Tourism Service Providers Research Articles

Companies providing tourism services a social entrepreneurship project

The external tourism operating agencies that provide services to Tecnológico Espíritu Santo hinder, impede or delay the touristeducational development of the students of the Institution, for this reason we present the proposal for the creation of a tourism operating agency for the educational sector that provides tourist services to Tecnológico Universitario Espíritu Santo, regulated by the pertinent entities of the Institution for its operative functioning, carrying out the creation, promotion and commercialization of varied tourist packages that allow the insertion of the students and professors of the career for interaction and learning towards the challenge of the labor world, therefore it is detached from the intermediation.

When Do Tourists Defend Tourism Service Providers’ Reputations? Insights from Attribution Theory

ABSTRACT Tourism resort events allow mass tourists to intervene to establish resort reputations among other destinations. From the locus of attribution theory perspective, this paper is the first to explore tourists defending behavior toward resorts’ reputations through destination social responsibility and information adequacy lenses. Through questioning 240 tourists in the Red Sea resorts, the study found that defending is a post-attribution behavior. The study found that tourists who internally (vs. externally) attribute the event outcomes tend (vs. ignore) to defend the Red Sea resorts’ reputation. Nevertheless, resorts’ reputation could maintain defending behavior in case of external attribution with the presence of their perception of resorts’ social responsibility and information adequacy. Such defending behavior approach enables crucial managerial implications for the Red Sea resort managers.

El diálogo intercultural como mecanismo para la gestión del patrimonio biocultural. El caso del Yolixpa del pueblo nahua de Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla

The conservation of the heritage of native peoples depends on establishing links between different communities and promoting coexistence, well-being and peace among peoples; In this sense, intercultural dialogue is a communication mechanism that seeks to educate individuals who foster more open, plural and dynamic societies where it is possible to build better life opportunities. In the municipality of Cuetzalan del Progreso, the Masehual have established, within their daily lives, forms of communication based mainly on family and community values, which have been established within their society and which, in some cases, are reproduced in the interaction with the tourists who have come to the municipality for more than four decades. The tourist interest towards Cuetzalan is due to the fact that it has a wide repertoire of biocultural heritage, preserved by the inhabitants for generations; among which Yolixpa stands out, a medicinal and traditional drink that is currently in a process of transformation in terms of inputs, preparation and meanings, mainly; in which producers, tourism service providers, authorities, tourists and the local population have contributed. The changes indicated are not homogeneous for all the actors and this is due to the fact that each actor involved has different worldviews and, therefore, different objectives and particular interests, depending on the individual or collective role they represent; In this context of changes and permanence linked to the tourist practice, intercultural dialogue between social actors becomes relevant, for the safeguarding of heritage, including the Yolixpa and its true medicinal and traditional value. Based on the above, the objective of this study was to assess the relevance and scope of intercultural dialogue, as a management mechanism for Yolixpa, as a biocultural heritage of the Nahua people of Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla, for which a qualitative methodological strategy was used. where in-depth interviews, participant observation, intercultural dialogue, focus group, social clotheslines and group dynamics were applied. It was observed that although the local actors linked to the management of Yolixpa are different, they share common interests around the drink, especially in its permanence and in the recovery of its traditional value; they also recognize that the lack of dialogue has caused disagreements and little participation; The foregoing has been reflected in the management of the Yolixpa festival, in the commercialization, dissemination and promotion of the drink from a mercantilist approach.

Understanding prevention measures and tourist behavior in Croatia during the COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed-method approach

This study investigates the adoption of prevention measures in Croatia during the COVID-19 pandemic and its relationship with tourist behavior. The research adopts a mixed-method approach as it examines both practitioners’ and tourists’ viewpoints. A qualitative study was conducted with eight destination service providers, while the quantitative study took place among 333 international tourists during their stay in the country. Results from the qualitative study show that the most frequently employed prevention measures are cleaning and disinfection of customer-use spaces, the use of hand sanitizers, mandatory face masks for employees and guests, and social distancing. Tourism service providers observed that international tourist behavior changed significantly from 2020 to 2021. Findings from the quantitative study show relatively high levels of perception of adoption of prevention measures among tourists, low levels of the perceived risk of COVID-19, and high levels of tourist satisfaction. Some differences in tourist behavior related to gender and destination type are also observed. Positive correlations are found between tourists’ perceptions of prevention measures and their satisfaction level, while the correlations between perceived risk of COVID-19 and prevention measures on one hand and perceived risk of COVID-19 and tourists’ satisfaction on the other are found to be negative.

