Co-evolution in tourism: the case of Albergo Diffuso

An important aspect of competitiveness between destinations concerns the way in which historical and cultural heritage is used. Thus, the relationship between territories and firms grows stronger, shifting the focus on the innovation processes within and across destinations. To increase our understanding of how these processes take place in a tourism destination, more theoretical and empirical research is required. This paper aims to respond to this call by examining the central role played by the Italian phenomenon of Albergo Diffuso (AD) through a co-evolutionary approach, fertilized by the evolutionary economic geography literature. The study focuses on the dynamics of the relationship between this new hospitality model, territories and tourists, by analysing 14 case studies of ADs rooted in historical villages. Findings show that AD can be considered as a new sustainability-oriented hospitality model which, by creating synergies with its territory, positively affects the competitiveness of the destinations where ADs are located. The theoretical implications suggest that the creation and development of these innovative firms are the result of effective multi-level co-evolutionary adaptations, adding new elements to the existing literature on innovation in tourism. Moreover, implications for both entrepreneurs and policy-makers emerge, together with suggestions for future research.     

Knowledge dynamics in setting sustainable standards in tourism – the case of ‘Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa’

The development of standards and certification programmes in global tourism has gained importance in the production-consumption-nexus. This paper deals with the ‘Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa’ standard, one of the first innovative service standards with a focus on the social dimension of sustainability. Until now, there has been little detailed exploration in the evolutionary trajectories of sustainable tourism standards from a knowledge-based perspective. This paper contributes to a deeper understanding of standard creation in global–local interaction processes over time and its impacts on the micro level of firms. Conceptually, it builds on two scientific debates: the neo-institutional approaches in organisational theory focusing on institution building and the research on innovation and knowledge dynamics. Empirically, it is based on 32 interviews conducted with different actor groups.     

Tourism Innovation in the Global South: Evidence from the Western Cape,South Africa

A research gap exists for the conceptual strengthening, measurement and analysis of innovation at the tourism firm and systems levels, especially in the context of the global South. This paper investigates tourism innovation in the Western Cape region of South Africa. In particular, the nature and types of innovation by tourism firms and system actors are interrogated. It is revealed that innovation by tourism firms is widespread, albeit is largely incremental in nature. The main contribution of this research is the development of an expanded evidence‐based tourism innovation typology from a cross‐sectoral survey of tourism firms and qualitative interviews undertaken with tourism system actors. In addition, recommendations are provided regarding measurement of innovation in tourism. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The potential of management networks in the innovation and competitiveness of rural tourism: a case study on the Valle del Jerte (Spain)

Since the 1980s, rural tourism has witnessed a significant and generalised growth among the European Union members. However, from the perspective of business management, rural tourism suffers from several obstacles that complicates its competitiveness as a tourism product. By focusing on the Valle del Jerte (Extremadura, Spain) case study, this study analyses a rural tourism business network, from the social network analysis perspective, to critically discuss its potential as a structure that enhances competitiveness and innovation. The results demonstrate that these networking structures contribute towards the creation of a cohesive destination, whereby the sharing of resources enables innovative local responses to the global market challenges.     

A preliminary examination of the relationship between consumer attitude towards space travel and the development of innovative space tourism technology

