Tourists as Story-Builders: Narrative Construction at a Heritage Museum

Although tourism scholarship supports the idea that the appreciation of a tourism experience depends on the availability and communication of stories, attention has been paid almost exclusively on marketers and tourism organizers as the main designers and promoters of narratives, ignoring the role of tourists themselves in this process. Using heritage museums as an empirical context, this research suggests that the success of a narrative presentation in tourism destinations also depends on the tourists' involvement, willingness, and ability to actively participate in the storytelling experience. In this sense, tourists act as story-builders whose main task is to construct a historical narrative based on the selection and integration of the available sources. The findings show that museum visitors go through a three-stage process during their effort to complete a heritage narrative and make sense of their tourism experience. This work sheds light on the coconstruction of tourism experiences and provides marketing direction for the successful narrative staging of museums and tourism places in general.     

The effect of subordinates’ gender on the difference between self-ratings,and superiors’ ratings,of subordinates’ performance in hotels

An appropriate means of subordinate managers’ performance evaluation in an organisation is crucial for identifying their strength and weaknesses for maintaining job commitment, and improving performance on on-going basis [Church, A., 1995. First-rate multirater feedback. Training and Development 49, 42–43; Church, A., Bracken, D., 1997. Advancing the state of the art of 360-degree feedback. Group and Organisation Management 22, 149–161; Atwater, L., Yammarino, F., 1997. Self-other rating agreement: a review and model. Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management. 15, 121–174]. The debate, on whether there is difference between subordinates’ self-ratings of their performance, and superiors’ ratings of it is better, continues. This is because the extant literature is inconclusive. This study contributes towards resolution of the debate at least for the hotel industry in Australia.     

Narrative transportation and travel: The mediating role of escapism and immersion

The experience of escaping the real world and losing oneself in a fictional one brings pleasure to many. We draw on the overarching theory of narrative transportation (see Gerrig, 1993) to advance knowledge in screen tourism. The aim is to develop and empirically test a conceptual model of TV series consumption, escapism, immersion, and travel intentions with partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Results confirm that narrative transportation is a structured gradual process: TV series consumption first leads to escapism, escapism to immersion, immersion to travel intention. The mediated relationships (via escapism and immersion) between media consumption and travel intention are found to be significant. The novelty of our model lies in the travel-centred operationalizing of the narrative transportation theory. Based on our results, tourism marketers are advised to implement a tourism ad campaign building on the different stages of narrative transportation to create emotionally engaging tourism marketing products.Impact statementThe main contribution of this research to society in general is that it recognises the cultural phenomenon of TV series consumption and the benefits of narrative transportation as a kind of travel-experience into a fantasy world. We map the stages of narrative transportation, exploring the journey from media consumption to travel intention; the data obtained is of relevance because filming locations often become popular tourist destinations. Whether tourism planners aim to reduce or increase tourist flows awareness of (1) the process of narrative transportation experienced by viewers, and (2) how this process influences travel intentions is key to the effective management of media-induced tourism flows.     

Airport stops and flights on small airplanes as inhibitors of tourism-related air travel: A case study

This article discusses the extent to which prospective tourists' concerns about airport stops and flights on small airplanes inhibit air travel to tourist destinations, drawing on data from telephone surveys conducted in the Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas area. Respondents were queried about the extent to which one airport stop, two airport stops, and one airport stop followed by a flight on a small, propeller-powered airplane, respectively, would deter them from flying to a destination 1096 miles (1764 km) away. Findings suggest that marketers of similar destinations in similarly distant markets that are accessible by air only after two airport stops risk having their promotional appeals ignored by roughly half those who would prefer to reach such destinations by air. Moreover, those most concerned about such flight schedules were more likely than other respondents to have high incomes and to use the Internet to obtain vacation or travel information.     

