Exploring user acceptance of 3D virtual worlds in travel and tourism marketing

The virtual world of Second Life provides opportunities for companies in communicating marketing messages to targeted markets and capturing the attention of potential customers. Second Life has also been used by the travel and tourism industry as a collaborative and commercial tool for communicating with travelers in marketing tourism destinations (e.g. Tourism Ireland) as well as business management (e.g. Starwood Hotels; Crowne Plaza; STA travel agents). However, few studies have applied formal theory to understand the significance of virtual worlds to tourism destination marketing. The purpose of our study was to develop a research framework identifying the factors that affect tourists' experience and behavioral intentions within a 3D tourism destination by examining the applicability of the Technology Acceptance Model and Hedonic Theory. From a theoretical point of view, this study provides a research framework to capture the entertainment nature of virtual worlds and to reflect the concept that people in these worlds are technology users as well as potential consumers; it does so by extending the Technology Acceptance Model to incorporate the hedonic elements of enjoyment, emotional involvement, positive emotions, and flow experience for understanding the use of 3D virtual worlds within the context of travel and tourism. For destination managers, this study could help in designing engaging and interactive 3D tourism destination sites that contribute to an increase in people's interests in visiting the tourism destination in the future.     

London Tourism

SUMMARY

Global tourism demand has been subject to fluctuation in recent years, and London as a tourist destination has recently had to cope with both the significant forces at play in the wider environment and radical change in the way that tourism is to be managed across the UK. The purpose of this paper is to review the post-disaster destination marketing activity conducted by London in its attempt to regain its position as a premier destination for domestic and international visitors, set within the wider context of the devolution of tourism across the country. A number of the issues arising from London's post-disaster marketing campaign are identified, and a set of guiding principles for any future such action are discussed. The paper concludes that diversification of both the product and market is necessary if London is to retain its position as one of the world's leading ‘iconic’ city destinations.     

Services Research in Destination Marketing

Abstract

This paper examines the past performance of, and future prospects for, services marketing research into tourism destination marketing and management. While service delivery by individual enterprises is important, the fundamental products of the industry are destination experiences that incorporate commercial tourism services as well as non-commercial activities and interactions. For this reason, the paper focuses on tourism destinations rather than the individual enterprises that deliver services to tourists at destinations. The paper identifies areas that have attracted a concentration of research effort to date. The principal objective of the paper, however, is to identify services research issues deserving greater attention by service researchers in general and tourism researchers in particular.     

国外旅游目的地营销研究综述

本文对国外旅游目的地营销研究进行综述.近10年来国外研究主要涉及旅游目的地形象、旅游目的地营销组织、旅游目的地促销、信息技术与目的地营销4大方面.文章在简要评述我国旅游目的地营销研究现状的基础上,结合国外研究情况,认为强化实证研究及定量分析、旅游目的地品牌及定位研究、旅游目的地营销组织、信息技术的促进作用和旅游目的地营销绩效评价应是我国近期旅游目的地营销研究的主要方向.     

Tourism destination research from 2000 to 2020: A systematic narrative review in conjunction with bibliographic mapping analysis

Literature reviews serve as cornerstones for advancing the corpus of existing knowledge. This article offers an overview of the evolution of destination studies from 2000 to 2020. The current study first overviews 20 destination review articles and then applies bibliometric algorithms to determine authorships, popular topics, thematic clusters, and structural variations in 1393 destination studies. The bibliometric analysis identifies the seven largest specialties of destination research as destination loyalty, destination image, destination digitalization, destination marketing, destination experience and recommendation, destination governance, and destination resources. A framework was developed to illustrate the major topics of interest at the macro, meso, and micro levels. The article discusses similarities and contrasts between the findings of the two review methodologies and concludes with a research agenda for destination management scholarship.     

Exploring event bundling: The strategy and its impacts

The objectives of this article are to explore the strategy of event bundling from the perspectives of varied event stakeholders including event organizers, event attendees, and destination marketing organizations (DMOs); and to examine the strategy's impacts on the relationships between perceived event value and visitors' trip outcome (perceived trip value and destination loyalty intention). Based on a mixed-method approach, the research first investigates stakeholders' perceptions and perceived value of event bundling from a qualitative approach in Study 1. It further tests a proposed framework through a quantitative approach in Study 2, in which two well-known events in Macau, China were chosen as an event bundle and a large sample of over 800 respondents were surveyed. Findings from the research advance the literature on event tourism and tourism product bundling practices. They further provide insights for DMOs and event planners in event policymaking and destination marketing.     

AN ANALYSIS OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN TOURISM JOURNALS FROM 2000 TO 2007: A GOOGLE SCHOLAR APPROACH

This research note reports a study that analyzed the 100 most influential articles, which is operationalized as the most cited publications published in tourism journals from 2000 to 2007. A Google Scholar‐based software system was developed in Java to retrieve the citation information. The empirical findings show that 10.16% of the citations were from Institute for Scientific Information‐listed (ISI) journals, and that 71.64% of them were from neither ISI nor tourism journals. The most popular topics covered by these articles were psychology and tourist behavior, followed by destination image and marketing. This article contributes to the literature by providing an alternative means of assessing the impact of research into tourism.     

