Search results

Introduction: Just as the tourism event begins with the human element, it again ends with the human element. Therefore, the existence, behaviours and attitudes of the human factor is an issue that should be prioritised much more when compared to other sectors. Consumer behaviour involves certain decisions, activities, ideas or experiences that meet the needs and desires of the consumer. Prior to these actions, consumer behaviour is concerned with all the activities directly related to the attainment, consumption and disposition of the products and services. In this chapter, touristic consumer behaviour, consumer choice and behaviour of the relevant destination, and the management of the destination choice process are presented.

Aim: The chapter aims to reveal how important it is to know the consumer’s destination choice behaviour in both ensuring that the consumer has had a satisfied holiday during the holiday process, and that employers and employees, as service providers, experience the peace and pride of providing a good and quality service. Knowing the behaviour patterns of potential consumers and developing their marketing activities accordingly will provide great convenience to service marketers in the future.

Method: To do this a literature review has been carried out on the issues of destination choice behaviour and tourist travel behaviour.

Result: Tourist behaviour is the most significant indicator or predictor of future tourist behaviour. Considering the social role of the tourist, the behaviour of a tourist can also be an indicator of the behaviour of others. With their behaviours, tourists determine the norms of social behaviour within the context of tourism. These norms are also followed by other consumers such as engaging in tourist behaviour, as well as those who have not travelled yet. Tourist behaviour is the context of the consumer behaviour in the purchasing and abandoning the tourist services.

Implication: The characteristics of the consumer, their past experiences, the level of influence from other consumers, etc. In the future, knowing the behaviour patterns of potential consumers and developing their marketing activities in this direction will provide great convenience to service marketers.

Originality of Study: In the study, it is desired to draw attention to the importance of knowing consumer behaviours in their destination selection. Therefore, this study is thought to be useful in future studies, especially in terms of shedding light on the consumer behaviours and roles that play a role in determining the factors that play a role in destination selection.

Depending on the technological, economic and sociological developments seen in the global world, the needs of potential tourists differ, and alternative tourism activities are seen in the tourism sector, which has different dimensions. Film tourism is one of the alternative tourism activities that has become prominent in recent years, especially with the opportunities it offers to reach more audiences with the development of technology. The desire of potential tourists to see different components such as filming locations, actors and local facts of the films they watch turns into a need over time. This situation directs potential tourists' decision-making and purchasing processes for their destination preferences. This chapter aims to create a body of knowledge that will have a widespread effect on the relevant body of knowledge based on current data on alternative and film tourism. In addition, it aims to examine films' effects on destination preferences based on secondary data sources. This chapter, which is designed as conceptual research with descriptive analyses and document analysis, which is one of the qualitative research methods, is vital in terms of revealing general patterns based on new trends in film tourism, which is seen as an export element and has a significant effect on destination preference.

Rapid development of IT and communication technologies resulted in the “Smart” concept, which of late has become quite popular. The smart concept signifies the integration of organizational networks and smart features that enrich the ecosystem, facilitate daily activities for all stakeholders, and for automatization. Smart concept was discussed as a complicated technological infrastructure in urban areas intended to promote economic, social and environmental welfare. The latest technological developments gave rise to the concepts of smart planet, smart city and smart destination that have become important in recent years. Technological innovations have had a big influence on the development of the tourism industry. Smart concept is conceptualized as smart tourism for tourism sector. Smart Tourism generally has a positive effect on the rapid change of information and technology and on the tourism sector, tourism activities and increase in customer satisfaction. In this chapter, the concept of Smart and its smart technologies are explained and information about its reflections on the tourism sector and smart tourism destinations are discussed.

This chapter aims to develop a broad understanding of the relationship between tourism and development in Colombia for the period 1996–2012 through two complementary analyses. After a review of secondary sources, high-impact public policies related to tourism are analyzed, as well as the gains and gaps to be overcome. The main findings points out that Colombia is at a juncture where tourism is starting to bloom. Whatever is planned and how it is done in terms of public policy will determine the future model for its development. As such, tourism can become a strategic instrument for decentralization processes, regional and local dynamics, and strengthening the rule of law.

Recalibrating tourism in India translates to much more than merely pumping in government resources or investing in overnight technology-led solutions that will put urban landscapes on the global map. The nationally led ‘Smart City’ movement needs to be a participatory process that models a collaborative approach as seen in international cases that have truly taken the concept from paper to practice and beyond. This chapter considers basic definitions of Smart City and Smart Tourism and presents what it takes for the seamless orchestration of smart experiences. This article first traces the evolution of Smart City practice with a sampling of global intelligent destinations that have exhibited successful intersections of urban development with tourism, whilst considering a brief overview of Indian initiatives, efforts and successes.

