Airport subsidies and domestic inbound tourism in China

Since 2013, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has subsidized small and medium-sized airports. The key objective of this study is to empirically validate the benefits and impacts of airport subsidies in facilitating domestic tourism development. This study contributes to the aviation and tourism literature and offers important insights to policymakers regarding airport subsidies and tourism promotion. The empirical results show that increases in airport subsidies increased airport passenger throughput and indirectly brought more tourists to the cities where airports are located. In addition, the airport subsidy scheme has had a stronger effect in boosting domestic tourist arrivals in inland regions compared with coastal regions. This study empirically finds that the government's airport subsidy scheme for small and medium-sized airports has been effective in supporting aviation and tourism development in ethnic minority areas, poor or remote regions with inconvenient land transportation.     

Meeting the needs of disabled air passengers: Factors that facilitate help from airlines and airports

With the number of impaired air passengers having increased globally, air service providers may have the potential to create a lucrative niche market. However, it is less clear what the service needs of these passengers are as well as providing facilities and services. This paper aims to explore the service needs of impaired air passengers and to identify factors affecting the facilities and services. The results of data from a sample of 180 respondents from among airline, airport and government staff are presented in this research. These results show that the top three items which travellers complained about in relation to airlines are the lack of provision of a user-friendly on-board restroom, wheelchair services and the distance between cabin seats and restroom on board. The results also show that female staff are more likely to be willing to help impaired passengers than male staff. In considering the factors comprising perceived needs, two factors, i.e. “Compensation and improvement schemes” and “Not suitable for taking a flight” appear to have significant effects. The managerial implications are also discussed.     

A Study on the Travel Patterns of Physically Disabled People

The main objective of this paper is to highlight the travel patterns and experiences of people with a physical disability. To understand better the travel needs of people with a physical disability, it is useful to examine how travel patterns differ across demographic variables. The method chosen for the empirical data collection was a self-completed web-based questionnaire, which was answered by a total of 596 physically disabled people. The data obtained were evaluated using frequency, percentage, arithmetic average, t-test, chi-square and factor analysis. The research findings reveal that people with physical disability in different demographics groups differ in their travel patterns.     

Airport stops and flights on small airplanes as inhibitors of tourism-related air travel: A case study

This article discusses the extent to which prospective tourists' concerns about airport stops and flights on small airplanes inhibit air travel to tourist destinations, drawing on data from telephone surveys conducted in the Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas area. Respondents were queried about the extent to which one airport stop, two airport stops, and one airport stop followed by a flight on a small, propeller-powered airplane, respectively, would deter them from flying to a destination 1096 miles (1764 km) away. Findings suggest that marketers of similar destinations in similarly distant markets that are accessible by air only after two airport stops risk having their promotional appeals ignored by roughly half those who would prefer to reach such destinations by air. Moreover, those most concerned about such flight schedules were more likely than other respondents to have high incomes and to use the Internet to obtain vacation or travel information.     

Multiobjective planning for integrated land use and outside‐allied transportation systems in recreational areas

In recent decades, recreational needs have dramatically increased due in part to increased economic prosperity and people becoming more wealthy. As a result, the utilization of recreational resources and the management of recreational areas has become an urgent issue for the government and private authorities. In past studies, the planning or developing of land use for recreational areas almost only dealt with resource planning, and neglected to consider the problems of transportation systems. This resulted in two problems: 1) the supply of recreational resources and recreational needs could not be balanced, which resulted in an overuse of resources; and 2) the outside‐allied transportation service systems and recreational needs were Unbalanced, which resulted in traffic flow problems. This paper focuses on the level of service associated with outside‐allied roads for recreational areas and considers the transportation conditions needed to build a normative model for recreational land use using fuzzy multi‐objective planning. The best balance, should take into account the trade‐offs of various objectives: the flexible constraints of the resources and satisfactory transportation conditions. The optimum solution for developing areas and categories of land use should include these four objectives: a) the maximum satisfaction of recreational needs, b) the maximum amount of resource conservation, c) the maximum economic benefit, and d) the maximum level of service for the outside‐allied transportation systems.     

境外残障旅游与无障碍旅游研究进展与启示

文章围绕残障与旅游、残障旅游市场需求、残障旅游市场供给和无障碍旅游4大研究主题8个研究细类,梳理残障旅游境外研究状况。境外研究总体态势是以残障群体旅游需求为研究重点,围绕残障群体的旅游特点、动机、需求、偏好、决策、体验和出行障碍作诸多有益探索;同时基于残障群体的旅游需求特性,从旅行社、航空运输、住宿、景区4大旅游产业角度,针对性研究解决残障人群出行和旅游参与障碍、提供合理旅游产品和服务的思路和方法。文章最后评述了境外研究的思路、方法与不足,并从研究方法、研究团队构成和近期可以开展的研究领域对国内学者提出建议。     

