Destination Marketing Research Articles

Identifying Tourists as Stakeholders in Destination Marketing Cooperation: A Case Study in China

Recent studies began to notice the significance of taking tourists into destination stakeholders, because the essence of destination is the primary place for tourist consumption. With empirical experience from a case study in Jing-Jin-Ji region, China, this paper classifies tourists’ stakeholder type as Dominant Stakeholders in destination marketing cooperation within Mitchell’s salience theory’ typology according to their salience attributes of legitimacy and urgency. Then, to explore factors influencing the success of cooperation from tourist stakeholder’s perspective, this paper analyzes tourist flow changes responding to the progress of destination marketing cooperation, and further understands these factors with the support of interviews with tourist’s group and other critical stakeholders. Finally, three major factors are found including the priority of tourism industry to destination governments, the priority of tourism cooperation to destination marketing organizations, and involvement of tourism enterprises in cooperation.

Pull and Push Drivers of Giant-Wave Spectators in Nazaré, Portugal: A Cultural Ecosystem Services Assessment Based on Geo-Tagged Photos

This paper maps the cultural ecosystem services (CES) of a well-known giant-wave hotspot located in Nazaré, Portugal. The paper adopts a qualitative approach combining an auto-ethnographic direct observation of a journey and the content analysis of photos and videos posted on the YouTube and Facebook pages of tourists and operators. A total of 44 geotagged photos from a sample of 6914 photos retrieved from Flickr allowed the classification and spatial distribution of several CES: (1) recreational—surf activities; (2) aesthetic—photography; (3) spiritual—dark tourism and risk recreation; (4) intangible heritage—maritime knowledge; (5) scientific—wave height forecast; (6) sense of place; and (7) social relations. The paper also proposes a theoretical framework that highlights the pull drivers (risk recreation, storm chasing, or spectacular death voyeurism) and the push drivers (e.g., marketing campaigns and wave forecasts alerts) that explain the behaviors of the big-wave spectators/chasers during the experience journey. Public decision-makers, destination marketing organizations, tourism operators, and business entrepreneurs must acknowledge the relevance of journey mapping in order to identify the moments of stress and the touchpoints associated with peak/positive experiences generated by these CES. This study confirms some push and pull factors assessed by previous studies.

Multidimensional interdisciplinary variables influencing tourist online purchasing intention at World Heritage City (City of Yazd, Iran).

This study identifies the influence of interdisciplinary variables on tourist online purchasing intention, such as consumers' online purchasing experience, novelty-seeking behavior, perceived ease of use, risk taking, tourism service and destination characteristics. The study population includes international tourists who purchased Yazd sightseeing tours. Using convenience sampling, 386 visitors were chosen to complete the variable scale questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SmartPLS and SPSS software. Results indicated that "prior experience," "ease of use," "risk taking", and "novelty-seeking behavior" have a direct and meaningful effect on "online purchasing attitude" and have an indirect effect on "tourist online purchasing intention" with the mediating role of online purchasing attitudes. Furthermore, "tourism services and destination characteristics" and online purchasing attitudes directly and significantly affect tourists' online purchasing intentions. Moving between disciplines improves the quality of industry-relevant research and makes it more practical and valuable. The identified interdisciplinary variables influencing tourists' online purchasing intentions are valuable for the destination marketing of World Heritage Cities.

The characteristics of Michelin-starred restaurants in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan

Chinese culinary culture has a long history of development and has unique characteristics, attracting people from all over the world. As a world-renowned restaurant award, the Michelin Guide in China plays an influential role in introducing Chinese culinary culture to the world and destination branding, while few studies have investigated Michelin-starred restaurants (MSRs) in China. This study thus investigates 220 MSRs in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan by conducting website analysis with their official websites, WeChat official accounts, and Facebook official pages. According to the three fine-dining strategies this study examines seven elements that the restaurants use to communicate and attract customers online, including menu and awards indicating “making it deluxe”; sustainability, locality, and authenticity indicating “making it pure”; and restaurant story and chef biography indicating “making it surprising”. The results indicate that China's MSRs are more likely to emphasise authenticity and awards in distinguishing themselves, while locality and sustainability are less mentioned, such positioning might have implications for culinary heritage and destination marketing in the longer term.

