Impact of Customer Orientation and ICT Use on the Perceived Performance of Rural Tourism Enterprises

This article sets out to highlight the importance of adopting customer orientation and information and communications technology (ICT) in tourism service delivery if the rural tourism sector is to succeed. A model is proposed and validated which encompasses the effects of customer orientation adoption and the use of ICT on the rural tourism sector, taking into account the enterprises’ financial results, improvements to the rural destination, and the more personal, intangible impact on the owner-manager. The major contributions of this work are in finding that customer orientation adoption that contributes to ICT use, and that both ICT use and customer orientation adoption contribute to better outcomes from rural tourism activity.     

Going green: the adoption of environmental initiatives in Michigan's lodging sector

The greening of tourism activities continues to receive attention from industry members and academics. This paper assesses familiarity with, perceived benefits of and adoption levels of various environmental initiatives within the accommodation sector in Michigan, USA, based on 217 responses to an online survey of lodging providers. Variations in familiarity with various green schemes, as well as in perceived benefits of the adoption of green business practices, were assessed across property characteristics, including type, ownership, location and size. The existence of a written environmental policy was associated with higher levels of adoption of green practices for less than half of these practices; fewer than anticipated. Interesting differences in the practices adopted between smaller, independent and larger chain properties emerged, with the smaller independents more likely to engage in community-oriented activities and use local and/or organic products. The almost complete implementation of the proper disposal of hazardous waste contrasted with minimal use of keycards to control power use. The findings have implications for the promotion of green initiatives to the lodging sector, particularly in terms of which agency or organization could best deliver this messaging. Potential synergies between the findings and the award-winning tourism marketing campaign, Pure MI, are discussed.     

Examination of the adoption of augmented reality: a VAM approach

ABSTRACT

Despite the growing importance and popularity of augmented reality (AR) technologies in hospitality and tourism, little research to identify the degree of user adoption, particularly in the business travel sector, has been conducted. Based on a questionnaire administered to 161 stakeholders attending two international conferences in Hong Kong, user experiences and adoption intention were examined and analyzed through structural equation modeling. Adoption was explored using a value-based adoption model. AR adoption is affected by its perceived value to which the benefits of usefulness and enjoyment contribute, along with newly identified components of technicality and captivating inputs.     

The impact of regulation and ownership structure on market orientation in the tourism industry in China

The nature of market orientation and its impact on business performance and other related outcomes have been extensively researched in a range of service contexts including tourism. In contrast, our understanding of the factors that influence market orientation is still limited. This paper reports on a study that contributes to our understanding of the determinants of market orientation within the tourism sector by focusing specifically on the role played by two strategically important variables, namely government regulation and ownership structure. The study analyses two national samples of hotels and travel services in the rapidly growing tourism industry in China. The hotel sector has been open to foreign investment for two decades and has a diversified ownership structure, whereas the travel services sector has been dominated by government owned firms and relatively closed to foreign investment. The results of the survey suggest that of the two new antecedents, only government regulation has a significant role to play in driving market orientation. Internally, access to appropriate managerial and marketing capabilities was identified as a significant predictor of the development of market orientation.     

Sustainability practices of family firms: the interplay between family ownership and long-term orientation

Sustainability practices are critical for family firms, as they relate directly to the continuity of the business and relationships with important stakeholders, such as members of the local community. Nevertheless, not all family firms wish to adopt sustainability practices. To examine this, we draw upon the socioemotional wealth perspective in order to develop a theoretical model of the direct negative effects of family ownership on the adoption of sustainability practices. We also suggest moderating effects of long-term orientation (LTO) on this link. Our model is tested on a sample of 195 family firms in the tourism and hospitality sector. The results support our hypothesis that family ownership negatively influences the adoption of sustainability practices. Additionally, LTO moderates the relationship between family ownership and the adoption of sustainability practices, such that family owners with a high LTO are more likely to adopt this particular practice compared to those with a low LTO.     

Disruptive innovation,innovation adoption and incumbent market value: The case of Airbnb

The purpose of this article is to analyze the market value impact of actions taken in response to disruptive innovation; specifically, actions that incumbent lodging firms implement to adopt the innovation of peer-to-peer trading-based accommodation rental. As incumbent firms need to device strategies to accommodate the disruption stemming from a new entrant with a disruptive business model, we analyze the differentiated efforts of four incumbent lodging firms to compete with the peer-to-peer lodging firm Airbnb. This study is the first to quantify the effects of innovation on incumbent tourism firms challenged by a disruptive entrant. It finds that adoption speeds, that is first vs. late adoption, make a difference as the former are awarded a significant increase in market value.     

Ken-Air Tours—The volatile tourism market in Singapore

Tourism is a key industry in the economy and it is expected to play a key role in the service industry sector. Because of the growing adoption of information technology in the world, the tourism industry too, has been in utilizing the information highway to redefine and deliver the tourism product to the end consumers.Because of the shift towards information technology, the travel agent's traditional roles as an intermediary has come under severe pressure and is currently challenged to its existence. The demise of Ken-Air Tours, a large player in the travel agency industry in Singapore, is the focus of this report and the impact of the emphasis on technology is investigated and discussed.     