Conclusion: how could rural tourism provide better support for well-being and socioeconomic development?

PurposeThis concluding paper summarizes the articles presented in this issue and the significant themes that emerged from the authors' contributions. The main objective of this theme issue on rural tourism is to examine different facets of rural tourism that are critical to short-term recovery as well as long-term sustainable development.Design/methodology/approachThis article draws on the findings of the papers and revisits the question: how could rural tourism provide better support for well-being and socioeconomic development?FindingsThe papers in this issue can be classified into one of three clusters: (1) cultural traditions; (2) support for rural tourism service providers and (3) embracing new technologies. In addition to classifying these papers, the authors propose a conceptual framework to achieve sustainable rural tourism and development comprising four critical success factors for sustainable rural tourism and development.Originality/valueThe main objective of this theme issue is to examine different facets of rural tourism that are critical to short-term recovery as well as long-term sustainable development. Here the authors summarize the findings and propose a conceptual model for the benefit of managers. The authors think that the model could be helpful in designing a strategy for developing sustainable rural tourism projects. It includes reference to (1) stakeholder engagement and support for capacity-building, (2) gradual and organic growth processes, (3) valorization of sociocultural traditions and preservation of cultural heritage and (4) leveraging digital technology in marketing strategy.

“I Am Here to Assist Your Tourism”: Predicting Continuance Intention to Use AI-based Chatbots for Tourism. Does Gender Really Matter?

AI-based chatbot, a typical product of human–computer interaction (HCI), is widely employed by tourism service providers. However, there is a lack of research on the determinants that explain why customers continuously use chatbots for tourism. Based on the Unified Theory of Adoption and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2), the Theory of Perceived Risk (TPR), anthropomorphism, and personalization, this research developed an integrated model to investigate the determinants behind customers’ continuance intention to use chatbots for tourism. In addition, the moderating role of gender differences in the relationships between determinants and continuance intention was tested. The analysis based on a sample of 613 users highlighted the positive effects of performance expectancy, social influence, habit, anthropomorphism, and personalization. However, the findings showed that time risk and privacy risk have negative influences. Although the moderating test did find two differences due to gender, many other relationships showed no differences between male and female.

Focus Group Discussion (FGD) Komunikasi Antar Budaya (Hospitality Desa Wisata Belitar Seberang Kecamatan Sindang Kelingi Kabupaten Rejang Lebong)

Hospitality of Belitar Tourism Village is the attitude and behavior of hospitality in the relationship between guests and hosts as tourism service providers in Belitar Seberang Village, Sindang Kelingi District, Rejang Lebong Regency. The success of developing a tourist village, apart from being influenced by attractive tourist objects, is also strongly influenced by the attitudes and behavior of tourism managers and the surrounding community in providing services to visitors. This is a challenge for tourism managers considering that visitors come from various regions with various ethnic groups, languages ​​and cultural customs, so they are prone to communication errors. Therefore, the Dehasen University Bengkulu Communication Studies Program in collaboration with the Tourism Awareness Group as tourism managers in the Belitar Seberang Tourism Village, held a focus group discussion (FGD) on Intercultural Communication, especially related to the theme of hospitality in tourist villages. The FGD results show that the optimization of hospitality is influenced by: 1) Knowledge of the tourism management team about human personality traits, especially visitors. 2) Communication skills of the Tourism Management Team in serving visitors, 3) Existence of standard operating procedures (SOP) for tourism services in Tourism Villages. Based on these findings, it is suggested that there be hospitality training for the Belitar Seberang Village Tourism Management Team.

Promoting tourism business through digital marketing in the new normal era: a sustainable approach

PurposeThis paper aims to measure the intention to use digital marketing strategies to enhance the performance of tourism business as well as the extent of digital renovation applications in tourism for sustainable business in a new normal era.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is an insight from the existing relevant literature on the tourism business from time immemorial. The conceptual framework of this study is designed based on previous studies of digital marketing practices for tourism businesses. Furthermore, data were collected from 270 respondents, of which the valid response rate is 72.97%. Partial least square (PLS)-structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to validate the conceptual framework and hypotheses testing.FindingsAmong the nine hypotheses path, seven were supported. This study result shows that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, social media marketing and tourism business performance are critical factors for adopting digital marketing in tourism. Thus, tourism service providers' intention has a positive impact to meet the expectation of tourists and adoption of digital marketing.Research limitations/implicationsThe study's results will assist tourism researchers and service providers in understanding an authentic relationship between digital practices of tourism business and tourist satisfaction. In addition, the legacy of tourism business through digital marketing empowers the owner and community.Originality/valueThe study is the first to explore the relationship between tourism business performance and digital marketing during the new normal era for the empowerment of local community and expanded business in tourism sector.

