Local Tourism Research Articles

MANDALA DA SUSTENTABILIDADE NO TURISMO

Contemporary times have been marked by the trivial and excessive use of the adjective “sustainable”, tourism has not been left out of this trend. The lauded “sustainable destination” title has become a central premise among territorial management groups. However, developing public policies to meet this status has evidenced reductionist and sometimes misguided treatments that fail to incorporate the true complexity of sustainability into tourism. The results are disconnected, one-off, ineffective actions based on guesswork or the interests of particular actors in the territory. This essay presents a simplified and didactic proposal for a territorial planning instrument (Sustainability Mandala in Tourism – TSM) to contribute to the attempt to seek sustainability in tourism development. The TSM comprises 21 indicators, defined from the analysis of international instruments and national strategies in force in tourism planning. The instrument covers the seven dimensions of sustainability (environmental, territorial, political, cultural, social, economic, and technological), and it has been developed to guide local and regional tourism management groups pragmatically. Keywords: Sustainability Indicators; Tourism; Public Policy; Mandala of Sustainability in Tourism; Local Development.

Analysis of Perceived Value as an Intervening Variable of Aspect-Based Sentiment and Tourist Experience on Lake Toba Tourism Destination Development Problems

Tourism problems must be resolved quickly because every problem that exists will make the name of the tourist spot a negative value in the eyes of other tourists who want to visit, the tours visited at least provide comfort for visitors so that this positive value will have an impact on the decision to revisit or spread positive information to potential new tourists in the tourist environment itself. This research approach is quantitative with the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) model. This approach is able to test the most ideal model in estimating endogenous variables. This research was conducted in the North Sumatra region, precisely at the Lake Toba tourist location and the research target was Lake Toba tourism visitors who came from outside the Tobasa Regency area, the population of Lake Toba tourists who had visited at least 250 people twice, the analysis model used to test the hypothesis in this study was multiple regression analysis using the Smart PLS application. Directly Perceived Value, Aspect-Based Sentiment and Tourist Experience have a Significant Effect on the Problems of Lake Toba Tourism Destination Development, Directly Aspect-Based Sentiment and Tourist Experience have a Significant Effect on Perceived Value of Lake Toba Tourism, Indirectly Aspect-Based Sentiment and Tourist Experience have a Significant Effect on the Problems of Lake Toba Tourism Destination Development through Perceived Value.

The Jurassic Park and Ata Modo in Eastern Indonesia

Famous for its distinctive Komodo dragons (Varanus Komodoensis) and features home to underwater ecosystems, the Komodo National Park (KNP) has become a prominent and favorite destination of visitors locally and globally in recent years. Situated in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia, KNP has three prime islands: Rinca, Komodo, and Padar. The infrastructure development in KNP formulated in 2020 by the central government of Indonesia, including establishing offices, photograph areas, clinics, warehouses, public spaces, and tour guides' offices, raises controversy about this decision. While the government of Indonesia persuaded citizens that this erection was a conservation effort for protection, preservation, and utilization, UNESCO refused this plan by enacting a refusal document and assessing whether the development could affect the property's Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) before the review of the relevant environmental impact analysis by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Additionally, the local people argue this plan will threaten the giant lizard's habitat regarding the entry of heavy equipment and disadvantage local tourism actors. Using a systematic literature review method, this piece collects and discovers a different concept in the issue of infrastructure development in KNP instead of another scholar's perspective. Walpole and Goodwin (2000) find that economics and facilities are the prominent aspects of tourism, while UNESCO considers the environment in development. In contrast to popular belief, this paper indicates a significant role of local people, known as Ata Modo, in the KNP establishment. This paper's findings propose that Ata Modo, as local people/tribes in KNP, should not be relocated from their area and instead be involved in the decision-making process. The bottom-up approach can be executed as a practice in a democratic process. From the fiscal approach, this development will positively impact local people's economy through collaboration and stakeholder participation.

