The determinants of inbound tourism to Malaysia: a panel data analysis

Malaysia has experienced a significant increase in tourist arrivals over the past 10 years. The challenge is to sustain this growth and therefore it is important to understand the factors influencing inbound tourism to Malaysia. This paper investigates the economic and non-economic determinants of international tourist flows to Malaysia using the generalized method of moment. The annual panel data set includes the number of arrivals from 33 countries during the period 2000–2012, and the number of possible explanatory variables. It is found that habit persistence (word of mouth), income, hotel room and political stability have a positive impact on tourism demand for Malaysia. Also, results indicate that the estimated coefficients of substitute tourism price in the model are negative. This implies that the five alternative destinations are complementary destinations to Malaysia. In addition, the dummy variable for Visit Malaysia Year in 2007 and severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003 had positive and negative impacts on tourism demand for Malaysia, respectively.     

Critical issues in health and wellness tourism: an exploratory study of visitors to wellness centres on Gran Canaria

The growing commodification of health care and therapeutic landscape, as well as the recent growth in international demand for wellness services and treatments, has led to the proliferation of destinations and enterprises that have selected health and wellness tourism as part of their corporate strategy, including coastal tourism destinations such as the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. This study discusses the commodification of health care and landscape, the relationship between everyday life and going on holiday, as well as the motives for medical and wellness tourism. Wellness tourism development on Gran Canaria is also analysed as a case study that could prove useful for those working on diversification within coastal tourism. An exploratory study of European visitors to wellness centres on the island is also presented. Major findings and contributions relate to socio-demographic characteristics, motives for the visit to the island, the importance of the wellness offer, tourist and travel behaviour and wellness behaviour both at the destination and at the place of residence. Another contribution refers to differences in the use of wellness centres and treatments among visitors, based on their place of origin, gender, age, marital status and job situation. Management and marketing implications are also suggested.     

Estimating the effects of regional political climate on Russian tourists to Spain

Regional political climate has become an increasingly significant force influencing travel behaviour in many tourist destinations. This paper attempts to address impacts of regional political stability on Russian inbound tourism into Spain within a demand model framework and using a cointegration approach. The results show that visa openness as well as political instability and civil unrest in substitute destinations attract more Russian tourists, boosting economic growth and reducing unemployment rates in Spain. On the contrary, international political confrontation results in disadvantage to Russian tourism demand to Spain.     

Major environmental impacts of European tourist transport

By merging European passenger transport demand data with international tourism data, a new data model was created, giving insight in the environmental impacts of tourism transport between the places of residence of European Union citizens and their tourist destinations. Analysis with this data model shows that, of the environmental impacts considered (climate change, air quality, noise and nature/landscape), climate change generates more than half of the externalities of tourist transport. Policies with the objective of reducing the external cost of European tourism should focus on measures reducing the impacts of tourist air transportation and intercontinental tourism.     

Differences in the economic performance of hotel-based and residential tourist destinations measured by their retail activity. Evidence from Spain

This paper compares the economic performance of holiday and residential tourism destinations in Spain, as measured by the level of retail activity, from a quantitative perspective. Differences between destinations are explored. A positive association between the economic development of destinations and their retail index was expected. However, no significant differences were found between residential/second-home tourism and holiday/leisure tourism destinations. The results obtained contradict the conventional assumptions that holiday destinations perform better economically than residential ones due to a higher level of tourist spending of people accommodated in hotels.     

Exploring the Implications of Virtual Reality Technology in Tourism Marketing: An Integrated Research Framework

