Visitor Volume Research Articles

Determinants of the Likelihood of Tourist Spending in Cultural Micro-Destinations: Type, Timing, and Distance of the Activity as Predictors

Although tourism expenditure has long been a pertinent topic in studies dealing with cultural tourism, its importance in recent years has become even more marked due to the consequences of low-cost tourism that many destinations are suffering. This need has been further aggravated by the impact of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Now, the only sustainable means of increasing destination revenue is to generate greater financial profitability of tourism-related activities, as opposed to increasing tourist volumes. The present study analyzes the determinants of the likelihood of tourist spending in an urban-cultural destination whose economic sustainability is being threatened by low-cost tourism. To this end, all the tourism activities of the sample (672 in total) were recorded in real time during the stay via a purpose-designed mobile application. Given the nested structure of the sample, multilevel modeling was used: the characteristics of the different tourism activities were used as predictor variables, while characteristics of the tourist were used as control variables. Regarding the former, the results suggest that spending is more likely at the beginning of the stay and in relation to non-cultural tourism activities (restaurants, shopping, transport, etc.). An interaction effect between activity location and timing (beginning vs. end of stay) was also demonstrated: at the beginning of the stay, the greater likelihood of spending was related to services or attractions outside the city center; and, toward the end, spending patterns become more static, based close to the city center. The aim is to explain the probability of tourist expenditure at each spending opportunity, thus contributing to the current knowledge of total tourist spending. Knowledge of tourist expenditure patterns is a prerequisite for raising profitability-per-tourist when increasing visitor volumes is not an option.

Factors Influencing Earthworm Fauna in Parks in Megacity Beijing, China: An Application of a Synthetic and Simple Index (ESI)

Complicated factors in urban areas have been reported to impact the density, biomass, and diversity of earthworm fauna. Urban parks provide essential habitats for earthworm fauna. However, how earthworm fauna are impacted by park traits, such as construction age, distance to city center, visitor volumes, sizes of greenspaces/parks, and attractiveness, etc., still remains unknown. These traits are well characterized by the impacts of urbanization intensity and administration quality of parks in megacities. Therefore, 16 parks with gradients of construction ages and geographical locations in Beijing city were selected for investigation. Furthermore, an earthworm synthetic and simple index (ESI) for characterizing earthworm community has been developed to compensate for the lack of robustness by using single ecological indexes. The results showed that earthworm population density (38.6 ind/m2) and biomass (34.0 g/m2) in parks were comparable to those in other land use types in Beijing. Ecological groupings were dominated by disturbance-tolerant endogeic and deep soil-inhabiting anecic groups, and most of them were adults. The earthworm population was influenced by urbanization intensity, while the earthworm community composition, species biodiversity, and ESI were affected by administration quality of parks. The soil moisture and microbial biomass carbon were the key factors in shaping earthworm assemblages. ESI could be employed as an effective indicator in depicting character of earthworm fauna. This study highlighted the impacts of park traits on earthworms in urban parks. The variation in park traits that influence earthworm fauna was probably attributed to soil properties.

Familiarity mediates apes' attentional biases toward human faces.

In zoos, primates experience markedly different interactions with familiar humans, such as the zookeepers who care for them, compared with those with unfamiliar humans, such as the large volume of zoo visitors to whom they are regularly exposed. While the behaviour of zoo-housed primates in the presence of unfamiliar, and to a lesser extent familiar, humans has received considerable attention, if and how they spontaneously distinguish familiar from unfamiliar people, and the cognitive mechanisms underlying the relationships they form with familiar and unfamiliar humans, remain poorly understood. Using a dot-probe paradigm, we assessed whether primates (chimpanzees and gorillas) show an attentional bias toward the faces of familiar humans, with whom the apes presumably had a positive relationship. Contrary to our predictions, all subjects showed a significant attentional bias toward unfamiliar people's faces compared with familiar people's faces when the faces showed a neutral expression, both with and without a surgical face mask on, but no significant attentional bias when the faces showed a surprised expression. These results demonstrate that apes can spontaneously categorize humans based on familiarity and we argue that the attentional biases the apes showed for unfamiliar human faces reflect a novelty effect.

