A supplier side view of digital nomadism: The case of destination Gran Canaria

Digital nomadism is a rapidly growing lifestyle for living and working. Despite its potential transformative effect on destinations, little attention has been paid to destination communities in which digital nomads reside. This paper aims to examine the interface between the destination communities and digital nomadism: how the stakeholders in a destination community perceive and accommodate digital nomads. The case study comes from a popular European destination, the island of Gran Canaria, Spain. The study proposes an original supply side framework to theoretically inform the phenomenon of digital nomadism. Stakeholder theory is also applied to examine the interface between the local communities and the phenomenon. Applying the proposed conceptual framework, the results reveal a novel perspective on digital nomads, which is “new locals”. The results show that the accommodative strategies of local stakeholders correlate strongly with the stakeholder’s specializations, and include strategies such as: provider, communicator, integrator, and embracer.     

Some stay and some quit: Understanding P2P accommodation providers’ continuous sharing behavior from the perspective of feedback theory

Building on feedback theory, this study aims to understand providers' continuous sharing behavior (CSB) by integrating subjective and objective feedback in the context of peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodations. In Study 1, we test a mediation model by using survey data collected from 289 hosts of P2P accommodations. The results show that providers' positive feedback perception (PFP) is positively related to CSB and that intrinsic motivation mediates this effect. In Study 2, we collect 169 multisource data to explore the effect of objective online feedback on providers' PFP and subsequent effects in further detail. This study reveals that online ratings positively influence providers' PFP and that this effect is strengthened by the volume of online reviews. Further, we find sequential positive effects among providers’ PFP, intrinsic motivation, and CSB, which is consistent with Study 1. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Influencing factors and formation process of cultural inheritance-based innovation at heritage tourism destinations

Cultural inheritance-based innovation (CIBI) is based on paradoxical phenomena and its development clarifies conflicts between cultural inheritance and innovative development at heritage tourism destinations (HTDs). This study uses innovation systems theory and qualitative methods to explore the influencing factors and formation process of CIBI. Our findings demonstrate that CIBI is influenced by multilevel factors of the environment, government, enterprises and public, encompassing basic innovation management conditions and sociocultural constraints. Moreover, CIBI is a process that counterbalances the paradoxical elements of cultural inheritance and innovation through innovation system support. This study deepens the understanding of the paradoxical relationship between heritage conservation and innovation. By incorporating cultural inheritance constraints, it extends the framework of factors influencing cultural innovation at tourism destinations (TDs) and enriches related process research. Additionally, our results provide insights into the paradoxical management and synergistic promotion of cultural inheritance and innovation at HTDs.     

Convinced,ambivalent or annoyed: Tyrolean ski tourism stakeholders and their perceptions of climate change

Its focus on snow-dependent activities makes Alpine winter tourism especially sensitive to climate change. Stakeholder risk perceptions are a key factor in adaptation to climate change because they fundamentally drive or constrain stakeholder action. This paper examines climate change perceptions of winter tourism stakeholders in Tyrol (Austria). Using a qualitative approach, expert interviews were conducted. Four opinion categories reflecting different attitudes toward climate change issues were identified: convinced planners, annoyed deniers, ambivalent optimists, convinced wait-and-seers. Although the findings generally indicate a growing awareness of climate change, this awareness is mainly limited to perceiving the issue as a global phenomenon. Awareness of regional and branch-specific consequences of climate change that lead to a demand for action could not be identified. Current technical strategies, like snowmaking, are not primarily climate-induced. At present, coping with climate change is not a priority for risk management. The findings point out the importance of gaining and transferring knowledge of regional and branch-specific consequences of climate change in order to induce action at the destination level.     

The lone digital tourism entrepreneur: Knowledge acquisition and collaborative transfer

This paper addresses calls for more detailed studies of small tourism enterprises. Researchers report a lack of adoption and ineffective utilisation of digital technologies in smaller tourism businesses. The study focuses on two university-facilitated projects of digital marketing adoption and utilisation by 53 small and medium sized tourism businesses in the South of England. The framework for this study was driven by Modes of Knowledge Transference and Technology-In-Practice. The findings describe peer-to-peer knowledge acquisition and sharing that take place in university-led projects and suggests that a combination of Mode 1 and Mode 2 knowledge helps entrepreneurs to advance their digital marketing knowledge. Peer-to-peer clusters are an effective means of placing digital marketing knowledge and technology in the context of small and medium tourism business practice. The paper provides implications for destination marketing organisations and policymakers and suggestions for future avenues of research are offered.     

