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.     

旅游发展会影响居民消费吗?——来自中国的经验证据

文章构建了两个衡量旅游发展的代理指标,运用动态面板数据系统广义矩估计方法对旅游发展、经济增长与居民消费之间的关系进行了实证研究.研究结果显示,在中国整体层面上,旅游发展对居民消费具有显著正向影响关系,然而这种正向关系的影响效应较小;旅游发展滞后项并不显著,意味着旅游发展对居民消费促进作用的动态持续效应并不明显,导致在一定时间段内旅游发展对居民消费呈倒U型的影响关系.在区域层面上,东部地区旅游发展对居民消费具有显著正向影响关系;中部地区同样存在上述正向影响关系,但估计结果显示这种关系并不十分稳健;西部地区旅游发展对居民消费影响关系则不显著.针对上述问题,最后提出了相应的政策建议.     

经济条件、人口特征和风险偏好与城市家庭的旅游消费——基于国内24个城市的家庭调查

旅游者的旅游消费支出对旅游产业的发展至关重要。它是旅游者的经济条件、人口特征和行为特征等因素共同作用的结果。但国内现有的研究由于多采用宏观数据,缺少描述旅游者人口和行为特征的微观数据,对旅游消费支出的影响因素分析有失偏颇。文章采用2010年对中国24个城市的居民家庭进行调查收集到的旅游消费数据,综合考虑家庭的经济条件、人口特征和行为特征,以家庭为单位,采用广义线性模型定量研究了影响家庭旅游消费支出的影响因素。研究表明:除家庭资产和收入外,家庭对收入的预期显著影响家庭的旅游消费,这解释了旅游产业对宏观经济的变动比较敏感的原因。它折射的宏观经济意义是显而易见的:当经济不景气时,旅游业可能是率先遭受冲击的产业。反之,当经济向好发展时,旅游业也往往蒸蒸日上。以户主年龄作为代理变量,调查还发现城市家庭的旅游消费与家庭生命周期密切相关,当户主年龄在25~34岁时家庭旅游消费支出达到高峰。此外家庭的风险偏好也显著影响家庭的旅游消费支出。借鉴美国消费金融调查用分类变量测度风险厌恶的方法,文章发现风险厌恶程度越高的家庭越愿意将大部分收入用于储蓄,从而相应地减少旅游消费支出。由于家庭承受的风险多数无法对冲,因此提高风险厌恶程度较高的家庭的旅游消费,恐怕单靠旅游产业自身还无法解决,需要保险业等相关产业共同努力来创造一个较好的旅游产业发展环境。     

Regional Development Strategy for Increasing Cultural Tourism Business in South Korea

Korea's traditional distribution market is at a turning point, and the international paradigm of distribution is also gradually declining in terms of numbers and sales. As such, the Korean government has developed cultural tourism to revive regional economies, which are losing competitiveness, by expanding the new distribution field, such as large discount stores and Internet shopping. The results of the empirical analysis indicate that several factors have a significant influence on profitability and success: traditional factors, gender and age, the intention to return, products and competitive prices, and amenities. This paper illustrates how Korea's national and local governments oversee cultural tourism business through case studies in Korea. For a developing country, cultural tourism is a valuable policy in terms of regional development and, by extension, of regional economic revitalization.     

乡村旅游开发中女性村官参与行为影响机理研究--以湖南省女性村官为例

随着我国乡村旅游进入新的发展阶段,乡村旅游开发的组织机制问题越发引人关注,女性参与乡村旅游开发已经成为不争的事实,女性村官对乡村旅游开发的决策作用日渐显著。因此,乡村旅游开发中女性村官参与行为影响机理研究对于深入研究乡村旅游开发组织机制问题,促进我国乡村旅游可持续发展意义重大。文章在改进计划行为理论（TPB）模型基础上构建乡村旅游开发女性村官参与行为意向影响框架,以282位湖南女性村官的调查问卷为数据来源,应用结构方程模型（SEM）对女性村官参与乡村旅游开发行为意向的影响机理进行研究。研究发现：（1）女性村官对于借助旅游开发带动农村经济发展的参与行为意向较高;（2）主观规范、行为控制认知以及参政特征3个变量对乡村旅游开发中女性村官参与行为具有显著的影响,影响系数分别为0.406、0.258和0.250,其中,主观规范影响最大;（3）女性村官参与旅游开发的行为态度对行为意向没有直接影响,而是通过参政特征变量间接影响行为意向;行为态度的中介作用变得更为复杂,这与已有计划行为研究不同。     