Converging Services Marketing and Tourism Approaches in Satisfaction and Service Quality Research

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to converge the utilitarian or provider-based concept of service quality and the experiential or customer-based concept of satisfaction. It presents two empirical projects which examined visitor's service quality and satisfaction judgements by alternative methodological approaches. The first is a quantitative study of visitor's assessment of historic houses, illustrating that quality and satisfaction concepts can be successfully combined into a model of the means-end chain type. The second is a qualitative study of visitor's narrative assessment of successive service experiences, highlighting the various functions of service quality aspects during the entire holiday stay. Finally, the authors argue that these kinds of approaches may contribute to the academic debate on satisfaction and service quality constructs, and will equally open up new opportunities for service and destination marketers in tourism.     

Object narratives and the enslaved at Sam Houston memorial museum

Objects offer an opportunity to narrate the past. Tourism scholarship has found that plantation museums in the American South give considerable attention to objects associated with the planter class to engage visitors with stories about them and their lifestyle. At the same time, museum stakeholders have cited a lack of objects associated with the enslaved as a barrier to greater representations of slavery. However, the concept of an interface object indicates objects can be used to make connections between things that are not intrinsic and to insert issues into stories that are told. These objects can even become charged with such issues. Using the case study of the Sam Houston Memorial Museum in Huntsville, Texas (USA), this paper considers the use of objects in narrating the past, particularly as it relates to slavery. It draws upon participant observation of guided tours and narrative analysis of the stories told about the enslaved on the Houston farm to consider how ordinary objects are used to incorporate slavery into the overarching museum narrative. Finally, the paper concludes that such objects are effective in initiating the conversation about slavery but are not sufficiently charged to facilitate a more meaningful engagement with the issue.     

‘An edifying spectacle’: A history of ‘tourist corroborees’ in Victoria,Australia, 1835–1870

Parsons [Parsons, M. (2002). “Ah that I could convey a proper idea of this interesting wild play of the natives” corroborees and the rise of indigenous Australian cultural tourism. Australian Aboriginal Studies, 2(1), 14–27.] has persuasively argued that nineteenth century corroborees performed for non-indigenous audiences may be considered to be Australia's pre-eminent prototypical indigenous cultural tourism product. This paper extends Parsons' [Parsons, M. (1997). The tourist corroboree in South Australia. Aboriginal History, 21(1), 46–69; Parsons, M. (2002). “Ah that I could convey a proper idea of this interesting wild play of the natives” corroborees and the rise of indigenous Australian cultural tourism. Australian Aboriginal Studies, 2(1), 14–27.] analyses of ‘tourist corroborees’ in nineteenth century South Australia to corroborees staged in Victoria during the pastoral period and the gold rushes of the 1850–1870s. It argues that an Aboriginal-grown ‘business acumen’ developed rapidly in the economic climate of the Victorian goldfields. It also provides a historical context to this commodification.     

Cross-cultural comparison of the image of Guam perceived by Korean and Japanese leisure travelers: Importance–performance analysis

As international tourism becomes a global phenomenon and its volume increases rapidly, understanding cultural differences and similarities provides destination marketers in a host country with a strategic platform upon which any planning and marketing efforts should be grounded. Based on the theory of cultural value orientation, the current study focuses on a cross-cultural comparison between the two markets most important to Guam tourism: Japanese and Korean leisure travelers. Using Importance–performance analysis, the evaluative image of Guam perceived by Korean travelers is compared with that perceived by Japanese travelers to uncover any differences between these two nationality groups. The results clearly indicate a contrast between the two groups in terms of destination evaluations and behavioral patterns.     

“Tourism – Common cause”. Polish tourist products

This research note relates to the Polish programme entitled “Tourism – common cause”. It describes the programme, project ideas and problems encountered during the creation and operation of tourist products and methods of solving these problems. “Tourism – common cause” is the largest training and consulting project in Poland, co-financed by the European Social Fund and the Polish government and is specific for tourism. The aim of the project (completed in March 2008) was to fully define a tourism product and to transfer knowledge concerning methods of its creation throughout the wider region. The purpose was to aid the development of the tourism industry in Poland through the creation of regional tourism products within a network and enhancing the qualifications of those working in the industry.     