Tourism Viability Status of Kwa Falls Ecotourism Site of Aningeje Rural Community, Cross River State, Nigeria

The tourism viability status of an eco-tourism site is distinctively an assessment of the tourist attractions that have potential for a given destination. It evaluates the prospects of a tourism destination and confirms whether the tourism site is functioning and its contributions to the host destination's sustainable economic growth. This study assesses the tourism viability status of the Kwa Falls eco-tourism site of Aningeje rural community, Cross River State, Nigeria. The objectives were to evaluate tourist perception of the study area and the patronage level across different years (2011-2020). The study took a qualitative approach and used stratified random sampling to select respondents, while data was collected using a simple random sample procedure. The study reveals that the study area is still viable, attractive, and unique, and tourists are still visiting the site even though there is a decline in the number of visitors. The result further reveals that from 2011 to 2015, the number of tourists visiting Kwa Falls has increased, and from 2016 to 2020, the study area experienced a sharp decline in the volume of visitors at the site. The first hypothesis shows significant variation in tourists' perception of Kwa Falls eco-tourism sites. The second hypothesis also offers a substantial variation in patronage status in the study area across the years. The study concludes that the government and other stakeholders should provide subvention as well as other necessary support services and facilities at the site.

How Fear of COVID-19 Affects Service Experience and Recommendation Intention in Theme Parks: An Approach of Integrating Protection Motivation Theory and Experience Economy Theory.

The unprecedented public panic caused by COVID-19 will affect the recovery of tourism, especially the theme parks, which are generally crowded due to high visitor volume. The purpose of this study is to discuss the effect of the COVID-19 on the theme park industry. This study aims to predict recommendation intentions of theme park visitors by exploring the complicated mechanism derived from the fear of COVID-19. This study uses a quantitative research method, and SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 22.0 were used for data analysis. An online survey was conducted with 420 Chinese respondents who visited Shanghai Disneyland after its reopening. The study explored the relationship between Fear of COVID-19, perceived risk, participation, service experience, and revisit intention. Results indicated the perceived risk of theme park visitors will not directly ruin their recommendation intention. Visitors’ fear of COVID-19 enhanced their perceived risk, reduced their desire for active participation and impaired their service experience, which consequently affected their recommendation intention. We provide theoretical and managerial implications.

Tourism management competencies for visitor experience design among natural protected areas in Peru

ABSTRACT The present study aimed at exploring the way in which strategic, planning and operational competencies, necessary to manage tourism and visits in protected areas, relate to the visitor experience design, considering the perceptions from managers and visitors from six Peruvian Natural Protected Areas (NPA). Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with the managers of the chosen areas. Also, comments made by visitors in TripAdvisor regarding these areas were taken and analyzed using Lexalytics software. Interviews revealed that most competencies were currently taken care of, and this seemed to be confirmed by visitors whose overall experiences in these areas were described in positive terms. However, a few competencies from each group that needed more attention were identified (i.e. negotiation with informal companies, tourism planning for visitor volume control, revenue generation mechanisms to favor local communities, tourism human resources, and marketing and promotional actions). Practical implications for area managers are discussed.

Analysis of Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Recreational Attraction for POS in Urban Communities: A Case Study of Shanghai

In order to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics and space use intensity of residents’ recreational behaviors in the public open space (POS) of communities, the Ruijin, Xincheng, and Fangsong communities, located in the city center, a suburb, and the outskirts of Shanghai, respectively, were studied. The visitor volume data were obtained through the Tencent Travel data. Points of interest of the POS were obtained by the Cat’s Eye app, and the use intensity data were analyzed by kernel density estimation. The use intensity and attraction of POS were verified by stagnation points. The classification of the stagnation points hierarchy showed that the leisure time and distribution of POS visited by residents. There were significantly different in community public spaces, which verifies the rationality of the recreational attraction of the POS. In addition, geodetectors were used to analyze the external factors affecting the characteristics and use intensity of POS. The results show that the percentage of POS area, pedestrian accessibility, population density, percentage of commercial land use, and per-capita occupancy area were important factors, influencing the use intensity of POS, which can provide suggestions for the planning and design of POS in urban communities.

Social value in the orange economy: social accounting applied to museums

ABSTRACT Cultural and creative industries generate $2250b in revenue and 29.5 million jobs worldwide. The Museum sector is highly relevant among them and generates social value for society, taken to be the value created for stakeholder groups. However, the system used to measure their value generation is limited to visitor volume and revenues. Policymakers then assume that the role of those organisations is to generate profit or attract visitors. They produce financial-economic statements and provide further information on visitors and their type and satisfaction, but undoubtedly, museums generate far more than those aspects reflected in financial-economic statements. We selected a key group of museums in order to demonstrate the other aspects positively valued by museums stakeholders. After analysing 104 stakeholder-dialogue interviews, the aspects evidenced were as follows: museums are responsible businesses, generate value for a group of stakeholders, have agreed to establish a common stakeholder map, and museums could work better when aligned.

