Tourists and retailers' perceptions of services

This paper describes a study which measures tourist and retailers' perceptions of service levels in a tourism destination. A service quality model was used to develop survey items and interpret the results. The service dimensions used to evaluate a tourism experience included reliability, responsive, assurance, and access. The results indicate tourists evaluate tourism services based on “who” delivers as opposed to the nature of the services (as outlined in the Service Quality model). This has implications for those who create and service tourism destinations, such as city planners and leaders, tourism convention and visitor bureaus, and retailers.     

Global strategies in the international hotel industry

A two stage qualitative research methodology is used to evaluate the forces driving the adoption of global strategies in the hotel industry and the strategic response of international hotel chains to those “drivers”. Information gathered from industry experts is used to develop a set of hypotheses which are then tested against evidence provided by interviews with senior executives and other data.The results indicate that global strategy is most influenced by market factors, other drivers having much less influence. Cost drivers are constrained by limited economies of scale and standardization opportunities. Globalization is most marked in the thrust for a broad geographic presence in key overseas markets, the pursuit of global branding, positioning and uniform service standards. At the same time, customers expect “responsive” policies in areas such as facilities and services provided. Opportunities for greater integration and concentration of “back-office” functions, where information-based systems allow for cost economies and enhanced coordination, often remain relatively unexploited, primarily due to institutionalized management practice and control constraints.     

A hybrid multi-criteria decision making model to evaluate hotel websites

PurposeThe main purpose of the study is to develop a robust and reliable model which evaluates the quality of hospitality websites, or more specifically, hotel websites.Design/methodology/approachThe literature is deeply overviewed and an advisory board is consulted for determination of the critical factors affecting the quality of a hospitality website. Appointed criteria are organised as a hierarchy according to their orientation. A hybrid model including two multi-criteria decision making approaches, namely the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Preference Ranking Organisation Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE), is proposed to achieve the purpose of the study. The AHP is utilized to weigh the criteria, and, ranking of the alternatives are provided via PROMETHEE. For the case study, websites of five-star hotels in Ankara, which is the capital city of the Republic of Turkey, are evaluated.FindingsEncouraging results are obtained for the case study by the proposed model.Originality/valueThe proposed model provides reliable and robust results for any qualitative or quantitative criteria to evaluate hospitality websites which is a very important task for both customers, and enterprises, even for governments.     

Categorization of tourist attractions and the modeling of tourist cities: based on the co-plot method of multivariate analysis

This paper examines the relation between the trip characteristics of tourists and the attractions that they visit. This analysis was made possible by means of a new method of multivariate analysis—co-plot—that enables the simultaneous analysis of observations and variables and the graphic presentation of the interrelations among them. Jerusalem was seen as an “ideal” city for the demonstration of the co-plot method of data analysis due to the heterogeneity of its tourism. The research was conducted between September 1998 and March 1999. The results of the statistical analysis show that Jerusalem's tourist attractions can be categorized into four distinct groups and that there is a tendency of spatial concentration among sights belonging to the same group. Based on these results, a spatial model of tourism consumption in large cities was developed.     

Evaluating tourist risks from fuzzy perspectives

Since little effort has been devoted to measuring tourist risk from epistemology perspectives, this study develops a scientific framework for its evaluation. Tourist risk is defined as what is perceived by the tourists during the process of a group package tour. This in turn depends on the traveling service conditions experienced during the process and at the destination. The study uses an Analytic Hierarchy Process method to determine the weighting of various risk evaluation criteria. It further considers the possibility of “fuzzy logic” in making subjective judgments, and applies a Fuzzy Multiple Criteria Decision-Making method to conduct the evaluation of tourist risk.     

PAGES AS STAGES: A Performance Approach to Visitor Books

This article offers a contribution to the fields of tourist performance and language. By exploring a visitor book located at a heritage site in Jerusalem, Israel, it argues that texts produced by tourists can assume the semiotic status of performances. Consequently, tourists’ texts should not be viewed merely as instances of “discourse” or “language”, but also as organic parts of the aesthetic and semiotic aspects of tourism. The article describes four dimensions that establish the visitor book as a particular “stage”, and the texts therein as the tourists’ situated performances. Taken together, these dimensions constitute a model for the analysis of linguistic performance and for the semiotic interrelationship between stage and performance in tourism.     

New Frontiers in Tourist Behavior Research: Steps toward Causal Inference from Non-experimental Data

Over the last two decades the range of methods for analyzing causal relationships has been significantly extended. New approaches to the theory of causality rely on the concept of “intervention” instead of “association”. Under an axiomatic framework they elaborate the conditions for safe causal inference from non-experimental data. Inferred Causation (IC) Theory combines elements of graph theory, statistics, logic and artificial intelligence research in computer science. It is not limited to parametric models in need of quantitative (ratio or interval scaled) data, but also operates much more generally on the observed conditional independence relationships among a set of qualitative (categorical) observations. Causal inferences do not appear to be restricted to experimental data. This is particularly promising for research domains such as consumer or tourist behavior where data from controlled experiments on real markets are rare. A case example highlights the potential use of Inferred Causation methodology in tourism research. It aims at measuring the direct and indirect influences of destination loyalty, perceived service quality and satisfaction on the tourist's intention to repeat visit.     

