Urban Destinations Research Articles

Didactic use of GIS and Street View for Tourism Degree students: understanding commercial gentrification in large urban destinations

Tourism gentrification, as a complex phenomenon in large urban destinations, is an important topic for future tourism professionals. The aim of this paper is to offer a digital cartography making activity based on the contemporary dynamics of commercial transformation within tourism gentrification contexts in Madrid in order to facilitate its understanding. This innovative teaching activity is in accordance with the sustainable tourism pedagogy approach and follows an active methodology using three different GIS applications: Google Street View, ESRI ArcGIS Desktop and ESRI ArcGIS Online Story Maps application. A 4-phase methodological design is proposed so that the activity is customizable (1- recognition of previous ideas), achievable (2- significant streets’ mapping), collaborative (3- collective idea-sharing) and replicable (4- academic and didactic evaluation). Finally, the results from an initial implementation are brought to light: i) an initial conceptual lack was found, ii) examples that help to see the proposal materialized are shown and iii) expected positive consequences according to the scientific literature are presented. It is concluded that, despite the scarce bibliography, the use of GIS software and Google Street View in tourism higher education is convenient, not only to facilitate the learning of complex territorial phenomena but also to learn digital tools highly valued in the professional field.

RETAILING IN BANGLADESH: EVOLUTION AND EXPANSION

Clothing manufacturers in Bangladesh are known around the world for their low prices. As a destination for clothing sourcing from foreign retailers, it offers low labor costs and a large pool of human resources. This makes Dhaka a sourcing hub for global apparel buyers and retailers. Major clothing retailers in top urban destinations across the Western Hemisphere exclusively display these products in front of their customers.In an effort to develop a theoretical framework to explain Bangladesh's retail industry, three main theories can be outlined. Essentially, these theories propose that as a result of external forces (such as environment or conflict), a retail institution will develop into another type or a new type will develop because of a need, conflict, or other factors. When explaining the international expansion of Bangladeshi retailers, we intended to look at three specific theoretical frameworksie; Environmental theory, Cyclical theory and Conflict theory. The article has gone through available literatures to establish relationships between there interrelated theories and justify their selection to explain the evolution and expansion of retail industry in Bangladesh.

TOURISM AREA LIFE CYCLE: Historiographic interpretation of Reguliersdwarsstraat as LGBT tourist territory in Amsterdam

Urban destinations concentrate on the largest amount of entertainment for LGBT Tourism (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender). Amsterdam (Netherlands) has several images and stereotypes that project it as a recognized gay-friendly tourist destination, motivated by the attributes associated with freedom, nightlife, parties, and the traditional LGBT Pride Parade in boats (Canal Parade). This study presents the historical evolution of Reguliersdwarsstraat, known as Amsterdam's gay street from the perspective of LGBT tourist territory, with analyses for the model proposed by Butler (1980), Life Cycle of the Tourist Area. The netnographic study describes the path that culminates in a successful case, starting in the 1960s, declining in 2010, and rejuvenating soon thereafter. The considerations point out that the existence of LGBT territories, such as Reguliersdwarsstraat, broadens the diversity of attractions for the tourist, a factor that contributes to the development of this niche.

Strategy to reduce the number of parameters to be estimated in discrete choice models: An approach to large choice sets

Most of the problems associated with discrete choices involve a small number of alternatives. In cases with many alternatives, however, in addition to the concerns regarding data collection, the calibration process may be a problem as it is usually computationally expensive. Moreover, the available tools may be restricted concerning a large number of parameters found in these models. Therefore, this article presents a procedure to reduce the number of parameters to be estimated in discrete-choice models using many alternatives without affecting the model's overall quality. The strategy uses the Classification and Regression Tree (CART) algorithm and can only be applied to variables related to individuals. To test the feasibility of the procedure, data from a household survey in the city of Santa Maria (RS, Brazil), prepared for the Municipal Urban Mobility Plan, was used. The model, a Multinomial Logit type, was then applied to predict the choice of urban destinations, and its results were compared to those of the calibration without the proposed procedure. The results obtained showed that the strategy, applied to the study case under predefined criteria, did not cause any losses to the overall quality of the model (fit measures). It was concluded that the procedure proves to be viable for large choice sets as long as it can be complemented by a researcher's knowledge, or information from the literature, regarding the influence of variables on the forecast of the phenomenon under study.

