The role of trust and religious commitment in Islamic medical tourism

This study has examined the effect of trust and religiosity on Islamic medical tourists’ attitudes, and consequently, satisfaction by considering age, gender, and education as moderators. A survey was undertaken of 227 Muslim medical tourists who had been treated in Islamic hospitals in Iran, and the data were analysed using partial least squares techniques. The results showed that although trust has a significant effect on Muslim medical tourists’ attitudes, religiosity has no significant effect. The relationship between attitude and satisfaction towards the Islamic medical treatment practised by the healthcare providers is also supported. Gender and education moderate the relationship between religiosity and attitude. In addition, education moderates the relationship between trust and attitude. The results of this research can provide useful insight into the needs of Muslim medical tourists, which would be useful for Islamic hospitals to provide higher quality healthcare services.     

How Satisfied are Inbound Medical Tourists in Malaysia? A Study on Private Hospitals in Kuala Lumpur

The study explores inbound medical tourists' satisfaction from 137 respondents sampled using the combination of purposeful and convenience samplings in five private hospitals in Kuala Lumpur. In descending order of scores, medical tourists are most satisfied with doctors, nurses, hospital services, hospital atmosphere, and hospital facilities. Hospital facilities and doctors are the two most important dimensions in influencing the overall satisfaction. There are significant differences in the levels of satisfaction within demographic profiles. The article contributes to knowledge on the establishment of dimensions and items pertinent to measuring medical tourists' satisfaction and the results provide insights into managerial and marketing implications.     

Exploring tourists' perceptions of tourism impacts

Unlike how tourism is viewed by residents, little is known about how tourists feel about tourism in the destination. Nevertheless, studies have shown that tourists' emotional bonds with the destination positively affect their perceptions of and reactions to tourism in the destination. Such emotional bonds often vary based on tourists' previous experience in the destination. Thus, this study explored how tourists' emotional solidarity with residents influences their perceptions of tourism and how first-timers and repeat tourists differ in their views. To this end, 404 responses from South Korean sport tourists were analyzed. Though differences were not evident between first-timers and repeat tourists in their emotional solidarity or attitudes toward tourism, a positive relationship was confirmed between emotional solidarity and perceptions of tourism. The findings suggest that attitudes toward tourism is no longer a construct exclusive to residents and destination managers should also consider tourists' views.     

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.     

Reputation,subjective well-being,and environmental responsibility: the role of satisfaction and identification

Based on signaling theory, this study investigates how the perceived reputation of a destination impacts the environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) and subjective well-being (SWB) of tourists through satisfaction and identification with a destination, respectively. The findings support the proposed behavioral model. A total of 539 valid questionnaires were obtained from tourists to a natural ecology and historical culture destination in China and analyzed. The results show that destination reputation has a direct impact on tourists' satisfaction and identification with the destination. Satisfaction and identification with the destination both partially mediate the effect of perceived destination reputation on tourists' ERB and SWB. Findings suggest that enhancing perceptions of a destination's reputation is an important step in increasing tourists' SWB and strengthening their engagement in ERB. Discussion of the findings, research implications, and future research directions are provided.     

The relationship between involvement with travelling to Islamic destinations and Islamic brand equity: a case of Muslim tourists in Malaysia

The growing number of Muslim tourists in the world has urged many destinations to embrace the concept of Islamic tourism. Malaysia as an Islamic country has been serious on establishing a halal hub for tourism products, however, activities such as drinking alcohol, wearing scanty clothing, sun bathing naked, and serving pork in restaurants are found in this country. Therefore, it is vital to explore on how Muslims who are involved with travelling to Islamic destinations evaluate the country’s Islamic brand equity. A number of 384 Middle Eastern tourists were surveyed in Malaysia. Using structural equation modelling, the relationships between Muslims’ involvement with travelling to Islamic destinations and dimensions of brand equity (awareness, image, quality, value, and loyalty) were explored. Results showed that involvement positively influences all five dimensions of brand equity. The strongest relationship was found between involvement and awareness followed by involvement-quality, involvement-image, involvement-value, and involvement-loyalty.     

What Facilitates a Festival Tourist? Investigating Tourists’ Experiences at a Local Community Festival

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of festival attributes and tourism facilitators on tourist satisfaction. The results of this study show that festival attributes has a positive and significant effect on tourists' satisfaction. Data analysis also revealed a positive and a significant effect of intrapersonal facilitators and structural facilitators on tourists' satisfaction. However, interpersonal facilitators do not allow a significant impact on tourists' satisfaction in the festival context. One of the most important findings is that festival commercialization is the strongest predictor of tourists' satisfaction. Structural facilitators are regarded as of primary importance in determining the satisfaction of festival tourists. Future research is needed to investigate other important antecedents of tourists' satisfaction across other festivals or locations, and to identify the complex nature of festival tourists' satisfaction. Finally, a longitudinal approach will better elucidate the relationships between measurement variables and their antecedents.     