Attributes that influence the evaluation of travel dining experience: When East meets West

Many destination marketers have utilized gastronomy as a source of new products and activities to attract tourists. Despite the substantial rise in the Chinese outbound market, very little is known about how Chinese tourists evaluate their travel dining experiences. By using narrative analysis, this study examines attributes that may affect Chinese tourists' evaluation of their travel dining experiences. On-site participant observation and focus group interviews were conducted, respectively, with Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong group tourists, while they were on holiday in Australia. A total of 15 attributes were identified, which were classified under the following six categories: tourists' own food culture, the contextual factor of the dining experience, variety and diversity of food, perception of the destination, service encounter, and tour guide's performance. The respective implications of the attributes on travel dining experience are also discussed.     

Social exchanges as motivators of hotel employees’ organizational citizenship behavior: The proposition and application of a new three-dimensional framework

This study developed and empirically tested a three-dimensional framework of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in the hotel industry. Using a social exchange perspective, the study expanded social exchange theory's emphasis on leader–member exchange to include coworker exchange and customer–employee exchange. The three types of social exchanges were tested as motivators for three types of OCB; organizational, interpersonal and customer. The findings support the distinctiveness of the three types of OCB and the importance of social exchanges as motivators for OCBs. This study contributes to the literature on OCB dimensionality in service organizations, as well as social exchange theory's application to discretionary performance in the hotel industry.     

Storytelling in destination brands’ promotional videos

Storytelling represents an extensive and rich body of research in tourism. Prior studies mainly focus on tourists’ stories in understanding travel experiences and little knowledge exists as to whether destination promotional videos embed the principles of storytelling. Using the Hero’s Journey as a guiding framework, this study conducts a narratological analysis of six destination brand commercials. The advertisements are deconstructed, assessing their story structure, story type, archetype enactment, and experiential outcome. Findings indicate that the majority of destination commercials fail to exhibit state of the art practices of storytelling and this represents a missed opportunity. The Hero’s Journey offers a useful tool to help destination marketers to develop powerful storytelling promotional videos that connect with and engage prospective tourists.     

From Selling to Relationship Marketing at International Trade Fairs

Abstract

The role of international trade fairs in establishing and developing buyer-seller relations has been overlooked by most marketing scholars. Based on a survey of sellers at international trade fairs, relationship marketing at trade fairs is analyzed. Using an interaction approach, some propositions are developed. The article suggests that international trade fairs play a significant role in reducing uncertainty and distance for industrial marketers and in demonstrating commitment to the buyer-seller relationship development process. The implications for practitioners, as well as for future research, are discussed.     

Understanding Japanese tourists’ shopping preferences using the Decision Tree Analysis method

This study was designed to assess the factors affecting Japanese tourists’ shopping preference and intention to revisit Korea. The analytical method applied in this study was Decision Tree Analysis, which is under-utilized in tourism studies. A total of 300 questionnaires were collected on the basis of on-site survey method and used for data analysis. Among interesting findings, three groups including ‘respondents who were satisfied, accompanied, and spent US$50–300 on shopping’, ‘respondents who were satisfied, accompanied, and had a shopping expenditure of US$300–1000’ and ‘respondents who were satisfied, accompanied, and had a shopping expenditure of US$1000–5000,’ showed a high level of intention to return to Korea for the purpose of shopping. In addition, two groups ‘those who were interested in shopping in Korea, preferred a shopping mall as a shopping destination, and had an educational level of below high school’ and ‘those who were interested in shopping in Korea, preferred a shopping mall as a shopping destination, and had an educational level of a college graduate or above’ showed a higher level interest in merchandise than in shopping venue attractiveness.     

Exploratory study of understanding hotel employees’ perception on work–life balance issues

This paper explores hotel employees’ perception on work–life balance issues. In-depth interviews and self-administered questionnaires were used to collect the data. Factor analysis discovered seven factors: (1) enough time-off from work; (2) workplace support on work–life balance; (3) allegiance to work; (4) flexibility on work schedule; (5) life orientation; (6) voluntary reduction of contracted hours to cater for personal needs; and (7) upkeep the work and career—the determinants perceived by employees to attain “better” work–life balance in the dynamic hotel environment. Adopting an employee-centric and integrative approach are the critical success factors for implementation of a work–life balance program.     

