Popular Tourist Research Articles

A balatoni turizmus változásai az elmúlt három évtizedben

Lake Balaton is the largest lake in Central Europe, with a length of 77 km and an average width of 7.7 km. After Budapest, it is the second most popular tourist destination in Hungary, with a particular increase in visitors during the summer months. The development of tourism at Lake Balaton began in the 1880s, when a few landlords recognised the economic and cultural importance of tourism and started to develop infrastructure. This development process has been interrupted to a certain extent, but is still continuing today. Over 140 years, a number of mediumsized towns have grown up from the small villages of the past. Today’s Balaton Region includes 177 settlements, 44 of which are located directly on the shore. Lake Balaton is also a symbol. In some periods it has become a distinctive centre of Hungarian human culture, with high-quality works by painters, writers and poets associated with the lake and the landscape around it. However, the Balaton Region has changed a lot since the end of socialism. The emergence of a market economy, rising incomes, the emergence of private and foreign capital and the use of EU funds have brought huge changes to the life of the region. Today, Lake Balaton is still an attractive destination for the domestic holidaymaking masses. Therefore, it is worth examining the changes that have taken place in the Balaton Region in the almost 30 years since the political regime change, how the former culture of mass tourism has been transformed, and what opportunities and at the same time what difficulties this region has. My intention is to show what measures have been taken to improve and develop the natural and built environment of the destination since the regime change. Furthermore, I would like to give an overall picture of the changes in the population and tourism demand in the area.

Possible New Focus of Diphyllobothriasis, Central Europe.

Diphyllobothriasis is a human parasitic infection that is widespread in the Northern Hemisphere. Popular sport fish such as pike and perch are the source of human infection. We document the autochthonous origin of diphyllobothriasis in a popular tourist destination in Central Europe, which likely marks recent colonization of the parasite.

Branding strategy for the tourism attraction potential of Pura Pengelukatan Tirta Sudamala Wanagiri Buleleng

One of the religious tourism attractions with significant potential to attract both domestic and international visitors is Pura Pengelukatan Tirta Sudamala, located in Wanagiri, Buleleng. However, to fully realize this potential and turn it into a tourist attraction, a strong branding strategy is needed. To increase the chances of Pura Pengelukatan Tirta Sudamala becoming one of the popular tourist destinations in Wanagiri Village, Buleleng, this paper will explore and develop an appropriate branding strategy to introduce the tourism potential of Pura Pengelukatan Tirta Sudamala. The approach used is a qualitative method, involving in-depth interviews and field observations. Moving forward, the findings of this study are expected to provide tactical recommendations that can be implemented to improve the development of Pura Pengelukatan Tirta Sudamala's tourism potential.

The Experiences of First-Time Managers at a Hawaii Tourist Destination

Hawaii is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. Serving the millions of annual tourists to Hawaii are managers and supervisors who operate the tourist destinations frequented by these visitors. For this qualitative study, 17 individuals serving as first-time managers (FTMs) in a prominent tourist destination in Hawaii were interviewed to identify the challenges they faced in their transition into management roles and how they have overcome these challenges. The study also identified factors that help individuals better prepare for the transition from employees to first-time managers.

Wildfires and tourism in the Mediterranean: Balancing conservation and economic interests

Wildfires have been a recurrent issue in the Mediterranean region due to its hot, dry summers and dense vegetation, exacerbated by human activities and climate change. This paper examines the complex relationship between wildfires and tourism in Southern Europe, focusing on their regional patterns, interactions, and socio-economic impacts. The study identifies key drivers of wildfire incidence, such as climatic conditions, vegetation type, human activity, and topography, and analyzes their implications for the tourism sector. Through a systematic review of the literature, the authors highlight the increased frequency and intensity of fires in the Mediterranean, which have caused significant ecological, economic, and social damage. The research also discusses the regional diversity of fire occurrences, revealing that most large fires are concentrated in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, France, and Croatia, among the most popular tourist destinations. The impact of wildfires on tourism is multifaceted. At the same time, they decrease the attractiveness of affected areas, leading to reduced visitor numbers and economic losses. The paper suggests that effective fire management and prevention strategies, including public awareness, sustainable tourism practices, and international cooperation, are essential to mitigate the adverse effects of wildfires. It calls for integrating risk management into tourism development plans to enhance the resilience of Southern European destinations to future fire events.