Tourism Markets and Marketing in Sarawak,Malaysia

Abstract

A multi-scale approachs is used to analyze issues of markets and marketing with regard to the emerging destination of Sarawak in Malaysia. In particular, an analysis of market profiles and travel patterns reveals marked differences in the demand for tourism in Sarawak and in peninsular Malaysia and suggests different strategies might be needed for marketing the state. Issues of state marketing within a federal system are then explored.     

Network text analysis of medical tourism in newspapers using text mining: The South Korea case

The main purpose of this study was to investigate keywords related to medical tourism in daily and medical newspapers and to analyze networks between keywords. We collected newspaper articles by running a web crawler with Python. A total of 3802 articles from 4 medical newspapers and 1705 articles from 5 daily newspapers from 2009 to 2017 were reviewed. The clusters derived from daily newspapers focus mainly on medical tourists, medical care and service, regional vitalization, and field support. In contrast, the clusters derived from medical newspapers focus mainly on medical tourism marketing, introducing medical treatment overseas, the medical community's voice, and medical tourism vitalization with support from a government. We found that the content varied depending on the characteristics of the newspapers. This information is necessary to understand various perspectives on policymaking. The academic contributions and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

中国遗产旅游的研究态势——基于核心期刊的文献计量分析

该研究以中国学术期刊网络出版总库的"中文核心期刊"为数据来源,以"遗产"和"旅游"为主题检索,从年代、期刊、作者、作者机构、研究对象、研究地点、研究方法和研究主题等方面进行了文献计量分析。研究发现,我国遗产旅游研究开始于20世纪90年代,近10年得到飞速发展,形成了核心刊物群,但尚未拥有稳定的核心作者群,在研究机构上以北京、广州、南京等大城市和遗产资源集中区域的高校及科研院所为主;中国遗产旅游的研究对象趋向多元化,在研究地点上以国内研究为主,且集中在长江中上游、东北等区域,缺乏国际性研究;在研究方法上,以实证研究方法为主,新方法和手段仍有待加强;在研究主题上,中国遗产旅游关注的问题较为多样,但主要表现为五大内容,即价值属性、旅游发展、产业经济、游客及社区、保护管理。     

中国生态旅游研究热点演变与趋势——基于CiteSpace知识图谱分析

生态旅游是旅游研究中的重要分支,在可持续发展理念和生态文明建设实践的影响和培育下,我国生态旅游理论研究和实践都取得了长足的进展。本文选取CNKI中国学术期刊网络出版总库的中文核心期刊和CSSCI来源期刊,对高关注度文献、关键词、作者、期刊特征进行了分析,基于CiteSpace知识图谱分析,结合生态旅游实践发展,将中国生态旅游研究划分为3个阶段,探索阶段的研究主要集中于内涵和理念的认知,发展阶段的研究热点主要有自然保护区域、生态旅游发展和生态建设等,深化阶段的研究主题更丰富,与乡村振兴、生态文明等战略的联系更紧密。最后,从基础理论与研究框架构建、生态旅游地健康价值与知识内涵、典型地域系统性研究、市场规律与培育、生态旅游影响及其演化规律、与地域文化互动融合、管理技术与社区参与7个方面对未来中国生态旅游研究趋势进行了预测。     

基于地方情感的旅游目的地选择模型建构研究

旅游目的地选择模型建构的研究多数以微观经济学、认知心理学与市场营销学等为基础理论,较少从个体与地方感情连结的视角探讨游客旅游目的地选择决策行为。文章以旅游目的地选择为研究主轴概念,结合地方情感概念中的旅游目的地意象和地方依恋,根据研究文献梳理结果、基础理论界定模型建构的路径变量与逻辑框架,进而提出基于地方情感的旅游目的地选择模型及模型过程步骤。文章建构模型表明,游客旅游目的地选择始于旅游目的地意象的形成,随着整体认知意象的深化,游客对旅游目的地将产生地方认同感,再通过选择决策行为选择意向的旅游目的地从事旅游活动,通过对旅游目的地旅游体验的功能满足产生依赖感,最终形成对旅游目的地的地方依恋感。研究成果对于旅游目的地选择具有交叉研究的创新价值,对于旅游目的地市场战略规划实践活动而言具有参照价值。     

The lone digital tourism entrepreneur: Knowledge acquisition and collaborative transfer

This paper addresses calls for more detailed studies of small tourism enterprises. Researchers report a lack of adoption and ineffective utilisation of digital technologies in smaller tourism businesses. The study focuses on two university-facilitated projects of digital marketing adoption and utilisation by 53 small and medium sized tourism businesses in the South of England. The framework for this study was driven by Modes of Knowledge Transference and Technology-In-Practice. The findings describe peer-to-peer knowledge acquisition and sharing that take place in university-led projects and suggests that a combination of Mode 1 and Mode 2 knowledge helps entrepreneurs to advance their digital marketing knowledge. Peer-to-peer clusters are an effective means of placing digital marketing knowledge and technology in the context of small and medium tourism business practice. The paper provides implications for destination marketing organisations and policymakers and suggestions for future avenues of research are offered.     