The effect of airport atmospherics on satisfaction and behavioral intentions: testing the moderating role of perceived safety

International airports have been notable spaces due to their reinforced roles and the increase in the number of users. Nevertheless, there are not many studies on the relationships among the physical environment of the airport, perception of airport safety, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. To fill this gap, this study has attempted to (1) examine the relationships among the physical environment of the airport, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions; (2) discover which element of physical circumstances has an influence on satisfaction; and (3) ascertain perceived airport safety as a moderator between satisfaction and behavioral intentions. The data were collected through wireless channels, using the snowball method. The findings disclosed that facility aesthetics is the strongest component of the physical surroundings of the airport in eliciting satisfaction, and satisfaction has a major impact on behavioral intentions. Despite the invalid moderation effect of perceived airport safety, safety was clarified as a direct driver of satisfaction through additional analysis.     

Causality in direct air services and tourism demand

Unlike income or relative prices, air transport attributes and tourism demand on a given route can be endogenous. Using instrumental variables, this study attempted to account for the circular causality in estimating the effect of direct air service on tourism demand. Although we found evidence of endogeneity, the nature of the circular causation is context-specific; while direct air service can be regarded as an exogenous variable in one direction, it can have an endogenous relationship on the other. Findings emphasise the need to explicate information about the network nature of transportation and its endogenous relations with tourism.     

Perceived Onboard Service Needs of Passengers with Mobility Limitations: An Investigation among Flight Attendants

The purpose of this study is to explore flight attendants' perceptions of the in-flight service needs of passengers with mobility impairments. In addition, this study seeks out flight attendants' recommendations for improving services to passengers with mobility impairments. The existing literature draws attention to the service needs of passengers with disabilities from the customers' perspectives. However, this study aims to understand these service needs from the service provider's perspective. Participants of the study are flight attendants who have extensive in-flight service experience and have served passengers with disabilities. The study finds four types of in-flight needs from people with mobility impairments: (1) the need for help in using in-flight amenities, (2) the need to be treated the same as passengers without any disabilities, (3) the need for individualized services, and (4) the need for effective communication and accurate information. To address these needs, flight attendants suggest that airline managers should provide adequate flight information for people with disabilities and sufficient training to front line airline and airport employees.     

Analysing passenger behaviour towards the catering industry: Implications for airport management

This research note seeks to provide the most detailed analysis yet of passenger behaviour towards the airport catering industry. With the broadest sample to date among similar studies, namely 37,000 passengers surveyed at 8 different airports with 38 explanatory variables, a large number of conclusions have been drawn. The most important of these is that the factors that most influence a passenger's using a catering establishment during his/her stay at an airport are his/her physiological needs and social reasons. However, contrary to what was anticipated a priori, socioeconomic status only has a moderate influence, while having a wide range and variety of foodstuffs on offer does not result in passengers consuming more. It is also observed that low-cost airline passengers consume less than those of traditional airlines, probably due to the stress related to boarding with these types of airlines.     

A review of research into air transport and tourism: Launching the Annals of Tourism Research Curated Collection on Air Transport and Tourism

This paper launches the Curated Collection of Annals of Tourism Research on air transport and tourism. Starting with a structured and historical review of the literature, the paper then discusses an analytical framework based on microeconomics and economic geography tools to highlight the implications of air transport accessibility for tourism development. Moreover, the paper examines the airline – airport – tourism destination authority systemic relationship. By highlighting key features of each stakeholder, a total of 10,554 related intra- and inter-stakeholder possible relationships are identified. A thorough understanding of these relationships may prove of added value to address conflicts, capitalize on synergies and rejuvenate air transport and tourism in the post COVID-19 business environment to the benefit of all involved stakeholders.     

A stochastic cost efficiency analysis of international tourist hotels in Taiwan

The one-stage stochastic frontier approach (SFA) is used in this study to simultaneously estimate cost efficiency scores and factors of cost inefficiency for 66 international tourist hotels in Taiwan during 1997–2006. An SFA model with three outputs and three inputs is defined. The three outputs are room revenue, food and beverage revenue, and other operation revenue while the three inputs are price of labor, price of other operation, and price of food and beverage. This model also takes into account five environmental variables, including dummy variable of the hotels located in non-metropolitan area, dummy variable of chain hotels, the number of tourist guides, the minimum distance from each hotel to Taoyuan international airport and the minimum distance from each hotel to Kaohsiung international airport. Empirical results show that international tourist hotels in Taiwan are on average operating at 91.15% cost efficiency. All nominal variables are transformed into real variables in 1997 prices by GDP deflators. Chain systems, tourist guides, and international transportation can significantly improve the cost efficiency of international tourist hotels in Taiwan.     

