Performing the “post-secular” in Santiago de Compostela

Current debates on and theorizations of (post)secularism lack sustained discussions of the role of pilgrimage tourism, spiritual journeys and sacred places. This article is a theoretically informed and empirically based study that explores contemporary pilgrimage tourism as an arena where ‘post-secular’ praxis and discourse fuse. It identifies the multiple ways in which the ‘post-secular’ is performed through pilgrimage tourism, viz. construction of identities, journeys of becoming and performativity as instances of mobile place making. Contemporary pilgrimage tourism to Santiago de Compostela is polyvalent. Pilgrimages cannot be read off as unambiguously religious, secular or post-secular. Pilgrimage tourism spaces are open-ended such that place identity and meaning are being continuously reworked.     

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” – Christmas Holidays in a Tropical Destination

Originally a Christian festival to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas is now a major secular festival celebrated in numerous Christian and non-Christian countries. It is also a major holiday period that from a destination perspective offers an opportunity to attract significant numbers of visitors. The aim of this paper is to explore issues related to developing a Christmas-themed holiday product in a destination that has not previously used the festive nature of Christmas as a major destination pull factor. This paper finds that while its religious significance has waned, the celebration of Christmas remains an important tradition reflected in the expectation that Christmas symbols and activities are present at holiday destinations. The paper also finds that the development of a Christmas product needs to include an authentic “Christmas feel” that is able to be created by street and shop decorations such as Christmas lights and trees, nativity scenes and Santa Claus, as well as Christmas carols and the availability of special foods associated with Christmas.     

Spirituality,Fan Culture,and the Music of Jerry Joseph & the Jackmormons

This article presents findings from a qualitative study with passionate fans of the rock and roll band, Jerry Joseph & the Jackmormons. The study looked at how fan involvement in the music scene enhanced quality of life through the ability to access a personal sense of spirituality. While the majority of participants (87%) had been raised in religious households, most of those (93%) had intentionally abandoned religious affiliation only to come to embrace a language of spirituality and religion to describe their attraction to the music. This study fills a gap by exploring how aspects of spiritual language and sensations can be embraced in a secular context after departure from a formal religious upbringing.     

Motives for a secular pilgrimage to the Gallipoli battlefields

Pilgrimage is a journey to a non-substitutable site embodying the highly valued, the deeply meaningful, or a source of core identity for the traveller. Secular pilgrimage is an important yet under-researched sector of the tourism industry. Where the motives for religious pilgrimage are well documented, little is known of the motives for secular pilgrimages. This paper presents the results of an empirical investigation of one case of secular pilgrimage, the journey of Australians and New Zealanders to the Gallipoli battlefields in Turkey. Five distinct motives for visits to the pilgrimage site are identified – spiritual, nationalistic, family pilgrimage, friendship and travel motives – and differences in their importance noted across seven visitor groups. These motives share some commonality with the motives for religious pilgrimage, and conversely, with the motives for leisure tourism; yet, other motives are unique to the secular pilgrimage. Suggestions for future research on secular pilgrimage are provided.     

京沪高铁对主要站点旅游流时空分布影响

交通是影响旅游流时空分布的最主要因素之一。文章以京沪高铁线为例,运用旅游场理论和社会网络分析方法,比较京沪高铁开通前后9个主要高铁站点的旅游流时空分布变化特征。研究表明:高铁开通强化了北京、上海和南京等重要旅游客源地和目的地的领先地位,呈现出高铁旅游流的"马太效应";高铁促使靠近重要旅游目的地的竞争处于劣势的旅游地旅游流呈现"过道效应";高铁促使空间距离临近的两个城市的旅游流呈现"同城效应";高铁提升原本缺乏区位优势的旅游资源型站点的可进入性,同时对区域核心城市的交通依赖程度明显下降;高铁的时空压缩效应缩短旅途时间,可实现小长假的远程旅游,双休日的中程旅游,一定程度上避免了中远程旅游对黄金周的依赖,从而缓解出游时间的集中性,提高了旅游质量。     

Pilgrimage and religious tourism in Islam

In recent years scholars have engaged with explorations that tried to account for the pilgrimage vs. tourism conundrum. Among the ideas that emerged was defining an integrative category under the heading of religious tourism. This paper makes the argument that from a purely religious perspective pilgrimage in Islam is nothing but the one mentioned in the Quran; namely the Hajj. Therefore, it is argued, that all other religious Muslim motivated journeys constitute a different category which may be termed; religious tourism. By reframing and reconceptualizing Muslim pilgrimage which is ‘beyond the officially sacred’ as religious tourism the paper accounts for a plethora of religious voyages and the entire spectrum of Muslim religious voyages.     

