Destination Experience Research Articles

A framework to identify destination vulnerability to hazards

We posit that destination vulnerability is the result of chronic conditions whose root causes lie dormant in plain sight, yet rear their ugly head during every crisis. This interdisciplinary review is motivated by the central research question: why do some destinations suffer more acute impacts in the same or similar crises than other destinations? While the paper falls short of providing a satisfactory answer, it reviews concepts such as resilience and vulnerability, the difference between shocks and stressors, and the types of hazards, and proposes a conceptual framework that highlights the physical, social-cultural, economic, ecological/environmental, and institutional dimensions of vulnerability. We also review the main findings in the literature on the experience of destinations during and after hazards, and illustrate the dimensions of destination vulnerability through evidence uncovered by prior studies. The paper affords Destination Management Organizations the language and conceptual understanding to identify vulnerability in their own destinations.

The sensory experience of wine tourism: Creating memorable associations with a wine destination

Wine tourists primarily seek what they consider to be authentic and, therefore, quality experiences, which are often difficult experiences to articulate and define. The objective of this research is to use consumer culture theory, which views consumers as identity seekers, to understand how the sensory experience of wine tourism can create a unique association for consumers with the destination, thus providing memorable experiences determined to be unique, personably relatable, and, therefore, authentic. A mixed-qualitative methods research approach is used that synergizes auto ethnography, focus groups, and in-depth interviews with industry, and wine consumers to produce a number of overlapping, thematic results. This research results demonstrate the impact of a sensory experience in a wine destination to establish positive and memorable experiences that provide meaning and a personal sense of identity, both of which drive tourism and subsequent visitation. The results also demonstrate the importance of authenticity in driving wine tourists to look for personally relatable experiences that stand out as unique from alternatives. The sensory experience then impacts subsequent wine tourism as consumers seek out ways to ensure the sensory attributes align with expectations.

MZ세대 해외여행 시장세분화: 여행지 체험 활동을 중심으로

Using the 「2019 National Travel Survey」, this study segmented the MZ generation, which has emerged as a core consumer group of the overseas travel market, based on travel experience activities. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, experiential activities were classified into four factors: historic·culture, downtown·shopping, entertainment·facility, and nature·recreation. Then a cluster analysis confirmed that the MZ generation is classified into three groups: culture·entertainment, nature, and urban experience types. The culture·entertainment type, which actively enjoys various activities, showed a large proportion of high income and a tendency to search for travel information through various channels. The nature experience type, which emphasizes recreation and rest, showed a lower proportion of high-income and higher tendency to live with children. The urban experience type had a large proportion of high-educated and middle-class people, and showed a tendency to intensively enjoy shopping and food experiences in a relatively short period. This study confirmed that the MZ generation can be classified into discriminatory groups based on the destination experience activities and provided information helpful in planning effective marketing strategies.

Transforming tourists’ intentions through destination engagement: insights from transformative learning theory

ABSTRACT Tourist-based destination engagement (TBDE) has emerged as a strategically significant concept to endure the destination-tourist relationship; however, identifying its related constructs is still nascent. We develop an integrative model for TBDE by identifying destination experience, destination attachment, and destination authenticity as antecedents of TBDE and destination advocacy as its consequence. We also propose a new association by investigating the direct and indirect relationship of TBDE on destination advocacy through destination satisfaction. Finally, findings were discussed conforming to transformative learning theory by relating it to TBDE and its modeled constructs. The results reveal a positive influence of all the identified drivers on TBDE and TBDE’s positive impact on destination advocacy. Moreover, destination satisfaction emerges as a mediator by supporting the positive indirect relationship between TBDE and destination advocacy. Implications for theory and practice are suggested for the tourism industry, which the tourism organizations may utilize to foster TBDE and sustain the tourist-destination relationships.

Wines from the hinterland: comparing availability of local wines on wine lists in two New Zealand tourism destinations

