Changes in tourists’ perception of well-being based on their use of emotion regulation strategies during vacation

ABSTRACT

Based on the theoretical foundation of emotion regulation, this exploratory study aimed to examine changes in tourists’ perceived well-being and to determine whether these changes were due to use of emotion regulation strategies (ERSs) during their vacation. This study used travel diaries to record tourists’ use of ERSs on a daily basis, and also measured tourists’ perceived well-being one day before and after their vacation. Results indicated that tourists had significantly higher perceptions of well-being after vacation, and those who used ERSs were more likely to indicate a higher sense of well-being after vacation. The results provide new insight into which aspects of tourists’ subjective and psychological well-being can be boosted by taking vacations and how these aspects may be enhanced by using different ERSs.     

One size may not fit all: Welfare benefits and cost reductions with optional differentiated household electricity rates

We consider optional time-of-use (TOU) pricing for residential consumers, offered by a publicly regulated electricity supplier, as an alternative to a single TOU or flat rate structure. An equilibrium model explores and quantifies the effects of such pricing on welfare, consumption, and production costs. The supplier offers to each household a menu of possible rate structures obtained by maximizing a collective welfare function subject to three restrictions: Pareto efficiency, incentive compatibility, sufficiency of supplier revenue to cover costs. Simulations based on realistic calibration of the model demonstrate that optional pricing can increase overall consumer welfare and reduce average cost.     

Public acceptance of and heterogeneity in behavioral beach trip responses to offshore wind farm development in Catalonia (Spain)

A combined travel cost – contingent behaviour survey of residents and tourists in Catalonia is conducted on-site to examine the effects on beach recreational demand of developing an offshore wind farm (OWF) project. The survey considers four potential OWF scenarios with different degrees of visual impact. We allow for heterogeneity in trip preferences among individuals and control for on-site sampling through the use of a random parameters negative binomial (RPNB) model and a Multivariate Poisson log-normal (MPLN) model, respectively. The welfare measures derived from the RPNB model relate to the current beach users only, whereas those from the MPLN model refer to the general population of residents and tourists in Catalonia. The results show the importance of the specific place of location of the OWF project and how the installation of wind turbines would significantly decrease the demand for trips, depending on their degree of visual impacts, leading to a substantial welfare loss. However, the results also show that the project mainly would cause a displacement of trips to other beaches within Catalonia rather than outside Catalonia and that the welfare per trip measures generated by the RPNB and MPLN models substantially differ. Policy implications of these findings are discussed.     

晋升激励、专业搭配与公共卫生服务满意度

提供高质量的公共卫生服务不但是现代政府的重要职责，也是国家治理能力的重要体现。随着中国经济发展进入新常态，干部考核评价机制不断完善，地方政府官员开始重视公共卫生等民生服务，同时，官员间专业搭配也成为影响民生服务质量的重要因素。文章将2013年中国综合社会调查数据与81个地级以上城市官员的相关信息进行匹配，将上任时年龄小于55岁的官员定义为"强晋升激励"官员，而将上任时年龄大于等于55岁的官员定义为"弱晋升激励"官员。研究发现：第一，具有"强晋升激励"的市委书记和市长都有助于改善城市公共卫生服务满意度。第二，在经济较发达、政府财力较雄厚和东部地区城市，官员晋升激励的积极效应更为明显。第三，在本研究样本中，市委书记和市长"经管—理工"的专业搭配模式是提高城市公共卫生服务满意度的积极因素。在考虑了测量偏误、地区异质性、遗漏变量、样本代表性问题，并经过安慰剂检验后，文章的主要结论依然保持稳健。本研究不但有助于我们更深入地理解中国城市间公共卫生服务质量的差距及其决定因素，而且也启发我们从改善官员治理的角度来提高公共卫生服务质量，以及应对突发性公共卫生事件的能力，从而有效推进中国经济健康可持续发展。     

Do people consider an acceptable travel time? Evidence from Berkeley,CA

This paper explores the extent to which people identify an acceptable travel time for each trip they want to make and investigates the primary characteristics of this behavioural threshold. We assume that an acceptable travel time is defined through utilitarian processes that are related to cognitive and affective evaluations of travel that develop throughout a person’s lifetime. We apply a mixed methods approach to explore our hypothesis, based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with a stratified, according to commuting mode, random sample of 20 individuals living in Berkeley, CA. Our results support the validity of the acceptable travel time concept and offer (a) initial evidence on its variation to the travel mode and sociodemographic characteristics and (b) insights into people’s perceptions, attitudes, feelings and experiences about their travel. Thus, our results can contribute to a better understanding of individuals’ travel decisions and valuation of travel time and can inform time–space and accessibility research.     