Stakeholder views on sustainability in an urban destination context: an inclusive path to destination competitiveness

Purpose Mass tourism in urban settings has proven to be economically significant in many parts of the world. To date, however, the academic debate on sustainable tourism has focused primarily on the ecological and socio-cultural sustainability of tourism in rural and coastal, rather than urban, settings. This paper aims to review the emerging debate on sustainable urban tourism, its complexities and challenges, and questions how urban destinations that are striving to become sustainable cities, can leverage benefit from the implementation of sustainable policies and practices to achieve tourism ‘destination’ competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a qualitative, exploratory research approach using in-depth interviews to seek responses from key stakeholders on their views and experiences of sustainability in the context of an urban destination. Thematic analysis is used to analyze and present the findings. Findings This study concludes that destinations need to be viewed in their broader regional context. Rather than be viewed solely as destinations that are ‘kind to the environment,’ sustainable urban destinations need to demonstrate a deeper commitment to all stakeholder groups, and especially local residents, to provide a fair and desirable ecosystem for achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Originality/value This paper reflects on the potential relationship between ‘urban sustainability’ and the ‘destination competitiveness’ of an urban tourism destination. This then will provide the platform for sustainability to truly contribute to future destination competitiveness.

Cultural events for a sustainable tourism development in urban destinations: the case of Milan’s week

Purpose of the paper: The aim of this paper is to explore the effects generated by a suite of cultural micro-medium events in an urban destination on both hotels’ performance and the seasonality structure in order to promote sustainable tourism development. Methodology: The empirical analysis uses a mixed method that combines a quantitative analysis of the daily performance of a destination with a desk analysis of press interviews to local stakeholders. Findings: The results highlight a positive contribution of cultural micro-medium events to tourism at the destination. This evidence contributes to the academic debate on strategic event management by shedding light on the potential role of minor cultural events as a driver for sustainable tourism development. Practical implications: This study suggests guidelines to destination managers on how to benefit from micro-medium cultural events: a strong connection with the destination’s vocations, the importance of public-private collaboration and the establishment of a portfolio of recurrent events. Limitations of the research: This explorative study presents two main limitations: the authors cannot exclude that other small events were taking place in the city at the same time as the micro-medium cultural events analysed. Secondly, several of the events studied are recent and therefore their impact on the destination could be underestimated. Originality of the paper: During the last decades, the managerial literature has been devoting considerable attention to the role and the benefits generated by events. However, the main focus of these studies has been on large and mega events while little consideration has been dedicated to smaller events which are widespread, recurrent and relatively easier to manage.

Identifying attributes of public transport services for urban tourists: A data-mining method

The current work focuses on Quality of Service (QoS) of Public Transport (PT) attributes in urban tourist destinations. In particular, we aim to reveal which attributes are most significant for tourists prior to their arrival at their destination, as reflected in questions posted in TripAdvisor Question and Answer forums, a widely used social media platform.We used a data-mining method to classify questions into categories relevant to QoS, using a sample of 8905 items posted between 2005 and 2018 in TripAdvisor forums for seven urban destinations in the United States and Western Europe. We found four PT-QoS attributes: Pricing and ticketing, Accessibility, Trip duration, and Service availability (hours of operation and frequency). These attributes have similar relative significance for all destinations, origins, seasons, and years we checked. Hence, they can help service operators and policymakers to understand tourists' preferences and to adjust PT services accordingly.

Tourists on shared bikes: Can bike-sharing boost attraction demand?

This study aims to investigate the impact of bike-sharing on tourist attraction demand in an urban destination. Using monthly data on 460 attractions in Chicago, Illinois from January 2013 to December 2019, we propose a difference-in-differences econometric model to examine the availability of nearby bike-sharing stations on attraction demand, measured by the number of TripAdvisor reviews. This model confirms the significant and positive effects of station presence and station number, each of which have a lag of about 9 months. Moreover, empirical results highlight public transport accessibility as a significant moderator of the bike-sharing effect, suggesting a complementary relationship between bike-sharing and public transport in mobilizing tourists within an urban environment. The effect of bike-sharing stations appears largest within an approximate 300-m radius of the attraction. Lastly, a discussion and implications for destination transport planning and attraction marketing are provided.