Investigation of Knowledge and Attitudes of Turkish Spectators towards Formula 1 Turkey Grand Prix

Events come to the fore as tourism activities in terms of destination marketing. It is considered Formula 1 event tourism. Formula 1 is carried out in Turkey. The primary purpose of this research is to determine the knowledge and attitudes of Turkish viewers toward the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Turkey in 2021. A qualitative search method was adopted for this study. The search data consists of comments about the "2021 Turkish GP" on the Ekşi Sözlük network. A total of 1055 comments. In other words, 1055 comments are the search data. The comments were analyzed through a content analysis technique. Based on that review, two themes and 15 sub-themes were identified. 2 subjects are expressed as Formula 1 race and organization. Most comments were made regarding pilots, teams, and race prediction in the race theme. Minor comments were made on the podium and weather conditions on the topic of the race. The organization focused on the publisher, transportation, and organizational satisfaction. At least the organization’s theme was about the ticket and the artist in charge. When evaluated in general, we see that the audience has a good command of each subject in Formula 1.

Analisis Strategi Pemasaran Dan Merek Terhadap Minat Beli Pakaian Pedagang Kaki Lima Di Pantai Panjang

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of product, price, place, promotion, and brand image on the purchase intention of street vendors at Pantai Panjang, Bengkulu City, to determine which factors were the most dominant influencing buying interest. This study uses observational research methods with quantitative data analysis. The population used in this study is the clothing consumers of street vendors on Pantai Panjang whose total population is unknown. The sampling in this study amounted to 120 respondents. Based on the results of multiple regression, the regression equation form Y = 0.597 + 0.169 (X_1) + 0.151 (X2) + 0.259 (X3) + 0.288 (X4) + 0.288 (X5). The results of the research and the hypothesis indicate that the product shows the value (2.105 > 1.9804) and (sig = 0.038 < 0.050). The price indicates the value (2.123 >1.9804) and (sig = 0.036 < 0.050). Place indicates the value (3.823 >1.9804). and (sig = 0.000 < 0.050). Promotion shows the value (2.631 >1.9804) and (sig = 0.010 < 0.050). Brand Image shows the value (2.525 >1.9804) and (sig = 0.000 < 0.050). Simultaneously ( F) Product, Price, Place, Promotion, and Brand Image have a significant influence on buying interest. We recommend that street clothing vendors on Long Beach can continue to improve their products so that the main goal of marketing can be achieved.
 
 Keyword: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Brand Image, Buying Interest

Identifying a destination’s optimal tourist market mix: Does a superior portfolio model exist?

Extant tourism research has used various portfolio model types to determine optimal tourist market mixes which simultaneously maximize total tourist expenditure and minimise the instability of international inbound tourism demand. We analyse the three portfolio models that have been applied in the tourism literature: two varieties of a levels model (that use the level of tourist arrivals, or bed nights to quantify tourist activity) and a growth rates model (that deploys the growth in the level of tourist activity). Applying these models using per capita expenditure in four distinctively different destination countries (Australia, Greece, Japan, and USA), we demonstrate that the Levels Model 1 is superior to the Levels Model 2 and the Growth Rates Model. It produces solutions that provide noticeably higher tourist expenditure with less instability of international tourism demand than the status quo. Theoretical contributions and practical implications for tourism policy makers and destination marketers are discussed.

