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Although the significance of travel risks is well documented, the process through which people assess their vulnerability and ultimately take on preventive measures needs clarification. Motivated by concern with traveler’s underestimation of risks, this chapter provides a crucial next step by introducing new theory to explain how people calibrate travel risks. The conceptual model incorporates constructs from motivational theories, cognitive appraisal, and emotionality. Future studies adopting this model will broaden the nature and scope of research on travel risk while helping government and industry to increase the reach and relevance of travel health and safety messages.

A review of the marketing and tourism literatures revealed that brand ­reputation is a powerful tool that affects not only the image of the product or destination, but also purchase/visit decisions. The cost of failure in building a product image is high, but not as fatal as in the case of a destination. Moreover, destination branding is considered as a tool of competitive advantage, on the principles of value-added effect and equity criteria. Destination is an amalgam of geographic, economic, demographic, climatic, technological, environmental, political, and demographic factors which influence the competitive advantage, if built effectively.

Anholt (2007) finds evidence of a correlation between the positive experience of visiting a country and positive feeling about its products, its government, its culture, and its people. Deeper understanding of place brands in tourism destinations and reputation might be helpful for improving competitiveness.

One example of implementing a measurement of a country’s performance and reputation is the Anholt-GMI Brand Index, which evaluates the perception of countries as brands and measures the power and appeal of a nation’s brand image. This approach can be helpful to understand behavior and decisions of visitors to the destinations and to improve their competitiveness. The purpose of the chapter will be to explain how brand reputation influences consumers’ behavior.

This chapter introduces its readers to the concept of tourism. It sheds light on the rationale for tourism, as it explains the tourists’ inherent motivations to travel. It also describes different aspects that together make up the tourism industry. Tourists travel to destinations that are accessible to them. They require accommodation if they are visiting a place for more than 24 hours. Leisure and business travellers may also visit attractions, and engage in recreational activities. Hence, the tourist destinations should have the right amenities and facilities. In this light, this chapter clarifies how destinations may offer different products to satisfy a wide array of tourists. Tourism products can include urban (or city) tourism, seaside tourism, rural tourism, ecotourism, wine tourism, culinary tourism, health tourism, medical tourism, religious tourism, cultural (or heritage) tourism, sports tourism, educational tourism, business tourism (including meetings, incentives, conferences and events), among others.

Following the hierarchical model of human behavior of Fulton, Manfredo, and Lipscomb (1996), this chapter develops and tests a model incorporating both general and behavior-specific components of motivation. The research aimed to investigate how general and behavior-specific attitudes work together in explaining air travelers’ carbon offsetting behavior. The study is an experimental study that applied confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation models to better understand the motivational factors that influence aviation carbon offsetting behavior. The sample includes 349 staff and students of the University of Queensland. Based on an established hierarchical model of human behavior, the new ecological paradigm (NEP) scale and the theory of planned behavior work together to explicate general and specific attitudes, respectively. The effect from NEP to offsetting intention was partially mediated by three intermediate motivations: awareness of climate impacts of air traveling, perceived effectiveness of carbon offsets in mitigating carbon emissions, and support for a carbon tax. In particular, general support for the carbon price policy showed a complementary relationship with voluntary action.

Films are arguably one of the most influential phenomenon of modern society. They are remarkable and effective means of conveying stories and influencing humans. Films are one of the most important factors that motivate people to travel to a destination. This chapter will explore the phenomenon which is widely known as film tourism and its role in tourist experience. To gain a better understanding of film tourism experiences, this chapter presents key concepts and analyzes existing studies. The analysis investigates important aspects of film tourism experience, including experience satisfaction and storytelling. It tries to highlight how films can influence tourist experiences beyond the travel itself, with a strong emphasis on the role of storytelling and film tourism experience satisfaction. To help readers achieve a clearer and more detailed understanding of the unique and dynamic nature of film tourism experiences, this chapter provides an overview of the tourist experience by conducting a comprehensive literature review on the subject. By doing this, this chapter proposes a new framework of film tourist experience satisfaction while describing the relationship between influential factors such as previous film experiences, motivation to visit a destination, destination expectations, on-site destination experience, and tourist involvement. Finally, conclusions are drawn presenting storytelling as a contemporary approach in the domain of film tourism experiences.

Community-run festivals are an emerging giant in the tourism industry. Nowadays many local festivals have emerged with the specific objectives of celebrating local culinary traditions, establishing business and trade of local products and developing sustainable destinations. Local events can influence the destination image, enabling the growth of tourist flows and stimulate destination marketing organizations to differentiate their own destination products from those of competitors. Two main aspects are analyzed: the main characteristics of local events and the influence of local festival on destination image. Moreover, the economic impact of festivals on the community and the main tourism management strategies adopted by managers are investigated. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications deriving from the chapter are discussed.