Beyond the authentic taste: The tourist experience at a food museum restaurant

This study investigates the factors influencing food experiences perceived by food tourists in the context of a food museum and its associated restaurant. A qualitative exploratory approach was employed, using Chinese tourists visiting Hangzhou Cuisine Museum in Zhejiang province. This research finds that food tourists look for knowledge accumulation and gastronomic experiences when visiting a food museum and restaurant complex, and each experience is formed by both tourist and setting factors. The findings highlight the significant and more complex engagement of setting factors in the museum restaurants. The institutionalised characteristics of museums are equally expected within the in-house restaurants, and social trust in the museum along with external factors that verify authentic representation of the museum contributed to the perceived authenticity of the food tourist's dining experience. This paper discusses broad implications for food experience design at food museums and restaurants as emerging tourism attractions.     

People with disabilities visit art museums: an exploratory study of obstacles and difficulties

Visits to art museums are a major component of culture and heritage tourism. This study focuses on the obstacles that Israelis with disabilities – 30 people who use wheelchairs or crutches and 15 visually impaired people – face while visiting art museums. The in-depth interviews revealed that people with disabilities are not able to experience the museum as they wish, despite museum efforts toward becoming accessible to all. Participants emphasize the non-physical elements of the museum environment (e.g. staff attitudes and interaction with other visitors), as being major difficulties in achieving a full museum experience. The study shows that visitors often turn the barriers they confront into a difficulty, nevertheless the struggle itself has a negative effect on the visit experience.     

Free Time in an Art Museum: Pausing,Gazing and Interacting

Art museums are popular places where people choose to spend free time. Leisure in art museums may be characterized by silence, contemplation, reaction to art, and interaction with other visitors. The purpose of this exploratory investigation was to understand more about the nature of the art museum experience, using as a setting the Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) in Vienna, Austria. Between 2006 and 2008, a total of 100 adults who visited this museum engaged in conversational interviews with the researcher. Conversations showed that visits to art museums during free time stimulate complex interactions between visitors and art. Patrons consider art museums to be spaces for visual contemplation and playful leisure behavior, and sites of continued education that can inform our understanding of serious leisure.     

Evaluating museum visitor experiences based on user-generated travel photos

ABSTRACT

This research introduces online travel photos published on social media platforms as a complementary data resource to examine the behavior and experience of museum visitors. The practical value of online travel photos is demonstrated through a case study of popular Hong Kong museums, particularly by using the photo content and metadata available from the Flickr platform. The proposed approach is a generic method for understanding museum visitor behavior and preferences, and supports museum practitioners in developing improved products for visitors. The case study findings are particularly beneficial for tourism managers, especially those in Hong Kong, in promoting and attracting tourists to visit local museums.     

Tourists as Story-Builders: Narrative Construction at a Heritage Museum

Although tourism scholarship supports the idea that the appreciation of a tourism experience depends on the availability and communication of stories, attention has been paid almost exclusively on marketers and tourism organizers as the main designers and promoters of narratives, ignoring the role of tourists themselves in this process. Using heritage museums as an empirical context, this research suggests that the success of a narrative presentation in tourism destinations also depends on the tourists' involvement, willingness, and ability to actively participate in the storytelling experience. In this sense, tourists act as story-builders whose main task is to construct a historical narrative based on the selection and integration of the available sources. The findings show that museum visitors go through a three-stage process during their effort to complete a heritage narrative and make sense of their tourism experience. This work sheds light on the coconstruction of tourism experiences and provides marketing direction for the successful narrative staging of museums and tourism places in general.     

Heritage Tourism in the 21st Century: Valued Traditions and New Perspectives

The present article uses the example of the Alta Museum to discuss how museums have become dependent on tourism as a necessary source of income. This dependency has often been regarded as a challenge to the scholarly quality of the exhibits. The article argues that the involvement in tourism has less impact on what is represented by the museum and more on how the museum needs to represent the exhibition and its context. The article discusses the possible conflicts and contradictions between the traditional ideology of museums and modern tourism. The Alta Museum is then analysed in order to demonstrate how the museum is involved in a tourism system in which location is vital. The last part of the article analyses the Alta Museum in relation to the concepts of McDonaldisation and Disneyization. This analysis reveals the importance for museums to adapt to modes of productions that are familiar to international tourists. Museums thus become spaces for having a ‘good time’.     

Elucidating the relationships among destination images,recreation experience,and authenticity of the Shengxing Heritage Recreation Area in Taiwan

A destination's image and on-site recreation experience can be regarded as precedents of the authenticity perceived by heritage tourists. Historic images attract tourists to experience the authenticity of a heritage destination. This study examines the linear relationships among destination images, recreation experience, and the perceived authenticity experienced by tourists at the Shengxing Heritage Recreation Area in central Taiwan. In total, 536 usable questionnaires were collected. Analytical results indicate that the cognitive and affective images of a destination directly and significantly affect the recreation experience of tourists at a heritage recreation area. Additionally, recreation experience directly and significantly affects perceived authenticity. Moreover, recreation experience has a significant mediating effect on the relationship between cognitive image and perceived authenticity. We conclude that when tourists visit a heritage-based tourism destination, such as the destination under consideration, these tourists gain tourism image and recreation experiences, which strengthens their perceived authenticity of heritage tourism; as a result, these tourists are more likely to contribute to the development of heritage tourism. Applying this theoretical framework to research on heritage tourism further extends our understanding of the behavioural model of heritage tourists. Finally, this study provides a valuable reference for managers striving to develop heritage tourism.     

