Examining Tourists’ Push and Pull Travel Motivations and Behavioral Intentions: The Case of British Outbound Tourists to Phuket,Thailand

This research aimed specifically to (1) determine the socio-demographic characteristics and travel patterns of British tourists visiting Phuket; (2) identify the main “push” and “pull” travel motivations of British tourists visiting Phuket; and (3) examine the relationship between British tourists’ main “push/pull” motivations and future travel intention to Phuket. Findings revealed that British tourists’ main push motivations were: “to have fun,” “to rest and relax,” and “to escape from daily routine and environment”; while the main pull motivations were: “natural sceneries and landscapes,” “beaches,” and “hospitality and friendliness of the people.” There was also a relationship found between “push/pull” motivations and future travel intention to Phuket.     

The Role of Touristsʼ Value Perceptions in Behavioral Intentions: The Moderating Effect of Gender

ABSTRACT

In this study, the effect of tourists? perception of value on behavioral intentions, as well as the moderating effect of gender on the relationship between value perceptions and behavioral intentions was examined. A multidimensional value structure was used to investigate not only the functional components of value perceptions but also the hedonic value components, such as social value and emotional value. According to the findings, the most effective value dimension of revisit intentions of tourists is emotional value, whereas the most effective dimension of their recommendation intentions is social value. Moreover, it was found that the effect of behavioral price value perceptions on revisit intention was more of a determinant for males, whereas the effect of quality value perceptions on revisit intention was more of a determinant for females.     

Beyond Better Wine: The Impact of Experiential and Monetary Value on Wine Tourists’ Loyalty Intentions

Research on the experiential aspects of wine tourism has been advocated but the evolution of this approach in this field is still in its infancy. This exploratory study proposes a behavioral model to simultaneously examine the role of hedonic and utilitarian shopping value as well as monetary value perceptions in predicting cellar door visitors’ overall satisfaction and loyalty intentions. The application of partial least squares path modeling indicates that cellar door visitors are oriented toward the experiential aspects of the visit itself as much as to pragmatic considerations in purchasing wine. The insights are, therefore, directed toward the creation of a total cellar door experience. These findings contribute to the understanding of a cellar door visitors’ decision-making process, providing managers and researchers with insights into how to effectively accommodate cellar door visitors’ needs.     

Effects of Service Fairness and Service Quality on Tourists’ Behavioral Intentions and Subjective Well-Being

This study examined the effects of service fairness and service quality on tourists’ behavioral intentions and subjective well-being (SWB) with the mediation of satisfaction. It conceptualizes SWB as a sociopsychological benefit that people receive from tourism activities in parallel with behavioral intentions to visit the destination treated as economic benefit. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted in Xiamen city of Fujian Province, China, and a valid sample of 541 tourists was used for data analysis. Findings show that service fairness has more of an effect on behavioral intentions and SWB than service quality; and such differentiated effects can be partly attributed to the mediating role of satisfaction between the antecedent constructs (i.e, service fairness and service quality) and consequence constructs (i.e, behavioral intentions and tourist SWB). The results suggest that tourism service providers should deliver services in a fairer way and tourist SWB should be attended to by both governments and academics.     

Application of Perception-Promotion Matrix Model—The Case of Kaohsiung City

While a substantial amount of destination image research has been performed, few researchers have explored image perception gaps between tourists and government promotions. This study examines the perception gap between blogs and destination marketing organizations (DMOs) promotions by introducing a four-quadrant diagnostic tool: the Perception-Promotion Matrix (PPM). This case study collected data from 168 domestic and 64 international blogs, and 70 Chinese and 36 English official Kaohsiung City promotional websites to investigate image gap. The findings revealed significant “Tourist Infrastructure” image perception gaps, both from domestic and international traveler perspectives. The PPM suggests Kaohsiung City DMOs successfully promote an image of culture by hosting events and festivals. However, analysis indicates failure on the part of these DMOs to promote an image of Kaohsiung as an Ocean capital. Recommendations resulting from this study are provided for Kaohsiung City DMO consideration.     