With increasing global competition in service sectors, innovative technologies have radically changed the tourism industry, and to be successful innovative products/services must have clear, significant points of difference that are related to needs in the market place. Furthermore, changes in consumer perceptions that emanate from an innovation are central to its effective product and service design. Although for most of us space travel is still a faraway dream, it is in fact a future probability that will increasingly attract travellers who seek new vacation experiences, and as a result, sustain academic interest. Thus, in initiating space tourism for the purposes of recreation, leisure and knowledge enhancement, a preliminary estimation of potential global demand characteristics that are specific to consumer innovators for space travel needs to be undertaken prior to promotion of research and development. In this context, this paper investigates both consumer attitudes towards space travel by analysing the components of motivated consumer innovativeness and the interest that potential consumers have in developing space tourism technology innovations within Taiwan. Consumer innovativeness is complex and comprised four innovativeness types, namely, social, functional, hedonic and cognitive. As product/service innovation development has been relatively unexplored in the mature industry of tourism, many business managers would welcome an understanding of which vacation travellers are most likely to be the earliest buyers of such an exciting new product. With data collected from a sample of 354 Taiwanese, this research uses mediated regression to examine the influence of the four types of consumer innovativeness on consumer's attitudes and acceptance of a space tourism technology innovation, and the mediating role perceived novelty plays in the relationship. The findings indicate that only hedonic and social innovativeness are associated with improved consumer attitude and that novelty partially mediates the relationship for those two types of consumer innovativeness. The implications for theory and practice are discussed. Limitations and directions for future research are also addressed.     

The innovation journey of new-to-tourism entrepreneurs

This study addresses the neglect of an overall analysis of the generative process of innovation in tourism studies. A conceptual framework draws together the fragmented literature on the innovation process which is visualized as a series of non-linear tasks from idea generation to diffusion. The conceptual framework is explored through a systematic analysis of the tourism innovation journey of 24 new-to-tourism entrepreneurs establishing start-ups in Spain. The analysis draws on the innovators’ narrations about their distinctive journeys to provide a more holistic picture of the innovation process. Drilling down into the sub-processes within each major task reveals the complexity of an innovation journey that is highly dynamic, uncertain, experimental and market-driven. A model of the innovation process is proposed based on the findings.     

Challenges faced by world tourism cities – London’s perspective

World tourism cities perform multiple functions and exhibit various characteristics that influence tourism development within their boundaries. They are the main gateway for tourists visiting a country and their success has a direct impact on the visitor economy of that destination. London, the focus of this research, has been one of the world’s top tourism cities for many years, and a key gateway for domestic and international visitors. But despite the important role tourism plays in the economy of the city, there is limited research on the development of this activity in the capital. Using London as an exploratory case study, this paper contributes to better understanding the challenges faced by policy makers when planning and managing tourism in world cities. The adopted research method offers the advantage of gathering insightful information using multiple data collection techniques. Examining this new evidence contributes to expanding the knowledge on the particularities of tourism development in one of the top world cities, which could help policy makers in their efforts to better prepare for potential challenges faced by these complex but important destinations.     

Impacts of innovation,productivity and specialization on tourism competitiveness – a spatial econometric analysis on European regions

Tourism is clearly a place-based activity, while in many advanced economies it is increasingly becoming a knowledge-based activity, with a high potential for the development of practice- and place-based innovation strategies. This study analyses whether and how regional systems of innovation influence the competiveness of tourism destinations in Europe. Impacts of both traditional production factors (physical and human capital), productivity, specialization and other contextual variables – related to the territorial capital of each region – on regional tourism performance of 237 European regions (NUTS 2) are analysed over a period of 8 years, using advanced techniques for spatial econometric analysis. The results reveal lower levels of productivity in those regions where tourism services are more labour intensive, while regions where education, innovation and productivity demonstrate higher levels are those where gross value added in tourism is less important for the regional economy. Policy implications are discussed, taking into consideration the principles for smart specialisation strategies in European regions and the possibility for cross-border regional cooperation. This work also confirms the research potential of spatial econometric analysis – and in particular spatial autocorrelation techniques – for tourism studies.     

An exploration of gendered systems theory on women-owned businesses in emerging tourism destinations: future directions

The impacts of tourism on host communities are numerous, complex, and at times nuanced. As a result, tourism researchers have placed heavy emphasis on the exploration and identification of these impacts, including how the community responds. Some of the more understated impacts, such as the role of women in tourism development, can be more difficult to understand. This is especially the case in emerging destinations, where communities in the primary stages of tourism development are beginning to consider the costs and benefits to their culture, social structure, and economy. This article uses ecological systems theory as a framework to examine existing literature related to resident attitudes toward the social impacts of women-owned businesses in tourism. Results from this examination determined the need for future, theory-based research regarding socio-cultural impacts, and more specifically, the impact of tourism on changing social roles and the role of women in emerging destinations.     