A study of experience expectations of museum visitors

Visitor studies including studies of experience and expectations of visitors are important for museums in terms of management and development, however few studies have been designed to explore the components of experience expectations for museum visitors. This research tried to analyze the experience expectations of museum visitors. Using content analysis of diaries written by museum visitors, a questionnaire of experience expectations of museum visitors was developed. After a survey with 425 valid returns, factor analysis was used to extract 5 types of experience expectations, which included: easiness and fun, cultural entertainment, personal identification, historical reminiscences, and escapism. Moreover, this research analyzed visitors’ preferences for visiting museums and their demographic factors among different types of experience expectations. Finally, some related discussion and suggestions were proposed.     

Determinants of Revisit Intention to a Hot Springs Destination: Evidence from Taiwan

This study develops a structural model for understanding the effects of destination personality, cuisine experience and psychological well-being on tourists' revisit intentions to a hot springs destination. An on-site questionnaire was administered to 315 Taiwanese tourists at Bei-Tou hot springs. The results indicated that destination personality, cuisine experience and psychological well-being were important determinants of revisit intention. In addition, ‘health’ was the strongest dimension for cuisine experience, and ‘healthy’ was the dominant dimension for destination personality. The findings suggest that future efforts to understand the revisitation decision-making process should consider tourists' aspirations for the pursuit of health. Implications for theory and practice are provided.     

Make a loyal visitor: a study of leisure experience at Farglory corporate museum in Taiwan

Modern museum operation has evolved from simply providing the public with cultural and historical information to becoming a part of the tourism and leisure industry that provides “edutainment.” In response to intense competition and challenges, museums now place a strong focus on customer experience to elevate their appeal. Targeting newly established corporate museums, this study investigates the relationship between customer leisure motivation, leisure experience, and customer loyalty intention by using a structural equation modelling method. The results show that leisure experience mediates the effect of leisure motivation on loyalty intention. In other words, customer leisure motivation can lead to customer loyalty intention through leisure experience. The results further reveal that act experience dimension provided by corporate museums had significant effects. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

A construal level view of contemporary heritage tourism

Psychological distance is “a subjective experience that something is close or far away from the self, here, and now” (Trope & Liberman 2010, p. 440). This research investigates heritage tourism from the perspective of Construal Level theory, which postulates that individuals mentally represent objects and events by adopting either low or high construal levels. We show that heritage tourism leads tourists to adopt a higher psychological distance and therefore a higher construal level. In turn, this higher construal negatively affects destination loyalty and perceived uniqueness. However, authenticity and engagement moderate the heritage–construal relationship, counterbalancing the higher psychological distance induced by heritage. We explore these relationships in two studies focusing on contemporary heritage sites. This further allows to compare visitors’ mental representations of the experience, based on their memory type. The paper concludes by addressing implications for theory and practice.     

Positioning museums on an authenticity continuum

This research was designed to contribute to scholarly and applied understanding of how curators define authenticity and how those perspectives fit into the contemporary role of museums today. The study was drawn from a sample of curators based in the heritage museums of the state of Iowa, United States. A complex cross-section of ideologies behind the museum curtains is unveiled. This study positions the curators on an authenticity continuum and suggests a negotiation model reflecting active citizenship and social capital for the museum audience seeking a cultural tourism experience.     

博物馆解说系统的游客期望、使用和评价研究——基于知识需求的分析

博物馆的社会教育功能越来越受到游客和社会的关注,然而,当前我国博物馆解说系统的规划设计在很大程度上忽视了游客的知识需求特征,一定程度上影响了游客的游览体验,并影响到博物馆教育功能的实现.文章以成都金沙博物馆为研究对象,对游客的知识需求和博物馆解说系统期望、解说工具使用,以及游览后的知识获得和解说系统评价进行了分析.结果发现:游客具有较高的知识需求水平,对博物馆解说系统在知识丰富性、知识传递的过程和方式寄予了比较高的期望;游客对知识需求和解说系统的不同期望水平并未对解说工具的使用比例整体上造成明显的影响,然而游客对解说工具的使用满意度在很大程度上影响了他们对知识获得和解说系统的评价;游客的期望只在部分程度上得以实现,而且体现出超过较低期望游客的预期,但未达到较高期望游客要求的特点.在此基础上,文章提出了金沙博物馆解说体系今后需要解决的一些问题.     

