Internet Adoption by Travel Agents: a Case of Egypt

Current collaborative and rapid developments in tourism and information and communication technologies (ICTs) make it difficult to imagine that tourism existed before ICTs. Communication technology is one main reason for the existence of the Internet. Travel agents (TAs) are among service providers whom their Internet adoption could be the best marketing device for their business and a tool for their competitive advantages. The study explores the Internet adoption of the Egyptian TAs, patterns of usage and perceived benefits and barriers of e‐commerce adoption. It is found that the majority of TAs use the Internet to provide TA's information, find out about customers and competitors. Sales and revenue growth, increasing competitive advantages and marketing activities are the agents’ perceived benefits of adopting e‐commerce. Limited resources, unskilled labour, lack of readiness of public infrastructure and customers are among the main obstacles for not adopting the Internet technologies. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conceptualising Customer‐to‐customer Value Co‐creation in Tourism

The notion that tourists actively co‐create value with organisations is increasingly acknowledged in tourism marketing. Yet, not much is known about the processes in play when customers co‐create value with each other. This conceptual paper offers a theoretical basis for the study of customer‐to‐customer co‐creation in tourism contexts, while debating the epistemological assumptions of value‐related research in tourism. Proposed conceptual framework posits that value is socially constructed and embedded in tourists' social practices. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enhancing Singapore travel agencies' customer loyalty: an empirical investigation of customers' behavioural intentions and zones of tolerance

The services marketing literature focuses on the measurement of service quality and its impact and consequences on businesses. Set in the context of the travel retail agency in Singapore, this study focuses on the relationship between service quality and favourable behavioural intentions. The findings revealed that improving service quality can increase favourable behavioural intentions. However, service improvements that exceed customers' minimum‐service threshold and those that exceed customers' desired‐service level were found to have mixed effect on behavioural intentions. Hence travel agencies must carefully determine the behavioural intentions they wish to foster amongst their various customers and develop service quality strategies in line with the findings of this study. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tourist Word of Mouth and Revisit Intentions to Rural Tourism Destinations: a Case of North Dakota,USA

Destination managers in rural states, like North Dakota, understand the benefits of tourism and, thus, the importance of studying visitors' intentions. This study investigated visitors' perceptions of destination image, value and satisfaction and those variables’ relationship with future behaviors, with a specific focus on their intent to return and make recommendations to others. The results showed that destination image directly affects visitors' perception of value and revisit intentions, and it indirectly affects satisfaction and recommendation intentions. The results also demonstrate how tourism practitioners can apply past models to their destination. The overall findings support the concept that a positive image is important to attracting repeat visitors. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interrelationships of risks faced by third party logistics service providers: A DEMATEL based approach

This paper analyses the interrelationships between risks faced by third party logistics service providers (3PLs) in relation to one of its customers using DEMATEL. Novel analysis of both within and between risk categories and generation of threshold value to prioritize risks generate useful insights. Results show that arms-length relationship between the customer and the 3PLs has strong influence on other risks and there is a need for collaborative relationships between 3PLs and its customers. Moreover, analysis indicates that the 3PLs need to improve internal processes related to quality management, flexibility of its operations and also geographical coverage of their services.     

Examining a hybrid model for e-satisfaction and e-loyalty to e-ticketing on airline websites

In the air transportation industry, web-based marketing has already been widely applied to service frequent customers as well as to attract new ones. The importance of attracting new customers and keeping existing ones loyal to e-ticketing on airline websites is crucial. Accordingly, this study proposes an integrated model for evaluating the effectiveness of airlines' websites from a customer point of view. This model is based on the three perspectives of the marketing mix 4Ps, E-SERVQUAL and Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory. E-marketing and E-SERVQUAL features are divided into three dimensions, specifically information, system and service disconfirmations. The methodology was applied based on Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and was administered to online customers who carry out e-ticketing via an airline website. The results show that customer disconfirmations have a positive significant impact on overall customer e-satisfaction. The significance of this relationship was more considerable in the service dimension of e-marketing, as well as the system dimensions of E-SERVQUAL and e-marketing. Moreover, overall e-satisfaction was found to mediate the relationship between customer disconfirmations and consumer e-loyalty.     

An evaluation of satisfaction levels among Chinese tourists in Vietnam

This paper examines the extent to which Vietnam satisfies the various destination attributes sought by Chinese tourists. The research investigates a number of variables, including socio‐demographics and travel characteristics, and compares the importance that travellers attach to various destination attributes with their associated satisfaction with Vietnam's various tourism products. By investigating the relationship between importance and satisfaction from the perspective of Chinese tourists, the paper makes a contribution to the literature. The findings should provide Vietnamese service providers with insights into the perceptions and satisfaction levels of Chinese tourists. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regional destination image perception of tourists within a winescape context

This study's purpose is to conceptualise a wine regional destination's perceived image, in the process integrating multiple theories such as servicescape, place-based and destination choice. The research (n?=?334 respondents) outlines the conceptualisation of a wine region destination's image in the form of a winescape framework as perceived by visitors. The winescape construct is identified within a framework of eight dimensions for a well-known US wine region. The most important winescape dimension is the natural beauty/geographical setting. The first-time and repeat visit dynamic impacts upon visitors' wine tourism behaviour and perception of the region's winescape. For in-state and out-of-state-based visitors there are pronounced differences in their perception of the region's winescape dimensions. Increasing distance from the destination region is pivotal in the perception of the winescape dimensions. The decision to engage in wine tourism is seemingly impulsive from a timing viewpoint, and the motivations guiding the visitors' behaviour are mainly of a hedonic nature.     

