Assessing the impact of co-branding of island destination and tourism activities on tourists’ reactions

The aim of this study is to examine the status and images of certain islands based on specific tourism activities. A total of 385 valid samples were obtained from tourists at the islands' main transportation facilities. The results are as follows: (1) different island destinations are promoted differently, which significantly affects the perceptions of tourists. (2) Tourists' familiarity with various tourism activities and the rate of participation in these activities vary significantly between the islands; in addition, tourists display greater familiarity with beach/water activities and participate in these activities in higher proportions. (3) Greater consistency in the matching of island destinations with tourism activities helps produce a co-branding effect, which positively affects tourists' perception of these destinations. From a co-branding perspective, this study demonstrates that the empirical market positioning of island destinations must be consistent with the tourism activities that are possible to produce an optimal experience for the tourists. This comparison of different islands explains why the development of island tourism on such locations should involve the provision of information on rankings and tourism activities.     

The Stuff of which Dreams are Made: Representations of the South Sea in German-language Tourist Brochures

The ways in which the South Pacific islands are represented in German-language tourist brochures is investigated. Our discussion of these brochure representations will examine the contrasts between tourism advertising imagery and the day-to-day interactions of tourists and locals in the islands represented. Informed by literature on motives for travel, tourist brochures, place promotion and commodification, we will discuss how German, Swiss and Austrian tourism operators depend on a deep-seated desire on the part of tourists to engage with a mythical paradisal Utopia. Common to many cultures, Utopia represents dreams of a better reality. We emphasise therefore that in addition to the now well-documented paradisal element of island tourism promotion, German-speaking tourists are enticed to the South Pacific by advertising references to it as a place where dreams may be fulfilled.     

The attraction of islands: travellers and tourists in the Cyclades (Greece) in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries

Islands have long acted as projection surfaces of ever-changing desires. Tourism organisations have drawn most vigorously upon the paradise metaphor in an attempt to position modern island holidays at the forefront of our minds – regardless of an island's location. Tracing the most recent history of our island-longing and illuminating the use of the island metaphor by tourist organisations is the aim of this article. A short account of the history of tourism in Greece (especially the Cycladic Islands) provides the backdrop to an in-depth picture and text analysis of nine official English and German tourist guides to the Cyclades, as well as the English-speaking version of the official Cyclades website. Images and text are coded according to pre-determined themes and contrasted with each other. Investigating islands from the perspective of tourists and tourist organisations, it becomes apparent that the official brochures draw on established island tropes and stereotypical island imagery as a means to attract travellers, and thus follow a long-established pattern of what Western culture considers unique for island locations. Dissonances, however, are emerging as our longing for island locations is contradicted by our need for ease and speed of access, thus negating the sought-after quintessential ‘islandness’.     

Segmentation by benefits sought: the case of rural tourism in Madeira

Rural tourism has been promoted as an effective catalyst for growth in rural areas severely hit by the rural structuring process. However, with regard to islands, rural tourism has been mainly advertised and promoted as a counterpoint to mass tourism. While in most Western countries rural tourism has been in place for decades, islands have been pursuing a rural tourism agenda only since the 1990s. Consequently, we face a dearth of research regarding motivation factors that attract tourists to the rural hinterland on islands. The purpose of this study is to segment and profile rural tourists based on benefits sought in order to gain a better understanding of the current demand trends. The data collection procedure were based on a self-administered survey applied to a sample of 180 tourists, and four clusters were identified. The relaxer cluster which comprises individuals attracted by opportunities to relax and recharge batteries, are the most dominant, suggesting that the sector mimics, to a large extent, the main tourism market. This is a problematic outcome because the sector is failing to attract a more diverse and wealthy clientele. Due attention should also be paid to other clusters. The ruralist segment values relaxation in natural segments to escape from daily routine, the ‘want it all segment’ is composed of tourists interested in all kind of activities and the family-oriented cluster is mainly interested in socialising with the family. Implications of our preliminary conclusions for theory and practice are discussed.     

Is there growth impact of tourism? Evidence from selected small island states

This study investigates the growth impact of international tourist arrivals on carbon emissions in selected small island states via Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. The study employed a panel-based multivariate model for seven small islands between the periods of 1995 and 2013 to evaluate the long-run equilibrium relationships between international tourism and carbon emissions through the channels of energy consumption and economic growth. Findings from the panel cointegration results show the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between the variables of interest. International tourist arrivals have a negatively significant impact on carbon dioxide emissions in the long run. Thus, we infer that the law of diminishing marginal returns with regard to tourism-induced EKC hypothesis holds in the case of small island states.     

