Analyzing the Pre-Travel,On-Travel,and Post-Travel Behaviors of Iran’s First-Time Visitors

This study was designed to gain an understanding of the perceptions of foreign tourists traveling to Iran of the image of Iran (both pre- and post-travel), trip value, satisfaction, intention to revisit Iran, and likelihood to recommend Iran as a travel destination to others. The empirical data was conveniently obtained from 298 tourists who visited Iran. Using SPSS 19 and LISREL 8.8 programs, the results showed that there was a significant difference between the pre- and post-travel image of Iran. Before the visit, tourists had a negative image of Iran. This changed, however, after their visit. The results also showed that the post-travel image directly influenced trip value and tourist satisfaction. Furthermore, trip value and tourist satisfaction directly influenced revisit and recommend intentions.     

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.     

Cultural distance and international tourists’ intention to visit a destination

Drawing on literature about travel motivation and travel risk, this paper examines how cultural distance influences international tourist’s intention to visit a destination country. Structural equation modeling is utilized to analyze the responses from 729 potential tourists in China. The data supports a model suggesting that cultural distance has bidirectional effects on tourists’ intention to visit a destination country through exerting influences on tourists’ novelty perception and risk perception of this country. Finally, it is suggested to make reasonable use of cultural distance in destination marketing practice.     

A quantitative valuation of tourist experience in Lisbon

The increasing value of tourist satisfaction for tourism promotion has led to a substantial increase in research into the process of measuring the satisfaction of tourists, and various approaches and theories have been developed.This paper proposes an Item Response Theory (IRT) approach to ensure the measurements of perceptions and satisfaction of tourists. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire administered to tourists who had visited Lisbon. The formulation of the IRT models allowed us to determine the influence of some demographic and travel behaviour characteristics on a number of given destination attributes. We also specified georeferenced IRT models to attain geographically differentiated measures of tourist satisfaction. The main findings from the models are compared and discussed.     

A qualitative pilot study exploring tourists’ pre- and post-trip perceptions on the destination image of Macau

Destination image is never static but is constantly changing under influence from on-site and travel experiences. This qualitative pilot study uses reports gathered during in-depth individual interviews at both the pre- and post-trip stages of travel with 15 independent tourists who visited Macau to compare how destination image can be enhanced in the minds of tourists. The results indicate that tourists’ destination image of Macau became enriched post-trip, after participants encountered the city and its people. The findings suggest that a positive post-trip evaluation of a destination can motivate tourists to revisit the destination, thereby enhancing the destination image.     

Travel Motivation,Destination Image and Visitor Satisfaction of International Tourists After the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake: A Structural Modelling Approach

This study investigates the relationships between travel motivation, destination image and overall satisfaction of international tourists visiting Sichuan province after the great Wenchuan earthquake of 2008. Did the earthquake influence tourist’ motivations for visiting Sichuan either positively or negatively, and did the earthquake affect their image of the province as desirable travel destination? Survey data collected from 346 international tourists in Chengdu, the provincial capital, revealed that respondents were primarily motivated by Sichuan's traditional attractions – its scenery and the giant pandas native to the area rather than by the earthquake. Structural equation modelling revealed a statistically significant relationship between travel motivation and overall visitor satisfaction, as well as relationships between travel motivation and types of destination image. Furthermore, both positive and negative destination images seem to have an effect on overall satisfaction. This study implies that international tourists to Sichuan tend to visit for its scenery and wildlife; the 2008 earthquake has had little effect on their travel motivations and destination images; and these visitors hold positive images of the province.     

Understanding travel risks in a developing country: a bottom up approach

This paper explores travel risk associated with natural disasters focusing on a developing country context using a bottom-up approach. A mixed method was used to identify seven travel risk types from tourists’ perspective. The exploratory sequential design was applied to 52 respondents in the qualitative phase and 605 respondents in the quantitative phase. The study area was West Sumatra, Indonesia, a popular tourist destination that is prone to natural disasters. This study found different dimensions of travel risk and provide scales for future research in Indonesia and other developing countries.     