The tourism of Indian California: A neglected legacy

California's heritage attracts a large portion of the tourism market, and has an even greater potential. Yet, in contrast with the southwest where Indian cultural resources are actively promoted, California's Indian heritage is almost totally neglected. The purpose here is to review historic and current factors limiting California Indian tourism development; to examine roles of California Indians vis-a-vis governmental agencies who present the Indian heritage; and to suggest how domestic tourism models might be revised to better accommodate tourism goals. Tourists, middlemen, and hosts share significant aspects of culture such as history and language in domestic tourism. Their lifestyles and usual environs, however, may contrast as urban versus rural. Recommendations are presented for increased co-directorship of the California Indian heritage and more availability to some tourist types.     

The Importance of Quality,Satisfaction, Trust,and Image in Relation to Rural Tourist Loyalty

In the past decade, tourism firms have become aware of the great benefits of maintaining a solid base of loyal customers. Because rural tourism is a relatively new phenomenon in some countries, the main antecedent of tourism loyalty remains infrequently studied in rural lodgings. In this work, a structural equations model is explored, with PLS technique, giving relevance to the interrelationships among image, quality, satisfaction, and trust and among these variables and the tourists' behavior variables. Instruments are identified and exploratory research was undertaken among rural tourists of the main rural lodgings in two border regions of Spain and Portugal. The results confirm image as a direct antecedent of perceived quality, satisfaction, trust, and loyalty for rural tourism, too. The analysis also confirmed that quality has a positive influence on satisfaction and loyalty, and trust has a positive influence on loyalty. Image is shown as a key factor to rural lodging managers. This study may help rural tourism managers to develop and implement effective relationship marketing strategies.     

Current Situation of Rural Residents’ Tourism: A Case Study in Zhejiang Province in China

China is a large agricultural country. At the end of 2011, rural residents accounted for 48.7% of the total population. Without the participation of rural residents, the development of China's tourism would be incomplete. The outset of rural residents’ tourism will be crucial to 50% of China's tourism market. This article, through two years’ questionnaire surveys, interviewed 600 rural residents from 38 villages in Zhejiang province, analyzed the current situation of rural residents’ tourism market and rural residents’ tourism consumption behavior. This survey provided theoretical researches for developing the tourism market of rural residents, and had some significance on stimulating domestic demand, promoting economic growth and improving the standard of rural residents' life.     

Tourism product development and the changing consumer demand: A case study of Kenya

Kenya is an important tourist destination in Africa accounting for over 6% of the total international tourist arrivals to the continent. However, in recent years Kenya's tourism industry has been experiencing problems of poor performance and continuing decline in the number of international tourist arrivals. This study examines the main characteristics of the country's tourism product vis‐a‐vis the changing trends in global tourism market demands. It is argued that the underlying cause of the recent poor performance of the tourism industry relates to the nature of the country's tourism product. Over the years, Kenya has been offering a limited tourism product that is based on beach and wildlife tourism. Also, the marketing of Kenya mainly depends on overseas tour operators who mainly sell inclusive tour packages. Thus, the form of tourism product that is offered by Kenya has not responded to the recent changes and trends in international tourism market demands. Post‐modern tourists, particularly tourists from developed countries, are increasing becoming aware of the negative impacts of mass tourism and are increasingly looking for alternative tourism products that provide a deeper and more meaningful experience. Thus, if Kenya is to rejuvenate its tourism industry there is need for the country to provide a diverse alternative tourism product which is more appealing to the post‐modern tourists.     

Blockchain technology framework: Current and future perspectives for the tourism industry

Blockchain's ability to increase the level of disintermediation in tourism represents this technology's most effective influence on the industry. The advent of online travel agencies has changed tourism's market structure by transferring power from suppliers to consumers. This paper aims to develop a blockchain-based framework for the tourism industry by employing a qualitative method that uses the semi-structured interview to determine how domain experts conceive the future of intermediaries were the tourism industry to adopt blockchain technology. The results show that when taking into account blockchain's influence on businesses, blockchain is considered an appropriate technology for eliminating mediators from the tourism industry's supply chain and also for banning new mediators from gaining access to this industry, thereby removing intermediaries from the tourism market.     

