Destination Level Research Articles

Modelling perceived quality, visitor satisfaction and behavioural intentions at the destination level

Visitor perceptions of the quality of a tourist destination, satisfaction with their experience and the resulting behavioural intentions are vital for successful destination management and marketing. The purpose of our research is to explore the complex relationships between these constructs using structural equation modelling, whereby both formative and reflective constructs are included. The structural model was tested on a sample of 1056 visitors at four tourist destinations in Slovenia. The empirical validation of the conceptual model supports the research hypotheses. Destination attributes affect the perceived quality of tourist offerings, which positively relates to satisfaction as well as visitors' behavioural intentions. The link between satisfaction and behavioural intentions was also confirmed. These research findings contribute to a better understanding of which behavioural mechanisms and factors represent a viable basis for increasing customer retention at the level of individual providers as well as a destination as a whole.

Conceptualizing tourist satisfaction at the destination level

Purpose – The purpose of the research is to conceptualize a model of tourist satisfaction at the destination level which can serve as a background for designing a universal, parsimonious, short and easily applicable measurement instrument.

Prehospital management of traumatic brain injury

The aim of this study was to review the current protocols of prehospital practice and their impact on outcome in the management of traumatic brain injury. A literature review of the National Library of Medicine encompassing the years 1980 to May 2008 was performed. The primary impact of a head injury sets in motion a cascade of secondary events that can worsen neurological injury and outcome. The goals of care during prehospital triage, stabilization, and transport are to recognize life-threatening raised intracranial pressure and to circumvent cerebral herniation. In that process, prevention of secondary injury and secondary insults is a major determinant of both short- and longterm outcome. Management of brain oxygenation, blood pressure, cerebral perfusion pressure, and raised intracranial pressure in the prehospital setting are discussed. Patient outcomes are dependent upon an organized trauma response system. Dispatch and transport timing, field stabilization, modes of transport, and destination levels of care are addressed. In addition, special considerations for mass casualty and disaster planning are outlined and recommendations are made regarding early response efforts and the ethical impact of aggressive prehospital resuscitation. The most sophisticated of emergency, operative, or intensive care units cannot reverse damage that has been set in motion by suboptimal protocols of triage and resuscitation, either at the injury scene or en route to the hospital. The quality of prehospital care is a major determinant of long-term outcome for patients with traumatic brain injury.

Progressing the Sustainability Debate: A Knowledge Management Approach to Sustainable Tourism Planning

The concept of sustainable development has been a key focus of academic research since the early 1990s. However, both the public and private tourism sectors have been criticised for their progress in applying the concept; with some authors noting that sustainability principles are not put into practice. The application of sustainable development concepts is a prime example of the difficulties associated with diffusing the body of knowledge generated through academic research to the tourism industry. Therefore, a study was undertaken to examine the transfer of academic knowledge regarding sustainability to tourism public sector practice. A two-phase qualitative research process was undertaken involving in-depth interviews with tourism destination stakeholders from five case study destinations in Queensland, Australia. The research results show that the vast body of knowledge on the topic has not been diffused effectively to the destination level where it is actually needed by those who plan and manage tourism activity. A knowledge management approach is suggested as being necessary to bridge this knowledge-practice gap.

Collaborative Destination Marketing

Collaborative initiatives are voluntary arrangements between tourism organizations involved in managing and promoting destinations. In the tourism domain, although collaboration issues have been studied from various perspectives, relatively little research has been conducted on the process of collaborative marketing at the destination level. This study attempts to examine the process of collaboration formation in the context of a destination within the domain of theories of interorganizational relations. The study chooses a destination as a case of investigation with a focus on marketing activities between and among the local tourism industry facilitated by the local destination marketing organization. Implications are discussed from both theoretical and practical perspectives.

Developing indicators for managing tourism in the face of peak oil

In its present form, tourism is dependent on the availability of oil and is comparatively oil-intensive. While forecasts for future tourism growth are optimistic, there is also increasing evidence about the imminence of a peak in oil production and the economic effects that this would cause. Globally and on a destination level it will be necessary to consider how a transition towards fossil-fuel free economies might look like for tourism.It is therefore timely and prudent for the tourism sector to consider its current oil requirements and derive indicators for monitoring its oil consumption. In particular, destinations need indicators of the amount of oil consumed by the various markets from which they receive visitors. New Zealand is used as an example for assessing the oil-intensity of its Top 10 countries of origin based on the 10 indicators. Overall, the least exposed markets for New Zealand with respect to oil are Australia, China, Singapore, and Taiwan, although a more detailed analysis would be required for markets that display very heterogeneous travel behaviour. Among the indicators, eco-efficiency is particularly important as it allows comparison of resource inputs with economic outputs.

