Heterogeneity in risk and safety perceptions of international tourists

The travel decisions of international tourists have, over the past decade, been significantly affected by external events, such as the fear of pandemics and terrorist attacks. Yet, little attention has been paid to heterogeneity among tourists with respect to risk perceptions. The question whether some tourist segments are less sensitive to external risks and thus more attractive to tourism industry in times of crises remains largely unanswered. This study conducts a data-driven segmentation of heterogeneity in the tourist population with respect to perceived risks of international travel and assesses if market segments with different risk perception patterns are distinct in other behavioral and personal characteristics. Additionally the study includes nationality as a proxy for “cultural background”, here analyzed in light of Hofstede's (1983) model. Practical implications are discussed.     

Spatial movement patterns among intra-destinations using social network analysis

To explore popularly visited tourist locations, travel movement patterns, and movement points, this study collected samples of 321 Chinese tourists and 337 Japanese tourists who were visiting major tourist destinations in Seoul and its vicinity in South Korea. Results of analyzing movement patterns showed that Japanese tourists tend to be clustered around popular attractions, whereas Chinese tourists tend to spread over a larger area of attractions. Some specific shopping and amusement attractions were the locations most popularly visited by both groups. The start points and end points in the two groups’ itineraries were dissimilar overall, even though their patterns were similar in regard to major preferred tourist attractions. Thus, the findings of this study have the potential to contribute to understanding spatial mobility in a tourism destination through tracking tourists’ movement patterns.     

Tourism,risk tolerance and competences: Travel organization and tourism hazards

Research on how individual tourists respond to risk has largely focussed on risk perceptions. This paper draws on behavioural economics to analyse the influence of risk tolerance and risk-related competences on how tourists organize their tourism travel, and the importance that they ascribe to specific types of tourism hazards. Whereas most tourism research on risk has been based on small, or highly age-specific surveys, or particular market segments, this paper utilises an innovative, large-scale survey drawn from the range of the UK population. There were significant differences between package tourists and individual ‘drifter’ tourists in terms of their socio-demographic characteristics, general and tourism-specific risk tolerance, and competence – both real and illusory – to manage risk. Age, and tolerance of both general and tourism-specific risks, were associated with the importance of hazards as deterrents to tourist behaviour, but the evidence for competences was mixed.     

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.     

Toward a product-based typology for nature-based tourism: a conceptual framework

The traditional view of nature-based tourists as a relatively homogeneous group has been questioned, and several scholars have suggested various segmentation typologies. This paper discusses market and industry changes and notes key trends, as Fordist tourist products have been replaced by post-Fordist and neo-Fordist products, with both McDonaldization and McDisneyization developments. A range of visitor-based typologies are reviewed, and the conflict between capturing the diversity of today's nature-based tourists while offering management bodies simple tools to segment visitors, identify core groups and improve their marketing is noted. In an attempt to overcome this conflict, the paper presents a conceptual framework which focuses on nature-based tourism products instead of tourist types, therefore incorporating aspects of both the demand and supply sides of the nature-based tourism industry market. A two-dimensional matrix is suggested, linking four basic travel motivations (nature conservation, nature experience, sports/adventure and hedonistic) to four different types of tourist products (independent, à la carte, customized and standardized), giving a total typology of 16 different types. The matrix should help protected area managers to better understand tourist needs, suggest management measures and help to create more sustainable forms of tourism. Empirical testing is suggested as a next step.     

Golf tourists in South Africa: A demand-side study of a niche market in sports tourism

The targeting of tourism market segments is considered to increase repeat visitations to tourism destinations because it allows destination marketers to accurately determine the needs and expectations of targeted tourists, develop more effective marketing strategies, which in turn, assists with ensuring that the targeted tourists segments support and return to the destination. Consequently, the aim of the study was to determine the profile of golf tourists attending an international golf event in South Africa by shedding some light on their key trip-related and general golf tourism behaviour patterns. To date, most research undertaken has focused on product-driven research concerned with golf course facilities and the marketing thereof and little emphasis on demand-side research concerning the golf tourist. Personal interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire involving 314 golf tourists selected through a systematic random sampling technique. The paper investigates the level of development of golf tourism, analyses the golf tourism market and highlights critical factors for its success, in South Africa.     

Segmentation by motivation for rural tourism activities in The Gambia

In The Gambia, as in many other African countries, rural areas rarely profit from the turnover earned in the country's tourism sector. In academic and political literature, however, rural tourism is frequently identified as a diversification strategy that may trigger local economic development in remote communities. To promote rural tourism development, further knowledge is required to understand why tourists are motivated to engage in distinct tourism market segments. In this study, survey data was collected from 450 tourists in The Gambia using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was constructed to identify the key characteristics and motivations of tourists so that the significant market segments could be categorized and the (latent) tourist demand for rural tourism activities could be gauged. This study identified four distinct segments of tourists in The Gambia: heritage & nature seekers, multi-experiences seekers, multi-experiences & beach seekers, and sun & beach seekers. Drawing on our key findings, we conclude by identifying a development path that could diversify Gambia's tourism sector. The development path would also include event-based rural tourism initiatives that align with the motivations of the identified market segments and may additionally benefit rural communities by reducing economic leakage rates.     

