Willingness to Pay for an Ecological Park Experience

The purpose of this study is to estimate an ecological park's use values and to show the statistical relationship between emotional/psychological determinants and visitors' willingness to pay (WTP). The study employs the contingent valuation method (CVM) to elicit the park's economic values. CVM, however, has been criticized due to potential exaggeration bias, so this study attempts to reduce this bias by reaffirming visitors' “yes” responses. Results demonstrate a more conservative WTP, and show that sense of place meanings did not have a significant relationship with respondents' WTP but satisfaction did influence people's willingness to pay for an ecological park experience.     

Applying augmented reality (AR) technologies in theatrical performances in theme parks: A transcendent experience perspective

This study aims to investigate the attributes of AR theatrical performance in theme parks that impact a visitor's emotional experience and how it would do so. Data were obtained from tourists who had experienced AR theatrical performances at the Fantawild theme park in China. Drawing on a transcendent experience perspective, this study proposed and tested a theoretical model depicting the relationship between the perceived experiential quality of AR theatrical performance with five major dimensions—visual appeal, heightened enjoyment, education and curiosity, escapism, and focused immersion—as well as visitors' emotional responses (i.e., nostalgia, and emotional arousal) and feelings of belonging to the theme park, which were statistically analyzed via partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results showed that AR experiential quality exerted positive effects on visitors' nostalgia and emotional arousal, all of which triggered a feeling of belonging to the theme park.     

Modifying and applying time and cost blocks: The case of E-Da theme park,Kaohsiung, Taiwan

The main purpose of this study is to modify and apply a management tool called time and cost blocks (TCB). The model was modified to adjust how the “benefit indicator” was measured and further enhanced by inclusion of visitor satisfaction scores and revisiting intention. Data collection was accomplished by means of a diary-type semi-structured questionnaire, which was administered in face-to-face interviews with 655 visitors of the E-Da World theme park in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The results indicate that participation intensity (PI) and benefit indicator (BI) have a significant relationship with satisfaction and revisiting intention.     

Visualizing theme park visitors’ emotions using social media analytics and geospatial analytics

Despite the popular use of social media analytics to scrutinize customer emotions, less scholarly efforts have been invested in visualizing theme park visitors' emotions. Employing the convergence of social media analytics and geospatial analytics, this paper visualized cohesive places where Disneyland visitors express distinct types of emotion in social media messages. Among 226,946 collected tweets, this study used 19,809 tweets containing one or more emotion words listed in Russell's Circumplex Model of Affect. Text mining analysis and GIS-based exploratory spatial data analysis showed that tweets reflecting each quadrant of emotions have considerable spatial variations and different topics related to visitor emotions. The research approach enabled displaying particular spots in theme park zones and areas of riding attractions where emotions of each quadrant are significantly clustered. This study highlights methodological implications of visualizing spatial patterns of visitors' emotions and provides practitioners with a useful guide to develop routes evoking pleasant emotions.     

Assessment on and Perception of Visitors' Environmental Impacts of Nature Tourism: A Case Study of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park,China

This paper examines trampling impacts on vegetation and soil as well as visitors' perception of these impacts in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China. Results indicate that visitor usage is proportionate to trampling impacts, with the two most used trails–Yellowstone Village Trail and Gold Whip Stream Trail–having the highest values in Soil Impact Index (SII) and highest rate of scarred trees. Vegetation and soil near 'Treasure Box for Celestial Books' are the most impacted with the Impact Vegetational Index (IVI) being 87.50% and SII being 2.27, respectively. This spot has the highest level of unacceptability. However, visitors' perceptions of the impacts on their hiking satisfaction are not always consistent with the actual physical deterioration. The unacceptability level for 'Gold Whip Crag' was much higher than 'The General Rock' despite the latter having higher IVI values than the former. It is argued that visitors' perceptions of recreation impacts could be influenced by the interaction of IVI, SII, and the size of the area impacted. Other factors such as visual sensitivity and social elements could also have an effect on visitors' judgements. Finally, this paper proposes management strategies for improving the park's visitor and environmental management.     