The impact of mega-sport events on tourist arrivals

While a mega-sport event is scheduled at least once every year somewhere in the world, these events are rare occurrences for the host cities and countries. The benefits of such events seem lucrative; the very fact that many countries bid to host these events suggests that the benefits – be they tangible or intangible – more often than not outweigh the costs. Using a standard gravity model of bilateral tourism flows between 200 countries from 1995 to 2006, this paper measures a very direct benefit of such mega-events: the increase in tourist arrivals to the host country. In general, the results suggest that mega-sport events promote tourism but the gain varies depending on the type of mega-event, the participating countries and whether the event is held during the peak season or off-season.     

Hotel employees’ perceptions on corporate social responsibility: The case of Hong Kong

This study examines the perceived importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) attributes of Hong Kong hotel employees and their hotels’ performance on those attributes, and to determine underlying performance factors that ultimately lead to the perceived overall CSR effectiveness of hotels. The importance–performance analysis results show that Hong Kong hotels generally performed well on 17 out of the indicated 30 CSR attributes. Furthermore, the attribute “promote innovation in products and services” was considered to be overkill, and another attribute, “demonstrates a commitment to the environment,” requires the immediate attention of hotels. Six performance factors were extracted and Hong Kong hotels performed best in the area of finance. The factors “state of affairs” and “novelty” positively and significantly affected employees’ perceived overall CSR effectiveness of their hotels. Almost 70% of the respondents agreed that Hong Kong hotels had been effective in carrying out their CSR. Hotels in Hong Kong should find our study results helpful in pinpointing CSR attributes considered of various importance and performance levels from the perspective of one of their important stakeholders, their employees. In particular, the relatively low awareness toward the environment of both the employees and the hotels should alert the hotel management to invest greater efforts in environmental protection.     

Pay for performance and work attitudes: The mediating role of employee–organization service value congruence

This study examined the mediating effects of employee–organization service value congruence on pay for performance and work attitudes. Using a sample drawn from the hotel industry, we found that when employees perceived a high PFP link they tended to exhibit more positive work attitudes. We also found that the relationship between PFP link and work attitudes was mediated by P–O fit. These findings offer new insights into the important role that reward practices such as PFP play in the alignment of employer–organization service quality values. In doing so, they also pave the way for future contributions in this novel and important area of service value congruence.     

Tourism and nostalgia for the pastoral on the island of Fyn,Denmark

Constructions of home are powerful from both heritage and tourism perspectives, as ‘home’ suggests a certain type of heritage precedence while also providing a competitive tourism advantage over rival locations. Sport tourism sites also disseminate notions of home as part of their narrative, both to create and solidify particular heritage claims as well as to enhance the tourism potential of a location. Home narratives are used, in particular, during stadium tours, where tourists go ‘behind the scenes’ at a famous sports venue. Tour narratives at Twickenham Stadium were examined in this study. At Twickenham, it was found that the stadium was represented as ‘home’ during tours in three different ways: as the literal home of the English National Rugby team; as the spiritual home of the sport of rugby; and as the home of particular notions of English identity. These representations were created as a means of claiming cultural propriety, particularly with regard to the sport and its heritage, as well as in recognition of the venue's role as an international tourism destination. However, the employment of home narratives, which espouse notions of stability and continuity, also mask wider heritage and tourism anxieties, in particular competition from rival sites.     

The Past,Present, and Future Research of Online Information Search

SUMMARY

Information technology has rapidly developed and accordingly online information search is increasingly important to both travelers and travel marketers. Despite the importance, there has not been given much attention to online information search behavior in the travel and tourism field. To stress the importance and urge researchers in advancing this area of research, this study briefly reviews (1) traditional views of information search, (2) the distinct features of online information search, (3) online benefits to travelers and marketers, and (4) online concerns and opportunities. In addition, potential issues on future research are suggested.