Illegal hunting and protected areas: Tourist perceptions on wild animal poisoning in Hwange National Park,Zimbabwe

Tourists visiting protected areas for leisure often have perceptions based on pre-conceived knowledge and awareness about wildlife conservation obtained through various media. However, these perceptions are rarely tapped into for management and policy reviews. To understand tourists' perceptions on conservation, we surveyed 76 tourists in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, using a questionnaire administered through convenience sampling. Our results showed significant differences (χ² = 11.8; df = 1; P = 0.001) between tourists who acknowledged awareness (69.7%, n = 53) of the use of chemical poisoning to kill wild animals prior to their visit and those who were unaware (30.3%, n = 23). We conclude that some tourists are concerned about the state of wildlife conservation at their destinations of choice. We recommend the consideration of tourists concerns in conservation policies and strategies.     

Branding the destination versus the place: The effects of brand complexity and identification for residents and visitors

This article contributes to a broader understanding of how the branding of places affects both residents and tourists. While branding often relies on simplified messages, the effectiveness of such strategies for complex brands remains questionable. Residents in particular possess a confounded knowledge of the place and could disagree with simplified destination brands. To test the role of brand complexity for residents and tourists, we conducted two empirical studies (N = 765; N = 385), showing that, for residents, positive place attitude (i.e., place satisfaction, identification, and attachment) and place behaviour (i.e., positive word-of-mouth) increase with a higher brand complexity. The second study shows that the positive relationship of brand complexity is stronger for residents than for tourists, supporting the conclusion that brand complexity is relevant for place brands, but that the place brand for residents requires more complexity than a destination brand, while it imperative that both are integrative parts of an overall brand.     

Sexual behavior in women's tourist experiences: Motivations,behaviors, and meanings

The research literature has traditionally focused on commercial sex tourism between tourists and locals but virtually ignored sexual behavior among tourists themselves. This exploratory study aspires to fill this gap by creating a taxonomy of non-commercial sex for women who engage in various forms of tourism. The analysis of in-depth interviews with Israeli self-defined heterosexual women reveals that different forms of tourism involve various types of sexual behavior as follows: (1) ‘Practicing Sex’ referring to sex on rest and relaxation vacations; (2) ‘Must Have Sex’ relating to sex on city break vacations; (3) ‘Sexual Adventure’ describing casual sex on backpacking trips; (4) ‘Controlled Sexual Desire’ referring to work related trips and vacations with children. The study findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to the research area of sex in tourism.     

Exploring the male Chinese tourists’ motivation for commercial sex when travelling overseas: Scale construction and validation

Sex and tourism has long been understudied. Little is known about tourists' motivations for consuming commercial sex while travelling, and even less, if indeed anything, is known about that of Chinese outbound tourists in particular. Based on twenty interviews and two surveys with a sample of 534 male Chinese tourists who had engaged in commercial sex when travelling overseas in the previous 12 months, this study aimed first to explore why male Chinese tourists travelled overseas and purchased commercial sex, and second to construct a comprehensive scale for measuring male tourists’ motivations for overseas commercial sex. With acceptable reliability and validity, the measurement scale yielded in this study consisted of eight motivation dimensions labelled as socialisation, relaxation and escape, travel-related novelty, sexual desire fulfillment/excitement seeking, sex-related learning, sexual mastery, social prestige, and business/pragmatic purpose. Both the theoretical and methodological implications related to the developed scale are also discussed.     

Young tourists visiting strip clubs and paying for sex

Little is known about young adults’ use of strip clubs and prostitution during their holidays abroad. This study examined this issue with a sample of 1125 Danish tourists between the ages of 16 and 34, and sought data about the frequency with which they paid for sex and attended strip clubs while they were on holiday. The tourists were surveyed at a Bulgarian airport before their return trip home. The incidence of strip-club patronage during holiday was 48% for men and 8% for women. Of the men, 12.5% reported paying for sex during their holiday. Among the men paying for sex, 47% reported having done it for the first time. Among the men who attended strip clubs, 32% reported having done it for the first time. Strip-club patronage and paying for sex were both associated with higher levels of drinking, use of Viagra^®, and with having done the same thing before the holiday. Paying for sex was uniquely associated with non-use of condoms with one or more sexual partners. The results of this study can be interpreted as part of a wider culture of commodified debauchery, which predominates many nightlife resorts.     