黑色叙事对旅游目的地引致形象的影响机制

"讲好故事"已成为塑造和传播国家和地方形象的重要手段。以"讲故事"为手段打造旅游目的地形象是一种国际通行的旅游目的地营销方式。现有旅游目的地叙事研究开展还很不充分,关注的叙事偏重于正面叙事材料,对负面叙事的关注还很不够。文章着眼于黑色叙事对旅游目的地引致形象的影响机制,以德国首都柏林作为研究案例,以著名历史游记《柏林:一座城市的肖像》(Berlin:Imagine a City)中关于柏林的系列黑色叙事和柏林旅游局在微信公众号发布的图片作为实验材料,通过招募志愿者参与包括4个阶段的混合研究设计,验证黑色叙事对柏林旅游目的地形象(认知、情感及意动)的复杂影响。研究的主要理论贡献在于:首先,验证了黑色叙事对旅游目的地形象具有显著影响,实证该影响主要透过"叙事主角-游客-自我形象一致性"这一主线发挥作用,明确了黑色叙事主角形象对黑色叙事引致旅游目的地形象的影响机理,丰富了叙事传输理论相关结论。其次,验证了黑色叙事引致情感形象在黑色叙事影响旅游目的地形象过程中的影响效应,发现黑色叙事引致情感形象(而非认知形象)是黑色叙事最终能够影响游客动机的关键。最后,在黑色叙事这一特定研究情境中,验证了目的地认知形象对"情感形象影响意动形象"具有"增强调节效应",丰富了现有旅游目的地形象"认知-情感-意动"三联结构理论。文章在此基础上提供了相应的管理和营销建议。     

Destination marketing - gwent county approach

This report is based on a paper presented to the Seminar on Destination Marketing at the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, University of Birmingham, UK, in March 1985, by Alan Clarke who until recently was Principal Officer (Tourism) with Gwent county council. He is now Tourism Development Officer with Devon county council, County Hall, Exeter, Devon EX2 4QQ, UK. The concept of what comprises a tourist destination area is subject to considerable debate. In the UK increasing involvement in tourism by local authorities has increased the importance of administrative boundaries in defining destination areas. The author describes a county approach to destination marketing in Gwent, a Welsh county where joint marketing between the public and private sectors is seen as the key to success.     

The Image of Taiwan as a Travel Destination: Perspectives from Mainland China

This study presents the perceived and projected image of Taiwan as a travel destination from perspectives from Mainland China. The perceived image of Taiwan was examined by interviewing 28 Mainland Chinese; the projected image of Taiwan was investigated by analyzing articles in China's most popular travel magazines. The different types of images of Taiwan among visitors, nonvisitors, and travel magazines were compared. The projected image changed notably after the opening of Taiwan's tourism to travelers from Mainland China. The results of this study could help destination marketing organizations to assess their marketing strategies for the Mainland Chinese travel market.     

Repositioning a Tourism Destination

SUMMARY

This paper is a case study of the repositioning of New Orleans as a tourism destination after the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. It examines the event from a post-disaster marketing viewpoint and first outlines the tourism industry in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, including visitor profile, destination image, and positioning statements. The article then recounts the effects of the hurricane on the tourism infrastructure. The effectiveness of recovery marketing strategies, including the repositioning strategies undertaken by the city's tourism marketing organizations, is examined. The disaster management frameworks as discussed in the literature are revisited and extended to include the lessons learned for post disaster market repositioning.     

Online tourism destination marketing in Kumasi Ghana

This study develops a conceptual research model to identify and induce local and international tourists to visit historical attractions and facilities in Kumasi the Ashanti region of Ghana. Websites provide valuable information about tourism destination marketing and tourism products to visitors and enhance tourists purchasing intentions. Data from a judgemental sampling technique were used for the research. Full time front desk employees from 36 hotels and 396 customers contributed to the study. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate the reliability and validity of the model measurements. The analytical results indicate that online destination image, online word of mouth, online security vulnerability test significant with tourists’ satisfaction as a mediator. The results also provide reliable reference for tourism administrators and researchers interested in online destination marketing and suggest that tourists perceive online security vulnerability as a menace to society and should be prevented.     

How cute mascots affect relationships with tourism destinations: A moderated mediation model

The mascot, acting as an ambassador for a destination, plays a significant role in promoting tourism development. However, limited research has focused on the cute features of a mascot and its marketing effects on a destination. This study extends the literature on cuteness and mascots by examining the effect of including a cute mascot in destination advertising on a person's travel intention. Four experiments were undertaken to investigate the cuteness effect. It was found that including a cute mascot in a destination advertisement increased travel intention. Feelings of healing and destination intimacy mediated the cuteness effect. The moderating role of social exclusion was also examined. The study revealed that a mascot's cuteness effect was stronger for socially excluded individuals. The findings give destination managers novel insights into mascot design in tourism and destination marketing.