Social capital and entrepreneurial mobility in early-stage tourism development: A case from rural China

Early-stage tourism destinations often seek external capital to establish, invest and participate in tourism businesses at various levels. Entrepreneurial mobility at these destinations is thus an important phenomenon in need of further exploration both empirically and theoretically. This study uses an early-stage destination in rural China as a case to explore the experiences of inward entrepreneurial migrants in tourism development and associates their mobility, geographical and organisational, with dimensions of social capital, including institutional support, community openness and personal social networks. Primary interview data were collected from inward tourism entrepreneurs, key local community members and government officials related to tourism projects. The findings suggest that the inward entrepreneurs had unrealistic perceptions of the tourism industry before they entered. Entrepreneurial mobility in tourism development is influenced by all three social capital dimensions. The integration with the locality enhances the potential contribution of entrepreneurial mobility to tourism development.     

Tourism development at the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ,Jordan: residents' perspectives

Several studies have discussed the impacts of mass tourism on destinations and how local residents perceive such impacts. However, only a few studies have looked specifically at how sacred destinations and their residents are affected by religious tourism. This research note explores tourism's impacts on the Baptismal Site of Jesus on the eastern side of the Jordan River in Jordan. The study also examines the perceptions of residents about these impacts. Interviews were conducted with staff at the site, including the manager, the conservationist and locals working in conservation and tour guiding. Findings revealed that religious tourism helped create a source of income in the area and enhanced the local infrastructure. Tourism was also perceived to help restore and protect archeological remains. There is a general positive perception of tourism development; no negative sociocultural impacts were perceived. As well, it appears that residents have little concern for negative social impacts because their economic benefits outweigh any concerns, and there is minimal contact between tourists and residents.     

Residents' Perceived Impacts of Gaming Development in Macau: Social Representation Perspectives

The purpose of the research was to provide a better understanding of local residents' perceived impacts of gaming tourism based on social representations theory. An empirical investigation was conducted in Macau, where gaming tourism is under explosive development. Through a survey of 396 local residents, two social representation groups were identified: “Ambivalents” and “Rationalists”. The two social representation groups presented significantly different perceptions and attitudes toward the impacts of gaming tourism in Macau. The three most significant factors that influenced residents' representations were personal income, perceptions of gaming tourism being able to increase personal/family income, and satisfaction with government performance in managing gaming tourism development. The research provides theoretical implications for future gaming impact studies and also practical ones for local governments and stakeholders in the tourism industry in Macau and other gaming destinations.     

Examining the relationship between social capital and community residents' perceived resilience in tourism destinations

A thorough understanding of the influencing factors and mechanisms of community resilience in tourism destinations is vital not only for recovery after disasters but also for strengthening the adaptive capacity of community residents to manage sudden change. This study aims to investigate the roles of bonding, bridging, and linking social capital in enhancing community residents' perceived resilience in tourism destinations. Based on data derived from a survey of 691 residents of China's Dujiangyan scenic areas and Jiuzhai Valley National Park, this study used structural equation modeling to test the relationship between community residents' perceived social capital and resilience in tourism destinations. The findings suggest that the three types of social capital have significantly positive effects on community residents' perceived resilience in tourism destinations. In China's centralized political system, linking social capital is the most important type of social capital in community disaster recovery. An interaction effect between bonding, bridging, and linking social capital is found. This study's results help managers and community residents cultivate social capital, improve community resilience and maintain sustainable tourism development.     