Institutions,research and development: tourism and the Asian financial crisis

This report examines the repercussions of the Asian financial crisis on regional institutions and on tourism research and development. It is concluded that the importance of regional institutions for the provision of quality information, research and development will continue to grow. In the short term the crisis has lessened the commitment of key intraregional and national institutions to tourism research and development activity, although some useful collaboration between countries within the region has been evident. Asia should re‐emerge as the world's fastest growing tourism region, provided that the countries most affected by the Asian financial crisis do not impose restrictions on tourist movements or turn away from their long‐term commitment to strategies underpinned by research and development. The move by Pacific Asia Travel Association from San Francisco to Bangkok is identified as an important symbol of the role that regional institutions will continue to play in tourism research and development. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trip Cultural Activities and Tourism Expenditure in Emerging Urban‐cultural Destinations

Although tourism expenditure is determined by different factors, the literature has not analysed the extent to which trip cultural activities affect tourism expenditure in the destination. The focus of this paper is a microeconomic analysis performed in 14 emerging urban‐cultural destinations in Andalusia (Spain). The results confirm that there are activities related to cultural visits, attendance at events or gastronomic activities that determine tourism expenditure. These results guide the implementation of specific actions by the policy‐makers in these destinations aimed at increasing the economic impact of tourism, based on the creation of high value‐added tourism products to overcome their mere dependence on built heritage. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cultural tourism in the context of relations between mass and alternative tourism

In the initial stage of its development, cultural tourism represented one of the alternative forms of tourism, opposed to mass tourism. The beginning of the 1990s indicates a period of transformation of cultural tourism which, unlike the original orientation towards elite clientele, found a new opportunity for development in the orientation towards the mass market. Orientation to the mass market was mainly driven by supply-oriented logic, because the creation and marketing of cultural attractions became a development option for numerous destinations. Nowadays, new cultural tourism is focused on the integration of production and consumption, and increasing linkages between suppliers and consumers. Instead of passive consumption, cultural tourists demonstrate a proactive approach to meeting their needs, wanting to actively participate in creating experiences while travelling. On the other side, suppliers focus their attention on the close interaction with consumers and co-creation of high quality experiences.     

Social network analysis in tourism

Elements such as tourists, service-oriented organizations, tourism resources, destinations and public institutions all have a role in tourism activity. If we are to understand the world of tourism, we need to examine the ties between these elements. Social network analysis (SNA) provides tourism research with a set of methods and tools that allow us to comprehend the patterns and the structures of these ties. The objective of this work is to establish how SNA is being applied to tourism, to describe its principal elements and to inquire into its potential in the development of tourism research. To do so, the articles that apply SNA research methods, published in tourism and hospitality journals, and the network of citations between their authors are all analysed. It was found that the application of SNA in tourism-related contexts is rare and very recent, although a cohesive and relevant group of authors is currently applying it. An exciting opportunity for tourism research becomes apparent with the use of SNA and future lines of research are presented in which its methods may be applied.     

Conceptualising Customer‐to‐customer Value Co‐creation in Tourism

The notion that tourists actively co‐create value with organisations is increasingly acknowledged in tourism marketing. Yet, not much is known about the processes in play when customers co‐create value with each other. This conceptual paper offers a theoretical basis for the study of customer‐to‐customer co‐creation in tourism contexts, while debating the epistemological assumptions of value‐related research in tourism. Proposed conceptual framework posits that value is socially constructed and embedded in tourists' social practices. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Cultural tourism as salvation for petty capitalists: the pedicab drivers of the Las Vegas of the east

