Travel Planning Process Research Articles

TRANSFORMING THE WAY TRAVELERS EXPLORE: A PHP-DRIVEN TOURS AND TRAVELS PLATFORM

Abstract: The Ambai Tours and Travels web application is a revolutionary travel planning tool that offers a user-centric platform for creating, booking, and managing itineraries. Its user-centric design allows travelers to create personalized itineraries based on their interests and preferences. The platform streamlines the entire travel planning process, from destination exploration to accommodation booking and activity reservations. It uses advanced technologies like machine learning and data analytics to provide personalized recommendations, ensuring authenticity and fulfillment. The intuitive interface and user experience foster engagement and loyalty among its diverse user base. The application’s role in the travel ecosystem is significant, driving digital transformation, enhancing industry competitiveness, and reshaping consumer expectations. In conclusion, the Ambai Tours and Travels web application represents the convergence of technology and travel, paving the way for a new era of convenience, customization, and discovery for travelers worldwide. The main purpose of Tour and travels management system is to provide a best facility and travelling services for a owner to book hotels, flight and bus ticket for trip purpose. We have developed tour and travels management system to provide a search platform find their tour places according to choices. Project is based on a web application that helps to store and manage information and procedures that travels have to deal with every day and keep track of the Customer. The pages are made by HTML, CSS, Javascript, Bootstrap, the database is handled by MySQL, the application logic is controlled by PHP. Tourism is important in many ways- it can be for leisure, business, education, culture and for fun. Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. The Tour and Travel Management System (TTMS) is a crucial tool in the travel and tourism industry, enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and customer satisfaction. It streamlines and automates key processes in travel planning, booking, and management, including itinerary planning, reservation management, customer relationship management, and financial transactions. IndexTerms – HTML, CSS, Javascript. Bootsrap, MySQL, PHP.

Travelling with pets… or not

Purpose- This study aims to evaluate a mostly overlooked part of tourism literature: the place of pets in pet owners' travel planning process and travelling. In this sense, the purpose of this qualitative study is to explore Turkish pet owners' perceptions of travelling with pets, and the reasons behind their willingness and unwillingness to take their pets on leisure trips. This exploratory study aims to examine factors affecting pet owners' willingness to travel with their pets, to understand their perceptions of travelling with their pets, to explore reasons behind the unwillingness to have holidays with their pets and to examine difficulties of making holiday plans as pet owners. Methodology- This exploratory research was conducted in the form of semi-structured and in-depth interviews with 52 pet owners in three big cities of Turkey (Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir). Participants of the study were selected according to the principles of criterion sampling and theory-guided sampling, which are purposive sampling methods. Conceptual analysis as a category of content analysis was employed to code the findings and identify emerging themes. Findings- The willingness and decisions about participating in leisure and tourism activities with pets are determined by the bond between pet and owner, the value attached to the pet, and the pet's role in the family. Pet owners' demographic profiles and characteristics of their pets determine the type of pet ownership and also affect all decisions made about pets such as participating in leisure activities with pets and travelling with pets. The participants with higher emotional attachment to their pets had more willingness to take their pets with them on holiday. Pet owners’ decisions about taking their pets on holiday with them are affected by some constraints stemming from their pets, themselves, or other conditions. Conclusion- The results provide an understanding of pet owners’ travel planning and travel experience including pet-related constraints, negotiation strategies of pet owners, and pet owners' willingness and unwillingness to travel with their pets. Keywords: Pets, travelling with pets, tourism consumer, constraints-negotiation model, attachment theory JEL Codes: D10, L83, M31

Examining the Disruptive Potential of Generation Z Tourists on the Travel Industry in the Digital Age

