Emerging Tourism Destination Research Articles

Clustering, innovation and hotel competitiveness: evidence from the Colombia destination

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the relationship between clustering and hotel competitiveness in emerging economy destinations by analyzing potential mediation of the management innovations implemented.Design/methodology/approachThis empirical study is based on hotel-level information from a survey including 131 hotels in 2014. Colombia was chosen as a representative of Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa (CIVETS) emerging destinations. The relationships were analyzed by structural modeling and partial least squares.FindingsClustering has a positive direct impact on hotel competitiveness and innovation, and there is a positive effect of innovation on competitiveness. Therefore, the link between clustering and competitiveness is partially mediated through implementation of management innovations.Practical implicationsHotels should actively participate in agglomerated destinations and build relationships with established firms by clustering. Interaction with related firms and implementation of management innovations will lead to increased levels of economic competitiveness. Public policymakers should foster collaborative strategic networking in the hospitality industry of emerging economy destinations.Originality/valueThis paper focused on separating the direct and indirect effects of clustering on hotel competitiveness. Implementation of management innovations was considered as an outcome derived from clustering in emerging tourist destinations, using the example of Colombia. Clustering stimulates and eases management innovations within the location, and that combination reinforces the role that cooperating while competing plays in hotel competitiveness for destinations with lagging innovation.

A Triangulation Study to Assess the Perceived City Image in the Arab Middle East Context: The Case of Al-Ain in the UAE

ABSTRACTThe study of city image has become a subject of increasing interest to researchers and practitioners. However, although many studies have found that success of an area’s tourist development depends crucially on its image, most of studies concentrate on only a few destinations in the United States and the European Union, neglecting most emerging tourist destinations such as these in fuel-exporting countries. In order to fill this gap, this study adopted a two-stage design seeking to develop and test a scale of Perceived City Image (PCI) in a non-western context. In Stage 1, the authors; through a qualitative study, generated and refined the scale elements, recognizing unique characteristics of Al Ain. In Stage 2, the scale, through a quantitative study, has been assessed in terms of dimensionality, validity, and reliability. The overall results reflect appropriateness of the proposed constructs and provide an integrated perspective of PCI constructs in the Arab Middle East, where very little research can be found. Results, contributions, limitations, directions for future research, and managerial implications are all discussed.

World Heritage Sites through the Eyes of New Tourists – Who Cares about World Heritage Brand in Budapest?

Budapest is one the most emerging tourism destinations in Central-Eastern Europe, and besides the popularity of the regenerated “multicultural and design” district, its cultural heritage, particularly those on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage, assure its growing attractiveness. However the cultural sites are the most visited sightseeing attractions, our proposition was that the tourists are not aware of the fact, that they are visiting UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS). The main aim of the paper is to highlight the importance of the WHS in cultural tourism, and to introduce the significance of place branding in it. A structured content analysis were taken out to analyse the reviews of the Tripadvisor considering the attractions of Budapest, with the objective of crystallizing the main motivations and awareness of the tourists visiting the world heritage site of Budapest. Further on our objective was to analyse their satisfaction with interpretation, attraction, and visitor management issues. Then their overall experiences, development needs and ideas for the world heritage sites attracting cultural tourism were taken into consideration. Our presupposition was that new technologies can improve a site’s popularity by pulling the attention on its real values that can be experienced by the visitors.

Essex County Agri-Tourism: Exploring Regional and Farm-Level Diversification

The character of many Canadian rural regions is changing rapidly as farms continue to become larger and more specialized and new (ex)urban actors influence rural economies with new expectations of rural space. In Essex County, Ontario, this changing character is being directed, in part, through tourism promotion and by leveraging its location within a designated wine appellation. As tourism is being pushed to a more prominent position within the County’s brand, farmers are provided opportunities to capitalize on increased visitation and an evolving perception of the region. Considering this regional context, this research aims to explore the uses of and motivations behind agri-tourism in Essex County, Ontario by three stakeholder groups: farmers, winery owners, and the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO). To accomplish this, document analysis was conducted alongside interviews with agri-tourism providers and DMO representatives. The dominant narrative emerging from analysis is the development of an emerging tourism destination. While winery owners actively collaborate to co-create a wine destination with the help of the DMO, farmers who have diversified into agri-tourism provision are more likely to work in silos and cultivate a personal niche without regard for a regional brand or destination creation. Though tourism promotional materials emphasize local food and beverages, it is questionable if farmers are actively buying into or are aware of this potential tourism opportunity. This research contributes to an understanding of Canadian farm diversification, particularly within the context of an emerging tourism destination.