The Influence of Destination-Country Image on Prospective Tourists’ Visit Intention: Testing Three Competing Models

The concept of destination-country image (DCI) in tourism context is an integration of two constructs from different fields: country image from international marketing and destination image from tourism. Based on the concept of attitude in the theory of reasoned action and halo effect view, this study explains the macro and micro structures that support DCI, and tests the influence of the original DCI on visit intention of prospective tourists through three competing models. The results show that the macro DCI includes four dimensions: country character, country competence, people character and people competence; the micro DCI is composed of three dimensions: natural attraction, cultural attraction and service facility. Full mediating model is supported, which indicates that macro DCI has an indirect effect on visit intention through micro DCI. This study proposes an integrated construct of the DCI and full mediating model, which adds knowledge of the relationship between original image and potential tourist's visit intention.     

Wine Tourists’ Destination Region Brand Image Perception and Antecedents: Conceptualization of a Winescape Framework

This study conceptualizes the winescape framework using a wine region's image as perceived by wine tourists, in the process integrating grounded theory, namely servicescape, destination choice, and place-based marketing theories. Using an a priori approach, it identifies the winescape construct in a framework of eight dimensions within the wine tourism environment in a study with 996 respondents in a well-known Canadian wine region. The most important dimension of the winescape is the region's natural beauty/setting (landscape). Other high impact characteristics are the service staff and friendly local people, overall ambience and the diversity of wine estates. The dynamic of first-time and repeat visitation plays a key role in visitors’ wine tourism behavior and their perception of the winescape. The decision to engage in wine tourism is generally impulsive, even spurious, and the motivations guiding the visitors’ behavior predominantly hedonic in nature.     

Understanding the Impact of Ecotourism Resort Experiences on Tourists’ Environmental Attitudes and Behavioural Intentions

This study explored the conservation benefits of environmental management practices and nature experiences provided at a major Australian ecotourism resort. To achieve this purpose the study investigated changes in tourists’ environmental knowledge, awareness, attitudes and behavioural intentions between pre-visit and post-visit stages. Overall, there were few statistically significant differences between the pre-visit and post-visit samples. This study found, however, significant effects of (1) visitor awareness of, and (2) involvement in, the environmental management practices, and (3) participation in nature tour activities on environmental attitudes and behaviours. It is suggested that awareness of in-resort environmental practices and satisfying experiences in ecotourism accommodation may lead to reinforcing visitors’ favourable environmental attitudes, thus increasing their interest in further ecotourism experiences. Through these cumulative effects, ecotourism accommodation could achieve its educative goal.     

The Influence of Appearance and the Number of People Viewed on Tourists’ Preferences for Seeing Other Tourists

This study examines tourists’ attitudes towards tourist-tourist encounters. The appearance and the number of observed tourists as well as the place of residence of the observing tourists were studied. The variables of tourist appearance and the number of people at the site were manipulated electronically in a set of rainforest photographic images. The data were collected through an on-site self-administered questionnaire. The results from 409 respondents suggested that there were different encounter preferences between Japanese and Western observers with respect to both appearance and the number of people encountered. Japanese have a preference for mixing with Westerners, at least in the rainforest setting studied. Westerners do not have marked appearance-related preferences. For the number of people in the setting, Westerners are inclined to favour few or no people while Japanese prefer some people and are tolerant of larger numbers. These findings, which contradict much of the existing North American recreation based work on people in contact, were examined from a number of theoretical perspectives, including in-group and out-group analyses, and dynamic encounter norms. Some potential management implications were outlined.     

City Residents’ Perception of MICE City Brand Orientation and Their Brand Citizenship Behavior: A Case Study of Busan,South Korea

City branding is an important strategic asset in publicizing a city's values for building a competitive global city. Brand orientation plays a vital role in understanding the identity of the city as branded by city authorities. However, successful city branding needs to be built upon consensus on the identity and core values of the city between city authorities and internal stakeholders. The engagement of internal stakeholders is an essential determinant for creating a consistent city brand in the long term. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among brand orientation, brand commitment, brand citizenship behavior, and brand pride among city residents. The findings of this study extend the brand orientation model suggested by Hankinson [2012. The measurement of brand orientation, its performance impact, and the role of leadership in the context of destination branding: An exploratory study. Journal of Marketing Management, 28(7–8), 974–999.] and provide empirical evidence for the tourism literature on brand orientation in the context of a city brand. A self-administered survey of residents (N?=?240) was conducted at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center (BEXCO), Busan, South Korea. The results for Hankinson's brand orientation model reveal that, among five dimensions, the brand reality is the most important brand orientation influencing the resident's brand commitment, followed by brand partnership, brand culture, and brand departmental coordination. In addition, the results of this study indicated that brand citizenship behavior was determined by brand commitment and led to brand pride. A utilization of the brand orientation can influence brand citizenship behavior through brand commitment, and brand citizenship behavior enhanced brand pride.     