‘Petty capitalism’ refers to the informal self-employment engaged in by the unskilled poor in order to earn or augment their income. In the tourism industry, they work as unlicensed souvenir vendors, street-food hawkers, drivers, prostitutes, etc. The pedicab drivers of Macao belong to this category of petty capitalists. Drawing on thematic interviews supplemented by observational data, this article documents how the pedicab drivers of Macao survive and keep a sense of self-worth after the near annihilation of their industry as a result of urbanization, and how tourism has been, in addition to government support, a positive social change agent that allowed them to survive. The small literature on pedicabs either documents the marginal lifestyle and poverty of their drivers as informal tourism workers, often in the developing world, or look at pedicab as a sustainable activity in the tourism sector. The findings of this article address two gaps, namely, (1) a lack of documentation on the working life of the pedicab drivers as petty capitalists in a highly urbanized environment and on their degree of self-worth (2) a comparative lack of testimonials on how tourism can be a powerful agent in the ‘worldmaking’ that is in the creation of change.     

In deep water: diving site names on Norfolk Island

A linguistic and cultural analysis of diving site names and their role as toponyms is absent in Pacific research and studies into scuba diving tourism. This article analyzes a corpus of 38 diving site names collected during interview-based fieldwork on Norfolk Island. The analyses demonstrate that the naming of Norfolk Island diving sites can be perceived as a type of tourism management – through the names, diving sites are ascribed varying degrees of linguistic, cultural, and historical significance. Previous studies in tourism research have argued that tourism can be perceived as a modern form of pilgrimage, and that the naming of tourism sites is a way of sacralizing sites in order to emphasize their importance within processes of pilgrimage. The results of this article reveal empirically that Norfolk diving sites are part of a sacralization process, where transference of the cultural, historical, and environmental significance from names as language to locations as place occurs. The article puts forward diving site names not only as a toponymic taxon of interest to toponymy and linguistics but also for island and coastal studies in the Pacific and elsewhere.     

Understanding nature-based tourist experiences: an ontological analysis

The purpose of this article is to discuss and elaborate on contemporary research on nature-based tourism experiences. Recent studies on nature-based tourism and experiences are analysed within an ontological framework, with a focus on the view of tourists and their experiences, the nature phenomena, role of the presenter, and consequences of tourist presentations. We argue that four main perspectives can be derived based on the interpretation of recent tourism literature. In these texts, nature-based tourist experiences can be described in terms of the following categories: (1) the genuine, (2) entertainment, (3) state of being, and (4) socio-cultural community. We discuss the features of each view and possible implications for understanding and managing nature-based tourism products and presentations.     

Paradoxical effects of tourism ethnocentrism on domestic tourism: The moderating effect of pandemic anxiety travel

This research findings to study the impact of socio-psychological, economic, and political antecedents on tourism and to study the relationship among tourism ethnocentrism (TE), civilized tourism behavioral intention, willingness to visit, and electronic-word of mouth. Also, it examines the moderating role of pandemic anxiety variables. The results show that American socio-psychological and political antecedents are factors that directly affect TE and have a significant effect on travelers who are insecure about traveling due to the pandemic. Travelers affected by socio-psychological and political antecedents were found to have higher TE and higher travel anxiety due to the pandemic. Therefore, this study suggests the need to strengthen people's patriotism and pride in their country to activate domestic tourism, which should be used as a tourism marketing material to promote domestic travel post-pandemic.     

Inbound tourism and long-run economic growth

There is an upsurge of literature investigating the relationship between inbound tourism expansion and economic growth with special emphasis on developing countries. Some countries – such as Spain and Italy – can be taken as examples of demonstrating such a successful trajectory. This paper provides an empirical investigation of the evolution of the Spanish and Italian economies and their respective tourism sectors from the 1950s and 1960s, respectively. This research is theoretically based on the literature on demand-based growth and the methodology adopted is that of the integration, cointegration and multivariate Granger causality tests. The results show the influencing role of inbound tourism for both economies.