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The emergence of peer-to-peer accommodation (P2PA) introduces new values and meanings to the hospitality experience. Focusing on the diverse dimensions of the tourist experience, the purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the relative importance of the main dimensions of guests’ P2PA experience and its relationships with perception of authenticity, place attachment and loyalty to both the visited destination and the P2PA.

A qualitative netnographic approach with content analysis permitted the analysis of 250 reviews taken from the Airbnb platform, specifically focusing on P2PAs where guests stay with hosts in the same space.

The results of the study suggest that guests’ P2PA experiences are particularly influenced by the experience dimensions “aesthetic/sense”, “relate/social interaction”, “escape”, “act” and “feel”. P2PA experiences also result in loyalty intentions, to both the visited destination and the particular P2PA. The dimensions “aesthetic/sense”, “relate/social interaction” and “escape” stand out as most influential in determining perceived authenticity. In turn, place attachment is most influenced by the dimensions “feel” and “relate/social interaction”.

Limitations of this research need to be acknowledged: the P2PA guest experience is explored from the restricted perspective of online reviews using passive netnography. Therefore, some criteria of data collection, for instance, gathering only reviews written in English and with more than 80 words, may be limitative in a more comprehensive assessment of the P2PA experience. Another point is, although P2PA platforms such as Airbnb encourage their guests to review the experience, some people are not inclined to do so; therefore, the published reviews may not reflect all possible experiences at these accommodations inclined to do so; therefore, the published reviews may not reflect all possible experiences at these accommodations.

This study suggests a comprehensive analytical framework for assessing the “holistic multidimensional tourist experience”, integrating Pine and Gilmore’s (1999) and Schmitt’s (1999) approaches, thus deepening the conceptual and methodological debate on the tourist experience. It further contributes to a better understanding of the dimensionality of the tourist experience in the context of shared accommodation. The dimensions under analysis and their association with perceived authenticity, loyalty and place attachment are both of theoretical and practical interest, suggesting approaches to improve the P2PA experience as well as the image and success of the destinations where these units are located.

This study aims to empirically examine young tourists’ perceptions of object-based authenticity, existential authenticity and perceived value perceptions on satisfaction. Data were collected from young heritage tourists at the Little India heritage precinct in Singapore.

Qualitative data were collected via a pen and paper questionnaire at Little India in Singapore. Young tourists below 30 years of age were identified to complete the questionnaire. A total of 288 sets of valid responses were collected to perform statistical analysis to test the relationships between the key constructs in the research model.

The results of the study reaffirmed the application of the perceived value framework to authenticity. Object-based authenticity, existential authenticity and perceived monetary value yielded significant and positive effects on overall perceived value and, subsequently, satisfaction. Further, overall perceived value was found to mediate the relationships between object-based authenticity, existential authenticity and perceived monetary with satisfaction.

This study provides researchers with a better understanding of authenticity and value perceptions of young tourists. It also lends further support for the integration of object-based and existential authenticity into the multidimensional approach to perceived value.

The results help destination marketers and policymakers better understand this important segment to develop more effective and sustainable marketing and management strategies.

This study addresses the lack of research in the literature on young tourists who will shape the tourism landscape of the future. It also further assesses the propriety of integrating authenticity measures into the measurement of perceived value.

This chapter presents two cases in which the coupling between products and destinations generates distinct variations of possibilities for on-site consumption of mythologies of product implacement. Product–place dyads represent significant enabling potential to convey experiential authenticity in the form of enacted narratives, which are in turn based on product myths and the role of a place on the continuum of a productionscape–consumptionscape. Through the illustrative use of cases, a symbolic order of product geography is revealed. Destinations that leverage product associations are invariably engaged in a struggle to claim symbolic authority produce an authentic product–origin narrative. This chapter bridges critical tourism and international marketing literatures and proposes product geography as the mythomoteur of worldmaking.

