Role Of Tourism Research Articles

The Influence of Service Quality and Customer Relationship Marketing on Tourist Loyalty with Trust as a Mediating Variable at Sana Vie Villa Seminyak

Sana Vie Villa Seminyak is a hotel industry that can contribute to the economy of the community in theSeminyak Traditional Village and its surroundings. The sustainability of Sana Vie Villa Seminyak cannot beseparated from the role of consumers or tourists who stay there, because consumers or tourists are the reasonwhy Sana Vie Villa Seminyak can continue to exist today. This research aims to determine the influence ofservice quality and customer relationship marketing on tourist loyalty with trust as a mediating variable. Thisresearch was conducted at Sana Vie Villa Seminyak. Samples were determined using the Slovin formula with asample size of 100 samples. Data collection in this research used questionnaires with the data analysistechnique SEM-PLS. The results of this research show that e-service quality has a positive effect on touristloyalty. Customer relationship marketing has a positive and significant effect on tourist loyalty. Trust has apositive and significant effect on tourist loyalty. service quality has a positive and significant effect on trust.Customer relationship marketing has a positive and significant effect on trust. Trust is able to mediate theinfluence of service quality on tourist loyalty. Trust is able to mediate the influence of customer relationshipmarketing on tourist loyalty.Keywords: Service Quality, Customer Relationship Marketing, Tourist Loyalty, Trust

The effect of human versus virtual influencers: The roles of destination types and self-referencing processes

Social media influencers are increasingly recognized for their ability to influence tourists’ decision-making processes. The emergent phenomenon of virtual influencers presents an unprecedented challenge to their human counterparts, reshaping the dynamics of the tourism industry. It remains a challenge to integrate various forms of destination advertising and harmonize the approaches of both human and virtual influencers to effectively attract tourists. This study addresses this gap by investigating the effectiveness of human and virtual influencers in endorsing natural versus cultural destinations. Adopting source credibility theory, we conduct five empirical studies. Our findings reveal that virtual influencers boost visit intentions for cultural destinations, while human influencers do so for natural destinations. Credibility and self-referencing play a serially mediating role in this process. Furthermore, this study explores the moderating role of tourists’ preference for uniqueness. This research offers valuable insights for tourism industry managers aiming to harness the power of virtual influencers effectively.

Traditional Vs Modern: Effect of Cultural Dimensions on Tourist Buying Intentions in the Context of Tourism Marketing

This empirical study delves into the intersection of cultural dimensions and tourist revisit intentions within the green restaurant sector. Leveraging co-variance-based Structural Equation Modelling (CB-SEM) to test hypotheses, the research scrutinizes data collected from 326 tourists who participated in an online survey after visiting green restaurants. The analysis aims to uncover how various cultural dimensional factors—such as collectivism, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance—play a crucial role in shaping tourists’ decisions to revisit environmentally friendly dining establishments. Preliminary findings suggest that cultural dimensions significantly influence revisit intentions, with particular nuances that could inform targeted marketing strategies for green restaurants aiming to enhance customer loyalty and promote sustainable dining practices. This study not only contributes to the broader understanding of consumer behaviour in the context of sustainable tourism but also offers practical insights for restaurant managers and marketers seeking to align their offerings with the cultural preferences of their clientele.

Enhancing destination image through virtual reality technology: the role of tourists’ immersive experience

Enhancing destination image through virtual reality technology: the role of tourists’ immersive experience

Tourist Engagement and Perceived Naturalness: Unveiling the Pathways to Sustainable Tourism and Purchase Intentions in Vertical Farming

With sustainable tourism and escalating food demands, vertical farming emerges as a pivotal innovation that bridges agricultural sustainability and tourism. This paper explores the role of tourist engagement at vertical farms in promoting sustainability awareness, altering perceptions of naturalness of vertical farm agricultural products, and shaping purchase intentions for these products. Utilizing Consumer Socialization Theory (CST) as a framework, the study delves into how tourist engagement at vertical farms can serve as a catalyst for enhancing the appeal and acceptance of sustainable agricultural practices. A cross sectional survey of 558 tourists in Malaysia and the Greater Bay Area of China was conducted using a quantitative approach. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) analysis revealed that tourist engagement significantly increases sustainability awareness and perceived naturalness, which, in turn, positively impacts purchase intentions. Interestingly, while tourist engagement directly increases purchase intentions, sustainability awareness does not directly increase purchase intentions, underscoring the nuanced role perceived naturalness plays in the decision making process. The findings underscore the importance of integrating vertical farming into the tourism experience as a strategy for promoting sustainable agricultural practices and increasing consumer acceptance. This study enriches the discourse on sustainable tourism's role in advancing sustainable agriculture, providing key insights for stakeholders in both the tourism and agriculture sectors to foster environmental stewardship and sustainable consumer behavior.