PurposeThis paper aims to situate restaurant experiences and in particular the wines available on wine lists, within the wider context of wine tourism. This is done by examining the wine lists of restaurants in two New Zealand destinations, focusing in particular on the showcasing of “local wines” and the factors behind these offerings, and outlines the potential implications for hospitality managers and a wider academic audience.Design/methodology/approachThe population of restaurants in each destination was identified using online directories, from which a sample of wine lists, comprising 84 in Christchurch and 43 in Queenstown, was systematically analysed to identify number of wines, regional origin, price and other information. Following this, key informant interviews in restaurants in each destination explored decision-making factors in stocking local wines, including consumer base, existing networks and reputation and additional challenges and opportunities.FindingsRestaurants in each destination offered more New Zealand than foreign wines on their lists, though significant regional differences are apparent. Queenstown restaurants offered slightly fewer imported wines and significantly more local (Central Otago) wines than Christchurch restaurants. The global awareness of Central Otago pinot noir is a factor in this wine list representation, but there are also other influences, including the greater concentration of overseas visitors (pre-pandemic) and more significant visibility and greater opportunities for wine tourism experiences within the destination.Originality/valueThis paper represents an important addition to academic research on wine marketing in the on-premise sector of emerging wine regions. This paper also highlights the potential significance of restaurant meals – including wine choices – in overall wine destination experiences and demonstrates differences in approach between restaurants in wine regions of similar size but with different reputations, international visitation and wine tourism infrastructure.

Sustainable Tourism Destination Image Projection: The Inter-Influences between DMOs and Tourists

With the development of the Web 2.0 era, tourists can freely publish their destination experiences through online travel notes. This enables tourists to become important agents to project tourism destination image (TDI), impacting destination-sustainable development. Previous studies have compared the difference in the images projected by destination management organizations (DMO) and tourists through their published content. However, fewer studies have been done to explore the inter-influences between them on the diachronic process of TDI construction. From the perspective of “circle of representation” this question is researched through a case study of Chiang Mai, Thailand, regarding the market of mainland Chinese tourists. Through interviews and the collection of microblogs from the Thailand National Tourism Bureau and tourists’ travel notes from 2009 to 2021, we found that Chiang Mai has experienced four stages of TDI construction, during which the “Xiao Qingxin” image is evolutionally constructed and formed into the representation circle. The inter-influences between DMO and tourists, as well as the influencing factors in this process, are summarized. Our study supplements a dynamic diachronic analysis of TDI from the constructivism perspective. Relevant management and marketing applications for TDI and destination sustainability in the post-pandemic and Web 2.0 era are also provided.

A novel self-learning approach to overcome incompatibility on TripAdvisor reviews

Among social media networks, TripAdvisor acts as the main role because everyone is eager to share and review their thoughts on their travel experiences in different destinations. Sentiment analysis is a method that can be used to analyze people's behaviors and opinions on public and social media platforms. In this study, hotel reviews are extracted from the five most attractive Sri Lankan cities, and user-written reviews are compared over user bubble ratings, which define overall travelers' experiences as a numerical scale that ranks from 1 to 5. We find that the compatibility between user-written reviews and bubble ratings has a low correlation because bubble ratings may not represent the overall idea of users' genuine opinions expressed in their reviews. To address this problem, a two-phase approach is proposed: (1) the ensemble method to improve the performance of lexicon-based outputs and identify the correctly matching user review and bubble rating; (2) the self-learning approach to finding the sentiment of a review that does not properly label by the user. The performance is studied by considering reviews incompatible with the sentiment of user bubble rating and the sentiment generated by the proposed model. For example, regardless of bigram “not good”, the average percentages of the word “good” for each negatively identified review from the proposed model and bubble rating are 25.63% and 38.85%, respectively. Thereby, it is apparent that the negative sentiments derived by bubble rating have significantly more positive words compared to the proposed model.

Conceptualizing meaningful tourism experiences: Case study of a small craft beer brewery in Thailand

An experience-driven conceptualization to understanding craft beer tourism is explored through the case study of a small brewery in Thailand. Adopting a four-pronged qualitative research design, the study reveals how the combined values of staged experiences, co-creative experiences and transformative experiences, and certain pre-conditions (i.e. traits of the tourism provider and categories and motivations of the tourists) that foster those experiences can lead to meaningful tourism experience of a single tourism destination. The study contributes to social exchange theory and positive psychology in tourism, while offering practical guidelines for tourism stakeholders involved in the development and promotion of tourism experiences. •The potential and capability of small tourism destination in driving meaningful tourism experiences. • Meaningful tourism experiences through staged, co-creative and transformative experiences. • Innovative and transformative leadership of tourism providers as drivers of tourism experiences. • Applying categories and motivations of the tourists in designing tourism experiences. • Designing and managing holistic tourism experience is key to destination management.

