Search results
1 – 10 of over 14000Ercil T. A. Charles and Donna Chambers
Research on the link between tourism and politics still remains relatively underdeveloped and more so when one considers the link between this phenomenon and the study of…
Abstract
Research on the link between tourism and politics still remains relatively underdeveloped and more so when one considers the link between this phenomenon and the study of elections or psephology. This is despite the importance of elections to the democratic process and to considerations of the distribution of scarce resources particularly in countries heavily dependent on tourism. This chapter seeks to address this lacuna in scholarship through a theoretical explication of the nature of political issues and voter response. Applied to the development of a possible research agenda, this would aid in exploring the salience of tourism within electoral agendas from a relational perspective.
Details
Keywords
Geoffrey Wall and Ning Ryan Zhao
The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate red tourism in China and, in doing so, shed light on the complex relationships between tourism, heritage and identity…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate red tourism in China and, in doing so, shed light on the complex relationships between tourism, heritage and identity politics.
Design/methodology/approach
Mixed methods – literature review, document analysis, interviews with government officials, travel agents and tourists.
Findings
Red tourism is an initiative to preserve, promote and pass down China’s communist past that is underpinned by political purposes. It has resulted in an imbalance between the government’s designation of communist heritage sites all over the country and the concentration of visitors in a small number of popular destinations. Red tourism fosters allegiance to the Communist Party of China. At the same time, it is expected to bring economic opportunities to remote locations through tourism spending and the branding opportunities that it provides. However, a different emphasis can be discerned at the national and local levels, whereby the former emphasizes political cohesion and the latter stresses local economic development.
Research limitations/implications
Four sites are investigated in detail out of the hundreds that might have been explored.
Practical implications
Recommendations are made to: diversify the product, increase stakeholder involvement, enhance heritage conservation plans, improve interpretation.
Social implications
Many implications for relationships between governments at all levels and the Chinese population. Also implications for the economic well-being of places and people adjacent to red tourism sites.
Originality/value
One of very few papers in either English or Chinese that addresses the red tourism policy in detail and with substantial empirical materials.
Details
Keywords
Ivett Pinke-Sziva, Melanie Smith, Gergely Olt and Zombor Berezvai
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the phenomenon of overtourism with specific reference to the night-time economy (NTE) in Budapest, Hungary.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the phenomenon of overtourism with specific reference to the night-time economy (NTE) in Budapest, Hungary.
Design/methodology/approach
The research took place between September and December 2017 in the so-called “party quarter” of Budapest – District VII. The chosen methods included mapping, observation, interviews and questionnaires with local residents, visitors and tourists.
Findings
Partying opportunities are valued highly by tourists and the majority of customers in the bars are tourists. Many people feel that there are too many tourists in the area, although few had a bad experience with tourists. The most common complaints were the dirt and litter, public urination, street crime and noise. Most respondents would welcome a better cleaning service, more bins, more police, more public toilets and better street lighting.
Research limitations/implications
The research was not undertaken in the high season, older residents were slightly under-represented and wider research across the whole city would give a more balanced perspective.
Practical implications
Recommendations are made for managing the NTE better in order to improve the experience of tourists and visitors and to improve the local resident quality of life.
Social implications
It is hoped that this research may prompt local authorities to take local resident perceptions and experiences into account by creating better management measures and regulations.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to provide data from the perspective of three main stakeholder groups in the context of the NTE in Budapest.
Details
Keywords
Yuke Yuan, Chung-Shing Chan, Sarah Eichelberger, Hang Ma and Birgit Pikkemaat
This paper investigates the usage and trust of Chinese social media in the travel planning process (pre-trip, during-trip and post-trip) of Chinese tourists.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the usage and trust of Chinese social media in the travel planning process (pre-trip, during-trip and post-trip) of Chinese tourists.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a combination of structured online survey (n = 406) and follow-up interviews, the research identifies the diversification of the demand-and-supply patterns of social media users in China, as well as the allocation of functions of social media as tools before, during and after travel.
Findings
Social media users are diverse in terms of their adoption of social media, use behaviour and scope; the levels of trust and influence; and their ultimate travel decisions and actions. Correlations between the level of trust, influence of social media and the intended changes in travel decisions are observed. Destination marketers and tourism industries should observe and adapt to the needs of social media users and potential tourist markets by understanding more about user segmentation between platforms or apps and conducting marketing campaigns on social media platforms to attract a higher number of visitors.