The proliferation of the Internet and other technological innovations has transformed the structure of the tourism industry as well as affected how tourism destinations are perceived and consumed. The 3D virtual world provides opportunities for destination marketing organizations to communicate with targeted markets by offering a rich environment for potential visitors to explore tourism destinations. However, as of yet, there is little understanding about how to effectively market tourism destinations to virtual world participants who are technology users as well as potential consumers. The purpose of the present study is to develop a research framework that integrates the technology acceptance model (TAM) and self‐determination theory to understand how tourists use a 3D virtual world. Primary data were obtained for this study through self‐administered Web questionnaires. The data were conducted in a laboratory setting with 186 participants. This study contributes to the empirical TAM literature by applying the model to a 3D virtual tourism site. Additionally, this study provides a research framework to capture the entertainment nature of a 3D virtual world by extending the TAM to incorporate psychological elements of self‐determination theory to understand consumer experience. From the perspective of tourism professionals, this study contributes to an understanding of how best to construct informative and interactive tourist destinations in 3D virtual worlds to attract potential online and real‐world tourists. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Towards Integration of Sustainability into Tourism Planning in Developing Countries: Egypt as a Case Study

This article argues that planning and thus implementation of sustainable tourism development would differ not only between the developed and less developed countries’ (LDCs) tourist destinations but also from one destination to another in developing countries. Although sustainability has been introduced to the global world as an avenue for the protection of the resources in the developing world that the intrageneration equity is one of its objectives, developing countries still lack the effective planning techniques and tools for implementation. Nevertheless, developed countries have got better opportunities for the implementation of such principles, ranging from appropriate funds and expertise needed for the planning tasks, to more stable economic and environmental conditions. As the capabilities of developing countries’ tourist destinations for adopting the principles of sustainability would differ, each of those destinations should be treated separately while assessing such abilities to implement sustainable tourism development. For this purpose, this article approaches the evaluation of the Egyptian tourist planning mechanism from a sustainable point of view. In order to achieve the research objectives, a benchmark technique has been employed by using sustainability indicators as criteria to judge the appropriateness of the tourist planning system against the principles of sustainable tourism development.     

Application of cultural tourist typology in a gaming destination – Macao

The aim of the paper is to study how cultural tourist typologies apply in an urban gaming destination and how such typologies could aid in the segmentation and profiling of this niche tourist market. Results showed that there exists a certain demand for cultural tourism in Macao and there are different ways to distinguish between cultural and non-cultural tourists, as well as to identify sub-groups of cultural tourists. The three approaches used to distinguish between the two cohorts came up with different percentages of cultural tourists within the total tourist sample. Other findings showed significant differences in trip characteristics and information search behaviour between the two cohorts and among sub-groups of cultural tourists. Such information could be used for profiling purposes. The resulting profiles have implications on marketing and promotion strategies which should not focus only on tourists' primary motives but should attempt to induce or arouse their secondary interests. The methodology could be applied to other destinations hoping to develop cultural tourism.     

Pictures and prose: exploring the impact of literary and film tourism

While literary tourism has a long history traceable back to the seventeenth century, the considerable growth of interest and popularity in literary tourism research among academics and the tourism industry has been recognised only since the mid-1990s [Hebert, D. T. (1996). Artistic and literary places in France as tourist attractions. Tourism Management, 17(2), 77–85]; [Squire, S. J. (1993). Valuing countryside: Re?ections on Beatrix Potter tourism. Area, 24, 5–10]; [Squire, S. J. (1994). The cultural values of literary tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 21, 103–120]. With this in mind, this paper aims to investigate how tourism stakeholders can take advantage of the positive promotional impacts that a book and film linkage can have on specific destinations. It also examines how tourism patterns and trends in these destinations have been subsequently influenced and transformed. Within an exploratory case study mode, special emphasis will be placed on two international case studies (Ireland and Indonesia – in particular Bali) which have been associated with internationally recognised books and their subsequent blockbuster films. The findings suggest that both literary and film tourism have a positive effect on these destinations due to an increased growth in their tourism arrivals once the location was referred to in a book and afterwards used as the setting in the related film. This paper will add to the current knowledge base on film and literary tourism and create an awareness of the strength of this form of tourism for international tourism destinations.     