Human resources development for tourism in rural communities: A case study of Kerala

Considering the relative backwardness of rural areas, human resources development (HRD) seems to have a very important role in rural tourism development. However, tourism HRD in rural communities is affected by a number of drawbacks. In the absence of any significant private sector presence, especially during initial stages, the public sector need to take the initiative in equipping and empowering the local community to meaningfully participate in tourism. This paper suggests a multi‐pronged approach to educate and empower the members of the host community, the tourism industry personnel, and visitors to facilitate rural tourism development, which is sustainability‐oriented and can help localize the benefits. The experience of Kerala provides an example of how the public sector initiated HRD activities could contribute to the development of rural tourism, especially in engendering local entrepreneurial endeavors and giving tourism a higher profile. The Kerala experience represents some of the issues in HRD for rural tourism and suggests potential strategies for other rural communities involved in tourism development.     

Augmented Reality Smart Glasses (ARSG) visitor adoption in cultural tourism

ABSTRACT

A number of organizations in cultural tourism have started to explore the use of augmented reality (AR) to enhance visitor experience. While many studies have been conducted to identify adoption criteria of mobile AR applications, research exploring the adoption of augmented reality smart glasses (ARSG) is still limited. This paper contributes to the technology adoption literature by investigating attributes of visitor adoption of ARSG in cultural tourism. Twenty-eight interviews were conducted with visitors to a UK art gallery, where they experienced an ARSG application. Findings inform an ARSG adoption framework that integrates societal impact, perceived benefits, perceived attributes of innovation, and visitor resistance as the main themes of ARSG adoption in cultural tourism.     

Rural tourism development in Lithuania (2003–2010) — A quantitative analysis

The objectives of the Rural Development Programme for Lithuania for the period 2007 to 2013 are to: (a) preserve natural and cultural heritage objects, (b) support complementary activity in the rural areas, and (c) generate rural tourism as an economic sector. The aim of this study is to identify current trends specific to the Lithuanian rural tourism sector and propose potential means of development. This study focuses on an inter-county assessment of rural tourism flows within Lithuania by the means of an index decomposition analysis. Consequently, an analysis was undertaken covering factors including the number of the rural tourism farmsteads, spatial distribution of those farmsteads, and capacity, an amended Defert Index, and duration of stay effects. The analysis suggests that the Lithuanian rural tourism sector was negatively affected by the 2008 recession. Indeed, the impacts exhibited relatively high elasticity of demand for rural tourism. Hence, there is a need for the further development of appropriate marketing and information dissemination strategies aimed at both middle and lower income consumers.     

Segmentation by motivation for rural tourism activities in The Gambia

In The Gambia, as in many other African countries, rural areas rarely profit from the turnover earned in the country's tourism sector. In academic and political literature, however, rural tourism is frequently identified as a diversification strategy that may trigger local economic development in remote communities. To promote rural tourism development, further knowledge is required to understand why tourists are motivated to engage in distinct tourism market segments. In this study, survey data was collected from 450 tourists in The Gambia using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was constructed to identify the key characteristics and motivations of tourists so that the significant market segments could be categorized and the (latent) tourist demand for rural tourism activities could be gauged. This study identified four distinct segments of tourists in The Gambia: heritage & nature seekers, multi-experiences seekers, multi-experiences & beach seekers, and sun & beach seekers. Drawing on our key findings, we conclude by identifying a development path that could diversify Gambia's tourism sector. The development path would also include event-based rural tourism initiatives that align with the motivations of the identified market segments and may additionally benefit rural communities by reducing economic leakage rates.     

Tourists’ virtual reality adoption: an exploratory study from Lake District National Park

Virtual reality (VR) transforms the way destinations market their tourism offerings. To fully understand the opportunities of a technology, initial research is required assessing user adoption. However, empirical research and particularly exploratory qualitative research on VR adoption in tourism context is limited. Therefore, this study uses an exploratory interview approach with 35 participants near Lake District National Park, UK. Using thematic analysis, this study explores factors that influence VR adoption as well as the influencing factors on tourists’ behavioural intentions. This study adds to academia by qualitatively exploring the adoption of a scarcely researched technology within the tourism context.     

Factors affecting E-Marketing adoption and implementation in tourism firms: An empirical investigation of Egyptian small tourism organisations

This study aims to analyze the different factors affecting the adoption of Electronic Marketing (E-Marketing) by Egyptian small tourism organizations. The study validates a conceptual framework extending TAM and IDT models to explain E-marketing adoption utilising a quantitative approach, in which data is collected based on survey strategy through questionnaires to address different levels of the study. Advanced statistical tools and SEM were used to analyze the collected data. The findings indicated that Egyptian tourism organizations internal and external factors have a great impact on the adoption of E-Marketing by such organizations. The findings also confirmed that IT theories (namely TAM and IDT) are valid in illustrating E-Marketing adoption by Egyptian tourism organizations. The results reinforce the importance of environmental factors on E-Marketing adoption and add to the extremely limited number of empirical studies that has been conducted to investigate E-Marketing adoption in developing countries.     