The Impact of Perceived Brand Equity on Customer Satisfaction: with Special Reference to Emerging Tourism Destinations

The Impact of Perceived Brand Equity on Customer Satisfaction: with Special Reference to Emerging Tourism Destinations

Performance evaluation of the hotel industry in an emerging tourism destination: The case of Oman

Abstract This study is concerned with evaluating the performance of the hotel industry in the Sultanate of Oman through a two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) procedure. In the first stage, DEA-bootstrap is used to estimate point and interval efficiency ratios of the hotels, identify the benchmark hotels and suggest a potential ranking. In the second stage, a truncated regression model based on the double bootstrapping procedure of Simar & Wilson (2007) is implemented to identify potential sources of hotels' operational inefficiency. In addition, an empirical approach is introduced to quantify the attractiveness of tourism destinations through a weighting scheme. The benchmarking analysis is carried out on a sample of 58 hotels, and revealed that (1) the majority of hotels in Oman are technically inefficient; (2) most of the efficient hotels are located in the capital, Muscat; (3) star rating and cultural attractions are the most important factors influencing hotels' efficiency. Practical implications of these findings are also discussed.

The hospitality franchise purchase decision making process

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the hospitality franchise purchase decision-making process undertaken by franchisees in Macau as an emerging tourism destination and the role of national culture on purchasing a franchise brand and selecting a potential franchisor. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 18 franchisees in Macau, who purchased international and domestic hospitality franchise brands, were conducted to understand the feelings, attitudes and motivation of franchisees toward purchasing a hospitality franchise. Findings The study reveals that national culture can play an important role in franchisees’ decision-making process. Personal networks of friends and family (guanxi) are very influential in introducing and steering aspiring entrepreneurs toward franchising as an option to realize their ambitions, although there may be some limitations to franchisees with this approach. Guanxi was also found to be particularly relevant during negotiations and franchisees’ post-purchase reviews. Practical implications International franchisors should understand the importance of guanxi at different stages of the franchisees’ decision-making process. Franchisees should realize how a reliance on guanxi might negatively affect their efforts to undertake sufficient research to thoroughly evaluate the franchisor offer before contract signature. Originality/value A comprehensive hospitality franchisee decision-making purchase framework is developed, which includes the cultural context and cultural values. Guanxi, in particular, affects the franchisee decision-making process.

The role of government in driving human capital development in the tourism industry in Nigeria

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer an opportunity to reflect on government-led initiatives for addressing human capital development (HCD) in Cross River State (CRS), the widely acknowledged number one tourism destination in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach A descriptive case study of the CRS government’s initiative to build and consolidate the human capital base for an emerging tourism destination is presented. Findings The findings show that HCD initiatives emerged as a result of a public–private collaboration between CRS and the Citizens Development Corps (CDC). Originality/value Using a real-life example, this paper demonstrates how the government in an emerging nation can initiate positive policies to advance HCD in tourism.

Economic and destination image impacts of mega-events in emerging tourist destinations

Abstract Mega-events can have different types of effects, both tangible and intangible, for host cities or countries. For the case of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Baku, Azerbaijan, this study combines an economic impact study and two country image assessments carried out before and after this mega-event in an emerging tourist destination. Economic impacts are calculated based on on-site, face-to-face visitor surveys during the ESC and an input–output model. Image effects are measured with a representative two-wave online panel in Austria, which was selected as a potential tourist source market for Azerbaijan. The study finds that visitor expenditures produce €3.3 million of direct and indirect income in terms of local wages and salaries. Additionally, Azerbaijan’s image improved significantly through the mega-event, especially with young, cosmopolitan people. Surprisingly, the country’s image significantly improved even among people who did not watch the ESC on TV, due to extensive media coverage.

