Co-creation Of Tourism Experiences Research Articles

Tour leader likeability and tourist citizenship behaviours: mediating effect of perceived value

ABSTRACT Tourist citizenship behaviours play a crucial role in the cocreation of tourism experience, yet few studies have determined the antecedent variables affecting such behaviours. The present study investigated the association between tour leader likeability and tourist citizenship behaviours and the mediating influence of perceived value. Survey data from 264 tourists indicated that tour leader likeability positively affected perceived value and tourist citizenship behaviours. Perceived value positively affected tourist citizenship behaviours. Perceived value mediated the relationship between tour leader likeability and tourist citizenship behaviours. The research contributed to increase knowledge by providing insights on the relationships among tour leader likeability, perceived value, and tourist citizenship behaviours with a focus on tourist value cocreation. The results can be applied to travel managers in terms of human resource management and customer relationships.

Finding a way towards high-quality, accessible tourism: the role of digital ecosystems

PurposeDespite a growing interest in accessible tourism, delivering high-quality tourism experiences to people with disabilities (PwD) remains a major challenge. Beyond a number of acknowledged barriers (e.g. cultural, architectural, relational), the main issue is the lack of coordination amongst the many actors participating in the co-creation of tourism experiences. This paper intends to advance available knowledge on this issue by conceptually suggesting a solution that draws on the concepts of the tourism experience and digital ecosystems.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is developed as a conceptual contribution, drawing also on an illustrative example that considers a tourist with mobility disability as the focal actor.FindingsThe results indicate that a digital ecosystem could contribute to making tourism locations more accessible by enabling information sharing and coordination amongst all actors that co-create the tourism experiences. Moreover, the analysis underlines that tourism locations should be designed to be useable by all people, drawing on the principles of the universal design.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper describes a path to fostering accessible tourism, drawing on local authorities, particularly municipalities and universities. The suggested solution would benefit from future empirical analyses to assess its strengths and weaknesses.Originality/valueBy drawing on the concept of digital ecosystems, this paper is amongst the first studies to suggest a path to making tourism locations more accessible to all tourists (with or without disabilities) based on technology.

Cocreation of tourism experiences: are food-related activities being explored?

PurposeThis study analyses the dimensions of cocreation in on-site food-related activities.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review was conducted in two databases (Scopus and Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Science), and 67 peer-reviewed articles were identified on cocreation in tourism experiences.FindingsThe study reveals that food-related activities involving active participation are more likely to be successfully performed in more informal environments, in which culinary experiences cocreated by both tourists and hosts are favoured. Moreover, tourists who learn something new appreciate the value of cocreation within food tourism experiences better.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the researchers used two renowned databases to conduct the systematic literature review, there is the risk that some manuscripts related to the topic were excluded.Practical implicationsThe transfer of new skills and knowledge through direct contact between tourists and hosts are prerequisites for the raise of the value of the cocreation process itself and of the final outcome of the cocreation experience. As a result, professional service providers should dedicate more attention to the inclusion of cocreative ‘learning’ elements in the food tourism experiences they create.Social implicationsDue to the changing structure of the tourism ecosystem (technological advances), the manner in which experiences are designed, distributed and consumed (cocreated) is being transformed. The present study highlights some aspects to be developed by tourism destination managers.Originality/valueThis study is the first to explore food-related tourism experiences through the lens of cocreation.

The Impact of Tourism Experience Co-creation on The Attachment to The Egyptian Destination

In the last years, tourists want to plan their trips and co-create their experience, which starts when they are still in their home country and collect information, and continues when have returned back. Destinations have begun to involve tourists in designing their trips and creating their whole tourism experience. As effective link or relation between tourists and particular destinations can build strong connections with certain destinations, which may lead to destination attachment. Starting from these thoughts, the main aim of this paper is to investigate the relation between tourism experience co-creation and the attachment to the Egyptian destination. The research applied quantitative approach, a questionnaire was designed, and data was collected from 575 tourists visiting Hurghada and Sharm el Skeikh. Study results revealed that the Egyptian destination has succeeded in boosting the co-creation of tourism experience. The Egyptian destination has achieved a high level of destination attachment to their tourists. Also, results showed that there is a strong significant positive correlation between tourism experience co-creation and destination attachment. This study contributes to the Egyptian destination managers by providing the important aspects that improve the co-creation of tourism experience, and which of them can affect the degree of attachment to the Egyptian destination.