A simultaneous equations model of the hotel room supply and demand in Hong Kong

The purpose of the study is to identify the important factors that influence the hotel room supply and demand, and their overall impact on the Hong Kong hotel industry. Nineteen years of time series data are used and a simultaneous equations econometric model is employed. The overall goodness-of-fit of both demand and supply models is very high, suggesting high predictive power. Empirical results indicate that “hotel room price” and “tourist arrivals” are significant factors driving the demand for hotel rooms. In addition, “1990–91 recession” and “the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis” had a significant negative impact on the demand for hotel rooms in Hong Kong. At the same time, “hotel room quantity demanded”, “room occupancy rate”, “last period's room price”, “labor cost”, “last period's average price of Grade A private offices”, and “the Asian financial crisis” all have a significant impact on room price in the short run.     

旅游公共服务质量的提升:游客导向和创新导向的驱动作用

在将旅游业发展成为国民经济的战略性支柱产业和人民群众更加满意的现代服务业的过程中,旅游公共服务发挥着重要作用。对于政府管理部门内部有哪些因素会促进旅游公共服务质量的提升,学术界鲜有实证研究。本文从旅游行政管理部门的角度出发,构建了游客导向、创新导向、跨部门协调对旅游公共服务质量的影响模型。对广东省32个主要客源市场的旅游行政管理部门的309位工作人员进行了问卷调查,探讨旅游公共服务质量提升的驱动因素。结构方程模型结果显示,游客导向、创新导向和跨部门协调都有助于旅游公共服务质量的提升,跨部门协调中介游客导向对旅游公共服务质量的影响。本文在理论上弥补了旅游公共服务质量前因研究的空白,对旅游行政管理部门如何更好地提升旅游公共服务质量具有借鉴意义。     

A New Paradigm in Guiding: The Madrich as a Role Model

The “role model” guides encountered in the counselors of Israel Experience youth study tours, contrast traditional concepts of pathfinder and mentor. This model type is proposed as more appropriate for tours providing informal education and quest for identity. Not drawing authority from official recognition but from a personal guide–tourist relationship, madrichs rated characteristics essential to guides leading these trips. A multi-dimensional analysis uncovered the structure of these characteristics to create a structure of an “excellent” Israel Experience madrich. This structural analysis confirms an earlier typology and helps to uncover another kind of approach towards youth guiding.     

Chinese domestic tourist perceptions of wind farms experiences

Wind farm complexes have grown in popularity as a form of energy tourism, but to date there is a paucity of research that addresses tourist perceptions of wind farms as a form of special interest tourism (i.e. energy tourism). The scope of this study concentrated on determining and statistically profiling domestic tourists’ perceptions of wind farm complexes for energy tourism purposes. As such, this study applies grounded theory as a means of interpreting domestic tourist perceptions of their lived wind farm experiences. By means of a qualitative research design, the researchers discovered that domestic Chinese tourists found their wind farm experiences were typified by interests in sustainability energy, exposure to differing local cultures, the science surrounding wind turbine technology and personal enrichment associated with the sharing of wind farm experiences with family and friends. The primary implication of this study calls for the deployment of collaborative interagency policies which promote wind farming as part of the government's overall sustainable energy platform while also supporting energy tourism as a means of personal enrichment and a form of economic development.     

Demand elasticities of tourism in Singapore

In 1983 the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific set up a study to investigate the relationship between prices of tourist goods and tourist inflow in Singapore. The analysis was carried out on a “world” level using amalgamated data for 15 nations, also individually for each of the five major tourist-generating countries. Determinants of demand considered were - income, exchange rates, shopping and hotel prices, and local disturbances. Tourism demand is found to be highly income elastic whereas effects of prices and exchange rate movements vary between countries. Two out of three disturbance factors significantly reduced demand.     

TOURISM AND CULTURAL PROXIMITY: Examples from New Zealand

While tourism products based on Maori culture are popular among some overseas tourists to New Zealand, there has been little research as to their appeal to the domestic market. This paper discusses notions of indigenous tourism and the role of cultural and spatial difference in European conceptualizations of the exotic other. It argues that although there is a common cultural antecedence between non-Maori and European culture, the lack of spatial distance between Maori and tourists means that European New Zealanders are not drawn to Maori culture as an attraction in the manner that those from Europe and North America are. The paper discusses “kiwi culture” and familiarity as determinants of tourist demand.     