Digital Marketing in The Hospital: A Scoping Review

Hospitals know smart users better through digital marketing than traditional marketing. The goal of hospital marketing is to assess and understand potential patients' needs and wants so they can meet those needs at the highest level. The Internet, email, and social media are cheaper than direct marketing and can create opportunities to market services to virtual customers, bridge the gap and increase their awareness of the services offered everywhere. This paper aims to determine the effect of digital marketing in hospitals. This scoping review followed a systematic review's study selection process. Relevant studies were collected from Open Knowledge Maps and Google Scholar. The results of this study indicate that some information related to the implementation of digital marketing has challenges. Therefore, there is a need for innovation in implementing digital marketing. In addition, the use of hospital applications can be used in online registration media and media marketing. During the pandemic, hospitals need innovative marketing strategies to attract new patients, expand the business, increase customer trust, and strengthen loyalty. Digital marketing media significantly impact sales promotion, business expansion, and service quality.

Big data in tourism marketing: past research and future opportunities

Purpose The purpose of this study was to uncover representative emergent areas and to examine the research area of marketing, tourism and big data (BD) to assess how these thematic areas have developed over a 27-year time period from 1996 to 2022. This study analyzed 1,152 studies to identify the principal thematic areas and emergent topics, principal theories used, predominant forms of analysis and the most productive authors in terms of research. Design/methodology/approach The articles for this research were all selected from the Web of Science database. A systematic and quantitative literature review was performed. This study used SciMAT software to extract indicators. Specifically, this study analyzed productivity and produced a science map. Findings The findings suggest that interest in this area has increased gradually. The outputs also reveal the innovative effort of industry in new technologies for developing models for tourism marketing. Ten research areas were identified: “destination marketing,” “mobility patterns,” “co-creation,” “gastronomy,” “sustainability,” “tourist behavior,” “market segmentation,” “artificial neural networks,” “pricing” and “tourist satisfaction.” Originality/value This work is unique in proposing an agenda for future research into tourism marketing research with new technologies such as BD and artificial intelligence techniques. In addition, the results presented here fill the current gap in the research since while there have been literature reviews covering tourism with BD or marketing, these areas have not been studied as a whole.

Gastronomic Experience and Consumer Behavior: Analyzing the Influence on Destination Image.

Gastronomy experiences are becoming a fundamental factor that influences the making of a decision regarding choosing a travel destination, as well as being a crucial factor in shaping tourists' satisfaction regarding their overall travel experience. The aim of the study is to identify and explain the simultaneous impact of the key factors that influence a gastronomic experience and their impact on tourists' satisfaction with a trip and the destination's brand. These issues were addressed within the context of Ukraine, as this is an overlooked area of academic research, and an online survey was conducted, targeting domestic and international tourists. Structural equation modeling was used to assess and reveal the proposed hypotheses in the model. The study contributed to the theoretical understanding of the key factors that increases the occurrence of a memorable gastronomic experience and the relationship between the experience of food and its role in the satisfaction of and the perceived brand of a destination. Moreover, the finding showed that past experience and prior knowledge have a positive influence on the gastronomy experience, while tourists' prior knowledge effects the perceived quality of a destination's cuisine, as well as the food activities in the destination. Linkages in the model were empirically supported by statistical analyses. Nonetheless, the various level of the tourists' involvement with gastronomy might be used as an input to examine and improve the memorable gastronomic experience on-site. The research simultaneously highlighted the importance of gastronomy to tourist destinations for positioning on international and domestic markets. The paper not only provides theoretical but also practical implications. The hospitality and tourism businesses benefit from acknowledging the importance of local food and the local food market. The findings of this study are also deemed to assist destination marketers who observe that tourists have become more demanding in search of unique experiences offered by destinations.

Theorizing vloggers’ approaches and practices in travel vlog production through grounded theory

ABSTRACT Video bloggers, also known as vloggers, continuously create and share authentic videos on popular platforms like YouTube. Travel influencer vloggers (called vloggers in this study) influence their audience by sharing their trip experiences and giving reviews about destinations and travel brands. This study employs aconstructivist grounded theory approach of 35 YouTube vlogs from 21 vloggers through a3-phase theoretical sampling. The theorizing process resulted in the development of Vloggers’ Approaches and Practices (VAP) Theory by identifying the main approaches as content (CA) and objectives (OA), the two main practices of travel influencing (TIP) and vlogging (VP), and their relationships. The theoretical and managerial contributions can be important for scholars of influencer marketing, and practitioners that work with vloggers like destination marketing organizations (DMOs), hotels, tour operators, and transportation services.