Is digital technology the magic bullet for performing work at home? Lessons learned for post COVID-19 recovery in hospitality management

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly brought about a number of disruptions to when and where work is undertaken for hospitality employees. The rapid spread of COVID-19 forced many hospitality managers to use digital technologies to perform work from home, termed digital work connectivity. Yet little is known about how hospitality employees cope with it. The purpose of this study is to investigate an important yet underspecified issue as to how digital work connectivity can be detrimental for employees’ work behavior.Design/methodology/approachWe test our hypotheses using multi-wave and multi-source data collected from 467 middle managerial-level hospitality employees in China.FindingsThe findings show that digital work connectivity can lead to self-control depletion, which in turn is associated with disengagement from work. Further, the findings show that relational energy is an important resource that can buffer the detrimental effects of digital work connectivity on hospitality employees.Practical implicationsThe association of digital work connectivity with employee withdrawal behavior highlights the urgent need for hospitality enterprises to have clear guidelines that regulate technology use at home for work purposes.Social implicationsOur research shows that the absence of clear guidelines in relation to the use of digital technology for work at home risks producing unintended consequences for both hospitality employees and their enterprises.Originality/valueOur research draws from recent advances in resource allocation theories of self-control and adopts a more nuanced approach to uncover a counterintuitive reality that while people use digital technology to remain connected with work, doing so can actually contribute to their withdrawal behavior.     

Requirements for destination management organizations in destination governance: Understanding DMO success

In current conceptualizations of destination management, destination management organizations (DMOs) are required to act as network managers. Previous research claims that DMOs capable of actively fostering collaboration between destination stakeholders are key to ensuring a destination's competitiveness. Yet, empirical investigations concerning the role of DMO success in establishing the competitiveness of destinations are rare. Even less is known about determinants of DMO success. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to better understand DMO and destination success by investigating the role played by networking capability. One key insight is that the effect of networking capability works through increased DMO authority, i.e. enhanced power and acceptance of the DMO within the destination network. Besides the advances in terms of content, our research also offers a relevant methodological contribution by introducing a recently developed approach in mediation analysis, which has so far received little attention in the tourism literature.     

Are small travel agencies ready for digital marketing? Views of travel agency managers

Digital technology provides new communication and distribution channel for both consumers and suppliers of travel services. Internet enables the travel agencies to adopt digital marketing to attract, inform and serve the travellers. However, in developing countries, the adoption of internet and digital marketing is slow. This study therefore finds it imperative to explore the triggering factors and perceived challenges of digital marketing by travel agencies - an entity whose perspectives do not find much place in the published academic literature. The qualitative study reveals the popular and trusted digital platforms used by the travel agencies. It also presents the factors that inhibit or assist the use of digital marketing by travel service managers.     

Young people,digital media making and critical digital citizenship

A range of recent academic, policy and practice-focused work in the UK and internationally has identified a need for more focused attention on the role of digital literacies in enabling young people to more effectively navigate their way through an increasingly complex, digitally mediated world. In this article, we explore the main debates taking place around the prevalence of digital media in the early twenty-first century, with emphasis on the role of pervasive digital media in educational settings. Focusing on the practice-based project, Digital Commonwealth, a series of critical insights are drawn, highlighting the difficulties facing educational authorities and young people in dealing with the opportunities and threats brought about by digital media. We conclude that a critical digital citizenship agenda needs to be embedded in educational narratives, where young people are, through practice, asked to ponder how digitally mediated publics operate in the school setting and beyond. Integrating ‘making’ and ‘thinking critically’ about the benefits and dangers of pervasive digital media in and outside of school is imperative. Our study suggests that there remain significant inequities in terms of provision across schools, access to suitable infrastructure and equipment, and the presence of qualified and confident staff with the requisite digital leadership attributes to enable digital media projects to be integrated into everyday learning practices. Major events, like the Commonwealth Games, can precipitate and accelerate uptake of new approaches and innovative thinking but they do not represent a panacea for the systemic development of critical digital citizenship over time.     

