Tourist Choice Research Articles

When information isn’t enough: The limits of demand reduction messaging as a tool to change the consumption choices of Chinese wildlife tourists

Wildlife tourism has huge potential to benefit local human populations, and animal welfare and conservation objectives. A substantial proportion of wildlife tourism experiences, however, negatively impact on animals’ welfare and their species’ conservation status. An emerging goal of conservation research is to test conservation social marketing interventions aimed at modifying consumers’ choices. Here we present a preliminary test of demand reduction messaging, designed to combat barriers to Chinese consumers aligning their choice of wildlife tourist attractions (WTAs). We presented an online experimental survey to 1000 Chinese respondents. Of these 800 were shown treatment statements detailing the impacts of WTAs and how to discern these, and 200 were control respondents. Half of treatment respondents and all of control respondents were then “primed” by asking them introductory questions about WTAs’ likely impacts. We showed all respondents, in random order, 10 mock webpages, mimicking promotional materials for existing types of WTA, five designed to represent beneficial (“good”), and five detrimental (“bad”) WTAs, and asked them to rate how much they would like to visit each. We found a small effect of treatment information: 5.6% fewer treatment than control respondents gave high scores to bad WTAs, and 5.8% more gave low scores. We found no effect of treatment information on respondents’ scores for good WTAs. After the survey, respondents were shown ratings of each WTAs’ welfare and conservation impacts, and asked to re-assess them. In response 23.5% fewer gave high scores and 28.8% more gave low scores to bad attractions, percentages that were unaffected by the experimental treatment. Providing upfront, explicit statements regarding the impacts of WTAs and how to discern these, had limited effect on the choices of our Chinese respondents. We recommend conservation marketing campaigns to instead focus on providing visually appealing ratings of WTAs’ likely species conservation and animal welfare impacts.

딥러닝 기반 스마트관광 추천 알고리즘 개발 연구 : 새로운 OTA 레스토랑 추천 시스템의 제안

The purpose of this study is to propose a smart tourism restaurant recommendation algorithm based on deep sequential interaction embedding to successfully predict the preferred choices of tourists and promote their decision-making. We use Doc2Vec, a deep learning-based natural language processing technology, to learn the representation vectors of tourists and items by considering their interactions’ sequence, and then input them into multi-layer perceptron and matrix factorization that make up a deep artificial neural network to learn nonlinearity and linearity of interactions. Finally, we predict the possibility of tourists preferring restaurants and recommend top-N restaurants for each user. Indeed, the results of comparing the TripAdvior and MovieLens data sets demonstrated that our proposed recommendation algorithm (DSESTRR) significantly improved the recommendation accuracy compared to other algorithms. Based on the above results, the usefulness of DSESTRR in the tourism field was discussed, and theoretical and practical implications were proposed.

The impact of TV series on tourism performance: the case of Game of Thrones

TV series and cinema productions are considered one of the most recent and promising instruments to promote tourist destinations and to increase tourist flows. However, a few papers analyze empirically their impact on tourist choices. We contribute to the scarce literature by investigating the impact of one of the most successful TV series of all times: Game of Thrones (GoT). The series was internationally broadcasted and filmed around the world. We focus on fourteen filming locations in three different countries: Spain, Croatia and Malta. To estimate how much of their recent tourism performance is due to the visibility obtained through GoT, we use county-level panel data in the years 2007–2019 and apply an event study design as methodology. We deal with the issue of treatment effect heterogeneity over time and across counties by adopting an interaction-weighted estimator which focuses on season-specific treatment effect. The results show a positive and persistent impact of GoT on tourism performance, on both new tourist arrivals and overnight stays, and are not driven by spillover effects. Overall, findings confirm the ability of TV productions to boost the tourist flows in the filming locations.

Luxury Tourism Consumption in the Accommodation Sector: The Mediation Role of Destination Brand Love for Potential Tourists

The present study aims to investigate the determinants of luxury hotel choice, while also analyzing hotels’ ability to promote their related destination. The relationship between Destination Brand Love, and the antecedent factors which determine the choices of potential tourists in the Italian territory were studied. Four hundred and seventy-eight potential tourists were recruited via an online questionnaire, which indicated their love for a non-visited destination. Structural equation modeling was used for model estimation. This study contrasts with the previous literature and shows that potential tourists formed a strong bond with a destination brand, demonstrating that Destination Brand Love was not only a post-travel bond. The findings prompted important suggestions relating to symbolic consumption and the emotional aspects of a luxury hotel experience. The predictors (Desire, Attitude Toward Act, Subjective Norms, and CBI) emerged as good antecedents for behavioral intention. Moreover, it emerged that Destination Brand Love mediates the relationship between predictors, behavioral intentions, and loyalty. This study improves the sparse literature on Destination Brand Love, and it offers a new perspective on the luxury hotel sector in the Italian territory. Incorporating potential tourists into Destination Brand Love studies could have both theoretical and practical value, and it also provides advantages for territory marketing.