Interactive effects of message framing and information content on carbon offsetting behaviors

This study examines the effects of message framing and information presentation on tourists' carbon offsetting behaviors within the theoretical framework of heuristic-systematic processing. The interactive effects of message framing and information presentation are assessed on both static and dynamic outcome variables employing a mixed between-within group methodology utilizing two sets of data through a longitudinal 2 × 2 × 2 experimental design. The results reveal that a gain-framed messaging combined with objective climate change information and objective carbon offsetting information results in significantly more positive impacts on changes in purchase intention of carbon offsetting products and increases willingness to pay for carbon offsetting. Conversely, the combination of loss-framed messages and subjective information presentation are shown not only to be ineffective in increasing carbon offsetting behavior but results in declines in tourists’ purchase intention of carbon offsetting products and willingness to pay for carbon offsetting.     

A process perspective on experience co-creation: How pre-trip involvement prompts destination loyalty

Although the existing literature has suggested that tourists' experience co-creation during or after trips benefits destination loyalty, knowledge of how pre-trip behavior impacts future behavioral intention from a process perspective is limited. To address the gaps, we develop a logic chain linking past behavior, cognition, emotion, and future behavioral intention under a stage-by-stage process of tourists' experience co-creation using the service-dominant logic of value co-creation theory and the self-consistency principle of attitude theory. Empirically, utilizing PLS-SEM and mediation analysis in a survey (n = 500) and an experiment (n = 128), we found a serial mediation pathway whereby high-degree pre-trip involvement heightened satisfaction with the co-creation of experience, which increased place identity or place dependence, and which ultimately enhanced destination loyalty. This research is the first attempt to examine the impact of past behavior on future intention for tourists’ experience co-creation from a process perspective.     

Residents' Perceptions Toward the “Chinese Tourists' Wave” in Hong Kong: An Exploratory Study

Mainland China experienced an extraordinary progress in its economy in the past two decades which directly stimulates more outbound travels. Considering the geographical proximity and political ties between Hong Kong and Mainland China, the share of inbound tourists to Hong Kong has been, and will continuously be, largely occupied by Mainland Chinese tourists on an uprising basis. The phenomenon of the “Chinese tourists' wave”, operationalizing as the influx of tourists from Mainland China, has brought tremendous change on Hong Kong's tourism industry, economy and local community. It is, thus, of necessity to understand the perceptions and response toward this phenomenon from local residents' perspective as they are the stakeholders of local tourism. Drawing on the findings from three focus group interviews with 18 Hong Kong residents, three conventional dimensions, namely “Economic”, “Social-cultural” and “Environmental” were identified and discussed to demonstrate the local residents' perceptions toward the impact of “Chinese tourists' wave” phenomenon. Generally, residents tend to recognize the positive economic impacts as well as negative social–cultural and environmental impacts generated from this tourism phenomenon. The recommendations suggested in this study also serve as a reference for tourism authorities concerned to redress the existing problems.     

Segmentation by motivation for rural tourism activities in The Gambia

In The Gambia, as in many other African countries, rural areas rarely profit from the turnover earned in the country's tourism sector. In academic and political literature, however, rural tourism is frequently identified as a diversification strategy that may trigger local economic development in remote communities. To promote rural tourism development, further knowledge is required to understand why tourists are motivated to engage in distinct tourism market segments. In this study, survey data was collected from 450 tourists in The Gambia using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was constructed to identify the key characteristics and motivations of tourists so that the significant market segments could be categorized and the (latent) tourist demand for rural tourism activities could be gauged. This study identified four distinct segments of tourists in The Gambia: heritage & nature seekers, multi-experiences seekers, multi-experiences & beach seekers, and sun & beach seekers. Drawing on our key findings, we conclude by identifying a development path that could diversify Gambia's tourism sector. The development path would also include event-based rural tourism initiatives that align with the motivations of the identified market segments and may additionally benefit rural communities by reducing economic leakage rates.     

