Travel Agencies Research Articles

Маркетинг туризма: инновации и тренды

The modern tourism industry is in constant motion, being influenced by various innovations and trends. Marketing has become a key element of success in this industry, allowing companies to attract more customers and remain competitive. In the rapidly changing world of tourism, it is necessary to constantly monitor the latest technologies and strategies in order to attract the attention of the target audience. Marketing in the tourism industry has undergone significant changes and evolution over the past decades. Since the time when travel companies limited themselves to offline advertising in print media and working with travel agencies, today they are actively using digital marketing strategies and technologies to attract potential customers. From classic advertising branding to data analytics and virtual reality, tourism marketing continues to evolve and adapt to the changing demands of modern travelers. The article analyzes the current trends in the development of tourism marketing: personalization of services; digitalization and use of artificial intelligence in the promotion of tourism products and communications of tourism entities; actualization of socio-ethical concepts of tourism marketing and partnership marketing; a request for tourism safety as one of the strategic directions of state regulation of tourism; a trend towards the development of creative marketing based on an innovative approach and strategy for introducing innovations to the creation and promotion of tourism services. The conclusion is made about the synergetic complementarity of the indicated trends, which make it possible to create and promote fundamentally new travel products and services on the market that are relevant to the goals and values of consumers of travel services.

Quantum Approach for Contextual Search, Retrieval, and Ranking of Classical Information.

Quantum-inspired algorithms represent an important direction in modern software information technologies that use heuristic methods and approaches of quantum science. This work presents a quantum approach for document search, retrieval, and ranking based on the Bell-like test, which is well-known in quantum physics. We propose quantum probability theory in the hyperspace analog to language (HAL) framework exploiting a Hilbert space for word and document vector specification. The quantum approach allows for accounting for specific user preferences in different contexts. To verify the algorithm proposed, we use a dataset of synthetic advertising text documents from travel agencies generated by the OpenAI GPT-4 model. We show that the "entanglement" in two-word document search and retrieval can be recognized as the frequent occurrence of two words in incompatible query contexts. We have found that the user preferences and word ordering in the query play a significant role in relatively small sizes of the HAL window. The comparison with the cosine similarity metrics demonstrates the key advantages of our approach based on the user-enforced contextual and semantic relationships between words and not just their superficial occurrence in texts. Our approach to retrieving and ranking documents allows for the creation of new information search engines that require no resource-intensive deep machine learning algorithms.

Redesain User Interface Pada Website Arlang Tour and Travel Menggunakan Metode User Centered Design Sebagai Media Promosi

The development of information technology in Indonesia, particularly in the tourism sector, has experienced rapid progress. Tourism in Indonesia has become one of the main pillars in supporting national economic growth. CV. Arlang Tour and Travel, a travel agency, has also contributed to this sector. However, their website is still not optimal in terms of attractiveness and completeness of information. The initial survey results, conducted using the System Usability Scale, showed an average score of 52 from 30 respondents, with a grade scale of D, indicating that the website's usability is still below average. This research aims to evaluate and redesign the website, focusing on enhancing content completeness using the User Centered Design (UCD) method for design development, while the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire is applied for evaluation. After the redesign using the UCD method, there was an improvement, with the average score reaching 80 with a grade scale of B. These changes successfully addressed the main issues related to content completeness and improved promotions to expand reach, which is expected to provide a better user experience. This is anticipated to contribute to an overall improvement in user experience and strengthen the image of Arlang Tour and Travel in the tourism industry.

The effect of shared ecological value on buyer–supplier relationship within mountaineering tourism

Shared values play an important role in attracting new tourists, retaining existing ones and gaining an important competitive advantage. Building upon the Commitment-Trust model, this study tested the role of shared ecological values in the creation of tourist trust and relationship commitment, and finally tourist behavioral intention. To test the hypotheses, a sample consisting of 480 mountaineering tourists of two representative travel agencies were surveyed, and a mixed-method approach based on a quantitative survey (n = 436) and qualitative interviews (n = 60) was also adopted to examine their relationships. Results revealed that shared ecological values between tourists and travel agencies were significantly negative predictors of credibility, while credibility and benevolence emerged as significantly positive predictors of relationship commitment. Moreover, credibility and relationship commitment were partially positively predictors of tourist’s behavioral intentions. The findings enrich the extant knowledge on mountaineering tourist relationship marketing and human-nature relationships and provide implications for destination management and wildlife protection.

Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention among Travel Agency Employees in Selangor

Job satisfaction is among the most difficult issues for many business leaders to address. Researchers have widely discussed this problem, yet statistics still show an alarming increase, and various factors cause it to happen often. This study aims to examine the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention and investigate the moderating effect of employee gender and years of experience on the relationship. The four workplace satisfaction determinants—career advancement, employee empowerment, pay level, and nature of the work—that affect employee turnover intention are covered in this study. This study involved respondents among the travel agencies’ employees within the state of Selangor, regardless of their working position. A set of questionnaires was distributed to 130 employees from 26 travel agency companies that participated in the study. The results show employee empowerment has a significant negative relationship with turnover intention. It has been also found that the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention is significantly moderated by gender and years of experience. This study recommends that further research should use a larger sample size and qualitative methods to gain comprehensive knowledge regarding the phenomenon.

Future-Proofing Your Organization: Key Principles for Leading Through the AI Transition

As artificial intelligence (AI) advances rapidly, organizations must develop meaningful long-term strategies to realize opportunities and mitigate risks, as academic research shows AI will significantly impact over 50% of jobs by 2030, requiring workforce planning, while industries like travel agencies have faced disruption from failing to adapt to digital technologies like AI. Effective AI strategies include establishing integrated 3-5 year technology roadmaps that articulate adoption timelines, skill development, and business transformations, identifying core capabilities to augment with AI, such as diagnostics for healthcare, while data and technology foundations are also critical for deploying AI projects at scale and continuous skills training is needed to fill emerging roles and offset potential job losses. The article discusses strategic considerations for industries like healthcare, where strategies focus on augmenting clinicians, standardizing data, and establishing governance, transportation organizations must plan for autonomous vehicle testing and adoption, and reskill mechanics, and financial institutions can develop robo-advisors and lending platforms while modernizing legacy systems. Therefore, organizational leaders need such integrated roadmaps and ongoing governance to leverage AI's productivity benefits while guiding responsible adoption and workforce evolution amid ongoing disruption through proactive strategic planning that will help direct, rather than undergo, technological transformation.

Machine Learning Applied to Real-Time Evaluation of Spoken English Communication in Tourism

Effective interaction between travellers and local suppliers of services is critical in the increasingly international tourism business. Speaking and understanding English well is frequently essential to a satisfying trip. In the setting of tourism, this study investigates the use of machine learning algorithms for the real-time assessment of spoken English interaction. The aim of this research is to create a new system that uses algorithms based on machine learning to evaluate and enhance English-language conversations among travellers and travel agents. We provide a novel method for assessing many facets of a conversation, such as spelling, syntax, proficiency, and general sentiment, that integrates automated speech recognition (ASR), natural language processing (NLP), and sentiment analysis. The gathering of a broad collection of spoken English exchanges in travel-related contexts, the creation of a tailored ASR models taught on terminology unique to the travel industry, and the incorporation of natural language processing (NLP) methods to assess the sentiment and linguistic structure of dialogues are important aspects of the project. To assist businesses and visitors improve their ability to communicate, models based on machine learning will be taught to deliver immediate input. The goal of this project is to benefit the tourism sector by developing a tool that will enable better English-speaking interaction, which will eventually end up resulting in more satisfied and better experiences for visitors. It also covers the requirement for domain-specific individualized language instruction and evaluation tools. The study’s findings could revolutionize the way spoken English proficiency is assessed and enhanced in the travel and tourism industry. They could also have wider ramifications for language acquisition and intercultural interaction across a range of sectors.