Decisive factors in medical tourism destination choice: A case study of Isfahan,Iran and fertility treatments

The birth of the first in vitro fertilized baby, followed by further advances in the field of assisted reproductive technology (ART) has made this technology one of the most attractive tourism innovations among the different categories of medical tourism. In addition, factors such as legal, moral, religious and ethical issues play important roles in choosing reproductive tourism destinations. The aim of this study was to examine the factors influencing destination choice in infertile couples who referred to the Isfahan Fertility and Infertility Center in Isfahan, Iran. Field evaluation was carried out based on a documentary survey and questionnaire completed by interviewers. Among a target group of 80 infertile couples, 67 were interviewed. The majority of participants in this study were Muslim couples who traveled for reproductive tourism to Iran. It can be concluded that religious affinity may have paramount importance in reproductive medical tourism for Muslim infertile couples.     

Gastronomy: a phenomenon of cultural expressionism and an aesthetic for living

The culture of a society is manifest in a variety of ways, in its art, language and literature, music, and in all forms of religious and secular ritual. Cultural expression, however, whilst being a powerful factor in the definition and development of the human species, is not always vital in the utilitarian sense. Rather, it can be regarded as a group of activities usually referred to as “art for living”, which provides substance, meaning, continuity and value to living in a particular social grouping. This paper argues that gastronomy, the selection, preparation, presentation and participation with culinary and gastronomic aspects of food, falls squarely into this category of ‘fine art activity’ since most societies seek to differentiate their food preparation into either the purely utilitarian or the highly developed and stylised methods of presentation and participation which, in many instances, are not designed for consumption merely, but also for status, ritualistic and aesthetic purposes.     

In Search of Competitive Advantage in Caribbean Tourism Websites

Abstract

The intense competitiveness of the global tourism industry increasingly demands the most effective possible marketing for individual destinations. The strategic management literature suggests that competitive advantage can be gained through capitalizing on a destination's unique attributes. In marketing terms, this translates as “competitive positioning.” To what extent do the individual destinations of the Caribbean seek to competitively position themselves as unique attractions among their many competitors? This paper returns to the concept of the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) as a practical and straightforward framework for analyzing distinctiveness in tourism marketing. An exploratory analysis of web-based marketing in the Caribbean suggests widespread failure of destinations to market themselves in terms of unique competitive positioning. The analysis also reveals several exemplary models of the USP concept in tourism marketing, suggesting opportunities for greater regional cooperation through stronger individual destination identities.     

Religious Tourist Motivation in Buddhist Mountain: The Case from China

This study aims to develop a measurement scale assessing motivations of tourists traveling to religious sites within the Chinese context. Deploying quantitative methods in relation to Putuo Buddhist Mountain – one of the most visited Buddhist destinations in China, this study depicts 20 motivation attributes. Accordingly, the scale dimensionality of tourist motivation in the context of religious tourism is first revealed by an exploratory factor analysis and further validated by a confirmatory factor analysis. Consequently, three resultant constructs entailing religious belief, cultural enjoyment, and mental relaxation exhibit acceptable levels of reliability. Construct validity, including discriminant and convergent validity, is satisfactorily established. Furthermore, this study examines how tourists’ past experience and degree of religious belief affect the derived constructs that define the motivations of religious tourist. The results suggest that past experience significantly affects tourists’ motivation to achieve religious beliefs, while degree of tourist religious belief has a great impact on both their motivation to achieve religious beliefs and mental relaxation. Finally, according to motivation theory, religious beliefs and mental relaxation can be classified as push factors, while cultural enjoyment and one item belonging to religious beliefs are pull factors.     

Developments in the European inclusive travel business

This article emphasizes the importance of transport to the tourism industry and in particular the part played by air transport in international travel. Air travel accounts for 60%–70% of all international journeys to and from the UK. The inclusive tours (IT) sector - largely developed in the UK and FR Germany - represents an increasing proportion of UK airline passengers. Larger aircraft are being brought into use by UK airlines to cope with increasing demand. The increasing tendency to long-haul travel favours the scheduled airlines but charter services can cater for small traffic flows and thus benefit new destinations.     

A social media analysis of travel preferences and attitudes,before and during Covid-19

Covid-19 created tremendous uncertainty in the tourism industry; in this study, we use social media data to explore differences in the preferences and attitudes of tourism consumers, both before and during the pandemic. We use natural language processing (NLP) techniques to analyze over one million Reddit posts on travel-related subreddits. We investigate the preference for city and nature-oriented tourism in selected destinations; the analysis demonstrates that nature tourism gained interest during Covid-19 in destinations with rich nature resources, whereas city tourism lost interest in destinations known for city tourism. We also classify Reddit authors into two categories: conservation and openness, according to a psychological theory of personal values, and show that this is predictive, with openness associated with positive travel sentiment and low risk awareness. This points to the potential for value-based segmentation of travel consumers based on theoretically-grounded NLP analysis of social media data.     