Visitors’ Behaviors and Perceptions of Spatial Factors of Uncultivated Internet-Famous Sites in Urban Riverfront Public Spaces: Case Study in Changsha, China

This article takes representative uncultivated riverfront internet-famous sites (uncultivated RIFSs) in Changsha city, China, as an example to explore the internal mechanism of their formation and finds that they are closely related to the “urban subculture” and the “informality of urban public space”. In terms of methodology, through questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews, this study investigates the behavioral characteristics of onsite visitors, the overall perceptions and satisfaction of public spaces, and the perceptions of spatial and humanistic elements of visitors. The main findings are as follows: ① Onsite visitors are mainly male, with local tourists and nearby residents accounting for over 80%. Furthermore, over half of the visitors have limited understanding of the uncultivated RIFSs. ② People’s overall attitudes towards the uncultivated RIFSs are positive. And the ability to carry out meaningful activities and find comfort and safety are of the greatest concern to onsite tourists. ③ Among the visiting reasons, leisure stays accounted for the highest proportion, followed by sightseeing, sports stays and social stays. ④ The onsite visitors’ main focus of spatial elements and humanistic elements is different according to the different sites. However, visitors’ dissatisfaction is mainly reflected in poor site safety and sanitation conditions, inadequate facilities and poor surrounding environments. This paper also compares the online–offline differences in the spatial perceptions of the uncultivated RIFSs between this study and previous research; instead of focusing on the urban physical spaces, online social media users pay more attention to their self-presentation. Meanwhile, the visitors place greater emphasis on the functionality, practicality and experiential activities of the urban physical spaces. Finally, this article proposes optimization strategies for uncultivated RIFSs from planning and governance and public space design aspects to protect and strengthen the composite utilization of space, therefore enhancing diverse vitality.

Breaking Down the Barriers: Rethinking Government's Role in Indonesian Tourism Destination Development

Stakeholder involvement is essential to destination development. They may serve as catalysts or impediments to the growth of tourist sites. This study explores the barriers to tourism destination development associated with the role of local tourism authorities. A qualitative approach, employing semi-structured interviews, was utilized to examine the root causes of these challenges. Sixteen stakeholders, including ten government officials responsible for regional tourism development and six community leaders, were selected as informants in this study. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview data. The investigation revealed four main barriers to destination development from government agencies. There are bureaucratic hurdles, contrived program activities, overlapping roles of local governments, and the community’s misconceptions about the government’s role in destination development. These factors collectively hinder the successful implementation of government-led tourism programs. The study suggests that understanding and addressing these barriers are vital to fostering a progressive, sustainable, competitive tourist destination. On a practical level, the findings can help policymakers redesign their strategies to create more community-centric programs, clearly define roles, and manage community expectations. Conceptually, this study expands the existing literature on the role of government and bureaucracy in developing tourist destinations. The study highlights the importance of a participatory approach that engages all stakeholders in the planning and implementation tourism policies and programs.

Local Government Tourism Officer satisfaction with the Smart Destination model: A case study with the Kano method

The aim of this research is to analyse local government tourism officer satisfaction with a smart destination model using the Kano method. A causal model is proposed with four antecedent variables of tourism officer satisfaction with the smart destination model: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust in and challenges of the model. The smart destination model applied to a smart destination network in the Valencian Community (Spain) is taken as a case study. The results show that trust, ease of use and challenges have a linear relationship with satisfaction, while usefulness has a non-linear relationship. However, structural equation modelling analysis shows that only trust in the model significantly influences local government tourism officer satisfaction with the model.