The Perceived Destination Image of Hong Kong as Revealed in the Travel Blogs of Mainland Chinese Tourists

This study investigated travel blogs as a manifestation of the travel experience, along with the destination image of Hong Kong from the perspective of tourists from mainland China. Recently published blog entries were selected and analyzed using content analysis. Empirical results indicated that the overall perceived destination image of Hong Kong was positive, with particular strengths in transportation, the harbor, and outlying islands. The major weaknesses of Hong Kong as a travel destination were the price of meals outside hotels, rooms in five-star hotels, and the quality of cosmetics and skincare products. This article has implications for policymakers and practitioners with regard to making use of travel blogs to gather authentic visitor comments on Hong Kong.     

Islamic pro-poor and volunteer tourism — The impacts on tourists: A case study of Shabake Talayedaran Jihad,Teheran — A research note

For the most part, researchers of pro-poor tourism have focused on the issues of poverty alleviation, and the recipient communities at the visited destination. By comparison relatively little has been said about the effect of travel and the tourist experience on the tourists themselves; a gap this study aims to correct. The present research is based on questionnaires from, and interviews with participants in the Shabake Talayedaran Jihad who were engaged in volunteer tourism in Iran. It was been found that pro-poor volunteer tourism has positive effects on attitudes about poverty, life attitudes, and personal and social skills. Further, based on the interviews, 16 other effect indices have been found which relate to the above classification. This paper contributes to the literature by filling a gap in the English language academic literature that relates to Iranian volunteer movements and its volunteers.     

Tourists’ happiness: are there smart tourism technology effects?

The purpose of this study is to develop a research model demonstrating tourists’ value-seeking processes through the tourism services and travel experiences of a destination. The model suggests that tourist happiness is assessed by tourists’ perceived experiences, which are formed by two motivational values: smart tourism technology (STT) and destination value. Despite a large quantity of research attention on destination tourism, the relation between tourists’ destination experience and STT has been less enthusiastically studied. Therefore, this study proposes to test an integrated model with attributes of STTs and destination values that contribute to tourists’ life happiness. The results of this study, from a survey of 191 foreign tourists in Seoul, South Korea, indicate that tourists are likely to put more value on what they perceived from their destination travel experiences than what they perceived from their experiences with STT services when they evaluate their overall happiness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

旅华外国散客旅游流地理分布和网络结构研究

散客旅游是全球主流旅游方式,入境散客市场在中国入境旅游市场中也占据重要地位。文章主要采用问卷法采集数据,研究样本总量1451份,运用地图分析法研究旅华外国散客旅游流的分布和扩散规律,运用社会网络分析法研究旅华外国散客旅游流网络结构特征。研究发现:散客以北京、广州和上海为主要出入境口岸,以香港为辅助口岸,旅游线路以单目的地、短线为主,平均到访目的地数量较少;北京和广州是单目的地散客的主要旅游目的地;多点散客旅游流集中分布在中国人口线东南部,以"北京—西安"之间的流量最大,并形成了长三角、珠三角、川滇3个区域性集中分布区;散客旅游流网络规模较大,但网络密度较低,整体结构松散,发育程度较差;网络具有小世界特性;网络中的节点可以划分成综合性节点、枢纽节点、重要节点和一般节点4种角色类型。文章首次从宏观联系的视角对旅华外国散客旅游流进行了整体研究,丰富和拓展了中国入境旅游流研究内容。     

Tourism and online photography

This paper documents the use of online travel photo-sharing technologies among Hong Kong residents. The advent of Web 2.0 is changing fundamentally the tourist information search and destination choice process. Yet, to date, no study has documented Web 2.0 usage levels and preferences for certain media for posting travel photographs across an entire community. This study reveals that some 89% of pleasure travelers take photographs and that 41% of them posted their photographs online. Social network sites (SNSs), instant messaging, online photo albums and personal blogs were the most popular media used. In general, people who post photographs online tend to be younger, better educated, and earn a higher income than those who do not. The study determined that most people also use multiple media platforms to disseminate their images. Cluster analysis based on the four major styles of online platform identified five cohorts of users who differed in number and type of media used, demographic profile and travel motive. Implications for destination promotion are discussed.     

Justice motivation and place image influences on volunteer tourism: perceptions,responses, and deliberations

In the growing area of alternative tourism, tourist motives have been discussed but there is little consensus about what drives volunteer tourists. This paper explores the salience of justice motivation to the travel decision and deepens this understanding by contextualizing the volunteer tourism decision within the destination place image. Interviews were conducted during a Kenyan expedition. Results show justice motivation theory contributes to the explanation of trip participation as perceived injustices aligned with poorly perceived dimensions of the country’s image.     

