Tourism Domain Research Articles

Service robot acceptance: agenda for tourism and hospitality research

Purpose This study aims to provide insights and guidance for future research on service robot acceptance in the tourism and hospitality (T&H) domain through a comprehensive literature review. Design/methodology/approach A total of 249 journal articles, retrieved from the Scopus and Web of Science databases, were reviewed using an inductive analysis method. Findings Since its emergence in 2008, the topic of robot acceptance has gained significant attention, especially after 2019. The research assesses the current state of research, methodologies used, theoretical foundations and antecedents influencing acceptance. Five categories of antecedents affecting acceptance were systematically identified: robot design factors, individual/organisational factors, situational factors, appraisal factors and affective factors. Originality/value This study provides a comprehensive overview of the current landscape of service robot acceptance research. It offers insights and theoretical directions to advance research in the T&H domain.

Paradoxical Leadership and Employee Proactive Work Behavior: Exploring the Mediating Role of Perceived Psychological Contract Fulfillment.

Background This study delves into the intricate interplay among paradoxical leadership (PL), employees’ proactive work behaviour (PAB), and perceived psychological contract fulfilment (PPCF). PL, characterized by its simultaneous emphasis on apparently contradictory behaviours, has garnered attention due to its potential to foster innovation, adaptability, and creativity. The study’s main objective is to thoroughly explore the complexities of PL, its influence on PAB, and whether the PPCF serves as a mediator. Methods A survey was distributed to 338 hotel and travel agency employees to gather data. The data was analysed using structural equation modelling through a SmartPLS program. Results The results reveal a positive correlation between PL and PAB. Additionally, PPCF partially mediates this relationship, indicating its vital role in exploring the positive impact of PL on boosting proactive behaviours. Conclusions This research brings forth meaningful contributions to both theoretical and practical dimensions. Theoretically, it enhances our comprehension of how PL manifests in the distinctive landscape of the hospitality and tourism domain, substantiating its potential to drive proactive behaviours among employees. The mediation of PPCF enriches our grasp of the underlying mechanisms, accentuating the significance of maintaining harmonized and consistent leadership practices. From a practical vantage point, these findings offer valuable insights for hospitality and tourism establishments aspiring to optimize their leadership strategies for cultivating proactive work behaviour among their workforces.

Using innovation and entrepreneurship for creating edge in service firms: A review research of tourism and hospitality industry

This paper aims to inform policy and research in the domain of tourism and hospitality on the role of innovation and entrepreneurship. The paper applies the review research methodology to collate, comprehend, and synthesise 139 papers selected through a standard procedure. Our findings show that innovation drives growth and value in new tourism and hospitality firms. The study examines external factors, particularly government policies, influencing industry stakeholders’ entrepreneurial orientation and the macroeconomic environment affecting entrepreneurial activities. It also highlights the importance of social entrepreneurship in industry innovation and sustainability. This article emphasises the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in tourism and hospitality growth, value creation, and social and environmental issues.

StreetLines: A Smart and Scalable Tourism Platform Based on Efficient Knowledge-Mining

Identifying and understanding visitor needs and expectations is of the utmost importance for a number of stakeholders and policymakers involved in the touristic domain. Apart from traditional forms of feedback, an abundance of related information exists online, scattered across various data sources like online social media, tourism-related platforms, traveling blogs, forums, etc. Retrieving and analyzing the aforementioned content is not a straightforward task and in order to address this challenge, we have developed the StreetLines platform, a novel information system that is able to collect, analyze and produce insights from the available tourism-related data. Its highly modular architecture allows for the continuous monitoring of varying pools of heterogeneous data sources whose contents are subsequently stored, after preprocessing, in a data repository. Following that, the aforementioned data feed a number of independent and parallel processing modules that extract useful information for all individuals involved in the tourism domain, like place recommendation for visitors and sentiment analysis and keyword extraction reports for professionals in the tourism industry. The presented platform is an outcome of the StreetLines project and apart from the contributions of its individual components, its novelty lies in the holistic approach to knowledge extraction and tourism data mining.

‘Assertive + machine-written’ and ‘non-assertive + human-written’ just feel right: how do language assertiveness and typeface interact to impact environmental messaging persuasiveness in tourism?