Influential factors in agrarian households' engagement in rural tourism development

To understand the most significant factors that influence agricultural households' decision whether or not to work in rural tourism in China, this study applies Elinor Ostrom's Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) extension model. It also constructs a model of influence consisting of five key variables: land consolidation, market characteristics, institutional arrangements, farming household's understanding of tourism, and household information. Based on a binary logistic regression model, the results indicate that market characteristics and cognition have direct positive influences, and the source of household income has a negative influence, on farmers' willingness to be involved in providing tourism services. Results also indicate that there is no difference between farmers who work in tourism and those who do not in terms of risk assessment, but there are significant differences among other factors. Finally, some implications are provided to optimize rural tourism development.

Channel structure and greening in an omni-channel tourism supply chain

Online sales and green investment are two important ways to improve the sustainability of the tourism supply chain under the pandemic. This research constructs an omni-channel tourism supply chain consists of two tourism service providers (i.e., TSPs) and one online travel agent (i.e., OTA). Tourism products are sold to consumers through three online sales channels, including two free channels and one bundled channel. The bundled channel is operated by the OTA, and the free channels can be operated by the TSPs or the OTA. Depending on the free channels operators, we depict four online selling models, i.e., the model where two free channels are operated by the two TSPs (TT model), the models where only one free channel is operated by one TSP (TO and OT models), and the model where two free channels are operated by the OTA (i.e., OO model). Through comparing the four models, we find that if the TSPs are responsible for green investment, model TT is the most profitable and greenest model compared to the other three models when the positive externality of greenness is high. Otherwise if the OTA is responsible for green investment, the profit and greening level of the tourism supply chain in model TT become the lowest. This study provides managerial insights for tourism practitioners to rationally operate tourism supply chain from three aspects: joint decisions of operations and greenness, channel structure design, and greening level improvement.

Тourismology in Ukraine and the world: historiography of research

The article is devoted to the consideration of the main challenges in the world that faced the process of forming the theory of tourism. Historical genesis testifies that tourist practices take their beginning in ancient times. They present themselves as a “traveling” as the practice of opening new countries, new “lands”. And therefore, there is no random characteristic of man-nomad, a person who opens new worlds of life, enriching himself, his outlook, entering a dialogue with another: world, society, culture, etc. To date, genesis (grenesis) – origin, occurrence; The process of creating and becoming tourism is the use of innovations that positively affect not only the process of promotion, sale of a tourist product or providing tourism services, but also on the country’s economy as a whole. The main stages and trends in the development of tourism science are analyzed, the study of the prerequisites for the emergence of the theory of tourism and the definition of its place in the system of scientific knowledge about tourism. Panelizovano versions of the concepts “Tourism”, “Tourismoznazvasty”, “Tourismology”. It is determined that tourism is not a separate science, but a scientific interdisciplinary field or a set of general and applied sciences about tourism and tourism. Modern tourism is one of the leading and most dynamic areas of the world economy, thanks to which facilities and infrastructure are developed taking into account local cultural, political and historical traditions. It is concluded that due to tourism in the modern world, intercultural communication is becoming possible on a global scale. However, tourism represents life in a diversity of his diversity, concentrating on a short period of time, characterized by certain goals and the thickness of their advance. At the present stage of the development of the tourism industry, scientific comprehension of tourismology, the formation of the theory of tourism and modern “tourist consciousness”, subjects of tourist process – an urgent need for time. The correctly created image of a tourist firm, its product, increases its need for a modern tourist market.

Measuring the Psychological Behavior of Tourism Service Providers in Low-Income Regions: Implementing Effective Service Marketing and Performances Strategies

An effective marketing strategy is a critical contribution in any business including the tourism sector. Understanding marketing strategies increases business performance. The purpose of this study is to determine how service marketing strategies impact small town tourism business owners. Using an econometric model, the implementation of the 4P mixed strategy on the profitability and potential of service providers in Molise is investigated. Revenue, cost, and profit are the three areas analyzed. Results showed that service operators have to place emphasis on research and development, reflecting cultural identities and the adoption of modern media. Operators should emphasize marketing and sales promotions through websites and social media. Creating a quality brand and setting reasonable prices without exploiting consumers are essential strategies. In conclusion, strategies that emphasize knowledge management and team building should be put into practice. This study could help tourism businesses in small regions to be more sustainable. It is the first research study where Stan Shih’s innovation smiling curve has been used in an Italian region.