Small island urban tourism: a residents' perspective

The impacts of tourism have been given much consideration by scholars attempting to investigate the attitudes of the host population toward tourism. Such studies have been carried out in rural, coastal as well as in urban areas. However, most studies on urban tourism impacts have been conducted in the context of the developed world, whereas very little research has been carried out in the urban environment of Small Island Developing States. Using a sample size of 230 residents, this study contributes to the limited literature on urban tourism in islands by examining the residents' attitudes toward tourism in Port Louis, the capital city of the island of Mauritius. Findings suggest that while the positive impacts of tourism are well recognized by the residents, the latter are also concerned with some negative influence of tourism in Port Louis. Residents were found not to be homogeneous in their perceptions toward tourism. Employment in tourism was found to be an antecedent of attitudes. Gender and age were also found to be discriminators toward some tourism impact. Findings also revealed that residents were supportive of cultural tourism development. Implications for the management of the small island urban tourism are also discussed.     

Island cruise tourism development: a resident's perspective in the context of Italy

Most studies that examine tourism impacts and community attitudes have been carried out from the perspective of the tourism sector as a whole, with very few papers focusing on specific types of tourism and/or analysing tourists' preferences for specific types of tourism segment. This paper discusses some pertinent issues in relation to cruise tourism development and community attitudes in a port of call cruise destination located in the island of Sicily (Southern Italy). Specifically, this study was carried out using a quota random sample of 1500 responses, which is representative of the population of Messina at 1% level. Findings show that residents express an overall positive attitude towards cruise tourism development even if it is not the most preferred when compared to other types of tourism (cultural tourism, sport tourism, and sun and sea tourism). Further, they highlight that significant differences based on socio-economic and demographic characteristics (age, gender, reliance on cruise-related employment, level of education, geographical proximity to tourist areas and port, length of residency and frequency of interaction with tourists) exist in residents' perceptions and attitudes towards cruise tourism development. Implications for policy-makers are discussed and suggestions for further research are given.     

Conflicts over Space for Marine Leisure: A Case Study of Recreational Boating in Japan

As an island nation with long coastlines and many islands, Japan has abundant resources for marine tourism and leisure. However, coastal resorts and marine leisure are less prominent than might be expected. The main reason lies in the many conflicts surrounding access to the sea and its resources. Industrial and urban development along the coastlines and a strong fishing industry combined with traditional property rights compete with coastal tourism and marine leisure for the use of coast and sea. This paper discusses the roots of conflicts between marine tourism and leisure, and other economic activities or environmental issues, as well as conflicts between different types of coastal tourism and marine leisure. To this end, it uses recreational boating and connected activities like fishing and diving to examine the issue. It was found the situation in Japan is characterised by a dense web of rights, regulations, customs and power dynamics which has impeded the establishment of marine leisure as a recreational activity. Marine leisure has, however, developed some distinct features, and many compromises have been found on a piecemeal and local basis. Such compromises may be the only way not to divide fluid space, but share it.     

Motivational determinates of creative tourism: a case study of Albergue art space in Macau

ABSTRACT

Creative tourism is a new genre of tourism eliciting active tourist participation in learning and experiences. This study explores tourists’ motivations for participating in creative activities, as well as their perceptions of authenticity following a visit to the Albergue Art Space located in Macau, SAR, China. Empirical results indicate that vernacular heritage, service quality and participatory experience are key determinates for developing creative tourism. Sightseeing, social contact, self-improvement and escape emerge as primary motivations for participating in creative activities. In addition, tourist perceptions of authenticity in the context of creative tourism encompass objective and existential components. This study proposes to incorporate aspects of participatory experience into creative tourism products.     

The power of social media in regional tourism development: a case study from Ōkunoshima Island in Hiroshima,Japan

This research letter introduces a new insight into the power of social media in tourism development using a case study from ōkunoshima Island in Hiroshima, Japan. The island has been experiencing an unprecedented tourism boom since 2014, when videos posted by social media led to an increase in international tourists in a formerly domestic destination. The results of our structured interviews suggest that tourists acquired information about the island through social media. This result implicated social media’s power in developing tourism in peripheral regional areas, which are often left out from the international tourism circuit.     

