Tourism Factories Research Articles

Business Performance Evaluation for Tourism Factory: Using DEA Approach and Delphi Method

The tourism industry contributes more than 10% of global GDP, and creates than 330 million jobs. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, tourism has been one of the hardest hit areas, and one of the most explosive growth sectors, in the post-COVID-19 era. This study analyses the operational efficiency of tourism factories, before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. This study develops a PADME (Product, Aesthetic, Digitalization, Management and Experience) efficiency evaluation model for the non-financial components of tourism factories. This study has also successfully developed the evaluation scale of the PADME model. In addition, with reference to studies on the operational efficiency of financial components, two output variables (turnover and net profit after tax), and three input variables (assets, R&D expenses, and employees) were set, and the efficiency of the PADME model was calculated. The data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach was used to measure the operational efficiency of tourism factories. The empirical research goals of this study are focused on 12 listed companies in Taiwan, with operational efficiency before and after COVID-19 analyzed in relation to their general and individual analyses. The conclusions of this study lead to both enlightening and practical management implications. Academically, this study fills a gap in the research on operational efficiency of tourism factories in the tourism industry.

Research on the Tourism Factory Innovative Business Model

Research on the Tourism Factory Innovative Business Model

The Influence of Information Disclosure of Social Networking Site on Consumers’ Food Safety Perception in Tourism Factories

Incidents relative to food safety issues have damaged consumers’ trust in these food providers as well as their purchase intention. Hence, it is important to regain this trust and regain consumers’ purchase intention. Information regarding products and food providers plays an essential role in enhancing consumers’ trust in food safety. A total number of 398 valid survey samples was analysed by using the analytical methods of PROCESS. Accordingly, the results of this article indicate that trust in food safety mediate between information disclosure of social networking site and purchase intention. Different food types such as utilitarian and hedonic foods moderate between consumers’ trust in food safety and purchase intention. The moderated mediation effect of information disclosure of social networking site on purchase intention via TFS is detailed and depends on food types.

Evaluation of key factors for service experience: A comparison of tourism factories and international tourism hotels

When building successful service experience, service providers have to consider multiple factors from a multi-element standpoint. This study aims to establish a new conceptual model for key factors affecting service experience and determine the influential key factors using a multi-perspective and multi-criteria methods. This study uses an analytic network process (ANP) to calculate the degree of influence exerted by the criteria and factors of the service experience and conducts in-depth interviews to validate the results of the ANP, improving the reliability of the results of the study and increasing its practical reference value. Results from tourism factories and international tourist hotels find five main criteria that affected service experience: employee, customer, service environment, information technology, and knowledge creation. The results reveal that employee and service environment are the most important criteria. Therefore, tourism factories and international tourist hotels must invest resources in training and managing employees to equip them with specialized knowledge needed to deliver high-quality service experience. Tourism factories and international tourist hotels also need to pay attention to service environments, and by building an environmental ambience, they allow customers to receive an aesthetically pleasing and comfortable service experience. Future researchers can extend this study’s architecture and results, incorporate other important criteria and factors, and consider the interdependent relations between multiple key factors to further improve the key factors affecting service experience.

The Relationships among Experiential Marketing, Service Innovation, and Customer Satisfaction—A Case Study of Tourism Factories in Taiwan

Tourism factories are tourist attractions with values of manufacturing, culture, history, tourism, and recreation, providing a series of activities for tourists to experience the products and the manufacturing process in the mode of experiential marketing so as to enhance their cognition for the products and the corporate image. With the establishment of numerous tourism factories in Taiwan, to be competitive it is essential for the factories to develop unique and innovative modes that are difficult to imitate. This study explores experiential marketing, service innovation, customer satisfaction, and other related issues through research on the tourists of a certain tourism factory. It notes that experiential marketing and service innovation have positive effects on customer satisfaction. Tourists’ levels of consciousness of sensual and emotional experience in experiential marketing is very high. Therefore, to strengthen experiential marketing towards customers, applying electronic media to reinforce knowledge of the corporation and products will promote the corporation’s image and product packaging. It will also familiarize customers with the operating philosophy of the corporation and the characteristics of the products so that their purchase intentions will increase, resulting in sustainable development of the business.