Balancing Tradition and Modernity: The Brand Personality of Santiniketan as a Tourist Destination

The present case study rigorously investigates the brand personality of Santiniketan, a prominent tourism destination in West Bengal, India. This research aims to explore the dominant personality dimensions that define Santiniketan’s identity and to examine potential differences in perceptions between tourists who have visited the town and those who have not. Santiniketan’s unique identity, rooted in its cultural heritage, customs and the legacy of Rabindranath Tagore, is communicated through diverse marketing campaigns and promotions. A strong and positive brand personality can set a destination apart, providing a significant competitive advantage and facilitating increased visitation rates. To evaluate Santiniketan’s brand personality, traditionally associated with peace, tranquillity and spirituality, while exploring additional dimensions such as sustainability and environmental consciousness, this study used the rigorous Destination Personality Scale by Kumar and Nayak (2018, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 42, 1, 3–25). The study employed a mixed-method approach, combining qualitative and quantitative tools, to gather data from 97 respondents through focus group interviews and surveys. Participants aged 18–70 were divided into those who had visited Santiniketan and those who had not but were knowledgeable about the destination. The findings indicate that courteousness, conformity, creativity and tranquillity significantly influence tourists’ perceptions of Santiniketan, with notable differences between visitors and non-visitors. This research contributes to the literature on destination branding by comprehensively understanding Santiniketan’s brand personality, emphasizing its cultural attributes and rich heritage as critical factors in its success as a popular tourist destination. The insights gained can assist destination marketers in aligning their strategies to enhance tourists’ perceptions and increase visitation rates. This study addresses the gap in academic inquiry into Santiniketan’s brand personality, offering valuable implications for developing and promoting similar cultural heritage destinations.

The effects of seasonal human mobility and Aedes aegypti habitat suitability on Zika virus epidemic severity in Colombia.

The Zika virus epidemic of 2015-16, which caused over 1 million confirmed or suspected human cases in the Caribbean and Latin America, was driven by a combination of movement of infected humans and availability of suitable habitat for mosquito species that are key disease vectors. Both human mobility and mosquito vector abundances vary seasonally, and the goal of our research was to analyze the interacting effects of disease vector densities and human movement across metapopulations on disease transmission intensity and the probability of super-spreader events. Our research uses the novel approach of combining geographical modeling of mosquito presence with network modeling of human mobility to offer a comprehensive simulation environment for Zika virus epidemics that considers a substantial number of spatial and temporal factors compared to the literature. Specifically, we tested the hypotheses that 1) regions with the highest probability of mosquito presence will have more super-spreader events during dry months, when mosquitoes are predicted to be more abundant, 2) regions reliant on tourism industries will have more super-spreader events during wet months, when they are more likely to contribute to network-level pathogen spread due to increased travel. We used the case study of Colombia, a country with a population of about 50 million people, with an annual calendar that can be partitioned into overlapping cycles of wet and dry seasons and peak tourism and off tourism seasons that drive distinct cyclical patterns of mosquito abundance and human movement. Our results show that whether the first infected human was introduced to the network during the wet versus dry season and during the tourism versus off tourism season profoundly affects the severity and trajectory of the epidemic. For example, Zika virus was first detected in Colombia in October of 2015. Had it originated in January, a dry season month with high rates of tourism, it likely could have infected up to 60% more individuals and up to 40% more super-spreader events may have occurred. In addition, popular tourism destinations such as Barranquilla and Cartagena have the highest risk of super-spreader events during the winter, whereas densely populated areas such as Medellín and Bogotá are at higher risk of sustained transmission during dry months in the summer. Our research demonstrates that public health planning and response to vector-borne disease outbreaks requires a thorough understanding of how vector and host patterns vary due to seasonality in environmental conditions and human mobility dynamics. This research also has strong implications for tourism policy and the potential response strategies in case of an emergent epidemic.

