Determinants of commercial revenues at airports: Lessons learned from Spanish regional airports

This paper examines the implications of passenger consumer behavior at airports, focusing specifically on the likelihood of merchandise being purchased at airport stores and food/beverages being consumed at airport catering facilities. Our results are of relevance to airport managers and local tourism policy managers. The variables that determine the amount spent once the passenger has made the decision to consume at the airport are also analyzed. A sample of over 20 000 passengers at seven different regional airports was used in our study.     

Does a low-cost carrier lead the domestic tourism demand and growth of New Zealand?

This study aims to provide a better understanding of the impact of New Zealand's low-cost carrier (LCC) on domestic tourism demand and growth. The panel data regression model and the two-stage least-square (2SLS) model (aims to control for the endogeneity effects) are used to empirically investigate the impact of LCC and the key determinants affecting New Zealand's domestic tourism using five regions (Auckland, Canterbury/Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown, and Wellington) from June 2009 to July 2015. The findings suggested that the LCC's services, GDP per capita, the regional tourism indicators (accommodation, and food and beverage), and land transport costs affected New Zealand's domestic tourism. The policy implications of the key finding regarding the significance of the LCC's operations on New Zealand's domestic tourism (local/regional tourism authorities and tourism operators), airline competition between incumbent airline (Air New Zealand) and the LCC (Jetstar), and airport authorities are discussed.     

Role of Airport Physical Environments in the Satisfaction Generation Process: Mediating the Impact of Traveller Emotion

As the use of international airports has been increasing, airports have emerged as a remarkable background in the tourism industry. To address this, the present study aimed at (1) investigating the relationships among the variables of airport physical environments, customer emotion, and satisfaction, (2) verifying which attribute of airport physical environments has significant impact on customer emotion, and (3) examining the mediating role of emotion between airport physical environments and customer satisfaction. The snowball method was introduced to collect the data. According to the findings from the structural analysis, three components of airport physical environments had decisive effects on pleasure. However, most of airport physical environments were insignificant on arousal, and arousal had invalid impact on satisfaction. Customer emotion was found as a partial mediator between the identical attributes of airport physical environments and customer satisfaction. Discussions and implications for airport practitioners, limitations, and suggestions for future research were also provided.     

A framework to account for the tourism carbon footprint at island destinations

Given concerns over greenhouse gases and the role of tourism in generating such environmental externality, a consistent carbon measurement framework is needed. This paper combines principles derived from production and consumption accounting measures to better allocate the responsibility for carbon emissions. Utilizing a boundary that includes domestic tourism expenditure, inbound tourism expenditure, and local spending associated with outbound travel, this paper (a) proposes a framework to measure the domestic total carbon effect and foreign-sourced effect, and (b) applies the analytical framework to Taiwan. The empirical study indicates that the carbon emissions for domestic tourism industries, international aviation, and imports accounted for 47%, 28% and 25% of the tourism carbon footprint. It is suggested that an island's dependence on both aviation and international trade leads to a larger share of emissions outside their geographic territory with respect to tourism development.     

Technology social practices by Millennials and Gen Z at airport departure terminals

Airports play a vital link in tourism mobilities in a competitive environment to satisfy passengers and increase non-aeronautical revenues. Drawing on the Social Practice Theory this paper seeks to explore the multi-layered use of technology by young adult travellers at departure terminals in airports. Guided by constructivist paradigm, seven focus group interviews over two time periods with 52 travellers were conducted that revealed differences in meanings, competencies and structures associated with process and discretionary technologies at airports. By focusing on practices rather than understanding individual behaviour the research reveals meanings associated with technology practices by young adults at airports, an alignment by young adults with process technologies and gaps with discretionary technologies at airports. Practically, this research provides airport management with a useful lens to increase satisfaction and revenues by re-imagining discretionary technologies in similar ways to process technologies at airport departure terminals.     