Service Design of a Pregancy Simulation Dress Experience - From the Perspective of Social Design

This study has two subjects, one is the design of a pregnancy simulation dress, and the other is the service design for visitors to wear the pregnancy simulation dress in a tourism factory. The core issues of this study are people-oriented social design and experiential value. The case study approach is adopted and an experiential product simulating pregnancy is provided in the setting of a tourism factory. The setting, products and experience are observed as a whole, and the research perspective is based on the transformation process of emotional design and cultural design, which is the basis for deconstructing the design of the pregnancy simulation dress. A service blueprint is used to examine the case’s experiential service design, which is used as an example of experience planning that applies social design to commercial services. Research conclusions summarize and analyze design, marketing, service, and management aspects, hoping to further extend the social value of enterprises and social education work.

Exhibition layout, values, and benefits of tourism of two crafts museums

Since 2003, Taiwanese government aggressively promoted industrial tourism development for facing the economic structures challenges; moreover, the enhancement of tourist values through various software and hardware exhibitions and services are crucial topics for tourism factory tourism developments. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the values and benefits associated with factory tourism. Evaluation items were used to investigate the influence of implications in exhibition layout on tourist values and its effect on the benefits of tourism. Two crafts museums, the winners of ‘excellent tourism factory’, were investigated. The results show that exhibit experience, service management, and theme design reached significance in value which functional value exerted the most influence on the benefits of tourism. Also, findings of the relationship between exhibit layout and factories suggested that individual strengths, strengthening insufficiencies, and reviewing exhibition layout items that optimally generate tourist values and benefits is conducive to improved resource investment planning.

“We made, we trust”: Coproduction and image congruence in the food-tourism factories

This study investigates the effects of consumer coproduction and image congruence on trust and unplanned purchases in the context of food-tourism factories. Questionnaires were used to collect data from consumers of tourism factory products and services, and were then analyzed. The results show that consumer coproduction and image congruence positively affect trust and unplanned purchases. Further, the mediating variables, trust and unplanned purchases, positively affect recommendation intention. This investigation of consumer coproduction, image congruence, trust, unplanned purchases, and recommendation intention not only further supports recreation theory, but also provides practical insights for improving food-tourism-factory-related consumer marketing strategies.

Building brand equity through industrial tourism

Abstract As a consequence of rising operating and labor costs, numerous manufacturing companies in Taiwan have been closed or relocated overseas during the last two decades. Since 2003, Taiwan's government has advocated for the transformation of traditional factories into tourism-oriented facilities to increase the brand strength of the companies. As a result, industrial tourism has been boosted and many manufacturers in Taiwan are keen on establishing tourism factories; however, the association, if any, between offering industrial tourism and building a strong brand equity remains relatively unexplored. Thus, the present study sought to examine customers' perceptions of the value of a branded tourism factory through the concept of brand equity. More specifically, it was hypothesized that brand equity, which is composed of brand awareness, brand associations, and perceived quality, contributes to brand loyalty. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed in different phases of this study, including 1) questionnaires to identify industrial tourism factories with high brand awareness among consumers; 2) open-ended interviews regarding visitors' touring experiences to develop further questionnaires; and 3) questionnaires distributed to three food-oriented firms with similar levels of brand awareness. Analysis of the data from 312 valid questionnaires revealed that brand associations and perceived quality both positively and significantly predict brand loyalty. The results suggest that companies engaging in industrial tourism should focus on offering tourists interactive experiences to enhance brand associations and on ensuring a transparent operations process during tours to emphasize the high quality of whatever is being produced, thereby contributing to enhance brand loyalty.

Culture Conservation and Regeneration of Traditional Industries Derived by Tourism Factory-Case Study of Kwong Xi Paper Factory in Taiwan

The study explores that how traditional papermaking industry can be derived by tourism factory for culture conservation and regeneration, and takes the Kwong Xi paper factory in Taiwan as a case study. By reviewing multiple documents and literatures on three aspects, that is, culture conservation and regeneration, traditional papermaking industry and tourism factory, in-depth interview and site investigation approach are adopted to conduct this case study and data analysis. In the heyday, Kwong Xi paper factory exported paper to Japan and Korea. After 1991, because of highly competitive papermaking market, it faced offshore migration of industries. Traditional papermaking industry had been on the downgrade, facing the turning point of industrial transformation. The owner in this factory took the lead in promoting the idea of industrial tourism in papermaking field. With few previous cases, they underwent much difficulty and vagueness but they were still brave to attempt the task, and to position themselves. Through the field interview, we discovered that by opening a tourism factory for the traditional culture promotion, Kwong Xi paper factory changes its business model and succeeds in industrial transformation. It not only explores one new business area in tourism factory dedicated to cultural education and industrial value, but also has revived traditional papermaking industries for the recent years. By summing up the results of this study, three main factors of industrial culture conservation and regeneration have been identified: First, cultural orientation is a key point for business model. If cultural root disappears, the factory will barely become over-commercialized. The company will gradually lose its position and the upsurge will be also easy to fade away. Second, cultural value needs to be emphasized in final product. At the moment each paper is finished, it actually just completes the half of this product. Add humane values and that is considered as the final product. As a consequence, it sells not only products but also passes down the culture of industries. Third, culture can be regenerated and evolved by cultural innovation. Time and space are always flowing and changing. So does culture. Only if we keep moving forward for the new and the different and always remember our original intention, culture will exist in industries all the time. It is noted this study can provide an empirical basis for industrial culture conservation and regeneration.