The purpose of this paper is to examine visitors’ motivations for going to the South Luogu Alley, a famous hutong with an over 700-year history in Beijing, China.

The study applied a self-administered questionnaire to collect data from visitors on the main street of the South Luogu Alley.

It was found that most visitors of the hutong are casual tourists pursuing relaxation, including tension release and spending time with friends and family; seeking authenticity is not visitors’ most important motivation.

This study used only one hutong to assess visitors’ motivations in hutong tourism, so the results may not be applicable to all hutongs.

The research on the demographics and different motivations of the South Luogu Alley visitors can be useful to managers of tourism-related organizations.

This study shows that tourists with different motivations for visiting a hutong have varying requirements for authenticity. The reconstruction of some historical hutongs is not always perceived as negative, and the influence of Western cultural elements can be seen as positive if they contribute to the sustainable development of the local culture.

The term “hutonger,” which includes casual visitors, entertainment seekers, authenticity seekers and pure escapees, based on these respective motivations, is introduced to describe the specific groups of hutong visitors and contribute to the hutong tourism literature.

The purpose of this paper is to discover authenticity dimensions that draw tourists to Melaka and George Town World Heritage Site. It also examined the mediating effect of attachment and the moderating effect of cultural motivation.

A mixed-method design was used. Qualitative approach was conducted to discover authenticity dimensions followed by a quantitative approach to explore the dimensions’ ability in predicting attachment and intention to recommend.

Findings revealed that objective, existential and food authenticity were significant stimuli of recommend intention. The mediating effect of attachment on constructive authenticity-intention and existential authenticity-intention were also supported. Cultural motivation indeed moderated the relationship between objective authenticity-attachment, constructive authenticity-attachment and existential authenticity-attachment.

Knowing that authenticity can be perceived differently, therefore, a mixed-method study design offers more insight on discovering authenticity elements. Using a qualitative approach, the study began by exploring important authenticity dimensions from both supply and demand groups, and subsequently, these dimensions were verified using quantitative approach. As expected, food authenticity was found as a standalone dimension.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scale for host sincerity.

The ten-item host sincerity scale was developed by following a multi-stage scale development procedure (Delphi technique, qualitative interviews and surveys).

The findings reveal that host sincerity is a second-order construct with two underlying dimensions: “sincere social interaction” and “sincere emotional response”. By incorporating host sincerity into the consumer-based model of authenticity, the findings established significant relationships among all constructs, confirming the predictive validity of the host sincerity construct.

Data were gathered from visitors to troglodyte heritage sites (Kandovan and Cappadocia). Future studies should test the newly formed sincerity scale at other cultural destinations to further explore the generalisability of the scale. Further, data were gathered from tourists. Future studies should consider host sincerity from a host perspective.

Cultural destination managers and local hosts can use this instrument as a supplementary tool to evaluate how sincere their hospitality offering appears to tourists.

This paper develops a host sincerity scale to explore the importance of sincere host–guest interactions and tourists’ emotional response to these interactions. It extends the consumer-based model of authenticity by drawing further attention to the importance and impact of host sincerity in stimulating memorable tourism experiences.

This paper aims to identify key problems destinations face in maintaining their appeal to the tourist market while experiencing increasing numbers of visitors and impacts upon the quality of their offerings.

The paper examines the literature on impacts of tourism and the application of sustainable development principals in the context of destination development, along with the most recent literature on the concept of resilience and its application to tourism.

The paper briefly examines the concerns over the increasing numbers of visitors and their motivations, and then the likely effects on key attributes of destinations. The limitations of using the generic approach of sustainability are briefly reviewed and reasons for the failure of this approach outlined. An alternative way of protecting image and critical attributes of destinations, namely, the application of the concept of resilience, is then discussed. This approach is described and potential applications are presented.