Material semiotics, ontological politics and im/mobilities of bomb-spoons in Laos

Theoretical concepts from Actor-Network Theory can be applied to practical mobilities’ approach resulting in a multi-layered analytical framework for studying spatially and conceptually disparate social phenomena. This article introduces findings from war and tourism–mobilities on The Plain of Jars in the Lao P.D.R., a post-conflict landscape and emerging tourism destination. Discourses centred on war–scrap architecture and artisan traditions, like war–scrap spoon making as well as the involvement of an American ethical fashion social enterprise are used to discuss how the two selected ANT concepts of im/material semiotics and ontological politics can be combined with mobilities’ concepts of the mobilities of people, things and ideas. This study shows how such an analysis based on especially on flat ontologies is intensifying mobilities, how disparate items and ideas “can be caught or not caught” and how these become materially embedded in different places, markets and agendas. It is discussed how this might find practical application for development cooperation.

‘Fun, Games and Gains’ in Bangkok Unlicensed Guide: Thai (Male)–Farang (Female) Sexual Encounters in 1970s Semi-Fiction

This article investigates cross-cultural encounters from the point of view of a local man who tries to gain the upper hand in power negotiations in the context of tourism. Through titillating narratives, he constructs ‘white women’ as ‘loose’, a stereotype which remains prevalent in Thai male perceptions of Western women in the twenty-first century. The article looks at selected semi-fiction from the 1972 collection Kai-phi Bangkok chut 1 (Bangkok Unlicensed Guide Collection 1) by Ta Tha-it in its capacity as a representative of the ‘lowbrow’ genre of ‘male writing for male reading’. Exploring the narratives of sexual encounters between a local tour guide and Western women, it examines the sexualization of the farang (Western) body as a strategy for ‘fun, games and gains’ in cross-cultural sexual encounters. In the three stories discussed, the sexualized farang bodies turn out to be homosexual, masochistic and aged respectively, while the Thai body is hetero-normative, young and virile. The entire collection from which this analysis is drawn was composed in the 1970s against the backdrop of Cold War Thailand as an emerging tourist destination for US soldiers in Indochina and of the rise of international tourism in Thailand.

Resident Perceptions of Community Tourism in Cape Verde

Community tourism appears to be an alternative that mitigates the negative effects of mass tourism in less developed countries. In this kind of tourism, the attitudes and perceptions of residents play an important role in tourism planning and development. In this article, we analyze the perceptions and attitudes of residents in community tourism in the Island of Santo Antão (Cape Verde), an emerging tourist destination that is currently experiencing a considerable increase of tourists—which is altering the way of life of its communities. The fieldwork was carried out based on a survey of residents. The questionnaire was filled out by a random sample of respondents, with a total of 319 questionnaires obtained. The main results reveal that residents are in favor of tourism development, due to the positive benefits that it can bring, such as the recovery of traditional handicrafts, more investment in infrastructures, and higher quality hospitality and retail establishments. However, in order for tourism on the island to be sustainable and for the residents' perceived benefits to materialize, tourism initiatives need more participation by local residents, public administrators, universities, and nongovernmental organizations.