Gaming can be sustainable too! Using Social Representation Theory to examine the moderating effects of tourism diversification on residents' tax paying behavior

Tourism authorities in the Las Vegas region have suggested the diversification of the tourism industry as a strategy to improve the vitality of rural communities outside of the metropolitan area. The present study uses Social Representation Theory as the conceptual basis to test the moderating effects of the various types of proposed tourism development on residents' willingness to pay higher taxes to support such development. A survey of 301 residents in Las Vegas rural communities examined how the factors of economic dependence on tourism, community attachment, and ecocentric attitude towards tourism influence residents' perceptions of tourism's impacts. A higher economic dependence on tourism and higher levels of community attachment led to more favorable perceptions of tourism's economic and social impacts. The economic impacts, in turn, resulted in a willingness to pay higher taxes, irrespective of the type of tourism development proposed by the Las Vegas authorities. The results suggest that rural communities reinforce a hegemonic social representation of tourism in order to characterize the ethos of capitalist urbanism that pervades the economic development discourse. The residents' social construction of tourism has important implications for tourism planners in the region and suggests the adoption of an inclusive tourism diversification strategy that leverages both gaming and alternative tourism.     

How tourism memory boosts creativity? The role of openness to experience

Although tourism memory is widely regarded as a valuable commodity, scant research examines its influence on creativity, a crucial factor for individual and organizational success. Moreover, while both travel and work are vital for human functioning, there are inconsistent views on whether they are opposing domains. This research aims to fill these gaps by investigating the unique characteristics of tourism memories and their effect on creativity at the individual level. Across four studies, we demonstrate that merely recalling one's tourism memory - even from a long time ago - increases creativity. We have also found that this effect is mediated by an increased state of openness to experience triggered by tourism memory retrieval, and one's trait openness moderates this effect. Our research contributes to the literature on tourism, management, and psychology, also offering insights for marketers and organizations to leverage the potential of tourism memories to foster creativity and success.     

Total Factor Productivity Assessment of Tourism Industry: Evidence from China

This paper adopts the Malmquist Index and panel data model to measure and test the spatial–temporal evolutionary characteristics and the factors that affect total factor productivity of China's tourism industry from 2001 to 2009. The results show the following: there is a trend of growth in the total factor productivity of China's tourism industry, and technological progress is the dominant factor that affects total factor productivity changes, which indicates that the growth pattern of China's tourism industry has changed from a pattern driven by input factors to a pattern driven by technology; the spatial pattern of the total factor productivity of China's tourism industry has changed from a spatial pattern dominated by provinces with a low productivity to a spatial pattern dominated by provinces with a high productivity; the total factor productivity of China's tourism industry is mainly affected by the levels of economic and service industry development.     

The Influence of a Hotel Firm's Quality of Service and Image and its Effect on Tourism Customer Loyalty

The aim of this article is to understand the influence of hotel service quality and corporate image on tourism customer loyalty. Data were collected from tourists at several sight-seeing locations in Mauritius. The study sample comprised guests of various hotels in Mauritius who were randomly approached and invited to participate in a survey on the hotel's services. The study findings suggest that it is the quality of service and the corporate image of the hotel that jointly influence tourism customers' loyalty. Although the study findings do not indicate a direct relationship between service quality and loyalty, it is the consistent quality of service that creates and sustains the image of the hotel which, ultimately, results in tourism customer loyalty. This would therefore suggest that tourism customer loyalty is dependent on a hotel's ability to consistently deliver service quality.     

Factors influencing social capital in rural tourism communities in South Korea

This study aimed to identify the factors influencing social capital as it affects community conflict management for community residents in rural tourism villages. An on-site survey consisting of self-administered questionnaires was conducted with residents of rural tourism communities. These self-administered surveys were obtained from 380 community residents in the study area. A factor-clustering method identified distinct segments: high social capital (52%) and low social capital (47.7%). The estimation of a binary logistic regression model determined the characteristics of community residents who were most likely to be associated with each type of social capital. Results indicated that fruit, vegetable and rice farmers who also operated farm-stay businesses and rural activity programmes for tourists had the most social. We suggest that certain types of government policy programmes are helpful for increasing social capital and managing community conflicts by means of involvement in the tourism business.     