Human value co-creation behavior in tourism: Insight from an Australian whale watching experience

This study explores and tests a comprehensive model of co-creation in creating value and tourist satisfaction. In addition to being the first study to empirically test the customer value co-creation behavior scale developed by Yi and Gong (2013), the present work adds to theory by revealing the importance of tourists' mental co-creation and employees' active participation in creating value and satisfaction for the customer. Factor analyses and econometric models of logit model and multivariable ordinary least squares regression are applied to a sample of 1024 whale watching tourists. The study finds that tourists' participation is more important in influencing their perceived value during the experience than their satisfaction. Employees' input is key to the experience in enhancing tourists' value and satisfaction. The main contribution of the study is the inclusion of co-creation behaviors from different human actors including tourists and employees. Opportunities for future research are outlined.     

Tour Leaders' Impression Management and Job Performance: Exploring the Moderating Role of Tourists' Self-Monitoring

A tour leader (TL) is a first-line service provider whose performance shapes a tourist's experience and satisfaction during a journey. We examine the moderating effects of the self-monitoring level of group package tour members on the relationship between the use of impression management (IM) tactics by TLs and tourists' subsequent job performance ratings (PRs) of a TL. Data from 485 responses of tourists from 59 outbound tour groups in Taiwan revealed that TLs' use of positive IM tactics – that is, ingratiation, self-promotion, and exemplification – is positively related to tourists' PRs. In contrast, their use of non-positive IM tactics – that is, supplication and intimidation – is negatively related to tourists' PRs. Furthermore, tourists' self-monitoring appears to weaken the effects of supplication and intimidation on their PRs. We also found that tourists' level of self-monitoring is a stronger moderator when TLs use supplication than when they use other tactics.     

Tourists' shopping experiences at street markets: Cross-country research

Considering shopping as one of the most important motivations for travel, this study focuses on tourists' shopping attitudes towards street markets while on a vacation. Specifically, this study proposes and tests a conceptual model that assesses how price consciousness and perceived utility, as critical drivers of attitudes in street markets, may influence tourist satisfaction and future intentions. As opposed to the structure of previous research, this study is also based on a cross-national comparative study conducted among foreign tourists visiting Algarve, Portugal and Bodrum, Turkey, in the summer of 2011. Study findings confirm that price and utility perceptions are the most important marketplace cues and higher level of satisfaction moderates tourists' willingness to return or recommend street markets in both destinations.     

Exploring religious tourist experiences in Jerusalem: The intersection of Abrahamic religions

By considering the importance of religious tourism for travel and the tourism industry, this study aims to identify religious tourists' experiences in Jerusalem, as one of the most important holy cities. By a survey, 848 data were collected from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religious tourists. Results showed that religious tourism experience was a multi-faceted construct, which consists of engaging mentally, discovering new things, interacting & belonging, connecting spiritually & emotionally, and relaxing & finding peace dimensions. By using these dimensions, perceived experience differences of tourists were examined depending on religion. Moreover, religious tourism experience was identified to significantly affect overall tourist satisfaction with Jerusalem. The study concluded with discussion of the findings and their implications.     

A Critical Investigation of the Bargaining Behavior of Tourists: The Case of Hong Kong Open-Air Markets

Shopping has long been recognized as an indispensable tourist activity. Hong Kong's open-air markets, where a multitude of bargaining activities can be observed, ranked as the second most popular of the island territory's diverse range of attractions in 2008 in terms of tourist arrivals. To develop cutting-edge marketing strategies that promote tourists' enjoyment of their bargaining adventure and ultimately enhance the overall shopping experience, the study reported in this article was aimed at identifying the dimensions underlying tourists' perceptions of the importance of 18 bargaining motivators and 12 bargaining attitudes and types of bargaining behavior, respectively, and subsequently evaluating the predictability of these underlying dimensions on tourists' shopping contentment indicators (overall bargaining satisfaction, the likelihood of a subsequent visit, and the likelihood of recommending open-air markets to others). A non-probability quota sampling technique was used to survey 203 Asian and non-Asian tourists in Hong Kong. A multivariate approach encompassing factor analysis and multiple regression was employed: Factor analysis delineated four underlying dimensions of factors affecting bargaining intentions. “Value for money” was shown to be the factor rated most important to tourists' bargaining intention; similarly, two underlying dimensions of bargaining attitudes and behavior—“bargain for psychological well-being” and “bargaining intensity”—were identified. Multiple regression results indicated the statistical significance of “bargaining for psychological well-being” and “bargaining intensity” to the existence of positive relations between shopping contentment indicators.     

