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1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 5 February 2018

Philipp Schäfer and Tobias Just

The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether urban tourism attractiveness affects young adult migration within Germany. Currently, factors like urban attractiveness

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether urban tourism attractiveness affects young adult migration within Germany. Currently, factors like urban attractiveness, environmental qualities or vicinity to amenities play a more important role for the migration of young adults than in the past. This has highly asymmetric implications for the housing (and commercial real estate) markets in cities with an abundance of urban attractiveness, compared to cities without such attractions.

Design/methodology/approach

This analysis focuses on the internal migration of young adults (18-30-year-olds). First, some stylized facts regarding migration patterns are presented by means of descriptive and cluster analyses (k-means methodology) with respect to the net immigration rate for the two years, 2004 and 2014. Second, ordinary least squares-regression analyses are used to estimate the connection between urban tourism attractiveness and migration.

Findings

Young adults in Germany predominantly migrate to cities. The authors find typical migration patterns, and the regression results indicate that young adult migration is highly correlated with the indicator measuring urban tourism attractiveness. This means that urban attractions matter for young adults. Finally, the authors also find that housing rents are correlated with urban tourism attractiveness.

Practical implications

Good city planning must not only be concerned with new industrial sites, but also about esthetic neighborhoods and, for example, attractive squares. Moreover, because city structures and urban amenities are both path dependent and expensive to change, it is likely that the winning cities of today will remain winners in the next decade, which is good news for risk-averse investors.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the paper provides the first empirical analysis of the connection between urban tourism attractiveness and the migration of young adults, in the context of German cities.

Details

Journal of Property Investment & Finance, vol. 36 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-578X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 July 2022

Maria Teresa Gomes Leão and Filipa Aguiar Brandão

This study aims to illustrate the potential of the many centuries-old universities buildings, in European cities, in a historical, architectural, aesthetic and symbolic dimension…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to illustrate the potential of the many centuries-old universities buildings, in European cities, in a historical, architectural, aesthetic and symbolic dimension to diversify and differentiate urban tourist destinations supply.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a qualitative study supported by the analysis of public and classified documents, for which the main source is based on webography, and by conducting interviews.

Findings

The deficit of cultural tours, in the dimension of built heritage, is identified as one of the weaknesses of the city of Porto, as tourist destination, to be overcome. The interviewees are unanimous in recognizing the cultural, architectural and aesthetic impact of the historic buildings of the University of Porto, and most of them strongly agree with the integration of this legacy into the tourist offer of the city. The strategic sense of the heritage is emphasized, because of its location in charismatic areas of the city. The practice of effective networking, however, falls short of what is required to achieve ambitious and consistent objectives.

Research limitations/implications

The practice of effective networking, however, falls short of what is required to achieve ambitious and consistent objectives.

Originality/value

Emphasis is placed on the cities’ built heritage as a type of heritage that defines their uniqueness. The dissemination of cultural itineraries, which allows tourists and the community itself a broader and deeper cultural knowledge, contributes to the effective understanding of historic cities’ tourism. Given the scarcity of studies on the relationship between historic university buildings and tourism, the relevance of research focuses on highlighting the contribution of these cultural elements, through a network-based dynamic, to urban tourism destinations’ attractiveness. In particular, the University of Porto's potential for the integration of structured tourism products that contribute to the diversification and differentiation of the city of Porto as a destination is illustrated.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 November 2023

Josef Lochman and Jiří Vágner

Meat overconsumption by tourists is one of the key issues in the sustainability of tourist destinations. The objective of this paper is to assess the impact that a promotion of…

Abstract

Purpose

Meat overconsumption by tourists is one of the key issues in the sustainability of tourist destinations. The objective of this paper is to assess the impact that a promotion of meatless gastronomy and its actual increased availability would have on the attractiveness and visitation of a popular European urban destination.

Design/methodology/approach

The research uses an innovative foresight approach that combines environmental scanning and scenarios. The authors formulated the scenarios using the Delphi technique and working with 27 scholars whose insights into the topic were enhanced through theses that resulted from the environmental scanning. They provided their insights into how a promotion of meatless gastronomy would affect a destination. Subsequently, the authors synthetized their insights and formulated the scenarios.