Airport shopping – an emerging non-aviation business: triggers of traveler loyalty

ABSTRACT

Despite the growth of the airport duty-free shopping market, little research has examined travelers’ shopping behavior at airports, shopping at airports being an important source of non-aviation revenue for airport operators. This study was designed to examine travelers’ loyalty formation with regard to duty-free shopping at airports by considering the role of perceived value, satisfaction, desire, and alternative attractiveness. A field survey at an international airport was conducted. A proposed theoretical framework was tested using structural equation modeling. Results indicated that perceived value, satisfaction, desire, and loyalty had significant associations, and these variables sufficiently accounted for loyalty. In addition, satisfaction played a prominent role in determining loyalty, and this variable along with desire acted as a significant mediator. Moreover, alternative attractiveness significantly moderated desire and loyalty relationship. Overall, the findings of this study considerably increased our understanding of travelers’ evaluation and loyalty generation processes with regard to duty-free shopping at airports.     

Why passengers’ geo-demographic characteristics matter to airport marketing

Passengers’ preference and origin location data (home postcodes) can be extremely useful for marketing purposes, with the potential for more effective customer segmentation and targeting, yet traditional airport market research has often neglected these aspects. This paper utilises passenger survey data from the Gold Coast Airport in the state of Queensland, Australia, to perform a geo-demographic classification analysis in conjunction with census data. With geo-coded passenger preference data, the trip characteristics and airport decision preferences were cross-compared with demographic data with socio-economic variables. The results revealed distinctive contrasts in passenger origin location for short-haul domestic trips and long-haul international trips, in which passengers from afar are willing to travel longer distances to reach a second-tier airport to make use of cheaper airfares. One of the implications of this study is that low-cost carriers’ businesses (the airlines or the airports) should better target their customers by offering geographically targeted marketing.     

Passenger recovery after an airport closure at tourist destinations: A case study of Palma de Mallorca airport

In the context of increased concern about the resilience of critical transport infrastructure to external events and the impact of such events on local tourism industries, this paper analyzes the ability of tourism-oriented airports to relocate departing passengers in the event of an unexpected airport closure. A case study of Palma de Mallorca airport is presented. Using an MIDT dataset on passenger itineraries in August 2014, several closure scenarios are simulated, and disrupted passengers are relocated to minimum-delay itineraries. Aggregate delays and relocation rates are used to assess the impact of each scenario, with a particular focus on UK and Germany markets. The results provide useful benchmarks for the development of policies aimed at minimizing the impact on stranded tourists, such as allowing for passenger connections, establishing a protocol for interline cooperation, and improving intermodal transfers. These measures will help mitigate the negative impacts on airline loyalty and destination image.     

An assessment of the potential for self-connectivity at European airports in holiday markets

In a context of intense airport and airline competition, a few European airports have recently started offering self-connection services to price-sensitive holiday passengers travelling with a combination of tickets where the airline/s involved do not handle the transfer themselves. This paper provides an exploratory analysis of the potential and implications of self-connectivity for European airports and airlines using a case study of air travel routes to holiday destinations in the Mediterranean. With the help of a forecasting model based on a zero-inflated Poisson regression, we identify the airports and airlines that have the highest potential to facilitate self-connections in the selected markets. The results also explore some implications of the widespread development of self-connection services in Europe.     

AIRPORT RUNWAY SLOTS: Limits to Growth

The United States–European Union market accounts for approximately 25% of all international tourist arrivals worldwide, and is arguably the busiest market in the world. This paper argues that landing slot policy and the manner in which airport capacity is allocated among airlines across the north Atlantic is likely to underpin the future geographic structure of the tourism industry. By analyzing the historical evolution of slot policy, this paper attempts to enhance the extant literature on how government authorities allocate scarce airport resources. The paper concludes by arguing that various slot reform proposals need to be adopted to make airports more “elastic” when managing origin-destination tourist flows.     

Evaluating green performance of the airports using hybrid BWM and VIKOR methodology

The aviation industry is growing at a rapid pace worldwide. However, with the growing numbers, the aviation industry has also contributed to environmental degradation over the past few years. This issue needs attention as various agencies and scholars all over the world are trying to find means of protecting the environment. Therefore, there is a growing need to develop green and sustainable airports, which have minimal impact on the environment. With this in focus, this research has been taken up to explore the criteria for evaluating the green performance of airports. A hybrid of Best Worst Method (BWM) and VlseKriterijuska Optimizacija I Komoromisno Resenje (VIKOR) methodologies has been employed to calculate the weight of different criteria and rank the airports accordingly. Green policies and regulations are the most important performance criteria for green airports.     