Enhancing Memorable Experiences, Tourist Satisfaction, and Revisit Intention through Smart Tourism Technologies

Global connectivity facilitated tourism and redefined economic landscapes, highlight an interest in better understanding tourism retention factors. Today, in view of the global COVID-19 pandemic, this is made even more important as the world prepares to lift lockdown restrictions and to re-engage in cross border circulation; reiterating needs to understand tourism satisfaction and revisit intentions. This study thus sheds light on the predictors of tourists’ intention to the explorative and exploitative use of Smart Tourism Technologies (STTs) and memorable experiences in tourism destinations via an integrated model and a self-administered questionnaire—distributed among domestic tourists visiting Tehran—employing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The results indicated that tourists’ attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control toward STTs had significant positive impacts on their explorative and exploitative intentions. Furthermore, tourists’ explorative/exploitative intention and perceived behavioral control exercised significant, positive effects on their memorable experiences. Finally, the results demonstrate that tourists’ memorable experiences significantly influence their satisfaction and intention to revisit smart destinations. This study expands existing literature by exploring a new model for enhancing memorable experiences and revisit intention using STTs, and presents findings applicable to the city of Tehran, while adopting a model which can be replicated in other geographies looking at better understanding its tourism landscape. Finally, the results in this study can be helpful for both researchers and policy makers in their quest to rejuvenate local post-pandemic economies via tourism measures.

Foreign tourists’ experiences under air pollution: Evidence from big data

Air pollution has become a major hurdle to tourists' experiences in many destinations. This study uses a large sample of TripAdvisor reviews for Chinese attractions and applies a five-way fixed-effects model to estimate the impact of air pollution on attraction ratings. Results show that an increase in the PM2.5 concentration led to a decline in foreign tourists' 5-point ratings of their experiences. Several factors appear to moderate this effect, such as tourists' past travel experience, year of travel, attraction types, tourists' national cultural traits, and air pollution in tourists' home countries. Tourists are more vulnerable to air pollution when coming from countries with more feminine and collectivist cultures and countries with lower air pollution. Across six air pollutants, only PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations are found to significantly influence foreign tourists’ experiences. Lastly, practical implications are provided.

Управление современной туристской индустрией Германии на основе концепции устойчивого туризма

The management of German tourism industry successfully implemented within the concept of sustainable tourism for a long time. The study of positive experience of this management is relevant in modern world economy. And it is the purpose of this article.The object of the study is sustainable tourism, the subject of the study is the management features of the modern German tourism industry based on the concept of sustainable tourism.The authors applied general scientific methods such as analysis and synthesis, logical method, historical method, quantitative and qualitative analysis, comparative analysis and generalization method. German official documents, analytical materials, tourism forecasts, programmes and open Internet resources were used in the course of the work on the article.First of all, the authors revealed the content of the concept of sustainable tourism in general, as presented in academic studies and official UNWTO documents. The authors further examined the specifics of management of the German tourism industry within the framework of the concept of sustainable tourism was presented by the developers of the German National Tourism Strategy. The right balance must be found between economy, environment and social responsibility in sustainable tourism, according to this Strategy.The authors' perception of management system of German tourism industry until 2019 was formed on an analysis of German official documents. Firstly, the management Germany's tourism industry is top-down - from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (federal level) through regional organizations: the German National Tourism Board and the Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry (regional level) to 16 federal states (municipal level). Secondly, self-governance of destinations was carried out as part of each of 16 federal states' local sustainable tourism program. Thirdly, this entire management system includes elements of sustainable tourism in its three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. The article presents the accumulated positive experience of management destinations and the promotion of types and directions of tourism in 16 federal states of Germany until 2019. It is noted that sustainable tourism covers these types and directions.The authors conclude that the implementation of the concept of sustainable tourism in the national tourism strategy of the country as a balance (measure) of the three dimensions: economic, social and environmental, is an expression of the national, cultural and unique natural identity of each destination (country).

The perceptions turned chaff at the destination – experience effect on cultural tourists' satisfaction

Cultural tourism as a branch of tourism has acquired dimensions of immense significance in the economic development of destinations, across the globe, enriched with a plethora of art-forms, folklores and rich cultural heritage. The promotion of such destinations in terms of induced perceptions and the experiences matching the expectations of tourists has been predominantly the marketers' visualisations of the means and measures of consumer satisfaction. The focus of this research is on destinations of cultural importance, in Kerala, an Indian state acclaimed to be one of the ten paradises of the world by the National Geographic Traveler. It aims to redefine pull motivators as pre-visit destination perceptions and probe how such perceived expectations and the post-visit destination experiences predict the tourists' satisfaction, which in turn reflects customer loyalty. The PLS path model results show that while destination perceptions and experiences significantly predict tourists' satisfaction, such satisfaction fails to predict loyalty.