高速铁路影响下的全国旅游景点可达性研究

世界旅游强国离不开良好交通的支持,而作为交通中非常重要的高速铁路的快速发展,必将有力地促进区域旅游的发展。文章探讨了2020年全国高铁网络影响下旅游景点可达性空间格局及其变化,分析旅游目的地与客源地市场空间格局变化特征,在全国尺度下定量分析高速铁路建设对旅游客源地与目的地可达性的影响。测度2020年规划高铁通车前后旅游可达性空间格局与变化。结果显示:高铁开通后,高铁沿线城市可达景点数量显著增加;尤其是"日"字形高铁沿线城市与景点的增加值最高,将成为我国重要旅游经济带,高铁沿线城市与景点是高铁网络效应的主要受益者,高铁服务带来了时空压缩效应,即高铁的开通不仅缩短旅游客源地和目的地之间的时间距离、加强了两地之间的联系,也实现了旅游者跨区域的快速外部交通,而这种快捷效应的延续同样离不开城市内部交通网络的优化,缩短中心城市到旅游景区的时间,将会进一步增强景区的吸引力。     

Legacy tourism: the search for personal meaning in heritage travel

In recent years, the existence and nature of the heritage tourism market has attracted substantial attention in the tourism industry. There appears to be a sub-segment of the heritage market that consists of tourists who have a personal connection with their heritage beyond a general relationship of collective ancestry. Those that travel to engage in genealogical endeavors, to search for information on or to simply feel connected to ancestors and ancestral roots are categorized as legacy tourists. This paper describes the heritage tourism market, discusses distinguishing characteristics that identify legacy tourists, and emphasizes to tourism managers the importance of recognizing and responding to this segment.     

旅游者中位年龄的几个市场指示意义

年龄是旅游市场细分理论中一个重要的社会—人口学变量,不同的年龄结构对细分市场的旅游行为有着重要的影响。然而,在刻画旅游者年龄结构时,无论是在业界实践还是学界研究中,被普遍采用但标准各异的旅游者年龄"上中下"分组模式却不可避免地制约了相关研究成果之间纵向或横向的比较与验证,需要发展一条可以沟通联系的纽带。文章试图将中位年龄作为这种可能的纽带引入我国旅游市场研究领域,基于国家旅游局公开发布的旅游者年龄统计数据,提出了旅游市场类型的中位年龄划分标准,并在此基础上进一步探讨了旅游者中位年龄在指示市场结构类型、市场环境波动和市场发展分化方面的后效价值,以期为旅游市场营销与管理提供一定的理论依据。     

Using tracking technology to improve marketing: insights from a historic town in Tasmania,Australia

ABSTRACT

This study examines the movement patterns of different market segments in an historic town. It combines traditional visitor surveys with a bespoke tourist tracking application. Two analytical stages were undertaken. The first involved analyzing the movements of tourist segments and revealed that “heritage” tourists tended to visit for the shortest lengths of time. The second phase revealed that a visit of between one and two hours seemed to provide the best opportunity to explore the village fully, while shorter and longer stays did not. The insights challenge traditional notions that heritage-oriented tourists should form the target market for historic communities.     

Tourists’ digital footprint: The spatial patterns of tourist flows in Qingdao,China

Spatial patterns of tourist flows represent the movement of tourists and show differences in tourism resources giving advice for promoting balanced and sustainable tourism development. This paper proposes a novel framework for analyzing these patterns based on tourists' digital footprint data collected from online travel diaries. Based on illustrative case study data from Qingdao (China), the framework, combining traditional quantitative and social network analysis, is able to pinpoint: (1) The influence of distance decay and attractions’ popularity on the spatial patterns of tourist flows; (2) The uneven distribution of the core tourist nodes and the existence of the structural hole phenomenon, which form a network pattern with unbalanced power and intense internal competition; (3) The formation of the core area for tourism along the coastline – as is typical for coastal tourism cities. This difference of tourism resources between coastal and inland areas, thus, remains a challenge for future tourism development in Qingdao.     

Crisis-resistant tourists

Despite the negative impact of unexpected events—such as 9/11 and the Global Financial Crisis—on the tourism industry, and despite substantial research into managing crises in tourism, little is known about tourists who are most needed in such situations: crisis-resistant tourists. In this study, crisis-resistant tourists are defined and theoretically conceptualized. Empirical results indicate that segments of tourists resistant to external or internal crisis events indeed exist and—as theoretically postulated—demonstrate higher levels of risk propensity and resistance to change. In contrast, risk shifting is not associated with being a crisis-resistant tourist. An initial profile of crisis-resistant tourists is provided, offering guidance to the tourism industry on how to identify and communicate with this highly attractive market segment.     