A felelősségteljes magatartás erősödése a turisták körében = Strengthening Responsible Behavior among Tourists

Examining today’s tourism, it should be noted that undesirable side effects have appeared and intensified, both from a social and environmental perspective. Maintaining the popularity of tourism and its further development requires change. This change must occur in both supply and consumer demand. In our study, we examine the extent to which the Hungarian population is open to exhibiting environmentally conscious and responsible consumer behavior during their travels. We analyze the results of key manifestations of responsible tourism and the attitude of the domestic population towards environmental awareness. Our study is particularly relevant as many host areas are already struggling with the negative effects of overtourism. Therefore, it is important to understand whether there is a willingness among tourism consumers to adopt more environmentally conscious and responsible consumer behavior.

An Analysis of Linguistic Barriers Affecting Street Vendors’ Communication: A Study at Mandalika Special Economic Development Region of West Nusa Tenggara

This study explores the linguistic barriers faced by street vendors in Kuta Mandalika, a popular tourist destination in Indonesia, and their impact on communication, job performance, and customer satisfaction. Utilizing a qualitative case study approach, the research subject is 13 street vendors who has an ability to communicate with foreign customer, the research involved semi-structured interviews and observations of street vendors who interact regularly with international tourists, the data analysis will be conducting thematic analysis to analyze the data. The findings highlight several major challenges, including difficulties in understanding foreign accents, limited English vocabulary, pronunciation issues, and reliance on non-verbal communication. The noisy environment where vendors operate further complicates these communication barriers. These linguistic challenges lead to frequent misunderstandings, incorrect orders, and customer dissatisfaction, significantly affecting the vendors' business performance and customer relations. This research is rarely talked by researcher as in the previous study the researcher is focusing on semantic area but that’s quite too deep to learn by street vendors and an English beginner, this approach will contribute to the overall economic vitality of the Mandalika region, benefiting both vendors and the local community.

Molecular characteristics of CTX-M β-lactamase-producing and quinolone-resistant Escherichia coli among deer in a popular tourist spot in Japan.

Introduction. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global concern. Clonal lineages of CTX-M β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli (CTXE) and quinolone-resistant E. coli (QREC) were disseminated among the deer population in a famous tourist destination (Nara Park; NP) in Japan. Hypothesis/gap statement. The molecular characteristics of CTXE or QREC isolates, which could pose a threat to public health, have not been elucidated. Aim. This study aimed to characterize the genetic traits of CTXE and QREC isolates derived from NP deer and compare them with lineages prevalent worldwide. Methodology. Sixteen CTXE and three QREC isolates recovered from NP deer faeces between 2018 and 2020 were analysed using whole-genome sequencing (WGS). For endemic lineages, phylogenetic trees were constructed against the isolates registered in the EnteroBase database using the core genome SNP scheme. Results. The most prevalent lineage in NP deer was ST3580. Several pandemic lineages, such as sequence type (ST) 38, ST58 and ST117, were included. The QREC lineages prevalent among deer were designated as extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli or uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC). Thirteen of the 24 antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) were considered high-risk ARG families. Chromosomal integration of bla CTX-M-15 was observed in all plasmid-negative isolates. Phylogenetic analysis suggested relationships between NP isolates and isolates sourced from the environment or poultry. Conclusion. ST3580 has a high potential for clonal dissemination. Furthermore, multiple clinically relevant lineages of CTXE and QREC are endemic in NP deer; however, they could be less virulent than isolates belonging to the same lineages, which could cause severe infectious diseases. Further studies are required to investigate the relationship between chromosomal integration of plasmid-encoded genes and the stable propagation of AMR bacteria in wildlife and the environment.

PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES OF TOURISM INDUSTRY IN GUJARAT- A GEOGRAPHICAL STUDY

The paper discussed the prospects and challenges of tourism development in Gujarat. It has found that state is blessed with natural landscapes and historical monuments. Gujarat has rich history and have numerous places of attractions. It has popular tourist places like Dakor, Girnar, Palitana, Dwarka, and Ambaji. It is home of many pilgrimages sites. The state is home to many Buddhist monuments. It is renowned for its breath-taking views, serene surroundings, and warm hospitality. Tourist arrivals was declined in state for corona pandemic effects, but post-corona recovery are noticeable. The state has more opportunities in spiritual/wellness tourism, beach and water-based tourism, religious tourism, cuisine tourism, eco-tourism, rural tourism, heritage tourism, adventure and recreational tourism. There are many challenges before the tourism industry. Therefore, Government should implement tourism policies for development of tourist sites and comfortability of the tourists.

Evolution of the beach artificial nourishments in the Tomis North sector, a short term analysis (2013-2024)

The Romanian coastline is part of the western coast of the Black Sea, extending for about 245 km, morphologically divided into two units: the northern unit, from Musura Bay to Cape Midia, with deltaic and lagoon origin, and the southern unit, from Cape Midia to Vama Veche, characterised by well-developed cliffs and wide beaches. This last coastal sector includes both accumulating coastlines (beaches) and anthropogenic features (ports and breakwaters). Constanta, the largest and most important city in Dobrogea, claims a rich history and a variety of tourist attractions, with its beaches stretching some 6 km along the coast from Tomis Marina to the entrance of Mamaia Resort. This study analyses the recent changes observed at a popular tourist beach known as Reyna Beach, located near Mamaia Resort, following the nourishment works carried out in the framework of the "Protection and Rehabilitation of the Southern Part of the Romanian Black Sea Coast" project. The project involved extensive hydrogeographic works, including the rehabilitation of piers, the construction of submerged breakwaters and beach nourishment. This paper aims to analyse the evolution of the coastal area from a geographical perspective, including geological and geomorphological characteristics, using various data sources such as satellite images, field measurements and previous maps associated to grounding studies.

Analysis of Online User Reviews for Popular Tourist Attractions: Almaty Case

Attractions in the tourism industry are one of the components that motivate tourists to visit destinations, such as entertainment, natural, cultural, and historical richness. For such reasons, people decide to visit unique destinations and spend time there. Almaty, the largest city of Kazakhstan, is one of the significant attraction centers of the Central Asia region, offering tourists unique and pleasant features with several tourist attractions. This study aims to analyze online user reviews of tourist attractions in Almaty, Kazakhstan, using machine learning and text mining methods. The primary focus is on identifying the main thematic clusters of reviews and their sentiment and comparing these themes with the types of attractions: historical, natural, and man-made. A total of 7,515 reviews were collected from the TripAdvisor website. The data was processed using sentiment analysis, topic modeling, and hierarchical clustering methods. The analysis revealed that 38% of the reviews were related to natural attractions, 34% to man-made, and 28% to historical ones. The most positive reviews were associated with natural attractions, while historical and man-made attractions received 79.38% and 81.40% positive reviews, respectively. In addition, the items that make up these attractions are identified, and their sentiment levels are pointed out. In addition to this situation, visitors have the most positive expressions for natural attractions, especially landscapes and lakes. The findings emphasize the importance of considering review themes to improve the quality of tourist services and to enhance the positive image of Almaty as a tourist destination.

