Chinese and international visitor perceptions of interpretation at Beijing built heritage sites

Research exploring visitor perceptions of heritage sites indicates that a site may hold different meanings for visitors depending on their cultural backgrounds. Little research has, however, identified visitor cultural preferences and so informed the development, delivery and management of on-site heritage interpretive experiences. This paper addresses this need by identifying cultural differences and similarities between Chinese and international visitors in relation to their interpretive motives, preferences and perceptions. Questionnaires were completed by 277 domestic Chinese visitors and 94 international visitors at five key Beijing built heritage sites. Differences between Chinese and international visitors’ conceptions of heritage; ratings of importance of facilities, services and interpretive content; and perceptions of the visitor experience are identified. Amongst many findings, Chinese respondents were more likely than international respondents to state that heritage sites should be an important part of the country's national heritage, convey the country's power and be famous. They sought built heritage sites visited by someone famous and that feature in well-known Chinese paintings and poetry. International visitors were more likely than Chinese visitors to state that heritage sites should have authentically old buildings and be relevant to contemporary life. Implications for interpretive and management practice at Chinese heritage sites are discussed.     

Information Needs and Search Behaviors: A Comparative Study of Ethnic Groups in the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests,California

The current ethnic population coupled with higher birth rates and immigration will dramatically affect participation in outdoor recreation. Recreation area managers must be able to decipher current and potential visitors' needs and motivations for visiting. This article examines various aspects of information use and search behaviors among National Forest visitors, notably among various ethnic groups and types of users. Uses and gratifications (U&G) theory was used as the basis for identification of relevant uses of Forest Service Information. Consistent with previous studies, Whites generally reported using all available information sources to a greater extent than Hispanics or Other Minority Groups. Hispanics were least likely to approach rangers or employees for information, and Other Minority Groups were least likely to pay attention to bulletin boards. Flyers and brochures were among the most frequently used information sources for all ethnic groups. Whites were more likely to seek out information for orientation and educational purposes, while Hispanics attributed more importance to instrumental uses, like seeking information about parking facilities, permits and operating hours. An attempt was made to adapt communication theories to the field of outdoor recreation. Future research should expand upon the U&G theory due to its importance and applicability in the field of outdoor recreation.     

External Information Search Behavior of Visitors to Turkey

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of information search behavior of travelers from 36 countries to Turkey. The data used in this study were obtained from a larger research project which was carried out by Ministry of Tourism and Culture and State Statistics Association of Turkey in 2001. The study revealed seven dimensions of external information sources as a part of search behavior of visitors such as “friends and relatives,” “trade exhibition,” “promotion offices,” “media,” “tourism entities,” “others” (Internet, catalog and in-flight information) and “outside of the above sources.” The data were analyzed by two different techniques. First, a series of Chi-square tests were conducted to examine the information sources of visitors arriving in Turkey. Second, Correspondence Analysis (CA) was utilized to identify the differences in the information sources of visitors. Six external information sources were examined in the study.     

Evaluating the Utility of Touristic Information Sources for Planning Midwest Vacation Travel

Researchers in tourism have identified the information sources used most often by travelers in an effort to develop more efficient ways to communicate with potential visitors. The goal of this study was to extend our knowledge in this area by investigating the extent to which travelers actually use various information sources for planning Midwest vacations. The study clearly identified those information sources for planning trips. Furthermore, demographic analyses indicate that segments exist which derives greater utility from particular travel information sources. Simulation analyses were then used to evaluate alternative marketing communication strategies.     

Psychographic segmentation of park visitor markets: evidence for the utility of sensation seeking

This paper examines whether a segmentation of a large sample (N=9495) of visitors to parks in Ontario, Canada in terms of the psychological push factor motive sensation seeking enables identification of differences between them in park-related attitudes and behaviours. A cluster analysis of individuals based on their attitudes to three dimensions of park experience identified in this study (active enjoyment of nature, escape stress, and sensation seeking) resulted in three clusters of visitors (1 group of higher, and 2 groups of lower, sensation seekers). The higher sensation seekers were found to differ from both groups of lower sensation seekers on a broad variety of attitudes and behaviours to do with parks. In particular, higher sensation seekers visit parks more often to camp than do lower sensation seekers, differ from lower sensation seekers regarding the kinds of things that are incentives for them to visit parks, and with respect to the sources of information about parks they are likely to use, are more likely than lower sensation seekers are to be involved in each of a broad range of activities during their park visits, and place higher importance on numerous facilities and services as well as being more satisfied with them. The implications of these results for park marketing and management are examined, and directions for further research on this topic, especially regarding risk management in parks, are also considered.     

