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1 – 10 of over 1000
Article
Publication date: 1 February 2019

Ayse Collins, Anita Medhekar, Ho Yin Wong and Cihan Cobanoglu

The purpose of this paper is to explore how Americans choose a country and medical facility to travel abroad for medical treatment based on the following factors country…

1025

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how Americans choose a country and medical facility to travel abroad for medical treatment based on the following factors country environment, tourism destination, medical tourism costs and medical facilities and services.

Design/methodology/approach

Online survey with the help of Amazon Mechanical Turk website was used for data collection, and 541 valid cases were used of American residents who had travelled abroad for medical tourism. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were undertaken to validate the scales.

Findings

Findings indicated four major factors that can influence American medical tourists’ choices of medical tourism destinations. These factors are overseas’ country factors, attractiveness of tourism destination, medical tourism costs and facilities and services. Both the convergent and discriminant validities for the constructs were established. The results of the measurement-model-fit based on various measures were within the suggested cut-off values.

Research limitations/implications

Out of the 541 responses of post-travel experienced medical tourists, it is hard to tell how similar/dissimilar the participants are in terms of ranking the four factors. To be competitive to attract global medical tourists, research suggests that the five popular countries of treatment, India, China, Thailand, Mexico and Turkey, identified in this study should provide high quality of medical and tourism facilities to patients.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the understanding of the underlying factors, which influence American medical tourists’ choice of destinations, with validated scales. For this exploratory research, 25 new items together with 34 items from other studies were adapted.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 74 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 June 2020

Irit Shmuel and Nir Cohen

This study aims to examine changes in the discourse concerning Israeli tourism to Turkey between 2000 and 2014.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine changes in the discourse concerning Israeli tourism to Turkey between 2000 and 2014.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the concept of geographic imagination and using a critical cultural discourse analysis of travel stories published in the Israeli media, the authors analyze the extent to which changes have both reflected and resulted from changing relations between the two countries.

Findings

The analysis reveals that before 2010, Turkey was depicted in largely positive geo-cultural terms, imagined as a desired cosmopolitan, culturally “authentic” destination, which elicits feelings of joy and peacefulness. More recent narratives, however, highlighted its negative geopolitical qualities, underscoring its anti-Israel stance and invoking a fearful discourse of political and ethno-religious radicalization.

Originality/value

The study makes three contributions. First, by attending to the significance of perceptions in the social construction of tourist destinations it brings the fields of tourism and cognitive geography into a closer dialogue. Second, by using a critical discourse analysis it highlights the changing cultural contexts within which places are imagined and constructed by tourists. Finally, by uncovering the geographic complexities that undergird the discursive construction of places as tourist destinations, it illustrates how everyday narratives change over time, reflecting the dynamic nature of inter-state relations.

Details

International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6182

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 March 2015

Sam Cole

The purpose of this paper is to explain how the elements of a tourism policy class (historical, structural, economic, social, and technological) are employed in the discussion and…

15246

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explain how the elements of a tourism policy class (historical, structural, economic, social, and technological) are employed in the discussion and analysis of space tourism.

Design/methodology/approach

The material serves as revision class of methods and concepts. The topics and methods covered depend in part on previous class content making use of space tourism materials available on the web and in the literature.

Findings

The sources cited cover a remarkable and growing range of space tourism endeavors worldwide. Whilst it is definitively not a forecast, the paper does appraise future directions in space tourism.

Practical implications

Further research is required in order to properly evaluate the value of space tourism to future human societies, and strategize accordingly.

Originality/value

As a source‐based review, the paper has limited originality, but shows the possibilities and limitations of tourism planning methods for space tourism.

Details

Journal of Tourism Futures, vol. 1 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-5911

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 February 2022

Sunita Guru, Anamika Sinha and Pradeep Kautish

The study aims to facilitate the medical tourists visiting emerging countries for various kinds of ailments by ranking the possible destinations to avail medical treatments.

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to facilitate the medical tourists visiting emerging countries for various kinds of ailments by ranking the possible destinations to avail medical treatments.

Design/methodology/approach

A Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (FAHP) with a mixed-method approach is applied to analyze data collected from patients and substantiate it with medical tour operators in India to gain managerial insights on the choice-making patterns of the patients.

