Policy communities,networks and issue cycles in tourism destination systems

This paper demonstrates how concepts derived from policy community, policy network and issues management theories can be used to understand the roles, activities and interactions of government, corporate and pressure group stakeholders engaged in tourism policy, planning and management in destination contexts. It shows the relevance and utility of an “integrated issue lifecycle approach” to trace the evolution of tourism policy, planning and destination management within specific destination contexts. The application of this approach is demonstrated through a case analysis of the tourism policy and planning system that underpins the destination system of Byron Bay, a significant domestic and international destination on the East Coast of Australia. The underlying premise adopted for this study is that the examination of the antecedents of tourism policy and planning processes, within particular destination contexts, can lead to an understanding of the driving values and ideas that have led to contemporary tourism policy issues and problems.     

Examining destination images from travel blogs: a big data analytical approach using latent Dirichlet allocation

ABSTRACT

In the big data era, destination images have played an increasingly important role in tourism development. However, seldom tourism research has utilised big data analytics to examine destination images from travel blogs. Therefore, this study proposes and evaluates a big data analytical approach using latent Dirichlet allocation to extract attributes of online destination images from 140,286 travel blogs about 20 cities in China. Results reveal 14 dimensions with 54 attributes of destination images of the studied cities. Interesting findings are discovered between online destination images and tourism cities. This study also summarises the implications for tourism research and practice.     

Local cuisines and destination marketing: cases of three cities in Shandong,China

This study analyzes how the three cities of Jinan, Qingdao, and Qufu in Shandong Province of China use their cuisines in promoting their destinations. Based on a critical review of previous studies, a conceptual framework was developed, which included five closely related areas: foods, beverages, dining, farming, and food festivals. All related texts, images, videos, brochures, booklets, and websites designed to market these three cities were content-analyzed. The study findings suggest that all the three cities have not yet fully utilized their cuisines in their destination marketing efforts. Although some of their culinary resources appear in their marketing materials, the local cuisines of these three cities are not yet skillfully integrated into their marketing efforts. The present study offers specific theoretical and practical implications on marketing the culinary resources of destinations that are in the early stages of their development.     

Hotel engineering facilities: A case study of maintenance performance

Many hotels are using computerised maintenance management systems (CMMS) to organize building and facility maintenance works. The data recorded by a CMMS are useful information to assessment of maintenance performance but few have paid attention to this application. The findings of a pilot case study conducted based on a 618-room hotel in Hong Kong, as reported in this paper, include how the hotel's CMMS was utilized to facilitate maintenance work organization and the analyses of the CMMS records and associated documentary information for a 12-month period. The study revealed that the maintenance workload was dominated by electrical installations, and the guestrooms demanded for far more maintenance works than the other areas. Significant correlation was found between equipment downtime and amount of maintenance work orders. A range of performance curves and indicators which is useful for assessing maintenance performance of hotel engineering facilities is also presented.     

The role of wellness spa tourism performance in building destination loyalty: the case of Thailand

ABSTRACT

Despite the considerable growth of the wellness spa tourism market, little research has examined the intricate procedure involved in travelers’ loyalty toward Thailand as a wellness spa tourism destination. This research aimed to explore such loyalty formation by investigating the relationships among performances of wellness spa tourism in Thailand, affective experiences, and overall satisfaction. A field survey methodology was used for data collection. Findings of the structural analysis revealed that product performances, affective experiences, and satisfaction were in general significantly associated, and that these variables contributed to a satisfactory prediction for destination loyalty. In addition, the adequacy of the second-order structure of the performances of Thai wellness spa tourism was demonstrated. Moreover, the relative effectiveness of satisfaction in building loyalty was identified. Both affective experiences and satisfaction were also found to have a significant mediating impact. Implications for destination researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Fashioning a destination tourism future: The case of Slovenia

