Testing a model of effective interpretation to boost the heritage tourism experience: a case study in Macao

While the impact of tour guides’ interpretation on tourism experience is well acknowledged, little research has been conducted on the production of effective interpretation by tour guides. In this study, effective interpretation is defined as producing a positive outcome on tourists’ knowledge and understanding of the visited heritage site, feelings and emotion, satisfaction and likelihood of visiting other relevant nearby heritage sites. Based on a literature review, a conceptual model of effective interpretation consisting of four propositions was formulated and examined by empirical on-site research in the World Cultural Heritage Site in Macau. The empirical findings support the four propositions and the applicability of the model for effective interpretation in Macao. The research was conducted in two phases: on-site guide evaluation and a linked tourist survey. The target market was mainland Chinese visitors. The results revealed the influence of four factors on effective interpretation, namely, heritage and tourist information knowledge, service attitude, communication competence and emotional intelligence. Special attention is given to the use of humor, provocation and emotional sensitivity. Future research should further investigate tourists’ emotion management and the applicability of this model to other tour guides’ heritage interpretation, at different types of site and in different regions.     

基于地方情感的旅游目的地选择模型建构研究

旅游目的地选择模型建构的研究多数以微观经济学、认知心理学与市场营销学等为基础理论,较少从个体与地方感情连结的视角探讨游客旅游目的地选择决策行为。文章以旅游目的地选择为研究主轴概念,结合地方情感概念中的旅游目的地意象和地方依恋,根据研究文献梳理结果、基础理论界定模型建构的路径变量与逻辑框架,进而提出基于地方情感的旅游目的地选择模型及模型过程步骤。文章建构模型表明,游客旅游目的地选择始于旅游目的地意象的形成,随着整体认知意象的深化,游客对旅游目的地将产生地方认同感,再通过选择决策行为选择意向的旅游目的地从事旅游活动,通过对旅游目的地旅游体验的功能满足产生依赖感,最终形成对旅游目的地的地方依恋感。研究成果对于旅游目的地选择具有交叉研究的创新价值,对于旅游目的地市场战略规划实践活动而言具有参照价值。     

How would the contextual features of a destination function together with individual factors to enhance tourists’ intention toward ST in Taiwan?

Abstract

Slow travel (ST), which emphasizes deeper experiences via slower transportation modes, has been promoted as an alternative to current practice and a more sustainable form of tourism. With lower GHG emissions being a national environmental goal in Taiwan, ST concepts have been garnering attention. The relationship between the environments of destinations and pro-environmental behavior of tourists has attracted relatively little academic attention. To remedy this, the current research establishes a fairly complete model for incorporating factors at the contextual level into the individual determinants useful in encouraging ST. The goal of this research is to understand how certain predictors directly and interactively influence the choices of tourists toward ST. This study collected 508 validly filled surveys addressing 13 industrial tourist destinations, and applied Hierarchical Linear and Nonlinear Modeling (HLM) analyses. In addition to the individual-level factors, including perceived benefits of tourism experiences and ages of tourists, the design of onsite tourism programs at the contextual level was one of the most influential drivers to encourage visitors’ ST intentions. Included in this research are the insights into how to promote ST and corresponding suggestions for tourism operations within the context of sustainable tourism and destination management.     

Memory and forgetfulness in tourism crisis research

Even though academic attention has been paid on the tourism-memory nexus, the concept of forgetfulness in tourism has been largely overlooked and remains unexplored. The aim of this research note is to introduce the concept of forgetfulness alongside memory within tourism scholarship to discuss the way in which it may be integrated with future research. In so doing, the discussion focused on a tourist crisis context as tourists’ post-crisis behaviour often reflects forgetfulness as evidenced by their travel resumption patterns. Overall, by linking the concepts of forgetfulness and tourism, this research note contributes to knowledge advancement on tourism crises by shifting attention away from risk perceptions towards an understanding of the cognitive and emotional processes influencing tourist behaviour. The research note also illuminates understanding of how crises are forgotten; hence, contributes to the improvement of crisis management strategies. The research note concludes by proposing an agenda for future research.     

Tourists’ happiness: are there smart tourism technology effects?