The tourism industry has faced several challenges over the years, due to the evolution of technology and behavioral changes of the generations. The research focused on the new generation of tourists, Generation Z. Known as digital natives, the study aimed to identify their current travel behavior in the digital age and their perception of the future of travel in the context of recent technological developments, namely artificial intelligence, and virtual reality, thus highlighting specific elements that could disrupt the travel industry. To achieve this goal, qualitative research was conducted, using two sessions of focus groups among 20 Generation Z tourists. The results show that Generation Z tourists exhibit disruptive behavior primarily due to their heavy reliance on social media platforms, even for travel purposes. Social media has become their primary search engine, and travel influencers hold significant sway over certain individuals in this generation. In addition, they serve as influencers, by sharing visual content from their travels. Another noteworthy trend in the travel industry is Generation Z’s inclination towards multi-channel booking, effortlessly switching between different booking options. Lastly, although the results show little awareness of the potential of advanced technologies, their openness to adopt them to simplify the travel planning process further contributes to the disruption of traditional travel patterns. Generation Z can be considered a bridge between previous and future generations. The study has implications for management and marketing activities in the tourism field.

The effect of social media on travel planning process by Chinese tourists: the way forward to tourism futures

Purpose This paper investigates the usage and trust of Chinese social media in the travel planning process (pre-trip, during-trip and post-trip) of Chinese tourists.Design/methodology/approach Through a combination of structured online survey (n = 406) and follow-up interviews, the research identifies the diversification of the demand-and-supply patterns of social media users in China, as well as the allocation of functions of social media as tools before, during and after travel.Findings Social media users are diverse in terms of their adoption of social media, use behaviour and scope; the levels of trust and influence; and their ultimate travel decisions and actions. Correlations between the level of trust, influence of social media and the intended changes in travel decisions are observed. Destination marketers and tourism industries should observe and adapt to the needs of social media users and potential tourist markets by understanding more about user segmentation between platforms or apps and conducting marketing campaigns on social media platforms to attract a higher number of visitors.Research limitations/implications This paper demonstrated the case of social media usage in mainland China, which has been regarded as one of the fastest growing and influential tourist-generating markets and social media expansions in the world. This study further addressed the knowledge gap by correlating social media usage and travel planning process of Chinese tourists. The research findings suggested diversification of the demand-and-supply pattern of social media users in China, as well as the use of social media as tools before, during and after travel. Users were diversified in terms of their adoption of social media, use behaviour, scope, the levels of trust, influence and the ultimate travel decisions.Practical implications Destination marketing organizations should note that some overseas social media platforms that are not accessible in China like TripAdvisor, Yelp, Facebook and Instagram are still valued by some Chinese tourists, especially during-trip period in journeys to Western countries. Some tactics for specific user segments should be carefully observed. When promoting specific tourism products to Chinese tourists, it is necessary to understand the user segmentation between platforms or apps.Originality/value Social media is a powerful tool for tourism development and sustainability in creating smart tourists and destinations worldwide. In China, the use of social media has stimulated the development of both information and communication technology and tourism.

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.

The Role of Social Media in Health Safety Evaluation of a Tourism Destination throughout the Travel Planning Process

This research aims at identifying the role of social media in evaluating the attractiveness of a tourism destination, with special emphasis on the health safety of the destination. Consistent with this objective, a survey has been carried out on a sample of 675 Romanian social media users. The research results led to the development of a model based on structural equation modeling. The model includes nine latent variables that were structured taking into account different behavioral aspects related to the role social media has in travel planning, as well as for evaluating the health safety of a tourism destination. The main findings suggest that the trust in social media for tourism information made people become more interested in communicating through this means and to consider it more useful throughout the travel planning process. When choosing a travel destination, the more involved a tourist is in the decision making process, the greater the attention they pay to social media. The perceived usefulness of social media in travel planning has a significant influence on intentions to choose a tourism destination. As the importance assigned to the health safety of tourism destination increases, social media plays a more active role in travel by creating trust in this means in order to obtain sanitary safety information. People that intend to use social media for finding information on the health safety of a tourism destination are more likely to choose that destination for their vacation. The managerial implications of this paper regard the communication strategies adopted by tourism services suppliers or by some public authorities aimed at stimulating an efficient usage of social media so as to increase the buying intentions for tourism destinations.

