A visitors' evaluation index for a visit to an archaeological site

This study aims to propose and validate a visitors’ evaluation index (VEI) that captures service evaluation in the context of a visit to an archaeological site. Drawing on the literature on the concepts of ‘service quality’, ‘service experience’, ‘service convenience’, and ‘visitor's satisfaction’, the study develops a measurement index that includes the specific components of service evaluation associated with a visit to an archaeological complex. To validate the proposed VEI, the paper describes an empirical study of 1021 visitors to the Roman archaeological site of Italica, located in Santiponce (Spain). Following structural equation modelling (SEM), the results validate the proposed structure of four theoretical components in the VEI: (i) ‘service experience’; (ii) ‘service quality’; (iii) ‘access sacrifices’; and (iv) ‘effort sacrifices’. Of these, ‘service experience’ is found to be the major contributor to the robust VEI proposed and validated in the study.     

The relationship between Islamic religiosity and residents’ perceptions of socio-cultural impacts of tourism in Iran: Case studies of Sare’in and Masooleh

Religion is known to influence people’s perception and behaviour. This study explores the influence of Islamic religiosity (measured on dimensions of ‘Islamic Belief’, ‘Islamic Practice’, and ‘Islamic Piety’) on the perceived socio-cultural impacts of tourism among residents in two tourist areas in Iran. The results showed that respondents both possessed a high level of Islamic Belief and perceived socio-cultural impacts of tourism positively. The propositions which stated that ‘Islamic Belief’ and ‘Islamic Practice’ have negative relationships with the perceptions of socio-cultural impacts of tourism are not supported. However levels of ‘Islamic Piety’ had statistically significant variations relating to potential changes in infrastructure, life quality and cultural practices that may be due to tourism. This paper also discusses the implications of its findings.     

Organic,incremental and induced paths to sustainable mass tourism convergence

This paper positions sustainable mass tourism (SMT) as the desired and impending outcome for most destinations. Natural resource scarcity, development of green technology, climate change awareness, the global financial crisis, institutionalised environmentalism and Internet technology all facilitate the emergence of sustainability as a societal norm that is combining with the longer established norm of growth desirability. SMT convergence is occurring along three distinctive paths in an evolutionary manner that reflects environmental pragmatism. The market-driven ‘organic’ path describes the conventional tourism area life cycle model of Butler, whilst the regulation-driven ‘incremental’ path entails deliberate alternative tourism (DAT) in which carrying capacities are gradually increased to accommodate higher visitation levels. The hybrid ‘induced’ path describes planned mega-resorts conceived as growth poles. Each model is invested with its own specific planning and management implications.     

Building a model of local food consumption on trips and holidays: A grounded theory approach

This study examines the factors influencing consumption of local food and beverages in destinations. The study used grounded theory to obtain insight into the local food experiences though interviews with 20 individuals and used these data to propose a model of local food consumption. The model constitutes three categories: ‘motivational factors’ (i.e. exciting experience, escape from routine, health concern, learning knowledge, authentic experience, togetherness, prestige, sensory appeal, and physical environment); ‘demographic factors’ (i.e. gender, age, and education); and ‘physiological factors’ (i.e. food neophilia and food neophobia). This study established an in-depth understanding of consumption of local food in destinations.     

The creation and use of scorecards in tourism planning: A Spanish example

This paper proposes a preliminary model of a balanced scorecard for tourism destinations, with a specific emphasis on sustainable development. We begin with a review of the perspectives and critical performance variables for the traditional balanced scorecard. We then present empirical work based upon quantitative analysis techniques. A survey was completed by 1531 Spanish municipalities that are oriented towards tourism and have demonstrated interest in management issues. Based on the constructs emerging from this analysis, we then show how the balanced scorecard can be modified to support the strategic planning of tourism destinations. We conclude by discussing the advantages for long-term strategic planning and sustainable tourism management.     