British Wildlife Tourism Operators: Current Issues and Typologies

The UK wildlife outbound tourism sector is a relatively uncharted area of academic study both in terms of demand and supply. The purpose of this paper is first, to move towards a typology of British wildlife tour operators and their favoured destinations, and secondly, to introduce the relationship between satisfying the consumer and sustainable product/destination management. A systematic review of wildlife tourism brochures and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders indicate a gradual shift from a specialised market offering high involvement in a particular species (usually birds) to a more general market looking for an interesting, but pleasant and relaxing holiday based around a general interest in nature and the environment. Both markets coexist in a complex product and tourist spectrum with neither market being entirely inclusive. Instead there is a degree of movement between one and the other which has led to operators offering a wider range of products to suit the hard-core expert and the novice enthusiast. However, product development and satisfying the consumer implies some difficult management dilemmas such as the use of tape recordings, food provisioning and the constant search for new destinations to offer experienced tourists something different.     

Service-Dominant Logic in tourism: the way to loyalty

Many tourist destinations have focused heavily on attracting a growing number of new visitors each year. However, recent changes in the tourism market have led to the need for new strategies oriented towards retaining already existing visitors. Service-Dominant Logic (S-D Logic) is a new orientation that allows greater competitive advantage by recognising the active role of tourists in the creation of their own experiences. The main purpose of this paper is therefore to develop a theoretical model based on S-D Logic in order to increase levels of tourist loyalty. An in-depth analysis of foundational premises has allowed us to identify the key aspects of this process. The proposed model was empirically tested, using a structural equation model with partial least-squares technique, on a sample of 763 tourists visiting Spanish tourism destinations. Research findings have evidenced that tourist loyalty is achieved through the development of relationship quality in the co-creation of tourist experiences. These results will help destination managers to achieve a greater competitive advantage through the development of customer-centric strategies. The relevance of this article also lies in its being one of the first attempts to develop practical measures for S-D Logic by applying them to tourism.     

Big data in smart tourism: challenges,issues and opportunities

In the era of digital transformation, Big Data have assumed a crucial role in changing the global travel and providing significant challenges and opportunities for established companies, as well as new entrants into the tourism industry. All these companies can get valuable information on Big Data for predicting tourist demand, enabling better decision-making, managing knowledge flows and interaction with customers, and providing the best service in a more efficient and effective way. This can result in improved productivity, increased customer satisfaction, personalized marketing campaigns, and more efficient operations. However, open research issues about the role of Big Data in the tourism industry can be still recognized. With these premises, this Editorial aims to present the articles included in the special issue of Current Issues in Tourism titled ‘Big data in smart tourism: challenges, issues and opportunities’, which has called for research contributing to the recent debates on the implications and challenges of the adoption of Big Data to improve the competitiveness of tourism destinations and companies. Main topics considered by the accepted articles include a literature review proposing a novel theoretical investigative frameworks, metrics and critical dimensions, and empirical investigations of the use of Big Data in different tourism contexts.     

A Panel Cointegration Analysis of the Impact of Tourism on Economic Growth: Evidence from the Middle East Region

This paper examines the contribution of tourism industry to the GDP of three selected destinations in the Middle East region: Bahrain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. We introduce a quadratic functional form and apply the advanced panel cointegration dynamic model with robust estimation to test our hypothesis. Our analysis is based on a comprehensive set of panel data of tourism receipts, education investment, foreign direct investment and fixed capital formation over the period of 1981–2008. The results show a long‐run relationship between tourism growth and GDP. We also show that tourism has a stronger impact on the economy than other related sectors. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling tourist flow association for tourism demand forecasting

The purpose of this study is to examine tourism demand for Singapore from 1995 to 2013 by six major origin countries which belong to three different regions. Unlike prior tourism research, we take into account the dependence relations among the different tourist flows via copula. Copula is a statistical model of dependence and measurement of association. Specifically, we investigate the association between two tourist flows in each region. Based on empirical copula estimation, the Frank function has been identified as the most appropriate to capture the pairwise dependence structures of tourist flows. The copula-based approach combined with econometric models is proposed for tourism demand analysis that can be used to predict tourist arrivals. We apply the copula-ARDL and copula-ECM frameworks to generate joint forecasts of tourist arrivals from three regions. The findings show that the forecast performance of the Frank copula-based model outperforms the benchmark model which corresponds to the independence structure (no association) of tourist flows.     

