Toward an integrated model of tourist expectation formation and gender difference

This study aims to build and test a theoretical model of tourist expectation formation and seeks to explore the gender differences regarding how tourists form their expectations toward a travel destination. Survey data were obtained from 774 outbound Chinese tourists to Macao, and structural equation modelling was used to test the model and proposed hypotheses. The results reveal that travel motivation, advertising, and word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations influence travelers' cognitive image and cognitive image interacts with affective image to form individuals' expectations toward travel destinations. Notably, the impacts of travel motivation and advertising on cognitive image, and of cognitive image on tourist expectations were significantly stronger for males than females, while the effects of WOM on cognitive image and of affective image on tourist expectations were stronger for females than males. Both theoretical and practical implications of these important findings are discussed.     

Understanding the tourist experience of cities

Economic, environmental and social forces have changed the way we are developing our cities. A range of theoretical constructs have been explored to provide direction for contemporary analyses of urban tourism experience. This paper engages with a feminist perspective in our understanding of the way tourists explore and experience cities. It achieves this by expanding current sociological frameworks that assume the tourist is simply a wanderer in the urban environment. Drawing on interactionist and post-structural critique and Wearing and Wearing’s (1996) theoretical framework of the flâneur and choraster, this paper demonstrates how a more feminized conceptualisation of the tourist experience as a creative and interactive process could have a transformative effect on our understanding of tourists’ experiences of cities.     

旅游者安全行为：研究源起与国内近十年研究述评

旅游者安全行为研究已成为旅游安全研究的重要领域。文章阐述了旅游者安全行为研究的理论源起,并以2001～2011年的文献为基础,对国内旅游者安全行为的研究进行了系统的梳理,从概念界定、表现特征、影响因素、安全行为管理、不同视角下的安全行为研究等方面阐述了国内旅游者安全行为的研究进展。研究归纳了国内旅游者安全行为研究表现出的理论结构,并对未来的研究方向进行了展望。     

Mature vs. youth travelers: The Korean market

An important consideration in understanding and predicting tourist behavior concerns the underlying motivation governing the choice of tourist destinations, and the tourists” evaluation and level of satisfaction with the actual experiences (Pearce, 1991). Motivation is a fundamental element in helping to explain tourist behavior. Unfortunately, the research on motivation has only received moderate attention, both conceptually and empirically. A new theoretical framework employed in sociology and social psychology has recently been proposed by Pearce to explain tourism motivation. It is known as the “Travel Career Ladder” (TCL). This paper attempts to reveal comprehensive information on the travel motivations of Korean tourists with regards to overseas trips by employing the concepts predicated in the TCL model. The implications of this research are discussed in terms of the potential of the TCL model, and to what end it can be used to predict tourist behavior and improve the level of cross‐cultural understanding of international tourists.     

Tourists' shopping experiences at street markets: Cross-country research

Considering shopping as one of the most important motivations for travel, this study focuses on tourists' shopping attitudes towards street markets while on a vacation. Specifically, this study proposes and tests a conceptual model that assesses how price consciousness and perceived utility, as critical drivers of attitudes in street markets, may influence tourist satisfaction and future intentions. As opposed to the structure of previous research, this study is also based on a cross-national comparative study conducted among foreign tourists visiting Algarve, Portugal and Bodrum, Turkey, in the summer of 2011. Study findings confirm that price and utility perceptions are the most important marketplace cues and higher level of satisfaction moderates tourists' willingness to return or recommend street markets in both destinations.     

Positive psychology and tourist well-being: A systematic literature review

This paper examines the current state of research on well-being from tourism from the lens of positive psychology. A systematic review of 82 peer-reviewed articles published in English-language tourism journals indicate that tourist well-being is predominantly examined as a consequence of travel, rather than linked to tourism marketing and management. This study presents a conceptual framework of the antecedents, episodes and consequences of tourist well-being. Practically, results suggest strategies on how well-being can be used to generate better outcomes for tourism marketers and managers. By mapping what is known in the intersection between positive psychology and tourist well-being, this study identifies existing gaps and opportunities for future research in this area.     