The formation of visitor behavioral intention to creative tourism: the role of push–Pull motivation

This study proposes and examines a behavioral intention to re-experience model consisting of experience quality, perceived value, satisfaction, and push–pull motivation factor as the determinants. For this purpose, self-administrated questionnaires were utilized to gather data from 369 participants of five creative tourism attractions in Indonesia. To examine the proposed model and hypotheses, partial least square modeling was applied. The results provide evidence that pull motivation impacts visitor behavioral intention to re-experience. It also demonstrates that push motivation impacts visitor behavioral intention to re-experience and is strengthened by experience quality and perceived value.     

Keeping your audience: Presenting a visitor engagement scale

Understanding visitors' level of engagement with tourist attractions is vital for successful heritage management and marketing. This paper develops a scale to measure visitors' level of engagement with tourist attractions. It also establishes a relationship between the drivers of engagement and level of engagement using Partial Least Square, whereby both formative and reflective scales are included. The structural model is tested with a sample of 625 visitors at Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow, UK. The empirical validation of the conceptual model supports the research hypotheses. Whilst prior knowledge, recreational motivation and omnivore-univore cultural capital positively affect visitors' level of engagement, there is no significant relationship between reflective motivation and level of engagement. These findings contribute to a better understanding of visitor engagement in tourist attractions and a series of managerial implications are proposed.     

From lost space to third place: The visitor's perspective

Although studies on place attachment in tourism have expanded greatly during the past decade, most have focused on nature-based settings, thereby neglecting the social dimension of place. The triadic relationship of activity involvement, place attachment, and visitor loyalty has received limited attention. In response, we investigated visitors' attachment to activities and settings within cultural creative districts (CCDs) in a manufacturing hub of China, with the aim to advance the theory of place attachment and elucidate geographic and psychological factors that can affect visitor experience. Results of an onsite questionnaire (n = 252) indicated that: 1) activity involvement positively affected place attachment; 2) attraction and social bonding were strong predictors of visitor loyalty. We identified a more effective way to implement CCDs as part of urban-regeneration strategies—namely, to become visitors' favourite third places, CCDs need to offer high-quality social encounters with a suitable mix of physical, cultural, and entertainment amenities.     

Satisfaction Measurement of Small Tourism Sector (Museum): Samoa

The purpose of this study was to determine the relative importance of the Robert Louis Stevenson (RLS) museum in Samoa in the measurement of tourist satisfaction. A correlation model was performed to determine the relationship of the satisfaction and attributes of the museum and visitors' intention to recommend the museum. In addition, an analysis of variance was employed to determine any significant differences among different demographic or trip characteristics groups. The results show that the visitor who has a high satisfaction intends to recommend the RLS museum to others. The implications of the study's findings concerned initiatives to expand its market to international tourists, especially Americans and Asians.     

Investigating the role of festivalscape in culinary tourism: The case of food and wine events

This paper analyses the importance of festivalscapes in determining emotions, satisfaction and future behavior of participants at food and wine events. The study applies a structural equation model (SEM) with latent variables to survey responses of visitors to the “Friuli DOC” Italian festival. The main results are that festivalscape and emotions have significant direct effects on satisfaction, which in turn has a significant effect on behavioral intention. The effects of the festivalscape on visitors' future behavior are only indirect and mediated by satisfaction. Thus, in order to enhance their visitors' behavioral intentions, festival organizers should monitor emotions and satisfaction deriving from the subjective perception of exogenous characteristics as food and wine quality, comfort and entertainment.     

