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1 – 10 of 978José Ignacio Castillo-Manzano, Mercedes Castro-Nuño and Rafael Pozo-Barajas
This paper aims to identify the drivers that explain loyalty behavior in cruise tourism with the aim of achieving a better understanding of repeat cruisers’ intentions to sail on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify the drivers that explain loyalty behavior in cruise tourism with the aim of achieving a better understanding of repeat cruisers’ intentions to sail on the same ship or on another ship belonging to the same cruise line or cruise corporation.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on over 150,000 online reviews about their satisfaction and experience posted by cruisers using so-called electronic Word of Mouth (e-WOM), the authors apply both a graphic and an econometric technique through input-output circular plots and discrete choice models.
Findings
The main results show that cruisers’ behavior is influenced by multiple onboard attributes, such as the service crew, entertainment options, type of cabin, some characteristics of the ship (age, capacity) and the cruise line (Premium-Luxury versus mainstream), and, specifically, the quality and variety of the gastronomic experience.
Practical implications
The results highlight that repeats cruisers are predominantly linked to a cruise company or a cruise corporation rather than a particular ship. This result provides information on the moderators that can influence the customers’ repetition behavior, which might be useful for planning revenue management and extending knowledge on hospitality loyalty in general and in the cruise industry in particular, specifically under the current uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Originality/value
The previous literature has essentially examined revisit intentions in the cruise market from a qualitative approach and the authors have found no study to date that has simultaneously addressed this issue in three dimensions, namely, ship, cruise line and cruise corporation. The research fills this gap by determining the reasons why passengers would repeat a cruise either on the same ship, with the same cruise line or the same cruise corporation based on previous experience.
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Tarek Sayed Abdelazim and Abdallah Ali Alajloni
– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the experience of visitors with the Janadriyah festival.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the experience of visitors with the Janadriyah festival.
Design/methodology/approach
An on-site intercept survey was conducted among a random sample of visitors of the festival. The survey was conducted by two field researchers between February 10 and February 25, 2014. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed only to those who agreed to respond to the survey. Out of 200 questionnaires distributed, 28 were incomplete and thus eliminated from the study. As a result, 172 questionnaires were accepted for the purpose of final analysis, representing a response rate of 86 percent.
Findings
There is a statistically significant contribution for both the first motivation (I participate in the Janadriyah festival to increase my cultural knowledge) and the fifth one (I participate in the Janadriyah festival to see new and different things and to enjoy a unique atmosphere). There is a statistically significant relationship between the most of services provided and the level of satisfaction. As well as, there is a statistically significant relationship between the perception and the level of satisfaction, also with the word of mouth communication. Finally, the results shown that behavioral intention had a positive influence on word of mouth communication.
Research limitations/implications
There were time limits to this study as the research was conducted during the organization of the Janadriyah festival during its 26th session (February-March 2014).The research was also limited by place as it was conducted at the capital of Saudi Arabia, Janadriyah province.
Practical implications
The model of the study could be applied in similar studies for different festivals all over the world.
Social implications
Increasing the promotional efforts to attract more visitors from different regions in the world. As it is observed that the vast majority of participants in the Janadriyah festival are local residents. In addition, there is a need to organize training programs to all staff participating in the organization of the festival supervised by academics and professionals. Organizing seminars during the festival in order to increase the awareness of local residents with importance of the cultural heritage and how to keep it. And at the end, the program of the festival has to be updated from one session to another in order to attract more attendees.
Originality/value
The integrated model of the study represent an added value to the research in the field of tourism festivals.
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Martina G. Gallarza, Irene Gil Saura and Francisco Arteaga Moreno
The purpose of this paper is to explore the classical topics of services literature in a tourism experience with a means‐end‐model on the quality‐value‐satisfaction‐loyalty chain…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the classical topics of services literature in a tourism experience with a means‐end‐model on the quality‐value‐satisfaction‐loyalty chain. Within this wide stream of research, this work has a particular interest on value antecedents and on the sense of the link between value and satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
An overall tourism experience with positive and negative antecedents (benefits and sacrifices experienced) and classical evaluations (perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty as behavioral intention) is analyzed through two competing structural models measured with partial least squares on a sample of 274 students traveling in groups for leisure purposes.
Findings
The empirical findings show that: the chain of constructs service quality‐perceived value‐customer satisfaction‐loyalty is once again confirmed in a service setting; affective antecedents (social value, play and aesthetics) are more important determinants of perceived value and satisfaction than cognitive antecedents (efficiency, quality and effort spent); and the model performs better when value is understood as an antecedent of satisfaction than in the opposite case.
Research limitations/implications
The findings illustrate how tourism settings are paradigmatically useful for researching perceived value within services because of the differences found between cognitive and affective antecedents. The target chosen (students) and the sampling method used (convenience) need further replication in order to assure the validity of the results.
Originality/value
Besides the use of PLS (rather than LISREL), the empirical purpose of measuring with same data a value‐satisfaction link and the reverse is interesting for services researchers in order to progress in the debate on the supremacy of one or another.