THE ROLE OF HEALTH TOURISM TRAVEL AGENCIES IN HEALTH TOURISM

In today's world, health tourism is rapidly gaining popularity. Patients travel internationally to access various healthcare services and treatments, such as medical procedures, cosmetic surgery, dental care, thermal tourism, and spa-wellness services. One of the critical factors contributing to a successful experience in the challenging and complex journey of health tourism is the role played by health tourism travel agencies. These agencies facilitate patients' access to international healthcare services, guide patients, organize their travel, and offer personalized solutions to meet their needs. In addition to coordinating logistics, travel agencies help ensure a seamless healthcare experience by addressing cultural and language barriers and improving communication between patients and healthcare providers. This study aims to define the roles and responsibilities of health tourism travel agencies, emphasizing their growing importance in the global healthcare landscape.

Customer Behaviour towards Online Travel Agency (OTA) Services in the Hotel Industry: A Case Study in Doha, Qatar

This research investigates customer behaviour towards online travel agency (OTA) services in the hotel industry using a quantitative design and correlation research method with 139 tourists in Doha, Qatar. 95% response rate is collected and analysed using SPSS software. The results show that service quality, perceived value, and brand loyalty significantly affect customer satisfaction, while customer expectation does not. However, the study finds that customer satisfaction significantly influences customer behaviour toward OTA services in the hotel industry. The study provides practical insights for hotel managers and OTA services to enhance customer experiences by identifying the key factors that drive customer behaviour. Moreover, it contributes to the existing literature on customer behaviour towards OTA services in the hotel industry by identifying the crucial factors that influence customer behaviour.

Catalyzing green innovation in hotel and tourism businesses: Leveraging green talent management, green organizational citizenship behavior, and green values

Global corporations are grappling with a significant challenge in addressing the absence of green innovation. Therefore, this study presents a conceptual model that reveals the significant role of green talent management in fostering green innovation. The study strives to analyze the mediating effect of green organizational citizenship behavior on the impact of green talent management on green innovation. Additionally, the study tests the moderating role of green values on the relationship between green talent management and green organizational citizenship behavior and between green organizational citizenship behavior and green innovation. Data were collected from 330 employees at the middle-level management working at five-star hotels and travel agencies category-A operating in Egypt to test the proposed conceptual model using structural equation modeling. Findings show that GTM positively affects GI and GOCB. GOCB positively impacts GI. In addition, GV positively moderates GTM→GOCB and GOCB→GI relationships. Moreover, GOCB significantly mediates the GTM→GI relationship. Based on our research, useful guidelines for how GTM, GOCB, and GV could affect green innovation have been developed.

Catalyzing green competitiveness in hotel and tourism businesses: Leveraging digital dynamic capability and green creativity

The global push for green initiatives is in line with advancements in smart technology. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of digital dynamic capability “organization's capacity to swiftly utilize digital technologies for innovation and adaptation” on green competitiveness in hotel and tourism businesses, considering green creativity as a mediator. Using the statistical program WarpPLS 7.0, the study employed PLS-SEM to examine 333 replies that were provided by middle-level managers of five-star hotels and category-A travel agencies in Egypt. The study revealed that digital dynamic capability positively impacts both green competitiveness and green creativity. In addition, the study found that green creativity significantly mediates the relationship between digital dynamic capability and green competitiveness. The study offers fresh insights into how emerging concepts like digital dynamic capability predict green competitiveness in the tourism and hospitality industries.

Managing sustainability-oriented innovation in services: proposal of a scale for the future of hotel companies and travel agencies

PurposeThe concept of Sustainability-Oriented Service Innovation (SOSI) has been recently suggested from a conceptual reflection approach in an attempt to integrate innovation and sustainability in services, being an emerging field of innovation in services. This study aims to propose a scale to measure Sustainability-Oriented Service Innovation from the perspective of the company. Because the whole is different from the sum of its different parts, we need to better understand the synergy between sustainability and innovation for the future of tourism companies.Design/methodology/approachUpon a literature review, we propose a scale and explore its dimensionality with data from 268 to 256 Spanish hotel and travel agency managers, respectively. The dimensionality of the scale for measuring Sustainability-Oriented Service Innovation is similar in hotels and travel agencies.FindingsFive factors emerge from the principal component analyses carried out: two dimensions referred to technological and non-technological innovation, respectively, and three dimensions labelled as economic, social and environmental sustainability.Practical implicationsTo guide managers towards their operations, the proposed scale is expected to inspire models to assess the impact of SOSI practices in such a highly competitive industry and to identify the most influencing dimensions on the future performance of the tourism company.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, no scale has been presented so far that brings together the dimensions of technological and non-technological innovation, as well as sustainability from a Triple Bottom Line approach.