The application of assertive language in environmental persuasion has produced mixed results. Besides the language content intensity such as assertiveness, this research proposes that a congruency of language content and visual presentation format such as typeface could be achieved to increase message persuasiveness of pro-environmental behaviors in the tourism domain. With three scenario-based experiments focusing on a garbage sorting initiative at a tourist attraction, a food waste reduction program in a restaurant, and an animal protection donation advocacy in a national park, respectively, the research demonstrated that matching assertive language with machine-written typeface, or non-assertive language with handwritten format, could enhance tourists’ compliance behaviors. The research also uncovered perceived fit and a subjective experience of feeling right as the underlying mechanism, and tourist involvement as a boundary condition for such a congruency effect. The theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

Enhancement of Semantic Analysis Based on the Ontology Reengineering: A Case Study on Moroccan Tourism Domain

Enhancement of Semantic Analysis Based on the Ontology Reengineering: A Case Study on Moroccan Tourism Domain

What to Say: Demystifying Tourism Content Marketing Strategy

The growing importance of social media in the tourism domain has led to an accelerated growth of research in the past decade. Through a systematic literature review, this study offers an overview of researched contexts and topics, identifies gaps in the literature, and suggests a comprehensive agenda for future research. We also present quantitative, visualization-rich results employing bibliometric citation and content analysis of 94 articles covering social media content strategy across 43 journals published from 2012 to 2022. The cocitation analysis on cited references revealed four clusters. A detailed analysis of the most influential journals/articles in the area, theories employed, research context, variables tested (characteristics), and methods used is also provided. The study finally outlines eight directional themes for advancing research in this domain. The study’s findings can help academics, practitioners, and policymakers comprehend the latest developments and significant trends influencing social media content strategy in the tourism domain.

Examining the potential of virtual and augmented reality in enhancing tourism experiences

Purpose This paper aims to explore the capabilities of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in enhancing the tourism experience and addressing physical travel constraints. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted among 412 tourists who had used VR and AR technologies for tourism purposes. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, multidimensional scaling, multiple regression analysis, structural equation modelling and mediation and moderation analysis. Findings VR and AR enhance tourism via immersive experiences. They overcome traditional travel barriers, but accessibility concerns, like cost, persist. The perceived potential of these technologies strongly predicts future adoption, emphasising the need to highlight their immersive benefits. Research limitations/implications This study offers ground-breaking insights into VR and AR in tourism. It acknowledges inherent limitations in accessibility, with VR and AR technologies not being universally adoptable due to costs and complexity. Theoretically, the research enriches academic discourse by highlighting the pivotal role of perceived potential in technology adoption. It also delineates the intricate relationship between VR/AR experience, satisfaction, destination image and revisit intention. Practical implications The findings emphasise crafting immersive VR and AR experiences for differentiation. By integrating these technologies into strategic marketing, organisations can enhance customer satisfaction and provide richer destination experiences. Social implications The research underscores VR and AR’s potential to foster inclusive tourism, benefitting those with limitations. Additionally, promoting cultural exchange and sustainability, these technologies can drive societal harmony and contribute to economic growth through enriched tourism experiences. Originality/value This study stands out in its distinctive exploration of VR and AR in the tourism domain. The innovation lies in its comprehensive examination of the technologies’ immersive capabilities and their accessibility challenges. The value is accentuated by its insights, which bridge the gap between technological potential and its practical application in tourism.

Automated photo filtering for tourism domain using deep and active learning: the case of Israeli and worldwide cities on instagram

Social media platforms like Instagram significantly influence tourists’ travel decisions by providing them with valuable insights, recommendations, authentic information, and points of interest. However, photos shared with location-specific hashtags, even those related to tourist attractions, do not always reflect the actual destination, creating challenges for potential visitors seeking accurate information. To assist tourists in finding pertinent tourism information for specific destinations, we propose VISTA: Visual Identification of Significant Travel Attractions. The proposed method employs deep learning and active learning techniques to automatically classify photos into: ‘Tourism-Related’ photos (i.e., photos related to tourism) and ‘Non-Tourism-Related’ photos (i.e., photos unrelated to tourism). To train our machine learning classifier, we created a dataset containing photos of the 10 most popular Israeli cities on Instagram. The classifier obtained an accuracy score of 0.965 and a weighted F1 score of 0.964. Evaluating our classifier’s global generalization on the InstaCities100K dataset, derived from InstaCities1M, yielded an accuracy score of 0.958 and a weighted F1 score of 0.959. The effectiveness of VISTA was demonstrated by comparing tourism-related and non-tourism-related photos in terms of photo proportion, user engagement, and object comparison. We found that most photos published on Instagram associated with cities are irrelevant to tourists and that tourism-related photos received more likes than non-tourism-related photos. Finally, there was a low overlap between objects in the two photo collections. Based on these results, we conclude that VISTA can help tourists tackle the problem of finding relevant tourism-related photos among the high volume of photos available on Instagram.