Leadership and governance in air route development

This paper examines leadership and governance among large tourism stakeholders, notably airlines, airports and state/national DMOs, in the context of air route development (ARD). An exploratory mixed method is used to identify the key leadership and governance attributes of successful ARD, and the strongest correlation among them. This study has identified a substantial difference between the key attributes perceived by small/medium enterprises (SMEs) and large tourism stakeholders. Large stakeholders identify partnership, effective communication, and information sharing as key leadership attributes, and strategic vision, leadership, and knowledge sharing as critical governance attributes. Additionally, a significant difference is observed in the correlations of attribute perception, which is dependent on the leading ARD stakeholder.     

旅游业能源需求与二氧化碳排放研究进展

人类利用能源导致温室气体排放量的持续增加是全球气候变化的直接驱动力。旅游开发、旅游活动及旅游业发展引起的温室气体排放是旅游业驱动气候变化的重要因素,同时也是发展旅游业主要的环境影响结果之一。随着旅游业的蓬勃发展,旅游业对环境和气候变化的影响被相关国际组织和社会各界所关注,旅游业能源需求与二氧化碳排放研究成为近5年来旅游研究领域的热点。国外研究综述表明,目前已识别旅游业能耗、排放的重点领域及结构;在旅游业能源消耗与二氧化碳排放的定量估算研究与情景分析方面形成初步结论。对不同类型旅游交通方式、住宿方式及旅游活动的单位能耗和排放强度等关键性参数取得一般性认识,并识别了明显的国别、地区及不同部门之间的差异。基本形成体系化的节能减排政策措施。基于国内外旅游业能源需求与二氧化碳排放的结构与途径、测算、预测与情景分析及节能减排对策与措施等方面对比研究,作者指出未来国内研究应重点加强旅游交通和住宿业等重点领域能源需求与排放的定量实证研究,加强旅游业能源需求与排放的预测分析和情景研究,加快推进旅游业气候政策研究,切实提高旅游业应对气候变化和节能减排的研究水平,提高政策措施针对性和可操作性,以期为我国旅游业节能减排、应对气候变化提供科学依据。     

基于制度变迁的浙江省民营资本旅游投资行为研究

制度变迁实质上是一种制度创新的过程.浙江省通过制度创新,引导、鼓励民营资本进入旅游业.投资住宿、餐饮等中小型旅游企业、大中型休闲观光农业园区、开发自然或文化旅游资源是浙江省民营资本进入旅游业的主要渠道.目前在浙江省,住宿餐饮业、景区景点、旅行社等旅游环节民营资本均占有重要地位.民营资本的进入促进了浙江省旅游业的发展,对中西部旅游业的发展、旅游业投融资等制度创新有重要的借鉴作用.     

旅游发展对我国投资、消费和出口需求的拉动效应研究

传统观念认为,旅游业能有力拉动国民消费需求。其实,旅游业发展也会引致多方面的投资需求,如景区开发、基础设施建设等。因此,旅游业发展对国民经济增长具有综合性的拉动作用。文章依据宏观经济学理论,构建了入境旅游与国内旅游对投资、消费和出口增长分析的理论框架,并利用1982~2010年相关数据,分析了旅游"两大部门"对中国经济增长"三大驱动力"的影响。研究发现:(1)发展入境旅游与国内旅游,因景区开发和旅游基础设施建设,对扩大投资有一定的正效应;(2)作为综合消费和最终消费,旅游业对扩大消费有着显著的正效应,其中,国内旅游的作用远高于入境旅游;(3)比较而言,入境旅游对出口贸易具有积极的拉动作用,而国内旅游对出口的拉动效应则不明显。因此,积极贯彻实施旅游产业发展政策,大力发展国内旅游和入境旅游,是中国当前保增长、扩内需的重要途径。     