Re-scripting Riyadh’s historical downtown as a global destination: a sustainable model?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the planned urban renewal and re-scripting of Riyadh’s downtown as part of the capital’s aim to become a globally recognized city. Specifically, this paper examines in how far internationally established values and narratives are leveraged in the creation of an urban mega-destination that seeks to attract a transnational class of knowledge workers and tourists. The question is explored, in how far and to what extent urban heritage sites and iconic architectural projects are used as strategic tools to promote a process of cultural and economic transformation and in how far the resulting symbolic capital is leveraged to create a status of singularization that appeals to a national and international audience. This study investigates several neighborhoods in the area, analyzing how these will be transformed by Riyadh’s plan to turn the downtown into a commercially viable mixed-use destination by means of designated heritage destinations and iconic architecture.Design/methodology/approachThis paper examines the views and experiences of governmental agencies, architects, developers and residents who are directly or indirectly involved with the planned restructuring of Riyadh’s historical downtown. In total, 40 semi-structured interviews were drawn from this stakeholder group to investigate their current understanding of the downtown associated with the effort to convert Riyadh’s historical downtown into a profitable urban destination. Five of these interviews were conducted with involved planning offices, and 35 with current residents in the area. In addition, a detailed site survey was conducted through a series of maps to reveal existing land uses, building typologies, states of disrepair, activity levels, pedestrian and car circulation patterns, as well as landmarks, and public spaces in each of the areas.FindingsThe subsequent data show that despite many positive outcomes in terms of commercial redevelopment, the adaptive reuse of the existing urban fabric is not considered, nor the preservation of underutilized or abandoned buildings along with its resident diverse communities, activities and milieus, many of which carry on evolving traditions.Research limitations/implicationsThis is significant because this paper presents a massive case study that ties into a larger debate on cultural globalization where similar practices around the world entail a spatial reorientation of urban districts to attract a transnational cosmopolitan middle class along with a simultaneous displacement of diverse and migrant communities, albeit on a much larger scale. While highlighting the rationale and effectiveness of this approach to create a well-packaged commodity, this paper also underscores the ambiguous consequences of this strategy, which entails the loss of a layered urban fabric that documents the city’s evolution through different economic periods, along with the dispersal of migrant communities and their vernacular practices.Social implicationsWithin this context, the current cultural value of the downtown as a heterogeneous, dynamic and multilayered fabric is debated, which documents the socio-economic conditions of the times in which these layers were formed. Departing from the UNESCO’s 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape and globally accepted sustainability standards, this study contrasts the proposed top-down tabula rasa approach proposed by the local authorities with an inclusive bottom-up approach, which would focus on the adaptive reuse of existing structures by taking into consideration the social meanings of belonging that heritage has for contemporary communities while fostering a more inclusive understanding of heritage as an ongoing cultural process.Originality/valueThe implications of the planned conversion of Riyadh’s historical downtown into an urban destination have not been previously explored and as a result, there is a conflict of interest between the creation of a marketable image, the preservation of heritage values, sustainable urban practices, social inclusion and Riyadh’s aim to become a globally recognized city.Plain abstractThis paper explores the employment of urban renewal and city branding within the context of Riyadh’s aim to become a world city. Within this framework, the paper examines the capital’s plan to convert the historic downtown into a mega-destination for the country’s middle class and national and international tourists.

Perceptions of tourism: a study of residents’ attitudes towards tourism in the city of Girona


 Purpose
 
 Socio-cultural impacts of tourism have been widely researched within a social exchange theoretical framework, yet it seems that this theory could be neglecting those more emotional elements, which at the same time could be considered key to understand how tourism affects the society. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to look at the social exchange theory (SET) from a different perspective and focus on those less rational influencing factors that could be shaping residents’ attitudes towards tourism.
 