Findings

India is a preferred emerging market location due to the low cost and high medical staff quality. India offers value for money, whereas Singapore and Thailand are preferred destinations for quality and technology.

Research limitations/implications

The study will facilitate the emerging markets' governments, hospitals and medical tourists to understand the importance of various determinants responsible for availing medical treatment outside their country.

Practical implications

The study recommends that cost and quality care are the patients' prime focus; government policies must provide clear guidelines on what the hospitals and country environment can offer and accordingly align the marketing strategies.

Originality/value

This study is the first attempt to rank various factors affecting medical tourism using the FAHP approach.

Details

International Journal of Emerging Markets, vol. 18 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-8809

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 December 2022

Ruturaj Baber and Prerana Baber

This paper aims to explore the influence of e-reputation, destination image and social media marketing efforts (SMME) on the intention to visit among tourists. The relationships…

1896

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the influence of e-reputation, destination image and social media marketing efforts (SMME) on the intention to visit among tourists. The relationships are examined through the lens of the stimuli-organism-response (S-O-R) theory.

Design/methodology/approach

The responses were recorded from 209 domestic and international tourists who stayed in five-star hotels at Khajuraho, a UNESCO world heritage site in India. PLS-SEM was used to test the proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The findings revealed a significant positive relationship between SMME, e-reputation and destination image. The results also indicated that destination image fully mediated the relationship between e-reputation, destination image, SMME and visit intention.

Practical implications

The research would enables tourism organizations to develop strategies and reap benefit from the information posted and shared by tourists on various social media platforms and gain a competitive edge over competitors.

Originality/value

Testing the relationship between e-reputation and destination image as a mediator between SMME and intention to visit is a relatively novel idea. Previously, no attempt had been made to measure the influence of e-reputation related to destination image and intention to visit as supported by the S-O-R theory. This study provides empirical information on destination image and e-reputation building and the role of social media. It helps tourism managers create social media marketing strategies.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. 6 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2007

Antónia Correia, Patricia Oom do Valle and Cláudia Moço

This study focuses on the Portuguese tourist decision process in terms of traveling to exotic places. Based on the push‐pull motive model defined by Crompton in 1979, this paper…

12802

Abstract

Purpose

This study focuses on the Portuguese tourist decision process in terms of traveling to exotic places. Based on the push‐pull motive model defined by Crompton in 1979, this paper seeks to propose an integrated approach to understand tourist motivations and how these contribute to the perception of a destination.

Design/methodology/approach

A structural model and a categorical principal component analysis are used to assess to what degree motivational factors may influence perceptions about a destination. The empirical study is supported through data from a sample of 1,097 individuals who travelled by plane to exotic places, during 2004.

Findings

The findings show that push and pull motivations influence the way tourists perceive the destination but the resulting image does not determined the intrinsic motivations.

Research limitations/implications

The study has the restriction of being limited to the Portuguese case. However, these findings open paths for further investigation, namely extending to other destinations and to tourists with different incentives and nationality.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the overall understanding of why tourists adopt specific behaviors. In specific, motivations and perceptions were combined in order to understand why people could be pushed to travel to exotic destinations and how they form their perceptions.

Details

International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6182

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 1981

Risto Laulajainen

Investigates the images and preferences for six long‐haul “exotic” tourist destinations among a small random sample of prospective Finnish customers. Looks at the promotional…

Abstract

Investigates the images and preferences for six long‐haul “exotic” tourist destinations among a small random sample of prospective Finnish customers. Looks at the promotional problem and suggests further steps for continued research.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 15 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 4 December 2009

Xuan Van Tran and Arch G. Woodside

People have unconscious motives which affects their decision-making and associated behavior. The paper describes a study using thematic apperception test (TAT) to measure how…