English

The literature on destination image spanned over four decades. Despite this long period of knowledge accumulation, there is not yet a generally accepted measurement for destination image. This paper seeks to determine the underlying structure of tourism destination image and to investigate the effect of destination image on visitors’ future intentions. An emerging tourism destination in Nigeria (Cross River State) was used as the study area. A systematic sample of 367 onsite visitors was recruited for the study. A well-structured and written questionnaire containing 35 destination image attributes was used to elicit data for the study. Exploratory factor analysis, t test equality test and regression analysis were utilized to identify attributes that underpinned destination image and underlying structure. The exploratory factor analysis produced six dimensions: destination quality of life, natural attractions and facilities, quality of public services, destination product quality and education, industry hospitality and environmental ambience, communication and security. Tourism destination image index of the destination was rated somewhat poor. Inferential statistic shows that there is significant difference in the tourists’ perception of four destination image dimensions (destination quality of life, natural attractions and facilities, quality of public services, destination product quality and education, industry hospitality and environmental ambience and communication and security) based on whether they are domestic or international tourists. Two of the dimensions (quality of public services and communication and security) did not indicate significant difference based on place of residence. The study also shows that there is a significant relationship between tourism destination image dimensions and visitors’ behavioural intentions. Specifically, two destination image dimensions were found to predict visitors’ future intentions (industry hospitality and environmental ambience and natural attractions and facilities). The result of this study is expected to influence the formulation of destination product development and branding strategy which is necessary to create and grow the number of visitor arrivals in the destination. Key words: Tourism destination image, destination attractiveness, future intentions, visitor attraction, social construction, destination attributes.

Diversity of angiospermic plants in Dhanaulti Region, Uttarakhand: an emerging tourist destination in Western Himalaya

Situated adjacent to Mussoorie, the popular hill station in Uttarakhand state of India, Dhanaulti region is known for its scenic environs amidst the temperate forests. The floristic survey revealed a total of 112 species belonging to 96 genera and 47 families. Poaceae was the largest family with 16 genera and 17 species followed by Rosaceae represented by nine genera and 13 species and Asteraceae with eight genera and eight species. Lamiaceae and Caprifoliaceae had four species each while Brassicaceae, Celastraceae, Cyperaceae, Fabaceae, Orchidaceae, Plantaginaceae and Smilacaceae had three species each. Most dominant genus was Rubus with four species followed by Euonymus and Smilax with three species each. Two vulnerable species, Bergenia ciliata (Haw.) Sternb. and Valeriana jatamansi Jones, were also recorded. This study in addition gives an account on ethnobotanical uses of 51 species. Since Dhanaulti is an emerging tourist destination in Western Himalaya, the study will generate baseline information for management authorities to give due importance to its ecological wealth while planning any development in future.

Explaining the status and scope of ecotourism development for livelihood security: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

In the past few decades, the tourism sector has emerged as a significant economic activity in island nations, particularly in tropical regions. However, most of the tropical islands face similar constraints, viz., threat to natural resources, chances of biopiracy, impact of climate change, population pressure and unsystematic tourist management. Ecotourism, as a concept, envisages promoting tourism with due regard to natural environment and ecological sanctity of the destination. Archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands is one of picturesque geographical creation in the Bay of Bengal, India, in tropical region and is an emerging tourist destination. It was observed that around 2.2 lakhs national and international tourists visit the A&N Islands annually. With tourism sector as an integral component, the service sector with share of 56% in gross state domestic product dominates the island economy. An analysis based on primary survey from various stakeholders associated with the sector revealed that factors such as economy in travel and boarding, availability of tourist facilities and comfort, safety, etc. were major factors that determined the choice of the tourists that visited the islands. The weights given by the tourists to the natural sites in A&N Islands revealed that the landscape topped list with 91.6% score by the visitors followed by beaches (91.3%), scenery (86.5%), reserved forests (84.6%), limestone caves (66.3%) and coral sights (65.8%). Coral sites were given weight of 65.8% of tourists, cultural and historical tourism products 85.4% for the natural history. Similarly, historical sites (83.7%), museums (78.6%) and heritage sites (72.8%) were also among top cites attraction. Recent initiatives by the Andaman administration gives due to care to sustainably develop the tourism infrastructure of the islands to harness the potential of eco-friendly tourism in this picturesque tourist haven.