Tourists’ willingness to pay for an accommodation: The effect of eWOM and internal reference price

Understanding the determinants of consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) is an important challenge especially for practitioners. This study evaluates the effect of external information (eWOM valence and volume) and internal information (internal reference price) on consumers’ WTP for an accommodation. The results of an online experiment (n = 766) show a direct effect of valence on WTP which is strengthened by both volume and the internal reference price. Consumers with high reference prices are more sensitive to the effect of an increase in valence. Moreover, internal reference price has a non-linear influence on WTP. The findings suggest the relevant role of eWOM as well as internal reference price in determining consumers’ WTP. The inclusion of these two variables in dynamic pricing strategies could lead to greater benefits for hospitality managers.     

Meeting Planners’ Competency,Motivation, and Benefits: The Case of Korea

The role of meeting planners is essential to the successful completion of a meeting. Their involvement includes coordinating every detail of a meeting, such as budgeting, solicitation of sponsorship, preparation of request for proposals, reservation of facilities or services, translation, and interpretation. Despite meeting planners’ significance, no real effort has been made to identify their competencies, motivations, and benefits. In this study, six competency, four motivation, and two benefit domains were identified. The most important competency domain was the “ability to understand social trends and good manners,” whereas the “ability to perform foreign languages” domain was a relatively low-importance competency. Regarding the benefits, the respondents showed appreciation for opportunities to globalize and gain social recognition by becoming a meeting planner. Compared with the female respondents, the male respondents believed that they had a higher level of evaluative knowledge regarding current competency and specialized expertise.     

Dimensions and Effects of Consumers' Travel–Transportation Involvement: The Case of the Mini Three Links

Since its implementation in 2001, the Mini Three Links (MTL) has become the most important transportation means for Taiwanese travelling to China. The MTL is connected to recreation/travel in Kinmen: service providers often include short local trips as part of the transit process. This study focuses on the concept of travel–transportation involvement in the MTL, exploring its effects on consumers’ travel–transportation dependence, identity, loyalty, price sensitivity, and product purchase intention. Travel–transportation involvement is divided into behavioural involvement and social–psychological involvement, which in turn considers attraction, self-expression, and centrality to lifestyle. Survey respondents are passengers using the MTL service at Kinmen Shangyi Airport and Shuitou Port. Structural equation modelling is used to analyse the 380 valid questionnaires; results show that different involvement dimensions have unique effects. Behavioural involvement positively affects price sensitivity. Attraction positively affects travel–transportation dependence, which further improves travel–transportation identity. Attraction also has indirect negative effects on loyalty and price sensitivity, which are mediated by its impact on travel–transportation dependence and identity. Further, centrality to lifestyle negatively affects product purchase intention during the travel process. Self-expression has a direct positive effect on travel–transportation dependence and loyalty, but a direct negative effect on price sensitivity. Finally, self-expression has indirect negative effects on loyalty and price sensitivity; the mediation process is identical to that for attraction. This study is valuable in terms of distinguishing between various effects among previously overlooked dimensions of travel–transportation involvement; it also provides practical implications for related travel–transportation-service practitioners and tourism development within Kinmen.     

Tourism,Heritage and Pilgrimage: The Case of Haifa's Bahá'í Gardens

This paper examines the tourist experience within the context of the Bahá'í Gardens in Haifa, Israel. Using Cohen's (1979) typology and Smith's (1992) continuum model, we differentiate between visitors and perceptions of the same site. The study employs a mixed methodological approach that includes participant-observation, archival documents and short-informal and unstructured interviews with Bahá'í volunteers, tourists and guides, as well as empirical observations concerning the material landscape and the observed practices of pilgrims and tourists. As a result of the garden's dual-purpose nature (secular-religious), two very different experiences co-exist: those that relate to the ‘secular’ and those that relate to the ‘religious’ tourist. The contemporary nature of the garden makes the case of the Bahá'í Gardens and its cultural and economic context both more distinct – but also somewhat ambiguous as the perceived boundaries are unclear.     