Achieving competitive advantage for any destination in times of rapid global change requires tourism stakeholders to have a clear understanding of the direction of change and its implications for business or destination management. The challenges are particularly acute for emerging destinations such as Slovenia. The paper discusses tools for measuring destination performance with particular focus on Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA). Using IPA the paper develops a priority ordering for Slovenian tourism stakeholders to debate, modify and to adopt actions that can help them prepare for the challenges arising from global trends. The survey instrument used for this study asks respondents to highlight both the important areas that should be addressed by tourism stakeholders in Slovenia and also the performance of Slovenia in respect of the success or otherwise of the strategies that are currently being pursued to enhance destination competitiveness. The findings reveal that there are a number of areas in which the Slovene tourism industry considers itself to be underperforming in the implementation of strategies to eliminate drift. The paper explores some of the implications of the findings for strategic action and implementation, making some concluding comments on destination development strategy while highlighting areas for further research.     

The relationship between travel constraints and destination image: A case study of Brunei

This study evaluated the relationship between travel constraints and destination image of young travelers to Brunei. This study found a significant relationship between destination image and travel constraints during the early decision-making process. This study concluded travel constraints impact on the formation of destination image during the early decision-making process. Study results contribute to the body of knowledge in two areas. First, four dimensions of travel constraints and three dimensions of perceived destination image were identified. In addition to the 3-dimension hierarchal constraints (structural, intrapersonal, and interpersonal), a new constraint dimension (unfamiliar cultural constraints) was revealed. Second, this study confirmed the relationship between travel constraints and destination image. Relatively few studies address the role of travel constraints to the formation of destination image. This is the first study providing empirical evidence demonstrating Brunei’s destination image and travel constraints impact young travelers during the early decision-making process.     

Service climate and customer satisfaction in a casino hotel: An exploratory case study

Given the global escalation in gaming availability, this paper proposes a service management framework for the study of competitive advantage in casino hotels. Using data collected from 303 employees at an Australian casino hotel, an exploratory case study in service climate and customer satisfaction is presented. The findings suggest that while service climate is highly correlated with customer satisfaction, internal dynamics result in significant differences in the perceptions of casino employees versus non-casino employees, highlighting the need to tailor organisational strategies to different types of employees.     

The influence of place attachment on the relationship between destination attractiveness and environmentally responsible behavior for island tourism in Penghu,Taiwan

This study examines the causal relationships between place attachment, destination attractiveness and environmentally responsible behavior (ERB), and the mediating effect of place attachment. Four hundred and thirteen tourists were surveyed who had visited the Penghu islands, Taiwan. Structural Equation Modeling was used to determine the relationships among the variables and the mediating effects. Results show that the emotions and feelings (place attachment), which tourists have for Penghu, are positively associated with stronger ERB; the extent of attractiveness of island tourism as perceived by tourists is also positively associated with stronger ERB. A higher level of tourists’ destination attractiveness in regard to island tourism is associated with stronger place attachment; place attachment was found to exert a significant effect in mediating the relationship between destination attractiveness and ERB. The study shows that when island tourists are attracted by and are attached to the destination, they are more likely to exhibit ERB. The study pioneers the integration of all three factors in a sustainable tourism behavior model designed for tourists who stay one night or more at a destination, and tests the hypotheses for the first time in an Asian destination. Management implications and recommendations for the sustainable development of Penghu islands tourism are provided.     

Climate variability and water use on golf courses: optimization opportunities for a warmer future

Global freshwater resources are under ever-increasing pressure that is anticipated to be exacerbated by climate change. Increasing demands for water use will require tourism to improve and disclose its monitoring and reporting, particularly for water-intensive activities such as golf tourism. Using a sample of 129 courses from Ontario (Canada), this is the first study to examine golf course characteristics that influence water use variability (e.g. dominant soil type, ownership type, and age of course). By establishing “best in class” water use efficiency among common types of courses, potential water extraction savings of 35% are identified (or 6.75 billion litres annually). Importantly, the study also accounts for the influence of climate variability on water use by comparing a climatically normal season (for the 1981–2010 period) with an anomalously dry and warm season to examine the potential impact of future climate change on water use (i.e. reduced precipitation and higher temperatures). Average water use effectively almost doubles during an anomalously dry-warm season (increasing from 59.6 to 94.2 million litres), accentuating the importance of achieving potential water use efficiencies. In addition to best management practices, the need to reshape public perceptions of golf course aesthetics is also discussed.     

