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This paper aims to examine the complexity of attribute configurations affecting tourism decisions related to peer-to-peer accommodation and the sharing economy in destinations affected by recession.

Based on chaos and complexity theories this non-parametric research examines the perspectives of 352 peer-to-peer accommodation holidaymakers in Athens, Greece. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), the study examines the complex relations between social and economic aspects, benefits, risks and consumer trust with regard to purchasing intentions. The paper also compares fsQCA with the dominant linear methods of analysis (regression; Cramer’s V) and highlights fsQCA’s suitability when dealing with tourism complexity.

The results reveal three configurations explaining the attributes of holidaymakers’ tourism decisions characterised by socio-economic orientation, trust formulation and price sensitivity. They also highlight the superiority of fsQCA towards conventional linear analyses in complexity aspects.

The examination of the complexity concept using fsQCA can provide a better understanding of the influence of attributes which affect tourism decisions especially for countries suffering from deep recession such as Greece. Still, due to the lack of fsQCA implementation in tourism studies, its full potential needs to be further examined.

In terms of the literature, the study provides an understanding of the complexity formulation of tourism decisions during recession, with special focus on the sharing economy. It further explores the attributes that affect tourism decisions and associated linkages. Methodologically, the study highlights the value of fsQCA and its advantages compared to conventional methods of correlational analysis. It also progresses from fit to predictive validity for the models suggested.

The Spanish region commercially branded as Costa Blanca has long been a popular destination for millions of holidaymakers from both northern Europe and Spain itself (Gaviria Labarta, 1974; Moreno Garrido, 2007). However, from the 1960s onward, these Mediterranean shores have also attracted thousands of people from northern Europe for other purposes, some as more or less permanent residents, and others as seasonal peripatetic visitors, traveling back and forth between their first, second or third homes (Aledo, 2008). In many ways, the increase in second home visits and long-term stays in areas such as Mediterranean Spain parallels well-known developments of seasonal and full-time retirement and other migration in North America to what has been termed the Sunbelt states (Mings & McHugh, 1995). The situation in Europe, however, is more complex, due, for instance, to the crossing of national borders, a variety of spoken languages, and possibly also for greater cultural differences. Certain parts of such flows are related to perceptions of diminishing distances and to the progress of internationalization processes in societies in general, where tourism and other long-distance mobilities are not only an outcome, but also a crucial catalyst.

A binary choice model explaining the distribution of holidays abroad undertaken by UK residents is constructed and estimated. The foreign holiday demand function is generated from a comparison of holiday costs and benefits, and stochastic behaviour is permitted. In addition, the effects of incomplete knowledge on holiday choice are incorporated in the model. It is shown that the empirical results support the theoretical framework and that the £50 foreign currency limit imposed by the British Government between 1966 and 1969 resulted in a shift in the distribution of foreign holidays.

An intending holidaymaker may arrange his holiday by booking his transport ticket with the airline of his choice, arrange his hotel room by direct contact with the hotel at his destination, and engage a taxi on arrival at the destination airport to take him to his hotel. He may also make these individual arrangements through a travel agent.

Campbell postulates that: first, the city as source area should be the focus of study in urban recreation research rather than the destination, which is more often selected by researchers; and that, second, concern should also focus on the spatial interaction of the city with the recreational area (Campbell, 1966, 87). He proposes a model to represent these concerns and in this he suggests that the type of movement pursued is related to the recreational experience desired and that the spatial distribution of the tourist industry is similarly associated.

The travel industry in Belgium has gone through a number of notable changes in recent decades. One of the most important trends is the growth of the organised travel market in Belgium. Belgian holidaymakers are turning increasingly to travel intermediaries in general and to travel agents and tour operators in particular. The successive surveys of Belgian travel behaviour carried out by WES since the early eighties illustrate the increase in the number of long holidays booked through a tour operator. These rose from 900,000 in 1985 to 2,300,000 in 1996 and around 2,700,000 today.

The purpose of this study is to explore the expectations of Muslim tourists when taking a halal holiday. Understanding consumer expectations is an important factor in any service context since expectations determine whether the consumer is satisfied or dissatisfied with the service outcome.

An exploratory approach was adopted and in-depth interviews with Muslim tourists and halal holiday providers were undertaken.