Towards Smart Tourism Destination: An Empirical Study on Sharm El Sheikh City, Egypt

The quick advancement of modern technology imposes computerization and digitizing to allsocieties. The smart tourism destinations concept comes from the advances in smart cities.Recently, destinations began to reshape their duties and their entrepreneurial logics, involvingtourists as active providers and initiators of their own experiences and considering newtechnologies as the essential instruments for deciding tourism outcomes. It means the advent of anovel pattern of destinations, the smart tourism destinations, in which new technologies are socomprehensively utilized to have a crucial impact on tourism experiences, improves destinations’abilities to compete and favor tourism development projects, starting from these issues.The aim of the research is to investigate the development of Sharm El-Sheikh as a smart tourismdestination and add to the ongoing debate on innovation in tourism, by presenting an interpretativeframework indicating the way in which technological instruments in a smart tourism destination mayenhance the co-creation of tourism experiences. This research used the descriptive analyticalapproach, where a questionnaire was prepared and distributed to a random sample of seventy five(75) experts in information and communication technologies and academic experts in the tourismsector. 60 (80%) of sample was retrieved.The research reached several results, the highest mean values for barriers to become smart tourismdestinations emerged for the item “deficiency of staff” (mean = 4.60, standard deviation =0.848).Thehighest mean value for opportunities to become a smart tourism destination is the item “Possibility ofa network of municipalities as a platform for collaboration” (mean=4.60, standard deviation = 0.588).The research recommended that smart tourism destinations should be use of networks andtechnologies more effectively and efficiently. Training programs should also be considered to betterutilize tools and techniques needed, to establish such kind of destinations.

The Relationship Between Tourism Experience Co-Creation, Life Satisfaction and Behavioural Intentions

This paper contributes to the debate about the relationships among tourism experience co-creation, satisfaction with vacation experience, satisfaction with the impact of vacation on overall life, life satisfaction and behavioral intentions. The main purpose of this paper is to point out the importance of tourist engagement in the co-creation of the vacation experience and the impact of satisfaction with that experience on life satisfaction and behavioral intentions. A survey was conducted on a convenience sample of 263 international tourists who visited several tourist destinations in Croatia. To test the proposed model, partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed. It has been established that co-creation of tourism experience significantly contributes to the satisfaction of tourists staying in a destination, which has a positive effect on life satisfaction and future behavioral intentions.

Equestrian tourism: animal agency observed

There is limited scholarship engaging with equestrian tourism even though this segment of the tourism industry has recently undergone phenomenal growth in both supply and demand. This article will focus on the core element of equestrian tourism, travel on horseback, and will explore the role of equine animal agency in the co-creation of tourism experiences and tourism places. Employing qualitative methods, it will demonstrate how horses assert themselves as subjective agents and active players in the communities that tour groups form, assuming a variety of roles that effect their riders' self-actualization and psychological enrichment. At the same time, they assume an active role in determining their own fate by contributing to a climate of animal ethics specific to equestrian tourism. A predominantly female clientele looks to their equine partners for companionship and inspiration and reciprocates by demanding high standards of animal welfare and horsemanship. On the supply side, equestrian ground operators have established themselves as lifestyle entrepreneurs who place their own and their guests' passion for horses and lifestyle values ahead of business savvy and economic efficiency.

From vehicle suppliers to value co-creators: the evolving role of Italian motorhome manufacturers

Recreational vehicle (RV) manufacturers have traditionally been viewed as having no direct effect on caravanning experiences beyond their role as the suppliers of the vehicles. Drawing on the theoretical approach known as service-dominant logic, this paper suggests that RV manufacturers play an active role in the co-creation of tourism experiences. This study adopted the framework developed by Storbacka, K., Brodie, R. J., P., Böhmann, T., Maglio P. P., & Nenonen, S. [(2016). Actor engagement as a microfoundation for value co-creation. Journal of Business Research, 69(1), 3008–3017] that considers engagement as a microfoundation of value co-creation to investigate value co-creation in this context. A template analysis of the data collected from in-depth interviews with all Italian motorhome manufacturers revealed themes relating to five issues: engaging actors, engaging platforms, actors’ dispositions, engagement properties and resource integration patterns. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.

The experience co-creation in smart tourism destinations: a multiple case analysis of European destinations

In the last years, destinations have started to redefine their role and their entrepreneurial logics, involving tourists as active co-creators of their own experiences and considering new technologies as the main tools for defining tourism products. It implies the birth of a new kind of destinations, the smart tourism destinations (STDs), in which new technologies are so extensively embedded to influence tourism experiences, enhance destinations’ competitiveness and favour tourism development projects. Starting from these considerations, the main purpose of this paper is to contribute to the recent debate on innovation in tourism, by proposing an interpretative framework able to explain the way in which technological components in a STD may improve the co-creation of tourism experiences. Empirical analysis on two European STD best practices, Venice and Salzburg, conducted triangulating qualitative methods, reveals that the smart approach adopted by STDs improves the co-creation of tourism experiences by encouraging the interaction with tourists, increasing their active participation during the experience, and promoting the sharing of the experience among the tourists themselves. The paper provides interesting insights for destination managers and policy makers on how they should use innovative technologies in STDs to improve the experience co-creation.

Co-creation of tourist experiences: a literature review

This paper reviews the literature concerning co-creation of tourism experiences. It analyses the theoretical underpinnings of co-creation and discusses key dimensions of the concept from the tourist's perspective, highlighting the importance of active participation and interaction. The aim is to propose a psychology-focused definition of on-site co-creation tourism experience on which to base a conceptual framework relating important constructs. Opportunities for future empirical research in this area are suggested.