The Power of Images: Marketing Tourism in the 1990s

This conference was held at The Roehampton Institute, London on 2–3 September 1992 with its main aim being to bring together those involved in tourism education and those from the industry to discuss the future of tourism marketing. Organised jointly by Tina Bryant (University of Hertfordshire) and John Eade (Roehampton Institute), the event attracted delegates mainly from the academic community, with members of the tourism industry conspicuous by their absence! Ray Youell of Sheffield Hallam University describes the somelime contrasting perspectives evident at the conference.     

Designing interpretive audio tours to enhance meaningful learning transfer at a historic site

The purpose of this research was to examine transfer of meaningful learning in a free-choice learning setting. Specifically, this research looked at the effect of interpretive message design on visitors' ability to transfer leaning from a heritage tourism site. This was an important perspective to gain, since learning transfer has not been explored in a free-choice learning environment but is an important learning outcome for heritage site visitors. Interpretive messages are common tools used to enhance learning at heritage sites and can be manipulated to enhance learning transfer. This Canadian case study offers preliminary insight into interpretive techniques useful for enhancing transfer and provides insight into future research that could improve our understanding of meaningful learning at tourism destinations. The theoretical and practical implications of this research will be examined and an overview of future research stemming from this study will be provided.     

Destination product characteristics as useful predictors for repeat visiting and recommendation segmentation variables in tourism: a CHAID exhaustive analysis

The present paper constitutes a segmentation research with the use of the exhaustive chi‐squared automatic interaction detection tree analysis approach which, through the characteristics of a tourist destination, aims at the illustration of the English and German tourist groups and more specifically, (i) those who are repeat visitors of several tourist destinations and (ii) those who express a willingness to urge other people to visit geographic tourist destinations that the former have already visited. The results of the research help the tourism managers to apprehend the characteristics of the destination products that best describe the visitors. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of a tax training program on tax compliance and business outcomes of starting entrepreneurs: Evidence from a field experiment

This paper estimates the long-term impact of a short, partly personalized, mandatory tax training program on tax compliance and business outcomes of first-time entrepreneurs. To this end, we combine survey data, audit data and unique register data from the Netherlands' Tax and Customs Administration with a three year long randomized experiment. The results show that the training affects specific domains of tax compliant behavior. Moreover, it has no impact on business survival, but treated entrepreneurs have significantly higher profits compared to the control group due to lower business costs. These outcomes are partially supportive of our hypotheses developed from theories on tax compliance and mental accounting.     

The Theory of Planned Behavior in the Context of a Food and Drink Event: A Case Study

The present case study seeks to contribute to the culinary event management literature, investigating key motivators among participants to the Derbyshire Food and Drink Fair, United Kingdom. A questionnaire, which was partly based on predictors related to the theory of planned behavior was designed and distributed; 308 usable responses were collected. The validity and impact of attitude toward the behavior, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms on behavioral intention was confirmed. Additionally, several motivators, such as “commitment and perceived importance,” “consumption and entertainment,” “attendance and discovery,” and “joining others” were identified as key factors. Finally, statistically significant differences were noticed among various participating groups, namely, in terms of age, gender, or distance traveled to the event. The findings have important implications for event managers and organizers, in terms of promotion, and addressing the needs and wants of various segments of food festival attendees.     

The role of voluntary internal control reporting in earnings quality: Evidence from China

Using discretionary accruals to proxy for earnings quality, this study investigates whether and how the first voluntary internal control reporting in 2007 is associated with earnings quality in China. We find that earnings quality is higher in 2007, yet not in 2006, for public companies issuing a first-time voluntary unqualified internal control report, compared with listed firms not issuing an internal control report. Our findings are consistent with a signalling of performance explanation and inconsistent with a signalling of effectiveness explanation. We also find that earnings quality is lower for public companies issuing an internal control report mentioning a weakness, compared with public companies not issuing an internal control report. Overall, our study suggests that public companies conduct diligent self-assessments when issuing a first-time voluntary unqualified internal control report. Consequently, there is an improvement in earnings quality.     

An Initial Investigation of Integrating Innovation Diffusion Models for Drawing First‐time Visitors

Prior studies in the existing tourism literature have frequently emphasized the relatively expensive costs for drawing first‐time visitors. These studies, however, have largely failed to explain how to draw first‐time visitors to a destination. In other words, little was known regarding what destinations should do to attract first‐time visitors in an effective way. To provide more insights, this research investigated the impact of three diffusion models on attracting first‐time visitors. These models included an external influence model for impact of mass media, an internal influence model for impact of interpersonal communications, and a mixed model for impacts of both mass media and interpersonal communications. Assessing the model impact in a macroapproach for first‐time visitors to Hong Kong, empirical findings indicated that the mixed influence model provided the highest explanatory quality, with word‐of‐mouth being a dominant factor.     

Grounds of Visitors' Post-Trade Fair Behavior: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to gain a deeper understanding of trade fairs as services, analyzing determinants of visitors' post-trade fair behavior (i.e., global satisfaction and future intention) according to their main objectives for trade fair participation. We discuss the fact that trade fairs represent a peculiar type of service, since the evaluation of satisfaction with the trade fair depends not only on the service provider (the organizer) but also on another stakeholder (the exhibitor). The nature of the study is exploratory and uses a survey applied to visitors at a business-to-business (B2B) international trade fair held in Portugal. The main conclusion is that, in the particular case of trade fairs as services, the role of the exhibitor is more important than the role of the organizer in determining the visitor's global satisfaction and intention to participate in future editions of the trade fair. The study contributes to trade fairs and services marketing literature and allows drawing of managerial implications, particularly relevant to trade fair organizers.     

An analysis on perceived crowding level reported by domestic visitors of South Korean National Parks: a multilevel ordered logit approach

Perceived Crowding Level (PCL) is an indicator of the social carrying capacity of recreational sites such as National Parks. Using a sample of national-level visitor survey data across 21 National Parks in South Korea, this paper aims to apply a multilevel ordered logit model as a method in testing for statistical relationships between the PCL and the covariates, accounting for site- and individual-specific heterogeneity. The results hint that levels of perceived crowding in South Korean National Parks are related to factors such as the behaviour of other users and the quality of park facilities such as comfort in accommodation. The measured level of heterogeneity can provide useful information about the level (nation-wide or park-specific) of intervention policies and management strategies.