The purpose of this study is to develop a research model demonstrating tourists’ value-seeking processes through the tourism services and travel experiences of a destination. The model suggests that tourist happiness is assessed by tourists’ perceived experiences, which are formed by two motivational values: smart tourism technology (STT) and destination value. Despite a large quantity of research attention on destination tourism, the relation between tourists’ destination experience and STT has been less enthusiastically studied. Therefore, this study proposes to test an integrated model with attributes of STTs and destination values that contribute to tourists’ life happiness. The results of this study, from a survey of 191 foreign tourists in Seoul, South Korea, indicate that tourists are likely to put more value on what they perceived from their destination travel experiences than what they perceived from their experiences with STT services when they evaluate their overall happiness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

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.     

虚拟集群式旅游供应链模型构建研究

文章基于旅游供应链理论研究动态与现代信息技术发展态势,提出以信息拉动式为特征的在线旅游供应链(e-tourism supply chain)的理念。从集群式供应链视角,分析了虚拟集群式旅游供应链建立的动因,构建了虚拟集群式旅游供应链理论模型。文章通过创新旅游供应链研究视角,借鉴产业集群与供应链管理耦合研究理论,试图在赛博空间(Cyberspace)里,构建起虚拟集群式旅游供应链的理论框架,可分成4个部分:(1)旅游者信息链,是围绕着每个旅游者需求信息的一条"信息拉动式供应链",在此基础上形成旅游企业旅游服务大规模定制链;(2)旅游服务定制链,旅游企业在以"旅游者"为中心的信息链上提供即时响应、即时采购、即时生产、即时销售的敏捷制造服务,同业性旅游企业合作服务于旅游者;(3)信息共享平台,包括旅游者需求汇集、统计、分流平台,旅游企业沟通平台和旅游评价平台;(4)专业化辅助企业,具有弹性专精的优势,缓解大规模标准通用化服务提供和市场的定制化随机要求(stochastic demand)之间的矛盾,满足了旅游者对定制化旅游服务需求。     

Tourists' memories,sensory impressions and loyalty: In loco and post-visit study in Southwest Portugal

This study aims to offer some insights on the contribution of sensory diversity as perceived by tourists to memorable destination experiences and to explore the connection between long-term memory of sensory impressions and destination loyalty. The vital role of the sensory dimension of tourist experiences is stressed by current tourism research and supported by a multidisciplinary view on the role of the five external senses in human perception, memory, and behavior. While the marketing management approach highlights the importance of considering multisensory information in the process of facilitating positive and memorable destination experiences, there is a lack of empirical research to validate the theoretical literature. A two-step exploratory study was conducted in loco and six months after tourists' visits to Southwest Portugal. The findings suggest that perceived richer sensory tourist experiences may have a significant role in the long-term memory of individuals’ experiences, encouraging favorable tourist behavior towards destinations.     

旅游企业社会责任对目的地形象及游客忠诚的影响研究

在旅游市场竞争日趋激烈的背景下,由旅游企业经营所引发的社会责任问题受到广泛关注,但学界关于旅游企业社会责任的影响研究还不够系统和深入.文章将旅游企业社会责任划分为6个方面,将目的地形象划分为认知形象和情感形象两个方面,并构建了旅游企业社会责任对目的地形象及游客忠诚的影响模型.实证研究表明,旅游企业社会责任在目的地形象及游客忠诚形成中发挥非常重要的作用,其中,经济责任、环境责任、游客责任、员工责任和法律责任对认知形象有正向影响,游客责任、员工责任和慈善责任对情感形象有正向影响;认知形象和情感形象不仅对游客忠诚产生直接影响,而且通过游客满意对游客忠诚产生间接作用.相比认知形象,情感形象对游客满意和忠诚的影响作用更大.     

儿童旅游认知的探索性研究

儿童参与的旅游,无论是"以乐为中心"的家庭旅游模式,抑或"以儿童为中心"的亲子旅游模式,均具有鲜明的成人主义性质。文章试图从儿童的视角/声音对儿童旅游认知进行探索性研究,核心命题聚焦儿童如何定义旅游,旅游与游戏/玩有什么区别,旅游之于儿童的价值和意义是什么,旅游的"儿童版本"与"成人版本"之间存在哪些差异。研究方法采用结构化的妈妈语式访谈法,研究案例地为南京市红山森林动物园和玄武湖公园,研究对象主要为4岁以上、12岁以下儿童(幼儿园和小学阶段儿童)。研究结果显示:(1)"小小人类"远超成人的想象,多数儿童能够通过空间、速度、数量、比较、因果、抽象、逻辑以及感觉、情感类语言来描述旅游、认知旅游",旅游感"十足。(2)从家庭环境、学校环境变换到旅游环境,儿童旅游认知呈现出4个鲜明的主题,分别是旅游与"玩"、旅游与"爸爸妈妈"、旅游与"学习""、喜欢"与"不喜欢"。(3)旅游是比"玩""更好玩"的游戏,是和爸爸妈妈一起、离开家、去外面不一样的地方、开心尽情地玩。理解旅游的"儿童版本"将会丰富旅游学的研究内容,同样有助于回答旅游的"成人版本"。儿童研究具有趣味性,研究者需要具有童心。妈妈语式访谈法是研究早期、中期儿童相对有效的方法,但需严格遵循儿童研究伦理和实施要领。     