Optimization Model of Tourism Android Application Based on Madura Local Wisdom as a Persuasive digitalization for Global Tourists

Madura has natural, cultural, religious, and culinary attractions, this adds to the wealth of local wisdom of Madura to attract visitors from outside Madura. Bangkalan Regency itself has a lot of tourism, currently still under development by each village pokdarwis (kelompok sadar wisata) and assisted by the local tourism office, but this is not optimal. Such as tourism development through promotion and optimization has not been maximized. Looking at the background, the researcher wants to know, analyze, and dig deeply: 1) the Optimalization model of the application in Android destination-based traveler local wisdom as media persuasive for tourism global, 2) Why optimization of application in Android destination-based traveler local wisdom as digitalization persuasive for the important tourism global development. The subjects are village tourism managers, village heads, and tourism offices. The objects of the optimization in application android destination-based traveler local wisdom as persuasive digitalization for tourism global. Data collection methods through observation, in-depth interviews, documentation, audio-visual materials, and literature. The case study approach and the validity use data triangulation, methods, and member checks. The results of the research: 1) produced an optimization model of local wisdom-based tourist destination in android applications as persuasive media for global tourists, 2) importance of a tourism android application, to introduce potential Natural Beach Tourism, introduce potential artificial beach tourism, introduce superior religious tourism, introduce superior cultural tourism, introduce superior culinary tourism, increase the creative economy through local wisdom-based tourism, and provide information on village tourism that has the potential to become a leading tourism in Base.

Measuring daily tourism mobility spillover at the intra-metropolis level with mobile positioning data

ABSTRACT Although tourism mobility spillover continues to be a key indicator for tourism management, more innovative research must be conducted at the micro level and high sampling frequency. Against the backdrop of an increasing number of global cities, in this paper, we evaluate the daily tourism mobility spillover inside a worldwide city of China: Shanghai. Based on the Granger causal network model and an original mobile positioning dataset, we analyse the causal relationship between local tourism flows and the spillover effects of tourism mobility within Shanghai. By categorising tourists into ‘local tourists from Shanghai’ and ‘tourists from out of Shanghai’, we reveal a significant causal relationship between Shanghai districts and flows generated by ‘tourists from out of Shanghai’. The analysis of the causal network structure also reveals key districts and points of interest that significantly contribute to congestion in tourism mobility and Shanghai's dynamics. This econometric approach offers policymakers a valuable tool to monitor mobility drivers and optimise flows within the city.

Affection and Responsibility: Driving Mechanism of Local Tourism Employment of Farmers in Ethnic Villages

In tourism employment, the participation of farmers is closely linked to the development of ethnic villages. Existing literature often overlooks the role of farmers’ non-economic rationality factors in their employment behavior. This study investigated the mechanism of farmers’ livelihood capital, place attachment, and family care on their local tourism employment behavior. The research found: First, livelihood capital facilitates farmers’ participation in local tourism employment, with place attachment mediating the correlation between livelihood capital and participation of farmers in local tourism employment, and family care positively moderating their participation in local tourism employment. Second, three distinct configurations drive farmers’ participation in local tourism employment. Third, complementary and substitution effects exist between livelihood capitals. Fourth, place attachment and family care demonstrate a masking effect. The government should actively maintain farmers’ place attachment, address farmers’ family care difficulties, guide farmers to utilize the substitution and complementary influences of livelihood capital and select appropriate paths to promote farmers’ participation in local tourism employment.

Spatiotemporal Information, Near-Field Perception, and Service for Tourists by Distributed Camera and BeiDou Positioning System in Mountainous Scenic Areas

The collaborative use of camera near-field sensors for monitoring the number and status of tourists is a crucial aspect of smart scenic spot management. This paper proposes a near-field perception technical system that achieves dynamic and accurate detection of tourist targets in mountainous scenic areas, addressing the challenges of real-time passive perception and safety management of tourists. The technical framework involves the following steps: Firstly, real-time video stream signals are collected from multiple cameras to create a distributed perception network. Then, the YOLOX network model is enhanced with the CBAM module and ASFF method to improve the dynamic recognition of preliminary tourist targets in complex scenes. Additionally, the BYTE target dynamic tracking algorithm is employed to address the issue of target occlusion in mountainous scenic areas, thereby enhancing the accuracy of model detection. Finally, the video target monocular spatial positioning algorithm is utilized to determine the actual geographic location of tourists based on the image coordinates. The algorithm was deployed in the Tianmeng Scenic Area of Yimeng Mountain in Shandong Province, and the results demonstrate that this technical system effectively assists in accurately perceiving and spatially positioning tourists in mountainous scenic spots. The system demonstrates an overall accuracy in tourist perception of over 90%, with spatial positioning errors less than 1.0 m and a root mean square error (RMSE) of less than 1.14. This provides auxiliary technical support and effective data support for passive real-time dynamic precise perception and safety management of regional tourist targets in mountainous scenic areas with no/weak satellite navigation signals.