 
 
 Design/methodology/approach
 
 Based on six main constructs, a quantitative survey-based research is developed in the small city of Girona with the purpose to broaden the versality of the theory, with the support of in-depth exploratory interviews. Thus, an exhaustive study of the influences that attachment to communities, involvement in the tourism industry and personal benefits derived from tourism could have on residents’ perceptions is developed.
 
 
 
 Findings
 
 This paper suggests that those smaller tourism destinations might mirror themselves in those close big tourism destinations and thus residents’ opinions and attitudes seem to be influenced by the situations lived in these larger tourism destinations. Moreover, this paper stresses on the importance of interactions and relationships between tourists and residents to boost personal benefits from tourism. Finally, results show how those attached citizens tend to support tourism development, which could be explained by the proudness they feel when others value what for them is home.
 
 
 
 Originality/value
 
 This paper contributes to the current understanding of attitudes towards tourism within the SET framework, especially relating to covering those more emotional elements of social interactions. Moreover, there seems to be a gap in current research relating to small urban destinations that is aimed to be covered in this research.
 

Big data hedonic pricing: Econometric insights into room rates’ determinants by hotel category

This research uses a big dataset of online prices published on Booking.com by three-, four- and five-star hotels located in Madrid (Spain). Data is broadened by other sources, resulting in a rich set of context-, hotel- and offer-based variables. This research aims to determine the impact of these variables on the online room prices set by one representative sample, featuring the total pricing behaviour as well as per hotel categories. The variables considered, their extent and the insight per category represent a novelty and complement the literature on demand forecasting and hedonic pricing, enabling the improvement of optimisation techniques. The models, based on regression analysis with random effects, reveal a significant impact of the variables on room prices and a clearly distinct behaviour for five-star hotels. This research contributes to the scientific community and practitioners by showing the pricing dynamics behaviour of an important urban destination by star rating.

Competitiveness and overtourism: a proposal for an early warning system in Spanish urban destinations

The tourism industry is undergoing accelerated changes that pose significant challenges for both destination and business managers as well as for researchers of the tourism phenomenon. Two of these challenges that are particularly relevant are the emergence of the sharing economy and its influence on the degree of overtourism perceived in the tourist destinations. This paper addresses the subject through the use of machine learning techniques. The findings show that machine learning techniques are especially well-suited tools for dealing with these kinds of tourism issues. The findings also show that for the Spanish case, tourism competitiveness is a key predictor of overtourism

Urban tourism performance index over the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThis study aims to propose and estimate the urban tourism performance index (UTPI), an index that can measure and track the month-by-month tourism performance on main tourism cities since the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The UTPI is estimated for the following urban destinations: Bangkok, Paris, London, Dubai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, New York, Istanbul, Tokyo, Seoul, Osaka, Phuket, Milan, Barcelona, Bali and Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approachMonthly based data measuring the tourism industry’s performance for these urban destinations has been collected. This data includes airlines’ and hotels’ performance, as well as potential tourists’ online searches. The obtained data has been combined using a principal component analysis, generating the UTPI.FindingsThe UTPI shows that all urban areas analyzed in this study experienced a devastating negative impact because of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. However, the tourism recovery evolution follows heterogeneous patterns.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed index can be estimated using additional variables. Moreover, the index is only estimated for 16 tourism cities. Future studies can reproduce the methodology by incorporating further variables and amplifying the geographical coverage.Practical implicationsThe UTPI might be useful for researchers and policymakers interested in using a measure of tourism performance during the COVID-19 pandemic in some of the most important urban destinations. Likewise, the UTPI index may serve as a suitable aggregated measure of tourism performance in a post-COVID-19 era or to monitor tourism during future crises.Originality/valueThis study analyzes the tourism performance during the COVID-19 pandemic from an urban perspective.

The Citizenship Advantage in Psychological Well-being: An Examination of the Hukou System in China.