Supply Chain Control and Strategies to Reduce Operational Risk in Russian Extractive Industries Along the Northern Sea Route

Russian resource developers operating in remote parts of the Arctic have demonstrated over the past several years that it is feasible to extract natural resources throughout the year, and ship large quantities of raw materials with regular intervals from the Arctic to international markets; this despite very difficult operational conditions in the Arctic during both winter and spring. Several resource extraction projects are currently being implemented or planned. This study examines how the extractive companies have built up enhanced supply chain resilience and transport reliability to mitigate common Arctic risks. The companies have taken control over supply chains and adopted several precautionary and innovative infrastructure and logistics measures designed to prevent or mitigate disruption to these supply chains. Preferred logistical solutions for all of these extraction projects have developed into large package deals, where long-term production and transport of commodities, icebreaking services, and state support are all included. Western sanctions on Russia as a result of the war in Ukraine, will slow down the pace of future Russian projects in the Arctic, at least in the short to medium-term, but the sanctions are likely to increase the future significance of export terminals on the NSR, as the preferred departure points for Russian Arctic commodities on their way to selective market destinations.

Promotion of Events and Festivals in the Digital Era

Purpose / Research Significance: This chapter aims to discuss and analyse the role of Media in the promotion of various events and festivals using different tools of communication such as Newspaper, Local Television Channels and Online Websites, Social Media specifically. The study also offers practical and strategic advice for event planners, brand communicators, and destination marketer sin the major Asian tourism markets, such as India and its neighbours. Study Design/Methodology/Approach: The outcomes of the study were derived using aqualitative technique. The Prisma technique was used to examine prior literature. Prisma is a set of evidence-based reporting questions for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. There search takes a special review of social media plat forms available to promote an event online. Finding: The study’s findings provide insight for event/festival organizers and destination marketers interested in achieving success with destination marketing, branding, and promotion. Implications: The chapter suggests the challenges and opportunities lies in the promotion of an event / festival in the age of social media and making the best use of local media tools available.

Formalization of marketing management approaches from the perspective of system analysis

The article is devoted to the study of the implementation of the key goal of marketing, which is the satisfaction of public needs through commodity-money exchange, within the framework of the implementation of various concepts and approaches in marketing. A feature of the study is the consideration of this issue from the standpoint of system analysis. That allowed to formalize the problem, hindering the achievement of the main goal of marketing: the discrepancy of the current potential of the manufacturer to the needs of the customer. As a result, logical schemes were constructed to eliminate the systemic problem of achieving a marketing goal for the following marketing concepts: traditional, cognitive, sales, interaction (co-creation), development and marketing of advanced development. Mathematical models were proposed for the developed logic schemes.

Investigating the credibility of online travel reviews adoption in trip planning intention among Indian travellers

Travelers evaluate online travel reviews usage through their argument quality and credibility of the source. As a result, travel marketers such as hoteliers, destination marketers and travel agency websites managers should set up mechanisms to assess tourists' concern to avoid unfavorable experience from social media reviews. Accordingly, this study aims to develop a scale and validate the modified Information Adoption Model (IAM) in the tourism context, while studying the impact of online review usefulness on its adoption. Secondly, the mediation role of travelers' attitude toward online reviews between review usefulness and its adoption is determined. Further, the credibility of online travel review adoption on the behavioral intentions of travelers has been assessed. This paper adapts the modified IAM given by Abedi et al. (2019) to develop scale and provide a comprehensive model in the tourism context. The study used 284 travelers who use online travel reviews from social media for their trip planning to evaluate the proposed model through SmartPLS software. The results show that online travel review usefulness significantly affects online travel review adoption. Secondly, the relationship between online review usefulness and its adoption is fully mediated by the mediating variable (attitude towards online travel reviews). Hence, this empirical paper intends to add to the research on online travel review adoption by travelers for their trip planning, considering the forwarding of information as one of the behavioral intentions along with purchase intentions, which depicts the novelty of this paper.

