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This site-based study employed a sociolinguistic approach to investigate the linguistic landscape and multilingualism displayed on signs in Marib, a historical and tourist city in Yemen. The study focused on the types and functions of these signs, as well as people's perceptions of the status quo of the linguistic landscape.

A mixed-methods approach was used to collect data. Signs in tourist areas were photographed, and subsequent semi-structured interviews were conducted with relevant individuals to achieve the study's objectives.

The results revealed that both multilingual and monolingual signs coexist, with multilingual signs being more prevalent. Multilingual signs, which were official (top-down), served informational and symbolic functions, while monolingual signs, which were informal (bottom-up), served purely informational purposes. Bilingual signs were not present at the research sites. Interviewees generally expressed their satisfaction with multilingualism, as both national (Arabic and Musnad) and international (English) languages coexisted. However, they highlighted a deficiency in the number of signs at the research sites.

This study suggested intensifying efforts to include more signs, augmented with QR codes, to convey an appealing image of the linguistic landscape and provide visitors with information about these sites. Exposing students to the linguistic landscape can significantly enhance their English learning.

This study contributes to existing literature by providing further insights into the linguistic landscape in tourist destinations in Marib city. It offers the local and global community a better understanding of why and how the linguistic landscape should be improved and presented more appropriately.

By 1901, New Zealand had the first national government-controlled department of tourism in the world. This was the vehicle used to acquire and control tourism assets. In 1954, the hotel assets were consolidated as the Tourist Hotel Corporation of New Zealand (THC). Whilst hotel consolidation was not unique in the world, comparatively little has been written about the establishment of the THC. The following contributes to this ongoing history.

The research used relevant archival records held within the Archives New Zealand. Altogether 195 files were accessed. Information was analyzed and sorted into themes. The following involves one of those themes, conflict.

The establishment of the THC was the result of corporatist ideology based around the need to preserve the importance of tourism to New Zealand. The legislative requirements relating to the management and governance of the THC led to conflict between the THC CEO and the government. Such conflict has been placed within an institutional context. This conflict may have “got in the way” of effective running of the THC.

There is a large volume of data still to be analyzed. Subsequent work on the later years, and demise of the THC could add further context to the overall history of the THC. The extent to which institutionalism was at the root of conflict between the management of the THC and the controlling government department are explored.

Very little has been written about the establishment of the THC. The following contributes to the discussion on the establishment and problems that emerged in the early management of the THC.

Understanding tourist experiences with virtual reality (VR) products is essential for firms using VR for tourism marketing, particularly in developing countries where customers do not have access to personal VR devices or gadgets. This study aims to provide insights into technology usage for tourism marketing India, which is a developing country. It explores 360° virtual tours as an upcoming strategy for tourism promotion by analysing tourists’ perspectives through a qualitative approach.

360° YouTube video launched by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, was shown to the participants as a marketing stimulus, followed by questions to understand tourists’ experiences and intentions. Responses were collected from 45 tourists who visited popular tourist destinations such as Shimla, Manali and Dharamshala districts of Himachal Pradesh, India.

The findings of the study indicate that several crucial elements play a pivotal role in creating the 360° VR experience. Based on interviews, it was found that 360° video experiences assist in visualising a destination through imaginative exploration, generating curiosity about the destination, forming a favourable image of the destination and facilitates ease of experience. A few participants mentioned experiencing discomforts, such as motion sickness and eye strain, while viewing 360° videos. Moreover, tourists provided valuable insights into various factors, including how 360° videos elicit arousal through entertainment and excitement, develop immersion and engagement in the virtual environment (VE), aid in assessing destination suitability, offers advantage over other media, serves as a substitutes for travel during constraints, generates assurance and influences intentions. These factors have emerged as significant considerations influencing their willingness to adopt such technology in the future.

In the contemporary market landscape, 360° VR technology is anticipated to enhance the experiential elements within VEs. While existing research has focused on the technical attributes of VR, there remains a crucial gap pertaining to the experiential and destination-related elements and their influence on usage, travel planning and intentions. Therefore, this study provides deeper insights into the unexplored concepts and dimensions of the virtual tourism experience, particularly concerning interaction with 360° videos. The study contributes novel insights to the existing body of tourism literature and provides practical implications for enhancing 360° virtual tour experiences.