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Martina G. Gallarza, Francisco Arteaga, Elena Floristán and Irene Gil
The purpose of this paper is to present volunteering in tourism events as a sort of spontaneous community participation that has far‐reaching consequences for destination…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present volunteering in tourism events as a sort of spontaneous community participation that has far‐reaching consequences for destination management. It chooses the concept of value to explore volunteering experience in an international religious mega‐event, using Holbrook's value typology (efficiency, social value, play, spirituality).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors undertake this objective by means of testing psychometric properties of the four value scales, as well as providing a causal model of relationships among value dimensions and overall perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty or commitment to volunteering in a special event tested with MBPLS, a particular algorithm for the partial least squares methodology.
Findings
The results confirm the reliability and validity of the scales tested in a sample of 1,638 volunteers, collected via e‐mail from the database of a religious mega‐event held in Valencia in July 2006. They also confirm a relationship among overall perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty or commitment as a chain of behavioral constructs.
Research limitations/implications
One can find implications for the relevant weight of volunteers as peculiar stakeholders of mega‐events. For consumer behavior researchers, the chain of effects among value dimensions and behavioral constructs is once more relevant, although the findings are only related to volunteers at religious events.
Practical implications
For destination marketing managers, this study can throw light on the profile of volunteers for event marketing and how they behave in their own experience as relevant stakeholders in the organization of a mega‐event.
Originality/value
Very few works devote their interest to value dimensionality in a marketing event context, despite the richness of that sort of tourism experience. Perceived value, satisfaction and loyalty or commitment have been investigated among volunteers in sport or cultural mega‐events, but rarely in religious mega‐events.
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This article aims to test the relationship between expected attractiveness-satisfaction-loyalty for international adventure tourists visiting Tanzania. The proposed model is based…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to test the relationship between expected attractiveness-satisfaction-loyalty for international adventure tourists visiting Tanzania. The proposed model is based on travel consumer behavior theoretical constructs extracted from the literature.
Design/methodology/approach
This article aims to test the relationship between expected attractiveness-satisfaction-loyalty for international adventure tourists visiting Tanzania. The proposed model is based on travel consumer behavior theoretical constructs extracted from the literature.
Findings
The findings for overall model differed from the moderating factors of high risk, low risk, first-time visit and repeat visit. Also, the results are interesting when satisfaction is tested as a mediator.
Practical implications
Practitioners could consider the fact that repeat visits may change tourists’ perceptions toward destination and may even increase their inclination to take on risks. This may impact innovation of consumer products in tourism. Also, policy makers could benefit on how loyalty programs can be developed to increase performance.
Originality/value
The study offers specific strategic recommendations toward different groups of tourists (i.e. first-time, repeat visitors, risk averse, risk seeking) and proposes logic for setting up a loyalty program as a long-term strategy for success.
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Lan-Lan Chang, Kenneth F. Backman and Yu Chih Huang
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between tourists’ motivation, experience, perceived value and revisit intentions to creative tourism destinations…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between tourists’ motivation, experience, perceived value and revisit intentions to creative tourism destinations. The ever-growing concept of creativity has been introduced into the tourism field. Creative tourism has been viewed as a strategy to regenerate destinations physically, culturally and socially. To develop tourism products and provide services that integrate the concept of creativity to satisfy tourists’ needs by developing a more active and long-lasting form of experience, this study aims to examine tourist consumption psychology in the context of creative tourism destinations. Past studies have identified motivation, perceived value and experience as three major antecedents affecting tourists’ revisit intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical study was carried out in three popular creative tourism spots, Meinong, Shuili and Yingge, located, respectively, in the north, middle and south Taiwan. These creative tourism sites provide pottery, crafts, arts, workshops and other creative activities that integrate authentic local culture to engage tourists with fulfilling and meaningful experiences. The on-site survey was conducted on both weekdays and weekends during March 2012. Self-administrated questionnaires were distributed to participants who were systematically selected at the main gate of the study areas. In total, 417 questionnaires were collected.
Findings
The results indicated that on-site tourism experience was the most influential antecedent of revisit intention to creative tourism sites in terms of the magnitude of the standardized coefficient. The unique variances of motivation factors and perceived value were too small to be statistically significant to explain revisit intentions. The present study contributes to the ever-increasing tendency for creative industries in Taiwan to develop creative tourism products and services that encompass authentic local culture and art in enhancing tourist experience.
Originality/value
For business operators, this study suggests that if owners of creative destinations would like to attract repeat tourists, the tourists’ experiences are surely critical in developing service blueprints to meet the needs and wants of customers; they should pay more attention to understanding what tourists experience when they visit creative tourism attractions.
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Sayyed Mohsen Allameh, Javad Khazaei Pool, Akbar Jaberi, Reza Salehzadeh and Hassan Asadi
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among destination image, perceived quality, perceived value, satisfaction and revisit intention of sport tourism in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among destination image, perceived quality, perceived value, satisfaction and revisit intention of sport tourism in Iran.