Off-season tourists and the cultural offer of a mass-tourism destination: The case of Rimini

This paper assesses the potential implications on off-season tourism of enhancing the cultural offer of Rimini, a popular Italian seaside holiday destination hosting about 12 million overnight stays per year. Since more than 9 million of these stays are concentrated in the summer season, in the last 20 years. Rimini has been undergoing a policy of seasonality smoothing, which mainly pivots around business and cultural tourism. This assessment has been carried out through discrete choice experiments submitted to a sample of about 800 tourists who visited Rimini outside the summer months. Since tourism can be viewed as a composite good, which overall utility depends on how the component characteristics are arranged, the choice experiments allow to disentangle the importance and the willingness to pay of tourists for different attributes of the holiday. The choice model incorporates a number of possible changes to actual tourism features (which are also the subject of public debate), including them in hypothetical alternative “holiday packages”. The conditional logit analysis of the choice experiments can highlight any synergy or trade-off between cultural and business tourism. Results suggest that business and leisure tourists share many features related to the use of the territory, while there are important trade-offs between these two groups and cultural tourists. Since business tourists have a higher willingness to extend their stay, a softer budget, and their demand is also complementary to the demand of summer tourists (Brau, Scorcu, & Vici, 2009), from the destination point of view investing in this market segment would be the best option. Although a “second best”, however, cultural tourists share with the local population of Rimini many aspects of the demand of territory (Figini, Castellani, & Vici, 2009). Hence, cultural tourism can play a fundamental role in the intermediate season as a tool for smoothing seasonality, to diversify investments and to give value to the city’s cultural heritage.     

The antecedents of hashtag and geotag use in smart tourism: case study in Indonesia

ABSTRACT

This study aims to determine what factors that motivate users to use the hashtag and geotag features on Instagram while traveling. It also seeks to determine the relationship between using Instagram features, traveling experience, expectation, confirmation, and satisfaction on traveling journeys. This study collected data from 606 Indonesian travelers. Then, the data analysed using covariance-based structural equation modelling. Results show that the use of hashtags and geotags during traveling improve their satisfaction. Additionally, information seeking, chronicling, and etiquette are found to be influencing hashtag use. Meanwhile, geotag use are influenced by geotag enjoyment and anticipated rewards.     

The impacts of climate change on tourist mobility in mountain areas

This study investigates the effects of climate change on tourist mobility in mountain areas, distinguishing between infrastructure, transport operation and travel demand. We examine change in tourist travel demand by proposing a two-step approach to forecast its future development. A multi-origin, multi-destination model for tourism demand quantifies the variation in overnight stays within a given region, and a linear, deterministic model determines the traffic-related implications. The method, tested on the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol (Italy), exhibits expected variations in winter and summer travel demand up to 2080 under different scenarios. Results reveal that average summer traffic can be more than twice as intense as average winter traffic, contributing to significantly increasing the peak days of congestion along the Provincial road network. Despite this evidence, all stakeholders seem to be at an early stage in incorporating this information into their strategic planning. The need for adequate transport policies and measures is considered essential to obtain the optimal balance of transport modes that will be required in the near future.     

The relationship between CRM, RM, and business performance: A study of the hotel industry in Taiwan

This study aims to investigate the implementation of customer relationship management (CRM) and its effect on relationship marketing (RM) and business performance, through an analysis of the hotel industry in Taiwan. A survey on hotels, including general and tourist hotels, and bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) was conducted, and a total of 560 questionnaires were returned. The results showed that implementing CRM has a significant and positive influence on the RM effect, positively affecting business performance for both hotels and B&Bs. However, a comparison of the influential paths of relationship models between hotels and B&Bs showed that, for hotels, the Internet service and customer support functions of the CRM strategy are the main sources of influence on the RM effect and business performance, whereas for B&Bs, the marketing support function of the CRM strategy alone influences the RM effect and business performance. To achieve higher performance, the different types of hotel enterprises should understand their main advantage before implementing key CRM strategies.     