It is argued that a switch from trying to amend the behaviour of tourists to making destinations better able to withstand inevitable impacts of increased visitation is a much more realistic and feasible approach which does not necessarily involve reducing visitor numbers or attempting to change markets. This approach is a more appropriate way to ensure a longer life-cycle for destinations.

Until now, relatively little has been presented on the application of resilience to tourism and to destinations in particular; yet, the potential benefits of this approach are considerable and deserve wider consideration.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the different typologies of tourists that appear in cities that are in a different position within the destination life cycle. Barcelona and Lisbon, two urban destinations, with a strong growth of tourists in the last two decades, which are in advanced stages of their life cycle, and Lima, which has also expanded in the last ten years, but is in less advanced phases, have been chosen. The approach of the study is to analyse if urban tourists modify their attitude in some way in the face of the advancement of the life cycle of the city and what attitudes are expressed by them.

For this purpose, an analysis of main components was performed via factor analysis to reduce the number of dimensions of the 11 descriptive variables and the counterpart of tourist attitudes, following Schwartz’s (2006) research. From the four clusters that emerged – authenticity; innovative and cultural hard; relaxation and not innovative – four attitude variables were selected since they were considered relevant to be analysed according to the life cycle of the city: culture and entertainment; authenticity and online social exhibition; and expensive and cheap price.

The results obtained do not allow to straightforwardly conclude that as the life cycle of these three cities advances, the attitude evolves from culture to entertainment, from authenticity towards online social exhibition or from the most expensive to the cheapest. The tourists from Barcelona are mostly associated with entertainment, those from Lisbon are associated with culture and those from Lima are split. However, in the face of authenticity, travellers are prone to it. Regarding the price, those in Barcelona are almost divided equally, whereas those in Lisbon, and especially those in Lima, consider it to be mostly cheap.

From this study, it can be drawn that the attitude of travellers to these three cities is not conditioned by the life cycle. Globalization and digitalisation put pressure on the traveller by configuring a universal model of behaviour before the urban offer that is associated with other factors, but not with the life cycle of the city.

Iran is considered an emerging destination that remains largely under-toured, even as the recent lifting of strict economic sanctions and new international agreements is making it easier to obtain a visa-on-arrival. The Facebook page “See You in Iran” is used to promote the destination and communicate the “real” image of Iran (with numerous updates daily), with semblances of authenticity portrayed through user-generated content (UGC). UGC allows people to post and explore new places, and to interact with those who have just visited. This chapter assesses UGC using an interpretative framework: authentic inquiry (the need for unknown insight into a new awareness), authentic encounter (through relationships, connections, communitas, and belonging), and authentic production (based on feelings, emotions, and sensations).

This paper aims to identify and elucidate the culinary territorial (regional) characteristics that may support the development of stakeholder relations with and perceptions of a territorial system. It further focuses on these support interactions between destination managers and stakeholders and how online technology can transform them into a word-of-mouth source.

The authors present a theoretical framework, stemming from a case study of a tour operator and its technological (social media, etc.) dynamics on the relational aspects between destination management and stakeholders. Through a combination of qualitative tools and secondary data analysis, this paper analyzes the interrelationships of authenticity and place-as-brand concept, considered as the set of human characteristics associated with a brand in a “living like” travel experience.

Culinary tourism is seen as a relevant and significant factor in facilitating interaction between the destination community and its stakeholders, and a meaningful element, which when technologically communicated and enhanced, strengthens both the perception and the brand image of a destination.

Such new technology-enhanced insights into tourists’ experience could be exploited to plan and implement destination management and development strategies in a way that would be expected, accepted and welcomed by stakeholders, including tourists themselves. In this context, this paper presents and prescribes the role of culinary characteristics and stakeholder relationship management to develop new culinary business models and different destination community approaches toward practical implementation at both the individual (business) and the collective (authorities) levels.

The proposed framework fills the gap in the role of culinary tourism resources particularly in those areas where food has no viable certification even if it essentially constitutes a manifestation of traditions.