Can AI fully replace human designers? Matching effects between declared creator types and advertising appeals on tourists’ visit intentions

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers digital tools that advertisers can use to create ads and automate various advertising processes. It has reorganized and upgraded traditional advertising and specifically improved advertising efficiency for tourist destinations. Adopting the computers-are-social-actors paradigm and spreading–activation theory, this study examined how the relationship between declared creator types (AI vs. human) and advertising appeals (rational vs. emotional) affects individuals' visit intentions. Three scenario-based experiments were conducted. They revealed that advertisements with rational appeals improved visit intention for AI-generated ads more effectively. In contrast, those with emotional appeals were more attractive when the declared creator was human. This effect was mediated by information processing fluency. The results also confirmed the moderating role of tourists’ involvement in these relationships. This research expands the range of applications of AI-generated content in advertising and can inform practical marketing strategies for tourist destinations.

South Korean DMZ tourists’ experience co-creation explained by motivation, interaction, and emotional solidarity

Despite the military and political tensions surrounding the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), over 1.2 million individuals visit the destination each year. Considering various tourist motivations and the group-oriented tour setting at the DMZ and employing the Interaction Ritual Theory as a theoretical guide, this study examined how South Korean DMZ tourists' motivations and interaction led to emotional solidarity, thereby facilitating the co-creation of their DMZ experience. Study results (N = 409) revealed that politics and curiosity motivations significantly influenced their interaction, while knowledge and war motivations only impacted emotional solidarity. Emotional solidarity directly contributed to experience co-creation, whereas interaction only had an indirect impact mediated through emotional solidarity. The findings enrich the understanding of the distinctive roles of South Korean DMZ tourists' motivations and highlight interaction as a key in evaluating their experience co-creation. It especially offers new insights that emotional solidarity is a critical antecedent to experience co-creation. The findings provide government officials and destination managers with practical suggestions for further management and marketing of DMZ tourism. Future research can further consider group differences when testing the conceptual model—such as DMZ tourists' travel pattern (e.g., individuals or groups) or nationality (e.g., South Korean or foreigners)—and utilize qualitative research methods to complement the quantitative findings.

Beyond the scenery: Understanding the impact of rural tourism development on household consumption in China

AbstractThe positive effects of rural tourism are widely recognized, yet its influence on local household consumption has been insufficiently explored. Our study fills this gap by investigating the relationship between rural tourism development and household consumption, using the Leisure Agriculture and Rural Tourism Demonstration County (LARTDC) policy as a quasi‐natural experiment framework. Employing a staggered difference‐in‐differences (DID) method, we found that rural tourism development contributes to a 4.91% increase in per capita household consumption. The robustness of our main results is confirmed using advanced techniques such as Bacon decomposition and DIDM estimations. We attributed this positive impact to the rise in nonfarm employment and infrastructure development. Our heterogeneity analysis further reveals the inclusive nature of rural tourism, showing its significant role in improving household consumption patterns, diminishing consumption inequality, and enhancing welfare, especially in disadvantaged rural households. Further analysis confirms that greater LARTDC policy exposure may lead to higher levels of household consumption. Moreover, we revealed that rural tourism increased the freedom of employment, especially for the elderly and women; however, it did not squeeze out leisure time or hurt the quality of life and welfare. Theoretically, this study contributes to the discourse on tourism's role in fostering economic growth and social equity, addressing the patterns of high savings and low consumption in rural China. Practically, our findings suggest that post‐COVID‐19 recovery strategies in developing countries may emphasize rural tourism development, aiming to stimulate household spending and achieve balanced growth.