基于扩展计划行为理论的乡村旅游经营者从众行为研究——西安市上王村实证

乡村旅游是实现巩固拓展脱贫攻坚成果同乡村振兴有效衔接的重要路径选择。乡村旅游经营者的从众行为能够促进旅游地的规范化与规模化发展,但一味地盲从也必然会给旅游地造成不可挽回的损失,理性对待乡村旅游经营者的从众行为对旅游地的可持续发展意义深远。本文基于扩展的计划行为理论基本框架,引入精英影响感知和模糊情境感知两个变量,对乡村旅游经营者从众行为意向的影响因素进行实证研究,并构建乡村旅游经营者从众行为形成机制的理论模型。研究发现,行为态度、指令性规范、知觉行为控制、精英影响感知和模糊情境感知与从众行为意向呈显著正相关关系。另外,乡村旅游经营者的受教育水平对从众行为意向存在显著影响,且呈现受教育水平越高从众行为意向越低的趋势。为了进一步发展乡村旅游,助推乡村振兴,建议提升乡村旅游经营者的经营能力;发挥乡村旅游精英的信息传递与示范带动作用;落实政府的引导与监管职能;防范政府决策层的盲从行为。     

Visitor responses to the changing character of the visual landscape as an agrarian area becomes a tourist destination: Yilan County,Taiwan

The development of rural tourism and tourism to protected areas relies heavily on visitors' appreciation of scenery. This paper assesses visitor responses to Taiwan's changing rural landscapes, which have experienced agricultural decline, and a government-aided shift to rural tourism, with landscapes rapidly transformed from farm production scenery to recreation-oriented scenery. The study describes the changing character of the visual landscape characteristics of the Dongshan River Basin in Yilan County, and the influence of those changes on visitors' landscape preferences. Using a recognized nine landscape characteristics typology, survey results indicated participants believed that agricultural landscapes represented the qualities of historicity, naturalness and ephemera more than tourist landscapes, but showed fewer qualities of stewardship, disturbance and visual scale than tourist landscapes. Participants did not perceive the two types of landscapes differently for their qualities of coherence, imageability and complexity. They also preferred tourist landscapes to agricultural landscapes. For agricultural landscapes, when the qualities of ephemera, coherence, imageability, complexity, visual scale, stewardship, naturalness and historicity increased, participants appreciated the landscapes more. However, as the quality of disturbance increased, participants appreciated both landscapes less. Overall, when ephemera, coherence, imageability, complexity, visual scale, stewardship and naturalness increased, participants liked the landscapes more.     

China's outward foreign direct investment in tourism

This study investigates the factors that influence China's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) in tourism. Employing a panel dataset involving 21 host countries for 10 years (2004–2013), negative binomial regression modelling showed that Chinese outbound investment in tourism is, at least in part, determined by volume of tourism flows to host country, the scale of tourism in that country and the openness to inbound investment. Other variables such as trade relationships between donor and recipient country and measures of innovation were seemingly of little importance. The study indicates a divergence of Chinese firms' OFDI in tourism from its general OFDI country choice pattern and confirms that sector-specific factors may be playing a more significant part in China's OFDI in tourism.     

An Examination of Changes in Residents' Perceptions of Tourism Impacts Over Time: The Impact of Residents' Socio-demographic Characteristics

This study investigates whether there has been a change in residents' perceptions of various tourism impacts over time and the impact of residents' socio-demographic characteristics on those changes. A survey of local residents (n?=?732 in 2004 and n?=?590 in 2009) was carried out for collecting the data for this study which was then followed by focus groups, conducted in 2012, consisting of academics, local residents and the tourism experts to validate the outcome from the survey. The results suggest that there has been significant increase in the level of agreement of the Sunshine Coast residents during this period on some of the tourism impacts such as job creation, attracting more investment, providing more business for local people and more cultural exchange between tourists and residents. The results also suggest that there is a significant decline in their perceptions of tourism negatively affecting the way of living of local residents and likelihood of residents suffering from living in a tourism destination. The residents also feel that there will be a decline in parks and other recreational areas for local residents with growth in tourism. The study also found that demographic variables such as age, gender, income, education and occupation are likely to influence residents' perceptions of tourism impact over time. Implications for future tourism development plans for the region are discussed.     

Meetings and Conventions as a Segment of Rural Tourism

Abstract

This study examined meetings and conventions as a market segment of rural tourism. The review of extant work on meetings and conventions and rural tourism indicated the lack of and need for a better understanding of the market. Using data collected from people attending meetings and conventions in seven Indiana counties, the study examined their demographic characteristics, travel behavior, media habits and information sources, and perceptions of rural Indiana as a vacation destination. Findings of the study were discussed in the context of overall Indiana tourism development and marketing. Recommendations were made in conjunction with an overview of opportunities and challenges in promoting rural communities as a destination for small-scale meetings and conventions.