Seasonal changes in black carbon footprint on the Antarctic Peninsula due to rising shipborne tourism and forest fires.

Refractory black carbon (rBC) has great potential to increase melting when deposited on snow and ice surfaces. Previous studies attributed sources and impacts of rBC in the northern Antarctic Peninsula region by investigating long-range atmospheric transport from South Hemisphere biomass burning and industrial regions or by assessing impacts from local tourism and research activities. We used high-resolution measurements of refractory rBC in a firn core collected near the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, as well as atmospheric rBC from Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2, satellite measurements, modeling, burned area data, and tourism statistics, to assess combined impacts of both long-range transported rBC and locally emitted rBC. Our findings suggest that tourism activities have a regional rather than local impact and the increase in rBC concentrations during late spring-summer, influenced by tourism activities and fires in the Southern Hemisphere, can enhance ice melt. This highlights the need for strategies to reduce local and distant rBC emissions.

Metaverse in tourism: tourist involvement as a moderator

ABSTRACT This paper aims to identify barriers and enablers of the growing use of Metaverse in tourism by examining users’ intention in selecting a tourist location and hotel for vacation. It employs a mixed methods approach conducted in two phases, namely exploratory and confirmatory. The grounded theory’s twin slate approach allows extracting the factors in the first exploratory phase. The second (confirmatory) phase employs structural equation modeling to analyze the data. The results show that the Perceived Usage Barrier, Perceived Risk Barriers, and Perceived Value Barriers pose as significant barriers to the adoption of the Metaverse.

Revisiting the Facilitators of Social Media Adoption within the Tourism Sector: An Empirical Investigation in an Emerging Economy

Aim: This study aims to investigate the factors facilitating social media adoption within the tourism sector of an emerging economy. Background: Social media has emerged as a transformative agent within the global tourism industry, fundamentally altering the ways in which tourists engage, disseminate information, and make travel-related decisions. However, the integration of social media platforms within emerging economies poses distinctive challenges and opportunities Objective: The primary objective of this research is to discern the drivers underpinning social media utilization within the tourism sector of an emerging economy, while also comprehending their implications for destination management, sustainable tourism practices, and economic advancement. This study operates within a considered framework to delineate the intricate interplay between social media dynamics and the broader tourism landscape. Methods: Employing a survey methodology, data was collected from local tourists visiting tourist destinations in Ghana, an emerging economy situated in West Africa, to elucidate their patterns of social media usage and associated motivations. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to rigorously analyze the data and discern the key enablers driving social media utilization within the tourism sector. Results: The findings reveal that factors such as information accessibility, behavioral objectives, tourism satisfaction, and destination perception emerge as pivotal enablers fostering social media adoption within Ghana's tourism sector. Moreover, the study underscores the positive impact of social media usage on tourist satisfaction and loyalty, underscoring its significance in shaping visitor experiences. Conclusion: This study underscores the imperative of comprehensively understanding the enablers of social media utilization within the tourism sector of emerging economies. Hence, by explaining these dynamics, stakeholders can make informed strategic decisions regarding destination management, foster sustainable tourism practices, and propel economic development within the region.