The Effect of Experience Quality on Perceived Value,Satisfaction, Image and Behavioral Intention of Water Park Patrons: New versus Repeat Visitors

This study proposed a conceptual model to examine how customers' perceptions of the quality of experiences influence perceived value, water park image, customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions for first‐time and repeat customers of the water park of the tourism industry. This study finds that the quality of participants' experiences significantly affects perceived value, water park image and customer satisfaction. Moreover, perceived value and water park image exert a direct influence on customer satisfaction, and they also positively affect behavioral intentions. Finally, the impacts on customer satisfaction of experience quality and water park image significantly differ between first‐time and repeat customers. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The formation of the tourist's loyalty to the tourism distribution channel: how does it affect price discounts?

Given that distribution agents who wish to maximize long‐term business profits should not only attract new consumers but also keep them loyal, this study analyses the variables that determine the consumer's loyalty to distribution agents for tourism. Although retailers in the service industry employ price discounts on products to motivate short‐term sales, they often establish promotional policies without considering their effect on the long‐term business results. This paper presents an empirical study of the effect of price promotions on tourists who travelled with a package tour. The results indicate that price discounts do not erode consumer loyalty directly, and that the key to obtaining loyal consumers is to offer package tours that customers perceive as providing high‐quality service. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cultural tourism behaviour and preferences among the live‐performing arts audience: an application of the univorous–omnivorous framework

This study uses the omnivorous–univorous theoretical framework of the arts marketing studies to identify relationships between the live‐performing arts and cultural tourism behaviours and preferences. Patrons of a major performing arts centre were segmented in three groups — sporadic, univores and omnivores — and examined regarding their cultural tourism behaviours and preferences. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences among groups in terms of demographic characteristics, art and culture consumption and cultural tourism behaviour and preferences. Study results add to the body of knowledge of tourism, suggesting that the culture omnivorous consumption behaviour reported in art marketing studies is also relevant to cultural tourism. Results suggest the existence of omnivorous cultural tourists seeking a wide variety of cultural products and experiences. The identification of a group of individuals with little interest and consumption of culture, including cultural travel destinations, also emerges from this study. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Properties of first-time vs. repeat visitors: lessons for marketing Norwegian ski resorts

This paper explores the potential in foreign markets for winter tourism in Norway and discusses the influencing factors explaining why foreign tourists visit and revisit Norway on ski vacations. In a decreasing market, it becomes increasingly important to destination managers and marketers to choose the right marketing strategies and direction. We focus on characteristics that influence and explain why foreign tourists choose to return. More than 3000 respondents from Sweden, Denmark, and Germany were asked for their image of Norwegian ski destinations and criteria for winter vacation selection. We fitted mainly hurdle and quantile regressions to gain consistent and less biased estimates. Stable snow conditions, combining alpine and cross-country skiing, and no fees for the latter are some of Norway's competitive but seldom marketed advantages, and especially towards repeat visitors. Repeaters typically prefer self-catering accommodation and are less price sensitive. Surprisingly, foreign ski tourists are not very interested in other snow-based activities or cultural attractions. Despite repeaters constituting the majority of foreign ski tourists, neither the national development and marketing agency (Innovation Norway) nor local tourist organizations and marketers have a strategy for targeting them. We recommend a shift from profile marketing towards segmented marketing, aimed especially at the repeat-visitor segment.     

The influence of service performance and destination resources on consumer behaviour: a case study of mainland Chinese tourists to Kinmen

This paper draws upon the responses of 603 mainland Chinese tourists in Kinmen and attempts to understand their consumer behavior on the aspects of intentions, preferences, decision‐making process, satisfaction, and willingness to revisit. Variables such as service performance and destination resources that affect visitor's satisfaction are also tested. The findings reflect a ‘myth of mysteriousness’ of mainland Chinese visitors to the destination and suggest that it is essential for the market segmentation to participate in the tourism planning of Kinmen to develop an integrated policy for promotion and marketing, in order to enhance consumers' interest. In addition, this research has implications for tourism planning in Kinmen and provides references for other destinations striving for tourists from mainland China. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring the Moderating Effects of Value Offerings Between Market Orientation and Performance in Tourism Industry