Using Q method to investigate the influence of inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) on tourists’ hotel choice in Fiji

ABSTRACT Consequent to the COVID-19 pandemic and the reopening of international borders, tourists are increasingly concerned about sanitation and hygiene practices in tourism destinations. There is an evident need to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed tourist choices. This paper investigates the perceptions of hotel staff and tourists on the influence of inclusive water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices on tourists’ hotel choices in Fiji. This study explores the value of Q-methodology through a case study of Fiji with data collected from 80 hotel staff and 75 tourists. The findings demonstrate that Q-methodology is effective in identifying three tourist types who have a strong interest in WASH impacts and aspects of their safety including concerns about how their visit impacts the local community and environment. Similarly, the Q method was useful in identifying four perspectives of staff understanding on WASH impacts that are significant to tourists’ choice of hotel. The findings suggest a significant potential for hotel operators to enact socially inclusive WASH practices to enhance their appeal in the ‘new normal’.

Assessment of Recreational and Cultural Ecosystem Services Value of Islands

With the gradual expansion of benefits provided by islands to human wellbeing, it has become increasingly important to quantify the cultural ecosystem service functions of islands. In this study, the zone travel cost method (ZTCM) and individual travel cost method (ITCM) are used to assess the recreational and cultural ecosystem services value of the island region of Changhai County, China, and the recreational value of Xiaochangshan, Dachangshan, and Guanglu Islands based on questionnaire survey data. The results are as follows: (1) The overall recreational and cultural ecosystem services value of Changhai County in 2019 was 533.14 million USD, including a traveling cost of 395.71 million USD and consumer surplus of 137.43 million USD. (2) Further, based on the choice and consumption behaviors of tourists, multiple recreational values of the county were also inferred: the aesthetic experience presented the greatest contribution, while educational knowledge accounted for a lower percentage. (3) The recreational and cultural ecosystem services value 294.16, 60.03, and 143.26 million USD for Xiaochangshan, Dachangshan, and Guanglu Islands, respectively. Based on the findings of this study, future research will focus on the planning and development of Xiaochangshan Island tourism to maximize consumer surplus.

The impact of climate change on tourism demand: evidence from Kazakhstan

ABSTRACT This study takes the first step in analysing the impact of climate change on international tourist arrivals to Kazakhstan from 121 origin countries for the period 2000–2018. Despite this interest, little effort has been made to examine the relationship between time-variant climate variables and tourism demand. The study captures the destination choice of tourists based on temperature in the origin and destination countries over time by incorporating time-variant climate variables. The results reveal that the optimal temperature of international tourists visiting Kazakhstan is obtained at 7°C. Moreover, international tourists prefer to travel to Kazakhstan at a moderate temperature, that is neither too hot nor too cold.

Pro-environmental behavior in sustainable tourism: the impact of using "Environmental feedback"

Numerous strategies have been used to promote sustainable tourism, such as building environmentally-friendly destination images or giving visitors gifts to enhance their pro-environmental behaviors. There is an effective and cost-efficient way called "environmental feedback" that can urge people to participate in green actions; however, it has not been given enough attention in the accommodation sectors. Using “environmental feedback” means providing information to explain the meaning of pro-environmental behaviors. This research aims to measure the impact of providing "environmental feedback" on tourist's choice of accommodation. The hypotheses were verified using the Randomized Controlled Trials method. In particular, respondents were randomly segmented into two groups: treatment group (307 samples with hotels displaying "environmental feedback"); control group (211 samples with hotels not displaying "environmental feedback"). The findings confirm the positive impacts of using "environmental feedback” on guest’s selection of hotels. In addition, the difference in price between sustainable accommodations and standard accommodations also influences tourist's choices.

