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Understanding the multifaceted images of tourism destinations is critical for effective destination marketing and management strategies. Traditional approaches, including conceptualization of destination images or analysis of their antecedents and consequences, are commonly used. This study aims to advocate the inclusion of visitors’ latent profiles based on cognitive images to enrich the evaluation and formulation of destination marketing and management strategies.

The analysis focuses on Serbia, an emerging destination, that attracts an increasing number of first-time, repeat and prospective visitors. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to test the potential dimensions (tangible and intangible cultural destination; infrastructural and accessible destination; active, nature and family destination; sensory and hospitable destination; and welcoming, value for money (VFM) and safe destination) of the cognitive destination image factors scale while subtypes (profiles) were obtained using latent profile analysis (LPA).

The cognitive image component encompasses the perceived attributes of a destination, whether derived from direct experience or acquired through other means. The study identified the following profiles: conventional destination; sensory and hospitable destination; welcoming, VFM and safe destination; secure and active family destination and accessible cultural destination, which are presented individually with their sociodemographic assets.

The main contribution of the paper is the application of a novel method (LPA) for profiling visitor segments based on cognitive destination image. From a theoretical perspective, this research contributes to the extant body of literature pertaining to the destination image, thereby facilitating the identification of discrete latent visitor segments and elucidating noteworthy differences among them concerning a cognitive image.

This issue includes five contributions from six countries; four of these are revised versions of the best works presented at the Business Association of Latin American Studies Congress (BALAS), in 2012. The first article is a study of the effectiveness of price promotion strategies in retail chains across Chile; a topic of growing importance in Latin America. The second is a study of the literature on the accounting treatment of the decision to buy or lease with option to buy, which is a topic that reflects international changes in accounting practices that will take place as from 2013. The third contribution is a case study of the strategy of Miss Venezuela, an organisation of the Cisneros group that has become an icon of overwhelming success in international beauty contests. The fourth article narrates the difficulties faced by a Brazilian restaurant chain in their internationalisation process through the master franchises concept. The last contribution is the Britt case study, telling the story of a Costa Rican company founded by an innovating North American businessman. The article recounts the company's interesting process of development in international business and the complex strategic decisions it faced when it came to the subsequent steps to be taken in international markets. Although all the articles are in English, Academia is multilingual. As from 2013, all its articles will be available in their original language as well as in English.

Este número incluye cinco contribuciones originadas en seis países, cuatro de las cuales son versiones revisadas de los mejores trabajos presentados en el congreso de la Business Association of Latin American Studies (Balas) de 2012. La primera contribución es un estudio sobre la efectividad de las estrategias de promoción de precios en cadenas detallistas en Chile, un tema de creciente importancia en América Latina. La segunda es un estudio de la literatura sobre el tratamiento contable de la decisión de comprar o de realizar un arrendamiento con opción de compra (lease), tema que refleja el cambio internacional en las prácticas contables que ocurrirá a partir de 2013. La tercera contribución es el caso de la estrategia de Miss Venezuela, la organización del grupo Cisneros que se ha constituido en un icono en Venezuela por su éxito avasallador en concursos internacionales de belleza. El cuarto es un caso que narra las vicisitudes de una cadena brasileña de restaurantes con la internacionalización mediante el concepto de máster de marca. La última contribución es el caso Grupo Britt N.V., empresa fundada por un empresario estadounidense en Curazao y Costa Rica, que ha tenido un interesante desarrollo de negocios internacionales y se enfrenta a decisiones estratégicas complejas sobre sus siguientes pasos en los mercados mundiales. Aunque todos los trabajos están en inglés, Academia es multilenguaje. A partir de 2013 todos los artículos de la revista están disponibles en inglés, además de su idioma original.

Tourism is sensitive to many factors related to security, such as terrorism and armed conflict. This scenario can be considered for Colombia and its National Natural Parks. The signing of the peace agreement with the revolutionary armed forces (FARC-EP) of Colombia that would end the armed conflict in 2016 offers economic possibilities for the country where tourism represents an important option, especially in natural areas where the government has regained control. This has had an impact on the sustained growth of tourism demand. The objective of this study is to determine the sensitivity of the tourism market in Colombia and natural parks and its relationship with the evolutionary dynamics of tourism, in a context of armed conflict. Variables related to visitors and the armed conflict were associated by autoregressive vectors, Pearson correlation test and Granger causality. A correlation of −0.5474 was found for the accumulated period from 1995 to 2018. It was also determined that the number of victims of the armed conflict is the Granger cause of the number of visitors to natural parks. The study concludes that the sensitivity of tourism in natural parks in Colombia is a consequence of State policy for the partial termination of the internal armed conflict.