交通巨变对中国旅游业发展的影响及地域类型划分

文章利用1985～2008年的相关统计数据及2006～2007年中国30个省区截面数据,采用协整分析和格兰杰(Granger)因果关系检验方法,分析了交通客运量与旅游客流量的关系及地域差异.结果发现:(1)从时间序列来看,旅游客流量与交通客运量之间存在着某种均衡关系,入境客流量与航空客运量存在单向格兰杰因果关系,铁路客运量和公路客运量与入境客流量存在单向格兰杰因果关系;航空客运量和公路客运量与国内旅游客流量存在单向格兰杰因果关系,铁路客运量与国内客流量无格兰杰因果关系.(2)从30个省区的截面数据分析,发现入境客流量与民航客运量呈明显的线性相关,国内客流量与公路客运量呈明显的二次函数关系,据此计算了入境旅游对航空客运和国内旅游对公路客运依赖程度,将全国30个省区划分为不同的依赖—偏好类型.为认识陆路交通与旅游业的发展提供了重要依据.     

新生代游客涉入度与文化认同对红色旅游忠诚度的影响研究

红色旅游是红色文化宣传和教育的实现方式之一,但作为旅游主力军的新生代游客对红色文化的认同逐渐式微,存在认同危机风险,并对红色旅游的后续发展和持续经营产生影响,已成为当今显著且亟待关注的社会现象。本研究运用文化认同理论,以新生代游客为研究群体,尝试探索影响新生代游客文化认同的因素并寻找增强其红色旅游忠诚度的作用机制,由此建构新生代游客涉入度、文化认同与红色旅游忠诚度影响关系模型并进行实证验证。研究发现：(1)新生代游客涉入度对红色旅游的文化认同和忠诚度均具有显著的正向影响,其中对文化认同的影响更为显著;(2)新生代游客对红色旅游的文化认同正向影响忠诚度;(3)文化认同在新生代游客涉入度与忠诚度之间存在部分中介效应。本研究揭示了新生代游客涉入度对培育红色旅游忠诚度的重要作用,拓展了文化认同的应用边界;认为增强新生代游客的涉入度,培育其文化认同,对于忠诚度及红色旅游持续经营和后续发展具有积极的现实意义。     

Airport Niche Marketing

Abstract

Airport marketing is a relatively new strategy employed by airports to try to attract business. A number of different strategies are employed by airports in an attempt to lure airlines to serve their airport. This paper concentrates on the particular strategy taken by Sanford, Florida in attracting international service and the resulting growth this particular strategy afforded the airport and the community it serves. By examining enplanement numbers between 1995-2001 and comparing the growth at Sanford International Airport with that of nearby Orlando International Airport allows for analysis of the marketing strategy. Four shared markets in the United Kingdom are analyzed to discover market-by-market effects of this strategy. What is found is that the airport specialized niche is attracting international charter carriers, especially those from the British Isles.     

Forecasting air passenger numbers with a GVAR model

This study employs a GVAR model on the passenger numbers of the top 20 busiest airports of the world and the Asia-Pacific and Latin America-Caribbean regions. With air passenger numbers representing a demand measure, country-level proxies for economic drivers are included as domestic and foreign variables. In terms of ex-ante forecast accuracy, the GVAR model performs best for several airports – yet not for the entirety of airports – compared to four benchmarks for horizons one and three quarters ahead. It also achieves several second and third ranks for these and two other horizons and when all horizons are evaluated jointly. Considering the connectivity of airports is worthwhile to achieve accurate and economically interpretable air passenger demand forecasts.     

A protocol for reviewing hotel anchored Public Private Partnerships

This article examines public subsidies used to encourage hotel development and proposes a robust protocol for their review by authorities having jurisdiction. The article begins by examining the size and scope of Public Private Partnerships to encourage hotel development in the United States, and with a discussion of the rationale for and against the subsidies. It goes on to provide an overview of typical subsidy financing arrangements and presents a methodology for the evaluation of public subsidies for proposed hotels. The case is made that publicly subsidized hotels can create benefits for both private developers and sponsoring governmental units which can include local, state, and federal levels. However, there is often an asymmetry of political power and data that favors private developers over those negotiating on behalf of taxpayers (Laslo and Judd 2004, Perry 2003). The article examines typical processes used to review subsidy proposals and recognizes the challenges of overcoming the significant political momentum behind them that favors developers at the expense of taxpayers. The framework will assist authorities in their economic review of proposed subsidies for hotels by providing a template useful for addressing what is oftentimes an imbalance of information that favors developers over those representing the interests of the public sector.