Chinese Tourists' Food Souvenirs Selection Behaviours and Consumption Values: A Conceptual Discussion

Tourists frequently buy souvenirs while on vacation. Souvenir sales generate much revenue for tourist destinations, and souvenir purchasing issues cannot be ignored in a successful destination management strategy. In today's context, Chinese tourists dominate international tourism, and they tend to buy food souvenirs as gifts. Moreover, the tourist's choice of souvenirs is influenced by various factors. The theory of consumption values is one of the most precise theories explaining consumer choice behaviour. This conceptual discussion investigates the theory of consumption values' efficacy in analysing Chinese tourists' food souvenir selection by examining the values behind their selection. The review's outcome explains that the functional, social, emotional, and conditional values are in effect in choosing food gifts. However, the epistemic value remains neutral in this case. These propositions align with three fundamental recommendations of the theory of consumption values. Outcomes postulate that the theory of consumption values could explore Chinese tourists' food souvenirs choice behaviour.

Eco-friendly and agricultural destinations as green tourism trends

In recent years, the environmental pollution and global warming are having a strong impact on the choice of tourists travel methods around the world. The eco-friendly destinations and agricultural tours (food festivals are included in this list) are becoming the contemporary trend that attracts the attention of many people. The surveys with statistics data of different world tour operators prove this trend relevance. The study reflects the current preference of green tourism, the environmental protection tours for tourists, especially for the young people, and this is a trend that countries all over the world are aiming for. Thus, the countries are increasingly aware of the issue of protecting nature, and environment and culture are the basis for sustainable tourism development. Not only the government agencies are interested in creating green tourism destinations but also the tourism businesses are working on different ways to protect the environment. But between the good intensions and their manifestation there is a large gap which is expressed in a serious distortion when the specially protected natural areas having a high recreational potential are utilized for green tourism destinations at the cost of inevitable losses (the samples of this tactics are given on two countries cases).

Artificial intelligence: a systematic review of methods and applications in hospitality and tourism

PurposeSeveral review articles have been published within the Artificial Intelligence (AI) literature that have explored a range of applications within the tourism and hospitality sectors. However, how efficiently the applied AI methods and algorithms have performed with respect to the type of applications and the multimodal sets of data domains have not yet been reviewed. Therefore, this paper aims to review and analyse the established AI methods in hospitality/tourism, ranging from data modelling for demand forecasting, tourism destination and behaviour pattern to enhanced customer service and experience.Design/methodology/approachThe approach was to systematically review the relationship between AI methods and hospitality/tourism through a comprehensive literature review of papers published between 2010 and 2021. In total, 146 articles were identified and then critically analysed through content analysis into themes, including “AI methods” and “AI applications”.FindingsThe review discovered new knowledge in identifying AI methods concerning the settings and available multimodal data sets in hospitality and tourism. Moreover, AI applications fostering the tourism/hospitality industries were identified. It also proposes novel personalised AI modelling development for smart tourism platforms to precisely predict tourism choice behaviour patterns.Practical implicationsThis review paper offers researchers and practitioners a broad understanding of the proper selection of AI methods that can potentially improve decision-making and decision-support in the tourism/hospitality industries.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the tourism/hospitality literature with an interdisciplinary approach that reflects on theoretical/practical developments for data collection, data analysis and data modelling using AI-driven technology.

Tourism Environmental Impacts Assessment to Guide Public Authorities towards Sustainable Choices for the Post-COVID Era

The collapse of tourism caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing many destinations to rethink their economic model, by focusing on sustainability and innovation. Advances in tourism impact assessment can not only improve tourism products and services, but also guide the sector towards responsible choices for the post-COVID era. The paper proposes a new way to assess tourism products using the Life Cycle Assessment—LCA methodology. Thanks to this method the authors quantify the environmental impacts of tourism choices and propose alternative green solutions. Innovation is therefore aimed at promoting a new awareness to support sustainable tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the impacts have been quantified, local governments can make decisions in their plans to promote the most sustainable solutions. The application of the methodology to a typical case study for the Mediterranean area—Cinque Terre National Park in the Liguria Region (Italy)—further helps administrations to transfer and replicate the authors’ proposal. The proposed methodology is applied taking into account several priority issues for host territories such as the activities carried out by tourists, tourism mobility, and accommodation.