142 The College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland Return to Work Programme: An Innovative Approach to Support Trainees’ Well-Being and Patient Safety on Return to Work

Within the 6-year Specialist Anaesthesiology Training (SAT) programme overseen by the College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland (CAI), there is now an option for trainees to take up to 12-month unaccredited professional or personal leave after years 2 and 4. There is also a cohort of trainees taking academic leave, maternity leave or other leave. There is growing recognition in the CAI and among other Training Bodies that returning to work following a period of absence can be daunting. It requires a comprehensive support package to help with the readjustment to the clinical and training environment, and rebuild confidence A CAI steering group was convened to design a Return to Programme (RTP) support package, with the following objectives: To develop a strategy for managing a return to anaesthesia following a period of absenceTo provide a blended content learning package aiming to ease SAT back into the clinical environmentTo rebuild confidence with/among the peers in a safe simulation environmentTo improve trainees’ well-being and patient safety by refamiliarization with anaesthesia guidelines and emergency algorithmsIt has been agreed that the RTP syllabus must reflect all eight domains of the Irish Medical Council (IMC) domains of Good Professional Practice, as in the following: Patient Safety and Quality of Patient Care; Relating to Patients; Communication and Interpersonal Skills; Collaboration and Teamwork; Management (including Self-Management); Scholarship; Professionalism, and Clinical Skills The lectures have been recorded and embedded in the CAI e-learning platform. A list of simulation scenarios reflecting the most common anaesthesiology emergencies has been selected and tailored towards the needs of the destination training sites and experience level. A first course will take place prior to trainees recommencing their clinical role in July 2021. On successful evaluation, it is aimed to conduct the RTP every 6 months going forward.

The effects of host sincerity on tourists’ perceived destination image

ABSTRACT This study aims to explore the effects of host sincerity on tourists’ perceived destination image, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. Data were collected via an on-site survey in China and analyzed using structural equation modeling analysis. The findings suggest that local hosts should show their sincerity toward tourists in tourist-host interactions to create a positive destination image and trigger positive behavioral intentions of tourists for sustainable development of the travel destination. Residents can be active partners and co-producers of destination branding. This study highlights interactions between tourists and local residents as important attributes of the destination experience.

Experiential marketing as a tool to enhance Tourists’ pre-travel online destination experiences? A web-based experiment

Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) are increasingly using experiential marketing on their websites to generate positive pre-travel online destination experiences (ODEs). However, little is known about the ODE construct and the effects of applying experiential marketing on destination websites on ODEs. A scale was developed and applied in a web-based experiment to measure ODEs and to enhance the understanding of the dimensionality of this construct. The travel inspiration phase was simulated and the ODEs of three experimental groups exposed to different websites of the destination Reunion Island were compared. The experiment was conducted with a representative sample of German internet users. Findings indicate that when surfing on a destination website in the inspiration phase, the users’ ODE is holistic and cannot be differentiated into theoretically relevant dimensions (e.g. sensory or affective). Moreover, the application of experiential marketing had a statistically significant, small effect on ODEs when adjusted for aspects of personal relevance. Yet, ODE differences between high and medium levels of experiential marketing were negligible. Accordingly, DMOs should realize that experiential marketing enhances ODEs, but beyond a certain level, additional complex multi-media elements do not necessarily further increase the experiential effect. For the important assessment of experiential user reactions, the developed ODE scale provides a first approach. • A new scale to measure pre-travel online destination experiences (ODEs). • ODEs are less differentiated than product brand experiences. • ODEs of websites with different levels of experiential marketing were compared. • Significant yet small effects of experiential marketing on ODEs were found. • Many individual influencing factors make it difficult for DMOs to influence ODEs.

Do culturally competent employees make for happy visitors? The case of a sports event in Australia

Building on a three-dimensional cultural competence model and treating customer–employee exchange as a vital form of social exchange, this study examines how different dimensions of cultural competence of service providers and their social investment impact event attendees' perceived destination experience and behavioral intentions in cross-cultural service encounters. Using data collected during a major sports event in Australia, the study found that cultural awareness and skills significantly influenced event attendees' perceived social investment and destination experience, while the role of cultural knowledge was not significant. Employees' cultural awareness and cultural skills had a stronger influence on perceived social investment among international tourists than they did on domestic tourists, but social investment had a stronger influence on domestic tourists' destination experience and revisit intention than it did on that of international tourists. The study contributes to an enhanced understanding of how cultural competence can shape customers’ destination experience. In addition, it introduced a cultural perspective to the social exchange process, contributing to the broadening and deepening of social exchange theory.