KOMUNIKASI WORD OF MOUTH DALAM PENGEMBANGAN DESA WISATA SAMIRAN BOYOLALI

Samiran Boyolali Tourism Village (Dewi Sambi), is a tourist village located in Selo District, Boyolali Regency. Dewi Sambi was established in 2007. Dewi Sambi has experienced very rapid development, seen from the increase in tourist attractions, the increase in homestays and the ability of existing human resources to increase. Dewi Sambi's very rapid development is inseparable from good Marketing Communication. The marketing activities carried out by Dewi Sambi's management are through a word of mouth approach. This communication strategy is effective and has a positive impact on the development of Dewi Sambi. The steps taken by Dewi Sambi's management in marketing is that Dewi Sambi's management invites and invites tourism service providers or tourism bureaus to provide information regarding Dewi Sambi's existence, products, as well as accommodation and costs at Dewi Sambi. in addition, by sending letters to the agencies in Boyolali Regency.

Chinese VFR Travel in Budapest: The Hosts’ Roles

In recent decades, there has been a dynamic growth of Chinese outbound tourism to the Central and Eastern European region, and Hungary has been one of the most visited countries. This increase in demand is linked, in part, to the important Chinese diaspora in Hungary whose members play the role of hosts in VFR travel. This paper aims to explore the social relations—guanxi—within the Chinese diaspora living in Budapest and its influence on VFR travels back and forth China. Results of the survey with 202 Chinese immigrants reveal the strong nexus between migration and VFR travel. The Chinese hosts who have been living in the country for two decades behave differently in their guanxi compared to those who have settled in Budapest recently. The article provides several practical contributions to local destination management organizations and tourism service providers to successfully reach Chinese hosts, such as providing commissions, coupons, and getting discounts.

TriPlan: an interactive visual analytics approach for better tourism route planning.

Continuous research and development of novel tourism routes is necessary for tourism service providers to improve the tourist experience and industrial competitiveness. However, the route planning is cumbersome due to the time-consuming, extensive, and costly field study. Most of the existing route planning studies focus on recommending tourism routes for users based on attraction characteristics or tourist behavior features, which are generally unexplainable due to the black-box approaches they use. Other solutions allow users to customize itineraries through an interactive interface but often lack guidance from the aspect of route evaluation or destination image perception. In this paper, we thoroughly discuss the requirements and design tasks with domain experts and propose TriPlan, an interactive visual analytics system that provides intuitive planning guidance for tourism product developers. We design and improve multiple coordinated visualizations to facilitate analysis from the perspectives of overall route pattern and individual destination image. We also develop a hierarchical planning view to display the structural information of a plan. In addition, we introduce an automatic route optimization algorithm and multiple interactions to assist users in optimizing and adjusting the itineraries. Finally, we evaluate the usability and effectiveness of our system through three case studies and quantitative and qualitative interviews with the domain experts on real-world datasets.Graphical abstract Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s12650-022-00861-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A trip down memory lane to travellers’ food experiences

PurposeResearch on food tourism has a significant impact on destination attractiveness. However, components interfacing food experiences and memory are under-researched topics in food tourism literature. Therefore, this study aims to present a framework based on the components of rememberable food experiences while travelling through the lens of the diffusion of sensory stimulation.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a qualitative application of “Memory-Work”, a social constructionist archetype suggested for food tourism-related research. A survey was conducted, and the respondents were asked an open-ended question.FindingsThe analysis found the components instigating these food experiences: Peculiar food and drink experience, setting/geographical location, companions and social interactions, celebrating occasions and touristic components (e.g. serendipitous travel experience and food nostalgic memory). Predominantly, rememberable food tourism experiences are more explicit than memorable tourism experiences.Research limitations/implicationsThe components mentioned in this framework illustrate that various food-related experiences should be involved in destination marketing. Service providers could use these components to create unique destination stories.Originality/valueThis study is the first to present a newly developed framework for food tourism service providers that incorporates sensory impressions with food memories to explore the connection between food memories associated with a destination.