Findings

Based on two defined scenarios, the authors found that a meatless image represents an opportunity for the future development of an urban European destination. A long-term growth in visitor numbers can be achieved while ensuring environmental, economic and socio-cultural sustainability providing that relevant stakeholders are involved in the promotional activities.

Originality/value

Management of tourists' unsustainable eating habits is currently an unexplored issue. The present research addresses this topic and provides valuable insights that will help to address sustainability issues while making tourism destinations more attractive.

Details

Journal of Tourism Futures, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-5911

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2021

Zhaoyu Chen and Jingjing Yang

This study aims to identify the role of this intangible cultural heritage (ICH) domain (i.e. social practices, rituals and festive events) in social representations in cross…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to identify the role of this intangible cultural heritage (ICH) domain (i.e. social practices, rituals and festive events) in social representations in cross nations using the case of Mazu belief. This study also intends to compare the different social representations of the same religious belief among the regions and implies how ICH facilitates regional connections and its potential for urban tourism development.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a mix of qualitative approaches, such as desktop research, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and participant observations. These approaches can supplement one another in discovering the cultural context of the Mazu belief and the perceived meanings of its ritual practices.

Findings

Mazu ritual practices in the four identified cities have different social representations, as explicitly expressed from the informants on different forms of celebration. Despite the differences, Mazu belief is representative in placemaking and for regional connections. Not all four cities agree on the current status as embedded in tourism development. However, the key informants show a welcoming manner to the outsiders in participating and experiencing their practices.

Research limitations/implications

The research context of Mazu belief and customs can be extended to more urban cities, which practice this culture.

Practical implications

Different countries and regions that share the same belief can understand distinct social representations from one another. Practical collaborations can be expanded for cultural exchanges, especially the exploration of the role of religion played in boosting urban tourism development.

Social implications

Mazu belief and customs is a unique cultural asset in enhancing the social representations of Chinese expatriates overseas. Its cultural practices successfully enhance the cultural exchange and social cohesion among religious communities locally and internationally.

Originality/value

Using a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)-inscribed ICH item with a large audience worldwide, this study supplements the theory of social representations in exploring the intangible cultural assets and highlights the role of ICH in urban tourism and regional and city planning.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 August 2023

Lázaro Florido-Benítez

The nuclear purpose of this research paper is to analyse representative bridges around the world as a tourist attraction and iconic element through destination marketing…

Abstract

Purpose

The nuclear purpose of this research paper is to analyse representative bridges around the world as a tourist attraction and iconic element through destination marketing organisations’ (DMOs’) tourism official websites where these are localised and three online travel agencies’ (OTAs’) websites.

Design/methodology/approach

This research used a mixed method. The author carried out Google research (13 March 2023) that included the following search word string “iconic bridges around the world” and “the most famous bridges worldwide” to select the most relevant bridges around the globe. Moreover, this research used a content analysis to examine how Expedia, Booking and Orbitz OTAs promote the bridges through their websites in terms of a tourist attraction, iconic element, tourist package, images and information.

Findings

Findings suggest that the most representative bridges analysed in this study are promoted as iconic element and tourist attraction through DMOs’ websites. Nevertheless, Booking, Expedia and Orbitz OTAs promote and sell products and services related to bridges selected, except in the case of the Millau Viaduct in France, the Si-O-Se-Pol bridge in Iran, the Danyang Kunshan Grand bridge in China and the Royal Gorge in the USA. Furthermore, results support that OTAs need to enhance the quality and variety of products and services that are linked to iconic bridges sightseeing tours because at the moment, there is a great uniformity in the promotion of products and services provided.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to broader debates in the importance of bridges as a tourist attraction and iconic element to attract tourists through tourism promotion websites.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 9 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 July 2023

Daria Soldatenko, Elisa Zentveld and Damian Morgan

To succeed in a competitive tourist market and attract more foreign tourists, it is essential to have a clear understanding of what travellers are seeking and endeavour to meet…

Abstract

Purpose

To succeed in a competitive tourist market and attract more foreign tourists, it is essential to have a clear understanding of what travellers are seeking and endeavour to meet those needs, as well as key influential factors in their travel decision-making process. The purpose of the study is to develop and examine tourists’ pre-trip motivational model using the push–pull theory.