An empirical research on customer satisfaction study: a consideration of different levels of performance.

Customer satisfaction is the key factor for successful and depends highly on the behaviors of frontline service providers. Customers should be managed as assets, and that customers vary in their needs, preferences, and buying behavior. This study applied the Taiwan Customer Satisfaction Index model to a tourism factory to analyze customer satisfaction and loyalty. We surveyed 242 customers served by one tourism factory organizations in Taiwan. A partial least squares was performed to analyze and test the theoretical model. The results show that perceived quality had the greatest influence on the customer satisfaction for satisfied and dissatisfied customers. In addition, in terms of customer loyalty, the customer satisfaction is more important than image for satisfied and dissatisfied customers. The contribution of this paper is to propose two satisfaction levels of CSI models for analyzing customer satisfaction and loyalty, thereby helping tourism factory managers improve customer satisfaction effectively. Compared with traditional techniques, we believe that our method is more appropriate for making decisions about allocating resources and for assisting managers in establishing appropriate priorities in customer satisfaction management.

Study on Total Quality Management Activities in Taiwan Tourism Factories

<p>As competition becomes increasingly fierce, how to integrate the concept of information technology involvement into total quality management activities and better serve the customers, thus increasing the effectiveness of their services, has become an important focus for many tourism factories in their selection of an appropriate operational strategy. With the tourism factories in Taiwan as the subjects, this study was therefore set out to investigate the impact of operational strategies, information technology involvement and motivation on the executive degree of total quality management (TQM) activities, as well as the correlation between the executive degree of TQM activities and operational performance. This research was conducted from March to April 2016 using 56 effective questionnaires through a questionnaire survey method. According to the research findings, the higher the executive degree of TQM activities was, the more significant a positive impact it would have on operational performance; the execution of differentiation strategies would have a positive impact on the execution of TQM activities; the more a company was involved in information technology, the more significant a positive impact it would have on the execution of TQM activities; the higher the intrinsic motivation was, the more significant a positive impact it would have on the executive degrees of TQM activities. It is therefore advisable for tourism factories to implement TQM activities, adopt differentiation strategies, seek greater information technology involvement and become more strongly motivated toward TQM implementation in order to improve operational performance. </p>

An investigation of factors determining industrial tourism attractiveness

This study explores the opinions of an expert panel on the factors determining the attractiveness of industrial tourism generally and factory tours in particular. Thirty-four determinants were derived from previous studied conducted about visits to both operational and nonoperational industrial sites. They were then categorized in a four-level hierarchical structure based on “4 A’s” of tourism destination management practices, namely, attractions, access, amenities, and ancillary services. The relative importance of these determinants was analyzed by a panel of experts using the analytical hierarchy process method. The expert panel was composed of government officials, industry practitioners, and academic researchers who are knowledgeable of the subject matter being studied and their evaluations could offer the highest degree of accuracy. Given that the sample was limited to such particular subgroups of the population, snowball sampling was undertaken in order to recruit a wide range of key informants. The results showed that on-site attractions, safety and security systems, and external access are the major dimensions in determining industrial tourism attractiveness. While the observation of production process is an essential and important component of tourism factories, the provision of transport services and on-site restaurants constitutes a supporting role in enhancing industrial tourism attractiveness. It is concluded that Taiwan has a strong industrial base and its industrial sites, either operational or nonoperational, represent an opportunity to develop sustainable forms of tourism. The integration of industrial sites in tourism would not only strengthen the island’s economic and environmental sustainability, but also diversify its tourism offering, enhancing its profile as one of Asia’s leading tourism destinations. The major implications are threefold: enhancing the availability of transport services, providing visitors with more diverse experience packages, and ensuring on-site safety and security.