The characteristics and motivational decisions of outdoor adventure tourists: a review and analysis

The growing demand for outdoor adventure tourism activities, and the rapid growth in associated industry supply, means we need an improved understanding of outdoor adventure tourists. The paper considers the characteristics and motives of outdoor adventure tourists, as well as the influence of experience, age and gender on their motives. This is based, firstly, on a critical review of the relatively much more extensive literature on outdoor adventure activity participants for insights into the character and motives of outdoor adventure tourists. The paper also focuses, secondly, on an original case study of mountaineer tourists in Chamonix, France. Results from the case study of mountaineer tourists are evaluated against the research themes and gaps identified from the review of literature on outdoor adventure activity participants, including outdoor adventure tourists. It is shown how outdoor adventure tourists are a diverse group. Motivational similarities and differences exist between these tourists and their outdoor recreational counterparts. Experience, age and gender influence the motives and motivational differences among outdoor adventure activity participants. It is noted that there is considerable scope for further research on outdoor adventure tourists, including mountaineer tourists, and potential new research directions are identified for the specific themes examined in the paper.     

Beyond sustainability: optimising island tourism development

This paper aims to identify the current challenges facing the sustainable development of island tourism and to develop a new conceptual approach to sustainable development based upon optimisation. The optimisation process for island tourism will be discussed through the development of a new life cycle model — the multifunctional interactive process cycle that is calibrated using a set of 15 island tourism status indicators. The paper also seeks to explain how a complex and dynamic tourism system can be developed that takes a destination towards an optimal sustainable state to satisfy both visitors and the local community. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Management of the environmental impact of tourism and air transport on small island developing states

At the crossroads of sustainable development of small island developing states (SIDS) is tourism, the staple income earner of many SIDS and an industry which would not survive without air transport. Typically, therefore, it would be tempting to conclude that SIDS would benefit from an open skies or vastly liberalized air transport policy in order to attract as many tourists as they could. However, the environmental impact of uncontrolled tourism or untrammelled air transport activity in SIDS brings to bear the need for the effective management of the two activities.     

Tourists' perception of health tourism before and after COVID-19

Health tourism has received increasing attention from academic researchers from a global perspective. Although mainland China (hereafter referred to as “China”) has long been recognized as a health tourism destination, its health tourism development is still in its infancy stage. Hence, to minimize the aforementioned gap, the present study explored the perception of health tourism and effective health tourism promotion methods from the perspective of tourists before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The major findings of this study showed that tourists perceived wellness tourism and medical tourism as critical activities/components after the COVID-19 pandemic.     

The influence of the environment on adventure tourism: from motivations to experiences

Inherent in most definitions of adventure tourism is the fact that it takes place in natural outdoor settings. Yet, the influence of this setting on the behaviour of adventure tourism consumers has yet to be adequately addressed. This study, therefore, investigates the relative strength and nature of environmental influences on adventure tourists in both motivations for participation and in the context of the experience. The results are based on questionnaires collected from 459 participants in adventure tourism activities along the southern coast of South Africa. They show that, although the majority of research on adventure tourism focuses on the ‘thrill’ involved, the environment is increasingly recognized as influential. The assessment of motivations, using a push and pull factor approach, demonstrates that the environment not only plays an important role in attracting adventure tourists towards specific destinations, but that they also seek out interactions with nature. In addition, participants suggested that the environment is an especially significant component of their experiences. The fact that the findings demonstrate the importance of the environment in both the motivations and experiences of adventure tourism participants, means that such an approach would make a definite contribution to discussions, planning, and policy linked to the adventure tourism industry.     

Social Tourism and Healthy Ageing

Recent research in social tourism notes possible links between tourism participation and improvements in health. However, there is a lack of quantitative evidence concerning the potential links between tourism participation and self‐reported health amongst older people. An ageing society requires measures to promote independent living and enhance older people's quality of life. This paper provides evidence that older tourists are more active and healthy than non‐tourists, from a study comparing health perceptions amongst Spanish older people. The results provide tentative conclusions of causal relationships between tourism and dimensions of physical and mental health through a Structural Equation Model. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling international tourism demand and volatility in small island tourism economies