The Influence of Food Expenditure on Tourist Response to Festival Tourism: Expenditure Perspective

Festival tourism, which combines the theme of a festival with the local characteristics of an area, has become an extremely attractive marketing method in recent years. In addition, local food and beverages are items that many visitors enjoy consuming and that can become attractions in their own right. The aims of this study are: (a) based on expenditure theory, to explore how spending on food and beverages and other items such as accommodations and transportation influences intentions to revisit and make positive recommendation; and (b) to examine whether or not tourists with different lifestyles use or experience different sources of information, evaluation criteria and travel expenses. A questionnaire survey was conducted using visitors to the 2009 Penghu Sea fireworks festival, and 308 valid samples were collected. The results were as follows. First, food and beverages had a significant positive influence on revisit and recommendation intentions. Second, the total expenditure on a tourist visit had a significantly negative effect on revisit and recommendation intentions. Third, there were statistically significant differences with regard to information searching, evaluation criteria and tourism expenditure among tourists with different lifestyles. Based on these results, we can conclude that food and beverage expenditure during festival tourism is an important factor in whether or not tourists plan to revisit an area and recommend it to others. The findings also show that more tourists can be attracted if festivals are well suited to local conditions and characteristics (such as the availability of seafood in the example examined in this work).     

The heritage reader

Effective interpretation among visitors to heritage sites contributes towards achieving sustainable tourism. Mindful visitors are more likely to be interested in being educated and learning about a site; therefore, mindfulness can play a key role in the formation of effective interpretations. Diverse media communicates with visitors in different ways and has various effects which can improve mindfulness among heritage site visitors. This study aims to investigate the effects of three different media, namely exhibitions, guided tours (GT) and printed materials (PM) on enhancing mindfulness. A questionnaire was developed and administered to approximately 200 visitors at 6 heritage sites across Malacca City in Malaysia, which was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. Partial least-squares structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that PM were the most effective medium in improving mindfulness among visitors to the selected heritage sites, followed by exhibitions. The results also indicated that GT did not have any significant effect on improving visitor mindfulness. These findings can assist organisations responsible for the management of heritage sites to improve the mindfulness of visitors by identifying the most efficacious forms of media.     

Social media-based analysis of cultural ecosystem services and heritage tourism in a coastal region of Mexico

Understanding spatial patterns of visitation and benefits accrued to different types of natural and cultural heritage tourists may have important implications for the sustainable management of their destinations. We investigate cultural services accrued to local, domestic and international visitors to the Usumacinta floodplain, a coastal region with one of the highest biological and cultural diversities in Mexico. We combine analysis of social media photographs and high-resolution land cover mapping to identify different cultural services and their association with specific ecosystem and land cover types. Hotspots for international tourists are spatially restricted to well-known and accessible sites. Locals are 2.2–2.5 times more likely than international visitors to be associated with aesthetic appreciation and birdwatching. Locals upload more photographs of coastal lagoons, mangroves, beach and sea. Results are analyzed in light of land cover changes in the region and provide valuable information to decision makers for improved tourism management and conservation strategies.     

Experiential Marketing and Long-Term Sales

This study investigates the ability of winery tasting rooms to create brand awareness and build long-term brand loyalty. Specifically, we test the conjecture that if tasting rooms create brand awareness and a pleasurable tasting room experience, then those visitors are more likely to recognize and seek out those brands once they leave the tasting room. To measure these effects, we exploit differences in tasting room characteristics to conduct a series of natural experiments from which we analyze differences in off-premise retail sales away from the tasting room. We use scan data on wine sold off-premise through traditional retail outlets to then test for differences among tasting room characteristics. Our results indicate that tasting rooms act as a form of experiential marketing for wineries, creating brand awareness and generating greater growth in off-premise retail sales. Finally, we address issues of endogeneity and unobserved heterogeneity as potential sources of bias.     

Place attachment,recreational activities,and travel intent under changing climate conditions

Globally, climate is changing and will likely alter where and when visitors decide to travel. This study looks at how visitors’ attachment to Mount Desert Island (MDI), Maine, affects their intended future visitation under changing climate conditions. Additionally, this research explores the relationship between recreational activities visitors participate in and their attachment to the destination. Visitors were identified on-site and asked to complete an online survey (n = 416). Segmentation analysis was used to group visitors by their level of attachment to the destination: high (27%), medium (49%), and low (24%). Results indicated that those with a high level of place attachment participated in more recreational activities during their trip, although only some activities elicited significant differences. Additionally, those with high attachment said they were less likely to be deterred from visiting MDI in the future under potentially negative changing environmental conditions. Results indicate that under changing conditions, visitors’ place attachment influences future visitation intent. It is easier to retain visitors than attract new ones, so destinations (including gateway communities) would benefit from developing strategies that enhances visitor place attachment to capitalize on repeat visitation and increase long-term economic sustainability.     