Making Kids Count ( breakout presentation )

Organizations across Canada are developing new strategies to collect and use data about school travel patterns and attitudes, which will improve the abilities of communities to identify and overcome barriers to active school travel. HASTe has evolved the standard Canadian School Travel Planning (STP) survey toolkit to help practitioners find meaningful correlations in transportation data and gain more insights into barriers to active and safe trips to school, and opportunities to overcome them. Our presentation will focus on 3 new methods currently in use in BC: The first is these development is in mapping. Employing the standard Canadian STP toolkit and open source GIS software, HASTe uses baseline survey data to create heat and cluster maps to help STP communities prioritize interventions and infrastructure investments. The second is the refinement of the survey tools. HASTe has evolved the standard Canadian STP take-home survey and data entry templates to automatically correlate independent elementary of the survey data set. The new template produces useful and presentable survey results for STP communities to help them better understand their schools’ transportation activities and barriers. The third is the development of a qualitative data coding system. HASTe has developed a simple template and method to allow STP communities to sort and code qualitative survey data, helping them turn input from the school community into actionable information that can inform the school travel planning and implementation process. This presentation will be of use to anyone looking to support and encourage more active school travel. HASTe has used freeware spreadsheet and GIS software to evolve tools available through a publicly available toolkit; the tools and methods are easily accessible and replicable by practitioners and community members.

Mining graphs from travel blogs: a review in the context of tour planning

The tremendous expansion of user-generated content has made travel planning a tedious activity. The information overload disorients some travel knowledge seekers in choosing preferred places and visiting them in an appropriate order. Hence, a trip planning system mainly deals with collecting popular points of interests (POIs) in a region and proposing routes accordingly. In contrast to the various data sources of tour planning, travel blogs have been paid less attention. The massive text contained in these narratives manifests bloggers’ interactions with places that have been modeled with different graph representations. This review concentrates on the problem of extracting this graph-structured information from travel blogs with an explicit focus on POI graph, the fundamental trip planning structure that facilitates travel decision making. The study first discusses an analysis of travel blog mining and its dominant research themes, based on which three distinct categories of graphs are proposed. Each category of graphs is further explored using practical cases followed with a comparative analysis of existing works including their techniques, dataset and evaluation metrics. With the underlying idea of enhancing travel planning process with better POI graphs, the existing literature is critically assessed at the end along with a number of promising directions for future research.

Empowering the traveler: an examination of the impact of user-generated content on travel planning

ABSTRACTIn order to understand the role of user-generated content (UGC) in travel planning, this study integrates Psychological Empowerment with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), to develop a model of UGC-enabled empowerment and its impact on intention to use UGC when making travel plans. Survey data from 268 backpacker tourists revealed that perceived empowerment and perceived usefulness are significant drivers of attitude and intention to use UGC for travel planning. The findings provide the travel industry with a better understanding of how travelers’ perceptions of and use of UGC is empowering them to take greater control of the travel planning process.

Travel plans for new developments: a global review

ABSTRACTA travel plan is a mechanism for delivering a package of transport measures at a site to manage car use and encourage the use of more sustainable forms of transport. In recent years, travel plans have been required for new infill and greenfield developments through the land-use planning and approvals process, predominantly in the United Kingdom, the United States, continental Europe and Australia. This paper contributes to the literature by providing a global review of travel plans for new developments. The results show that while travel plans for new developments share a common set of elements with those for pre-existing sites, differences within each element are notable, particularly in the types of travel plan measures adopted, processes for managing the travel plan, and approaches to monitoring and review. Results of previous evaluations have varied considerably, although most have reported a reduction in car driver trips of 10–20 percentage points. Despite this, most evaluations lack rigour, with a paucity of robust evidence. Key success factors identified by the literature, such as the provision of an explicit policy supporting the role of travel plans, should be embedded within the travel planning process where possible to ensure best outcomes for new developments.