Toward a Theoretical Framework of Collaborative Destination Marketing

Marketing a destination has been a challenging task for many communities that rely on tourism for economic development. Collaborative marketing efforts of the tourism organizations representing the destination provide solutions to this challenge. This article develops an integrative theoretical framework in an attempt to explore the nature and dynamism of collaborative marketing efforts at the destination level. Specifically, a model of collaborative marketing is proposed that integrates the preconditions, motivations, processes, and outcomes of destination marketing alliances and networks based upon theories of interorganizational relations. Implications are provided and discussed from both practical and theoretical perspectives.

Towards a destination tourism disaster management framework: Long-term lessons from a forest fire disaster

This article is a follow-up study investigating the long-term experience of a tourism industry affected by a major forest fire disaster that occurred during the summer of 2003 near Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The original study determined the preparedness, responses, and recovery methods of the local tourism industry from interviews with 104 local tourism businesses, and a review of relevant government, media, and organizational reports. This article summarizes a follow-up study undertaken to investigate what the local tourism industry experienced over the long-term after the disaster, what recovery strategies were initiated, the impacts that remained, and how tourism disaster management has changed. The follow-up study includes repeat interviews with 60 of the original 104 businesses, two and a half years after the disaster. A number of surveys conducted by relevant tourism agencies, 1 year after the disaster, are also examined to provide information on intermediate impacts. The aim of this paper is to contribute to what is recognized as a shortage of research investigating the long-term experiences of tourism industries after disasters. The lack of disaster management in tourism is also addressed and a framework proposed to increase tourism disaster management at the destination level.

The Fuchsia Destination Quality Brand

SUMMARY Quality has been widely recognised as a source of competitive advantage in tourism (Poon, 1993; Fayos-Sola, 1996; Laws, 2000). Given the shift that has taken place from interfirm competition to interdestination competition (Go and Govers, 2000; Crouch and Ritchie, 1999), a need to focus on the quality management at the destination level has been identified (Laws, 1995 and 2000; Woods, 2003). In an attempt to address this need, a case study of the Fuchsia destination quality brand, West Cork, Ireland, was carried out. The findings revealed that whilst the Fuchsia brand did not appear to function as a powerful signal of quality to the customer, it did provide a support system which fostered an environment conducive to knowledge sharing amongst the tourism service providers applying for brand membership. This was mostly as a result of the policy of compulsory training for brand applicants. The paper reveals the way in which policies and programmes undertaken to overcome reluctance to participate in a destination quality assurance system also helped remove obstacles to knowledge sharing amongst tourism suppliers at the destination.

Evaluating the assumption of independent turning probabilities

Several urban traffic models make the convenient assumption that turning probabilities are independent, meaning that the probability of turning right (or left or going straight through) at the downstream intersection is the same for all travelers on that roadway, regardless of their origin or destination. In reality most travelers make turns according to planned routes from origins to destinations. The research reported here identifies and quantifies the deviations that result from this assumption of independent turning probabilities. An analysis of this type requires a set of reasonably realistic “original” route flows, which were obtained by a static user-equilibrium traffic assignment and an entropy maximization condition for most likely route flows. These flows are compared with those route flows resulting from the Assumption of Independent Turning Probabilities (ITP). A small subnetwork of 3 km by 5 km in Tucson, Arizona, was chosen as a case study. An overall “typical ratio” of 2.2 between original route flows and ITP route flows was obtained. Aggregating route flows to origin–destination flows led to an overall “typical ratio” of 1.7. Such deviations are particularly high for routes that go back-and-forth, reaching a ratio of more than 3 in certain time periods. Substantial deviations for origins and destinations that are on the same border of the subnetwork are also observed in the analyses. In addition, under the ITP assumption, morning rush hour traffic peaking is the same in all directions, while in the original flows some directions do not exhibit a peak in the morning rush hour period. Overall, the conclusion of the paper is that the assumption of independent turning probabilities leads to substantial deviations both at the route level and at the origin–destination level, even for such a small network of the case study. These deviations are particularly detrimental when a network is being modeled and studied for route-based measures of effectiveness such as the number and types of routes passing a point – for monitoring specified vehicles and/or managing detouring strategies.