Assessment of mobility inequalities and income data collection. Methodological issues and a case study (Douala,Cameroon)

In order to understand the scale and nature of inequalities in intra-urban mobility we need reliable income data, but this is generally difficult to collect in household surveys. The methodological approaches that are employed to overcome difficulties in income data collection may affect the relative position of individuals and households within the income distribution and our estimates of mobility inequalities. In the context of a case study of Douala, this paper evaluates how the way income data is collected affects its accuracy and therefore the measurement of daily mobility inequalities. Simplified data collection tends to minimise the scale of inequalities as it misrepresents the income distribution. The error is greater in remote zones. Shortcomings in the statistical apparatus with regard to income data thus blur our perception of mobility inequalities and impede investigation of the links between daily travel, poverty and social exclusion.     

Political travel constraint: The role of Chinese popular nationalism

This study extends the leisure constraint model by examining the role that popular nationalism has in Chinese outbound travel. Using a case study approach based on the 2012 Diaoyu/Senkaku Island Incident between China and Japan, the study demonstrates how Chinese popular nationalism has the potential to shape the geopolitical environment of all outbound Chinese tourism. The study proposes a new model that can be used to illustrate how popular nationalism may affect bilateral tourism in other settings. Findings of this study offer important insights for both scholars and practitioners contributing to the understanding of the impact of Chinese popular nationalism on bilateral tourism flows.     

The role of travel agents’ ethical concerns when brokering information in the marketing and sale of sustainable tourism

ABSTRACT

Using conservation tourism as a test case, this study explores the role high-end travel agents play in selling sustainable tourism. It examines a niche marketing activity in that process. The study focuses on agents’ consideration of ethics as they act as information brokers between tourists and operators. Data were collected from interviews with agents and analysed using a deductive content analysis based on six overarching concepts and theories on ethical decision-making. The findings emphasize the implicit influence within conservation tourism of tourism's ethical dimensions, whilst identifying many constraints that prevent a full consideration and/or disclosure of ethical concerns in the sales process. Most importantly, agents made assumptions using a false consensus bias about clients' preferences for service over concerns for the environment, and were not prepared to discuss the more sensitive issues surrounding conservation with their clients. A number of recommendations are proposed regarding the need to unpack conservation information, overcome the false consensus bias, and agents’ reluctance to discuss ethics in the sales process. Finally, the findings have broader implications for the development of sustainable tourism, which ultimately will depend on a dialogue of ethical concerns and values within the tourism supply chain between suppliers, brokers and tourists.     

A two-dimensional problem of revenue maximization

We consider the problem of finding the mechanism that maximizes the revenue of a seller of multiple objects. This problem turns out to be significantly more complex than the case where there is only a single object (which was solved by Myerson, 1981). The analysis is difficult even in the simplest case studied here, where there are two exclusive objects and a single buyer, with valuations uniformly distributed on triangular domains. We show that the optimal mechanisms are piecewise linear with either 2 or 3 pieces, and obtain explicit formulas for most cases of interest.     

Understanding tourists' itineraries in emerging rural tourism regions: the application of paper-based itinerary mapping methodology to a wine tourism region in Michigan

In recent years, many rural areas have turned to tourism as a way of reviving their communities. One challenge to such efforts is that community leaders in these areas often have limited experience with tourism and consequently lack the knowledge and resources to best facilitate sustainable tourism initiatives. Moreover, an influx of tourists to an area puts new demands on infrastructure. Information about tourists' itineraries can help communities to address new challenges that result from tourism, however using emerging technologies such as GPS and Internet-based map surveys can be expensive and require expertise many rural tourism planners do not have. Paper-based itinerary mapping methodology can be a cost effective way of providing local officials, tourism planners, and businesses with important information to inform decisions about how to invest limited resources. This study applies paper-based itinerary mapping to an emerging wine tourism area in a rural county in the US state of Michigan. Because it involves tourists travelling from place to place within a region, wine tourism is particularly well-suited for itinerary mapping. Results provide specific recommendations to local officials, tourism planners, and businesses. Moreover, the study offers an example to researchers interested in conducting studies that use paper-based itinerary mapping methodology.