Information source usage among motive-based segments of travelers to newly emerging tourist destinations

As a part of their travel planning, potential tourists engage in information search that assists them in decision-making. Though several studies have been conducted in relation to information sources, yet, much of these seem to be in relation to relatively well-known destinations. This note primarily aims at reporting the use of information sources among various motivation-based segments of travelers to the newly emerging tourist destinations of India's North-East. This is a region with tremendous tourism potential that has not been aggressively marketed so far. Analysis of primary data through a survey of visitors to the region using a factor-cluster segmentation approach resulted in three motive-based segments: Nature-loving Explorers, Nature-loving Vacationers and Change Seekers. These segments were found to exhibit differences in information source usage. The results hold implications for destination marketers of the region and would hopefully contribute towards better marketing strategies for its various destinations.     

Backpacker Achievement and Environmental Controllability as Visitor Motivators

Abstract

This study has applied the motivational constructs of Achievement, Affiliation and Power to the visitor behaviour domain. Such motivational constructs have enjoyed a long history of research in domains such as organizational and consumer behaviour, but have received relatively little attention within the tourist motivation context. The major motivators to emerge involved Achievement and Environmental Controllability (or Power), with Achievement motivation predictive of a high value being placed on vacations, and also relaxation as a major vacation goal. Older visitors were found more likely to be associated with high Achievement and high Environmental Controllability motivators, and females more likely to be associated with higher Environmental Controllability motivation. Finally, higher Achievement motivated visitors were found to be less likely to report anticipated negative interactions with local residents. The implications of these findings are explored, particularly for groups such as Regional Tourism Authorities.     

Mainland Chinese Tourists to Hawaii: Their Characteristics and Preferences

Tourism is the most economically important industry to the United States' only island state, Hawaii. With Hawaii's highest spending and largest international tourist segment, Japanese, decreasing significantly (a loss from over 2,000,000 in 1997 to just over 1,000,000 Japanese visitors in 2009), Hawaii needs to prepare to replace the significant decrease of Japanese visitors with a new visitor market. The logical new international visitor target market would be tourists from the fastest growing economy in the world, that being China. The purpose of this study is to explore the differences in attitudinal and behavioral characteristics, and preferences of Chinese tourists in Hawaii according to key sociodemographic variables. The results of this study conclude that sociodemographic variables show significant differences in attitudinal and behavioral characteristics. For example, when comparing the number of times a respondent had visited Hawaii, first-time visitors showed the highest level of preference for a deluxe hotel while second-time visitors showed the highest level of preference for a budget hotel. Those who had visited Hawaii three or more times indicated the highest preference for a first class hotel and also to be more interested in high-end shopping. First-time visitors showed the highest percentage in the lowest category of estimated cost of gifts (US$0–US$300). This indicates that Hawaii tour operators should focus on introducing more discounted shopping to first-time visitors.

The results of this study are likely to be beneficial for understanding Chinese tourists and establishing marketing policies to enhance their satisfaction and raise their intention to revisit Hawaii. The findings of this study could be helpful for all stakeholders including local tour operators, the hotels, and Hawaii's tourism officials.     

Social mediation in remote developing world tourism locations – the significance of social ties between local guides and host communities in sustainable tourism development

This article discusses the role of the local, or regional, guide as a social mediator between a host society and tourists, as a means of sustainable tourism development in developing world locations. The debate illustrates how previous studies have neglected this social aspect of mediation by tourist guides and partly absorbed it into the concept of cultural mediation. Empirical illustrations are offered from the context of small tourist group visitations to local villages in rural areas of Madagascar, where collective social norms still play an important role. A qualitative approach based on personal interviews with guides and on field trip experience and observation is employed. Empirical findings indicate that the inclination of the host society to welcome accompanied tourists is facilitated by the capacity of local guides to develop relatively strong social ties with the host society. It is suggested that the increased use of local guides with good social relationships with the local communities as against the mere employment of non-local accompanying guides working for centrally located tour operators can enrich the mutual experience quality in the encounter between visitors and hosts and support local sustainable development by enhanced local involvement. Implications for sustainable tourism practice are discussed.     