Design/methodology/approach
Statistical population of this research consisted of those tourists who traveled to Mazandaran province in Iran as a sport tourism destination in 2012. A random sample of 1,250 tourists was asked to respond to questionnaires from which 886 accurate questionnaires were used for analysing data. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to explore the relationships among the research variables.
Findings
The results showed that sport tourists’ perception of destination image, perceived quality and perceived value influenced their satisfaction and revisit intention positively.
Originality/value
The results of this research help to better understand the behavioral intentions, which can be an acceptable basis to increase sport tourists’ visit and revisit of a sport destination.
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Martina G. Gallarza and Irene Gil
This work aims to introduce the usefulness of the concept of value for tourism research both conceptually and empirically. Destination and tourism services can be better…
Abstract
Purpose
This work aims to introduce the usefulness of the concept of value for tourism research both conceptually and empirically. Destination and tourism services can be better understood if analysed through the multidimensionality of value, as the tourist can simultaneously experience several factors: affective and cognitive, social and personal, active and reactive.
Design/methodology/approach
From literature review, Holbrook's conceptual framework (definition and typology) is chosen to investigate the dimensionality of consumer value in a travel‐related context (students' tourism behaviour). An empirical investigation on one of his conceptual axes – the relativistic character of consumer value – is presented.
Findings
Several research questions are proposed regarding the relativity of value, using the t‐test contrast of hypothesis: dimensions of value (efficiency, quality, play, aesthetics and social value) and a measure of overall perceived value are tested as being personal (they vary across people), comparative (with differences among objects) and situational (specific to the context).
Research limitations/implications
The results presented can fully confirm the relativistic character of value dimensions; hence, the value concept is useful for analysing tourism experiences. Nevertheless, the analysis is made interpersonally. Real intrapersonal measurements on these variations with longitudinal studies are recommended for further research. The scope of this work could be broadened by testing additional axes of Holbrook's typology.
Practical implications
Tourism managers should regard the helpfulness of perceived value as a segmentation tool. Because of its multidimensionality, different facets of services value can be enhanced for different consumers, reinforcing in this way the strategic usefulness of value.
Originality/value
Although Holbrook's types of value have been the subject of several conceptual debates there are very few empirical works on it. Any multidimensional approach to value shows the richness and complexity of the value concept, but Holbrook's dimensionality is particularly interesting because it encompasses and interrelates all relevant facets of the tourism experience.
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The purpose of this study is to explore the onboard activity choice of Chinese cruise tourists on three international cruise ships departing Shanghai, China.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the onboard activity choice of Chinese cruise tourists on three international cruise ships departing Shanghai, China.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research method was adopted for this study. Data was collected using participant observation, casual conversation and semi-structured in-depth interviews from 76 Chinese cruise respondents. The data was analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
Chinese cruise tourists were offered various onboard activities, most of which were Western. Booking these activities involved tourists searching information and assessing and choosing what appealed to them. They chose these activities according to the consumption values, and their decision was influenced by both context-dependent variables—the variety and style of the activities and their capacity to appeal, and the personal variable—age. Chinese tourists were satisfied with the array of onboard activity options and viewed them as an opportunity to experience Western culture. However, when they were unfamiliar with or did not understand some activities, they preferred Chinese activities.
Originality/value
This study formulates propositions to underlie a conceptual framework of how cruise tourists choose an onboard activity. The findings derived from the data will be valuable to cruise lines seeking to better manage tourists’ onboard experiences.
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Andres Kuusik, Margus Tiru, Rein Ahas and Urmas Varblane
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how technological innovation serves as an enabling factor to innovation in tourism management. The motivation of this paper is related…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how technological innovation serves as an enabling factor to innovation in tourism management. The motivation of this paper is related to the question of how to innovate destination marketing as a tool to manage long‐term customer relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use mobile positioning‐based research methods to measure visitors' behaviour. This provides new data for the detection and measurement of destination loyalty that could be used as valuable input to improve destination marketing strategy and develop new services.
Findings
The use of mobile positioning helps to improve the quality of data about tourism flows in Estonia. The authors were able to observe and measure the duration, timing, density, seasonality and dynamics of visitations. Further, it allowed also to distinguish repeat visitors. The rich dataset provided by passive mobile positioning (PMP) allowed the implementation of the proposed, more detailed, classification of segments of repeat visitors and the identification of not loyal, somewhat loyal, loyal, very loyal, functionally loyal and forced to be loyal visitors. This analysis made it possible to reveal transit, long‐term, one‐day and other specific visitors among repeat visitors.
Originality/value
The theoretical novelty of the paper consists in the creation of the innovation model of the destination marketing of the country and providing the new approach of segmentation of repeat visitors. Empirical novelty is the use of PMP in studying repeat visitations for destination marketing. The paper offers new ways for governments to shape service policies and allows tourism industry firms to offer new services.
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