinese traveler segments, emphasizing the need to carefully assess the usefulness of such a costly tactic within destination promotional campaigns aimed at the Chinese audience.
Using an array of multivariate statistical methods (principal components, cluster, discriminant, and analysis of variance), this study empirically develops market segments for the outbound leisure travel market of Saudi Arabia based on respondents’ stated preferences for common vacation activities. Analysis of 455 responses to a structured survey reveals three main travel segments—conservatives, fun seekers, and variety seekers. Conservatives (older, married, and male respondents) have a profound dislike for entertainment-oriented activities; fun seekers (young, single, and female) prefer shopping and leisure activities, and variety seekers (middle aged, single, and female) like all vacation activities. Implications for destination marketers and tourism segmentation research are discussed.
While mega sport event planners seek to foster a positive destination image (Roche, 2008), the media is often more interested in negative stories about the host destination (Beirman, 2003), which can affect destination risk perceptions (Sönmez and Graefe, 1998a, 1998b). There is, however, a lack of empirical research in this area. Thus, this study examined whether information received through the media, travel advisories, and social media affected perceptions of increased crime in a host destination during a mega sport event, using the case of London 2012. The role of information in reshaping destination risk perceptions in the context of mega sport events was partially supported. Particularly, Australian leisure travelers who were exposed to written media about London and Canadian travelers who were exposed to travel advisories surrounding the United Kingdom had higher perceptions of the likelihood that London would experience increased crime at the time of the Olympics.
While tourist destination brand development is well documented, there is little research on the process of brand image development concept. The aim of this study is to examine what is the concept of tourist destination brand image development based on a case study from the Southland (SL) region of New Zealand (NZ). A qualitative approach was adopted using face-to-face interviews with stakeholders within the SL, NZ. Participants considered that brand concepts, such as the name or symbol that represents the region, should be based on local geographical attractions. Furthermore, the uniqueness of product, place, and local attributes and experiences should be used in creating a brand image; finally, the events and festivals held by locals annually. This study contributes to a destination marketing strategy and indicates that those involved in brand development should seek to understand how attribute–holistic, functional–psychological, and common–unique help in destination brand image development. It makes a managerial contribution by better understanding the way to implement the destination brand image and hence improve marketing effectiveness by maximizing the benefit to all stakeholders, including customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers, and nonprofit organizations.
This study is aimed at understanding the meaning of low airfare and satisfaction from the existing Malaysian low-cost airline travellers. It examines the extent to which low airfare and satisfaction influenced the positive purchase behaviour of travellers. Participant observation and in-depth interviewing were used as data collection methods at the low-cost airline terminals in Malaysia. The findings revealed that low airfare means ‘cheap price paid’, ‘low level of service and performance’ and ‘mode of transportation’ during non-price promotional periods and ‘value for money’ during promotional periods. Customer satisfaction means meeting low expectations toward service performance and positive mood and social connectedness attributed to satisfaction, and dissatisfaction is found to be non-durable. Crowd, seating space and cramped aircraft cabins negatively affect satisfaction. The finding implicates pricing and marketing strategies for low-cost airlines and adds to the existing literature on price promotion and satisfaction of low-cost airline travellers.