A study on shaping tourists’ conservational intentions towards cultural heritage in the digital era: exploring the effects of authenticity, cultural experience, and place attachment

ABSTRACT With the rapid development of digital tourism, more and more tourists are embracing this innovative mode of tourism. Digital tourism has attracted a large influx of tourists, which not only promotes the dissemination of local culture, but also promotes tourists’ intention to preserve culture. This study proposes a comprehensive framework authenticity, cultural experience, place attachment, satisfaction, and cultural protection intention, aiming to explore tourists’ cultural protection intention in digital tourism. To validate our framework, we use the Digital Intelligence Niushou as a case study and distributed a questionnaire to tourists, obtaining 408 valid responses. We analyzed the collected data using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that place attachment and the four cultural experiences positively influenced both visitors’ satisfaction and cultural protection intention. Notably, “scientific knowledge” and “personal values” emerged as the biggest influences on cultural protection intention. Among the three types of authenticity, only objective authenticity and constructed authenticity positively influenced tourists’ satisfaction and cultural protection intention. This suggests that faithfully restored historical contexts play a key role in shaping tourists’ experiences and attitudes toward cultural protection in the field of digital tourism. This study provides a solid theoretical foundation for advancing digital tourism and enhancing tourists’ commitment to preserving cultural heritage. Our findings are important for digital tourism platforms to develop more effective optimization strategies, and can help managers to create more attractive, authentic and immersive tourism models to enhance tourist satisfaction and cultivate cultural protection intention.

Exploring the role of ethical experiences and psychological well-being in travel satisfaction: An animal welfare perspective in elephant-based tourism

Given growing concerns about animal welfare in tourism, this study examined the crucial role of tourists' ethical experiences and psychological well-being in travel satisfaction by comparing online reviews from two elephant-based tourism settings: a rescue center and general tour sites. Topic modeling and sentence sentiment analysis revealed more prevalent themes of ethical experiences and psychological well-being at the rescue center than at other sites. Path analysis confirmed a significant transition from ethical experiences to psychological well-being and satisfaction only at the rescue center, highlighting the significant mediator of psychological well-being in ethical tourism. This study offers an enhanced understanding of ethical tourism experiences from the animal welfare perspective, thereby expanding the literature on animal-based tourism. This study suggests an integrative text analysis to enhance research integrity. The findings can assist destination marketing organizations in developing policies and guidelines that promote ethical practices among tour operators, leading to a competitive advantage.

Unveiling the impact of consumer animosity and risk perception on tourists’ decision-making

This study examines the impact of diplomatic tensions between South Korea and Japan on tourist decision-making, with a focus on consumer animosity and risk perception. The results indicate that both factors significantly influence attitudes toward visiting Japan, with consumer animosity and avoidance having a direct negative and positive effect, respectively. Consistent with previous research, this study emphasizes the critical role of consumer animosity within the theory of planned behavior framework, highlighting the influential roles of travel attitudes and perceived behavioral control. Specifically, it stresses the importance of considering both cognitive and affective risk perceptions in the context of consumer boycotts and the political instability of destinations. Furthermore, it highlights the key role of tourists’ attitudes toward traveling to Japan, suggesting the need for Japan to prioritize risk management amid the ongoing boycott movement. The study reveals the nuanced role of perceived behavioral control, which has a stronger effect on avoidance intentions than on visit intentions due to anti-purchase movements and negative sentiments at the destination in scenarios of hedonic consumption with high risk and uncertainty.

The influence of the base option’s price format on tourists’ upgrade intention: the moderating role of tourists’ mindsets

Three scenario-based experiments were conducted to explore the influence of the base option’s price format (just-at vs just-below) on tourists’ upgrade intention. The findings of this research indicated that tourists are more inclined to upgrade the option when the base option’s price is presented in a just-at condition due to the mediating role of tourists’ price perceptions of the upgrade option. This study discovered that the just-at (vs just-below) pricing strategy can lower tourists’ price perceptions of the upgrade choice. This research further explored the moderating of tourists’ mindsets. It was found the threshold-crossing effect will disappear for tourists with fixed mindsets. This study also provides practical implications for travel service providers to set up appropriate pricing strategies to attract tourists to make upgrade decisions.