Reject or select: Mapping destination choice

The purpose of this study is to empirically explore tourists’ destination choice processes. Destination choices are investigated using a combination of data on destinations and on tourists’ individual destination choices. Data were collected in Munich/Germany in 2013 using personal interviews; 622 interviews were completed. This approach allows detecting reasons for the rejection or selection of certain types of destinations during the destination choice process. Results show that tourists often start the destination choice process with various combinations of destination types but act similarly when choosing the final destination. The investigation of tourist and destination characteristics results in a tourist typology that varies in regard to similarity and type of alternative destinations at different stages of the destination choice process.     

Assessment of Kenya’s Tourist Source Markets

In recent years, Kenya’s tourism has not kept pace with competition. This study attempts to empirically evaluate Kenya’s tourist source markets in the light of growing competition for tourists. The paper uses a Constant Market Share (CMS) analysis to decompose growth of tourist arrivals from key generating regions to Kenya and a few selected benchmark countries. The analysis indicates that while Kenya had a considerable competitive edge during the period 2000–2003, the situation reversed within the subsequent five years. This cost the country about 362,000 tourists who choose the benchmark countries rather than Kenya as their destination. The study thus provides useful insights for Kenya’s tourism policy makers.     

Are tourists rational or irrational consumers?

The purpose of the study is to identify whether applying assumptions of consumer behavior in economics or marketing in the tourism context is validated. Therefore, this study investigated whether tourists, as subjects of consumption at a tourism destination, are rational. Also, additional work was performed to identify the determinants in rationality of tourists. Survey research through the three steps of instrument development has been conducted for those who visited the Jeju Island, South Korea. The adequate sample size of 280 pairs was employed for statistical analyses such as a multiple regression analysis. As a result, the study concluded that an application of the assumptions of consumer behavior in economics or marketing to decision-making of tourists’ consumption was inappropriate because the propensity of tourist expenditure at a tourism destination was evidenced as both rational and irrational. More discussion and implications were provided.     

DISTANCE‐SEGMENTED RURAL TOURISTS

This article uses travel distance to segment rural tourists in a tourist destination in the U.S. Midwest. A distance decay pattern was identified, with more than half of the respondents traveling from a location within 200 miles of the destination. The differences in the socio‐demographic, trip‐related characteristics, and destination activities of these tourists were examined across distinct distance segments. Among other findings, the study revealed that tourists from within a 50‐mile radius participated in most of the activities, and those traveling between 200 and 600 miles made up the majority of business travelers. These two segments also had a higher participation rate in the recreational activities than did the other distance segments. The findings of the study show that simple variables such as distance travel remain viable for destinations, particularly those in the rural area, to understand the tourists for segmentation purpose.     

The impact of country and destination images on destination loyalty: a construal-level-theory perspective

This study examined the impact of a stereotypical image of a country and the image of a tourism destination on destination loyalty. In particular, this study compared these impacts between two groups of destinations – long- and short-haul international destinations – from the perspective of construal-level theory. Data were collected from 500 Taiwanese tourists in 2014 and analyzed through multiple steps, including MANOVA, ANOVA, CFA, and SEM with multi-group analysis. The results showed that both a widely held image of a country and a destination image are likely to affect tourists’ loyalty to a destination; however, country stereotyping plays a more important role than the destination image does in predicting the behavioral intention to visit a long-haul destination. Theoretical and practical implications for marketing of international destinations are provided.     

The Impact of Sports Events on Inbound Tourism in New Zealand

Sports events are an instrument of destination marketing for host countries. Over the past 40 years, New Zealand has held sports events such as the Commonwealth Games and the America's Cup and many international tourists have visited New Zealand during these events. While past studies have examined the economic value of such tourism at a generic level, the impact of mega sports events at more specific levels is unknown. Thus, this study examines not only the impact of eight mega sports events upon New Zealand's international tourist arrivals over the 1983–2005 period at the overall level, but also the number of tourist arrivals from participating countries for each event. Results suggest that the 1990 Commonwealth Games, the 2000 America's Cup (yachting) and the 2005 British and Irish Lions Tour (rugby) had a significant impact on tourist arrivals overall and on arrivals from each participating country.