Political ecology of tourism: A bibliometric analysis

The tourism sector significantly impacts global environmental change and resource management. The social and economic aspects of tourism are also worthy of examination from the political ecology perspective. In this context, there is a growing need for academic studies examining tourism’s environmental, social, and economic components. This study is conducted to meet this need and provide an in-depth analysis of the works on political ecology in tourism. This research aims to assess scholarly investigations within the tourism domain employing a political ecology framework, utilizing bibliometric analysis as the methodological approach. Within this scope, publications in the literature have been quantitatively examined, and the studies’ prevalence, interactions, and developmental trends have been revealed. The WoS database identified 192 studies published between 1998 and 2023 on the subject. The analysis of leading journals, authors, countries, and keywords related to the topic indicates the following: There has been a noteworthy surge in the number of scholarly inquiries about political ecology within the scientific realm associated with tourism. In addition, the leading country on the subject is the United States. Finally, conservation and ecotourism become the main focal points of studies on political ecology. In summary, it is anticipated that this study will provide a substantial contribution to the existing literature in the domain of political ecology within the context of tourism, offering guidance for researchers in the design and execution of subsequent studies.

Emerging Trends in Hospitality Sector

Presently, the travel and tourism sector has become an integral part of the global economy, exerting both direct and indirect influence on it. The tourism and hospitality sector are operating in an increasingly competitive environment. Despite the industry’s magnitude and intricacy, numerous branches are presently interconnected through technological means. Presently, individuals are capable of simultaneously reserving hotel accommodations, airline tickets, rental vehicles, and excursions via computer systems. When utilized in moderation, this expansion generates economic expansion, employment increases, social progress, and the preservation of natural resources. The hotel industry is increasingly inclined towards digital transformations due to the growing digital demand, ubiquitous connectivity, and the emerging paradigm of tourism. The objective of this research paper is to recognize, evaluate, and describe forthcoming trends that have been observed thus far in the domain of hospitality and tourism. By providing supplementary contributions to the domain of technological utilization in the hospitality and tourism sector, it establishes a solid foundation of knowledge. Additionally, the concept of environmental sustainability as it pertains to the hospitality sector is investigated in this study. Prior to the recent past, the hospitality and tourism sector exhibited a relatively low level of concern regarding the environmental impact caused by its facilities and operations. As environmental degradation worsens, societies are recognizing the critical need to enforce and implement more efficient environmental management practices. The observed phenomena of global warming, environmental degradation, and climate change, as well as the growth of the global population and industrial activity, are all contributing factors to the increasing significance of environmental sustainability. This study demonstrates that in the future, digital transformation and customer-centric approaches may have a profound impact on the marketing environment within the hospitality sector.

ProxMetrics: modular proxemic similarity toolkit to generate domain-adaptable indicators from social media

In this paper, we introduce ProxMetrics, a novel toolkit designed to evaluate similarity among social media entities through proxemic dimensions. Proxemics is the science that studies the organization of space and the effects of distances on behavior and interactions. It encompasses 5 core dimensions: Distance, Identity, Location, Movement, and Orientation. Adapting the principles of traditional physical proxemics to the digital world of social media, we present a method and a modular similarity function to determine proxemic similarity scores across heterogeneous social media entities (users, groups, places, themes and times) based on these dimensions. The approach used is intended to be modular and generic, ensuring adaptability across various application domains and requirements. The calculated scores act as indicators and offer valuable insights for stakeholders, aligning with distinct domain requirements. Empirical testing in the tourism domain highlights the toolkit’s extensive applicability across a variety of requirements.

Philosophy and Ethics in Halal Tourism: A Conceptual Analysis

This research investigates the idea of Muslim-Friendly Tourism, specifically exploring its reassessment from the standpoint of philosophy and ethics. The underlying principles of this particular type of tourism encompass a commitment to Sharia, reverence for indigenous cultures, and a comprehensive comprehension of the Islamic faith. The concept of ethics in Muslim-Friendly Tourism pertains to the behaviour of tourists that demonstrates respect for local values and traditions, as well as appropriate conduct in Islamic settings. This study highlights the importance of maintaining a harmonious equilibrium between religious and cultural elements within the tourism industry. It emphasises the significance of cultivating a climate of mutual comprehension, as well as facilitating interfaith discourse and developing tolerance. The research elucidates that this particular notion yields favourable consequences for the regional economy, improves the perception of the destination, and generates great prospects for educational and cultural interchange. The notion is subject to ongoing development within the context of the progressively major and influential domain of tourism. This reevaluation offers a comprehensive analysis of the underlying principles that influence Muslim-Friendly Tourism, with a particular emphasis on the comprehension of religion, culture, and ethics within the tourism industry. The study highlights the significance of comprehending religion and culture within the context of tourism, emphasising the worth of engaging in interfaith and intercultural discussion. Within the realm of tourism, this phenomenon serves to enhance the local economy, foster cultural comprehension, and cultivate more robust international connections.