Small island tourism economies (SITEs) vary in their size, land area, location, narrow resource bases, economic development, overwhelming reliance on tourism and consistent inflow of foreign direct investment for economic growth. Small island tourism economics differ in their ethnic diversity, political systems, economic and environmental vulnerability, ecological fragility and the risks facing investors. Owing to natural disasters, ethnic conflicts, crime and the threat of global terrorism, there have been dramatic changes in the arrivals of international tourists to SITEs. These variations in international tourism demand to SITEs, particularly the conditional variance (or volatility) in international tourist arrivals, have not previously been analysed in the tourism research literature. An examination of the conditional volatility of international tourist arrivals is essential for policy analysis and marketing purposes. This paper models the conditional mean and conditional variance of the logarithm of monthly international tourist arrivals and the growth rate (or log‐difference) in the monthly international tourist arrivals for six SITEs, namely Barbados, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji, Maldives and Seychelles. Diagnostic checks of the regularity conditions of the logarithm of monthly international tourist arrivals and their growth rates suggest that the estimated univariate models of trends and volatility are statistically adequate. Therefore, the estimated models are appropriate for purposes of public and private sector management of tourism. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A service position model of package tour services based on the hybrid MCDM approach

ABSTRACT

Traditionally, package tour (PT) agencies assumed that tourists only pay attention to the PT’s price, so PT service providers often offer limited package tours based on options and prices. Nowadays, PT service providers face the difficult challenge of how to offer diverse PTs to satisfy tourists’ needs based on a reasonable price. This study proposes an evaluation model of package tours based on diverse resources and transportation means. This study proposes a two-dimensional evaluation framework to analyse tourists’ needs regarding package tour services and the proposed model could be applied to plan mass customized package tours based on the portfolio of value satisfaction index (VSI) and the price satisfaction index (PSI). The study also proposes that mass customized package tours can improve the traditional tour planning method through a portfolio of diverse tourism resources. Moreover, the study integrates the different choices of traffic and transportation tools, as well as tourism resources and providers in six portfolios of package tours in the Nantou county of Taiwan. These six package tours can be planned through three traffic and transportation tools (tourist coach, railroad, and minibus) and four tourism resources (natural experiences, cultural exploration, shopping and cuisine, and event participation).     

‘Scary … but I like it!’ Young tourists' perceptions of fear on holiday

This paper explores young tourists' perceptions of fear on holiday. The work on which this paper is based is important because it sheds light on tourists' emotional experiences on holiday, which are central to increase our understanding of tourist behaviour. The importance of investigating perceptions of fear has been recognized within a number of different disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, criminology, and marketing. Indeed, it has been argued that fear may provide significant information concerning an individual's motivations, preferences, and patterns of behaviour. Despite this, perceptions of fear within the tourism experience have remained relatively unexplored. It is often assumed that perceptions of safety and security may influence individuals' destination choice. However, there is a paucity of studies concerning tourists' perceptions of fear during the tourism experience. This paper is based on three months of qualitative fieldwork conducted on the island of Ios, Greece in the summer of 2007. More specifically, participant observation and semi-structured interviews were methods employed for data collection to explore young tourists' perceptions of fear. The possibility to develop a rapport and build a relationship with young tourists on Ios was crucial to collect valuable information concerning tourists' background, their emotions, expectations, perceptions, and the context in which perceptions of fear were experienced and expressed. The study found that most holidaymakers on Ios participated in activities perceived as risky in order to experience fear. In this respect, young tourists deliberately sought fear and thrill to increase their levels of pleasure and enjoyment during the tourism experience. The results suggest that fear may play a positive role in the tourism experience of young tourists, which should no longer be ignored by tourism scholars.     

Astro-tourism conceptualisation as special-interest tourism (SIT) field: a phenomonological approach

ABSTRACT

This study conceptualises astro-tourism as a nature-based tourism phenomenon and illustrates its positioning as a special-interest tourism (SIT) field using a phenomenological approach. In the process, this baseline research study contributes to this relatively new tourism field’s foundational research aspects, such as developing a definition and, examining its articulation with destination image. It finds that astro-tourism is based on the interest of tourists in sky-related activities such as dark sky observation and astrophotography, most often in a nature-based context. The findings can be utilised to develop astro-tourism as a new medium in conceptualising tourism destination image by combining destination earth features as well as sky features. Targeting sky features of a destination combined with the earth facilities to attract tourists is one of the new opportunities to deliver unique tourism products.