Determinants of passenger loyalty in multi-airport regions: Implications for tourism destination

This study examines the drivers of passenger loyalty to the airport in a multi-airport region. For this purpose, partial least squares–structural equation modelling (PLS–SEM) was used to analyse survey data. The findings highlight the role of customer segmentation to define marketing and operational strategies, which should be used to strengthen the loyalty to the airport as well as to contribute to the improvement of the tourism destination image. In addition, this research offers an integrative approach to analyse passenger perceptions and attitudes regarding the airport experience. This integrative approach can also help airport managers to design and implement more effective performance measurement systems, which could be used to transform the airport environment in a tourism experience.     

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.     

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.     

Residents’ perceptions of airport construction impacts: A negativity bias approach

Airports have significant implications for regional and local tourism development, so their impacts need to be assessed. Based on in-depth interviews with local residents, this study examined the effects of an airport development project in Mexico. Negativity bias theory was adopted as a theoretical framework to gain a fuller understanding of host communities' perceptions. In accordance with this theory, even though the economic impacts of the airport's construction are recognised as positive, its environmental and social effects on locals' everyday lives are perceived more negatively. As a result, most locals interviewed do not support the airport project. This is because, in line with negativity bias theory, when perceived negative impacts outweigh positive ones, a holistic evaluation that integrates negative and positive events will ultimately be unfavourable. Practical implications in terms of public consultation, perceived impacts and tourism development are discussed.     

Towards Strategic Intent: Perceptions of disability service provision amongst hotel accommodation managers

The tourism sector globally has become increasingly mindful of how an ageing population is reshaping service provision forms and offerings. This being particularly true of accommodation operations where there is a now a growing recognition of the commercial value for providing market groups with exceptional service. With this in mind, this study sought to ascertain the perceptions of managers in the accommodation sector towards disability service provision with a view to identifying any current service gaps or failings. An inductive, qualitative approach was used with the data collection phase incorporating a series of one on one interviews and a focus group. The in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 managers of hotels deemed to have accessible rooms that complied with the relevant building codes and standards. A focus group comprised 22 managers of hotels located in the Sydney central business district, Australia. Study findings revealed five key themes that had not been previously discussed in the literature. They were: inclusive attitudinal approach; safety; the responsibility of people with a disability to communicate their needs to the hotel; perceptions of accessible rooms by the general public; and operational processes. Related themes that emerged from the data analysis that had previously been aligned with the literature included: legislative responsibility, policy and building codes; disability as a market segment; staff awareness/training; and language, marketing, and promotion information. Implications with respect to management of accessible rooms in the accommodation sector are outlined and further areas of research are proposed.     

The effect of physical environment on passenger delight and satisfaction: Moderating effect of national identity

This study aims to examine the influence of an international airport's physical environment on passengers' delight and satisfaction. This study also aims to assess the moderating role of national identity on the relationship between physical environment and passengers' delight and satisfaction. A convenient sampling technique was used to select the sample. A total of 271 questionnaires distributed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia were used for data analysis. The result from the structural analysis suggests that physical environment in an international airport influences passengers' delight and satisfaction. Moreover, national identity portrayed in airport moderates the relationships between physical environment, passengers' delight and satisfaction. Overall, findings of this study extends the understanding of physical environment, passengers' delight and satisfaction and national identity in the context of an international airport and offer implications for international airport authorities. Discussions and implications for airport practitioners, limitations, and suggestions for future research are also provided.     

Tourism indicators and airports' technical efficiency

The Spanish airports are managed centrally by a government-owned company (AENA). The public investments made in the latest years, airports managers' inability to decide commercial policies and the lack of competition end with more than one under-used airport within an amenity distance. Airports' managerial decisions require considering regional needs. In the first stage, a stochastic frontier analysis is used to estimate airports' technical inefficiency with the inclusion of fixed effects. Tourism indicators related to the location of airports are used in a second stage regression. The results show that airports' geographical location affects efficiency in touristic areas. The type of accommodation becomes a driver of airports' efficiency with positive and negative impact. In non-touristic areas, touristic factors are not relevant.     

Senior Pleasure Tourists: Examination of Their Demography,Travel Experience,and Travel Behavior Upon Visiting the Bangkok Metropolis

The senior travel market has become an increasingly important area of interest to travel agents. This study examines senior travellers based on their travel experience, behavior, and overall experience on visiting Thailand, in terms of their age, marital status, and education. In this study, a sample of 384 senior foreign tourists responded to a survey carried out at the Bangkok International airport. Seniors are shown not to be a uniform conservative market, which has implications for product development. Profiles differed in the priority attached to travel experience factored into health, safety, language, itineraries, and general conditions in connection with travel. Travel behavior of seniors also differs in terms of types of tour, lodging preference, outdoor activity, mode of transportation, type of information used, and people travelled with. Recommendations based on these findings have strategic implications for travel companies and travel organizers.