Market orientation as a business strategy has recently been adopted in the travel and tourism industry, as well as other industries, to enhance performance. Value offerings have also emerged as a new research interest within the strategic marketing domain. Based on the theory of strategy–environment fit, this study investigates the relationship between market orientation (i.e. customer and competitor orientations) and performance, and the moderating role of value offerings (i.e. service emphasis and price emphasis), using a sample of 132 Taiwanese travel agencies. The research results obtained from hierarchical regression analyses indicate that only both customer and competitor orientations, but not value offerings, have positive and direct effects on performance. However, the results show that one dimension of value offerings, i.e. service emphasis, has a moderating role in the market orientation‐performance relationship. The managerial implications of these results are also discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The inner struggle of visiting ‘dark tourism’ sites: examining the relationship between perceived constraints and motivations

Numerous conflicting factors impact the tourism decision process especially as it relates to dark tourism, that is, tourism that focuses on mortality. This research examines the relationships among constraints and motivational factors that affect tourists’ decision to visit the Memorial of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre in China. Seven dimensions of constraints were revealed with the most important factor being an interest in other leisure activities. Of the three motivational factors discovered, the obligation the respondents feel to visit the site was discovered to be the most important. The major contribution of this research is its analysis of the relationship between motivations and constraints and the discovery that there are both positive and negative relationships between constraint and motivation factors. The most important finding may be that an increase in curiosity motivation may result in a decrease in disinterest constraints but an increase in the strength of the constraint of Chinese cultural perspectives on death and taboos. The findings suggest that the most effective marketing might not focus too much on the development of curiosity but on other motives, such as obligation and education.     

Educating winery visitors and consumers: an international perspective

In times of economic uncertainty, fluctuating currency exchange, increasing wine production and competition from new or established wine-producing regions, wineries must overcome many obstacles to produce, market and ultimately benefit from wine production. Educating winery visitors and other potential consumers is one among different key strategies wineries' management could undertake to build relationships, brand loyalty, and maximise any opportunities to obtaining benefits, including from wine tourism. In gathering data from wineries located predominantly in Italy and Spain, the study provides an international perspective on wineries' educational initiatives. Guided tours, product tastings and showcasing production processes are the most common approaches to educating their visitors and wine consumers. In spite of these initiatives, winery entrepreneurs categorise their educational efforts as modest, suggesting that these are not being fully exploited or maximised. In addition, few of the comments emphasise the importance of educational experiences with regard to the region or local tourism. Given the important role wineries have as product and service providers in many rural areas and tourist destinations, the study's findings have several important implications for winery entrepreneurship and for wine tourism.     

Customer perspective on overbooking: The failure of customers to enjoy their reserved services,accidental or intended?

Overbooking is widely applied in the service industry to hedge against undesirable situations, such as cancellations and no-shows. However, during the implementation of overbooking, service providers may turn down some customers when the number of arrivals exceeds their capacity on the target date. Therefore, this paper examines overbooking from the customers' perspective to offer them a clear perception on the possibility for their reservations to be denied by the service provider. By establishing a Stackelberg model between a service provider and an online travel agency, we explore how optimal overbooking strategy is developed by the service provider. Afterward, by analyzing the obtained optimal overbooking pad, we calculate the probabilities of denied service under different levels of monetary compensation that is paid to denied customers. A higher monetary compensation guarantees a higher chance of successful service. This paper also provides customers with some reference when booking services.     

Risks and marketing in online transactions: a qualitative comparative analysis

The article focuses on the perspectives of holidaymakers who have used internet to book a part or the whole spectrum of their holidays' accommodation. Using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), the research examines the complex relations between product and web-vendor risks, and marketing activities on consumer trust, also employing predictive validity. It examines the perspectives of 735 holidaymakers returning to Manchester International Airport, through the use of structured questionnaires. The findings reveal three sufficient configurations dealing with the focus on the impact of price and quality relationships, the influence of product and web-vendor risks on consumer trust, and the importance of marketing for the minimization of perceived risks in online tourism shopping. Theoretically, the study contributes on the understanding of online decisions’ complexity, and explores the attributes that affect accommodation e-purchasing and associated linkages. Methodologically, it implements QCA, which is new in tourism and hospitality domain. It also progresses from fit to predictive validity, an analysis that only a handful of studies has implemented in the service industry.     

Tourism Experience Network: Co‐creation of Experiences in Interactive Processes

This article launches a new framework, the Tourism Experience Network (TEN), which explores co‐creation of experiences. The TEN framework absorbs value as experience logic in tourism marketing. Its uniqueness illustrates structuring processes and includes consumers/tourists in the service management. A theoretical explorative technique based on literature was used to construct the TEN. It departures from interactive networks, new service paradigm and tourism marketing, and contributes to tourism experience theories. Inspiration from the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) group was embraced to modify issues inherent from traditional networks—the ARA model. By linking this approach with experience, actors are defined as experience facilitators in tourism and networks. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.