Destination image and tourist loyalty: A meta-analysis

Extant literature is inconclusive on the linkage between destination image and tourist loyalty, due to the multi-dimensional nature of the two concepts. The present study attempts to draw some informative conclusions about the relationship through a meta-analysis. A research framework was proposed in which 14 hypotheses were developed. A total of 66 independent studies were synthesized and analyzed. The findings reveal that the impact of destination image on tourist loyalty is significant, with varying degrees. Specifically, overall image has the greatest impact on tourist loyalty, followed by affective image and cognitive image. Cognitive–affective joint image fails to demonstrate a stable impact on tourist loyalty. Of the three levels of tourist loyalty, destination image has the greatest impact on composite loyalty, and then on attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty, successively. The findings are discussed in light of their theoretical and practical implications for destination marketing and management.     

Domestic tourists to Elmina Castle,Ghana: motivation,tourism impacts,place attachment,and satisfaction

Abstract

Current research on dark tourism lacks an in-depth investigation of the relationships between the various psychological factors that influence tourist satisfaction. Using the cognitive-affective-behavior system, this paper evaluates a theoretical model that postulates relationships between four constructs, namely: motivation, perceptions of tourism impacts, place attachment, and satisfaction. The study extends the tourism literature on cultural sustainability by showing the psychological connections of domestic tourists to a dark heritage site, and the implications for perceptions of tourism impacts on this heritage. Based on a sample of 414 domestic tourists at a dark heritage site in Elmina, Ghana, PLS-SEM confirmed several inter-relationships among the four constructs. Motivation had a positive relationship with perceptions of positive and negative tourism impacts, suggesting that the tourists who were more motivated to visit the site for cultural/learning experiences were also more inclined to perceive both positive and negative tourism impacts. Implications for dark tourism and how heritage site management can influence tourists’ perceptions of impacts are offered.     

Recent research in tourist behaviour

The study of tourist behaviour has become an active and significant contributor in the overall analysis of tourism. This paper considers recent research work at James Cook University, an institution whose researchers have had a long interest in tourist behaviour topics. A review of a number of recent research projects in tourist behaviour by the Australian research team is provided and the value of four integrating concepts linking this research is specified. The four concepts highlighted are the travel career ladder which is an approach to tourist motivation, cognitive steps and mindfulness, which are conceptual organisers of how people think and process information and social situations which provides an integrative view of key factors to consider when describing social behaviour. The paper concludes by highlighting some recent commentary on tourist behaviour trends by prominent tourism analysts noting that the specific stream of tourist behaviour studies reported in this article do not fully support the general trends noted by the commentators. The potential value of tourist behaviour studies as a benchmark for understanding tourism futures is noted     

Propensity to Shop: Identifying Who Shops Til They Drop

Tourist shopping expenditure is a vital ingredient which contributes significantly to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the nation. Past research has stressed the importance of specific demographic variables related to shopping behavior; however, it has not included interactions between or configurations among demographic variables, shopping related psychographics, and shopping destinations. This study seeks to address that gap. The data was collected from a large representative sample of 26,686 Australian domestic short-stay visitors. Binary logistic regression found that demographic variables and their specific interactions were significantly related to tourist shopping behaviors as well as psychographics, trip motivation, and their shopping destination propensity, when tested simultaneously. The findings assist destination marketing managers to identify and target specific domestic short-stay tourist shoppers.     

Present whilst absent: Home and the business tourist gaze

This paper reflects on business travel as a contemporary form of mobility and how it relates to family life. Through qualitative research with business travellers, insights are gained into the role digital technology plays in enabling connections to home and family. The paper argues that technology affords a ‘business tourist gaze’, characterised by a focus on ‘home’ rather than ‘away’ as might be the case for leisure tourists. The paper discusses how, through the business tourist gaze, the boundaries between the everyday and the exotic are dissolved and the business traveller is disconnected from the destination, simultaneously absent whilst present both at the destination and at home. Theoretical understandings of the business tourist experience are offered.     