The role of tourists’ and residents emotions on resilient landscape restoration after extreme events

Forest areas and mountainous territories provide crucial ecosystem services, among which cultural-recreational services are of particular relevance in the Alps. In 2018, the mountain area of Northeast Italy was struck by the VAIA windstorm, resulting in extensive damage to trail networks and substantial landscape transformations in valleys. Restoring the storm-affected area while considering forest resilience and public preferences became a critical need. This research is aimed at assessing the landscape scenic preferences of visitors and residents of the area impacted by the storm with reference to alternative intervention strategies for restoring the VAIA-affected forests. The psychophysical approach was applied to understand residents preferences and a survey was conducted in May 2022, involving 713 residents in the Veneto region. Respondents were requested to evaluate the scenic quality of 8 landscape typologies characterized by panoramic and non-panoramic views, forests with and without fallen trees, and meadows cultivated or abandoned. They were also required to associate eight proposed categories of emotions with the landscapes, providing scores accordingly. To analyze the factors affecting landscape scenic quality we estimated two regression models. The first model highlighted that the scenic quality of the landscape is positively correlated with panoramic views, cultivated meadows, and forests, while abandoned areas or trees felled by VAIA have negative correlations. The second model demonstrated the existence of a strong relationship between landscape quality and the emotions evoked, with certain emotions significantly impacting scenic quality perception. The second model explains a higher proportion of the scenic quality scores than the first one (R2 = 0.788 vs R2 = 0.527) meaning that emotions are a better predictor of scenic quality than the physical characteristics of the territory. Our results suggest that, in order to improve the recreational services of the mountain territories, for restoring the VAIA-affected forests it will be necessary to remove the felled trees and at the same time increase the presence of panoramic views by substituting in some areas the forests with cultivated meadows.

The influence of technology adoption and social media branding on green tourism in Zimbabwe: exploring the intermediary role of tourists’ behaviour

ABSTRACT In the contemporary landscape of Zimbabwe’s tourism industry, the convergence of social media branding, technology adoption, and the promotion of green tourism practices has emerged as a pivotal force shaping the trajectory of the country’s tourism sector. This article aims to explore the impact of social media branding and technology adoption on green tourism in developing countries, particularly Zimbabwe, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. These factors have emerged as powerful elements in the tourism industry. Employing a quantitative methodology, data were gathered from 335 tourism supply chain representatives using simple random sampling and the Krejcie and Morgan approach. Questionnaires were administered through Google Forms, and data analysis was performed using smart pls 3 software. The results reveal that social media branding and technology adoption have a positive influence on green tourism, with tourist behavior acting as a mediator in this relationship. This study can provide valuable insights to policymakers, green tourism supply chain, and environmentalists in devising strategies to promote green tourism in Zimbabwe and other developing countries.

Communicating Destination Social Responsibility Through Social Media: The Roles of Tourists’ Social Engagement, Citizenship Behaviors, and Emotions

Social media is a particularly useful tool to promote sustainable tourism destinations. However, little is known about consumer engagement with social media communication in a destination social responsibility (DSR) context within the tourism industry. Grounded in the Stimulus-Organism-Response model, this study examines the factors that influence the intention to generate electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on DSR issues through a specific social networking site. This research includes tourists’ social engagement, citizenship behaviors, perceived DSR, emotional responses to perceived DSR, and emotions toward a post as explanatory variables to investigate a specific behavioral intention as the outcome. The authors designed a study based on an online survey of Spanish Facebook users. Empirical testing confirmed most of the hypothesized effects except the influence of tourists’ helping behaviors on the intention to share the post.

Coastal Dynamics in Jayapura City, Papua

The investigation focuses on understanding land use and cover patterns in Jayapura City, along with drivers and climate change impacts in coastal areas. It explores tourism's role in coastal land use and assesses its sustainability. Using a comprehensive approach combining literature review and on-the-ground data collection, the study identifies knowledge gaps and key variables. It gathers site-specific data to validate findings and inform evidence-based recommendations for resilient coastal management. Socioeconomic aspects, including impacts on local communities and indigenous groups, are considered. This research aims to promote sustainable land use practices and address the challenges posed by climate change and tourism in coastal areas.