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourist public transportation use and on its determinants: Evidence from a Catalan coastal destination

Despite the key importance of public transportation for the accessibility, attractiveness, and sustainability of tourist areas, little is known about how the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted its use among tourists. In response, we compared the likelihood of using transit among visitors in a Catalan coastal area based on surveys conducted in 2019 (n = 1493) and 2020 (n = 1465). The pandemic caused a significant decline in tourists' use of public transportation, from 54.5% in 2019 to 34.6% in 2020, and in mobility at the destination. Results from a set of bivariate probabilistic models revealed that though most of the traditional determinants of visitors' use of transit remained unaltered, pandemic-related factors were associated with its decline. For the tourism sector and for local authorities and transit agencies, those results characterize the crucial challenge of ensuring the use of public transit among visitors in consideration of its many environmental and social benefits.     

Social interactions and intentions to revisit for agritourism service encounters

This study addresses how agritourists' social interactions affect their satisfaction and, in turn, revisit intentions. Adopting social exchange theory and resource theory, the study proposes that social interactions with service providers, local residents, companion tourists, and other customers influence satisfaction, which in turn affects revisit intentions. For this, an onsite survey was conducted to examine the proposed model and test the hypotheses. Subjects (N = 266) were tourists who visited farms. All, but one of the hypotheses were supported or partially supported by the data and the proposed model also had an acceptable fit. Results provide direction for the development of a theoretical framework to understand revisit intentions by seeking to improve the social exchange relationships with agritourists. In addition, the results call for the incorporation of social interactions as a component of the agritourism servicescape.     

Tourists' support for conservation messages and sustainable management practices in wildlife tourism experiences

A common justification for developing wildlife tourism attractions is that they help to secure long-term conservation of wildlife and wildlife habitats. Managers and guides often highlight their role in protecting wildlife and its habitat, yet little is known about the interests, needs and preferences of the tourists who participate in such activities – how aware are they of conservation issues; how concerned are they about the environmental impacts their visit may cause; do they expect and accept the conservation messages they receive? This research explores the perceptions, preferences and conservation awareness of tourists visiting the Mon Repos Conservation Park in Queensland, Australia. Comparison data from four other sites are also presented in order to provide a wider context for interpreting the data. The findings suggest that wildlife tourism management practices that enlist tourists as conservation partners, communicate the reasons behind any constraints imposed, and present a consistent message regarding interactions with wildlife, are likely to be most successful in meeting the needs of both tourists and wildlife.     

Reconciling unsatisfying tourism experiences: Message type effectiveness and the role of counterfactual thinking

While attracting new tourists is an important issue in destination marketing, it is also imperative to manage tourists' experience post-trip, particularly in cases of unsatisfying experiences. Yet, the questions of how to rectify unsatisfying tourism experiences received little attention in tourism scholarship. In the present research, we investigated the effectiveness of different forms of marketing messages and the role of counterfactual thinking in the ability of a marketing message to improve tourists' attitudes towards the destination and intentions to recommend, when a tourism experience was not up to tourists' satisfaction. A scenario-based experiment was conducted with 480 respondents. The results showed that user-generated messages and the messages employing emotional appeal were more impactful than destination-generated or rational messages. Respondents who engaged in downward counterfactual thinking, that is imagining the situation in which their experience could have been worse, was shown to have a greater positive effect on unsatisfied tourists.     

Chinese recreational vehicle users in Australia: A netnographic study of tourist motivation

This study analysed the blog postings of an influential set of Chinese tourists who share on-line their recreational vehicle (RV) travelling experiences in Australia. It used a netnographic approach to collect qualitative data from 22 rich and detailed Chinese blogs which in total consisted of 77 pages of Mandarin text plus images. The archival work was supplemented by online messages and email interaction with the RV travellers. Coding followed a consultative thematic approach. Segments from the narratives were used to illustrate some of the themes. The travellers' motive items were consistent with much previous motivation work and fitted into an experimental and experiential framework and revealed parallels with the career patterns of experienced western tourists. The need for further samples and contexts, and suggestions for exploring and developing this emerging market were offered.     

An application of network analysis on tourist attractions: The case of Xinjiang,China

This study constitutes a novel application of network analysis to explore the underlying mechanisms of tourist attraction network informed by tourist flows. Using survey data collected from a sample of 456 tourists visiting Xinjiang, China, the study applies the Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) to test the relationships between region proximity, grade proximity, and tenure proximity, and the attraction network determined by tourists' free choice movements. Results show that while region proximity and tenure proximity among major attractions in a destination were positively related to attraction network, grade proximity was negatively related to the attraction network, indicating that same grade attractions were mostly competing with one another for tourists. The study contributes to the methodological development of social network analysis in tourism and advances understanding of demand-driven network relationships among tourist attractions in a destination. Destination management implications are discussed.     