Element of Politeness in Intercultural Communication: The Case Study of Japanese and Malaysian Tourists

The number of Japanese tourists visiting Malaysia has consistently ranked in the top ten over the last 20 years. Japan has been the country of choice for Malaysian tourists over the previous ten years. It is, therefore, crucial that tourism communication in the cross-cultural context between Malaysia and Japan is used as a reference to improve the cross-cultural communication skills of the tourism employees involved. This article discusses the external structure of Japanese conversation between native Japanese speakers and Malaysian tourist guides and native Malay speakers with Japanese tourist guides. This study is qualitative and uses the discourse analysis approach. A total of four conversation sessions in the form of Free Independent Travel (FIT) tourism were held in Malacca and Tokyo. The conversations were recorded, and the researchers also made notes throughout the conversation to see the sentence structures and non-linguistic elements to complete the data. The recording was then transcribed and encoded before being analysed. Only the conversations by tourist guides were analysed and included in the contents of this article as the focus of the study is more on the external form and politeness of the Japanese language used by Malaysian and Japanese tourist guides in demonstrating solidarity and similarities in the context of cross-cultural conversation. Data analysis shows many similarities in the selection of vocabulary and specific verb forms by Japanese and Malaysian tourist guides to show courtesy and friendliness in the conversation. This proves that Japanese language skills by Malaysian tourist guides are almost on par with Japanese tourist guides. Malaysian tourist guides also have a vast knowledge of the culture and nature of the Japanese language.

Impact of the COVID-19 on the Destination Choices of Hungarian Tourists: A Comparative Analysis

The pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) has transformed the tourism sector to an unprecedented extent, creating new challenges and new development paths. Although the recovery of tourism is fraught with uncertainties, the changes in tourists’ travel habits offer a unique opportunity for tourism to recover in a way that respects the principles of sustainable development. Several international studies suggest that the pandemic has significantly transformed tourists’ travel habits and destination choices, making them more environmentally conscious and shifting their preferences towards inland destinations close to nature. To test these claims, we examined tourists’ destination choices and the factors influencing them in a sample of 500 respondents in Hungary before the pandemic and after the restrictions on travel, businesses, gatherings, and mask requirements were lifted in the summer of 2021. Our results show that there was no significant change in the destination choices of the tourists surveyed. The main influences were the aspects of safety and comfort; the consideration of environmental concerns, despite our assumptions, did not play a significant role.

Modeling Tourists’ Departure Time considering the Influence of Multisource Traffic Information

The development of tourism brings economic benefits as well as additional pressure on the urban traffic system. For example, the travel time of tourists coincides with the rush hour of urban residents’ daily commuting. Limited urban traffic resources cannot meet the travel needs of tourists and urban residents at the same time, resulting in traffic congestion and low travel efficiency. Now, with the development of intelligent technology, tourists can obtain real-time information about transportation systems through various channels and adjust their travel behavior accordingly. This study shows tourists’ travel behavior based on a survey conducted to the tourists in Yangzhou city. 1500-interview data are analyzed, and a Multinomial Logit Model (MNL) was employed to establish the probability prediction model of tourists’ departure time choice. The results presented that sync traffic information and some other tourism-related factors determine the choice of tourists’ departure time. These factors distinguish the travel behavior of tourists from the daily travel behavior of urban residents. This study can provide suggestions for the urban tourism management department to formulate more targeted and efficient policies while creating a more comfortable tourism environment for tourists.

Ethnographic Enquiry Towards the Influences and Behaviour on Food Choices of Long-Term Tourists in Urban Malaysia

Despite its importance, food habits of an individual in a foreign location has not received adequate attention in Asian research. Most of the previous studies were based in the US and Europe and focused on the students from a specific discipline (Greaney et al., 2009, LaCaille et al., 2011) or specific backgrounds (Nelson et al., 2009, Cluskey and Grobe 2009). Since the host culture is an important influence towards food consumption behaviour, this ethnographic study provides a unique, Malaysian perspective on international student’s food consumption patterns. The objective in this research was to ethnographically explore the food choice behaviour and influences on international students in private universities around Subang Jaya, Malaysia. Participant observation along with semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with the respondents. The various emerging themes of the food consumption behaviour of international long-term education tourists included food neophilia, stress eating, convenience and health and the influences comprised of price, social networking sites, friends, and word of mouth. Difference in age between researcher and other international students along with the limitations of conducting semi-structured interviews were some of the major limitations. This research can help policymakers make informed choices regarding sustainable developmental and tourism marketing for similar long-term tourists. It can help sensitize local population on the challenges and issues faced by foreign students in a new country. Furthermore, this can help the F&B industry as well as the society get a deeper understanding on how to cater to foreign long-term tourists.