Faktor-Faktor Yang Mempengaruhi Kepuasan Jamaah Umroh Dan Haji Dengan Persepsi Kesehatan Sebagai Variabel Moderating

Background – Indonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. This creates a lot of interest and demand for Hajj and Umrah in Indonesia. Hajj and Umrah are worship activities carried out by visiting Mecca and Medina and carried out in accordance with religious law. Since the city of Mecca reopened for Umrah pilgrims after Covid-19, thousands of people have visited various travel services that provide Umrah services. Various types of travel offers ranging from cheap prices, good aircraft facilities, and hotels close to the Kaaba. This offering strategy is carried out to get the attention of prospective Umrah pilgrims. Aim – In this study, the purpose of the study is to test whether service quality, price perception, trust, empathy and health perception influence customer satisfaction and whether health perception is able to moderate all these factors. Design / methodology / approach – This type of research is quantitative research, namely analyzing data in the form of numbers. The data used in this research is primary data which is data directly obtained from the first data source. Data was obtained from the results of a questionnaire distributed to respondents, namely Hikmah Travel pilgrims and Umrah pilgrims. The method used is multiple linear regression analysis with moderator effects. Findings – The results of this research are that the service quality variable (X1) has no effect on consumer satisfaction (Y), the price perception variable (X2) has no effect on consumer satisfaction (Y), the trust variable (X3) has no effect on consumer satisfaction (Y), the empathy variable (X4) has a significant effect on consumer satisfaction (Y), healthy perception (Z) moderates the influence of service quality (X1) on consumer satisfaction (Y), healthy perception (Z) is unable to moderate the influence of price (X2) on consumer satisfaction (Y), healthy perception (Z) is able to moderate the influence of trust (X3) on consumer satisfaction (Y), healthy perception (Z) is unable to moderate the influence of empathy (X4) on consumer satisfaction (Y). Conclusion - The ability of health perception to moderate consumer satisfaction is seen from the quality of service, price perception, trust is good, so this needs to be a concern for hajj and umrah services. However, the absence of health perception will actually result in compromised customer satisfaction. Research implication – Empathy has a significant effect on consumer satisfaction, so travel agencies should pay attention to the empathy factor so that it can increase consumer satisfaction and can be used to attract Hajj pilgrims to use their travel services. Apart from the empathy factor, healthy perceptions are able to moderate the factors of service quality and trust in customer satisfaction, so travel agencies must also pay attention to these factors to get potential customers. Limitations – The population in this research is Hajj and Umrah travel services in East Java, while the sample from this research is Umrah and Hajj pilgrims at Hikmah Travel.

Proposed Strategy to Improve Product Innovation and Service Quality at Pegipegi

Indonesian people’s interest in Online Travel Agents (OTA) is relatively high, even though it experienced a decline from 2019 to 2021 due to the pandemic. There are still many people who choose to use Online Travel Agents (OTA) because it provides convenience and comfort. However, in Indonesia, the competition is quite tight, and Pegipegi needs to innovate its Products and Services. The objectives of this research are to improve product innovation to distinguish Pegipegi from its competitors and to improve the quality of service to increase its competitive advantage over its competitors. Digital Innovation and SERVQUAL Framework have been used to analyze the issue and identify the root cause. It has been found that Pegipegi Products and Services needs to develop and improve because the indicators are low criteria. The recommendation for the company is required to innovate and improve the Products and Services of Pegipegi. Product Innovation can be achieved by creating new products with advanced technology, such as through Gamification, Owned Media channels, and improving User Interface. On the other hand, service improvement can be done by combining technology such as involving ChatGPT in daily work and training customer service.