The findings identified services and facilities Muslim consumers expect from a halal holiday and those they did not expect to see. Factors such as halal food, women-only facilities and dress codes were identified as services and facilities that are expected, whereas no alcohol was seen to be an important factor for Muslim tourists.

This exploratory study used a small sample and hence the findings should not be seen to be generalisable. However, the study provides a number of valuable insights into the expectations of Muslim leisure tourists. Halal travel organisations and tourism boards will benefit from a better understanding of factors that influence the satisfaction/dissatisfaction of Muslim tourists.

The study makes three main contributions to our understanding of halal holidays. First, the study identifies expectations that are likely to influence satisfaction, such as halal food and women-only facilities. Second, the study highlights those expectations which are likely to cause dissatisfaction for halal holidaymakers, such as alcohol and dress codes. Third, the study highlights the difference in expectations which exist between halal holidaymakers and how the interpretation and practice of Islam is highly varied.

Minority areas, with their cultural distinctiveness and a strong tendency to cultivate and preserve cultural identities, can offer guests special added value as tourist destinations. This study seeks to address whether and to what extent locals and guests of tourist areas populated by minority populations perceive and are aware of the uniqueness, variety and potential of the minority in a region.

Research has already been developed that analyses the inter‐relations between the local population and tourism, but is scarce regarding national minorities and tourism. This paper pursues a new research field focusing on the potential of tourist destinations that offer specialised characteristics due to their cultural, ethnic or minority populations. The authors carried out an empirical study using quantitative, standardised questionnaires in 2008 in two minority areas: South Tyrol, Italy (which has a Ladin minority population) as well as Transylvania, Romania (which has a German and Hungarian minority population). The South Tyrol situation is doubly unusual, because the Ladin minority population is a minority within the German minority region in Italy.

The study shows that ethnic minority populations can definitely offer added value for holidaymakers in tourist destinations. The special interest and attraction of these types of holiday stay for guests is explained, above all, by the varied cuisine and the locals' proficiency in languages (South Tyrol) as well as the specific architecture and the more extensive cultural offerings (Transylvania). In Transylvania no significant differences and in South Tyrol significant differences in the perception of the special cultural situation by locals and guests have been observed.

This study was confined to 250 interviewees per group and study region, due to budget restrictions. Compared to the volume of research on native population and tourism, research on minorities and tourist activities is quite new. Therefore this research paper provides only an exploratory study and could be developed further.

The paper shows that ethnic minorities, with their customs and traditions, languages and architectural styles, can definitely offer added value for holidaymakers.

The marketing strategy begins with the identification of human needs and discharges into the application of a combination of marketing variables (product, price, distribution, sales promotion and publicity). Motivations for buying a tourist product in an affluent society are not only the reflection of a person's physical needs. They also arise from social‐psychological needs. With the ‘erosion of traditional class‐determined patterns of behavior’, even the usual social‐class variables are losing their importance in explaining buying behavior.

The purpose of this study is to compare and contrast the organic destination image of Kavos, as portrayed through irresponsible tourism-related behaviours on “reality” TV programmes, with its complex image according to members of the local community.

A thematic analysis was undertaken of four reality television programmes. This was compared with the qualitative data gathered from depth interviews.

The portrayal of tourism in Kavos focuses on only one narrow segment of young British high-season tourists. Thus, the destination image is unbalanced, neglects changing patterns of tourism throughout the year and neglects various other stakeholders in the destination’s image formation process.

A limitation of this study is that it explored reality television programmes that focused on Kavos and featured a younger demographic. Further studies could look to include a range of reality programmes from different geographic locations and, include other demographics.

A more holistic image, created and communicated by those responsible for managing the destination, could go some way to ameliorating the disparities between what is portrayed on reality television and what really happens in the resort.

Most media portrayal about Kavos focuses only on irresponsible tourist behaviours. This paper explores the physical and social aspects of place-making, an approach that thus becomes more inclusive of considering a place from the perspective of both its permanent and transient inhabitants.

By including in the authors’ data sources the under-researched phenomenon of reality television programmes, along with insights gained from members of the local community, this study makes a number of contributions to: the way destinations are theorised and conceptualised; and to the way tourism destinations with negative images may be approached both theoretically and in practice.