Destination management organizations and destination marketing: adopting the business model of e-portals in engaging travel agents

ABSTRACT

Destination management organizations (DMOs) have an important role in engaging stakeholders in collaboration. Collaborating with stakeholders is useful for both stakeholders and destinations. However, it takes time and needs rigorous coordination to avoid conflicts with stakeholders. This study measures travel agencies’ attitudes towards engaging in online collaboration with DMOs for marketing purposes. It incorporates collaboration and technology acceptance models to predict the attitudes and intentions of travel agents using structural equation modeling. Data were collected from travel agents in Cairo, Egypt, using the random sample technique. This study will be useful for travel and tourism stakeholders and governmental marketing bodies.     

Destination brand authenticity: What an experiential simulacrum! A multigroup analysis of its antecedents and outcomes through official online platforms

Tourists' intensive use of information and communication technologies when planning travel has forced destination marketing organizations to design online simulacra of destinations in multiple formats. We focus our study on official online destination platforms to analyze preliminary experiences with destination brands and the online perception of authenticity. Previous consumption studies have theorized that consumers' encounters with products/services are antecedents of their perceptions of authenticity. In the tourism literature, however, the link between online destination experiences and online destination authenticity constitutes a research gap. To fill that gap, we used a multimethod approach to develop a causal-predictive model by which we observed that the online destination brand experience directly affects destination brand authenticity. The findings also show that both of these constructs directly and indirectly influence users' behavioral intentions toward the destination. We examine the moderating role of various official online destination platforms to enrich the theoretical and managerial implications discussed.     

Advancing destination image: The destination content model

Knowledge of the mental representations that individuals hold about tourist destinations are important to understand their intentions. These mental destination representations have often been investigated by applying the concept of destination image. This study argues that the extant literature is often rather atheoretical and lacks operational rigor. These are major shortcomings which undoubtedly hinder the development of academic and managerial insights. In response, this study draws on contemporary psychology to develop the destination content model, comprising three informational components held in individuals‘ minds about destinations. The present study further outlines preferable methods and measures for each component, thus aiding researchers to investigate mental destination representations.     

Processing promotional travel narratives

While research exists which examines the use of tourism promotional communications (2 and 40), an investigation of how travelers process such promotional communications is lacking. In response, this study sought to investigate processing as well as perceived skepticism towards tourism promotional communications. The importance of understanding processing and perceived skepticism resides in the fact that both have been linked to overall message persuasiveness; and as such, both are essential to developing and implementing effective travel promotional communications. Specifically, this study sought to examine if participants differed based on their demographic characteristics in (1) the degree to which participants’ were able to be transported by a narrative (i.e. process), and (2) participants’ level of perceived skepticism concerning travel articles and travel brochures. To do so, Green and Brock’s (2000) Transportation scale and Obermiller and Spangenberg’s (1998) Skepticism Towards Advertising scale (SKEP) were incorporated.     

Tourists’ digital footprint: The spatial patterns of tourist flows in Qingdao,China

Spatial patterns of tourist flows represent the movement of tourists and show differences in tourism resources giving advice for promoting balanced and sustainable tourism development. This paper proposes a novel framework for analyzing these patterns based on tourists' digital footprint data collected from online travel diaries. Based on illustrative case study data from Qingdao (China), the framework, combining traditional quantitative and social network analysis, is able to pinpoint: (1) The influence of distance decay and attractions’ popularity on the spatial patterns of tourist flows; (2) The uneven distribution of the core tourist nodes and the existence of the structural hole phenomenon, which form a network pattern with unbalanced power and intense internal competition; (3) The formation of the core area for tourism along the coastline – as is typical for coastal tourism cities. This difference of tourism resources between coastal and inland areas, thus, remains a challenge for future tourism development in Qingdao.     

Destination fascination: Conceptualization and scale development

This study developed a Destination Fascination Scale (DFS) based on the attention restoration theory. Through the multi-study method, this study performed a literature review to sort five DFS dimensions. Then, 13 in-depth interviews are conducted, resulting in 209 statements, which later be narrowed down into 30 items under six dimensions. In study two, 470 survey responses from national parks are collected. Twenty-five items in six dimensions emerged in exploratory factor analysis. In study three, 473 survey responses from national forest recreation areas are collected for testing confirmatory factor analysis, resulting the final 24-item DFS. Tests of criterion-related validity showed that the six dimensions were significantly related to destination loyalty. In study four, cross-validation analysis was performed using 240 survey responses from theme parks to test model stability and model extension of the developed six-dimensional 24-item DFS.     