The dynamics of destination attribute importance

The importance construct plays a vital role in evaluating visitor perceptions and experience of tourism destinations. This article examines the dynamics of attribute importance assessment at destination level with respect to Orlando, Florida. The article addresses previous findings relating to timing, evaluates alternative methods of importance measurement and assesses both the sensitivity of IPA outcomes to the choice of importance measure and the relevance of the three factor theory of satisfaction at destination level. Three main findings emerge. Firstly, the importance of Orlando's features does not change significantly over the course of the holiday or with increasing visitation levels. Secondly, the type of importance measure and the dynamic nature of importance relating to response variance influence IPA outcomes. Thirdly, the hierarchical factor importance model identifies ‘basic’, ‘performance’ and ‘excitement’ satisfaction factors in both first-time visitor and repeater markets. The article offers recommendations for further research.

The local destination tourism network: Development issues

Tourism networks are an increasingly important tool for economic development. At a local destination level, such networks have a potentially significant contribution to make towards sustainable tourism embracing community and commercial interests. This paper describes an instrumental case study that analyses the realities of a young local destination tourism network. It reflects upon tensions among the membership arising from community and commercial value systems, and how these affect aspects of its operation such as goals, plans, activities and relationships with support agencies. The network is understood in the context of its lifecycle and considers how it could be more effectively developed. Existing theory on tourism networks is developed in relation to their life cycle, benefits and contributions, support and management.

Indicators for an Environmental Assessment of Tourism at National Level

The paper first places the research within the context of international initiatives of developing environmental indicators for the tourism sector: indicator frameworks, data constraints and communication needs, national versus local approaches and indicator development procedures. The question of data availability, collection and processing is often undermined, and the national scale is the most relevant to analyse tourism driving forces and tourism/transport interrelationships. The main results of the French national assessment, led by the French Institute for the Environment in 1999–2000, are then presented, from the driving forces of environmental impacts (such as spatial and temporal concentrations, or the evolution of tourism demand as regards to the environment) to environmental impacts at national and destination level. French mobility patterns are dominated by road transport; they are moving towards shorter stays and more frequent departures, which lead to a high impact situation. The accommodation capacity is strongly marked by secondary homes, which imply more constructions (and more space consumption) for the same number of stays. Environmental management initiatives, from public and private stakeholders, are still unable to counter these long-term trends.

“Just Trying to Keep the Customer Satisfied”

SUMMARY The paper compares the predictive validity of six models used in the measurement of satisfaction; it is concerned with their application at destination level, with particular reference to Orlando, Florida. Using factor analysis and multiple regression, the ‘performance only’ model was clearly identified as the best predictor of satisfaction. The incorporation of ‘importance’ and ‘performance’ ratings did not improve the predictive power of the ‘performance only’ solution. From tourists' ‘performance’ ratings, five ‘dimensions’ of Orlando's tourism offering were identified: ‘primary,’ ‘secondary’ and ‘tertiary’ attractions, ‘facilitators’ and ‘transport plus.’ Notwithstanding Orlando's reputation as the world's theme park capital, Orlando's ‘secondary’ attractions (such as shopping and dining opportunities) and ‘facilitators’ (such as accommodation and customer service) were identified as having the most influence on overall tourist satisfaction with Orlando.

SYSTEMS-BASED MODELING FOR PARTICIPATORY TOURISM PLANNING AND DESTINATION MANAGEMENT

Systems modeling tools such as STELLA Research 7 for Windows are used in economics and ecosystem management, but their application to the tourism system at the local destination level has been little explored. This article uses STELLA Research 7 for Windows to examine the potential of dynamic systems modeling as a community destination planning tool. The conceptual and theoretical basis of systems modeling is explained, followed by an application of STELLA modeling in an undergraduate tourism impacts class. A basic model of Hardin's (1968) Tragedy of the Commons was developed as an example to illustrate how the systems-based software helps to address interrelationships between various components. This was then followed by a collaborative class project to develop aspects of a Tourism Management System (TMS) model with the help of STELLA. Student responses to a questionnaire administered subsequent to project completion indicates that systems-based modeling exhibits strong potential to be applied as a visual and process-based tool to facilitate (a) joint learning of the nature of tourism impacts at the destination level and (b) collaborative decision making on issues related to destination planning and management. Other benefits and limitations of this participatory modeling approach are provided in the article.