The effect of subordinates’ gender on the difference between self-ratings,and superiors’ ratings,of subordinates’ performance in hotels

An appropriate means of subordinate managers’ performance evaluation in an organisation is crucial for identifying their strength and weaknesses for maintaining job commitment, and improving performance on on-going basis [Church, A., 1995. First-rate multirater feedback. Training and Development 49, 42–43; Church, A., Bracken, D., 1997. Advancing the state of the art of 360-degree feedback. Group and Organisation Management 22, 149–161; Atwater, L., Yammarino, F., 1997. Self-other rating agreement: a review and model. Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management. 15, 121–174]. The debate, on whether there is difference between subordinates’ self-ratings of their performance, and superiors’ ratings of it is better, continues. This is because the extant literature is inconclusive. This study contributes towards resolution of the debate at least for the hotel industry in Australia.     

Impact of clusters on exhibition destination attractiveness: Evidence from Mainland China

Clusters, as concentrations of businesses in particular localities, may explain the spatial distribution of exhibitions, and exhibition destination attractiveness (Rubalcaba-Bermejo & Cuadrado-Roura, 1995). Drawing on Porter’s (1998a) cluster theory in the context of the exhibition industry in Mainland China, this study tests and confirms the validity of this proposition. A mixed method approach was employed that involved in-depth interviews with 32 exhibitors and a survey of 616 exhibitors to 1) establish what constitutes ‘clusters’ in an exhibition context and develop appropriate measurements, and 2) assess to what extent ‘clusters’ contribute to exhibition destination attractiveness. The study developed measures for and confirmed two distinct cluster effects – ‘leadership of the host city in the industry’ and ‘host city as a source of exhibitors.’ Both cluster effects had a significant influence on exhibitors’ perceived destination attractiveness, with other destination factors being less important, in a marked contrast to convention destination attractiveness. Implications of the study results are discussed and directions for future research provided.     

Foreign travelers’ satisfaction with traditional Korean restaurants

Despite the tourism growth in Korea, foreign travelers remain dissatisfied with Korean restaurants. Accordingly, this research investigates the factors influencing foreign travelers’ satisfaction with traditional Korean restaurants. Using a modified SERVQUAL scale, three dimensions of service quality (‘intangibles’, ‘tangibles’, and ‘food’) as well as expectation and value for money appear to positively influence foreign travelers’ satisfaction with traditional Korean restaurants. In turn, foreign travelers’ satisfaction has a positive influence on both their intention to revisit and their intention to recommend. The results of this study are useful to help restaurants develop strategies to strengthen foreign travelers’ satisfaction with their experience at traditional Korean restaurants.     

Revisiting the convergence hypothesis for tourism markets: Evidence from Turkey using the pairwise approach

This paper empirically revisits the tourism markets convergence hypothesis (Narayan, 2006) for the case of Turkey by employing the newly developed pairwise approach to the analysis of stochastic convergence ( [Pesaran, 2007] and [Pesaran et?al., 2009]). This new approach allows for unit root tests to be conducted on all possible pairs of tourist arrival differentials across Turkey’s 20 major tourist source markets, thus avoiding the need to choose a base source market or total tourist arrivals figure as the benchmark. Using monthly data over the period January 1996 to December 2009, the main finding is that despite considerable ‘co-movement’ of international tourist arrivals in Turkey, there is no evidence of long-run ‘convergence’ among Turkey’s major tourism markets. Cluster-based club convergence analyses alongside bivariate pairwise estimations confirm the lack of convergence and highlight specific tourist source markets with considerable untapped potential. These findings have profound policy implications for Turkey’s inbound tourism planning and promotion.     

Human resource managers’ perceptions of the applications and merit of the balanced scorecard in hotels

The extent to which performance measures that align with the “learning and growth” dimension of the balanced scorecard (BSC) are applied in the hotel industry has been examined by conducting interviews with 14 hotel human resource (HR) managers. Minimal appreciation of the BSC concept was in evidence. When an explanation of the BSC framework was provided, the interviewees unanimously held the view that the term “learning and growth” did not adequately encompass the HR oriented performance measures that they seek to apply. Further, it was found that most hotels were using a single measure of employee satisfaction to represent “learning and growth”, which does not enable examination of the five separate dimensions of “learning and growth” represented in the BSC model. These findings suggest a significant schism between BSC theory and the application of HR oriented measures in the hotel industry.     