Tourists’ digital footprint: The spatial patterns of tourist flows in Qingdao,China

Spatial patterns of tourist flows represent the movement of tourists and show differences in tourism resources giving advice for promoting balanced and sustainable tourism development. This paper proposes a novel framework for analyzing these patterns based on tourists' digital footprint data collected from online travel diaries. Based on illustrative case study data from Qingdao (China), the framework, combining traditional quantitative and social network analysis, is able to pinpoint: (1) The influence of distance decay and attractions’ popularity on the spatial patterns of tourist flows; (2) The uneven distribution of the core tourist nodes and the existence of the structural hole phenomenon, which form a network pattern with unbalanced power and intense internal competition; (3) The formation of the core area for tourism along the coastline – as is typical for coastal tourism cities. This difference of tourism resources between coastal and inland areas, thus, remains a challenge for future tourism development in Qingdao.     

Tourist Motivation with Sun and Sand Destinations: Satisfaction and the Wom-Effect

To study the tourist consumption process, the present work suggests a new conceptual framework of tourist motivation. This framework for tourist motivation proposes causal relationships for important constructs in the consumption process: between motivations to travel, tourists' satisfaction, and intentions to communicate with others by word-of-mouth (WOM). A review of current tourism and marketing literature suggests two body-related dimensions (i.e., sun and warmth, fitness and health) and two mind-related dimensions (i.e., culture and nature, escapism). The study tests an instrument to measure the dimensions of tourist motivation. A research model investigates the relevant relationships among the constructs and uses a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. Analysis of 1,222 outbound charter tourists from Norway tests the model. The results confirm that body and mind are useful as a framework to assess tourist motivations. People have many motives for visiting sun and sand destinations. Satisfaction was, as expected, found to impact WOM. However, only mind-related motives affect satisfaction with the destination, and tourists prefer to talk about culture and nature motivations, in particular, to others. These findings are of great importance due to the great influence of WOM in tourism marketing. The findings point to the importance of recognizing the differences in tourist motivation for traveling and what tourists are inclined to tell others when arriving back home.     

Impact of walking speed on tourist carrying capacity: The case of Maiji Mountain Grottoes,China

This paper analyzes the impact of walking speed on tourist carrying capacity. To do so, a combination of simulation experimentation and on-the-ground experiment is suggested to work in a study case, Maiji Mountain Grottoes, China. The simulation findings indicate that walking speed has a negative impact on tourist carrying capacity and the correlation coefficient is 0.64, for the reason that walking takes up more space. The on-the-ground experiment shows that carrying capacity is not a unified limit all over a destination, but changeable temporally and spatially, and its estimation needs to be adjusted according to the minimum area required per tourist and tourist activity. The method applied in this paper and the simulation findings can serve as a methodological tool for further research about tourist carrying capacity where the main activity of tourists is walking while watching.     

Applying experiential marketing in selling tourism dreams

Experiential marketing is effective in influencing tourist behaviour because pleasure tourists travel in pursuit of fantasies and positive emotions. The influences of experiential marketing on tourist behaviour depends on tourist imagery processing (i.e. the mental system involved in processing experiential stimuli). This theme has recently attracted the attention of tourism academics, but it lacks guidance for researchers to navigate the dense, complex literature. Hence, this paper aims to provide a theoretically based review of imagery processing research in tourism. The systematic quantitative literature review method is applied to select and analyse 70 relevant papers published in the period from 1997 to 2017. In doing so, this review reconciles imagery-related concepts such as mental simulation, consumption vision, narrative transportation, telepresence, imagination, fantasy and memory recall. Moreover, a general framework of tourist behaviour is developed to explain how experiential marketing influences tourist behaviour by means of mental processes. This paper suggests different ways to apply experiential marketing in managing tourist experiences. Also, it highlights the necessity of customising experiential marketing initiatives to target different tourist segments.     