Building confidence measures for tourist destination choice

AbstractReviews, social media, web sites and recommendations from trusted inner circle opinions are essential to tourists in the travel planning process, but the large amount of information they now make available can increase the difficulty of choosing a destination. Determining how improvements in data quality and in the variety of tourist information sources will affect the probability of correct situational detection, and help in optimizing the overall decision, is vital. This paper presents a generalized method for estimating levels of individual source reliability and assessing the confidence level in a combined output. Initial reliability levels of tourist information sources are augmented by: (i) combining measures of multiple sources, (ii) incorporating truth reinforcement for related elements and (iii) incorporating the importance of individual elements for determining the truth probability for the whole. The result is a measure of confidence in system output based on establishing links among th...

Active transportation to support diabetes prevention: Expanding school health promotion programming in an Indigenous community

BackgroundSchool-based physical activity (PA) interventions, including school active transportation (AT), provide opportunities to increase daily PA levels, improves fitness, and reduces risk of diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. Based on a community-identified need, the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project, within an Indigenous community, undertook school travel planning to contribute to PA programming for two elementary schools. MethodsUsing community-based participatory research, the Active & Safe Routes to School’s School Travel Planning (STP) process was undertaken in two schools with an STP-Committee comprised of community stakeholders and researchers. STP activities were adapted for local context including: school profile form, family survey, in-class travel survey, pedestrian-traffic observations, walkability checklist, and student mapping. ResultsSTP data were jointly collected, analyzed and interpreted by researchers and community. Traffic-pedestrian observations, walkability and parent surveys identified key pedestrian-traffic locations, helped develop safe/direct routes, and traffic calming strategies. In-class travel and mapping surveys identified a need and student desire to increase school AT. The STP-Committee translated findings into STP-action plans for two schools, which were implemented in 2014–2015 school year. ConclusionsCombining CBPR with STP merges community and researcher expertise. This project offered evidence-informed practice for active living promotions. Experience and findings could benefit Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

Enhancing the impact of travel plans for new residential developments: Insights from implementation theory

Travel plans are increasingly being required for new and expanded buildings as a condition of planning approval. Their aim is to manage car use and support access by more sustainable transport modes. However, their application to new residential developments has received little research attention to date.A series of semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 30 industry representatives, predominately from Australia, to identify opportunities to enhance the impact of travel plans for new residential developments. Results showed general support for travel plans at new residential developments, but limited confidence in the ability to implement them successfully. Application of implementation theory to the research findings has highlighted key gaps in the monitoring and enforcement of residential travel plans, an absence of any sound planning or legal requirement, and limited involvement from property managers in the travel planning process to date. Opportunities to enhance implementation include the adoption of an educational response to enforcement, development of a sound planning requirement, enhancing travel plan quality prior to granting planning approval, preparation of guidelines backed by strong capacity building efforts, and development of a stronger industry focus for residential travel planning.Future research is needed to assess the outcomes of travel plans for new residential developments. An assessment of different approaches for implementing residential travel plans is also needed to establish which methods are most appropriate under different contexts.

“Do We Believe in TripAdvisor?” Examining Credibility Perceptions and Online Travelers’ Attitude toward Using User-Generated Content

Recent press reports and complaints by hoteliers have called into question the credibility of travel-related user-generated content (UGC). Yet our understanding of the role of credibility perceptions in the context of UGC is limited, notwithstanding the rising interest in social media. Using an online survey of 661 travel consumers, this study applies the component-based structural equation modeling technique of partial least squares to examine online travelers’ perceptions of the credibility of UGC sources and how these perceptions influence attitudes and intentions toward UGC utilization in the travel planning process. The model also draws on the theory of homophily to make predictions about the antecedent of credibility. Results validate the Source Credibility Theory in the context of UGC but also accentuate the central mediating role of attitude. In addition, the study finds support for perceptual homophily as a critical determinant of both credibility and attitude. Theoretical and managerial implications are highlighted.