A broader social identity comes with stronger face consciousness: The effect of identity breadth on deviant tourist behavior among Chinese outbound tourists

Deviant tourist behavior (DTB) among Chinese outbound tourists has sparked concerns that such behavior not only exposes destinations to various negative impacts but also damages the international image of China. Hence, it is necessary to explore how to reduce such behavior. Social identity cues are an effective inhibitor of DTB; however, previous research has focused on the influence of the interdependent and interactive nature of social identities on DTB, neglecting the inclusive nature of social identities. To fill this gap, the current study focuses on how Chinese outbound tourists’ identity breadth affects their deviant behavior in international tourism contexts. In Study 1, we examine a distinctive feature of international tourism contexts and find that tourists have high face consciousness. Second, we propose and document that Chinese outbound tourists primed with a broad (vs. narrow) identity develop higher face consciousness and a lower intention to engage in deviant behavior (Studies 1 and 2), with face consciousness mediating this process (Study 3). Finally, Study 4 finds that the number of fellow tourists with the same identity moderates this effect. The influence of identity breadth on DTB is manifest when there are few in-group members present. Our findings provide meaningful practical and theoretical value regarding how to reduce tourists’ deviant behavior through identity-related cues.     

身体现象学视角下徒步旅游者Flow体验的生成与意义

近年来,在人文社会科学研究"身体转向"的背景下,微观身体逐渐成为窥探旅游体验的关键视角。文章基于身体现象学,构建了旅游者心流(Flow)体验生成与意义分析框架,利用参与式观察、深入访谈、感官民族志等方法对稻城亚丁徒步旅游者进行实证分析,研究发现:(1)徒步旅游者的旅游世界"知觉场"形成源于外部环境对其身体感觉、运动通道、多感官知觉等具身体验的不断刺激;(2)作为"具身-认知"的过程,徒步旅游者Flow体验生成源于技能与挑战的平衡,且主客互动推动旅游者获得新的认知体验;(3)徒步旅游者Flow体验的意义蕴含在具身实践的身体知觉与特定的社会情境之中,并通过主体知觉意识、情感体验、价值判别呈现;(4)Flow体验状态意味着幸福情绪的获得,最终给予真实自我和真实世界的价值判断。研究尝试从身体现象学视角出发,对体验领域的Flow体验进行研究,是对旅游体验研究话题扩展的有益尝试。     

旅游意象图:基于游客感知的旅游景区规划新设想

受启发于"城市意象"理念和图论学说,文章从游客感知出发,提出"旅游意象图"的旅游景区规划设想,认为旅游意象的基本要素包括旅游道路、旅游节点、旅游边界、旅游标识和旅游区域5个方面,旅游意象图的构建过程可分解为旅游意象点→旅游意象线→旅游意象链→旅游意象面→旅游意象图5个基本步骤,指出可从资源类旅游意象、产品类旅游意象、市场类旅游意象3个层面确定具体的旅游意象,并分析了旅游意象调研的4大基本方法:传统问卷调查、绘制心智地图、旅游意象游戏法和旅游意象访谈法。     

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.     

Bringing the past to life: Co-creating tourism experiences in historic house tourist attractions

This ethnographic study concentrates on the co-creation of experiential value between the tourist and tour guide in a single historic tourism site; Huntingdon Castle, Ireland. Built upon the principles of service dominant logic, the research explores how storytelling acts as an engagement platform and value enhancing strategic resource. In doing so, it impels the value co-creation journey and shapes the tourist's experience. Observation is coupled with qualitative interviews to capture the dual perspective of both guides and tourists. Findings exhibit the co-creation process through the performance of stories; how and when people derive pleasure (value); the influencing aspects of the environment or place; and guide/tourist perspectives on how they feel and think during the experience. The research contributes by taking a practical operational view of how co-creation occurs. It goes beyond the guide's perspective and exhibits the importance of co-creation of lived experience in the story enhanced tourism experience framework.     