Beyond the Demand for Day-Visits: An Analysis of Visitor Spending

A review of the literature indicates a gap in the research on visitor spending at a destination level, and thus a lack of awareness of the marketing implications for tourism practitioners that such research could identify. In a previous study the authors concluded that, in the case of day-visits, while market attractions were important in encouraging visitation the level of spending at the destination was very closely related to the duration of the stay and the composition of the party. In this paper the analysis is extended to short-break and longer-stay holidays at a rural destination in the UK. Confirmation of these basic determinants of spending are presented, coupled with the importance of income. The current research thus provides a bridge between day-visit activity and models of holiday spending.

TECHNOLOGY POLICIES IN EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA: CREATING A NEW GLOBAL STRUCTURE IN THE AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY

This paper shows that a deliberate policy, in the process from labour-intensive to more knowledge-intensive sectors, among developing and newly industrializing economies in East and Southeast Asia, has created a large number of subcontracting links within in the international aircraft manufacturing industry. A main reason for this development is the tool of offset, which shows that this “benefit” technique has been formalised in aircraft procurement program as part of an acquisition process. The most successful examples are China (P.R.C) and South Korea. The study also shows that up to 1995 there have been no intra-regional subcontracting links within airframe manufacturing. The future success of these technology transfer links, at the destination level, is determined among other things, by the strategy of the sourcing company as well as the installation of technology of the receiving company.

Discriminating Perceptions of a Peripheral ‘Nordic Destination’ among European Tourists

This paper discusses tourists' abilities to discriminate between different features and images of a peripheral tourist destination based on their geographical origin. The data consist of personal interviews with 424 tourists of various nationalities visiting northern Norway (in the county of Nordland). The starting point of the exploratory analysis presented here is based on a section of the original data and focuses on images and features of northern Norway compared with wider Nordic/Norwegian destination levels. One of the main suggestions of this paper is that geographical and cultural distance relative to the tourists' country of origin has a negative effect on their ability to discriminate between distinct features and images of the destination to which they are travelling. This hypothesis is only partly confirmed. The analysis is based on a quantitative methodological approach. The results of this paper are assumed to contribute a useful insight into some of the perceptual factors that are important for the marketing and positioning of a peripheral destination on international markets.

Synergies in destination image management: a case study and conceptualisation

AbstractThis paper addresses the question of how operators and destination authorities work within a destination region, illustrating a method by which the problems resulting from different geographical scales and objectives of business units can be tackled through co‐operative marketing within a strong destination image. Following a review of the literature, a case study covering the research underpinning a cooperative marketing programme involving hotels in Port Douglas, Tropical North Queensland (TNQ) is presented. The research methodology is outlined. The policy implications of the findings for the State Tourist Organisation and for organisations involved in destination image management are considered, and a conceptual model of cooperative marketing at the destination level is proposed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Demand for Day-Visits: An Analysis of Visitor Spending

A tourism destination comprises a number of elements and features, which combine to attract staying or day visitation or, in some cases, transitory visitors. Various factors which determine the degree of attractiveness of any place promoted for tourism purposes have, in recent years, been the subject of more detailed analysis. However, studies have concentrated primarily on pre-trip motivational factors, destination selection, imagery and levels of visitor satisfaction. Within the context of visitor management studies the emphasis has been placed on the quality of the physical environment. In contrast, there has been little discussion on visitor spending at a destination level, and the consequent marketing implications for tourism practitioners following from this type of analysis. This paper presents the findings of a study of day visitors to Cheddar, a small-scale, well-known inland destination in the UK. The authors conclude that while market attractors are important in encouraging visitation, the level of spending at the destination is very closely related to duration of stay and composition of party; a number of implications are drawn for those responsible for marketing destinations.