What determines international tourist arrivals in India?

Using data for 18 major tourist originating countries to India from 2001 to 2015, this study examines the major determinants of international tourist arrivals in India. The results indicate that past experiences of the tourists, per capita income in the tourist originating country, relative costs of living between India and the country of origin, and the level of infrastructure development in India are key determinants of international tourist arrivals in India. Furthermore, both transportation and communication infrastructure are important in attracting tourists to India. In particular, evidence suggests that availability of road and air network and telephone connections has favourable impacts on international tourist arrivals in India. These results are robust to the inclusion of additional variables. These results have important policy implications.     

(Re)constructing the tourist experience? Editing experience and mediating memories of learning to dive

Abstract

Through an analysis of the mediative techniques involved in the production of videographic tourist memorabilia (specifically souvenir DVDs of learning to SCUBA dive), in this paper I seek to render visible the often unconsidered aspects of visual media production that result in not only visual images themselves, but also by extension, the construction of alternate realities of leisure space and tourist performance. A connectionist approach to the study of memory is advocated highlighting that mediatory technologies, whilst acting as stimulants for recollection, actually inform and construct memories rather than transmitting realistic snippets of past experience. In the paper, it is questioned whether ‘authenticity’ is a relevant frame of reference bearing in mind that the ‘post-tourist’ is often perfectly aware of the lack of authenticity in many tourist activities and happy to go along with a pretence. With this in mind, the paper concludes by stating that ‘reality’ is arguably being edited out of memories concerning tourism’s places and practices through the production of commercially driven and produced ‘souvenirs’. For the most part, the paper focuses on the experiences of young tourists between the ages of 18–25, the key demographic attracted to the field site in question.     

How does tourist monitoring alter fish behavior in underwater trails?

Nature based tourism is becoming more popular because it is perceived as a solution to the conflict between conservation and economic exploitation. Nevertheless, it is known to cause several effects. This paper reports findings whereby monitored tourism avoids triggering adverse effects for social cichlid fish species, Crenicichla lepidota. Measures used included aggression toward territorial intruders and the number of nests built in pristine reference areas for monitored and in non-monitored tourist areas. We observed suppressed aggressive behavior and suppressed nesting only in the non-monitored area. We conclude that by monitoring visits, and using techniques including avoiding stepping on the river bed, reducing the number of visitors, prohibiting fish feeding and protecting riparian vegetation, it is possible to avoid the enduring damage caused by nature tourism.     

Is guarantee compensation enough? The important role of fix and employee effort in restoring justice

We conducted an experiment examining the influence of guarantee compensation and other service recovery tactics on customers’ justice perceptions across hotel failures of varying severity. Our study was driven by a noted lack of research into the benefits of service guarantees as a recovery tool and past findings suggesting that hotel management may be relying too heavily on guarantee compensation to recover failures. Findings suggest that compensation, fix and failure severity jointly influence customers’ perceptions of distributive justice. Perceived employee effort has a large influence on guests’ perceptions of interactional justice, however, it does not interact with failure severity to influence justice.     

Influence of guanxi on hospitality career performance in China: Is more necessarily better?

Careers in hospitality are inevitably influenced by interpersonal relationships which, in China, are embodied in the unique cultural-relational phenomenon of guanxi. The study challenges the conventional wisdom that in China more guanxi is necessarily better for one’s career by distinguishing between two distinct guanxi behaviors and investigating their effects on the career performance of hospitality employees. Using multi-source data from a sample (n = 351) of hospitality employees, the results show that behaviors for developing guanxi contribute positively to hospitality career performance up to an inflexion point, after which they turn negative. Behaviors for maintaining guanxi provide additional resources that can attenuate the negative influence of excessive guanxi development on career performance. The implications of the findings that more guanxi is not necessarily better for the career performance of hospitality employees are fully discussed, along with suggestions for future research and practice.     

How can tourism use land more efficiently? A model-based approach to land-use efficiency for tourist destinations

In densely populated areas of Central Europe, many successful tourist destinations face the problem of approaching the limit of their growth potential. Solutions to this problem commonly refer to the idea of “smart growth” based on increasing efficiency in the use of nature for economic production (eco-efficiency). In this paper, we show how eco-efficiency can be used to evaluate tourism strategies on local scale based on an augmented regional input–output model that delivers information on economic performance, land use (as indicator for environmental pressure), and employment. We illustrate this approach via a case study of the tourist destination of Davos in the Swiss Alps. The model predicts that the key drivers of land-use efficiency are: (i) the economic impact of tourists, (ii) occupancy intensity, and (iii) the density of beds per area covered by residential buildings and hotels. The economic impact of increasing bed capacity is highly dependent on the tourist category triggering the development; this can also be used to attract new tourist categories at the expense of tourist categories that make inefficient use of available land. As the impact of an increased density of beds per ground floor area is as high as an improved occupancy rate over during the year, spatial planning, building design, and facility management also play a major role in improving land efficiency in the tourism sector.     

Do tourists experience boredom in mountain destinations?

The paper investigates the extent to which tourists perceive boredom during their winter mountain holiday. The Leisure Boredom Scale (S.E. Iso-Ahola & Weissinger, 1990) was applied to segment tourists on the base of their perceived boredom. An empirical research operated in an Alpine region revealed the existence of two segments who experience boredom: Bored tourists and Excited-Bored tourists (21% of the tourists). This evidence contradicts results found in previous literature that boredom is associated to passive behaviour, and shows that boredom co-exists with excitement. The majority of these tourists are mothers accompanying their relatives, stay in hotels, and choose either the chief town Aosta or minor locations. Bored tourists are involved in many activities, and spend even more than other tourists.     