Analyzing Hong Kong's inbound tourism: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

This study empirically investigates the determinants and drivers of Hong Kong's inbound tourism using data from January 2019 to December 2020. Five of Hong Kong's major regional tourism source markets are selected: Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and South Korea. Our empirical results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant negative impacts on the tourism and aviation sectors in Hong Kong that are asymmetric in the source and destination countries. In addition, international travel control imposed by the Hong Kong government is often defined according to the pandemic situation in the tourism source countries, Hong Kong's inbound visitor volume is also significantly affected by the Hong Kong government's response to COVID-19 infection cases in the tourism origin markets. Our empirical results also suggest that the flying distance to Hong Kong and high tourism costs in Hong Kong reduced visitor arrival demand, whereas increased aviation services and tourism market potential contributed to tourism growth. These results suggest that the tourism industry and government agencies should cooperate to recover when the pandemic is under good control, so that Hong Kong will be regarded as a preferred and safe destination for travelers and visitors. Our study emphasizes the complementarity between pandemic control and tourism recovery. Pandemic control involves extra tests and quarantine requirements on passengers, more vigorous border control. These operational and associated financial requirements call for government support to the tourism and aviation sectors in the early stage of recovery to create a positive feedback loop.

Assessing Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Nevada.

In December 2020, we conducted a telephone survey to determine what factors are connected to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among adults in Nevada. The survey was based on factors identified in other studies, such as demographic variables (age, race, ethnicity, gender, household income, urbanicity, educational attainment), health status, previous COVID-19 infections, social media engagement, adherence to social distancing guidelines, beliefs about COVID-19, and political ideology identifications. Using a proportional odds model, we compared vaccine hesitancy levels to determine the odds of being more likely versus unlikely to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Of 1,000 people surveyed, 30.4% exhibited vaccine hesitancy. Findings showed that adults with significantly lower odds of vaccine hesitancy included those who were male, older, worried about COVID-19 infection or its community effects, adhered to social distancing, and reported higher incomes. Adults who identified as African American or Black or as multiple or "other" races exhibited significantly higher odds of vaccine hesitancy than White adults. Adults self-identifying as conservative had significantly higher odds of vaccine hesitancy than others. Vaccine hesitancy levels suggest possible hurdles to addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in a state with high visitor volumes and demographics that resemble the country's future as minority White, highlighting possible lessons for future pandemics. Most measures of COVID-19 worry were not significantly associated with vaccine hesitancy, suggesting that vaccination efforts should focus on other motivators. COVID-19 vaccination efforts should also directly encourage uptake by younger and middle-aged adults who are female, African American, have lower incomes, and identify as conservative.

Analysing the impact of electrification on rural attractiveness in Senegal with mobile phone data.

Reliable and affordable access to electricity has become one of the basic needs for humans and is, as such, at the top of the development agenda. It contributes to socio-economic development by transforming the whole spectrum of people’s lives—food, education, healthcare. It spurs new economic opportunities, thus improving livelihoods. Using a comprehensive dataset of pseudonymized mobile phone records, we analyse the impact of electrification on attractiveness for rural areas in Senegal. We extract communication and mobility flows from call detail records and show that electrification is positively and specifically correlated with centrality measures within the communication network and with the volume of incoming visitors. This increased influence is however circumscribed to a limited spatial extent, creating a complex competition with nearby areas. Nevertheless, we found that the volume of visitors between any two sites could be well predicted from the level of electrification at the destination and the living standard at the origin. In view of these results, we discuss how to obtain the best outcomes from a rural electrification planning strategy. We determine that electrifying clusters of rural sites is a better solution than centralizing electricity supplies to maximize the development of specifically targeted sites.

Establishing a standard for park visitation analyses: Insights from Germany

Protected areas not only contribute to the protection of biological diversity but also offer spaces for outdoor recreation and tourism. As is well known, visitor monitoring is required for various reasons. The need to collect comparable visitation data in Germany's protected areas became clear with a first pilot study in 2001 at Berchtesgaden National Park. Since then, additional studies have estimated visitation using a standardized methodology. This article focuses on this methodology by examining how visitation is registered in protected areas in Germany, where a combination of censuses and structural surveys are used on selected survey days and at certain survey sites. Extrapolations of such raw data consider variations in visitor volume according to season, the day of the week, and weather conditions, while also integrating visitor segmentation and official statistical data. Differences in spatial structure are reflected in those visitor segments and outdoor activities. Parks near urban areas show a high share of day-visitors, while overnight tourism predominates in more remote areas, especially traditional tourist destinations. Using this method, initial studies calculated about 53 million visitor days per year in national parks, and over 65 million visitor days in biosphere reserves. In combination with alternative counting methods, such as automatic counters, long-term monitoring must be set up to operate permanently in order to meet international reporting obligations and verify the carrying capacity of protected areas.