Influence of tourists' well-being in the post-COVID-19 era: Moderating effect of physical distancing

To prevent COVID-19, tourists are required to maintain distance from other people. However, interpersonal contact is a crucial element in tourists' well-being. It is necessary to ask how eliciting both eudaimonic and hedonic well-being will change as a result. The answer is unclear. To address this issue, we used partial least squares equation modeling to examine a city that has efficiently responded to COVID-19. This study expands the influencing model of tourists' well-being by revealing how physical distance moderates the influence of such factors as contact intention, leisure involvement, and flow experience. The study throws light on tourists' psychological recovery and destination management in the post-COVID-19 era.     

Key factors maximizing art museum visitors’ satisfaction,commitment, and post-purchase intentions

As there is a lack of empirical research examining art museum visitors’ post-purchase behaviors, this study tested the theoretical associations among image congruence, quality, affective experiences, satisfaction, and commitment to build a sturdy model of behavioral intentions. The concept of involvement was also included as a moderator. A field survey at art museums was conducted. The level of construct validity and reliability for all variables were satisfactory. Results of the structural model revealed that the proposed theoretical framework sufficiently accounted for the variance in intentions. Satisfaction was of greatest importance in generating intentions. Commitment and satisfaction acted as important mediators. Among nine hypothesized direct linkages, eight hypotheses were supported. Findings from the invariance model assessment supported the moderating influence of involvement on the relationships among quality, satisfaction, commitment, and intentions. The strength of such relationships among these variables was greater when museum visitors’ involvement level was high.     

Community involvement and place identity: the role of perceived values,perceived fairness,and subjective well-being

This research aims to discuss the community residents’ place identity to rural tourists site by exploring residents’ perceived values, perceived fairness, and subjective well-being in their involvement behavior. The evidence of relationship among those constructs in theory and practice is provided in this study. With the samples gained from a typical and representative rural tourists site in China, the outcomes of a structural equation modeling approach demonstrated that community members’ involvement at rural tourists site positively affects perceived values and fairness; they, thereby, contributes to residents’ subjective well-being. At last, subjective well-being plays an effective predictor of place identity to the rural tourists site.     

A strategy for enhancing senior tourists’ well-being perception: focusing on the experience economy

This study was designed to examine how to form well-being perception in the senior tourism industry. More specifically, this study proposed (1) the casual relationships between four dimensions of the experience economy (i.e. education, entertainment, esthetics, and escapism) and well-being perception, (2) the effects of well-being perception on consumer attitudes toward a brand, brand attachment, and brand loyalty, and (3) the moderating role of advertising effectiveness. Data were collected from 323 senior tourists in Korea. The results showed that all of the four dimensions have a positive influence on well-being perception, which in turn positively affects outcome variables. Lastly, this study found that advertising effectiveness has an important moderating function in the relationship between education and well-being perception.     

Exploring Critical Factors of Macau's Heritage Tourism: What Heritage Tourists are Looking for when Visiting the City's Iconic Heritage Sites

Although Macau is widely stigmatized as a gambling paradise, its colonial past has left the city with a wealth of heritage and cultural attractions that can be converted into priceless tourism resources. Macau's status as world heritage city further creates opportunities for the city to develop its heritage tourism business. This requires Macau to understand heritage tourists whose needs and wants may vary from ordinary travelers. A review of the literature, however, indicates that most academic discussions of Macau heritage are from a history or conservation perspective rather than from the prism of tourism; because of this, the present study aims to explore, from a tourism perspective, the critical factors that are essential to enhance tourist experience when visiting Macau's major heritage sites.     

Changes in tourists’ perception of well-being based on their use of emotion regulation strategies during vacation

ABSTRACT

Based on the theoretical foundation of emotion regulation, this exploratory study aimed to examine changes in tourists’ perceived well-being and to determine whether these changes were due to use of emotion regulation strategies (ERSs) during their vacation. This study used travel diaries to record tourists’ use of ERSs on a daily basis, and also measured tourists’ perceived well-being one day before and after their vacation. Results indicated that tourists had significantly higher perceptions of well-being after vacation, and those who used ERSs were more likely to indicate a higher sense of well-being after vacation. The results provide new insight into which aspects of tourists’ subjective and psychological well-being can be boosted by taking vacations and how these aspects may be enhanced by using different ERSs.     

The influence of recreation experiences on environmentally responsible behavior: the case of Liuqiu Island,Taiwan

Scientific understanding of the relationships between recreation experience and environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) of nature-based tourists is limited. To address this research gap, this study examines the relationship between recreation experiences (i.e. education, experiential engagement, esthetics, and escapism) and the general and site-specific ERB of tourists on Liuqiu Island in Taiwan. In total, 443 usable questionnaires were collected. The empirical results indicate that general ERB is positively and significantly affected by experiential engagement and the escapism of recreation experiences. The site-specific ERB of tourists is positively and significantly affected by the education, esthetics, and escapism of the recreation experience. We conclude that when people participate in the types of nature-based tourism described here, their recreation experiences can strengthen their sense of engagement in general and site-specific ERB, and contribute constructively to positive aspects of sustainable tourism. The management implications presented in this paper provide valuable insights for sustainable tourism. We suggest that recreation managers at nature-based tourism destinations collaborate to plan and implement recreational activities that are integrated with environmental education initiatives. This approach will encourage tourists to simultaneously engage in high-quality recreation experiences and ERB.