Cultural and structural issues affecting Japanese tourist shopping behaviour

This paper identifies and examines the various cultural issues that affect Japanese tourist shopping. The paper looks beyond the concept of omiyage and at some of the deeper issues that influence Japanese shopping patterns. Apart from looking at cultural issues that influence the tourist, the paper also examines the tripartite relationship between the tourist, tour operators and retailers that service the overseas Japanese tour market. Finally the paper proposes a model to explain how these relationships interact to influence Japanese tourist shopping behaviour.     

免税购物游客感知价值的量表开发与实证检验

游客感知价值源自营销学领域的顾客价值理论,是游客基于感知利得与利失的权衡对旅游产品或旅游服务的总体评价,已成为旅游企业稳固竞争优势的新动源。现阶段,国内外免税购物市场竞争局势日渐激烈,免税购物游客感知价值研究能为免税店管理方提供科学的运营管理依据。文章以有消费经历的免税购物游客为研究对象,研究区域为三亚国际免税城,运用SPSS 22.0和AMOS 17.0软件对正式调研所获得的324份有效样本数据进行实证分析。在梳理游客感知价值测量相关文献的基础上,严格遵循量表开发的规范步骤(确定构念范围、发展初始测项、纯化初始测项、预调研、正式调研、探索性因子分析、验证性因子分析、信效度检验),开发了包含6个维度24个测项的免税购物游客感知价值量表,6个维度分别为感知环境价值、感知成本价值、感知管理价值、感知功能价值、感知服务价值、感知声誉价值,并通过构建结构方程模型检验了量表的稳定性。最后,总结了研究的理论贡献与管理启示。     

对旅游社会学理论体系研究的认识——兼评国外旅游社会学研究动态(下)

本文是一篇文献综述与理论归纳类文章。文章的第一部分展示了旅游社会学在国外的开展状况 ;综合评述了主要的思想流派、理论观点、学术著作以及代表人物 ,具体包括旅游社会学研究的发展演进观、新迪尔凯姆学说、冲突批评理论、功能学派、韦伯主义、形式主义 现象学和民族方法学派 ,以及符号互动主义等 7种理论流派。文章的第二部分尝试性地建构了旅游社会学研究的理论体系 ;内容包括旅游活动主体类型、旅游系统与发展范式、主客交往、旅游吸引系统特征、旅游影响与社会文化变迁及现代化 ,以及旅游现象的两重性等旅游社会学研究对象的 6大基本属性与范畴。文章对旅游社会学研究的方法、手段和视角也作了简要的讨论     

Integrating the tourist gaze with the social servicescape: Implications for creating memorable theme park experiences

This research examines how the social servicescape-directed gaze (i.e., perceptions of similarity, appearance, and behavior of other customers) influences theme park visitors’ affective states and experiences. A quantitative, survey-based research design was adopted with a total of 561 theme park patrons participating in the study. Results of structural equation modeling analyses reveal that similarity and behavior positively affect visitors’ feelings of arousal and curiosity, which in turn contribute to memorable theme park experiences. Other visitors’ appearances, however, are not a significant predictor of affect/experience. From a theory standpoint, this research represents a first attempt to study the tourist gaze at theme parks and makes a unique contribution by integrating the three dimensions of the social servicescape with the theoretical lens of the tourist gaze. Practically, this research provides suggestions for theme park management to create more memorable experiences by leveraging the social servicescape-directed gaze among visitors.     

Gender and tourist experiences: assessing women's shared meanings for Beatrix Potter

As a social construct, tourism is premised upon inter-relationships between various producers and consumers. Within this system, gender differences may influence how tourist sites are interpreted and the symbolic associations visitors make with places. Adopting Johnson's (1986) circuits of culture framework and focusing primarily upon women visitors, this paper assesses meanings of Beatrix Potter inspired tourism in the English Lake District. Qualitative evidence highlights how women in particular conjoined an interest in Potter with the tourist visit to mediate other attitudes and values. Such links with non-tourist social practises were usually derived from associations with childhood and family life. The paper also considers how shopping and souvenir purchases helped to perpetuate and redefine this value system. Tourism occurs within a context of larger social-cultural structures and practices. In developing a more complete understanding of such aspects of tourism systems, gender constructs merit increased attention.