Quality of life (QOL) and well-being research in tourism

Given the recent proliferation of the research on quality of life and wellbeing in tourism, we review this literature and provide guidance to spur future research. The review focuses on two major constituencies: residents of host communities and tourists. Specifically, the goals of this paper are (1) describe study findings, (2) highlight sampling and data collection methods, and (3) discuss issues of construct measurement. The vast majority of the studies related to these two constituencies show that tourism experiences and activities have a significant effect on both tourists' overall life satisfaction and wellbeing of residents. That is, tourists' experiences and tourism activities tend to contribute to positive affect in a variety of life domains such as family life, social life, leisure life, cultural life, among others. Future research is discussed in relation to these two constituencies.     

How smart is your tourist attraction?: Measuring tourist preferences of smart tourism attractions via a FCEM-AHP and IPA approach

Although smart tourism has gained increasing attention, empirical investigations of smart tourist attraction (STA) from a tourist perspective are still limited. The purpose of this study is to explore a methodological approach of assessing tourist preference of STA, and the strengths and weaknesses of an STA accordingly. First, factor analysis was used to determine tourists' key evaluation items of STA. Next, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method and analytic hierarchy process were applied to the STA evaluation of Hongshan Zoo, a popular tourist attraction in China. Then, importance-performance analysis was conducted to diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of Hongshan Zoo's STA construction. Findings suggest that “smart information system”, “intelligent tourism management”, “smart sightseeing”, “e-commerce system”, “smart safety”, “intelligent traffic”, “smart forecasting” and “virtual tourist attractions” are tourists' key evaluation factors of STA. This paper extends previous research on smart tourism, and offers insights into the theoretical investigation and practical development of STA.     

Values and tourists' sustainable behaviours: An overview of studies and discussion of some theoretical,methodological and management issues

This conceptual paper offers a theoretical and methodological analysis on the use of values for understanding and managing tourists' environmentally sustainable choices. The aim is to provide a deeper discussion of the limits identified by recent reviews of the literature and to suggest additional ones. Moreover, we show how research in social and environmental psychology can help tourism scholars and practitioners to deal more effectively with them. Particular attention is paid to identifying the key aspects that characterize the different concepts and measures of values that are relevant to this topic. Suggestions for improving the effective use of this construct for research and management applications are provided. Possible avenues for consolidating, as well as broadening, the theoretical and practical foundations of this concept's use in the domain of tourists' sustainable behaviour are also discussed.     

Temporarily returning to an ideal life: Research on Chinese rural tourists' home experience

Home and away’ makes up a fundamental dichotomy during journeys. However, the knowledge of tourists' home experiences is limited. This study investigates Chinese rural tourists' home experiences to extend home research to more general tourism patterns and short-term tourist groups. Adopting a qualitative method to collect tourists' home experience data with the help of pictures that they prepared in advance, the study found that home experiences are an important motivation for Chinese rural tourists. It was immersion in nature, connection with history, sense of ease in interpersonal relationships and engagement with the true self and inner freedom that provided rural tourists with home experiences. The home experiences are mainly inner feelings that manifest as identity awakenings and senses of belonging and are also a manner of dwelling in the world. Rural tourism destinations should pay more attention to the construction of homey surroundings to attract more itinerant urbanites to them.     

Sharing travel stories and behavioral outcomes: A case of travel

The benefits of tourism have been drawing a great deal of attention from tourists, community, and society alike. This study investigates how tourists' story sharing activities influence their post-purchase behavioral process, depending on different communication conditions. Two 2x2 between-subject experiments were conducted with recent travelers in the U.S. Results reveal tourists' post-purchase behavioral processes depend on what, how, and with whom they engage in post-trip story sharing activity. Findings contribute to the literature on purchase-driven happiness, self-enhancement, well-being, and communications by providing evidence on how different communication conditions alter the effects of tourists' story sharing on their post-purchase behavioral outcomes. Findings also suggest that destination marketers should apply strategies to encourage tourists’ story sharing activity.     

Exploring tourists' perceptions of tourism impacts

Unlike how tourism is viewed by residents, little is known about how tourists feel about tourism in the destination. Nevertheless, studies have shown that tourists' emotional bonds with the destination positively affect their perceptions of and reactions to tourism in the destination. Such emotional bonds often vary based on tourists' previous experience in the destination. Thus, this study explored how tourists' emotional solidarity with residents influences their perceptions of tourism and how first-timers and repeat tourists differ in their views. To this end, 404 responses from South Korean sport tourists were analyzed. Though differences were not evident between first-timers and repeat tourists in their emotional solidarity or attitudes toward tourism, a positive relationship was confirmed between emotional solidarity and perceptions of tourism. The findings suggest that attitudes toward tourism is no longer a construct exclusive to residents and destination managers should also consider tourists' views.     