Using web and mobile technology to motivate pro-environmental action after a nature-based tourism experience

Nature-based tourism provides an ideal context for motivating pro-environmental action, as it draws travellers interested in the natural world and showcases unique, and often threatened, environments. This study examines efforts to motivate environmentally related behaviour in tourists' everyday lives using a technology-based intervention following an elephant seal viewing tour at California's Año Nuevo State Park. A total of 362 visitors completed pre-tour and post-tour surveys, with 94 visitors completing a final survey three months after the tour. We found that, although the intervention had little influence on conservation action overall, it was effective for a social media-related action. Post-tour conservation actions were significantly affected by emotional connection to wildlife during the tour and repeat visitation to either the same or another state park. We found that visitors' connectedness to nature increased during the three-hour tour, but returned to pre-visit levels three months later. Practical implications include that parks should encourage repeat visits, suggest an assortment of other experiences that support connecting to nature, and link their conservation messaging to visitors' close, personal, and emotional experiences with fauna. We suggest that one simple, yet effective, way to do this is through maintaining the visitor–park experience through a social media community.     

Mesa Verde Centennial Celebration

Abstract

Mesa Verde is the historical familial home of the Ancestral Pueblo People. It is a heritage center and leading archeological park that offers visitors an educational experience in a well-kept preserve. The park offers many ancient archeological sites such as the elaborate stone cliff dwelling structures, artifacts, and ceremonial kivas dug deep into the earth. Due to devastating fires over several annual seasons, attendance at Mesa Verde National Park has been disappointing. Capitalizing upon the centennial celebration in 2006, the park's 100th birthday, park officials hope to increase patronage. Historically the park has been partly responsible for bringing several hundred thousand visitors and much of the tourism dollars that flow into the remote southwestern Colorado and four-corners region each year. It is not only responsible for a direct economic impact but also an indirect economic impact found with other area tourist attractions such as hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops. Thus, lower park attendance figures have a significant impact on the surrounding four-corners region. Tracy Chavis, Executive Director of the Mesa Verde Museum Association, knew all about the disappointing park attendance and problems the park had faced over the past few years and knew she had to do something about it-and she knew she had to do something soon.     

Indigenous tourism from a visitor's perspective: an empirical examination of Valene L. Smith's 4Hs at a Sámi festival in Norway

Over the past three decades, indigenous tourism has received a growing amount of attention from both the tourist market and tourism academics. The research conducted regarding indigenous people has often treated the subject from a conflict perspective. In this study, a symbiotic perspective is employed in that visitors' attractions built upon indigenous resources may positively contribute to indigenous hosts. Nevertheless, to do so is dependent upon acquiring an understanding of visitors' preferences in an indigenous tourism context. To empirically ascertain visitors' preferences, a framework proposed by Valene L. Smith has been adopted. This framework operationalises the indigenous tourism product as consisting of four primary components: habitat, handicrafts, heritage, and history. This study first identifies these four components, and then examines the magnitude of their effect on visitors' experiences and perceptions at a Sámi festival in Northern Norway. The findings indicate that habitat is clearly the most salient component of this particular indigenous event in that it positively influences the visitors' satisfaction with the festival, their willingness to recommend the festival to others, and their willingness to pay to attend the festival. Further details of the findings as well as the study's implications are also provided.     

Modeling Willingness to Pay for Coastal Tourism Resource Protection in Ko Chang Marine National Park,Thailand

The value of non-market resources is important information for the nature-based park investment and management. In this paper, we estimate visitors' willingness to pay (WTP) an entrance fee for beach resource protection of the Ko Chang Marine Park in Thailand using a standard contingent valuation method of a single-bounded (SB) and double-bounded (DB) dichotomous choice format. An on-site stratified sampling survey of 409 beach visitors was conducted at the park along the White Sand Beach shoreline. By comparing the two survey methods, the average WTP for a Thai beach visitor is about $12.01 under the SB elicitation survey and $7.27 per adult per visit under the DB elicitation method, respectively. It turns out that the foreign visitors' WTP is twice as much as that of Thai visitors' WTP. These can be translated to the lower and upper bounds of an aggregated value ranging between $10.33 million and $17.41 million per annum. The policy implications for the park management are addressed.     