Tourism efficiency decomposition and assessment of forest parks in China using dynamic network data envelopment analysis

Forest resources are essential not only in the provision of tourism services, but also as the assets of ecological preservation, and so this study divides the overall operation process of forest parks into production and service processes in an unprecedented way. A modified slacks-based dynamic network data envelopment analysis (SBM-DNDEA) model is proposed to measure the overall, production, and service efficiencies of forest parks in China at a provincial level during the period 2009 to 2018. In the model, cumulative afforestation and reforestation area and social tourism employment are defined as carry-over items between production and service processes, respectively, in consecutive periods. In addition, an alternative aggregation procedure given by the model based on a weighted endogenous mechanism is proposed, which is easier to use and interpret in practical applications. The spatial-temporal differences and features are concluded and analyzed at the provincial and regional level. The results show differences in the overall efficiency, the production efficiency, and the service efficiency of forest parks across provinces in China. The study also finds that in terms of spatial differences, there is less variation in production efficiency among the five regions, but significant differences in service efficiency. The Southeast and the Southwest demonstrate the highest service efficiency score at more than 0.68. This is followed by the Northeast and the Northern, with a service efficiency score between 0.3 and 0.4. The Northwest has the lowest service efficiency score, at less than 0.3. Through these analyses, best performers and practices was identified and valuable insights was gained on how each province can improve associated inefficiencies. • A modified SBM-DNDEA model for measuring provincial efficiency of forest parks in China is proposed. • The overall efficiency is a endogenously weighted average of period-specific divisional efficiencies. • The provision of tourism services performance of forest parks varies greatly among provinces. • The spatial characteristics of forest park efficiency have also been categorized.

"Hello, Selamat Datang!" A preliminary proposed model of Tourism interpersonal communication from an Islamic perspective amongst frontliners

These articles explore interpersonal communication in the tourism industry. As the industry faced changes post-pandemic, there is a great reason for the industry to refine people inside the industry, especially the frontliners. Since the frontliners are the first people met and greeted by the tourist, the responsibilities of these groups of industrial players are indeed higher than others. Pieces of the literature suggest that tourism service providers must have expressive communication skills to give a superior product and create a pleasant experience for tourists. Hence, tourism frontliners are expected to be able to express effective interpersonal communication skills both internal and external communication. Interpersonal communication skills in dealing with people are one of the major demands in the industry nowadays. This has created a skills gap in the hospitality industry, which must be addressed if businesses are to remain competitive. It is suggested that the staff in tourism and hospitality should be carefully recruited and should undergo continual training because their communication skills are a significant indicator of their ability to foster favorable interactions with clients. Therefore, this conceptual paper aims to suggest an Islamic approach to improve current tourism frontliners interpersonal communications through Islamic-based communications. The need for interpersonal communication skills in the tourism industry is also highlighted in this article. An integrated model of tourism interpersonal communication with Islamic-based communication was proposed at the end of the article. It is hoped that this conceptual paper will be a stepping stone for research in tourism communication from an Islamic view.

Analisis Kondisi Sosial Ekonomi Masyarakat Suku Tengger di Desa Ngadisari Kecamatan Sukapura Kabupaten Probolinggo

This study is aimed to analyze the socio-economic conditions of the Tengger Tribe community in Ngadisari Village, Sukapura District, Probolinggo Regency., as well as the impact of Mount Bromo tourism on the economy of the Tengger Tribe community in Ngadisari Village. In this study, the researchers use a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques were carried out through in-depth interviews, observation and documentation. The validity of the data used source triangulation techniques and theoretical triangulation. In the Data analysis techniques, the researchers use data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and data verification or conclusions. This researchers examine the socio - economic conditions of the Tengger tribe. The focus of the study in this research includes the livelihoods of the Tenggerese people, as well as the impact of tourism in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park on the changes in space or economic activity of the Tenggerese people. Research results show that people in the Mount Bromo area make a living as vegetable farmers, tourism service providers and as trader. With the existence of Mount Bromo as a tourist spot that is much favored by tourists, the economy of the Tengger people in the Mount Bromo area is getting better.

THE ROLE OF TOURISM DESTINATION MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM ACTIVITIES

The increasing competitiveness between local, regional, national and international tourism destinations has determined the parties involved in the tourism industry (local, central authorities, tourism service providers) to initiate a series of actions that would contribute to the diversification of tourism offers and obtaining economic advantages and not only. In this regard, destination management organizations have responded to the need of stakeholders by providing some opportunities for the development of the tourism destination. Among the activities performed by the destination management organizations the following can be mentioned: the elaboration of some plans for the sustainable development of tourism activities in a certain tourism area, the collaboration with the providers of tourism services, the identification of some competitive advantages, the promotion of the image of the tourism destination and the creation of a brand image, the provision of information to all stakeholders, the creation of some authentic tourism products, which would offer unique experiences to tourists, ensuring the well-being of the local community and offering strategic alternatives, which would ensure the sustainability of tourism activities. This paper aims to provide insight into the role of tourism destination management organizations.