Residents’ attitudes and the adoption of pro-tourism behaviours: The case of developing island countries

This study considers both economic and non-economic factors to examine how residents perceive tourism and ultimately develop pro-tourism behaviour. The concepts used in model creation are Social Exchange Theory and the Theory of Reasoned Action. Based on data derived from 418 residents of the Cape Verde Islands (off the coast of western Africa) a structural equation model is used to test how perceived personal benefits and general economic conditions shape perceptions of tourism, and in turn how these perceptions determine pro-tourism behaviour. Additionally, the concept of welcoming behaviour is included in the model. It is found the perceived tourism impacts mediate between welcoming and pro-tourism behaviours.     

The Environmental Attitudes and Practices of Family Businesses in the Rural Tourism and Hospitality Sectors

This paper examines the environmental goals of rural, family owned/operated tourism business with a view to evaluating their conservation ethic and commitment to sustainable tourism. From a survey of 198 family businesses in Western Australia, it was determined that about half of them had implemented a range of sustainable management practices. Future research needs are identified, and management ideas are suggested which could encourage the adoption of sustainable tourism practices in rural family businesses.     

The perceived value of the rural tourism stay and its effect on rural tourist behaviour

Rural tourism (RT) constitutes a valuable tool for the sustainable development of rural areas. This paper explores issues of tourist motivation in RT and develops a specially tailored perceived value (PV) scale for the RT sector. Special attention is given to links between tourists’ motivations, perceived values, and the service and actions by RT providers leading to the sustainability of rural life, culture, economies and environment. Following a literature review, qualitative and quantitative surveys developed a 27-item scale, exploring both the functional and the affective components of the scale. Seven research hypotheses were then tested by quantitative survey work. It was proven that the activities undertaken by the rural enterprise leading to greater rural sustainability are reflected in the PV scale through higher levels of satisfaction and loyalty of the rural tourists. The results of the study reveal that the RT sector has specific characteristics that tourists greatly value and that other specialist tourist markets cannot offer, as highlighted in the contribution made by RT enterprises to rural sustainability. This knowledge can help tailor product development and destination design to suit specific demands and influence communication and promotional activities.     

Market orientation in mid-range service,urban hotels: How to apply the MKTOR instrument

This work analyses market orientation (MO) within hotels and its impact on business performance (marketing, economic and financial results). To achieve this, after developing a measurement scale based on MKTOR, a survey targeting senior managers of four-star hotels located in Spain was carried out. The data of the study show that the more market-oriented hotels know their customers and competitors better and that they are more effective at coordinating their actions. This in turn generates a positive and direct effect on customer satisfaction, on the value added for them and on the perceived image of the hotel. Also, perceptions about technological turbulence positively affect the adoption of the MO philosophy and, therefore, its consequences in terms of company performance. Finally, the effects of MO on results would be overvalued if the perception of the impact of the crisis is not taken into account.     

Females' perspectives on tourism's impact and their employment in the sector: The case of Petra,Jordan.

This study aims to explore the trend towards gender equality in the tourism sector of the Petra region, Jordan. To do so, a mixed methods design including a questionnaire and in-depth interviews was employed for female residents of rural and urban areas in the region. The results show that women do not have favourable view of tourism's economic impacts and that several barriers exist to their employment in the tourism sector. The findings' implications and future studies are addressed.     

The missing component in the ‘greening’ of tourism: The environmental performance of the self-catering accommodation sector

The self-catering accommodation sector has witnessed substantial growth for well over 20 years due to a range of factors, including increases in second home and holiday home ownership and property investment. During this time, debate has arisen over the impact of such ‘holiday homes’ on local communities and rural economies. However, today they are also a substantial element of tourism supply in the self-catering accommodation category in many rural areas, which has largely been ignored and particularly so in the context of the ‘greening’ of tourism and environmental performance (EP) of tourism enterprises. This article aims to address this paucity of attention. First, the background to the ‘greening’ of tourism and tourism enterprises is established and the significance of this to self-catering accommodation. Subsequently, the main findings of a survey into the EP of self-catering accommodation undertaken in the Lake District National Park are discussed.     

Second-home owners' intention to purchase nature-based tourism activity products – A Norwegian case study

Tourism is acknowledged to be an important business sector in rural areas. This paper argues that second-home owners constitute an important market segment for businesses that offer nature-based tourism activities. Previous research has shown that a number of factors influence tourist behaviour. This study examined how motivation and demographic variables affect second-home owners' intention to purchase three different types of activity products: learning, adventure, and hunting products. We found substantial variations in the purchase intentions for these products among second-home owners. These intentions were influenced by push and pull motivations, age, income and educational level. Second-home owners with a high intention of purchasing nature-based tourism activity products tend to be young, high-income, and socially oriented risk takers. Businesses offering nature-based tourism activity products should use a combination of demographic and psychographic variables when they segment the second-home market.