Segmenting Wine Tourists on the Basis of Involvement with Wine

As involvement with wine may vary significantly among wine consumers and wine tourists, segmentation based on product involvement seems to be a reasonable choice. A multinational sample of 517 winery visitors is divided into three groups of low, medium, and high involvement levels; similarities and differences are examined. Results confirm that it is meaningful to segment winery visitors on the basis of their involvement with wine, as important differences can be identified in terms of visitation motives and patterns, demographic characteristics, relationship with wine, pre-visit attitudes towards the winery, evaluation of the winery experience, post-visit attitudes, and future behavioral intentions. Management and marketing implications are discussed.     

Dimensions of Destination Images—The Relationship Between Specific Sites and Overall Perceptions of Place: The Example of Dubai Creek and “Greater Dubai”

ABSTRACT

The current research study attempted to identify to what extent the overall, generic image of a place is determined by, or related to, site specific locations within the destination. A series of answers to open-ended questions were elicited from 102 respondents in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The data were analyzed using thematic and textual analysis using the neural network program CatPac?, a principal components analysis of dichotomous variables and Spearman rho tests of frequency ranking. The results from this study imply that two homogeneities of image are able to exist simultaneously in the visitors' minds, even though little correlation appears to exist between the images.     

INVESTIGATING DIFFERENCES IN ANTECEDENTS TO VALUE BETWEEN FIRST‐TIME AND REPEAT FESTIVAL‐GOERS

This study aimed to capture the underlying quality dimensions (value antecedents) that distinguish between first‐timers and repeaters and that cultivate festival loyalty. Structural relationships were analyzed across the quality dimensions, value, and loyalty for first‐time and repeat visitors. Structural equation modeling revealed that program and convenient facilities alone were antecedents to value for repeaters, whereas food and souvenir, as well as program and convenient facilities, were value antecedents for first‐timers. Specifically, repeat visitors showed stronger relationships on program value and convenient facility value than did first‐time visitors. On the other hand, first‐time visitors associated more strongly with relationships on food value and souvenir value than did repeat visitors. This distinction resulted in a stronger value‐loyalty relationship for repeat visitors than for first‐time visitors. These findings contribute to the understanding of festival‐attendee behavior and thus, provide researchers and practitioners with insights into how to design a festival in such a way that promotes repeat visitors.     

A Cross-National Study of Motivational Determinants among Non-Resident Indian Visitors to Religious Centers in India

The purpose of this study was to make a comparison of religious motivations among NRI visiting at Sacred Sites in India, where millions of devotees visit every year. Twenty-six motivational items were factor analyzed, resulting in five underlying dimensions. The results show that no significant differences were found in motivations among NRI visitors from four countries, whereas significant differences were found between domestic and NRI tourists. Further, the results indicate that both visitors placed high ratings on the motivation factors of cultural immersion, novelty, and religious attraction, while they placed low ratings on seeking camaraderie and family togetherness. As a result, it is apparent that motivational bases differences will have a range of implications for marketing of religious tourism.     

For Me or Not for Me? Exploring Young Adults’ Museum Representations

Abstract

While museums are widely recognized for their important roles in society, there are concerns about their relevance to young adults, who are claimed to rarely cross museums’ thresholds. This study explores social representations of museums held by 259 young Australian and Chinese adults. The analysis revealed a shared social representation of museums as places for school groups, families, or cultural elites who sought to learn from exhibits of authentic objects. While there were some differences between the perceptions of Chinese and Australian respondents, it was clear that neither group regards museums as places for young adults. Both groups suggested museums would be more appealing if they were more engaging, relevant, welcoming, and offered opportunities for social interaction with peers. Implications for the future design of museums are discussed.     