Abstract

People have unconscious motives which affects their decision-making and associated behavior. The paper describes a study using thematic apperception test (TAT) to measure how unconscious motives influence travelers' interpretations and preferences toward alternative tours and hotels. Using the TAT, the present study explores the relationships between three unconscious needs: (1) achievement, (2) affiliation, and (3) power and preferences for four package tours (adventure, culture, business, and escape tours) and for seven hotel identities (quality, familiarity, location, price, friendliness, food and beverage, and cleanliness and aesthetics). The present study conducts canonical correlation analyses to examine the relationships between unconscious needs and preferences for package tours and hotel identities using data from 467 university students. The study scores 2,438 stories according to the TAT manual to identify unconscious needs. The findings indicate that (1) people with a high need for affiliation prefer an experience based on cultural values and hotels that are conveniently located, (2) individuals with a high need for power indicate a preference for high prices and good value for their money, and (3) people with a high need for achievement prefer a travel experience with adventure as a motivation. The study findings are consistent with previous research of McClelland (1990), Wilson (2002), and Woodside et al. (2008) in exploring impacts of the unconscious levels of human need.

Details

Perspectives on Cross-Cultural, Ethnographic, Brand Image, Storytelling, Unconscious Needs, and Hospitality Guest Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-604-5

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2022

Frank Badu-Baiden, Seongseop (Sam) Kim, Honggen Xiao and Jungkeun Kim

This study aims to test a new model by examining the influence of memorable local food consumption experiences (MLFCEs) on international diners’ affective states, well-being and…

1988

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to test a new model by examining the influence of memorable local food consumption experiences (MLFCEs) on international diners’ affective states, well-being and attitudinal loyalty. Local food tasting destination, local food neophobia and previous local food tasting experience are used as moderating variables.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative data collection method was used to source data from 900 US tourists to European countries (excluding the UK) and Asian countries. The data were quantitatively analyzed to examine the multidimensionality of tourists’ MLFCEs as well as their influence on outcome variables.

Findings

The findings indicate that MLFCEs significantly explain diners’ attitude toward local food, subjective well-being, intention to recommend and attitudinal loyalty. Also, three variables partially moderate the associations between the proposed constructs.

Research limitations/implications

Theoretically, the study enhances our understanding of the dimensional nature of tourists’ MLFCEs and how they inform the affective and behavioral states of tourists. Practically, it provides insights for local food businesses and destination marketing organizations concerning the composition of tourists’ MLFCEs and promotion of a tourism destination.

Originality/value

This study has quantitatively unraveled the dimensionality of tourists’ MLFCEs. It also developed an integrated model to test the predictive effect of MLFCEs on outcome variables and has provided a deeper understanding of the relationships, thereby enriching the literature and aiding the development of relevant theories.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 34 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2021

Keith Kay Hin Tan and Camelia May Li Kusumo

Existing tourism studies focusing on Southeast Asia often emphasize the culture, history and heritage of the region or its natural beauty and cuisine, most of which are often…

Abstract

Purpose

Existing tourism studies focusing on Southeast Asia often emphasize the culture, history and heritage of the region or its natural beauty and cuisine, most of which are often viewed as exotic through a Western lens. By contrast, this interdisciplinary study looks at the untapped potential for modern architectural tourism in Singapore as a fascinating and increasingly authentic way of understanding how the next generation of Singaporean residents will live in their land-scarce city-state. This study aims to highlight the importance of modern architecture as a tourism product in a globalized Asian city.

Design/methodology/approach

It engages with visiting architects and their local facilitator to examine the touristic potential energy of cutting-edge residential buildings in Singapore from an intra-Asian viewpoint. By also identifying practical design solutions to promote modern architectural tourism that will have a positive impact on city branding, this study opens the door for future research regarding Southeast Asia’s rapidly changing modern architecture and urban landscape, and how these can be made attractive for its important tourism industry.

Findings

The findings suggest that just as Singapore’s cultural diversity has long been viewed as a touristic asset, its authentic, escapist, exotic and spectacular contemporary residential architecture, if well managed, presented and designed, can provide a unique place for sustainable community interactions between locals and visitors, which will help Singapore develop a unique city brand attractive to architectural tourists and even repeat visitors, through a new concept for authenticity in a global city.

Originality/value

This cross-disciplinary study linking tourism and architecture explores modern architectural tourism in Singapore, specifically in relation to residential buildings where locals and visitors can interact.

Details

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

Keywords

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