Tourist satisfaction with factory tour experience

Purpose – The purposes of this study were to identify the sector-specific destination attributes as antecedents of tourism satisfaction in the context of industrial tourism and examine their relative impact on intentions to recommend and re-participate in factory tour activities as consequences of tourist satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – The 26 sector-specific destination attributes ranging from the diversity of on-site and nearby tourism resources, the ease of internal and external accessibility, the availability of lodging and dining facilities to the provision of information services and safety and emergency systems were drawn from the relevant literature. Data were collected with 222 on-site visitors using convenient sampling on three separate weekends in August 2014. Findings – The results showed that tourist satisfaction with factory tour experience is composed of seven dimensions, namely, lodging and dining facilities, internal accessibility, nearby attractions, external accessibility, provision of safety and emergency systems, on-site attractions and provision of information services. While satisfaction with the provision of safety and emergency systems is the most important positive contributor to overall satisfaction, satisfaction with the on-site attractions exerts a negative effect on intention to recommend. Nevertheless, the higher overall satisfaction the visitors have, the more possibility they will recommend and re-participate in factory tour activities. Research limitations/implications – There were three limitations to this study. First, this study was confined to Taiwan. The sector-specific destination attributes may be limited and only applicable to Taiwan. Second, this study was based on a convenience sample of 222 domestic tourists at the three selected tourism factory sites. The results may not be generalized beyond this population. Third, overall satisfaction, intention to re-participate and willingness to recommend were all measured by a single question. The use of a single-item measure may cause the measurement error inherent in any singular measure and weaken the reliability of findings. Practical implications – This study is a step toward strengthening tourist satisfaction with factory tour experience. Ensuring on-site safety and security is listed as the top priority for both the government and industry sectors. The bad publicity arising from any accidents occurring on any tourism factory sties could seriously tarnish the overall factory tour experience, which, in turn, influences more significantly on intention to re-participation than on willingness to recommend. The second task is to diversify the on-site attractions, which enable the pursuit of learning as a type of leisure/entertainment, and promote the authentic aspects of these attractions through social media. Originality/value – Previous studies have examined the antecedents and consequences of tourist satisfaction with the chosen destination; however, none has been undertaken in the context of industrial tourism. Moreover, the existing industrial tourism literature has mainly focused on the socio-demographic and traveling characteristics of industrial tourists as well as the conditions under which industrial tourism can be successfully developed in the Western context. The perceptions of industrial tourists toward the determinants of industrial tourism potential in the context of Asia generally and Taiwan in particular have been poorly under-researched. This study with an attempt to address these issues is, therefore, both timely and worthwhile.

Study on customer relationship management activities in Taiwan tourism factories

Taiwanese consumers have been increasingly attaching importance to tourist activities due to the year-by-year growth of the Taiwanese tourism market and the rise of the national income. In recent years, the Government has actively assisted many unique manufacturing industries that possess rich historical and cultural connotations to develop and transform into a diversified tourist factory industry via innovative and differentiated theme designs. This research was conducted from March to April 2013 using 38 effective questionnaires through a questionnaire survey method. Statistical methods were used to analyse the relevant tourist industry market orientation, organisational learning, business strategy, customer relationship management (CRM) and operational performance. The research results indicate that the more the CRM activities performed, the more the positive effect on operating performance. The higher the extent of market orientation and organisational learning, the more significant the positive customer relationships. Thus, a tourist factory is able to promote CRM activities to achieve improved customer operating performance through market orientation, organisational learning, differentiated marketing and innovative differentiation strategy.

A Case Study of Evaluating Service Process Satisfaction of Brand��s Health Museum by Analysis of Variance

Companies can become tourism factories to further establish a bond between consumers and brand and eventually add values for service innovation. Customer satisfaction is the key factor for a successful tourism factory and is highly dependent on the behaviors of front-line service providers. In this study, a case of Brand’s Health Museum is chosen to examine how the behaviors of the front-line service providers affect the customers’ perceptions in service quality by internal customer survey. Oneway analysis of variance and independent sample t-test are applied to identify which demographic variable(s) might have greater impact on service process satisfaction. The results are summarized below. Group visitors have higher satisfaction on booking service, guided tour, guideline on indicator moving lines, content display, and air corridor factory tour. Age groups perceive different satisfaction on booking service, help desk service, guided tour, and gift shop service. Different living areas have different satisfaction on indicator moving lines. Finally, Bonferroni’s test is further performed on age groups and living areas for post hoc analysis.