REFLECTIONS ON THE INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING SYSTEM OF THE HERITAGE BUILDINGS IN THE PALACE MUSEUM – A CASE STUDY OF THE MERIDIAN GATE EXHIBITION HALL

Abstract. The indoor micro-environment monitoring system of the Forbidden City aims to explore the thresholds of environmental indicators under the presence of coexistence of multiple cultural relics through the analysis of environmental monitoring data and the deterioration of cultural heritiges, and to develop the optimal strategies for the protection and utilization of cultural heritiges. The objects of interest include historic buildings with modernised interior or those used for the storage of movable cultural relics. Several environmental indicators are employed to quantify the dynamic changes of the indoor environment. In order to meet the requirements of 24-hour data collection, real-time data transmission, and easy management and maintenance, the indoor micro-environmental monitoring system has been continuously upgraded and the "LoRa-based Hybrid Self-Organising Network System Deployment Solution" was deployed to satisfy the demands of high precision, low energy consumption, constant stability, and low cost. Taking the Meridian Gate exhibition hall of the Forbidden City during the exhibition "Splendor Forever: Six Centuries of the Forbidden City" as an example, we discussed the relationship between temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and visitor volumes, and the results provide a basis for optimizing the management of the exhibition. Future improvements to the indoor environment monitoring should focus on strengthening the in-depth mining of data and multi-factor correlation analysis, so as to gradually form a systematic and comprehensive monitoring management system.

Digital map of zoo negara using geospatial information system (GIS) approach

National Zoo of Malaysia or Zoo Negara is one of popular tourist attraction places in Malaysia that receives many visitors every day. Providing the best service and tour information for large volume of visitors every day is the main objective of Zoo Negara. However, the current issue facing by Zoo Negara is its current information medium where they still use printed paper-based mapping system. This medium is not helpful enough for the visitors to navigate inside the zoo as the information is insufficient and troubles Zoo Negara management in updating their map as well. In this paper, we propose a GIS-mobile based application that provides visitors with digital map. The digital map includes information about animals and events inside the zoo. Visitor can also view their current location and visited track on the map using navigation module. Zoo Negara management can regularly update their map and recent information easily through database.

Identification and Analysis of Problems in Selected European Historic Gardens during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The paper is based on a survey and investigates the functioning of historic gardens during the pandemic. The authors collected and analysed information on the impact of the pandemic on the behaviour of visitors, maintenance, and condition of cultural heritage assets, European historic gardens. Four aspects were considered particularly carefully: the situation of gardens during the COVID-19 pandemic, maintenance and care in gardens, virtual activity and communication, and financial consequences. The authors determined the conditions of the gardens and the problems they faced based on a survey completed by 23 managers of 31 historic gardens from June to August 2020 and then proposed a diagnosis. The paper presents the survey results. In general, visitor volumes tended to drop in 2020, which significantly affected gardens’ financial standing and contributed to workforce reductions. The garden condition and treatments were affected, as well. Reduced visitor volumes resulted in positive environmental changes. Among them were ecological succession, the stability of landscaped plants, increase in vegetation, improved biodiversity in the ground cover, and enhanced animal presence. Additional safety measures were implemented after the gardens were reopened to the public during the pandemic, mostly social distancing, and obligatory face masks. Less than half of the gardens had contingency plans, and 25% of the respondents were working to develop one. The analyses provided foundations to start working on a universal emergency strategy similar to procedures used for years for permanent collections at museums. Note that, being open public spaces and live museums, historic gardens were the first places reopened after the lockdown. Recommendations based on the study can contribute to the future safe functioning of historic gardens in other similar crises. The guidelines offer instructions, advice, and recommendations that form foundations of the development of a universal management model facilitating the preservation of historic gardens in good condition while exploiting their ecological potential.

Seasonal variations of park visitor volume and park service area in Tokyo: A mixed-method approach combining big data and field observations