The Attractiveness of Wellness Destinations: An Importance–Performance–Satisfaction Approach

The attractiveness of tourism destinations is a topic of great interest to researchers and professionals wishing to understand the ability of destinations to attract and satisfy tourists. However, there is a lack of consensus on the attributes that could explain the attractiveness of destinations, attributes that can also vary according to the tourist product under analysis. An importance–performance–satisfaction approach is adopted, to identify the attributes that are important for tourists travelling to enjoy wellness vacations, assess the performance of Gran Canaria in those attributes and analyze the possible association between the performance of Gran Canaria and tourist satisfaction. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tourism and ethnicity: situational perspectives

Ethnicity permeates many aspects of tourism, but remains poorly understood in this context. Ethnicity is also a problematic concept because of its variability and the complexity of its interrelation with social structure. Anthropological perspectives show that ethnicity is flexible and negotiated, and this paper draws attention to latent ethnicity and the dynamic character of responses to tourism. The strategies used by peoples in tourist destinations to cope with stereotyping are also discussed. Tourism also contributes to the process of identity formation in new nations, and may encourage majority populations to re-evaluate their perceptions of minorities. In order to stimulate tourism, new nations also compete with one another to lay claim to illustrious names or heroic forebears. Situational adaptations to tourism are illustrated from a variety of perspectives to explore the complex processes of boundary creation, maintenance and change. The emphasis in the paper is conceptual, but is related to contemporary issues in interethnic relations as they occur in tourism. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Destination product characteristics as useful predictors for repeat visiting and recommendation segmentation variables in tourism: a CHAID exhaustive analysis

The present paper constitutes a segmentation research with the use of the exhaustive chi‐squared automatic interaction detection tree analysis approach which, through the characteristics of a tourist destination, aims at the illustration of the English and German tourist groups and more specifically, (i) those who are repeat visitors of several tourist destinations and (ii) those who express a willingness to urge other people to visit geographic tourist destinations that the former have already visited. The results of the research help the tourism managers to apprehend the characteristics of the destination products that best describe the visitors. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sustainable Tourism or Sustainable Development? Financial Crisis,Ecotourism, and the 'Amazing Thailand' Campaign

Although the issues of sustainable tourism and sustainable development are receiving increasing attention from tourists, government planners and scholars, few studies have examined their overlap, tensions and complex linkages in practice. In southern Thailand, the sustainability of tourism, defined as the ongoing growth and survival of the tourism industry, has compromised the ecological sustainability of key tourism destinations sites. The recent financial crisis has forced the Thai government to sacrifice long-term sustainability for the sake of quick, and desperately needed foreign exchange. The 'Amazing Thailand' promotional campaign, which aims to attract 17 million tourists over 1998 and 1999, promises to exacerbate further the environmental degradation of tourism destinations in southern Thailand by pushing for enhanced tourist numbers. Ironically, by changing the composition of tourist arrivals (and in particular, attracting more European and North American tourists) the currency devaluations associated with the Asian financial crisis may simultaneously boost demand for nature-based tourist activities in southern Thailand while also adding stress to ecologically deteriorating destinations.     

Impact of economic policy on international tourism demand: the case of Abenomics

Since the 2008 global financial crisis and resulting recession, many countries have been following unconventional monetary policies. Little information is known on how these policies may influence tourism demand. This study starts to fill this gap by investigating the impact of the Japanese economic policy known as Abenomics on South Koreans’ travel to Japan, the largest inbound market for Japan. Per capita gross domestic product, relative prices, and exchange rates are significant determinants of Japanese inbound tourism. As these variables have been influenced by Abenomics, one can infer that Abenomics is associated with a significant increase in tourist arrivals from South Korea. Findings highlight the importance of government economic policy in stimulating international tourism demand through its impact on the economy.     

The impact of destination attributes on Muslim tourist's choice

The success of marketing destinations for Muslim tourists could be guided by observing Islamic teachings in tourism activities. This study is a trial to explore which Islamic attributes of destinations could be used a base for tailoring Halal tourist packages. Qualitative data were collected by conducting two focus group discussions and fifty three interviews in Malaysia. Two major aspects are identified which may attract Muslim tourists. Some suggestions are also presented to satisfy Muslim tourists. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.