Tourist expertise and pre-travel value co-creation: Task-related processes and beyond

Our knowledge of how tourists could co-create value in the pre-travel stage is limited. This should be particularly worrying for tourism providers, as they could gain competitive advantage by improving their understanding of these processes and responding accordingly. Based on service-dominant logic, this study explores this gap in research by identifying three value co-creation processes that occur before a trip (travel organization, information seeking, and mental time travel) and examining the contribution of tourist expertise on each of these processes. Although previous studies tend to assimilate co-creation with “tasks,” this study focuses on mental time travel, which is the only pre-travel value co-creation process that contributes value to the consumer without involving costs. An empirical study with 984 French and Spanish tourists was conducted, the results of which corroborate the particular salience of expertise predicted by service-dominant logic.     

何为“表演”?——西方旅游表演转向理论溯源、内涵解析及启示

自20世纪90年代起,西方主流旅游研究中呈现出"表演转向"。历经近30年的发展,这一转向至今仍方兴未艾。"performance"(表演)作为一个具有强有力启发意义的隐喻,为西方旅游体验研究的深入推进提供了一条新路径。但国内学者对这一转向关注甚少,甚至对"表演"的理解还停留在通俗层面上。造成这种现状的根本原因在于英文"performance"一词与中文对应词"表演"在各自语言体系中存在着较大的含义差别。理解英文世界中"表演"隐喻的内涵,还需追根溯源,向西方旅游表演转向的理论基础寻求答案。文章对performance一词进行词源考察,探究不同语言环境中"表演"的含义及人文社科学术领域中"表演"的内涵,并且对西方旅游研究中表演转向的理论基础及发展历程进行了梳理,进而提炼出西方旅游表演转向的核心特点。文章最后指出西方旅游表演转向对未来旅游体验研究所给予的启示:第一,国内学界应该寻找一个替代性词语来表达performance在中文语境中部分失效的含义,以弥合语言体系转换所造成的裂隙。第二,表演转向中的温和模式和激进模式并不是替代关系,旅游体验研究不必在二者中选择其一作为立场。第三,旅游体验研究应面向过程,而不是结果。第四,旅游体验研究应面向关系,而不是元素。第五,旅游体验研究方法需要新的突破和尝试。     

Segmentation by recreation experience in island-based tourism: a case study of Taiwan's Liuqiu Island

This study expands the profile characteristics of island-based tourists by assessing recreation experiences. In so doing, it aims to elucidate the market segmentation of island-based tourists by assessing the recreation experiences of tourists at Liuqiu Island in Taiwan. A total of 481 useable questionnaires were obtained and analyzed. The analytical results indicate that tourists can be segmented into four clusters according to their recreation experiences: multi-experience recreationists, aestheticists, hedonists and knowledge seekers. These four different tourist segments performed significantly differently in terms of environmentally responsible behavior (ERB). The market segmentation introduced in this study can be helpful for elucidating tourist experiences and ERB implementation. Understanding tourism experience preferences will help managers develop marketing strategies and design tourism products to meet tourists’ needs. This study's findings could be used to provide different strategies for different segments of tourists. To help manage natural resources, managers should design their environmental programs to encourage different segments of tourists to participate in ERBs. We provide valuable managerial implications for the sustainable development of island-based tourism.     

Tourism experiences,visitability and heritage resources in Saint Louis,Senegal

This paper studies heritage tourism experiences in the postcolonial World Heritage Site of Saint Louis, Senegal. Based on fieldwork and archival research, it shows the complexity and discrepancy linked with heritage presentation and design from the experiential realities encountered on the ground. The argument put forward is that colonial heritage, although it is simplified and controlled to meet specific tourist expectations by official authorities, appears to be dynamic, performative and subject to multiple interpretations from visitors, tourist guides and local residents. It further suggests that social and economic conditions of the communities living in the site affect the heritage space and shape vicariously or directly tourists’ experiences, despite professionals’ efforts of keeping the heritage visible in certain ways. The article extends its discussion to adjacent topics of power and gender issues, demonstrating how heritage tourism in postcolonial African context is intimately intertwined with the changing everyday realities of the communities.     

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.