旅游信息服务视阈下的智慧旅游慨念探讨

智慧旅游的丰富实践使研究者不断思考“什么是智慧旅游”的问题,而对这个基本问题虽有很多解答但仍然需要进行探索。文章试图通过对国内外有关智慧旅游的概念进行了梳理,建立起以旅游信息服务为基础的智慧旅游的基本概念,即把智慧旅游定义为旅游者个体在旅游活动过程中所接受的泛在化的旅游信息服务。该定义旨在强调智慧旅游以旅游者个体为核心、以信息服务为载体的支撑体系,以泛在化作为核心内涵,以旅游者行为方式、旅游业营销方式、管理方式和服务方式的根本性变化为主要外延,并据此对国内外智慧旅游概念进行了全面评价。文章的价值在于将智慧旅游的概念与旅游信息化（特别是旅游信息服务）有机结合,既承上启下又能开启智慧旅游发展的新思路。     

Insights into Sustainable Tourists in Austria: A Data-based A Priori Segmentation Approach

An excellent market-driven way to successfully implement sustainable tourism in a destination is to find a segment of tourists or potential tourists interested in the unique natural beauty of the destination, willing to preserve it, and who are also highly attractive in terms of high expenditures, long stays, high return rate, high recommendation rate etc. The first step in seeking these visitors is through investigation of sustainable market segments. So far, only a few studies have systematically searched for 'eco-segments'or sustainable tourist groups and described them. This paper reviews the usefulness of such approaches, examines past studies investigating potential target segments and describes the group of summer tourists in Austria who care about maintaining the natural environment. The results suggest that this group of visitors has some highly attractive characteristics and is very large, thus offering a sound basis for additional sustainable niche segment creation.     

Backpacking Your Way into Crisis

SUMMARY

Risk and tourism have become more closely interlinked in recent years. Recognising the complexity of tourist behaviour, research by Cohen (1972) classified tourists according to the degree of novelty or familiarity sought. Whilst the subject of extensive debate, many questions remain including to what extent perceived risk can be used as an indicator of tourist roles. Focusing upon the growing youth tourism market, backpackers in particular, travel patterns and attitudes towards risk were questioned and possible responses to a crisis differentiated through an exploratory qualitative study. The findings challenge both the resilience of the market alongside Cohen's (1972) typology suggesting backpackers exhibit different roles (drifter and explorer) dependent upon the risk in question. Given the exploratory nature of the work, the paper concludes calling for further targeted research.     

A comparative analysis of international tourists’ satisfaction in Mongolia

The purpose of this study was to examine international tourism development in Mongolia in the last decade and analyze international tourists’ satisfaction of their travel experience with tourist attractions, facilities, services and prices. This study identified the demographic characteristics of international tourists from four regions: Europe, the US, Japan and other Asia/Pacific countries by surveying a sample of 530 visitors by air travel. Satisfaction level of international tourists from these four different regions were analyzed and compared to find regional similarities and differences. Recommendations were made for the Mongolian tourism authority to target efficiently its international tourism markets and improve tourism services in Mongolia.     

基于自发地理信息的旅游地景观关注度研究——以九寨沟为例

自发地理信息作为旅游地理学研究的全新数据源,具有多时间尺度和多级空间尺度的特点。文章以九寨沟为例,通过采集旅游者上传的VGI照片数据,运用核密度估计方法挖掘多种时空尺度下旅游者关注度空间格局及其演化过程;同时,以互联网用户对照片的访问量为权重,进一步描述潜在旅游者的景观关注度。研究表明,旅游者对九寨沟的关注度格局相对稳定,旅游地尺度下的关注热点是树正沟、日则沟两条风景线,则查洼沟仅有少量景段关注度较高;风景线尺度下,树正沟的盆景滩-犀牛海景段,日则沟的诺日朗群海-镜海、珍珠滩瀑布-五花海、熊猫海瀑布-箭竹海景段,则查洼沟的五彩池-长海景段以及景区入口段等,均是旅游者关注度较高的热区;景点尺度下的树正群海、诺日朗群海、珍珠滩、五花海、熊猫海、箭竹海等水景观关注度日益提高,成为九寨沟的核心吸引物,而以藏族文化为主的人文景观关注度较低。研究同时发现,潜在旅游者受到照片上传者引导,其景观关注度格局也表现出层次性。     

Seasonal concentration of tourism demand: Decomposition analysis and marketing implications

This paper analyzes seasonality in the United Kingdom, specifically the English regions in relation to tourists' place of origin and main travel motivation. The method used is a decomposition of the Gini index, which provides relative marginal effects that facilitate the identification of market segments open to counter-seasonal marketing efforts. This method has been combined with a graphical multivariate technique (biplot), which groups segments according to their seasonality characteristics. Seasonal patterns associated with particular segments differ significantly when studied on a disaggregated basis. Therefore, an adequate level of disaggregation is essential in the design of counter-seasonal strategies. Although this study focuses on British destinations, this methodology could be used as a control and monitoring measure in the regional analysis of any destination, facilitating regular adjustment of regional tourism marketing campaigns to minimize seasonality effects, specifically by targeting the types of tourists less prone to seasonality.     

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。