‘The Store’ Oral History Project

ABSTRACT The Store Oral History Project is a collection of 20 oral histories gathered from members of the Newcastle community in 2019, sharing their thoughts and memories of the Newcastle and Suburban Co-operative Society Ltd, known locally as ‘The Store’. The project builds on existing knowledge about ‘The Store’ that was the biggest and most successful co-operative society in Australia, established in 1898. In 1974, at its peak it operated 15 other retail branches and had 98,000 members and employed 1450 workers. 1 It provided grocery, retail goods, services including a health fund, funeral fund, travel agency. Eventually, increased shopper mobility and competition from suburban shopping centres saw ‘The Store’ close in 1981 after 83 years of service. Closure left a lasting impact upon the community and in the wake of the demolition and renewal of the former Hunter Street site, this project commemorates and celebrates The Store's legacy. This article discusses how the project provided a unique opportunity for a university Library to collaborate with industry partners, the community, employed students and provided Work Integrated learning students’ opportunities to build GLAM sector knowledge and skills. Twenty oral histories are publicly available on Livinghistories@UON. 2 These amplified voices of ‘The Store’ add meaning to existing narratives, as well as the University’s archival holdings of this old Newcastle icon. In 2019, the University of Newcastle (Australia) Auchmuty library embarked on a new project aimed to record stories associated with The Newcastle and Suburban Co-operative Society Ltd, known locally as ‘The Store’, established in Newcastle West, in 1898. The main store building opened in Hunter Street Newcastle, New South Wales, in 1906.

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Driving Forces of Tourism Economic Resilience in Chinese Provinces

This study focuses on the resilience of tourism economies in Chinese provinces, exploring their spatiotemporal evolution and driving forces as a crucial prerequisite for promoting the high-quality development of China’s tourism industry. We construct a resilience evaluation index system from four dimensions: resistance resilience, recovery resilience, reshaping resilience, and development resilience, using provincial tourism data from 2012 to 2022. The study employs Moran’s Index, kernel density estimation, and GIS technology to investigate the differentiation characteristics, spatial evolution processes, and spatial agglomeration characteristics of provincial tourism economic resilience in China. Finally, the GeoDetector model is used to analyze the driving factors. The findings are as follows: (1) Over time, most provinces and cities in China have shown varying degrees of improvement in tourism economic resilience, with different changes observed across the four dimensions. (2) Spatially, significant differences exist between provinces, with better resilience in the east than in the west and in the south than in the north. (3) Regionally, while no polarization is observed, there is a distinct differentiation between high and low-value areas. (4) Regional linkages indicate the presence of interregional associations in China’s tourism economic resilience, with non-uniform distribution of cold and hot spots. (5) Key driving factors include per capita railway mileage, domestic tourism revenue, the number of travel agencies, and the number of employees in accommodation and catering. Under the backdrop of rapid tourism economic development, improving infrastructure construction and enhancing the comprehensive strength of the tourism industry is vital for boosting tourism economic resilience.

Theorizing the role of technology acceptance among technostress and job burnout: Evidence from Egyptian travel agencies

The purpose of this study is to answer the question of what might happen if workers are constantly bombarded by technological stimuli at work. It seeks to scrutinize the influence of technostress and job burnout (JB) under the moderating effect of technology acceptance. The study includes employees at Egyptian travel agencies. A random sampling method was employed. 545 questionnaires were handed out, and 343 were returned and valid for analysis. The PLS-SEM analysis method was used to test hypotheses. Results indicate that among technostressors, techno-overload and techno-complexity are important predictors of JB. It also implies that technology acceptance moderates its effect on JB.