A Critical Investigation of the Use and Effectiveness of Interpretive Services

With increasing concern for the environment, there has been a strong interest in ecotourism in Hong Kong, culminating in the opening of the Hong Kong Wetland Park (HKWP) by the local government in 2005. Since the HKWP uses various on-site interpretive services to help to convey education and conservation messages on environmental issues, through the use of a recent survey this paper aims to examine and analyze their use and effectiveness in achieving the intended purpose. The questionnaire was completed by 206 visitors and reveals that experiential facilities, interpretive signs and exhibition materials are the three most frequently used services. Although guided interpretive tours have received the highest satisfaction rating and are considered the most effective means of conveying educational and conservation messages, the survey found that this service is still unknown to many visitors and more public exposure is recommended. Interestingly, in terms of the goal of the wetland park's ability to convey an educational message to its patrons, the survey has also found a significant difference in success rate between visitors with a desire for knowledge and visitors merely enjoying a leisurely activity.     

User preferences for web site attributes: A study of the Hong Kong Disneyland

The Hong Kong Disneyland will be open in 2005 and the theme park is very likely to have an official web site. In order to determine the nature of a model/ideal official web site that would serve the promotional purpose, this study is conducted with two objectives. First, the study makes an attempt to understand the information types that the target markets, namely local Hong Kong residents, Western visitors and Chinese visitors, would like to have on the future Hong Kong Disney web site. Secondly, this research examines whether e‐ticketing is feasible for the web site. Using a questionnaire and a convenience sampling method, 198 responses were received. Empirical results indicate that the respondents all agreed that the suggested attributes should be listed in the web site. In addition, no significant difference was found among different groups of respondents on homepage information. However, significant differences were found among the interviewees’ views regarding products/services information, and ticketing information. To communicate effectively, the adoption of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is recommended in a value‐chain system for achieving successful e‐commerce.     

Polar Bear Viewers as Deep Ecotourists: How Specialised Are They?

Studies exploring the impact of environmental interpretation on visitors’ conservation knowledge, attitudes and behaviour often measure impacts as visitors exit tourism sites. For ease of measurement, their intentions are often used as indicators of behaviour change. Recent longitudinal studies suggest that intentions may be poor indicators of long-term behaviour change. This study examines both the behavioural intentions and the long-term conservation behaviour of 100 Australian families participating in a wildlife viewing experience. Respondents who reported being negatively or positively emotionally involved in the experience were more likely to indicate an intention to change their behaviour. New ideas about animals and their habitats were also significantly correlated with the development of positive behavioural intentions. Three months later, for 10 of the 13 conservation behaviours explored, the majority of respondents who intended to increase their participation did not. Implications for using intentions as an indicator of programme effectiveness are discussed. The importance of providing post-visit support that incorporates specific strategies, localised examples, petitions and activities to help visitors convert their intentions into behaviour prior to their enthusiasm waning is highlighted. Suggestions are made for more longitudinal studies in this area.     

Activity Segmentation of the International Heritage Tourism Market to Taiwan

The heritage tourism market has developed from being regarded as a small niche segment to a mainstream market of considerable size. In Taiwan, diversified heritage resources hold considerable appeal to the international tourism market. Little research has been completed on international heritage tourists to Taiwan, so this study utilized Taiwan as a case study and examined international tourists to the destination. It first employed cluster analysis based on activity participation to segment the market and test for the existence of “heritage tourists”. Three groups of international tourists to Taiwan were identified and they were labelled as “heritage”, “shopping” and “non-specialists”. The heritage group had a high participation rate in visiting heritage relics (90.6%). The study also profiled tourists according to the reasons they travelled to Taiwan and socio-demographic variables. The heritage tourists and other activity participation groups were compared to reveal the major motivational and socio-demographic differences involved. The findings showed that “international heritage tourists to Taiwan” were a group of visitors with relatively younger ages, middle levels of income and higher educational levels. The study defined heritage tourists who indicated visiting heritage sites as part of their reason for visiting Taiwan as “motivated heritage visitors”. Other heritage tourists who participated in heritage activities, but did not list heritage tourism as a reason for visiting Taiwan, were defined as “heritage site visitors”. Finally, the study profiled the two groups of heritage tourists and compared them, with significant differences being found in ages and nationalities.     

The Influence of Tourists' Characteristics on Ratings of Information Sources for an Attraction

Information sources about a product or service potentially affect a tourist's purchase decision. The characteristics of tourists influence the manner in which they search for, rate, and use information about tourism related products or services. The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between the characteristics of visitors to an attraction and information source importance ratings. It concludes that word-of-mouth information is rated most important, followed by past experience and other media sources. Additionally, several demographic and trip characteristics are related to rating of information sources, as are visitor motives.