Evolutionary Perspective on Tourists’ Conformity to the Minority: The Effect of Mating Motive

Tourists tend to conform to the majority when faced with uncertainty in decision-making, which poses a considerable challenge to the promotion of new, less popular tourism offerings. This study delves into the heuristic promotion of less popular tourism offerings by using the concept of mating motives from the field of evolutionary psychology. Findings show that tourists driven by mating motives are likely to follow the minority, rather than the majority, when making purchase decisions—particularly in the context of souvenir shopping, destination selection, and gift giving—with uniqueness seeking playing a mediating role. Although purchase risk can increase the tendency of tourists to conform to the majority, it does not mitigate the effect of mating motives. The findings contribute to the promotion of less popular tourism offerings by highlighting tourists’ uniqueness seeking. This study broadens knowledge on tourist conformity behavior from the theoretical perspective of evolutionary psychology.

The Undesired Impacts of Overtourism in the Island of Crete, Greece

The concept of overtourism has been appeared recently indicating that several popular tourism destinations host too many tourists having harmful impacts on them. The island of Crete, Greece consists of a popular global tourist destination hosting more than five mil. Of tourist every year while their number increases constantly. The undesired environmental, economic and social impacts of overtourism in Crete have been studied. The number of tourists, the number of overnight staying, the average days of staying, the tourism density and the tourism intensity have been evaluated. It has been found that the number of visitors in 2023 were 6,327,366 while they stayed in the island on average 5.43 days. The tourism density has been estimated at 4,120 bed-nights/km2 while the tourism intensity at 55.63 bed-nights/resident. These values are higher than the EU and global average while the seasonality of tourism in the island intensifies the problem. It should be mentioned that the tourism infrastructure in Crete is gathered on the north coastline increasing the overcrowding in the main cities which are also located in the same area. The results indicate that the tourism industry in Crete is at high risk of overtourism and appropriate measures and policies are required for mitigating and preventing its undesired impacts. The study might be useful to local stakeholders of the tourism industry as well as to municipal and regional authorities who can intervene to protect the prosperous tourism industry in the island.

Visitor profile of enological tourism in Slovakia: Implications of the regional analysis of the demand for wine-themed experience stay

In recent years, enological tourism, also known as wine tourism, has emerged as a globally popular tourism product. The role of wine tourism in Slovakia is similarly significant, given the country’s favourable conditions for the development of wine tourism products. The objective of this study is to analyze the current demand for wine-themed experiences among tourists in the Nitra region. This paper presents a characterization of wine tourism based on an analysis of secondary sources. Following the processing of the initial findings from a demand-oriented questionnaire survey, the authors endeavor to delineate the profile of the wine tourism visitor by examining the demand for wine tourism from the vantage point of domestic consumers. It is the authors’ contention that an understanding of the profile of the wine tourism visitor is beneficial in optimising the provision of wine tourism products and stimulating the development of tourism infrastructure.

Legal Aspects of Integrated Conservation and Utilization of Cultural Heritage in Bogor City Based on Eco-Tourism

The cultural heritage sites in Bogor hold significant historical value and present challenges for their preservation and sustainable utilization to enhance community welfare. Bogor is a popular tourist destination for people in the surrounding areas, which necessitates careful anticipation and regulation to ensure the sustainable preservation and utilization of these cultural heritage sites. Besides their tangible aspects, the role of traditional knowledge as intangible culture is crucial in the sustainable preservation and utilization of these sites. Therefore, a legal model that can accommodate these variables is essential. Using a qualitative method complemented by triangulation as a technique to verify the accuracy of the obtained data or information, this research aims to identify and inventory the tangible and intangible cultural heritage in Bogor; analyze the interconnection between tangible and intangible cultural heritage in Bogor for the development of eco-tourism; and then discuss more comprehensively the legal aspects of the preservation and utilization of cultural heritage in Bogor City based on eco-tourism.

