Exploring the influence of tourists’ happiness on revisit intention in the context of Traditional Chinese Medicine cultural tourism

Based on how tourists interpret the destination experience and on attachment theory, this study investigates the influencing mechanism of tourists' happiness on revisit intention for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) cultural tourism destinations. Three tourist samples confirm the three dimensions of tourists' happiness: positive emotions, engagement, and meaning. Two surveys were conducted to test the direct and indirect influence of tourists' happiness on revisit intention and the moderating role of tourists' health consciousness. The results show that tourists' happiness promotes memorable tourism experience and place attachment, in turn stimulating revisit intention. The results also support health consciousness as a significant moderator between happiness, place attachment, and revisit intention. The findings enrich theoretical understanding of tourists’ happiness and provide marketing and management advice for TCM cultural tourism destinations.     

Spirituality and corporate social responsibility: an empirical narrative from the Balinese tourism industry

The emerging body of knowledge has indicated the positive relationship between spirituality and corporate social responsibility (CSR), yet our understanding of how spirituality can play a role in CSR in general, and in tourism in particular, remains limited. This research takes a qualitative case study approach to the role of spirituality-inspired CSR by providing an empirical investigation of tourism businesses in Bali, Indonesia, where the Hindu based Tri Hita Karana philosophy drives its cultural identity. A total of 20 qualitative interviews and two focus groups were conducted with Bali tourism stakeholders including businesses, government, community and NGOs. The findings show that spirituality plays an important role in CSR in Balinese tourism in three dimensions, namely (1) as a key element of the broader social and cultural context to create a conducive external environment for CSR; (2) as a CSR driver to inspire business leaders; and (3) as a complement to CSR governance, though with limitations. This research contributes to the literature by providing an empirical narrative that demonstrates strong multi-layered links between spirituality and CSR and the implications for tourism destinations in spirituality-oriented cultures.     

The sustainability behaviour of small firms in tourism: the role of self-efficacy and contextual constraints

This article presents a grounded theory to explain why some small businesses in tourism adopt sustainable business practices while others do not, even when they share environmental and wider sustainability concerns. It does so based on research undertaken among business owners in Crete. The paper starts by considering studies on sustainability awareness, knowledge and the mechanisms for accepting responsibility. Secondly, it summarises the influence of task difficulty and effort on sustainability self-efficacy. Thirdly, it focuses on social comparisons and vicarious experiences, as a way of learning what is important. Finally, it examines powerlessness due to perceived situational constraints. In so doing, the study finds that self-efficacy helps to explain sustainable attitude formation and the attitude-behaviour gap; it partly shifts the locus of responsibility for an inability to act sustainably away from the individual and towards their context. The paper contributes to the theoretical literature on small businesses and sustainability, and leads to new avenues for policy interventions.     

Can the North American ski industry attain climate resiliency? A modified Delphi survey on transformations towards sustainable tourism

As global temperatures increase, does accelerating climate change represent an existential crisis or a manageable challenge for the ski industry? Despite considerable evidence demonstrating the global ski industry is in the early stages of a climate-induced transition, global research on ski industry stakeholder perspectives shows varied levels of climate risk awareness, a focus on future vulnerability, and limited engagement in adaptation. Within North America, research has focussed on the physical climatic impacts to ski operations and possible skier responses, yet there lacks insight into industry perceptions on current and future climate vulnerability. This study fills this important knowledge gap using a Delphi survey to engage 52 leaders from across the continent in a dialogue on strategic climate responsiveness. Results demonstrate North American ski industry leaders’ climate risk perceptions range widely, and opinions diverge over if or how to respond at both an industry and destination scale. Simultaneously, industry experts believe mountain tourists increasingly value nature-based activities, place-bound products, and corporate responsibility. Analysing industry leaders’ responses through Enlightened Stakeholder theory highlights how aligning supply-side environmental management with demand-side tourist experiences may create opportunities for new partnerships, innovations, policies, and strategies needed to achieve climate-resilient and sustainable futures.     

Challenges faced by world tourism cities – London’s perspective

World tourism cities perform multiple functions and exhibit various characteristics that influence tourism development within their boundaries. They are the main gateway for tourists visiting a country and their success has a direct impact on the visitor economy of that destination. London, the focus of this research, has been one of the world’s top tourism cities for many years, and a key gateway for domestic and international visitors. But despite the important role tourism plays in the economy of the city, there is limited research on the development of this activity in the capital. Using London as an exploratory case study, this paper contributes to better understanding the challenges faced by policy makers when planning and managing tourism in world cities. The adopted research method offers the advantage of gathering insightful information using multiple data collection techniques. Examining this new evidence contributes to expanding the knowledge on the particularities of tourism development in one of the top world cities, which could help policy makers in their efforts to better prepare for potential challenges faced by these complex but important destinations.     