Impact of health tourism visitor experiences on behavioral intention

PurposeThis paper examines the factors that influence behavioral intention in the context of medical tourism in Türkiye. With the growing popularity of Türkiye as a destination for medical tourism, it is essential to understand the key determinants influencing individuals’ intention to engage in medical tourism activities.Design/methodology/approachThis study used the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior (E-PBT) variables, which include attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control, to measure their influence on behavioral intention. In addition, a customer experience scale was used to assess the influence of dimensions such as education, entertainment, aesthetics and escapism on behavioral intention. The research instrument was validated by expert review, and data were collected using purposive sampling. A total of 420 surveys were deemed suitable for analysis.FindingsThe path analysis revealed that attitudes and perceived behavioral control positively impacted behavioral intention within the domain of medical tourism in Türkiye. Conversely, subjective norms did not have a significant positive effect on behavioral intention. Furthermore, it was observed that the dimensions of entertainment, escape and aesthetics positively affected behavioral intention. However, education and aesthetics did not significantly influence behavioral intentions.Practical implicationsThe results of this paper have practical implications for marketers and policymakers in the medical tourism industry in Türkiye. Understanding the factors that drive individuals’ behavioral intentions can assist in developing effective marketing strategies to attract and serve potential medical tourists. Medical tourism providers can enhance their services by optimizing attitudes and perceived behavioral control while emphasizing entertainment and escapism for their clientele.Originality/valueThis research focuses on uncovering factors influencing individuals’ behavioral intentions in medical tourism in Türkiye. Using the E-PBT framework and exploring the dimensions of the customer experience scale, this study aimed to understand the driving forces behind individuals’ decisions to engage in medical tourism.

Digital Transformation in Nautical Tourism

Digitization in the domain of nautical tourism has stimulated the implementation of innovative applications, serving as integral support mechanisms for service users. This transformation has also given rise to specified smart business ecosystems, ensuring the joint generation of value for all stake-holders. As a result, innovative technologies have not only transformed the overall nautical experience but also led to reduced operating costs and the development of effective business practices, thus becoming a strategic priority for nautical companies. Based on the analysis of a wide body of literature, this paper aims to underscore the significance of information technology and interactive smart systems in nautical tourism. Through the implementation of digital and smart technologies, it becomes feasible to manage multiple segments, including actors, devices and security systems. This operationalization of ship management activities aims to enhance the experience for guests and crew in continuation.

Medical tourism of Indian diaspora “back home”

Migration, diaspora, tourism, and health have emerged as prime research interests among social scientists. Interdisciplinary studies are being conducted on the interface of two or more of these domains analysing complex social mobility patterns, such as medical tourism, diaspora tourism, diasporic medical tourism and their like. Among these, medical tourism has emerged as a new form of transnational movement. Within this premise, diasporic dimension of medical travel has amassed substantial importance in contemporary times. These ethnic communities contribute to their homeland in form of investment, philanthropy, and development through healthcare production and consumption. This phenomenon is more prominent in India which is among the top medical tourism destinations and also holds the largest diaspora in the world. Indian government has formulated policies for attracting diasporas back home and also for developing the medical tourism potential of the country. However, there is need to merge the initiatives operational in these two different fields at ground level to obtain maximum benefit. At present, no study gives a nuanced account integrating these two disparate phenomena. Therefore, based on extensive literature review, the paper will seek to integrate the dimensions of medical tourism and diaspora tourism and thus, underline the phenomenon of medical tourism by Indian diaspora at their homeland. The systematic review pointed a large gap in academia within the domain of diasporic medical tourism in Indian context. Research situated around this domain is highly solicited as such studies will contribute substantially to the discourse of diaspora for development.

Self-transcendent emotions as the locomotive of value co-creation in sustainable tourism: a horizon 2050 paper

Purpose This paper aims to outline the role of self-transcendent emotions (STEs) such as compassion, gratitude and elevation in the context of sustainable tourism. It proposes a research agenda for further investigation of these emotions as facilitators of value co-creation in sustainable tourism. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the literature on the psychology of STEs, sustainable tourist behaviour and value co-creation, this paper pinpoints potential developments and challenges associated with STEs in the domain of sustainable tourism by following a service-dominant logic approach. Findings STEs are likely to have a profound impact on sustainable tourism leading to value co-creation and mitigating the risk of value co-destruction and value no-creation. They can facilitate value co-creation by shifting the focus of actors from their own selves towards others in the tourism ecosystem, shifting the focus from extrinsic to intrinsic motivations and increasing moral values. Moreover, STEs are expected to be contiguous and reciprocal, fostering value co-creation in sustainable tourism practices. However, extreme levels of STEs can lead to value co-destruction and value no-creation. Originality/value This paper highlights the role of STEs as facilitators of value co-creation in sustainable tourism, a facet that has been overlooked in the existing literature. Further investigation is necessary in different contexts such as transformative and regenerative tourism; societal or individual crises and failures and the applications of technologies such as the Metaverse and artificial intelligence.