A Flash of Culinary Tourism: Understanding The Influences of Online Food Photography on People's Travel Planning Process on Flickr

This article presents the results of an exploratory study in the online image-sharing community Flickr. The purpose of this study was to profile the users who are fond of online food photography as well as to explore the role of online food photography in their traveling planning process. Grounded in “uses and gratification theory,” a mixed method was adopted for this research. Content analysis was employed to understand members' general motivation to participate in different online food photography activities. A series of chi-square and independent-sample t tests was conducted to determine if significant differences existed between active members and not-as-active members. Results of the quantitative and qualitative analyses supported each other. The findings indicated that factors of entertainment, personal identity, and social interaction were the main drivers of participation in online food photography activities. It was further revealed that participants' tourism experiences were recorded as personal photography but shared socially through the use of social media. For active members, food images influenced them in terms of novelty and providing information. Active members also appeared to be more likely to seek out new places to travel for new food experiences, and food photography had a greater influence on where they consider traveling. On the basis of the results, implications for culinary tourism promotion and destination marketing were discussed.

Social Media Impact on Holiday Travel Planning

The impact of social media on the travel industry is predicted to be tremendous, especially on its holiday travel segment. Although there is a plethora of studies concentrating on the role and impact of social media in travel related decisions, most of them are medium and community specific, or focus on a specific stage of the decision making or the travel planning process. This paper presents a comprehensive view of the role and impact of social media on the travel planning process: before, during and after the trip, providing insights on usage levels, scope of use, level of influence, and trust. The study was conducted through an online structured questionnaire on a sample of 346 members of an online panel of internet users from Russia and the other Former Soviet Union (FSU) Republics who had been on holidays in the previous 12 months. Findings reveal that social media are predominantly used after holidays for experience sharing. It is also shown that there is a strong correlation between level of influence from social media and changes made to holiday plans. Moreover, it is revealed that user-generated content is more trusted than official tourism websites, travel agents, and mass media advertising.

Structure of Travel Planning Processes and Information Use Patterns

Based on an empirical data set collected from Chinese tourists visiting Macau SAR, this study attempts to decompose the travel decision-making process into a multistage sequence (before purchase, at time of purchase, after purchase, after arriving at destination) with multiple decision choices for a vacation trip. The study results demonstrate that travel decision making follows a multidimensional, ongoing sequence and is a hierarchical process. This study further attempts to expand the framework for describing the travel decision-making structure by incorporating information use patterns across the overall course of the travel planning process. The contingent nature of decision making is partially validated by tracing the sequence of decision making and information use along the travel planning horizon. Furthermore, given the lack of studies based on Chinese tourists’ decision-making behavior, the study results provide new insights for many tourism destinations and businesses eyeing the burgeoning Chinese tourists’ market.

A Framework of Search Engine Use for Travel Planning

Search engines have become one of the primary tools for travel planning and, as such, have become an important element in the marketing efforts of destination marketing organizations. Recently, it has been demonstrated that because of the dynamic relationships among search engine providers, the tourism industry, and travelers, it is essential that destination marketing organizations understand how search engines are used by travelers within the travel planning process. This study proposed a three-stage model that provides a framework for examining how online travelers use search engines and how different aspects of the travel planning process shape this use. The model was evaluated based on a national survey of American online travel planners, and the findings provide significant insight into the role of search engines for travel planning. The implications of the study for search engine marketing are discussed as well as several challenges for future research.

Assessing Structure in Travel Queries

ABSTRACT With the growing amount of travel-related information available on the Internet and the increasing significance of search in the travel planning process, understanding travelers' search patterns can provide useful insights into developing systems that effectively address travelers' information needs. This study utilized phone inquiry records to examine the sequential characteristics of travel search. Information on attractions, accommodations, and events appears to be frequently searched in these queries; also, search sequences differ substantially by location level. The results of this study offer important implications for destination marketing with an emphasis on destination website development.

International Travel with Children

International Travel with Children