Destination advertisement semiotic signs: Analysing tourists' visual attention and perceived ad effectiveness

This study analyses the influence of destination photographs' communication type and destination country-brand logo and slogan used in ads on the tourists' visual attention and perceived ad effectiveness. It was conducted a multi-method experiment using eye-tracking to measure visual attention, and a questionnaire to analyse perceived ad effectiveness. This paper extends the institutional theory in tourism advertisement by indicating that destination photographs provided from induced communication have a more positive influence on tourists' perceived ad effectiveness than the combined communication. Furthermore, it is indicated that the destination country-brand logo and slogan contribute to obtaining higher tourists' visual attention to the entire advertisement. Tourism organisations should develop advertisements with induced communication and country-brand logo and slogan to obtain better tourists' responses.     

Reconciling unsatisfying tourism experiences: Message type effectiveness and the role of counterfactual thinking

While attracting new tourists is an important issue in destination marketing, it is also imperative to manage tourists' experience post-trip, particularly in cases of unsatisfying experiences. Yet, the questions of how to rectify unsatisfying tourism experiences received little attention in tourism scholarship. In the present research, we investigated the effectiveness of different forms of marketing messages and the role of counterfactual thinking in the ability of a marketing message to improve tourists' attitudes towards the destination and intentions to recommend, when a tourism experience was not up to tourists' satisfaction. A scenario-based experiment was conducted with 480 respondents. The results showed that user-generated messages and the messages employing emotional appeal were more impactful than destination-generated or rational messages. Respondents who engaged in downward counterfactual thinking, that is imagining the situation in which their experience could have been worse, was shown to have a greater positive effect on unsatisfied tourists.     

The influence of tourists' monetary and temporal sunk costs on destination trust and visit intention

Although the phenomenon of sunk costs is common in tourism situations, tourism research has largely ignored its effect on tourists. Drawing on prospect theory, cognitive dissonance theory, and signal theory, this study proposed that monetary sunk cost and temporal sunk cost both have significant impact on potential tourists' visit intention. Four scenario-based experiments were performed to test hypothesized relationships. Findings revealed that monetary sunk cost has a negative effect on visit intention, while temporal sunk cost has a positive effect. Good destination reputation attenuates the effects, and destination trust mediates the relationship between sunk cost and visit intention. These studies extend existing theoretical applications by identifying the conditions under which sunk cost can influence tourists' visit intention, and provides relevant practical suggestions for tourism product suppliers and local government departments.     

Homelessness in destinations: Tourists' visit intention

Although the presence of homelessness can challenge a destination's existing representations and undermine tourists' visit intention, its impacts have not received much scholarly attention in the tourism literature. Recognizing this research gap, this study examines the impact of homelessness on tourists' visit intention in Hawaii. In particular, findings reveal that tourists' preceding prosocial behavior and moral emotion affect their intention to visit a destination experiencing homelessness issues. This study also finds a gender difference regarding the effect of preceding prosocial behavior on moral emotion. It contributes to the literature by expanding the discussion of this important social phenomenon in a tourism context. Findings also suggest that destinations could promote socially responsible and sustainable practices to mitigate the effects of homelessness.     

Tourists’ cultural competence: A cosmopolitan perspective among Asian tourists

Cultural tourism has received increasing attention. Tourists play a crucial role in constructing rewarding intercultural experiences and cultural understanding. The current study explored the concept of tourists' cultural competence from a cosmopolitan perspective and proposed a framework for understanding the mechanism of tourists' interactions with cultural experience environment. A total of 33 participants were interviewed and data were analyzed using grounded theory. Cultural openness, understanding, consciousness, and participation were identified as elements of tourists' cultural competence, which can facilitate positive cultural behavior. This research contributes to the literature of cosmopolitanism and tourists’ cultural behavior. Managerial implications for tourist management and education are also discussed.     

Corrigendum to “Dark tourism,abjection and blood: A festival context” [Tourism Management 64 (2018) 346–356]

Dark tourism and its implications have been gaining significant prominence in both the literature and in practice in recent years. Moving conceptualizations of dark tourism forward, we utilize the interpretative phenomenological frame to investigate the interrelationships between tourism and current conditions of society. We do this by qualitatively studying tourists' experiences while in the process of attending dark tourism oriented music festivals that prominently feature direct confrontation with abjection. Our findings indicate that these abjection-oriented festivals allow tourists to encounter blood, animal corpses and other death elements in a ritual-like context within the confines of a transitory space. Ultimately, our research reveals how dark tourism festivals featuring abjection can allow some tourists to feel closer to actual death.     

Tourism & death

Although death is an inevitable part of life, tourism scholarship has not comprehensibly engaged with this concept. Death-related tourism literature has focused disproportionally on places and experiences of dark tourism, leaving a vast array of other dying-related tourism discourses at the periphery. Drawing on anthropological and existential conceptualisations of death, we develop an all-encompassing theoretical framework comprised of four dimensions: Perspective, Intention, Number, and Involvement. Supported by existing studies, mass media reports, and other secondary data, we demonstrate that the interplay between death and tourism is complex and involves a range of events, tourists' behaviors and experiences. The conclusion proposes future research directions at the intersection of death and tourism.     