SWOT Analysis Nomadic Tourism as Millennial Friendly Natural Tourist Destination Development Strategy (Case Study: Glamping De Loano, Purworejo)

The purpose of this study is to analyze the alternative strategy of developing local tourism around Borobudur, one of the world’s heritage as the top choice of foreign and domestic tourists, that focused on developing a variety of alternative tourism infrastructures while preserving the environment that is a millennial-friendly destination that is called Nomadic Tourism in Glamping De Loano, Purworejo, Indonesia. The research took place between June-July 2020 in Glamping De Loano, Purworejo. The chosen methods including documentation, observation, and interviews with local government groups, visitors, and residents. Glamping De Loano is a new and fresh tourism sensation in Purworejo that can bring millennial tourists and new unique tourism experiences to the area. It is a new early-stage of destination because it has only been operated for less than a year but has many opportunities that can be cultivated and developed. However, most complaints coming from them are regarding narrow and dangerous road infrastructure towards the destination, supporting ecosystem readiness, and conformity of the biophilic material to the environment surrounding. Most interviewers suggest it would be better with improved road infrastructure construction and focus on providing a basic supporting ecosystem. Recommendations are made for developing the Glamping De Loano tourism better to improve the experience of tourists and visitors and to improve the resident’s quality of life. It is hoped that this research may prompt local authorities to take l residents’ perceptions and experiences into account by creating better management measures and regulations.
 Keywords: Nomadic Tourism, Destination Development Strategy, Glamping, Purworejo, Borobudur

Туризм в эпоху социальных сетей: картинка или реальность?

The development of social networks and universal digitalization have led to widespread changes in society and in all spheres of activity, including tourism. The growing popularity of information platforms containing content created by travelers has determined the vector of scientific research towards the dominant role of social networks at the stage of the travel planning process. The increased impact of social networks as the main source of tourist information determines the tourist location, place and type of residence. As a rule, the choice of potential tourists is determined by interesting stories, colorful landscapes, reviews, formed public opinion and other content broadcast on the network by users. The article defines the role of social networks (travel blogs, forums) in modern society. It is shown that social networks have replaced travel agents, GPS-numerous maps and guidebooks, and the Instagram feed – a photo album. The authors conclude that modern travel has completely moved to the digital environment and now it is almost impossible to imagine a trip without posts on social networks and an endless stream of recommendations in the comments. The article pays special attention to the role of Instagram in the modern development of tourism, including negative aspects that have a disastrous impact on the industry.

Different cultures, different images: a comparison between historic conservation area destination image choices of Chinese and Western tourists

ABSTRACT Using three Hangzhou Grand Canal historic conservation areas as the gaze fields, this study delineates differences in the image choices of visitors from cross-cultural backgrounds. Analysis of tourist-generated content, including destination image (DI) dimensions and frequency, suggests that Chinese tourists prefer human attractions and experiencing neighborhood life, while Western tourists prefer natural scenery and participating in tourist activities. The research also spotlights the phenomenon of the ‘tourist gaze circulatory.’ Tourists’ differentiated pursuits and on-site tourism experiences can influence the projection of DI, and the altered DI will in turn affect subsequent tourists. Based on this notion, suggestions are made for the in-depth development of the Canal’s historic conservation areas, differentiated for the different gazes of Chinese and Western tourists; and for a guide to help Western tourists experience Chinese urban life and enrich their gaze objects, with a view to protecting and enhancing world cultural heritage.

Pengaruh Kualitas Informasi Ekowisata Hutan Mbeliling Manggarai Barat Terhadap Loyalitas Wisatawan


 
 
 In the world of tourism, building a quality information is one thing to note because it involves decision-making for the visitors or tourists. The quality of this information will be processed with a quality information system and then create results / output that is useful for people who need information to travel them. Today's eco-tourism has become a more dominant choice for tourists who want to visit Indonesia especially to eastern Indonesia one of them is West Mangggarai Regency. Information about the ecotourism area of Mbeliling Forest, West Manggarai regency has become the attention of the visitors because inside the mbeliling forest there are some very promising tourism potentials, it could be for the years to come, this area will often be visited by many tourists. The purpose of the study to determine whether there is a significant influence the quality of information (independent variable) to the loyalty of tourists (dependent variable). Using quantitative method, the questionnaire will be done some analysis such as data quality test (validity and reliability), simple linear regression analysis. The results showed that as much as 15.3% variable quality of information affect the loyalty of tourists among some other things that affect (84.7%). It is also explained that there is a positive effect of information quality on tourist loyalty of 0,322