Validating Gastronomy as a Distinct Tourism Typology: A Meta-Synthesis Systematic Review

Purpose 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. Design/methodology/approach 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. Findings 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. Practical implications 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. Originality/value 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.

PurposeThe primary objective of the current study is to unveil this relatively new phenomenon in the context of travel and tourism. In line with this purpose, the study provides a comprehensive overview of the concept of digital nomadism through a tourism perspective, discusses the relationship between digital nomadism, travel and tourism, examines the opportunities and threats of digital nomadism, and finally uncovers its transformative impact.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual study examined secondary data, i.e. existing literature. In this data, the focus has been on the tourism aspect of the digital nomad phenomenon.FindingsThe results suggest that digital nomadism introduces a novel perspective on the nature of travel and tourism mobility, along with a distinct tourist typology characterized by unique traits. Moreover, the results indicate that, while digital nomadism contributes to the local economy and cultural change on the one hand, it poses challenges in terms of regulations and taxation on the other. In this context, one can conclude that legislators should establish regulations for the employment of digital nomads, while managers should engage in activities that attract potential digital nomads on an international scale.Originality/valueThe study comprehensively reviews relevant literature in various ways, conducts a conceptualization of digital nomad tourists and makes a noteworthy theoretical contribution within the context of tourism. It addresses the gaps in the existing literature, particularly in specific contexts such as the legal status of digital nomads, taxation, prevention of gentrification, cultural exchanges, identity transformation and the impact on travel and tourism.

This article contributes to knowledge of tourist motivation and typologies in the context of golf tourism. A research framework is presented to aid the classification of golf tourists into distinct typologies based on their travel motivation. The methodology comprised both qualitative research based on semistructured interviews and quantitative research based on 392 self-completed questionnaires. A principal component factor analysis was used to identify five golf travel motivations. A cluster analysis was then conducted to classify golfers into three different clusters, namely, Golf-intensive Golfers, Multimotivated Golfers, and Companion Golfers. The golf clusters were then profiled, and the results revealed that golf tourists were not homogeneous in their travel motivations. Their profiles are theoretically and statistically feasible, and the hypotheses tested indicated that each cluster had both similarities and differences. The practical implications for golf tourism marketers are suggested, and future research recommendations related to the application of tourist typologies for segmentation are provided.