In the Eyes of the Beholder: The Effect of the Perceived Authenticity of Sanfang Qixiang in Fuzhou, China, among Locals and Domestic Tourists

Many historic and cultural heritage destinations have faced queries about authentic travel experiences and crises of commoditization related to tourism products. This study is based on the dyadic function of heritage destinations for both locals and domestic tourists: heritage as a spatial-temporal object for tourists, using authenticity as a theoretical framework. It examined the (1) effects of cultural motivations and prior knowledge on both object-based and existential authenticities, (2) effects of authenticity on destination experiences, and (3) moderating role of residential status on the relationship between authenticity and destination experience. The data were collected from 173 locals and 159 domestic tourists on site in the Sanfang Qixiang tourist district and analyzed using the SEM technique. The results indicated that cultural motivation and prior knowledge had significant effects on authenticity; however, only existential authenticity enhanced the destination experience, whereas object-based authenticity did not have an effect on the destination experience. In addition, residential status had a key moderating function in the relationship between the perception of authenticity and the destination experience. This study contributes to the literature by integrating the mutual gaze into heritage tourism literature and emphasizing the importance of a balance between authenticity and commoditization in heritage destination development in Asia. The findings hold some practical implications for the development of balanced management strategies to minimize potential conflicts and maximize user satisfaction with heritage tourism.

Forecasting travel patterns during COVID-19 period using Community Mobility Report Case study: Bangka Belitung Province

The pandemic of COVID-19 has caused many changes and one of the changes is in people’s travel patterns. Travel patterns have potentially related to environmental factors. The patterns in an urban environment can affect the liveability increase and the planning in urban areas. The change of travel pattern data is necessary for transportation planners and policymakers in providing safe transportation during the pandemic. Therefore, forecasting travel patterns is particularly essential to plan a better environment to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This study tries to forecast travel patterns during the COVID-19 period in Province of Bangka Belitung using the Community Mobility Report provided by Google. In this study, a time series model is necessary to predict future mobility. The model used in this research is exponential smoothing. The results find that the prediction of travel patterns for each trip destination experiences a fluctuating trend. The prediction for going to retail and recreation, grocery stores and pharmacies, parks, and transit stations tends to increase. Otherwise, the prediction of travel patterns for going to workplaces and residential decreases. Furthermore, the results of this study are feasible to plan a better environment to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Chinese Visitors in the Tourist Bubble: Exploring the Seoul Destination Experience Using Q Method

With the acceleration of globalization, international tourism has developed rapidly, especially in Seoul. Tourist bubble phenomenon appears with the development of international tourism. The term “tourist bubble” was originally proposed by Cohen, which conceptualized as the “protective walls” to reduce strangeness when tourist encounter a new environment and create a psychological space. The tourist bubble comprises a concentrated geographic area of tourist-oriented facilities and attractions, which is separated from its surrounding environment by spatially or psychologically created boundaries. Many studies focus more on the classification and formation process of the tourist bubble, but rarely involve tourists’ perception of tourist bubbles and the destination experience of tourists in the tourist bubble. Therefore, in this paper, it used Chinese tourists traveling in the tourist bubble of Seoul as a case to analyze the perception of international tourists on the tourist bubble phenomenon and the destination experience of tourists. It classified 5 types of Chinese tourists to identify their experience in Seoul. By using Q methodology, a technique designed for the systematic study of subjectivity in terms of beliefs, opinions, and attitudes, to find the subjectivity of Chinese tourists in the tourist bubble. It aims to provide reasonable tourism planning suggestions that how to make use of the tourist bubble phenomenon to make better tourism marketing for the Korean international tourism market.

Perceived importance of and satisfaction with marina attributes in sailing tourism experiences: A kano model approach

The goal of this research was to analyse the factors that are important to sailing tourists in assuring satisfying marina destination experiences. The analysis applied Kano's model to classify attributes that influence tourist satisfaction with marinas. The research was conducted in Denmark and the United Kingdom, two well-known origins of and destinations for sailing tourists. Of the fourteen attributes, clean marina sanitary facilities, helpful service attitudes of marina employees, water and electrical connections, weather, and clean marina grounds were rated highest in importance for sailing experiences. Based on Kano's model, the fourteen marina attributes were categorized into must-be, one-dimensional, attractive, and indifferent. This research gives insights into future strategic management decisions for marina destinations.