Investigating the antecedents and consequences of burnout and isolation among flight attendants

Flight attendants, typically characterized as being engaged in ‘emotional labour’, often experience stress when performing their work, and this may result in negative job outcomes and health problems. Based on the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, this study empirically investigates the relationships among job demands, job resources, burnout, colleague isolation, health problems and job performance for flight attendants. A self-administered questionnaire is designed to collect empirical data from flight attendants working at Taiwanese airlines. Using structural equation modelling approach, the results show that burnout mediates the relationship between job demands and health problems, and that colleague isolation mediates the relationship between job resources and job performance. Empirical implications are provided and discussed.     

Improving tourism policy implementation - The use of hybrid MCDM models

Few studies have presented a holistic approach to evaluating complex national tourism policies, successfully quantified the dynamics at play, or proposed an improvement model. The corresponding purpose of this study is to address this problem, using the method of hybrid MCDM (multiple criteria decision-making) to examine the dependent relationships among various dimensions and criteria of tourism policies and, ultimately, to suggest an optimal improvement plan for Taiwan tourism policy. A decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) is employed to construct a network relationship map (NRM), which then is used to illustrate the influential network of the tourism policy improvement model. The DEMATEL-based analytic network process (DANP) and VIKOR are adopted to evaluate the weights and the gaps to the aspired level of implementation. The model is useful in identifying both an influential network and a priority sequence of dimensions/criteria related to tourism policies and, thus, is helpful to tourism policy management.     

Benefits of visiting a ‘dark tourism’ site: The case of the Jeju April 3rd Peace Park, Korea

This research examines visitor experiences at a contemporary dark tourism site: the April 3rd Peace Park on Jeju Island, South Korea, a site commemorating and memorializing one of the most destructive episodes in modern Korean history. The study employed quantitative and qualitative research methods, with 46 semi-structured interviews forming the basis of a questionnaire, and 407 valid questionnaires obtained for data analysis. The implications of the findings are firstly that ‘obligation’ remains a key motivation for a visit, with a number of subsequent visitor benefits also identified. Secondly, that a benefit-based approach provides an effective framework for comprehending visitor experiences in dark tourism contexts. And thirdly, that a ‘hot interpretation’ of visitor experiences in dark tourism contexts remains particularly valid for comprehending visitor experiences, and in turn, for effectively designing and managing dark tourism sites within Asia and more generally.     

Understanding Japanese tourists’ shopping preferences using the Decision Tree Analysis method

This study was designed to assess the factors affecting Japanese tourists’ shopping preference and intention to revisit Korea. The analytical method applied in this study was Decision Tree Analysis, which is under-utilized in tourism studies. A total of 300 questionnaires were collected on the basis of on-site survey method and used for data analysis. Among interesting findings, three groups including ‘respondents who were satisfied, accompanied, and spent US$50–300 on shopping’, ‘respondents who were satisfied, accompanied, and had a shopping expenditure of US$300–1000’ and ‘respondents who were satisfied, accompanied, and had a shopping expenditure of US$1000–5000,’ showed a high level of intention to return to Korea for the purpose of shopping. In addition, two groups ‘those who were interested in shopping in Korea, preferred a shopping mall as a shopping destination, and had an educational level of below high school’ and ‘those who were interested in shopping in Korea, preferred a shopping mall as a shopping destination, and had an educational level of a college graduate or above’ showed a higher level interest in merchandise than in shopping venue attractiveness.     

A destination-branding model: An empirical analysis based on stakeholders

The purpose of this study is to develop a destination-branding model based on stakeholders’ interests. It is subsequently applied to a tourist destination, namely Castilla-La Mancha (CLM), thereby creating an index that measures destination branding’s success based on similarities and differences among the different stakeholders. The index, called Success Index of Triple-Diamonds (SITD), provides an empirical evaluation of the destination brand’s degree of success and confirms the existence of differences among stakeholders. The current study offers useful information for developing strategy on the part of Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) and reveals the risks of a traditional strategy focused only on visitors that ignores the objectives of local people and entrepreneurs.     