Research limitations/implications
This paper demonstrated the case of social media usage in mainland China, which has been regarded as one of the fastest growing and influential tourist-generating markets and social media expansions in the world. This study further addressed the knowledge gap by correlating social media usage and travel planning process of Chinese tourists. The research findings suggested diversification of the demand-and-supply pattern of social media users in China, as well as the use of social media as tools before, during and after travel. Users were diversified in terms of their adoption of social media, use behaviour, scope, the levels of trust, influence and the ultimate travel decisions.
Practical implications
Destination marketing organizations should note that some overseas social media platforms that are not accessible in China like TripAdvisor, Yelp, Facebook and Instagram are still valued by some Chinese tourists, especially during-trip period in journeys to Western countries. Some tactics for specific user segments should be carefully observed. When promoting specific tourism products to Chinese tourists, it is necessary to understand the user segmentation between platforms or apps.
Originality/value
Social media is a powerful tool for tourism development and sustainability in creating smart tourists and destinations worldwide. In China, the use of social media has stimulated the development of both information and communication technology and tourism.
Details
Keywords
Ika Barokah Suryaningsih, Sumani, Rahmad Solling Hamid and Tria Putri Noviasari
This study aims to examine the role of the tourism marketing mix (TMM) and the perceived quality of tourism services on tourist satisfaction and loyalty intention in marine tourism…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the role of the tourism marketing mix (TMM) and the perceived quality of tourism services on tourist satisfaction and loyalty intention in marine tourism in East Java, i.e. beaches. In addition, this study also examines the impact of financial literacy on loyalty intention.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample consists of 320 tourists who were visiting the beach. Data was collected using the accidental sampling technique. Moderated structural equation modelling (MSEM) was registered as the analytical tool used in this study.
Findings
The results of the study show that the innovation and renovation carried out on beach tourism during the rejuvenation stage had an impact on increasing tourist visits. The TMM and the perceived quality of tourism services provided significantly increased tourist satisfaction and loyalty intention. In addition, financial literacy is found to be an important factor in promoting tourists’ loyalty intention.
Research limitations/implications
As mentioned in the conclusion, there are just a dim number of prior research that are able to back up the argument of the role of financial literacy in instigating suboptimal financial behaviour and performance in the context of tourism behaviour, especially highlighting the loyalty intention. Not to mention that prior research is not specifically intended in the tourism field, which makes it hard to extend the argument while structuring the literature review and developing the hypothesis.
Originality/value
This study is mainly important due to its emphasis on financial literacy on its role in promoting tourists’ loyalty intentions, as it found that financial literacy holds a critical role while there is barely any existing literature that focuses on this topic.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to respond to recent debates surrounding the observable proliferation and intensification of controversies and disputes surrounding urban tourism. It…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to respond to recent debates surrounding the observable proliferation and intensification of controversies and disputes surrounding urban tourism. It argues that coming to terms with conflicts about and around tourism in cities represents an important frontier for research and puts forth some observations about its causes and characteristics, the debates they have sparked and the scholarly engagement with them to date.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature from international sources was reviewed to identify key themes relating to conflicts about and around tourism.
Findings
The paper outlines important aspects to consider when studying conflicts about and around tourism in cities, including, first, the role of urban tourism’s massive and often rapid growth; second, the fact that backlashes in cities are often less directed against tourism in its entirety than against particular kinds of tourism (or tourists); third, the need to look at contestations surrounding urban tourism not in isolation from, but in firm connection to the more general rise of struggles and protests in and about urban space unfolding in cities worldwide; fourth, the extent to which contestations are linked to the ongoing, and, it seems, accelerating, geographical spread of tourism; and, finally, the need to critically engage with the notion of tourism itself and move beyond essentialising narratives that portray tourism as an altogether distinct, easily separable social phenomenon.
Originality/value
The paper brings together a scattered, although substantive, literature in and around tourism-related conflicts in order to provide points of orientation and inspiration for future research.
Details
Keywords
Yulan Yuan, Yuen-Hsien Tseng and Chaang-Iuan Ho
The advancement of data analysis tools makes analyzing a huge amount of literature possible. This paper aims to identify tourism information technology research trends with the…
Abstract
Purpose
The advancement of data analysis tools makes analyzing a huge amount of literature possible. This paper aims to identify tourism information technology research trends with the assistance of Toolkit for Academic Research (CATAR) to answer two research questions: the status of tourism information technology (IT) articles published in these selected journals from 1990 to 2016, and whether the number of Tourism IT articles is increasing or decreasing, and the main research topics studied in these articles from 1990 to 2016, and whether those have shifted over the 27 years.