Design/methodology/approach

A tourists’ pre-trip motivational model was developed and then tested based on a sample of 320 Chinese and non-Chinese visitors to Melbourne, Australia, to assess the suitability of the new model. Data were analysed by descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, such as principal component analysis and independent T-tests.

Findings

The analysis revealed statistically significant differences between studied samples in terms of the push and pull factors. In comparison with non-Chinese tourists, Chinese visitors to Melbourne assigned higher importance to resting and relaxing opportunities, family-oriented activities, as well as safety and a high level of service. The identified differences should be reflected in marketing and promotional activities provided to Chinese and non-Chinese travellers.

Practical implications

The study provides useful information for Destination Marketing Organisations in tourism cities wanting to develop specifically customised tourist products, services and promotion programs tailored to each market.

Originality/value

The proposed extended push–pull model represents a holistic and complex model of the travel decision-making process with the multiple linkages between motivations for travelling, preferences of destination attributes, information source usage, trip expectations, possible constraints for travelling and evaluation of destination choice criteria. Understanding all these factors, their relationship and their influence on the final destination choice is a prerequisite for effective and successful actions on attraction and retention of visitors for all tourist destinations. The developed tourists’ pre-trip motivational model may be used as a conceptual framework to guide subsequent motivational studies in tourism.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 9 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2023

Margarita Guadalupe Zazueta-Hernández and Mónica Velarde-Valdez

Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) tourism has established as a tourism segment that is growing in popularity. It is less seasonality dependent, promotes the…

Abstract

Purpose

Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) tourism has established as a tourism segment that is growing in popularity. It is less seasonality dependent, promotes the offer of services and contributes to the development of the sector. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the competitiveness factors for the improvement of MICE tourism in the city of Mazatlan.

Design/methodology/approach

It was developed with a mixed approach, using quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques, such as interviews with experts, surveys of stakeholders in the tourism sector and documentary analysis. Based on the theoretical review, the following four competitiveness factors were defined for MICE tourism: 1) resource factors, 2) destination management factors, 3) conditioning factors of the environment and 4) conditioning factors of the demand, applying and importance-performance analysis.

Findings

The results indicate that the factors of competitiveness in the case of the study that had greater importance and better performance are the conditioning factors of the demand and resource factors. However, the development and implementation of comprehensive destination management strategies are required to improve this segment, as well as giving due importance to taking into account the important conditioning factors of the environment.

Originality/value

This study makes a theoretical contribution to the literature on the competitiveness of tourist destinations in the MICE segment by identifying the factors for its development, as well as the practical implications for the specific case study. In addition to this, it was identified that there are few empirical studies that analyze the factors that contribute to improving the competitiveness of this segment.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 January 2022

Trinh Ngo T.T., Phuong Bui L.A., Dung Pham T.H., Tram Mai N. and Luan Bui K.

The COVID-19 pandemic has a massive impact on people’s lives, the wealth of nations, tourism cities, economic and social media. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to…

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has a massive impact on people’s lives, the wealth of nations, tourism cities, economic and social media. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to challenges and innovations to deal with multiple direct and indirect impacts. This research aims to explore the development of social media research in the tourism city context to highlight emerging research themes, methodological approaches.

Design/methodology/approach

This study searched and filtered on the Scopus Web and Web of Science to collect databases and applied hybrid methods. The VOSviewer algorithm was used in the paper to generate maps from bibliographic and text data. Furthermore, a polynomial trend line was used to depict the data fluctuations of papers in the relationship between documents and years. Besides, other mathematical and statistical tools to measure the inter-relationships and impacts of social media publications within the tourism city research area, identify valuable insights and determine a framework for social media research trends.

Findings

The study outcomes expressed the development in social media research trends from 2005 to 2021 in the tourism city context of topics (social media, social networking (online)), methodology (sentiment analysis), publication outputs with most extensive collaborations and some other contents to form a framework of social media research trends in tourism cities.