Tourists’ digital footprint: The spatial patterns of tourist flows in Qingdao,China

Spatial patterns of tourist flows represent the movement of tourists and show differences in tourism resources giving advice for promoting balanced and sustainable tourism development. This paper proposes a novel framework for analyzing these patterns based on tourists' digital footprint data collected from online travel diaries. Based on illustrative case study data from Qingdao (China), the framework, combining traditional quantitative and social network analysis, is able to pinpoint: (1) The influence of distance decay and attractions’ popularity on the spatial patterns of tourist flows; (2) The uneven distribution of the core tourist nodes and the existence of the structural hole phenomenon, which form a network pattern with unbalanced power and intense internal competition; (3) The formation of the core area for tourism along the coastline – as is typical for coastal tourism cities. This difference of tourism resources between coastal and inland areas, thus, remains a challenge for future tourism development in Qingdao.     

The Flamenco Factor in Destination Marketing: Interdependencies of Creative Industries and Tourism —the Case of Seville

This study builds on the concepts developed by Florida in his work “The Rise of the Creative Class”. In doing so it seeks evidence for the claims made that the creative arts address deficiencies identified in the terminology of ‘cultural tourism’. The case relates to flamenco performances in Seville. The art complex of flamenco survived on the one hand as a symbol of Andalusian culture on the other hand it depends strongly on the international tourism market. Additionally flamenco is used in destination marketing to differentiate Seville from other Spanish cities.     

A Missing Link in Understanding Revisit Intention—The Role of Motivation and Image

This study addresses two gaps in the research on tourist revisit intention: the impact of the pre-visit psychological factor of travel motivation and its relationship with destination image. Path analysis is adopted to examine the relationships among destination image, travel motivation, and revisit intention in a rural tourism context. A causal relationship is detected between three motivation dimensions, two image dimensions, and revisit intention. All three motivational constructs (intellectual, escape, and belonging) exert a significant influence on the cognitive dimension of image, whereas only the motivation construct of escape is significantly related to the affective dimension of image. A causal relationship is also identified between the affective dimension of image and revisit intention.     

Bourdieu and African Americans’ Park Visitation: The Case of Cedar Hill State Park in Texas

This study used Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice to understand African Americans’ underrepresentation at Cedar Hill State Park (CHSP) in Texas. Archival methods, site visits, and face-to-face interviews were conducted with 13 local African Americans. Four salient themes related to African Americans’ under-representation were identified: (1) racial conflict within the field, (2) CHSP as a racialized space, (3) African American leisure habitus, and (4) lack of relevant attractions. These themes were closely related and together showed that perceived racial discrimination was a common factor which explained nonvisitation at CHSP.     

Deployment of Restaurants Websites’ Marketing Features: The Case of Spanish Michelin-Starred Restaurants

ABSTRACT

Websites have become a fundamental marketing tool for tourism businesses and have a special importance for highly rated restaurants. The aim of this article is to propose and apply a model to evaluate the deployment and adoption of website marketing features of restaurants from a specific category. The model is based on the application of an extended model of Internet commerce adoption (eMICA) technique for technical depth, combined with content analysis for breadth. This study analyzes the website features and capabilities for Spanish restaurants in the 2015 Michelin Red Guide. A total of 102 restaurants were analyzed. The results of the website evaluation model suggest that, despite the importance of the restaurant sector in the economy and in the tourism industry, the websites of high-quality restaurants require improvements to adapt to customers’ demands. Results further found that these websites are not tourist-orientated and are established at different stages of development.     

Tourists’ perceptions of crowding,attractiveness, and satisfaction: a second-order structural model

Drawing on theories of stimulus overload and social interference, this study proposes a multidimensional way to measure tourists’ perceptions of crowding. Three dimensions of crowding are discussed: neutral, personal, and social. A second-order structural equation model is used to analyze the relationships among crowding perceptions, destination attractiveness, and satisfaction by surveying tourists at Mount Sanqingshan National Park (n?=?424). The results of a covariance-based SEM show that tourists’ perception of crowding (TPC) has negative effects on reported attractiveness of the destination. However, TPC dose not directly affects their satisfaction. Results of this study refine the multidimensional connotation of TPC and provide another dimension to evaluate the quality of tourists’ experiences apart from the universal construct of satisfaction. The paper then goes on to discuss the importance of managing TPC.