How perceived crowding changes the interrelationships between perceived value, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty: the empirical study at Hoi An

PurposeThis paper seeks to revisit the interrelationship among tourists’ perceived value of the destination, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty in the heritage tourism site of Hoi An. In addition, the moderating role of tourists’ perceived crowding, which has become remarkably common at the site, in such a triangle relationship will also be explored. In other words, this study aims to validate an extended model of perceived value – tourist satisfaction – destination loyalty – perceived crowding.Design/methodology/approachThe study collects data from 403 tourists who visited Hoi An during peak season through an online questionnaire. The data were later analysed using AMOS and Warp partial least squares.FindingsThe results validate the significant and positive correlation among perceived value, customer satisfaction and destination loyalty. Also, perceived crowding was confirmed to affect the relationship among these three variables negatively. In terms of academic contributions, this paper empirically proved that low levels of tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty among tourists who highly value their visiting experience at World Heritage Sites (WHS) can be caused by perceived crowding.Originality/valueSo far, current literature has investigated the direct (either positive or negative) relationship between perceived crowding and post-visit behaviours of tourists (Nie et al., 2022; Papadopoulou, Ribeiro, & Prayag, 2023; Stemmer, Gjerald, & Øgaard, 2022). Broadening this area of research, the authors of this paper used the social interference theory and the stimulus-overload theory to explain the low level of tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty among tourists who highly value their visiting experience at WHS.

Autonomous vehicles adoption motivations and tourist pro-environmental behavior: the mediating role of tourists’ green self-image

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of autonomous vehicles adoption motivations (i.e. technological, ecological and intrinsic motivation) on tourists’ pro-environmental behavior and verify the mediating role of tourists’ green self-image between the relationship of eco-friendly attitudes and autonomous vehicles adoption motivations. Design/methodology/approach The data from 586 national and international tourists were analyzed using the partial least squares method. Findings The findings revealed that eco-friendly attitude is a significant predictor of tourists’ green self-image; tourists’ green self-image is a significant predictor of autonomous vehicles adoption motivations; and autonomous vehicles adoption motivations are significant predictors of tourists’ pro-environmental behavior. In addition, tourists’ green self-image mediated the relationship between eco-friendly attitudes and autonomous vehicles adoption motivations. Originality/value These outcomes provide valuable guidance for the future development of green destination tourism and allow interesting implications for the tourism industry and autonomous vehicles adoption.

Ecological experiential learning and tourists' pro-environmental behavior intentions: The mediating roles of awe and nature connection

Due to the important role of tourists' behavior plays in marine protected areas (MPAs) and the increasing popularity of ecological experiential learning (EEL) journeys, this study aims to investigate whether and how EEL impact tourists' pro-environmental behavior (PEB) intentions through both emotional and cognitive pathways. To achieve this, four nature education trips with EEL content were organized, and PEB intentions of 228 tourists to MPAs were analyzed using surveys. The findings revealed that the low-effort PEB intentions of individuals under 24 years old were significantly lower compared to those of older tourists. Furthermore, EEL was positively associated with both low and high effort PEB intentions. The sense of awe acted as a mediator between EEL and low-effort PEB intentions, whereas nature connection was found to mediate the relationship between EEL and both low and high-effort PEB intentions. This study contributes to the growing body of research on the drivers of tourists PEB and provides a theoretical framework for promoting PEB intentions in MPAs.’’’’

The impact of rural tourism destination attractiveness on tourists’ environmentally responsible behavioral intentions: the mediating role of green self-identity

Purpose This study aims to explore the impact of tourists’ perceptions of two rural destination attractiveness dimensions on tourists’ environmentally responsible behavioral intentions (ERBI). Further, the mediating effects of tourists’ green self-identity on the relationship between the perception of rural destination attractiveness and ERBI are investigated. Design/methodology/approach This study collected survey data from 188 tourists who had visiting experiences in rural attractions located in the Guangdong Province of China. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The results found that rural destination specialty fresh food attractiveness perceived by tourists was positively associated with their ERBI. Moreover, tourists’ green self-identity positively mediated the perception of rural destination attractiveness and ERBI. Originality/value This study explains how the tourists’ perceptions of two rural destination attractiveness dimensions influence their ERBI. By exploring the mediating role of tourists’ green self-identity, this study also emphasizes the transforming mechanism from tourists’ perceived experience to their ERBI. The study provides insights into nature-based tourism destination management and sustainability practices.