Urban green and open space are important components of achieving the goal of planning sustainable cities, by offering health benefits to urban dwellers and providing socio-economic and environmental benefits to society. Recent literature studied the usage of urban parks, however, few has addressed seasonal fluctuations of park visitor volume, let alone seasonal variations of home-park travel distances and park service areas. This paper not only empirically shows the seasonal variations of park visits but also examines links between the park visit patterns and spatial characteristics of the case parks. Applying spatial analysis methods to location data of over 1 million anonymous mobile phone samples collected from January to December 2011, we analyzed the seasonal variations in six medium-sized urban parks, of which size falls under the category of ‘district parks,’ in central Tokyo. We also conducted content analysis of a Japanese place review website to understand visitor perceptions of the case parks. On the other hand, park spatial characteristics data were collected and summarized through various ways including field observation and satellite image analysis. The results show that (1) while notable seasonal variations of park visitor volume and park service area existed in all case parks, the degree of variation also differed from park to park; (2) spatial characteristics of parks were closely interlinked to seasonal cultural events, to visitor perceptions, and consequently to seasonal fluctuations of the park visit patterns. Lessons learned from the policy perspective include highly diverse user groups visit these medium-sized urban parks than what the typical guidelines assume, and seasonal patterns of their visits considerably vary from park to park, interacting with spatial characteristics of the parks. Hence, the urban park planning process should consider specific and detailed characteristics of parks and allocate resources to respond to dynamic park visit patterns beyond generic guidelines.

“Perception bias”: Deciphering a mismatch between urban crime and perception of safety

Crime and perception of safety are two intertwined concepts affecting the quality of life and the economic development of a society. However, few studies have quantitatively examined the difference between the two due to the lack of granular data documenting public perceptions in a given geographic context. Here, by applying a pre-trained scene understanding algorithm, we infer the perception of safety score of streetscapes for census block groups in the city of Houston using a large number of Google Street View images. Then, using this inferred perception of safety, we create “perception bias” categories for each census block group. These categories capture the level of mismatch between people’s visually perceived safety and the actual crime rates. This measure provides scalable guidance in deciphering the relationship between the built environment and crime. Finally, we construct a series of models to examine the “perception bias” with static and dynamic urban factors, including socioeconomic features (e.g., unemployment rate and ethnic compositions), urban diversity (e.g., number and diversity of Points of Interest), and urban livelihood (i.e., hourly count of visitors). Analytical and numerical results suggest that the association between characteristics of urban space and “perception bias” over crime could be paradoxical. On the one hand, neighborhoods with a higher volume of day-time visitors appear more likely to be safer than it looks (low crime rate and low safety score). On the other hand, those with a higher volume of night-time visitors are likely to be more dangerous than it looks (high crime rate). The findings add further knowledge to the long-recognized relationship between built environment and crime as well as highlight the perception of safety in cities, which in turn enhances our capacity to design urban management strategies that prevent the emergence of extreme “perception bias”.

Visitors' experience at Angkor Wat, Cambodia: evidence from sentiment and topic analysis

ABSTRACT Angkor Wat in Cambodia is one of the most significant archaeological sites in the world inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also consistently rated as the top Global Landmark by travelers in TripAdvisor. This study employed big data analytics to examine visitor experience via sentiment and topic analysis, given the popularity and volume of visitors annually. The process involved an examination of 32,394 online reviews about Angkor Wat posted between January 2015 and October 2019 on Tripadvisor’s website. The analysis was conducted for reviews with one, two, and three-star ratings, and those with four and five star ratings separately. Results showed highly skewed positive ratings, while similar positive sentiments dominated the reviews. Topic analysis disclosed that sunset and sunrise experience, attraction structure, guided tours, and temple experience were topics attributed mostly to positive sentiments. Conversely, crowding, persistent selling, clothing style, and expenses were illustrated as negative topics. Such insights are useful for managers at Angkor Wat to develop various marketing and management interventions to effectively manage the site and to optimize visitor experiences.

OPERATING IN A COVID-19 ENVIRONMENT FROM SHUT DOWN TO REOPENING: INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

OPERATING IN A COVID-19 ENVIRONMENT FROM SHUT DOWN TO REOPENING: INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Spatiotemporal tourism pattern in a large reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) range as an important factor in disturbance research and management

Tourism and recreation in protected areas may compromise conservation values if their forms and volumes exceed the area’s tolerance. Disturbance-sensitive species such as wild and semi-domestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) in most mountain areas in Fennoscandia are particularly vulnerable to humans, but disturbance research seldom includes data on the human component of this co-existence. By estimating the visitor volume in space and time and visitor characteristics in the largest national park and wild reindeer range in Norway we analyzed reindeer trail crossing propensity and examined the spatial overlap between humans and GPS-collared female reindeer (n = 98) during summer. The data showed that female reindeer herds used areas with overall less human traffic and recreational infrastructure. Reindeer herds started avoiding crossing hiking trails used by more than 10–15 persons per day and avoided crossing trails when visitor volumes exceeded 30–50 persons per day. During the hunting season, the herds were largely dispersed and crossed over trails independent of visitor volume, indicating a collective flight response to hunters. We discuss how including data on human use can further our understanding of ecological effects in disturbance research and how it can improve management interventions for better co-existence between humans and reindeer.