Shopping experiences: International tourists in Beijing's Silk Market

This study examines international tourists' experiences in Beijing's Silk Market, one of the China's most well-known tourist markets. Tourists' spontaneous reviews on TripAdvisor were analyzed through Leximancer, a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software. The study confirms that markets can be major tourism attractions and can provide important experiences for international tourists. Most international tourists were impressed with their Silk Market trip. The dominant narratives of their experiences were the “price” of the items they “bought”, the “fun” of “bargaining”, and the “fake” quality of the products. Further analyses show that different satisfaction groups used somewhat different narratives to represent their shopping experiences and that male international tourists enjoyed the Silk Market experiences more than their female counterparts.     

Does a Friendly Hotel Room Increase Senior Group Package Tourists' Satisfaction? A Field Experiment

This study uses a field experiment to investigate whether senior-friendly facilities in a hotel affect the satisfaction levels of senior tourists. This research also identifies the staff explanation effect with respect to tourists' satisfaction. A field experimental design was applied to examine the senior tourists' satisfaction with the group package tour. Senior-friendly attributes were obtained from the literature reviews, three focus groups, and in-depth interviews. Hotel rooms with senior-friendly facilities were designated as the first experimental group and senior-friendly rooms with staff explanation were designated as the second. A total of 397 valid questionnaires for senior group package tourists were retrieved. The results indicate that a room with facilities could significantly increase customers' satisfaction with respect to cleanliness, comfort, decoration, illumination, overall satisfaction, and room recommendation. However, staff explanation did not further increase or influence customers' satisfaction for a room with friendly facilities.     

Satisfaction and Destination Loyalty

ABSTRACT

First-time and repeat tourists engage in different tourism experience with a destination. Based on previous studies, the main purpose of this research is to investigate how tourists' previous experience with a tourist destination influences on the satisfaction evaluation, destination loyalty and destination attractiveness. An empirical study is carried out among 806 tourists visiting Calpe, a Spanish tourist destination, in the summer of 2000. Research findings evidence that the level of satisfaction and the number of past visits considerably influence tourists' intentions to make repeat visits.     

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.     

Are we all environmental tourists now? The role of biases in social comparison across and within tourists,and their implications

From a management and research perspective, it is important to get a better understanding of what influences tourists in their decision to choose environmentally friendly travel options, and how these are related to social cognitive processes. This paper reports findings from two separate studies investigating the role of biases in social comparison, with particular reference to tourists' perception of their personal roles as environmentally friendly tourists, and especially tourists’ views of the environmental attitudes of other tourists. Samples of N = 1607 and N = 2076 tourists, respectively, were obtained for two studies in Western Norway. Results indicate that tourists perceive themselves to hold more pro-environmental attitudes than other tourists (i.e. “typical tourist”, “average tourist”, “tourists”). This suggests that there are differences in the perception of the self and others when it comes to social comparisons concerning issues of environmental sustainability. The findings also suggest that tourists hold overly positive views of themselves generally concerning issues of environmental sustainability and that their environmental attitudes reflect perceived desirable standards. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed from a social psychological perspective, and implications for tourism managers and researchers noted.     

The influence of travel photo editing on tourists’ experiences

Photo editing has become a prevalent practice when people share their travel photos on social media. This study examines this understudied phenomenon by exploring travelers' photo-editing behavior and its impact on tourists' destination experiences. Three pilot interviews and 23 in-depth interviews were conducted using photo-elicitation. The results show that photo editing does not necessarily alter the objective part of the trip memories, but rather reminds tourists of more positive than negative memories. Compliments from the social media audience on the edited photos improve tourists' overall recall of their destination experiences and further enhance their reflection on these experiences. The findings also enrich the understanding of the hermeneutic circle of representation in tourists’ photo editing behavior.     

Linking Travel Motivation,Tourist Self-Image and Destination Brand Personality

Abstract

Despite a growing body of work on destination branding, there has been little investigation of whether or not tourists attribute brand personality characteristics to tourism destinations and whether or not an emotional connection exists based on tourists' perceived self-image and the ‘brand personality’ of destinations. The aim of this study is to explore the links among four key constructs proposed for the destination branding and choice processtourist needs, destination brand personality, self-congruity, and intentions to visit and satisfaction with a visit. The results indicate that where tourists can make an association between a destination and a destination brand personality, and where this association is consistent with their desired holiday experience, a high level of congruity will exist between the tourists' self-image and their perceptions of the destination. In turn this self-congruity was related to satisfaction with a visit to the destination but not to intention to travel to the destination.