A journey through the museum: Visit factors that prevent or further visitor satiation

Museums seek to provide visitors with memorable experiences. However, some visitors experience a hedonic decline and satiation after their visit. The present research aims to evaluate how the time spent, the route, and the anticipation of the visit might either prevent or further visitor satiation. A field study and a field experiment are performed. Findings reveal that spending more time in the museum and anticipating the content can increase the perceived satiation and diminish visitors' emotional response, although the attention level diminishes for short visits and when the content is not anticipated. In a real context, following a free route reduces perceived satiation, with visitors following a self-regulatory process and adapting the time spent to the level of satiation.     

Visitors to Litchfield National Park,Australia: A Typology Based on Behaviours

Litchfield Park is located in the Northern Territory, Australia, and attracts over 280,000 visitors a year. The paper reports results derived from a visitor monitoring system established by the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory in 1997. Specific attention is paid to the development of clusters of visitors. Five such clusters were identified and the paper reports not simply the results of a cluster analysis, but additionally provides an importance–satisfaction matrix for the total sample. These five clusters were described as 'day visitors', 'hedonists', 'generalists', 'four-wheeldrive enthusiasts' and 'information seekers'. It was found that there was a desire to limit commercial activities within the park. It is suggested that the Parks and Wildlife Commission might have to view advertising parks as a series of complementary attractions linked to specific usage patterns rather than simply regard each park as an isolated unit. The paper also provides background data about the park, and the activities undertaken by visitors.     

THEMEQUAL—Adapting the SERVQUAL Scale to Theme Park Services: A Case of Hong Kong Disneyland

Faced with keen competition in the theme park operating environment, operators have realized the necessity of maintaining a high standard of service quality in order to survive. Because of the scarcity of literature on theme park service quality, the present study adapts the SERVQUAL model and modifies it as the THEMEQUAL model to measure the gap between perceived service quality and expected service quality from visitors under the theme park setting. The Hong Kong Disneyland is selected due to its importance to the Hong Kong tourism industry. The impact of the dimensions of the model on visitor satisfaction is also examined. Results expressed visitor satisfaction in terms of physical environment, but signified dissatisfaction on employee performance. Among the six dimensions of the model, “responsiveness and access,” “assurance,” and “empathy” are the critical predictors of visitor satisfaction. Discussions on the findings are presented and managerial implications are explained in detail.     

Assessing preferences of potential visitors for nature-based experiences in protected areas

Visitor experiences have been identified as critical for the sustainable management of tourism destinations. However, researchers have given limited attention to how to measure visitor preferences for different, newly proposed experiences, especially in nature-based tourism contexts. This paper aims to capture potential visitors' preferences for nature-based visitor experiences that would alleviate pressure on the iconic summit of Mount Warning, Australia. Findings reveal a preference for passive rather than active experiences. Consistency between the four measurement approaches used was high. Future studies should consider adopting multiple measures to underpin evidence-based management that informs the design of nature-based tourism experiences.     

Dialectical emotions in a dark heritage site: A study at the Auschwitz Death Camp

This study was designed to explore the emotional experience during the visit to the Auschwitz Death Camp, and its relationship to the perceptions of benefits gained from the visit as well as the quality of the experience. A mix method approach was adopted. Following a qualitative study, questionnaires (n = 553) were distributed in four languages. The findings which are based on the PANAS index revealed an emotional duality. The study highlights the central role of the negative emotions and the significant contribution of these emotions to visitor's satisfaction, as well as to the perceived benefits derived from the visit. The study challenges the emphasis of tourism research on positive emotions and its view of negative emotions as having a negative impact, leading to dissatisfaction with the visitor experience. The findings emphasize the need to conceptualize the visitor experience and address the positive contribution of negative emotions.