Characteristics and outcomes of patients with cardiac conditions requiring emergency medical retrieval from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

There is limited published data on the burden of cardiac disease among patients requiring emergency medical evacuation from the Great Barrier Reef, a popular tourist destination in Far North Queensland, Australia. The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics and outcomes of patients with cardiac conditions who were retrieved from the northern Great Barrier Reef to Cairns Hospital. This observational study was a planned substudy of a broader analysis of medical retrievals from the Cairns/Cooktown section of the Great Barrier Reef. It included all patients retrieved to Cairns Hospital between July 2016 and January 2020 who were assigned a cardiac diagnosis during their hospital stay. Data were collected about electrocardiograph, cardiac troponin blood test and invasive coronary angiography results as well as final hospital diagnosis. During the study period, 120 patients were retrieved from the Great Barrier Reef to Cairns Hospital, of which 46 (38%) were subsequently diagnosed with a primary cardiac condition(s) or other disease process with clinically significant cardiac involvement. The most common diagnoses were type 2 myocardial infarction (20; 16.7% of all retrievals), primary cardiac arrhythmia (14; 12.5%) and acute coronary syndrome (5; 4.2%). An elevated troponin was recorded in 30% of all retrievals and in 78% of those with a cardiac diagnosis. A total of 14 (30.4%) of patients with a cardiac diagnosis died during their hospital admission. Invasive coronary angiography was performed in 18 cases, of which six patients had obstructive coronary artery disease. Four patients required percutaneous coronary intervention. A high proportion of patients retrieved to Cairns Hospital from the Great Barrier Reef were diagnosed with a primary cardiac condition. This data may assist tourism operators, retrieval organisations and health services to plan for, and respond to, cardiac events among visitors to the reef.

OACTD: an ontology-embedded model for heritage tourism reviews to assign cultural tourism data

ABSTRACT The rapid growth of cultural tourism, driven by the ‘heritage boom’, has brought about the urgent need to reduce the cost and broaden the audience of cultural tourism. To address this challenge, this paper proposes OACTD, an ontology-embedded model for heritage tourism reviews to assign cultural tourism data. The OACTD model integrates scattered and unstructured tourist reviews, making them directly beneficial to cultural tourists and related management organizations, while also reducing the costs of tourism. The model first integrates large volumes of tourist reviews from various popular tourism platforms, and then utilizes natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to extract key information. This information is subsequently structured and visualized through an ontology model, which is further enhanced based on tourist queries. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the model, a case study was conducted on the Xiangjiang Ancient Town Group, involving the extraction of key information and the construction of an ontology from 8016 tourist reviews. This study presents a novel approach to leveraging cultural tourism data, promoting the formation of a two-way ‘demand-supply’ digital cultural tourism ecological chain.

STRATEGI DIGITAL MARKETING DAN KUALITAS PELAYANAN TERHADAP PENINGKATAN PENJUALAN HUNIAN HOMESTAY DI HUTA SIALLAGAN, KABUPATEN SAMOSIR

This study aims to analyse the effect of digital marketing strategies and service quality on increasing homestay sales in Huta Siallagan, Samosir Regency. Huta Siallagan is a tourist village known for its rich Toba Batak culture and is a popular tourist destination. However, homestay managers in this area face challenges in increasing sales amid increasingly fierce competition. Therefore, this study examines two important factors: digital marketing strategy and service quality, which contribute to increasing sales. The research method used is quantitative method with saturated sampling technique. The respondents of this study were 30 homestay managers or owners in Huta Siallagan. Data were collected through questionnaires that included digital marketing strategy variables (X1) and service quality (X2), as well as the dependent variable of sales increase (Y). Data analysis was conducted using multiple linear regression tests, t tests, F tests, and coefficients of determination to measure the influence of each variable. The results showed that digital marketing strategies and service quality significantly influenced the increase in homestay sales. Partially, digital marketing strategy has a more dominant influence than service quality, although both contribute positively. In the coefficient of determination, these two variables contributed 84.5% to the increase in homestay sales. In conclusion, the synergy between effective digital marketing strategies and good service quality is essential to increase homestay sales in Huta Siallagan. Therefore, homestay managers need to optimise these two aspects in order to compete and increase revenue in the tourism industry.