Tourism sustainability in Tibet – Forward planning using a systems approach

The purpose of this study is to employ a nonlinear dynamic evaluation method to assess the tourism sustainability of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), China, a new emerging tourism destination. The methodology draws on system dynamics and Back Propagation (BP) neural network. According to 7 setting principles, this study identifies 13 tourism sustainability indicators including conventional tourism income, tourism resources stock, pollution stock, etc., as well as specific residents’ tourism cognition, seasonal difference, accessibility, etc. Then a system dynamics model including the 13 indicators (variables) and other relevant auxiliary variables is established. Based on the numerical simulation, using a three layers BP neural network optimized by genetic algorithm and particle swarm algorithm, this study evaluates the future sustainability dynamically and compares the sustainability evolution from 2014 to 2050 under different development strategies. The research results not only provide information useful for the dynamic control and scientific management of the future sustainable tourism development, but also provide a systems approach to evaluate regional tourism sustainability.

Elements of demand in the touristic promotion of the outer Belgrade municipalities

At the beginning of promotional activities, providers any tourist offer must define who they are addressing to, since tourists are a very heterogenous category different in its demographical, socio- economical, psychological and other characteristics. Outer Belgrade municipalities have real, versatile potentials and concrete offers for different kind of tourists, despite numerous limitations and generally underdeveloped tourism. However, it is crucial to define target markets and elements of tourist demand of priority significance for every tourist destination, especially for those which are just emerging on the tourist market. Therefore, it is very important to have a realistic insight into the advantages and disadvantages of the tourist offer and into the offer of competitive destinations. Emerging tourist destinations, like BLO, shouldn't tend to meet all the elements of demand in all markets, but focus their promotional efforts on those elements of tourist offer whose demands are correspondent to the existing offer, having in mind all the limitations in regards to volume, structure and quality of the existing offer in its territory.

Counterculture

Counterculture

Preserving Wilderness at an Emerging Tourist Destination

Iceland is an emerging tourist destination with a huge growth in tourist arrivals where wilderness as an important part of the attraction.But visitors travel into wilderness to experience naturalness and solitude so when wilderness becomes a popular tourist destination these qualities are difficult to preserve. This research builds on questionnaire surveys gathered among 3941 travelers at nine areas in the Highlands of Iceland where the aim was to explore to what extent travelers experience wilderness in the Highlands of Iceland and whether they experience that the carrying capacity of the destinations in the Highlands has been reached. It furthermore discusses the possible use limits of wilderness as an arena for tourism.The results show that despite substantial human influence travelers experience wilderness. Most travelers consider the number of tourists appropriate, although some warning signs are emerging as 40% of tourists consider that there are too many tourists in one of the areas. Visitors prefer simplicity and wish to keep the places as natural as possible, with one exception at the most visited destination. There the attitudes of visitors are more anthropocentric, favoring more humanized landscape and service. Using wilderness as a tourism product is a very challenging task in an emerging destination where tourism growth is as fast as it is in Iceland.

Identification of leadership in emerging tourist destinations

Purpose The paper aims to propose a method of identifying and evaluating leadership potential of stakeholders in emerging tourist destinations and to verify this method in three Polish destinations. Developing destinations miss well-established networking structures and management experiences. The greatest impact on their success is made by the most active stakeholders who are able to pool and mobilise partners and coordinate their efforts to realise common goals. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on a stakeholders’ potential analysis and the network approach. To identify destination leadership, the method – adapted from an axiological analysis of regional development participants – is used and verified in rural, coastal and mountain destinations in Poland. An in-depth analysis of stakeholders representing the public, private and non-profit sectors is conducted to assess their leadership potential. Ultimately, 183 interviews were conducted. Findings Based on literature review, five dimensions of destination leadership were identified, namely, networking capability, analytical abilities, impact capability, economic potential and legitimacy. In emerging destinations, the most influential stakeholders are characterised by strong impact, analytical leadership capabilities and legitimacy. Research limitations/implications The paper provides insights into destination leadership discussion and research. The limited number of verification cases and limited qualitative data analysis could be seen as its limitation. Practical implications Emerging destinations have incomplete leadership. An imbalanced structure of destination leadership may have serious consequences on stability and development of destinations; it also affects the process of identification of potential leaders. Originality/value The paper is original because it proposes an innovative method of identifying destination leadership, especially in emerging destinations.