Research limitations/implications

Research data is mainly from reviews of articles that may not account for all trends in reality.

Practical implications

This research is original that will apply to future social media researchers and institutions.

Social implications

Policy makers could base on the research trends to examine their future tourism development orientation.

Originality/value

This research assists social media scholars in understanding trends and themes in tourism city contexts that they could apply in their business area. Moreover, there is a desire to comprehend an overview of the related literature of social media science in tourism city contexts. The outcomes showed the limitations of lacking journals and volume of social media research. The results contribute to meaningful insights by having a more holistic understanding of social media through aggregated data sources.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 April 2022

Zohreh Korani and Zahed Shafiei

This paper aims to find out how tourists in Tehran experience its public areas and pursue two main purposes. The first is to understand the characteristics of the public sphere in…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to find out how tourists in Tehran experience its public areas and pursue two main purposes. The first is to understand the characteristics of the public sphere in Tehran and the second is to discover a way in which the public sphere can play a role in facilitating urban tourism in Tehran.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology used in this study is qualitative and phenomenological. In-depth interviews with 26 participants were used to collect data. The interviews were then transcribed, and Maxqda software was used to analyze them.

Findings

The findings show that the public sphere is a useful tool to discover and explain how to talk and act in different places in Tehran. This sphere is evolving over time, from access to dialogue and finally to action. Although it is not possible to draw a clear line between the different levels of the public sphere, it seems that tourists in Tehran have now entered the literary public sphere. Although they have made efforts, they have not been able to reach the political public sphere and public action. The most important obstacles are the government and the citizens of Tehran.

Originality/value

This paper is unique about the connection between the public sphere and urban tourism. The public sphere is a manifestation of the principles of reciprocity and critical debate in the city and a space for understanding through public debate. The public sphere is also a space for equality, rationality and mutual understanding between individuals and reasoning based on speech exchange. Roles that, if given to tourists, could change tourism policy in Iran.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 July 2023

Driselda P. Sánchez-Aguirre and Ilia Alvarado-Sizzo

The purpose of this paper is to compare the imaginaries of Generation Z inhabitants of heritage cities in the Mexican Bajio regarding their city of residence and the institutional…

142

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare the imaginaries of Generation Z inhabitants of heritage cities in the Mexican Bajio regarding their city of residence and the institutional imaginary of urban tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 186 students from five Mexican heritage cities completed an online questionnaire and participated in focus groups. The authors used a mixed approach with qualitative analysis for open-ended responses and a Kruskal Wallis test to measure attitudes towards tourism and its relationship to place attachment and intangible cultural heritage identification.

Findings

The results showed a strong relationship between place attachment and perception of tourism, but attitudes towards tourism varied among the cities, and San Juan del Río was an outlier. Among the categories of intangible cultural heritage, oral traditions showed the least agreement between youth and institutional imaginaries.

Originality/value

Few studies have considered Mexican youth and their imagery of the small/medium-sized city in which they live when it is promoted as an urban tourist destination.

Propósito

Comparar los imaginarios de los habitantes de la Generación Z de las Ciudades Patrimonio del Bajío mexicano respecto a su ciudad de residencia y el imaginario institucional del turismo urbano.

Diseño/metodología/enfoque

Aplicamos un cuestionario a 186 estudiantes de cinco ciudades patrimonio mexicanas quienes además, participaron en grupos focales. Se utilizó un enfoque mixto con análisis cualitativo para las respuestas abiertas y una prueba de Kruskal Wallis para medir las actitudes hacia el turismo y su relación con el apego al lugar y la identificación del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial.

Resultados

Los resultados mostraron una fuerte relación entre el apego al lugar y la percepción del turismo, pero las actitudes hacia el turismo variaron entre las ciudades siendo San Juan del Río un caso atípico. Entre las categorías del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial, las tradiciones orales mostraron la menor concordancia entre los jóvenes y los imaginarios turísticos institucionales.

Originalidad

Pocos estudios han considerado el imaginario de jóvenes mexicanos con respecto a ciudades pequeñas-medianas en las que viven, cuando éstas se promueven como destinos turísticos urbanos

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 9 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 2000