Building a narcissism-based framework of picnics: An eastern culture perspective

Through the lens of narcissism theory, this study investigates and analyzes the recent trend of picnics in China with the following primary research objectives: (1) What are the patterns, attitudes, and motivations for picnics in China? (2) How the picnic experience shapes picnickers' attitudes and behaviors based on narcissism theory. A mixed-methods approach was conducted for this study, with 17 respondents participating in in-depth semi-structured interviews and 383 questionnaire respondents invited to participate. A theoretical framework was developed based on the findings of the qualitative phase and related literature. Subsequent quantitative results further verified that self-expression, self-presentation, and conspicuousness are three key narcissism-based motives for the picnic experience. Additionally, curiosity plays a moderating role that influences how self-expression, self-presentation, and conspicuousness drive perceived flow during picnics. The major contribution of this study is the construction of a theoretical framework that understands picnicking motives and processes as an overlooked tourism domain. Management implicationsThis study explored the picnic phenomenon in China and examined its implications from a management perspective. It was identified that picnicking in the Chinese context differs significantly from the western perspective. In Eastern cultures, picnics are conspicuous activities and lifestyles where the presentation of decorations and delicacies takes precedence over the picnic food itself. Therefore, destinations and stakeholders catering to Chinese picnickers should emphasize how they can assist picnickers in showcasing their uniqueness and self-presentation. This distinction has crucial management implications, highlighting the need to focus on the aesthetic and social aspects of picnicking to cater effectively to Chinese picnickers.

Integrating reinforcement learning and metaheuristics for safe and sustainable health tourist trip design problem

This study aims to address the critical challenge of enhancing safety within the domain of health and wellness tourism through the framework of sustainable travel design. Given the rising demand for secure and sustainable tourism experiences, this investigation explores the integration of safety considerations into the strategic planning and execution of tourist journeys. The central focus of this research revolves around the development and application of the Modified Reinforcement Learning-Artificial Multiple Intelligence System (MRL-AMIS). Operating within a multi-objective framework, the objective of this study is to optimize essential parameters encompassing environmental sustainability, economic viability, tourist preferences, and societal acceptability, with a specific emphasis on safety. The efficacy of the proposed methodology is rigorously evaluated across various tourist group scenarios, providing a comprehensive assessment of its applicability. Our computational analyses unequivocally demonstrate the superiority of the proposed approach in enhancing safety, surpassing existing methods such as genetic algorithms, differential evolution algorithms, particle swarm optimization, etc., by 15%-25%. These findings underscore the effectiveness of the proposed method in seamlessly integrating safety considerations into the realm of sustainable tourism planning. This study highlights the potential of the proposed method as an advanced tool in the strategic planning of sustainable tourism, particularly within the context of health and wellness tourism. It constitutes a significant contribution to the field of sustainable tourism by offering an innovative approach that prioritizes safety while upholding the principles of environmental stewardship, economic viability, and societal sustainability.

SENTIMENTAL ANALYSIS ON TOURISM REVIEWS

Sentiment analysis plays a pivotal role in understanding the sentiments and opinions expressed in textual data, offering valuable insights into various domains, including tourism. In this study, we present a comprehensive review of sentiment analysis techniques applied to tourism reviews using machine learning algorithms. The abundance of user-generated content on tourism platforms has made sentiment analysis an indispensable tool for businesses and researchers alike. By leveraging machine learning algorithms, researchers can extract sentiments from vast amounts of textual data efficiently and accurately. This review outlines the key methodologies and approaches utilized in sentiment analysis of tourism reviews. It discusses preprocessing techniques such as text tokenization, stop-word removal, and stemming, which are crucial for preparing textual data for analysis. Furthermore, it examines various machine learning algorithms employed for sentiment classification, including Naive Bayes, Support Vector Machines, and Recurrent Neural Networks. Additionally, the review delves into feature extraction methods such as bag-of-words, TF-IDF, and word embeddings, highlighting their impact on sentiment analysis accuracy. Moreover, it explores the challenges and limitations associated with sentiment analysis in the tourism domain, such as sarcasm detection and language nuances.