Tourism and gender (in)equality: Global evidence

This study investigates the nexus between tourism development and gender (in)equality in a global sample of 111 economies from 1995 to 2017. Notably, this study (i) examines mutual relationships between the two factors, and (ii) carries out a comprehensive and inclusive analysis of three kinds of tourism (domestic, outbound, and international), using two measures (spending, and number of tourists) and four dimensions of gender (in)equality (employment, education, health, and rights). First, there is a mutual relationship between tourism development and gender (in)equality. Second, domestic tourism spending, visitor spending, and number of tourist arrivals generally appear to improve gender equality in employment, education, and rights. However, outbound tourism spending seems to increase gender inequality in employment and rights. In turn, gender equality likely stimulates travel activities in terms of both spending and number of tourists.     

Travel motivation among cross border tourists: Case study of Langkawi

Research that focuses on regional tourists in Malaysia is scarce in literature. This study examined the influence of travel motivations; economic, nature, and cultural aspects on tourists' loyalty intention in the context of Langkawi Island, Malaysia. A total of 200 fully answered questionnaires were collected from ASEAN tourists on the island using the purposive sampling technique, and the data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique. The results confirmed that the ‘economic aspect’ and ‘nature aspect’ are important motivational factors affecting tourists' loyalty intention to revisit Langkawi. Although cultural aspect influences loyalty intention, its effect was weak. Managerial and marketing recommendations were made for tourism in Langkawi based on these findings.     

It's all in the recipe: How to increase domestic leisure tourists' experiential loyalty to local food

This study examines experiential loyalty in the context of local food consumption by domestic leisure tourists. A conceptual framework is developed to understand factors which increase tourists' propensity to exhibit experiential loyalty. Relationships between independent factors and the dependent variable of experiential loyalty are examined using a binary logistic regression model. The centrality of local food to tourists is the most important factor in increasing experiential loyalty, although cultural motivation and satisfaction are also predictors. The results provide insights for government and private tourism enterprises, with practical recommendations outlined.     

Segmentation by visitor motivation in three Kenyan national reserves

This study addresses the needs of three national reserves in north central Kenya for developing a tourism strategy aimed at enhancing tourist opportunities at the reserves. In order to adequately address visitor needs, the reserve managers must first understand the motivations for different types of visitors. A factor-cluster approach was employed to identify visitor segment profiles based on their motivations for visiting the reserves. A principal components analysis of motivations revealed eight motivation factors, and three distinct visitor segments were identified using an ipsative clustering method. These segments included Escapists, Learners and Spiritualists. Understanding the differences in these visitor segments will help managers of the reserves better provide alternative activities and services to tourists. Management recommendations include providing scenic and expansive landscape viewing opportunities and developing a more competent and knowledgeable ranger corps capable of visitor education and outreach initiatives.     

Sustainable Mi'kmaw cultural tourism development in Nova Scotia,Canada: examining cultural tourist and Mi'kmaw perspectives

This study assessed tourists' motivations and satisfaction in participating in authentic Mi'kmaw tourism activities in Nova Scotia, Canada, as well as the ideas, perceptions and components of sustainable cultural tourism development from the Mi'kmaw perspective. To solicit the tourists' perspective, surveys were administered to tourists visiting the existing Mi'kmaw cultural tourism sites in Nova Scotia, while the Mi'kmaw perspective was obtained through key informant interviews. The results of the survey suggest that tourists visiting the Mi'kmaw cultural tourism sites were highly educated and deeply interested in learning about culture and participating in authentic cultural experiences. Tourists were also highly satisfied with their experience and were interested in participating in aboriginal tourism again. Findings regarding the Mi'kmaw perspective indicate a focus on cultural tourism's ability to educate both tourists and the Mi'kmaw people on the Mi'kmaw culture as well as provide economic opportunities for Mi'kmaw communities. Of greater importance to the Mi'kmaw people is the preservation and protection of the Mi'kmaw culture. Conclusions drawn from the research include recommendations for the future success and sustainability of the Mi'kmaw cultural tourism sector. This study's findings may also inform other Canadian aboriginal communities seeking to develop robust and sustainable cultural tourism in their own settings.