Physical attractiveness of service employees and customer engagement in tourism industry

As the importance of customer engagement gains more and more recognition, it is critical to study customer engagement strategy in the intensely competitive tourism industry. Answering the call for research on antecedents of tourists' customer engagement in the tourism industry, we consider the role of employees' physical attractiveness. We adopt a mixed-methods approach; using interviews and three scenario-based experiments, we explore, hypothesize, and test the relationship between employees' physical attractiveness and customer engagement of tourists. The results show that (1) physical attractiveness of employees affects tourists' customer engagement, that (2) the main effect of physical attractiveness is mediated by the desire for social interaction, and that (3) the main effect is moderated by tourism service characteristics (i.e., tourism service expertise).     

Archaeological heritage tourism in China: the case of the Daming Palace from the tourists' perspective

Archaeological heritage tourism has been critical in historic cultural revival, archaeological knowledge dissemination, environment upgrading, and local community improvement. Little has been undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness and consequences of archaeological heritage projects in China from the tourist perspective. This study of the Daming Palace Heritage Site in Xi’an illustrates how archaeological and cultural resources have contributed to tourists' experiences. Through investigating an array of approaches that have been applied to advance tourists' understanding of archaeological and cultural resources, the paper proposes that more versatile methods and creative works are to be integrated to develop effective interpretative methods for both education and entertainment purposes. Local government needs to change its top-down approach to a more inclusive one, to establish strong networks among state and non-state stakeholders, and to promote their collective involvement in archaeological heritage tourism. Heritage site packaging strategies and partnerships among heritage resources citywide are advocated. More attention should be given to how to integrate various resources of local communities into heritage tourism. The current organization of government-run archaeological heritage in China calls for more opportunities for archaeologists to contribute actively with their expertise to enhance interpretive programmes and general tourist experience.     

Destination images,holistic images and personal normative beliefs: Predictors of intention to revisit a destination

This research examines the complex relationship between destination image components and behavioral intentions, incorporating two pivotal but unexplored in related literature constructs, namely holistic image and personal normative beliefs (PNBs). Previous studies incorporating destination images as predictors of intention to revisit have mostly investigated their direct effect. This research integrates holistic image as a mediator and PNBs as a moderator. The findings verify the mediating role of holistic image for predicting tourists' intention to revisit a destination, supporting a partial and a full mediation. Interestingly, only affective and conative images contribute to the prediction of tourists' intention to revisit a destination through the holistic image towards this destination. Moreover, PNBs moderate the effect that conative destination images have on tourists' holistic image. Practically, the research highlights factors that affect tourists' tendency to select a tourism destination, which can serve as a basis for tailoring the effective positioning of destinations.     

Authenticity in tourism theory and experience. Practically indispensable and theoretically mischievous?

The notion of authenticity arises in tourism research in two ways: In theory, as a contentious, complicated and disputed construct; empirically, as a recurrent theme in accounts of tourist experiences of place and culture and as a quality of tourists' experiences. This duality creates tension over the utility of authenticity in research and theory. We review recent literature on authenticity within tourism scholarship –and more generally– and propose a partial resolution of this tension through demystifying the concept. We do this by highlighting its embeddedness in the activity of both research and tourism. That is, we conclude that authenticity can shed its problematic dualism by understanding how it is used in theorising and the activities of tourism.     

Commercial hospitality in destination experiences: McDonald's and tourists' consumption of space

This paper examines the multiple roles that globalised, branded spaces of hospitality can play in tourists' experiences in destinations. It is argued that previous studies have not considered adequately how such commercial hospitality services and spaces interact with and influence tourists' experiences of places. Drawing on a netnographic analysis of online discussions of McDonald's, this study explores how tourists perceive these hospitality venues, and how they use them to engage with foreign destinations and negotiate the ‘work of tourism’. The data show how tourists (re)construct their identities through reflections on consuming McDonald's. The data also demonstrate that tourists critically evaluate discourses of authenticity and the (in)authenticity of consuming McDonald's. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for the marketing and management of McDonald's and similar branded commercial hospitality venues, the marketing and management of destinations, and it outlines avenues for further research.     

Satisfaction and Destination Loyalty

ABSTRACT

First-time and repeat tourists engage in different tourism experience with a destination. Based on previous studies, the main purpose of this research is to investigate how tourists' previous experience with a tourist destination influences on the satisfaction evaluation, destination loyalty and destination attractiveness. An empirical study is carried out among 806 tourists visiting Calpe, a Spanish tourist destination, in the summer of 2000. Research findings evidence that the level of satisfaction and the number of past visits considerably influence tourists' intentions to make repeat visits.