Identify Issues That Influence Customer Satisfaction Using Sentiment Analysis and Topic Modeling

The development of internet users in Indonesia continues to increase over time, this makes customers comfortable with digital transactions. Trinusa Travelindo Company or better known as Traveloka, which is engaged in the online travel agent sector, has proven its extraordinary achievement, namely becoming the E-tourism application that is ranked 1st most visited by the Indonesian people in 2022. However, these results are also directly proportional to the number of negative reviews created in the application review itself. This study aims to identify what issues affect customer satisfaction with topic modelling. This study uses the text mining method derived from the results of Traveloka application user reviews. The data source obtained in this study is secondary data by using the Traveloka application review data crawling technique with samples from January to May. Based on sentiment analysis, positive sentiment is more dominant (50.38%) compared to negative sentiment (49.62%). User reviews are grouped based on the results of sentiment analysis, then Topic Modelling is carried out to find out what issues affect customer satisfaction. The topic modelling of the data used is Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) with the help of phyton 6.3. to find out what words and topics often appear or as factors that influence customer satisfaction. The most influential negative issues include the refund and payment process, pay later services, and the ordering experience which is considered complicated. On the other hand, issues that contribute positively to customer satisfaction include product quality, service quality, and promos and discounts. This is reinforced by the results of topic modelling which show that these aspects are often the main concerns in user reviews on the Google Play store. Thus, this study suggests that in order to increase customer satisfaction, Traveloka needs to focus on improving the quality of service, products, and offering more attractive promos, while simplifying the refund process and ordering experience in the application, some still say it is complicated.

Strategies for Performance Optimization: Risk Mitigation in Tourism Supply Chains of Indonesia

In the context of optimizing performance, the tourism industry has great potential as a source of income for regions and countries. One area that has great potential in the tourism industry is Rembang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. However, this industry is also vulnerable to various risks, such as natural disasters, pandemics, and security issues. Therefore, this research aims to identify risks in the tourism industry supply chain in Rembang Regency and develop effective mitigation strategies. The research method used is decision matrix risk assessment (DMRA), which involves supply chain mapping, risk identification, risk assessment, risk response development, and risk response control. The results of identifying risks that need to be mitigated from travel agents to tourist activities include fluctuating products/services, incompatibility with tourist destinations, and failure in promotional programs. Meanwhile, stakeholder activities in the tourism industry include failure in formulating policies and promotional programs. Proposed mitigation measures include diversifying supply chains, improving communication between suppliers and the tourism industry, and developing flexible policies. Implementation of this strategy is expected to strengthen the tourism industry supply chain in Rembang Regency, improve the tourist experience, and support sustainable economic growth. Risk mitigation in the tourism industry also contributes to the performance of the tourism industry and the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) by providing benefits to the environment, economy, and local communities.

Assessing the Benefit of Two Detection Approaches in Screening COVID-19 Using SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Tests among Intercity Public Bus Travelers.

The movement of people contributes to the spread of COVID-19 between communities. Hence, we evaluated the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of offering intercity bus travelers testing prior to their departure. We conducted baseline and endline surveys to map COVID-19 prevention practices in travel agencies in western Cameroon. As interventions, buses were randomly assigned to three study arms: 1) offering systematic COVID-19 rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) to all passengers (arm A); 2) offering testing to suspected cases (arm B); or 3) no testing (arm C). All travelers were called 7-10 days after their trip to identify potential cases. Fifty-five (90.2%) of the 61 travel agencies that were reached consented to participate in a baseline survey. Although only 27 (49.1%) of the agencies implemented at least one of the recommended COVID-19 preventive measures, 39 (70.9%) agreed to host a testing station. Six agencies were selected, and 669 buses were enrolled, including 223, 224, and 222 in arms A, B, and C, respectively. A total of 31,484 departing passengers were approached and 9,594 (30.5%) agreed to participate: 1,177 (12.3%) in arm A, 4,086 (42.6%) in arm B, and 4,331 (45.1%) in arm C. In all, 1,731 tests were performed, including 1,177 in arm A and 554 in arm B. Fourteen (0.8%) tests were positive, and two participants (14.3%) agreed to postpone their travel. Offering testing with antigen RDTs in travel agencies is feasible and acceptable. One-third of passengers consented, and testing did not delay any travels. Although this approach can detect COVID-19 cases, actions are needed to increase the proportion of positive cases postponing their travels.