The research on game marketing of domestic tourism destinations

Tourism and games, which belong to the category of experience economy, have many common features. What kind of sparks will be generated by the cross-border cooperation between tourism destination marketing and game media? At present, the game marketing practice of domestic tourism destinations is still in the nascent stage, and Cross-border cooperation between well-known game providers and various tourism agencies continues to emerge, but the specific operation mechanism is still relatively old, which fails to effectively stimulate the players' impulse to travel, indicating that the in-depth integration of tourism marketing and game communication still needs to be explored, but in any case, with its unique entertainment, interactivity, sharing and socialization and other native advantages, the game media has shown great communication potential in tourism destination marketing, so, this paper tries to propose some innovative ideas for domestic tourism destination's game marketing.

STORYTELLING ADS FOR TOURIST SITES: PERCEIVED VALUE, IMMERSION, AND ATTACHMENT

This study examines the influence of storytelling advertisements (ads) for tourism site visit and word-of-mouth intentions on SNS through site attachment and value. The authors also test the effectiveness of affective and rational storytelling ads. Responses were measured to alternative storytelling stimuli, based on 296 valid questionnaire responses. The findings indicate that the attitude of storytelling ads for tourist sites affects site attachment, site immersion, and perceived value, and consequently, visit intentions and SNS EWOM intentions. The results offer interesting implications for advertisers and brand managers involved in destination marketing.

Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing

Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing

Exploring tourist perceptions of Kerala's destination marketing

Kerala has been recognised as one of the top ten paradises in the world. Kerala offers a wide range of tourism items that meet the requirements and expectations of practically every type of traveller, and it stands out for offering a full travel experience. The state of Kerala offers tremendous potential for tourism expansion thanks to its ideal temperature, lush vegetation, natural tourist attractions, vibrant festivals, martial arts, wildlife sanctuaries, and ancient Ayurveda legacy. But Kerala has not been able to fully realise its potential, despite having a variety of resources and opportunities. Kerala's tourism industry has a lot of untapped potential as less than five percent of visitors to India come to the State. Kerala is ranked eighth in terms of foreign visitor arrivals and fifteenth in terms of domestic visitor arrivals. Kerala travel marketing tactics must be updated over time to reflect changes in customers' requirements and tastes if the state is to realise its full potential and pull in an increasing number of tourists, especially from abroad. To assure service quality, it is crucial to understand exactly what the client expects, and marketing research on consumer preferences is required to examine how the customer's needs are evolving. This study aims to comprehend how tourists see the advertising tactics used by the public and commercial sectors at different Kerala tourist attractions. The study also seeks to gauge travellers' expectations and satisfaction levels in regard to Kerala as a tourist destination because the success of marketing depends on consumer happiness.

Exploring the “Personae” of Travel in Korea through Chinese Gen Z Tourists on <i>Xiao Hongshu</i> Social Platform

This research explores the destination persona of South Korea on Xiao Hongshu, a popular social media platform for Chinese Gen Z traveling. The posts from tourists as virtual communities recurring patterns of dramatic structure, textually and visually generated the personae of the destination. In this study, the concept of persona based on Bormann’s symbolic convergence theory is used to illustrate the fantastic theme of South Korea as destination. A qualitative research based on fantasy theme analysis was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 14 participants and images and narrative analysis of posts on Xiao Hongshu. Four fantasy themes were identified: 1) Landscape of ocean blue; 2) Stylish Café; 3) K-pop related culture and fashion; 4) Traditional Korean culture. Those themes create the destination persona of South Korea by and for Chinese Generation Z travellers. It contributes to the destination image discussion by applying SCT and fantasy theme, from the perspective of Chinese generation Z tourist. For practical contribution, this study helps destination marketers better communicate with Chinese Gen Z tourists, using discovered fantasy themes.