Given that Chinese migrants with rural hukou status are not considered full citizens in their urban destinations, rural-urban hukou conversion signifies full citizenship attainment in urban China. We assess causal effects of three major types of urban hukou attainment-merit-, policy-, and family-based hukou conversion-on migrants' psychological well-being in middle- and later-life. We further examine how hukou matters-how periods and hukou destinations alter the values of specific urban hukou and their psychological health implications for individuals. We use the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2015 data) and life history data (for 2014) for analysis. To assess the extent to which the salmon effect contributes to estimation bias for migrants, we compare results from a sample with current migrants and one with current and returned migrants. To address for selection into hukou conversion, we adopt inverse probability-weighted regression adjustment methods. We show that the salmon bias significantly dampened causal estimates. Merit- and policy-based hukou conversion has protective effects on psychological well-being. Policy-based converters have better psychological health than other types of converters. Hukou conversion in the pre-1978 period conveys greater psychological benefits than that in the post-1998 period, when economic and social values of urban hukou have decreased. Hukou converters in the cities with the most resources enjoy better psychological well-being than their counterparts in other cities. Our study joins the emerging literature in investigating how citizenship conveys advantage in health and well-being. We discuss these results in the global context as well as the context of China's decades of evolution of hukou policy and the urbanization process.

Measuring Tourism Intensification in Urban Destinations: An Approach Based on Fractal Analysis

This article provides an approach to the geographic and quantitative interpretation of tourism intensification, drawing on the concepts of fractals, and fractal dimension ( D). Exploring tourism intensification in Lisbon, we first present a geographic construct that represents the spatial layout of tourism based on crowd-contributed spatial signatures advocating a collective sense of the “tourist city”. Then, we assess the tourism-related intensification patterns, based on the estimation of D, for different years. Significant statistical associations can be found between D and tourism intensification across the urban space. Intensification on tourism cores is more homogeneously distributed, yet it evolves into a more compact form of spatial organization. On the other hand, there is a decline in the degree of homogeneity of tourism intensification from tourism cores to the periphery. This approach has also proved useful for exploring tourism intensification in destinations at different hierarchical levels, such as in Lisbon and Oporto metropolitan areas.

Emergence and Spread of Critical Discourses Opposing Tourism: The Case of Girona, an Urban Satellite Destination of Barcelona

ABSTRACT This research analyses the construction of critical discourses on tourism in the city of Girona, an emerging urban satellite destination close to Barcelona. Qualitative interviews and thematic analysis are used to analyze the voices of stakeholders involved in the destination’s social debate. Findings include the transformation of neighborhood identities, banalization and thematization, the massification of public spaces, an increase in the cost of buying and renting property, and a lack of tourism management. This study also suggests that the critical discourse found in Barcelona is being echoed by local residents in Girona. To our knowledge, no previous study has investigated this relationship to date. Findings from this research can be exported to other emerging urban destinations to help understand the complexities of the critical discourses on the negative effects of tourism, and the ways in which they are created, shared, exported and reproduced among destinations.

Mobility Patterns of International Tourists: Implications for Responsible Urban Tourism

Up until the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rapid growth of tourism in popular urban destinations around the globe saw the effects of chronic overcrowding and the breaching of acceptable limits of change imposed on local communities. Overtourism became prominent, intensifying amplified calls for planning and development regimes that emphasize responsible and sustainable tourism growth. In Japan, the term “tourism pollution” emerged as a response to untrammeled growth in cities like Kyoto, Tokyo and Osaka. Understanding the mobility of international tourists in urban contexts is raised here as one way to come to terms with urban overcrowding, particularly in hotspots where popular attractions predominate. In examining international tourist mobility, we argue that spatial and temporal behaviors can be constructive toward the responsible planning and development of urban tourism. Japan’s second most populated city Osaka is the context for this research with GPS big data collected in partnership with one of the country’s foremost navigation app developers. American, Chinese, and South Korean tourist mobility patterns were observed with the evidence pointing out that overcrowding evident at iconic attractions was largely influenced by public transport networks in the city. Evidently, there were distinct differences between the three groups of tourists highlighting that spatio-temporal behavior varied according to the tourist’s country of origin. The findings from this research are instructive to urban tourism stakeholders including policy makers, destination marketing organizations (DMOs), and public transport providers and can help inform responsible and sustainable urban tourism planning and development.