强关系网络移动社交平台旅游分享行为研究——基于微信与QQ用户的资料分析

在移动社交媒体时代,旅游分享已成为当下旅游者的行为偏好,越来越多的旅游者选择微信、QQ这类强关系移动社交平台进行分享。国内学界对移动社交平台旅游分享行为的研究随之日增,但少有文章从理论上系统地揭示旅游分享行为的过程与动因。文章采用扎根理论研究方法,构建反映强关系网络移动社交平台的旅游分享动态过程理论模型。将旅游分享行为动态过程划分为分享前因、分享实现与分享结果3个阶段,总结每个阶段的行为特征、表现方式及阶段之间的演替规律,并探讨这类旅游分享行为的特点与动因。研究发现,在旅游分享动机上,强关系移动社交平台强调情感联结与互动,从而旅游者受到与个体相关动机的影响更为显著;分享内容上,平台的强关系特性与熟人社交促使旅游者尽量避免分享负面信息;分享结果上,强关系移动社交平台的旅游分享能调节旅游者行中、行后的体验水平,并形成兼具网络时空拓展性与熟人圈规模局限性的口碑传播。     

Commercial hospitality in destination experiences: McDonald's and tourists' consumption of space

This paper examines the multiple roles that globalised, branded spaces of hospitality can play in tourists' experiences in destinations. It is argued that previous studies have not considered adequately how such commercial hospitality services and spaces interact with and influence tourists' experiences of places. Drawing on a netnographic analysis of online discussions of McDonald's, this study explores how tourists perceive these hospitality venues, and how they use them to engage with foreign destinations and negotiate the ‘work of tourism’. The data show how tourists (re)construct their identities through reflections on consuming McDonald's. The data also demonstrate that tourists critically evaluate discourses of authenticity and the (in)authenticity of consuming McDonald's. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for the marketing and management of McDonald's and similar branded commercial hospitality venues, the marketing and management of destinations, and it outlines avenues for further research.     

Motivations for sharing tourism experiences through social media

Social media are increasingly relevant as part of tourism practices affecting destinations and businesses. Based on a destination-specific survey, this study charts and explores summer holidaymakers' motivations for social media contributions and their willingness to share content through various social media. The findings in relation to the much-visited destination of Mallorca offer an understanding of the adoption of tourist social media in technologically-advanced markets with high levels of ICT use. The results provide insights into such motivational factors as personal and community-related benefits as well as the social capital that influences a sharing of user-generated content. The study reveals a dominance of visual content, along with the relevance of altruistic and community-related motivations and motivational differences between types of content creators. Sharing practices through social media appear as valuable articulations of sociability and emotional support, while having lesser relevance as information sources for holiday decision-making. The paper additionally shows the extent to which old and new technologies overlap and complement each other.     

世俗的朝圣:西藏旅游体验研究

西藏正成为越来越重要的旅游目的地,然而对西藏旅游体验具体的微观研究却相对缺乏。文章通过对西藏旅游者的深度访谈,来探讨他们的旅游体验。游客往往将西藏想象成一种神圣之地,西藏的旅游体验对于游客而言也具有神圣的意义,主要体现在游客对自然、宗教和藏族人的体验上。西藏纯净的自然可以净化游客的心灵,让他们联想到远离喧嚣的生活。西藏的寺庙和朝拜的信徒营造出一种虔诚而神圣的氛围,让游客内心备受震动。看到藏民的执着和虔诚,游客心中会产生一种满足感。而藏民淳朴的为人处世的方式更让游客感到一种自己社会所缺失了的真实。西藏的神圣不在于游客对其宗教的信仰上,而在于其社会文化意义,西藏提供了游客日常生活所缺失的自然与人文,满足了游客的精神需求。西藏的旅游体验与其说是宗教朝圣,毋宁说是一种世俗的朝圣。