Student Potential in Developing Beach Recreational Sports Events to Improve Local Tourism

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of student capacity in organizing recreational sports events based on the results of the pre-test and post-test scores. This study used a survey method with a quantitative descriptive research design. Data analysis used a percentage technique based on norm-referenced assessments. The subjects in this study were 30 students of Recreational Business Management. The data collection process used a structured questionnaire. Based on the pre-test and post-test data, the results showed that the Sig. (2-tailed) value was 0.0000.05, so it can be concluded that there is a significant difference between the results of the Pre-Test and Post-Test. This is reinforced by the fact that before carrying out recreational sports activities, the Post-Test results showed a percentage of 41% (Moderate). After carrying out recreational sports activities, the percentage increased to 70% (High).

Conclusion: sustainability, smart tourism destinations and evolving visitor preferences

PurposeThe primary aim of this themed issue is to highlight the incorporation of sustainability principles in the progress of tourism and the monitoring of tourists' evolving preferences, all within the sustainability framework and smart tourism destinations. The strategic question underlying this theme issue is how can we interpret, relate and monitor the rapidly evolving visitor preferences within sustainability and smart tourism destinations?Design/methodology/approachThis issue’s critical outcomes as they relate to the strategic question are reviewed, with reference to the contributions made to knowledge, policy and practice and the implications for future applied research concerning sustainability, smart tourism destinations and evolving visitor preferences.FindingsArising from the analysis and synthesis of recommendations, the following themes were proposed as critical concentration points for rapidly evolving visitor preferences within sustainability and smart tourism destinations: as in all areas of life, sustainability will continue to be a prominent concept in the tourism sector. Smart solutions and the use of technology have also been identified as determining factors in creating sustainable destinations. On the other hand, changing and evolving tourist preferences are emerging as a driving force for smart destinations and sustainability. Tourism destinations must take steps toward sustainability by considering the changing visitor structure, evolving demands and needs. Some articles in this special issue also analyze tourist demands and sustainability efforts of destinations in specific destinations and provide invaluable insights.Originality/valueAs it is essential for all stakeholders of the tourism industry to achieve competitiveness while securing sustainability, this particular article suggests ways for the industry as a whole, its players, destination administrations, local and national policymakers and other major stakeholders of the tourism industry to address some issues faced by the industry. Factors such as changing customer structure, use of technology and increasing environmental awareness make it necessary for destination management and all players individually to take vital measures. This paper and the collection of articles in this thematic issue offer crucial insights for academics, professionals and decision-makers in creating a complete framework to assess, connect and regularly track changing visitor preferences. The papers include recommendations for creating robust tourism locations that effectively tackle challenges, promote inclusion and prepare for future advancements. This is achieved by examining the convergence of sustainability, smart tourism and changing tourist tastes.

Sun and Sand Ecotourism Management for Sustainable Development in Sisal, Yucatán, Mexico

The promotion of tourism without planning or management can lead the degradation of ecosystems and conflictive social dynamics. This study was conducted in a coastal location where tourism has recently intensified and aimed to reconstruct the preliminary history of tourism and analyze which social groups were involved in tourism and conservation for conducting an ecotourism management. A qualitative content analysis was conducted based on the perceptions of developers, authorities, and tourists in the locality. The results identify social groups involved in the use of ecosystems within the context of local tourism, their interactions, interests, and actions. An analysis of actions contrary to the conservation of these ecosystems that cause land use conflicts and hinder the development of endogenous local tourism was conducted. Social movements and collective actions reveal common interests and values among the inhabitants of Sisal that reveal the potential for transformation into a sustainable tourism project for endogenous local development.

