Domestic tourism expenditures: The non-linear effects of length of stay and travel party size

The independent variables length of stay and travel party size are recurrent determinants of expenditures in micro level tourism studies. In most of this research it has been tacitly assumed that these variables have linear effects on tourism spending. This study, situated in a Norwegian setting, questions this approach by explicitly scrutinizing the possible non-linearities in the relationships between tourism expenditures on the one hand and length of stay and travel party size on the other. The empirical results suggest a positive but diminishing relationship between length of stay and tourism expenditures and a convex (i.e. U) relationship between travel party size and tourism expenditures. The study also considers how a number of other key independent variables affect tourism expenditures. Finally, some managerial and scholarly implications are discussed.     

Pattern mining in tourist attraction visits through association rule learning on Bluetooth tracking data: A case study of Ghent,Belgium

The rapid evolution of information and positioning technologies, and their increasing adoption in tourism management practices allows for new and challenging research avenues. This paper presents an empirical case study on the mining of association rules in tourist attraction visits, registered for 15 days by the Bluetooth tracking methodology. This way, this paper aims to be a methodological contribution to the field of spatiotemporal tourism behavior research by demonstrating the potential of ad-hoc sensing networks in the non-participatory measurement of small-scale movements. An extensive filtering procedure is followed by an exploratory analysis, analyzing the discovered associations for different visitor segments and additionally visualizing them in ‘visit pattern maps’. Despite the limited duration of the tracking period, we were able to discover interesting associations and further identified a tendency of visitors to rarely combine visits in the center with visits outside of the city center. We conclude by discussing both the potential of the employed methodology as well as its further issues.     

Efficiency of travel agencies: A case study of Alicante,Spain

This study analyses the relative efficiency of 22 travel agencies of similar characteristics based in Alicante (Spain). This analysis is carried out using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique and smoothed bootstrap. Following the analysis, possible lines of action that the agencies can take in order to improve their efficiency in the future are provided. Finally, using the Mann Whitney U Test, the relationship, or lack thereof, between the levels of efficiency of these agencies and their ownership type, location and level of experience is examined.     

Factors Affecting Tourist Satisfaction with Theatrical Performances: A Case Study of The Romance of the Song Dynasty in Hangzhou,China

This study, for the first time, attempts to explore the factors affecting tourist satisfaction with a theatrical performance, The Romance of the Song Dynasty in Hangzhou, China. Four factors are identified to have affected tourist satisfaction: “Performance,” “Venue Environment,” “Service,” and “Stage Facilities.” These theatrical performance factors are examined to assess the relative influence on tourist overall satisfaction. Tourists have the highest satisfaction with “Stage Facilities” among all factors; however, “Service” is the most influential predictor of tourist overall satisfaction. Tourist demographic and travel characteristics toward these four theatrical performance factors reveal several significant differences. Discussions and implications are provided to theater operators to improve tourist satisfaction with theatrical performance not only in Hangzhou, but also in the whole of China.     

An exploration of actor-network theory and social affordance for the development of a tourist attraction: A case study of a Jimmy-related theme park,Taiwan

Differing from traditional approaches to exploring issues of tourist attractions, this article uses insights from actor-network theory (ANT) and social affordance to conceptually examine how a postmodern tourist attraction, a Jimmy-themed tourist attraction, has been enacted into a relational network composed of multiple and heterogeneous actors/actants. The paper scrutinizes the transformation of figures from Jimmy-related picture books into the social affordances of a postmodern tourist attraction via evolving mechanisms of ordering and valuating attractiveness to connect human and nonhuman actors into a relational web. It is argued that the conceptual application of ANT and social affordance may help provide an alternative approach to the study of tourist attractions.     

Development pattern,classification and evaluation of the tourism academic community in China in the last ten years: From the perspective of big data of articles of tourism academic journals

This paper reports findings from an analysis of 16,024 tourism academic papers published in the major social science journals of China as ranked by CSSCI, and CSCD for the period from 2003 to 2012. The paper ranks and evaluates journals and institutions related to tourism, and thus shows a comprehensive picture of the academic development in China's tourism academic research over the decade. The paper used a creative research method to discover the phenomenon and issues not previously identified by researchers and provides a sound foundation to further develop big data analytical methods in China.     

Impact evaluation for tourism development using the fuzzy set model: A case study of Kyongju,Korea

The Community tourism industry is primarily influenced by facilities, traffic systems, capacity, and development of tourism commodities. To develop tourism industry on a local basis, it is unavoidable to make investments on a large scale. Factor analysis for impact evaluation prior to undertaking of development projects, which this study intends to make, is more reasonable when related to the fuzzy numeric analysis of words or sentences than to a quantitative analysis of measured information. In this study the Euclidean distance method and Zadeh's fuzzy extension principle were used as linguistic approximation to establish the validity of decision‐ making in each factor category of impact degree. Therefore, this study introduces a general concept of Fuzzy theory through literature review of linguistic expressions. This study examined availability of the Fuzzy model in analyzing investment priorities for tourist development and applied it to Kyongju area, which unveiled the priorities for Kyongju tourism future in order of traffic system improvement, early construction of horse‐ racing track now under planning, promotion of Kyongju as tourism special zone to visitors and positive tourism events. In terms of methodology, this study disclosed that Fuzzy Model approach is greatly useful to decision‐making processes in tourist development.     

Tourism development and the tourism area life-cycle model: A case study of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China

The conceptual framework of the Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) has been frequently examined since it was first proposed by Butler in 1980. However, few studies have applied the concept to national parks and other protected areas. This paper examines the applicability of the model to China's Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. In addition, both external and internal factors affecting the park's tourism development as well as the environmental, social, and economic changes of the area are also discussed. Results indicate that the park has experienced the first four stages as described in Butler's 1980 seminal paper [The concept of a tourist area cycle of evolution: Implications for management of resources. Canadian Geographer, 24, 5–12]. Currently, the park is in the consolidation stage. Both governments and the private sector are major players as catalysts for the park's tourism development from one stage to the next. While the local or even regional economy has become increasingly dependent on tourism, the park has also been experiencing noticeable transformation and loss of traditional cultures since its inception in 1982. Finally limitations to the current paper are outlined.