What certifications are important in the hospitality industry?

The purpose of this study was to explore the need for certification in hospitality; and specifically to see if professional certifications are valued when earned at the college level and brought to the workplace when hired. There were 79 online surveys completed by hospitality industry professionals at the level of hiring manager. The results of the study showed that there is value in completing certificates while in college, before entering the hospitality workforce. Such certifications as ServSafe, Alcohol Awareness, and Guest Service Professional, were found important when applying to hospitality industry related positions after earning a 4-year degree.     

Does more attractive choice always decrease choice deferral? The moderating effect of ideal point

This research shows that having a more attractive product in a choice set will not always reduce choice deferral. It depends on the type of consumers and type of product attributes. The current research examines the interaction effect of attractiveness difference and ideal point on choice deferral with three studies that were examined using products and services in related hospitality industries. Ideal point exists when consumers have specific preference on combination of product attributes. The results revealed that consumers without an ideal point will tend to defer choice in a small than large attractiveness difference choice set, while the tendency to defer choice for consumers with an ideal point will not be affected by the attractiveness difference in a choice set (study 1). A different moderating effect exists when a type of product attributes is changed (study 2) and we rule out the moderating effect of ideal point (study 3).     

Motivation and satisfaction of marathon volunteers: How important is volunteers' level of running experience?

Special events such as marathons frequently depend on volunteers who may have various motivations for volunteering. The purpose of this study is to examine the motivations of volunteers of marathons, differences in motivation by demographics, level of running experience, and relationships with satisfaction. The results reveal differences in the love of sport volunteer motivation by the level of running experience. In addition, the level of running experience variable, which is unique in volunteer motivation studies, moderates the relationships between motivations and satisfaction, suggesting events such as marathons could benefit from recruiting volunteers who themselves participate in the event activity.     

Is VR game training more effective for hospitality employees? A longitudinal experiment

The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) game training compared to both in-person demonstration and traditional video training. Combining the constructivist learning theory with the cognitive-affective theory of learning, the study designed a longitudinal lab experiment in the context of restaurant frontline worker training. The results showed that VR game training led to more favorable brand attitudes but less knowledge retention than the other two training methods, both immediately after training and four weeks later. The contradictory results might be explained by higher arousal elicited by VR game training, which has a negative mediating effect on knowledge retention. On the other hand, pleasure positively mediates the effect of training method on brand attitude and knowledge retention. In addition, intrinsic motivation showed a significant moderating role only in delayed effects of training. The study findings have significant implications for both academia and professionals.     

Morning larks travel more than night owls? Chronotypical effect on travel frequency through novelty seeking

Chronotype is a characterization of people's propensity to sleep at a particular time, spanning a spectrum from the two extremes of “morning larks,” who go to sleep early and rise early, and “evening owls,” who go to sleep late and rise late. We study the relationship between chronotype and the tendency to seek novelty in travel preference. Surprisingly, in contrast to the case of domain-general novelty seeking, morning larks are more domain-specific in their novelty seeking than night owls in relation to travel. To test the significance of this finding, we explore the downstream behavioral consequences of the tendency to be novelty seeking. Travel frequency for leisure is found to increase with novelty seeking. In addition, chronotype has an indirect effect on travel frequency through its influence on novelty seeking—a mediation relationship moderated by gender, with the effect of chronotype on novelty seeking especially strong among young females.     

Is more better? The relationship between meeting space capacity and hotel operating performance

This study examines the effect of meeting space capacity on hotel operating performance. We use Resource-Based View (RBV) of the firm as the theoretical foundation. We employ a national-level dataset with more than 20,000 hotels in the United States for the 2007–2012 period. We find that meeting space has a non-linear effect on hotel operating performance. That is, at low levels of meeting space, meeting space capacity is negatively related to hotel operating performance. At high levels of meeting space, meeting space capacity has a positive influence on operating performance. These findings provide insights for hotel owners, developers and practitioners in planning hotel meeting space capacity.     

Visitors’ satisfaction at managed tourist attractions in Northern Norway: Do on-site factors matter?

A plethora of research has studied the antecedents of visitor experience in destinations and tourist attractions. Few studies have systematically analyzed the discriminating effects of different types of on-site factors (presentation platform and support services) on tourist satisfaction at different attraction sites. To fill the gap, the current study examines whether and to what extent it is possible to identify some distinct sub-categories of on-site factors with discriminating effects on visitors’ perceptions and evaluations of the site, while taking into consideration the impact of attraction type and visitor type. The findings of a paper-and-pencil survey among 632 visitors at four attraction sites in Northern Norway suggest that visitor perceptions of presentation platform and support services differ significantly by attraction site and type of visit. Also, technological and oral/traditional presentation platforms have discriminating effects on visitor satisfaction among the four sites. The results offer some new research insights into the role of different presentation tools at visitor attractions. Several important practical implications for attraction managers and marketers to drive visitor satisfaction are also provided.     

Does residents' perceived life satisfaction vary with tourist season? A two-step survey in a Mediterranean destination

Recent attention has been dedicated to the relationship between tourism and subjective well-being, however studies have mainly focused on the tourist side. Since residents are an indispensable partner for the success of any tourism program, understanding whether and how tourism affects residents' perceived life-satisfaction is a crucial issue. However, scant attention has been paid to this theme and the majority of studies are cross-sectional. Here we develop a two-step survey, conducted in a seaside resort before and during the tourist season to test for significant differences in residents' perceptions of tourism impact and overall life satisfaction. The results confirm the hypothesis that perceived tourism impact and life satisfaction vary with the tourist season, and that tourism has a hidden cost in terms of perceived life satisfaction.     

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.