Research on the Influence Mechanism of Tourists’ Pro-Environmental Behavior in Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Sites: A Case Study of the Anxi Tieguanyin Tea Culture System in China

The harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature stands as a paramount objective in the global endeavor towards ecological civilization. By vigorously promoting eco-friendly recreational activities within World Agricultural Heritage sites, we can evoke tourists’ emotional understanding and empathy towards environmental protection. This approach presents an optimal solution to the challenges faced in realizing the ecological value of these heritage sites, thereby fostering an even deeper harmony between people and nature. For this study, the Anxi Tie Guan Yin Tea Cultural System, a site of global agricultural heritage significance, was chosen as the case study. Employing structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, a survey was administered to 452 local tourists for empirical testing. The research reveals several key findings: (1) Tourists’ environmental concern exerts a notably positive influence on their pro-environmental behaviors; (2) both nature empathy and ecological anxiety serve as mediators in the relationship between environmental concern and tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors; (3) furthermore, nature empathy and ecological anxiety exhibit a sequential, or chain, mediation effect between environmental concern and pro-environmental behaviors; and (4) lastly, the impact of nature empathy and ecological anxiety on tourists’ pro-environmental behaviors differs according to gender. Consequently, managers of agricultural heritage sites should aim to evoke tourists’ sense of nature empathy while appropriately stimulating their ecological anxiety, thereby providing guidance for ensuring a harmonious blend of human activities and the ecological environment and ultimately fostering the sustainable development of World Agricultural Heritage sites.

Efficacy of Automating the Analysis of TripAdvisor Data in Tourism and Climate Studies

ABSTRACT The viability and competitiveness of tourism locations depends, in part, on climate. Netnographic research utilising TripAdvisor reviews can objectively evaluate tourists’ climatic sensitivity and the meteorological factors most important to them. Manually reading and coding hundreds of reviews is time-consuming. Web-scraping can automate this process and analyse hundreds of thousands of reviews nationwide to evaluate climatic influence more comprehensively. This paper compares the outputs of manually collected and web-scraped TripAdvisor reviews, evaluating the efficacy of a web-scraping approach. The total number of climatic mentions captured varied by a statistically insignificant 3.56%, demonstrating a reasonable efficacy of web-scraping. Out of 26,687 TripAdvisor reviews, 1,163 mentioned climate. This 4.4% mean sensitivity to climatic variables is statistically significantly different to the 7.9% yielded from manual data collection. The two methodologies had minor statistically insignificant differences in climatic references at 19 destinations, ranging from 0.42% to 8.26%. A webscraping approach is thus possible but should be used with caution.

Preservation of arts and culture through edutourism village of Mentaraman in Malang East Java

There are many kinds of community efforts in preserving their local culture, one of which is to carry out routine activities that are integrated with the village celebration agenda so that they become a medium for demonstrating the performance of their local cultural arts potential. This Community Service (PkM) activity aims to package cultural preservation efforts through the formation of an educational tourism village (eduwisata). The location is in the village of Mentaraman, Pagelaran Village, Malang Regency, East Java. The stages used were identification of potential and problems, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), program preparation, socialisation, and trial visits. Analysis of the results used the 6P simultaneous stage. The results of the community service programme are in the form of a tourism package document supported by an increase in skills and a variety of performing arts as well as the involvement of local communities in management. Recommendations include the need to increase the capacity of local tour guides, the participation of artists, and the use of information technology to support digital-based promotions.

Analisis Sentimen Ulasan Wisatawan Terhadap Alun-Alun Kota Batam: Perbandingan Kinerja Metode Naive Bayes dan Support Vector Machine

Batam City, as a rapidly developing tourism destination in Indonesia, continues to strive to enhance the potential of its tourist attractions to attract more visitors. The assessment of reviews from tourists is crucial in identifying necessary development measures to improve the quality of tourist attractions. This research aims to analyze the sentiment of reviews for the Alun-Alun Kota Batam tourist destination by leveraging data from Google Maps. Two classification methods, Naive Bayes and Support Vector Machine, are employed for sentiment analysis, and their performances are compared. From 1140 collected reviews, the data is categorized into three labels: positive, negative, and neutral. The research results indicate that the Support Vector Machine method achieves higher accuracy (94%) compared to Naive Bayes (83%). This study contributes insights into visitor sentiments towards Alun-Alun Kota Batam, with implications for policy development and more effective actions in enhancing local tourism appeal.