The missing component in the ‘greening’ of tourism: The environmental performance of the self-catering accommodation sector

The self-catering accommodation sector has witnessed substantial growth for well over 20 years due to a range of factors, including increases in second home and holiday home ownership and property investment. During this time, debate has arisen over the impact of such ‘holiday homes’ on local communities and rural economies. However, today they are also a substantial element of tourism supply in the self-catering accommodation category in many rural areas, which has largely been ignored and particularly so in the context of the ‘greening’ of tourism and environmental performance (EP) of tourism enterprises. This article aims to address this paucity of attention. First, the background to the ‘greening’ of tourism and tourism enterprises is established and the significance of this to self-catering accommodation. Subsequently, the main findings of a survey into the EP of self-catering accommodation undertaken in the Lake District National Park are discussed.     

Fuzzy Rasch model in TOPSIS: A new approach for generating fuzzy numbers to assess the competitiveness of the tourism industries in Asian countries

This study proposes a novel approach, the Fuzzy Rasch model, which combines Item Response Theory (IRT) and fuzzy set theory. This paper applies the Fuzzy Rasch model in Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to analyse the Tourism Destination Competitiveness (TDC) of nine Asian countries: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines. The study was conducted in 2009 using 6 criteria and 15 indices. The results demonstrate the feasibility of applying the Fuzzy Rasch model in TOPSIS to analyse TDC in Asian countries. In addition, the proposed model also provides an effective means of applying the MCDM method to study TDC. Furthermore, in 2009, the Asian countries were ranked from most to least competitive as follows: China, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and the Philippines.     

The respected manager… the organisational social capital developer

While ‘labour cost management’ is the main reason for the significant use of contingent labour in hotels, it needs to be managed differently from full-time labour. This research sets out to identify who, in a hotel context, manages the organisation's contingent labour, their managerial style and associated challenges. Results indicate that it is middle managers who are responsible for this workforce (the majority of hotels’ employees), with themselves usually being the least experienced managers in the hotel. The major challenge for managers is the continual labour turnover and the pressure to choose between a rationalistic or humanistic managerial approach, with an implied bias to that of rationalism. However, the most successful manager (defined in this research as the ‘respected manager’) uses a humanistic managerial approach with elements of rationalism, one which encourages the development of organisational social capital. Yet, humanism struggles to fit into rational, system-based organisations like hotels, and is often so stressful for managers taking this approach that it leads to the manager resigning.     

Mapping the constructs of a business tourist service quality scorecard model

Abstract

The researchers sought to conceptualize models related to Service Quality (SQ), Balanced Scorecard (BSC), Customer Satisfaction (CS), and Customer Retention (CR). These models are evident within the tourism industry, but are not confirmed in business tourism. The empirical testing of a Service Quality Scorecard (SQSC) as a comprehensive SQ model, for explaining Business Tourist (BT) retention is proposed. Data was analyzed through a structural equation modeling procedure, resulting in a business tourist service quality scorecard (BT SQSC) causal model for the testing of SQ in the BT industry. Findings provide implications for business tourism practitioners to encourage business tourism performance.     

Priority queues: Where social justice and equity collide

Multilevel queues have become a common feature in service sector contexts, examples include ‘guest lists’ at night clubs and ‘priority boarding’ in air travel. This paper explores multilevel queueing systems within the context of theme parks, specifically their effects on consumers. Previous studies have focussed on single line systems and multilevel queues remain under-researched. By applying social justice and equity theory, the paper uses a mixed methods approach with site visits to theme parks followed up by two factorial experiments. The analytical contribution of the paper is its application of theoretically underpinned queueing research. The empirical gap addressed is multilevel queueing systems. The overall contribution of the paper offers new theory identifying tensions that exist between consumers in different queueing levels. If social justice is achieved for one group then it will create inequity for another; if equity is achieved then it will create injustice.