Quality,Value? – Insights into Medical Tourists’ Attitudes and Behaviors

The research investigates the factors influencing medical tourists’ attitudes and behaviors. The factors examined include hospital service and customer perceived value. The study was undertaken in a major hospital located in a South-East Asian country. The sample includes foreign patients who have received various medical treatments in the hospital. The findings indicate that medical tourists are value oriented customers as their value perception has the strongest direct effect on their behaviors, followed by their attitudes towards the hospital. Hospital service appears to have a substantial direct effect on perceived value and medical tourist satisfaction, and also exerts an indirect effect on medical tourist behaviors. The research highlights the prominent role of perceived value, and pinpoints the most effective avenues for healthcare providers in allocating resources to improve hospital performance from the perspective of medical tourists.     

Factors affecting donations in U.S. retail stores: A conceptual framework

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that influence consumer donations in U.S. retail stores. The study provides a conceptual framework of factors derived from the cause-related marketing, consumer behavior and psychology literatures. These factors are categorized as consumer-related factors, retailer-related factors and context-related factors. Consumer-related factors include consumer-retailer identification, consumer-cause affinity, impure altruism, civic engagement and post-purchase cognitive dissonance. Retailer-related factors consist of retailer-cause fit, retailer's commitment to the cause, retailer image as being altruistic, and retailer credibility. Context-related factors include time pressure, social pressure, shopping amount, and perceived savings during the shopping trip. This conceptual framework serves as a foundation for future empirical studies.     

乡村体验旅游开发探讨--以辽东山区为例

乡村体验旅游是未来旅游发展的重要趋势，辽东山区景观生态的多样性和民俗文化的多彩性为当地发展乡村体验旅游提供了丰富多彩的“场景”。体验设计将成为乡村体验旅游重要的开发措施，体验营销将成为体验旅游重要的营销手段。     

基于D-S证据理论的校园交通环境评价方法研究

从环境受用者的感受出发,将不确定性评价方法,即基于D-S证据理论的融合决策方法应用于校园交通环境评价中.该方法考虑各类环境受用者的感受差异,用融合的方法得出环境受用者的综合感受评价值,再结合环境评价的其它量化评价指标,能够使得评价结果更加客观和准确.     

信息网络管理模式新探

管理是生产力发展到一定阶段的特定产物。管理模式是生产关系的具体体现。信息网络管理模式是在当今社会经济、文化、生活的信息化、知识化的潮流下应运而生的一种新的管理模式。它通过对管理要素的优化组合,管理节点功能的正确定位,在分层管理的基础上,引进管理信息平台和高速宽带互联网,使网络具备并行运行和实时处理能力,从而大大提高网络的管理功效。网络的功效评价是网络性能的重要指标之一,它表示一定时期内单位管理成本所产生的目标效果。任何一种管理模式都不是万能的和完美无缺的,也会存在这样那样的不足。因此在实际运行当中应注意调查研究,加强基础和薄弱环节的建设,逐步改善和提高网络的运行机制和性能。作为新事物,信息网络管理模式具有强大的生命力,可以预见它必将使经济和社会生活发生一次深刻的变革。     

Tourism Market Recovery in the Maldives After the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

SUMMARY

This paper will use a range of tourism data and a case study to examine the rates of recovery of ten source markets for the Maldives in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The market response and recovery rates for these ten markets varied significantly and the reasons for this will be explored. It is evident that a 'one size fits all' marketing strategy will not in itself be sufficient to achieve acceptable rates of recovery following a disaster. The strategies, opportunities and rates of market recovery experienced in the Maldives will provide useful insights for the marketing and monitoring of other destinations that have experienced a crisis or disaster.     

Marketing timeshare in Singapore: An analysis of potential customers and present owners

Timeshare has gained recognition and acceptance in many Asian countries in recent years, but is relatively slow in gaining momentum in Singapore. Timesharing is a type of real estate ownership, which may include hotels, resorts, holiday villas, apartments and more, whereby ownership is split among individuals on the basis of time. This paper presents a study on the attitude of potential consumers on timeshare, and to investigate the current satisfaction level of timeshare owners in Singapore. Two questionnaires were designed to survey the attitude of potential consumers and the timeshare owners. The findings showed that potential consumers’ perception of timeshare is generally negative in Singapore. The main reasons for this negative perception include undesirable sales tactics used in the industry and negative media coverage which tainted the image of the industry. Developers should provide facilities at the resorts to help timeshare owners achieve their desire for rest and relaxation, amongst other reasons.     

Theoretical Perspectives Applied to Inter-Organisational Collaboration on Britain's Inland Waterways

Summary

The increasing need to forge partnerships to accomplish collective and organisational goals in tourism has been theorized at length in recent literature. However, limited research has been published to apply such ideas to existing collaborative forms. Within the context of inland waterway boating holidays in Britain this paper explores the inter-organisational behaviour of a contemporary case, the inland Waterways consortium, an initiative led by the British Tourist Authority. The paper considers the findings of a series of in-depth interviews and survey work with members of the inland Waterways consortium, which is comprised of local authorities, government agencies, and private firms. Theoretical contributions from the literature are used throughout to identify predictive possibilities and advance existing knowledge of the internal dynamics of an inter-organisational collaborative tourism initiative. The first half of the paper compares theoretical perspectives on the origin and development of collaborative action to the genesis and development of the Waterways case. The second half of the paper addresses the inter-organisational dynamics and structure of the inland Waterways consortium with consideration of the future potential of this new collaborative entity. The paper concludes with a set of specific recommendations for the consortium as well as offering general directions for future research.     

Malaysia's Tourism Development and Marketing

Abstract

Malaysia has proven itself as one of the most successful and fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia. Being one of the world's greatest undiscovered and unexplored countries, there exists a vast tourism development potential in Malaysia. The Malaysian government in recent years has placed unprecedented importance on the role of tourism in its economic development process. This article reviews recent developments in tourism development and marketing efforts in Malaysia.     

Preferences and Willingness to Pay for Green Hotel Attributes in Tourist Choice Behavior: The Case of Taiwan

Although many companies in the hotel industry aim to pursue more sustainable and socially responsible practices, the present literature shows mixed results with regard to tourist reactions to such moves, especially for the service quality perception impacted by implemented green practices and the willingness to pay more for such actions. Unlike previous research examining tourists’ preferences for separate green hotel attributes, this study identifies the determinants of tourists’ choice of green hotel attributes. Additionally, the study measures the willingness to pay (WTP) for such services, in the context of the Taiwanese market, using the stated preference of combined green hotel attribute scenarios. A multinomial logit (MNL) model is employed to estimate the relative influence of behavioral and facility attributes on choice behavior. Furthermore, the study examines determinants influencing respondents’ choice of green hotel attributes. A latent variable class model (LVCM) approach is applied in the estimation of the unobserved heterogeneity, and a total of 390 valid respondents were used in the analysis. The empirical MNL results indicate that while tourists prefer luxury rooms and the provision of personal toiletries, they are also willing to accept reduced service quality. Additionally, sex, income, and age have significant influences on tourist choice behavior. The results of the LVCM model demonstrate that respondents with high levels of the green consumption trait are more likely to choose hotels that have a greater number of environmentally friendly attributes. The implicit amount that tourists are willing to pay for room quality is around US$13, for the provision of personal toiletries is about US$22, and for service quality is US$12, but they also require a discount of approximately US$11 in order to accept the common practices of green hotels. This study is useful in providing the hotel industry and government with quantitative information that can be used to develop and implement better green hotel policies.