Educating winery visitors and consumers: an international perspective

In times of economic uncertainty, fluctuating currency exchange, increasing wine production and competition from new or established wine-producing regions, wineries must overcome many obstacles to produce, market and ultimately benefit from wine production. Educating winery visitors and other potential consumers is one among different key strategies wineries' management could undertake to build relationships, brand loyalty, and maximise any opportunities to obtaining benefits, including from wine tourism. In gathering data from wineries located predominantly in Italy and Spain, the study provides an international perspective on wineries' educational initiatives. Guided tours, product tastings and showcasing production processes are the most common approaches to educating their visitors and wine consumers. In spite of these initiatives, winery entrepreneurs categorise their educational efforts as modest, suggesting that these are not being fully exploited or maximised. In addition, few of the comments emphasise the importance of educational experiences with regard to the region or local tourism. Given the important role wineries have as product and service providers in many rural areas and tourist destinations, the study's findings have several important implications for winery entrepreneurship and for wine tourism.     

Exploring attitudes to edgy urban destinations: the case of Deptford,London

The role of tourists and tourism in urban development is not fully understood. Research has focused on tourism districts within city centres, but less is known about tourism in peripheral, less affluent urban districts. These areas can appeal to visitors as edgy alternatives to mainstream destinations. This study establishes who is interested in visiting and why, and it explores the underlying rationale for negative attitudes. The aims are addressed by an in-depth analysis of Deptford in South East London. This area is a relatively deprived part of a world city, albeit one that has long been earmarked as London's next cool district. The study uses a mix of different sources to analyse the case. Responses to a New York Times article on Deptford are analysed and the attitudes of actual visitors and key stakeholders are explored. The discussion includes an examination of different interpretations and attitudes towards the notion of edginess. Edginess is deemed attractive by certain audiences; something linked to a reverence for working-class life in the arts. The study concludes that, whilst edginess is a noted characteristic, what people appreciate about Deptford is its ‘distinctive ordinariness’ – its contrast with more polished and contrived urban districts.     

Conviviality and everyday life: the appeal of new areas of London for visitors

Literature on tourism development in converted cities or new districts of polycentric cities emphasises planned processes to create attractions, often resulting in standardised tourism zones. The demands and experience of tourists themselves have been neglected. Qualitative research with overseas visitors to new tourism areas suggests that character and sense of place that visitors enjoy derives from a combination of unlike elements, ‘lashed up’ to create a distinctive place, in which everyday life plays an important role. Rather than familiar stories of conflict between ‘hosts’ and ‘guests’, the emphasis in some areas is on conviviality among different groups of city users. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Commercial development and competitive environments: the museum sector in scotland

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) warn local authorities that fail to value the potential role of culture in socio‐economic development do so at their peril. The development of a destination's cultural credentials to facilitate economic progress is central to policy geared to regenerate communities in decline and to revitalise financially strapped museums. Within this argument more scrutiny is placed on the skills accountability of the museum profession and their ability to compete in the visitor attraction sector and generate their own sources of income. This paper considers the competitive position of museums as tourism visitor attractions within a framework of commercial development. The strengths of this paper lean towards qualitative primary sources gathered by the authors during a number of recent heritage development projects. This has influenced the analysis of statistical data gathered in 1999 by the Moffat Centre on behalf of the Scottish Tourist Board's Visitor Attraction Monitor. Concluding paragraphs stress the development of appropriate quality schemes that are flexible enough to accommodate the distinctive Scottish Museum experience as critical. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Visitor attendance motivations at consumer travel exhibitions

This study identifies the major motivations of visitors for attending consumer travel exhibitions and segments visitors based on their motivations. The findings suggest that visitors to consumer travel exhibitions have multiple motivations: acquiring purchase information, being attracted by the theme, or being encouraged to visit by media coverage. Half of the visitors perceived travel fairs to be an important distribution channel through which they could get special deals on travel to desirable destinations (or at least sourcing information on travel). It seems likely that consumer travel show attendance may be closely linked with the individual leisure desires of the visitor. The study suggests two clusters: 1) Shopper cluster whose major motivation is purchasing and 2) Total Visitors whose motivation is to undertake an ongoing information search and attend seminars to maintain their awareness of new trends with the tourism industry.