基于游客视角的生态旅游认证支付意愿实证分析

生态旅游认证产品能否取得商业上的成功取决于旅游消费者对它的接受程度,本文通过对浙江省4个景区的实地调查,分析了旅游消费者对生态旅游认证产品的认知和态度,并运用假设评价方法评估了旅游消费者对生态旅游认证产品的支付意愿.研究结果表明,旅游消费者对生态旅游认证产品的选择意愿受性别、教育程度、月收入、旅游频率、旅游方式、过去一年旅游花费、对生态旅游进行专门的认证并授予生态资格证书的赞同程度,以及未认证生态旅游产品的价格等因素的影响而差别显著;计算所得的支付意原表明,平均而言,旅游消费者愿意支付比未认证的生态旅游产品高35.1%的价格来购买通过认证的生态旅游产品.     

Preferences and willingness to pay for bird-watching tour and interpretive services using a choice experiment

This study identifies the activity and experience preferences of bird-watchers and estimates their willingness to pay (WTP) for bird-watching-related ecotourism tour and interpretive services using choice experiment methods. An on site survey was conducted of tourists attending the Cheonsuman International Birdwatching Fair, South Korea's most popular bird-watching festival. Results indicate that respondents are more likely to prefer intermediate length bird-watching courses, interpretive opportunities and services, seeing special birds, and lower admission fees. WTP for bird-watching interpretive services is approximately $10.14 per person per visit, whereas WTP for additional diversity in bird species is $12.64. Courses with bus tours are preferred to courses with no bus tours, but long tours are not preferred. WTP is $14.24 for an intermediate length tour and $8.09 for a longer tour compared with the no bus tour. It appears that as the levels of service attributes associated with the bird-watching ecotourism resources increase, the respondents are more satisfied and willing to pay more for bird-watching tours than if the levels of service attributes are lower.     

How do environmental knowledge,environmental sensitivity,and place attachment affect environmentally responsible behavior? An integrated approach for sustainable island tourism

Previous studies have explored tourists’ environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) from the perspectives of individual commitment, attractiveness, and involvement. This study approaches from the standpoint of environmental knowledge (EK); it probes tourists’ behavior to facilitate sustainable tourism development, and constructs a sustainable island tourism development model by integrating EK, environmental sensitivity, place attachment, and ERB. Four hundred and seventy seven tourists visiting the Penghu Islands, Taiwan, were surveyed. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the relationships among the variables and the mediating effects. Results indicate that higher levels of tourists’ EK about the Penghu Islands are associated with stronger environmental sensitivity; environmental sensitivity which tourists have for island tourism is positively associated with place attachment. The extent of place attachment of Penghu as perceived by tourists is also positively associated with stronger ERB. When tourists are highly sensitive to the attraction, they are more likely to exhibit ERB. Environmental sensitivity and place attachment were found to exert significant effects in mediating the relationships between EK and ERB. This study pioneers the integration of all four constructs in a sustainable tourism behavior model for tourists to island tourism destinations. Suggestions for marketing and implementation of sustainable tourism, and their managerial implications are proposed.     

World Heritage Site: an effective brand for an archeological site?

This study examines whether branding archeological sites as World Heritage Sites (WHSs) will affect potential demand patterns. The study's research objectives are (1) to explore awareness of potential visitors to the brand and logo of WHS; (2) to investigate the effects of the designation on tourists' future behaviors; (3) to clarify whether the number of sites designated (3 versus 10) has an effect on future visitation patterns; and (4) to reveal possible relationships between the perception of a site as part of the world heritage and UNESCO's designation. This study commenced with an exploratory stage followed by administration of structured questionnaires focusing on inbound tourists to Caesarea, an archeological historical site in Israel. The findings indicate only moderate visitor awareness of the WHS title and logo, implying low brand equity as well as insignificant effects on future demand patterns. Moreover, visitors' willingness to pay (WTP) as well as overall motivation to visit seems to decline following the designation. However, visitors' perception of the site as world heritage is positively linked to WTP. The number of designated sites within a particular state is found to have a positive effect on future demand patterns. Based on the findings specific recommendations are offered.     

Service Quality and Customers' Willingness to Pay More for Travel Services

Abstract

Increasingly sophisticated and price conscious consumers have combined with forces of globalisation and electronic commerce to create new challenges for travel agents. To maintain efficiency and profitability, travel agents need to know the links between service quality and customers' willingness to pay more (WTPM). These links are explored through measuring customer perceptions (N = 122) of service quality, loyalty and WTPM. The results revealed firstly that while many consumers were able to pay more for travel services, fewer were willing to do so. Secondly, overall service quality and its underlying dimensions were positively associated with selected WTPM items. These findings support and extend previous studies on the service quality-behavioural intentions link and provide practical implications for the travel industry in relation to a differentiated price and service strategy.     

Non-Asian Tourists' preferred attributes: a choice experiment

This study aims to identify non-Asian tourists' preferred attributes for a one-day Seoul tour package by examining theoretical frameworks of values related to tourists' heterogeneity of choice behaviors. The study applies a choice experiment (CE) to capture the systematic heterogeneity of preferences in a non-Asian tourist group and examines whether different individuals' value orientations relate to heterogeneous preferences regarding the tour packages. The CE derives the preferences as a form of marginal willingness to pay (MWTP), a pecuniary value for additional units of the attributes. Historical/cultural destinations displayed the highest MWTP value of all tour sites in Seoul, which was estimated to be $74.32. The results also show that a respondent who emphasizes “money and enjoyment” and “authenticity” values is more likely to choose a tour package that includes more opportunities to visit shopping and historical/cultural sites, respectively.     