Why Do They Keep Coming Back? The Effect of Push Motives vs. Pull Motives,and Attribute Satisfaction on Repeat Visitation of Tourist Destinations

We conjecture that attribute satisfaction, push motives and pull motives will be positively related to return visitation of tourist destinations. We also hypothesize that push factors will be stronger related to return visitation of tourist destinations than pull factors, both directly and indirectly as mediators of the relationship between attribute satisfaction and return visitation. In addition, we predict that age and gender will moderate the effect of push and pull factors on repeat visitation. Finally, we argue that push factors and pull factors will be mutually reinforcing. To test these hypotheses, we conducted an online survey of repeat tourists’ motives, and received 986 complete responses. Survey participants were randomly chosen from a group that met a series or qualifying questions. PLS-SEM analysis of the data showed that, as we hypothesized, attribute satisfaction and push motives were positively related to repeat visitation. In contrast, pull motives were not related to repeat visitation, either directly or indirectly, but did reinforce the effect of push motives; gender did not moderate either push or pull motives and age moderated only pull motives. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

Psychological factors affecting memorable tourism experiences

This study tries to explore psychological components of memorable tourist experience (MTE) that are most likely to recall tourists’ memories. Urban residents from three representative cities in China were selected as research samples, and totally 301 usable questionnaires were used for data analysis. The results showed that the recollection of MTE was positively affected by novelty, involvement and social interaction. It was also suggested that hedonism and novelty had positive effects on the vividness of MTEs significantly. Additionally, in the context of Chinese culture, two new psychological factors, social interaction and perceived serendipity, resulted in different effects on the MTE.     

Interpretive structural modeling of quality factors in both medical and hospitality services in the medical tourism industry

This study aims to theoretically integrate quality factors of both medical and hospitality services in medical tourism. Medical tourism comprises both medicine and tourism. Although the core product in medical tourism is medical treatment, attractive hospitality and travel options are also essential. Despite the dual nature of medical tourism, the two aspects of this concept have not been integrated in a unique framework. This study attempts to fill this gap using interpretive structural modeling (ISM). According to ISM, although factors of medical services and hospitality services are independent from each other, these factors have vital impacts on perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty.     

基于旅游的温泉文化遗产研究——兼论临沂汤头

文化遗产具有可敬畏性及匠心特征,旅游者通过对其观赏能够普遍获得很高的满意度。古温泉文化作为遗产旅游资源的一个分支,有待于做深入的具体研究。开展关于古温泉的文化旅游,有助于平衡现代大型地热温泉度假村的快速遍及现象。在给出温泉文化遗产概念和综述相关研究成果的基础上,主要以山东临沂温泉为例,就汤头、串汤降温、里汤与外汤、时间与季节汤等进行了较为详尽的内容挖掘,讨论了温泉与汤头的视角差异强调了古温泉水工范畴,指出温泉文化遗址公园、为教育功能的修复或复原、温泉利用应保证文化真实等有实践意义的开发方向。     

A review of Delphi forecasting research in tourism

The Delphi technique is the most popular judgemental forecasting method in tourism studies, but theoretical and empirical developments in this area (especially for forecasting purposes) have been slow. This paper analyses published research on Delphi forecasting in tourism and hospitality, explores how the Delphi forecasting method has progressed over the past four decades in terms of topical areas, empirical applications, and issues of reliability and validity, and is thus expected to advance understanding of the Delphi technique, providing topical and methodological recommendations for researchers and industry practitioners for producing accurate forecasts. The literature concerning the qualitative and quantitative applications of Delphi forecasting in tourism is mainly divided into three research themes: event forecasting, forecasting tourism demand, and forecasting future trends/market conditions (the most popular application). Issues of accuracy, reliability, and validity, as well as a group of Delphi-specific characteristics, such as panel size, panel selection, consensus measures, and analysis of results, are summarized and discussed. This study also examines the accuracy of Delphi forecasts as well as exploring the role of the Delphi approach in integrating human judgement into quantitative forecasts.