Motivating factors to become smart and sustain the effort are also discussed to highlight hurdles faced and opportunities that await potential Smart Cities, given the growing appetite for such innovation. The chapter concludes with recommendations arising out of this analysis and reiterates how stakeholder inclusion and co-creation play an indispensable role in making this concept a responsible, sustainable and feasible reality for Indian destinations.

The twenty-first century has been characterized by the intensification of concerns related to tourism safety and security. These issues are playing an increasingly significant role over recent years, due to the increase of terrorist attacks in several countries, political instability, natural disasters, epidemics and, more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding tourist safety and security in the tourism context is, thus, critical to increasing the competitiveness and attractiveness of tourist destinations.

Through the bibliometric methods of performance analysis and science mapping, this study aims to contribute to the advancement of knowledge on tourist safety and security at the destination.

A total of 445 records published between 1989 and 2021, covering 191 academic journals and 1,000 authors from 91 different countries, were analysed.

The main findings show that this research field has attracted a substantial and growing interest of researchers, institutions, journals and countries. Opportunities for future research are related to decision making, tourist behaviour, risk perception, tourism safety, destination image, safety engineering and sustainable development.

In the post-pandemic context, this research field can be critical to providing a set of tailored strategies to improve tourists' safe destination environment and increase tourism destinations' competitiveness and attractiveness.

In the last 3 decades, the rapid growth of tourism activities is evident. Globally, tourism is becoming of prime importance for the development of local economies. A similar trend is observed in the Balkan region and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The total contribution of tourism in GDP of Bosnia and Herzegovina growth is evident, from 2.0% in 2011 to 2.6% in 2017, with bright forecasts from United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) which predicted the 3.4% share of tourism in national GDP by 2028. With aim to indicate the development potential of the touristic sector, gastro tourism sector was ‘screened’ through questionnaires with tourists (n = 245) and with destination management offices (n = 7). This approach should provide insights into stakeholder's capability to understand and react to new challenges that brings gastro tourism; insights into the current gastro offer; and insight into profile, motives and overall tourist's satisfaction. Main findings of the study show that the stakeholders' activities and understandings are not enough to provide a unique identity to the sector. On the other hand, tourists' profile and expectations rise with level and type of information they gather, and this study shows that tourists' expectations are more influenced by the age, education and gender of the tourists', while their satisfaction depends on the working status and monthly income. Future research, which is also the main implication of this study, should follow three main avenues: (1) how to build efficient governance mechanism to ensure development of strong stakeholder network able to create, execute and reinvent shared vision and strategic plan; (2) building knowledge and understanding of local culinary system and practice as step ahead in process of territory interpretation and transformation into the valuable intangible touristic resources; and (3) gastro tourist needs, wishes and ways to engage tourist.

The discovery of internet technologies which is one of the most important developments of the twenty-first century has enabled individuals and institutions to overcome geographical and time constraints creating fundamental changes in communication. As a result, online communities have enabled people to meet the internet for various reasons such as seeking and sharing information, discuss community issues and ask questions; and online communities have also enabled businesses and consumers to connect with each other at any time. Especially the emergence of Internet-based social media technologies such as blogs, virtual communities, wikis, social networks, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram provides tourists to share their travel experiences. Information shared on social media sites is considered to be an important source of information that can help tourists’ travel plan and may even influence the travel decisions of potential tourists. In this context, the concept of social media in tourism businesses has been examined in the research. Within the framework of the research, it has been observed that social media has influenced the tourists’ behavior regarding travel motivations in the context of various motivations (having information about destinations, hotels, services of hotels, wondering about consumers’ experiences who were in touristic consumption before, etc.). It is also among other findings that social media has increased the overtourism crisis.

This chapter discusses how an urban regeneration process, with culture as an economic asset, can contribute to creating a city brand and identity for the city of Mestre, a new habitat, and economic opportunities for the local community, as well as helping neighboring Venice tackle overtourism. This chapter highlights that places suffering from undertourism often are located closely to those suffering from overtourism. Urban regeneration policies driven by culture can be a key solution for both places, by creating a new future, identity, and economic opportunities for one community and for the other, in helping to regulate their touristic flows.

Lake tourism is a growing academic sub-field of tourism studies with an emerging body of literature. However, little research attention has been given to lake-destinations’ projected or perceived tourism images. Specifically, there has been a scarcity of literature investigating the variables involved in the formation of a lake-destination image. Therefore, this study aims to explore the main attributes that might potentially influence this type of destination, and simultaneously, contribute to conceptualizing and defining lake tourism as recent research area. An explorative study was then conducted in order to generate a set of image variables through the use of textual and photographic data. The results will contribute to characterize potential lake-destinations and to develop a final list of variables specifically related to this type of destination.