Assessing the effect of coastal park's attributes on its entrance fee charges: a hedonic approach

In this paper, we investigate the effect of the recognized nature-and-activity-based attributes on the level of park's admission fee charges using a panel data of 29 coastal recreation parks in Dalian city of China. A total of seven different Hedonic pricing model specifications are used in the estimating process. The results indicate that a numerous attributes have statistically significant effects (α?≤?0.10) on the level of park admission fee charges. In terms of the economic valuation, marine sightseeing results in the highest value of marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) of $6.4 as its quality rank improves to a designated higher level. As expected that the park congestion has a negative effect on the MWTP (?In this paper, we investigate the effect of the recognized nature-and-activity-based attributes on the level of park's admission fee charges using a panel data of 29 coastal recreation parks in Dalian city of China. A total of seven different Hedonic pricing model specifications are used in the estimating process. The results indicate that a numerous attributes have statistically significant effects (α?≤?0.10) on the level of park admission fee charges. In terms of the economic valuation, marine sightseeing results in the highest value of marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) of $6.4 as its quality rank improves to a designated higher level. As expected that the park congestion has a negative effect on the MWTP (?$0.47) and overall park's rankings have a positive effect ($0.05) on park's MWTP. However, many recreation activities accommodated by the park sites exhibit a relatively weak effect on the park entrance fee charges. One possible reason is perhaps owing to the single admission package fee policy adopted by the park management.     

Change in Consumer Patronage and Willingness to Pay at Different Levels of Service Attributes in Restaurants: A Study in India

Consumer patronage and consumer willingness to pay are the two most important criteria for business development. The current study investigates the changing preferences of consumers in a developing economy with respect to three major service attributes from the restaurant industry: food quality, service, and ambiance. Results indicated that consumers give greater preference to quality over service in high-end restaurants and prefer service compared with ambiance in quick-service restaurants. Food quality was found to have strong interaction effect with two other variables. When food quality was improved from low to high, consumer preferences for ambiance and service tended to change accordingly in the same direction, but not necessarily at the same level. Thus, restaurateurs have a strategic advantage when they choose high quality food and an appropriate level of service or ambiance. Consumer expectations are significantly different for high-end, full-service restaurants and quick-service restaurants in service attributes.     

Determinants of convention attendees’ willingness to pay for additional programs

Abstract

Prior to developing addition programs in a convention a convention organizer wants to identify attendees’ willingness to participate in the program. One of the most important factors which lead to their participation is price. Therefore, this study aimed to explore factors which can determine convention participants’ willingness to pay for additional programs. According to the results of binary logistic regression analysis, attendees who wanted to expand their knowledge and socialization showed a willingness to pay for extra programs for post-conference local tours. Based on investigating the significance level (p?<?.001) women showed a higher intention to pay for the extra programs than men did. Those who had their own company had a higher intention to pay for the 1:1 private golf lesson with a former LPGA star than did those who were working for a private company or others. Results of this study help development of additional programs in a convention.     

Virtual MICE Promotion

ABSTRACT

Hong Kong and Singapore have been the leading cities for hosting MICE in Asia. Every year, thousands of events are held, both by local and international organizers, in Singapore and Hong Kong. Despite the significant economic contributions of MICE to a local economy, hospitality and tourism literature seldom analyzes Hong Kong and Singapore in terms of MICE promotion. The absence of published articles is particularly true in the context of virtual promotion. This paper reports on a study examining events promotion in the Web sites of the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Singapore Tourism Board. The paper also analyzes the performance of the official Web sites in providing useful site selection information to event organizers and meeting planners. Empirical results of a content-based analysis indicate that the information provided by the Singaporean Web site is more comprehensive than its Hong Kong counterpart.     

Understanding tourist preferences for travel packages: a conjoint analysis approach

Tourism is one of the most economically vital sectors in India, contributing around 122 billion USD to the Gross Domestic Product in the recent past. Tour packages are extensively used by travel agencies to attract potential clients and expand their customer base. Hence, the design of tour packages which cater to a wide range of tourists poses to be a challenging problem for travel agencies. The purpose of this study is to identify the important factors while deciding a particular travel package, as recognised by Indian tourists. A comprehensive survey was conducted to collect the data and a conjoint analysis method was used to analyse consumer preferences and marginal willingness to pay depending on their socio-economic backgrounds. The present findings and implications will help tour operators to understand their customers better and thereby design more appealing travel packages.     

Structural Relationships among Health Benefits,Price Comparison,and Price Fairness

This study was to identify the crucial role of health benefits and price fairness in an environmentally friendly restaurant context and to examine relationships among health benefits, price comparison, and price fairness. Valid responses were collected from 421 visitors to an environmentally friendly restaurant. Results showed that the hypothesized model fits the data well but revealed no moderating effect of belief in health benefits on perceptions of price fairness. Therefore, an alternative model was proposed to reflect the findings from the original model that was statistically superior. Findings contribute to advancing knowledge about perceptions of price fairness in environmentally friendly dining services.