Developing energy conservation and carbon reduction indicators for the hotel industry in Taiwan

This study develops and weights energy conservation and carbon reduction (ECCR) indicators for the hotel industry in Taiwan to create an instrument to help address climate change. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior hotel managers, environmental specialists, and government officials to identify the preliminary ECCR framework. An expert panel then was invited to review the structure of ECCR criteria and the compiled criteria in a structure for item modification. An analytic network process questionnaire survey was employed to determine the relative weights of the criteria. The data analysis reveals seven categories in the ECCR framework: communication and participation, top management commitment, energy, water, waste, building, and purchasing. A total of 32 indicators were identified and prioritized in terms of their relative importance to ECCR contributions. The results of this study suggest that the success of ECCR implementation depends primarily on management support and staff engagement. Hotel operators can improve their environmental management by initiating ECCR practices based on the proposed ECCR indicators.     

Destination image as a mediator between perceived risks and revisit intention: A case of post-disaster Japan

Despite the significance of perceived travel risk and destination image, relatively few studies address the effect of perceived travel risks on the formation of destination image, and the mediating role of destination image. This study draws new insights by examining (1) the effects of perceived risks on destination image, and (2) the mediating role of destination image between perceived risks and revisit intention of repeat tourists to a risky destination. With perceived risk and destination image being empirically distinctive constructs, findings revealed that perceived socio-psychological and financial risks influenced both cognitive and affective destination images. Perceived physical risk did not have a significant influence on destination image, although it directly affected revisit intention. Additionally, destination image significantly mediated the relationships between two risks, namely, perceived socio-psychological and financial risks, and revisit intention. Several managerial implications concerning the management of risk perceptions and the promotion of risky destinations are discussed in this study.     

Developing sustainable tourism through adaptive resource management: a case study of Machu Picchu,Peru

Machu Picchu, Peru, is recognized as a top international travel destination. Pressure from the approximately 900,000 tourists who annually visit the ancient Inca city threatens the ecological integrity, physical substance and cultural authenticity of the World Heritage Site and surrounding area, including the Inca Trail. Multiple organizations and agencies currently involved in the management of Machu Picchu have distinct agendas for the conservation and development of the city, and conflicts regarding public access, economic growth and cultural preservation are rampant. Attempts to establish carrying capacities have failed, with proposed daily visitor levels ranging from 800 to 4000. This paper explores the complex issues surrounding tourism at Machu Picchu and presents a potential solution: an adaptive management approach based on the UN World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO) sustainable tourism framework. This integrative strategy accounts for multiple perspectives and synthesizes disparate goals embraced by diverse stakeholders, including the Peruvian government, international conservation organizations, foreign tourists, private tour operators, regional authorities and indigenous communities. The focus on Machu Picchu as an adaptive management case study site outlines key steps leading to implementation, offering planning and policy implications for sustainability initiatives at numerous developing-world tourism destinations facing similar political and socio-economic challenges.     

Adopting e-Procurement technology in a chain hotel: An exploratory case study

As the lodging sector evolves into a more technology-oriented industry, the need to understand e-Procurement practices becomes more important. The main purpose of this study was to understand the challenges faced by decision makers at a chain hotel company in its adoption and implementation of e-Procurement. Results indicated that the company suffered from a lack of purchasing standardization across properties. Furthermore, this study suggests that not all vendors of e-Procurement solutions may be ready to partner with hotel companies. e-Procurement offers considerable potential for the industry but uncertainties such as those exhibited in this case must be addressed before significant resource commitments are made to e-Procurement.     

The indirect impact of casual dining on low-end gaming in destination and local casinos

The role of casino amenities is an important issue for casino operators and developers seeking to maximize gaming revenues, space utilization, and return-on-investment. The indirect impact of casual restaurant covers on low-denomination slot volume and cash table drop was investigated using daily data from two casinos. One casino primarily served local repeat customers while the other catered to a drive-in tourist business. Using estimates from time-series regression analysis, restaurant covers were significantly related to gaming volumes. The impact of dining volume on low-end slot play was especially strong in the local market casino, resulting in a substantial financial contribution.