This study aims to identify motivations for visiting Kyoto's prominent religious attractions using latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) text analysis of online reviews; establish linkages between push motivational factors and pull factors of the religious sites, forming distinct tourist typologies; and suggest strategies for Kyoto's destination marketing based on the findings.

This study analyzed 37,772 TripAdvisor reviews for Kyoto's top 25 religious sites from the pre-pandemic period (March 2020). LDA topic modeling extracts 18 underlying thematic dimensions from the review texts. Axial coding of these dimensions revealed five distinct tourist motivation typologies.

Five motivation typologies emerged: cultural seekers drawn to Japan's unique heritage, nature lovers attracted by scenic landscapes, chrono-seasonal experiencers seeking distinct seasonal views, crowd-avoiders prioritizing less congested visits and city wanderers engaging in local activities.

The findings offer valuable guidance for destination marketers and managers in Kyoto, enabling the development of targeted strategies to enhance visitor experiences and manage overcrowding at popular religious sites.

This research provides novel insights into nonreligious tourists' motivations for visiting religious sites in a crowded destination. By identifying distinct motivation-based tourist typologies, the study informs strategies for enhancing visitor experiences tailored to diverse needs, contributing to tourism literature and practical destination management.

This paper provides a comprehensive exploration of the historical evolution and contemporary transformations inherent in cultural landscapes, framed within the narrative of a cultural odyssey. The concept of cultural landscapes extends beyond the physical arrangement of landscape elements, encompassing social and cultural customs and economic dynamics in both tangible and intangible aspects of heritage. Instead of being confined to a linear evolutionary model of sacred-historic landscape development, these sites are understood to exist across different historical periods such as ancient, medieval, etc. reflecting their multifaceted nature.

The paper utilizes a thorough and systematic examination of existing literature, covering several disciplines such as cultural studies, anthropology and environmental studies. The methodology prioritizes a holistic approach by including succinct discussion of many locations to improve the analysis. The collection of qualitative data on the cultural importance of eco-heritage involves conducting participant observations and focus group talks to capture a diverse range of perspectives.

The paper highlights the importance of preserving and interpreting cultural landscapes as living, evolving entities. By recognizing diverse layers of history and cultural significance within these sites, research suggests strategies for integrating sustainable practices in the management of cultural landscapes.

This work makes a substantial contribution to the academic field by examining the intersection where cultural heritage and eco-transformations converge. By embarking on a cultural odyssey, the paper not only charts the progress of societies but also sheds light on the transformative impact of eco-heritage interactions. The novel perspectives offer a new framework for scholars, policymakers and practitioners to analyze and value the complex interrelationships between cultural legacy and ecological changes.

Analyses of cultural landscapes need to combine natural and social-cultural components to promote discussions on landscape planning and heritage management. This qualitative research explores the integrated case study of ten municipalities in the “Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont: Langhe-Roero and Monferrato”, Italy, a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape. The research aims to raise awareness of its aesthetic-perceptive features, the importance of effective identification of visual impacts and to promote mitigation strategies/actions for updating the current Management Plan.

Two rounds of interviews and focus groups with mayors were performed in 2015 and 2020 to identify trends and drivers of change affecting the territories. Potential mitigation strategies and actions were voted on and selected in response to five critical themes that emerged from the survey, mainly related to real estate and its supplies.

The results suggest tools and policies in the fields of landscape architecture and landscape design that could benefit planning and management at different levels. They support the design of sustainable scenarios, improving mayors' understanding of the significance of cultural landscapes and promoting them as heritage managers. Furthermore, they intend to preserve the authenticity of the landscape by supporting its attributes for long-term conservation.

The research makes an original contribution on the visual implications of anthropogenic landscape transformations in ten municipalities constituting this serial property, six years after its UNESCO nomination (2014).

Digital communication and social media have an increasing importance in society and in tourism boosting. This study aims to analyse the role of digital marketing in the destination image and visitor loyalty of historic sites.

Using a mixed-method approach combining survey data from 318 respondents and three in-depth interviews. Using structural equations modelling results reveals experience, satisfaction, image and loyalty are concepts to be considered by the destinations' digital marketing promotion, as well as the increasing use of digital marketing by tourists, in the sense that tourists are increasing the habit of checking the opinion of others before scheduling their trip and gives them more importance, and a growing importance is given by tourists to the web/social networks of places they intend to visit.