How do tourists' attribution of destination social responsibility motives impact trust and intention to visit? The moderating role of destination reputation

Through the lenses of attribution theory, signal theory, and social exchange theory, this study proposed and tested a conceptual model that investigates how tourists' attribution of destination social responsibility (DSR) motives impact destination trust and intention to visit a destination. The moderating effects of destination reputation (good vs. average) were particularly examined in the proposed model. The results of three experimental studies revealed that the impact of DSR motive attributions on destination trust and intention to visit vary under different conditions of destination reputation. In particular, when a destination has a good reputation, the positive impact of intrinsic DSR motive attribution tends to be stronger than that of extrinsic DSR motive attribution. However, when a destination's reputation is average, the impact of the two types of DSR motive attributions become insignificant. The findings of this study provide theoretical and practical implications for destination marketing and DSR campaigns.     

Network,knowledge and relationship impacts on innovation in tourism destinations

We combine network structure and firm-level relationship measures to explore the association between innovative behavior, firm position within the network of a destination, and the knowledge and relational trust characteristics of a firm's innovation-oriented relationships. We find current collaboration, shared knowledge and trust are associated with innovative behavior with partner firms, but that betweenness centrality indicates which partners are the most prominent innovators in a population. That is, relationship-level characteristics facilitate innovation partnerships, but network structure characteristics identify the most successful innovative partners. To theory, our findings contribute to efforts in the tourism, innovation and network literature to evaluate the differential effects of knowledge stocks and flows on innovation. For practice, our results suggest that promoters of innovation within a destination should leverage brokerage positions to improve the in-flow of ideas while encouraging the firms that share knowledge and trust to collaborate to apply those ideas.     

Digital free tourism – An exploratory study of tourist motivations

The problem of technology overuse - and related mental health and addiction issues – has spilled over into the tourism context. Recent literature has also suggested that heavy use of technology while travelling could potentially have negative impacts on the overall tourist experience; and that tourists might search for “disconnection” while travelling. As a result, this study focuses on the recently emerged and scarcely understood phenomenon of “digital free tourism” (DFT), exploring participants' motivations for voluntarily abstaining from, or limiting their use of, technology on their travels. The findings aid relevant theory by identifying four main factors that motivate tourists to participate in DFT – escape, personal growth, health and well-being, relationships – and highlight several exploratory subthemes underlying these motivators. Considering DFT not as an inconvenience but a travel choice, this study can finally aid practitioners to better promote DFT as a tourism product; maximizing the participants’ related benefits and positive experiences.     

Anime pilgrimage in Japan: Focusing Social Influences as determinants

Japanese animation, anime, has long been regarded as a niche culture reserved for anime otaku in Japan. The word anime otaku refers to individuals who spend most of their time alone at home, watching anime. However, in recent years, prototypical anime otaku have changed their behavioral patterns, resulting in a new movement called anime pilgrimage. Anime pilgrimage involves traveling to locations that resemble particular scenes in anime pieces, even though the locations themselves may be ordinary places. The authors constructed two models to describe the determinants of visit intention and destination loyalty based on research into ordinary and film tourism. The results suggested that, during the pre-tour period, otaku are motivated by the desire for interaction with other otaku and the wish to visit a new location. Moreover, they are also seeking to interact with the local people, and such experiences result in higher destination loyalty during the post-tour period.     

The role of individual entrepreneurs in the development of competitiveness for a rural tourism destination – A case study

The aim of this case study is to increase our understanding of the role of entrepreneurs in enhancing the competitiveness of a rural tourism destination. A literature review of the research on destination competitiveness with a focus on the roles of different stakeholders is first presented, followed by a narrative about rural tourism development, the competitiveness of rural destinations and the role of entrepreneurs in establishing successful destinations. The data consists of six case studies and nine semi-structured interviews among tourism entrepreneurs and managers at a rural tourism destination in Finland. The findings challenge the prevailing DMO dominated approach to destination competitiveness development, and call for the acknowledgment of collaboration between small tourism enterprises in the enhancement of rural destinations. Municipalities have a crucial role as facilitators of the entrepreneurial environment, but without innovative, committed, and risk-taking entrepreneurs no destination will flourish.