Design/methodology/approach
Selected keywords identified by researchers that were used to extract Tourism IT articles published in Web of Science database. CATAR was used to carry out two analyses, namely, overview analysis and breakdown analysis. Overview analysis is performed to apply citation analysis to identify the general trend and the most cited reference of Tourism IT research represented by the selected articles. Breakdown analysis is based on bibliographic coupling (BC) analysis.
Findings
The number of Tourism IT publications grew rapidly in the second half of the 2000s, as mobile phones with touch screens became increasingly popular. It signals changes in the way of information searching behaviors. A total of 769 authors from 44 countries contributed to Tourism IT research. The USA, China, UK and Australia are the countries contributing the most. Six subject areas were revealed, namely, the interaction of people and organization; interaction of people and information; interaction of people and technology; technological implementation; the interaction of organization and information; and interaction of organization and technology.
Research limitations/implications
The major limitation of this study must be considered – the use of data merely derived from WoS database. The BC analysis makes a comparison between references of the given articles. This analysis requires the citation sources with better data quality, which is mainly based on the accuracy and standardization of databases. WoS is the database currently fit this requirement. The emergence of the new citation tools will enable scholars to pull data from new databases and to clean the data. Incorporating data from those new databases will reveal more accurate and comprehensive picture of Tourism IT research trend.
Originality/value
This paper revealed the research trend and major research subject areas of Tourism IT research for the past 16 years. The results can assist scholars to quickly grasp the Tourism IT research. This paper also provides an alternative approach to conduct literature review with computer-assisted analysis program.
Details
Keywords
Diena Mutiara Lemy, Frans Teguh and Amelda Pramezwary
The euphoria of tourism development in Indonesia as one of the leading industries of the country’s economy requires proper planning and an advanced strategy to maintain its…
Abstract
The euphoria of tourism development in Indonesia as one of the leading industries of the country’s economy requires proper planning and an advanced strategy to maintain its sustainability. This chapter discusses strategies used by the Indonesian government for the implementation of sustainable tourism development. The strategy comprises three tourism programs: sustainable destination, sustainable observatory, and sustainable certification. The discussion developed in this chapter stresses that sustainable programs require serious commitment from the government and a carefully developed framework that suits the Indonesian context. Further, the proposed programs have to be introduced in closely monitored stages and are perhaps best developed through a certification program that may encourage positive impacts.
Details
Keywords
This study aims to contribute perspective into how user-generated content (UGC) can be found to reinforce, or challenge, the commercial promotion of volunteer tourism in Nepal…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to contribute perspective into how user-generated content (UGC) can be found to reinforce, or challenge, the commercial promotion of volunteer tourism in Nepal. Volunteer tourism is an expanding alternative niche market spanning the globe. More understanding is needed to identify potential conflicts that may arise in relation to information communicated via official promotional materials from volunteer tourism organisation websites and from UGC on sites such as TripAdvisor.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative content analysis of websites and online UGC gathered from identified promotional websites and TripAdvisor used to inform and persuade tourists was analysed.
Findings
Three themes emerged from the analysis of promotional websites: perspective outcomes of volunteerism on locals and VolunTourists, requirements of participating volunteers and the ability of volunteer organisations to effectively meet expectations. The TripAdvisor forum content is broken down into two main areas: requests/recommendations and critical reflections. UGC is playing a pivotal role to inform future VolunTourists, based on experiences by previous volunteers. Commercial websites emphasise achievable positive outcomes by unskilled/unqualified volunteers, with the support of credible volunteer organisations. Conversely, UGC focusses on negative outcomes associated with volunteer tourism.
Research limitations/implications
This study provides insights into how online platforms are being used by consumers. This study suggests that significant disparities exist between content communicated via promotional websites and UGC, with a number of important implications discussed.
Originality/value
This study aims to address this gap in the understanding of the authors through the analysis of emerged themes communicated via Nepal volunteer websites and TripAdvisor forums. Moreover, there is a need for volunteers to be more informed about the complexities of the industry and volunteer organisations, acknowledging more needs to be considered to meet the requirements/expectations of volunteers.
Details