This study contributes to the theory on tourism digital marketing which can be transposed to organizations management in order to encourage discussion on the processes of capture, retention and loyalty of target audiences.

To enhance the importance of digital marketing in the process of the tourist development of the city, it is fundamental to define a clear strategy for attracting and responding to the greatest demand from cultural tourists who are increasingly interested in actively participating in learning experiences.

The results show that digital communication and social media have an increasing importance in society and in tourism boosting and economy recovery.

The paper presents digital marketing as a possible factor in tourism development and social inclusion, advancing practical measures aimed at social justice through a fairer distribution of tourism revenues and the defence of historic centre residents' way (i.e. Barcelos’), and quality of life.

The authors suggest the development of a strategic digital marketing plan applied to the development and promotion of tourism in the city of Barcelos (Portugal), to complement the research presented here, thus contributing with a more practical perspective of the subject under study.

Electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) has emerged as a pivotal factor in consumer decision-making, particularly within the tourism industry. This study aims to know the critical dimensions of e-WOM and examines their effects on tourist purchase intentions in India and Vietnam, seeking to determine whether these impacts vary significantly between the two markets.

Using a robust methodological framework, the research integrates factor analysis, structural equation modelling and t-tests to analyze the data collected from 248 Indian and 230 Vietnamese participants through self-administered questionnaires.

The analysis identifies three key dimensions of e-WOM – quality, volume and integrity and reveals that e-WOM exerts a significant and positive influence on tourist purchase intentions in both countries. Notably, the study uncovers distinct cross-cultural variations in this impact.

This investigation contributes to the existing literature by spotlighting the differential effects of e-WOM in the Indian and Vietnamese tourism sectors, thereby providing valuable insights for industry stakeholders aiming to capitalize on e-WOM in varied cultural contexts.

Explore the role of traditional cafés in Lisbon and botequins in Rio de Janeiro in the history and culture of their respective cities, based on an analysis of the comments published on TripAdvisor.

Using a mixed methodology, 7,430 evaluations were analyzed, of which 5,473 were for Portuguese cafés and 1,957 for Brazilian botequins. A content analysis and statistical treatment were carried out. A line-by-line analysis was also conducted to code the emotions reported in the customer reviews.

The analysis categorized the comments into Gastronomy, Nostalgia, History and Heritage, and Quality of Service. Nostalgia garnered the highest percentage of positive comments for both Portuguese cafés and Brazilian botequins. These results emphasize the importance attached to sentimental connections and historical narratives, particularly those associated with notable individuals who frequented these places. Furthermore, no statistically significant differences were identified according to the type of establishment, which suggests a consistent pattern between cafés and traditional botequins.

Draws attention to the importance of a collaborative partnership between restaurant owners and tourism authorities. This strategic alliance not only serves to raise the cultural profile of cities, but also generates substantial economic benefits. It also ensures the lasting legacy of these historic establishments, celebrating the past, enriching the present and safeguarding the future.

Studying the cafés of Lisbon and the botequins of Brazil is important not only for understanding the history and culture of these countries but also for analyzing issues related to socialization, identity, artistic expression and urban transformations.

The paper explores the roles of involved organizations in the designation of Batu Arang in Gombak, Selangor, Malaysia, as the Coal Mining and Geological Heritage Site, the heritage significance selected as the elements of its designation and the challenges faced by the involved stakeholders during the designation process.

The primary research material is derived from the documentation review on the final draft of the Special Area Plan (RKK) of Batu Arang and the final draft of the Geopark Management Plan, field investigation on the heritage significances and interviews with the involved organizations: the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS), the State of Selangor Malay Custom and Heritage Corporation (PADAT) and the Village Community Management Council (MPKK) of Batu Arang.

This paper found that Batu Arang has the potential to be developed as an important heritage mining site and heritage tourism destination; however, many of the heritage significances are being demolished, invaded and abandoned due to human aggression or effects of nature. In addition, it reveals the roles of each involved organization, issues that occurred and challenges faced by the organizations during the designation process as a heritage site, namely in terms of management, property ownership and promotion.

The paper outlines that a heritage mining site like Batu Arang should be considered an important heritage as well as other heritage sites in Malaysia, and issues and challenges faced during the designation process should be discussed critically to ensure that these heritage significances will not be neglected and abandoned.