The Impact of Visitor Behavior on the Environmental Protection of Tourist Farms in Guangdong

Some tourist farms established in the Chinese province of Guangdong suffer from a dearth of farm management and a lack of awareness of environmental protection issues among visitors, leading to pollution problems in farm tourism. The study reported in this paper examined how the managers of two farms protect the natural environment using the setting factors of physical orientation, interactive exhibits and the presence of tour guides, following the mindfulness and mindlessness model. The findings of the study revealed that the quality of the natural environment in both farms was acceptable, indicating the effectiveness of the setting factors. However, it was found that some signs were discolored and broken, there were insufficient interactive exhibits, and no tour guide service was available for individual visitors. Based on these findings, some recommendations are offered for farm managers on how to protect the natural environment.     

The Impact of Cultural Distance on Perceived Service Quality Gaps

Abstract

The data base of previously published research which tested a SERVQUAL-Gap model for tourists' judgments with respect to service quality for seven different quality dimensions and seven different vacation activities in alpine tourism (Weiermair and Fuchs 1999, Fuchs and Weiermair 1998) is used to explore the potential impact of tourists' cultural belonging upon their judgment regarding the overall and partial service quality experience in different settings of tourism activities. Using respondents' characteristics with respect to their country of residence and past vacation experience in alpine skiing the paper attempts to construct a proxy for cultural distance which subsequently is tested for its impact upon service quality judgments of tourists. A bifurcation hypothesis is proposed and used, whereby tourists from very distant cultures either display high tolerance levels for “exotic” or non-familiar service quality, thus yielding high quality judgment scores or alternatively, cultural distance is associated with higher transaction costs of the tourism experience resulting in significantly lower quality judgment scores. The presence of a matrix of 49 separate service quality scores allowed to differentiate the cultural impact hypothesis with respect to different service quality settings. The paper provides some tentative conclusions which have important ramification regarding the question of product development and the management and/or control of service quality for culturally different tourist segments.     

The role of food service in tourist satisfaction

The paper is based on empirical investigation carried out amongst a 341-sample population visiting the Black Sea resorts of Romania in August 1997. The purpose of the study was to investigate the role and importance of food service in tourist satisfaction and to note any differences in satisfaction levels between regional groups. Analysis of the findings revealed that significant differences existed between three tourist groups’ satisfaction perceptions of value for money, quality of food, number of dishes, standard of food service, variety of dishes, presentation of food and speed of service in general; and of bread, coffee, meat and soup in particular. Overall results further indicated that quality of food, value for money, variety of dishes, attractiveness of surroundings and presentation of food were the attributes that most affected the overall food service experience in Romania. The paper concludes that food service is an important contributor to tourist satisfaction and that there are significant differences in satisfaction levels with food service between eastern and western European, and Romanian tourists.     

Rosanzerusu is Los Angeles an anthropological inquiry of Japanese tourists

The popularity of Los Angeles with Japanese tourists prompts the anthropologist to ask what they are seeking there. An ethnography of that tourism discloses a number of “must see” sights for first time tourists. Subsequent tourists may seek more esoteric sites, as disclosed by an examination of tourist guide texts. Tourists progress from “mass” to “elite” status. Against a theoretical perspective of life as “sacred journey”, and of pilgrimage, tourism is seen as a ritual of modernity, amenable to semiotic analysis in the manner of Barthes. Los Angeles' ecumenical tourism reflects the mythology of the movies. Japanese tourists select sites drawn from this mythology which also reflect Japanese preferences (e.g., the Hollywood Bowl). They also emphasize sites where they may purchase souvenir or “marker” goods (e.g., UCLA). They thus attach importance to some sites thought to be quite minor by Angelenos.     

游客满意:国家战略视角下的理论建构与实践进路

从创汇导向的国际旅游目的地发展到以游客满意为导向的国民旅游福祉提升,是包括中国在内的世界旅游发展战略正在经历的趋势性变革。游客在旅游基础理论研究和旅游经济发展实践中已经被事实上赋予了主体地位,游客满意应当、也可以成为当代旅游发展理论的学术基石、国家旅游发展战略的思想基础和目的地管理实践的政策创新。作者团队5年的全国游客满意度调查实践表明:城市政府牵头、培育游客和市民共享的生活空间、完善商业接待和公共服务体系等,是提升游客满意度的有效路径。     

QUALITY MARKET ORIENTATION: Tourist Agencies’ Perceived Effects

This paper analyzes the effects of market orientation from two perspectives. First, its direct influences on tourist agencies’ perceived performance, and its indirect ones on performance through the perceived value of market information. Second, direct effects on the perceived service quality offered by the firm and indirect influences derived from the utilization of quality measurement systems are analyzed. Hypothesized relationships are tested in an empirical study of tourist managers. Research findings confirm the proposed relationships, except the influence of using quality measurement systems on service. A positive direct influence between perceived service quality and performance is also analyzed and confirmed.