Tourism Impacts, Tourism-Phobia and Gentrification in Historic Centers: The Cases of Málaga (Spain) and Gdansk (Poland)

This study analyzes the role of residents in urban tourist destinations affected by the increase in tourist flows, which have generated various problems such as tourism, gentrification and the emergence of tourism as a threat to residents. The role of residents in tourist destinations has not been analyzed regularly during the development process of destinations. We study two cases of historic centers in European cities, with the aim of comparing tourism problems, which are common to most European urban destinations. This study was conducted by administering surveys amongst residents of these historic centers (378 in Málaga, Spain, and 380 in Gdansk, Poland). These cities show a similar demographic size and urban characteristics. This is the first comparative research on tourism-phobia and gentrification in destinations, a field of analysis that is still not studied much. We develop specific scales to measure gentrification and tourism-phobia; moreover, we study the impact of some tourist problems that affect residents (noise, dirt, occupation of public spaces, etc.), and we show the spatial distribution of tourism-phobia. The same analysis instruments are used for both cities. The results of this study show that the tourism-phobia situation is different in the analyzed destinations. It is more intense in the case of Málaga than in Gdansk. The two historic centers are especially affected by the processes of increased tourist flows and the growth of new forms of tourist accommodation. The research results show that the residents’ annoyance caused by tourism gentrification is more intense than tourism-phobia. Both case studies highlight the residents’ complaints regarding the inadequate management of problems by public stakeholders and control measures.

Determinates of Migration from and Within Bangladesh: A Household Level Analysis

The number of international migrants is continuously and rapidly growing worldwide. It increased to 244 million in 2015, up from 222 million in 2010 and 173 million in 2000. In Bangladesh, there is lack of sufficient resources and facilities to provide all its people with satisfactory working, earning, studying, health care, business and other opportunities, so, people migrate either simply from rural to urban, rural to rural and urban to urban destinations within the country or from the country to abroad either for short periods or for long duration. Lack of effective out migration policies, weak governance, and a hostile investment climate are all significant challenges to the sector's growth and attainment of the SDGs. The aim of this paper is to explore some ‘household level determinants’ for migration in Bangladesh when migration is internal and also external. Among the found determinants, researchers would like to know which determinants are more important and thus find the important reasons behind migration of the Bangladeshi people, thus enabling the proposing of policy recommendations. In the study the cross-section data of Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2010 was used. In the survey data, 612 Primary Sampling Unit (PSU) were selected systematically from 16 Strata and a total of 12,240 households was present. Probit model was used to analyze the determinants of the household migration decision. The study found that age of household head, farm area, value of other assets, number of young dependents on family head, economically favored districts are significant determinants of migration. Regression results shows that increase in ‘farm area’ and ‘value of other assets’ increases the probability of both internal and external migration. Households having loans are more likely to take a decision for internal migration. The study found that external migration is more popular among Bangladeshi households than internal district to district migration. In case of both internal and external migration, probability of migration is greater from rural area than from urban area. Oil rich Middle East countries and OECD countries are the main destinations for external migrants and earnings not very attractive as most migrants work there as unskilled, semi-skilled or low-skilled workers. Government agencies should take steps to provide poor or insolvent households with appropriate information and guidance. Loan facilities for these people could be arranged so that for going to a job outside the country they need not sell their last assets.

Tourism Network in Urban Agglomerated Destinations: Implications for Sustainable Tourism Destination Development through a Critical Literature Review

This study analyzes tourism network in urban agglomerated destinations and puts forth implications for future sustainable development through a critical and extensive review of related literature. First of all, with a bibliometric analysis of 2670 selected articles from three research fields of urban tourism, urban agglomeration tourism and tourism destination network, we analyzed their respective research themes and classified them accordingly. Then, the study further investigates the role of tourism network in urban agglomerated destinations by identifying the differences and connections between urban agglomeration tourism and urban tourism. Finally, a basic architecture is established for the study of tourism networks in urban agglomerated destinations context. Study findings highlight that urban agglomeration tourism emphasizes the interconnectivity and social network relationships. However, research on the destination network of urban agglomerations is limited, especially from the tourism development perspectives. Therefore, the evolution process, structural effects, determinants and dynamic mechanisms of the tourism network in urban agglomerated destination are among the opportunities for future research. Moreover, the research architecture shows that the network relationship emerges as a new direction for the study of urban agglomeration system to better integrate and harness destinations’ resources and thereby promote sustainable development in urban agglomerated areas.