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1 – 10 of 569Alireza Amini, Masood Khodadadi, Amin Nikbakht and Fatemeh Nemati
Nowadays, the tourism industry is considered the largest and most diverse industry in the world, which can play a significant role in the economic growth and development of a…
Abstract
Purpose
Nowadays, the tourism industry is considered the largest and most diverse industry in the world, which can play a significant role in the economic growth and development of a country as the main source of income and employment. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to focus on evaluating the competitiveness indicators of Shiraz city tourism destination based on a combined model.
Design/methodology/approach
For this purpose, a questionnaire with 78 questions was used to evaluate the indicators, in which a total of 1,432 tourists participated, including 927 domestic tourists and 505 international tourists. The collected data were analyzed to determine the hierarchical relationship between the indicators using equation structural modeling.
Findings
The research findings indicate that the most effective and influential indicators in the field of tourism competitiveness are natural and handmade resources, and the most influential factors are demand conditions and cultural and natural resources. In this hierarchy, each factor affects its previous level and influences the next level.
Originality/value
This study offers significant potential for uncovering credible and robust approaches to further investigate the contextualization of tourism competitiveness on both national and international scales, thereby generating valuable new insights. By conceptualizing the diverse dimensions of tourism competitiveness and delving into the variations in its impacts across multiple levels, this research not only challenges existing notions but also aids destinations in maintaining and enhancing their market position and share over time. This study offers valuable insights and practical implications for both researchers and practitioners in the field of urban tourism. It enhances the understanding of destination competitiveness, informs policy decisions, facilitates benchmarking and best practices, guides strategic decision-making and promotes sustainable tourism development.
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Margarita Guadalupe Zazueta-Hernández and Mónica Velarde-Valdez
Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) tourism has established as a tourism segment that is growing in popularity. It is less seasonality dependent, promotes the…
Abstract
Purpose
Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) tourism has established as a tourism segment that is growing in popularity. It is less seasonality dependent, promotes the offer of services and contributes to the development of the sector. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the competitiveness factors for the improvement of MICE tourism in the city of Mazatlan.
Design/methodology/approach
It was developed with a mixed approach, using quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques, such as interviews with experts, surveys of stakeholders in the tourism sector and documentary analysis. Based on the theoretical review, the following four competitiveness factors were defined for MICE tourism: 1) resource factors, 2) destination management factors, 3) conditioning factors of the environment and 4) conditioning factors of the demand, applying and importance-performance analysis.
Findings
The results indicate that the factors of competitiveness in the case of the study that had greater importance and better performance are the conditioning factors of the demand and resource factors. However, the development and implementation of comprehensive destination management strategies are required to improve this segment, as well as giving due importance to taking into account the important conditioning factors of the environment.
Originality/value
This study makes a theoretical contribution to the literature on the competitiveness of tourist destinations in the MICE segment by identifying the factors for its development, as well as the practical implications for the specific case study. In addition to this, it was identified that there are few empirical studies that analyze the factors that contribute to improving the competitiveness of this segment.
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Dori Davari, Pooya Alaedini and Liping A. Cai
By adopting a cultural lens, this study aims to conceptualize destination-community hospitality to capture societal hospitality at the destination as an intangible asset…
Abstract
Purpose
By adopting a cultural lens, this study aims to conceptualize destination-community hospitality to capture societal hospitality at the destination as an intangible asset. Destination-community hospitality comprises a set of attitudes and traits that are organically conveyed by community members and directly experienced by tourists. The paper contributes to efforts aimed at freeing hospitality from the confines of commercial lodging and food and beverage establishments.
Design/methodology/approach
This study proposes an affection–attention–awareness (AAA) framework by drawing on the pertinent literature and leveraging the affective–behavioral–cognitive model of attitudinal change. It focuses on the effects of cognition in conceptualizing destination-community hospitality as the core of the framework. Methodologically, the framework is illustrated with qualitative data including observational fieldwork and interviews conducted in Iran.
Findings
Illustration of the AAA framework in the context of Iran highlights how welcoming attitudes are leveraged at a destination as an ingrained community mindset even in the absence of formal initiatives or professional training. It underscores the hospitality advocacy role of local-community members irrespective of public-sector policy and capacity deficiencies.
Practical implications
Destinations that strive to attract tourists should tap into the significant wealth of intuitive hospitality within communities as an intangible resource. The ingenuity should be preserved to sustainably enhance the overall tourist experiences. The framework can serve as a guide to strategically facilitate destination-community hospitality.
Originality/value
Research on community-wide hospitality at destinations, as a major cultural asset in the context of strategic hospitality management, remains underdeveloped. With illustrative evidence, the findings elevate the critical role of community members as innate advocates of hospitality in developing destinations. The proposed framework of destination-community hospitality provides a new perspective and impetus for investigating hospitality beyond commercial domains.
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Yingqi Long and Chung-Shing Chan
The study aims to draw on the self-congruity theory to investigate the relationship among destination personality (DP), self-congruity and tourists’ pro-environmental behavioral…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to draw on the self-congruity theory to investigate the relationship among destination personality (DP), self-congruity and tourists’ pro-environmental behavioral intention (BI) among Guangzhou citizens who have experienced nature-based tourism (NBT).
Design/methodology/approach
The survey-based quantitative research was divided into two rounds, namely, a preliminary study exploring the dimensions of DP and the verification of whether the DP dimensions that significantly affect pro-environmental BI in step one would be selected for the main research to validate the conceptual model.
Findings
The results suggest that wholesome, one of the destination personalities, strongly predicts tourists’ pro-environmental BI, while actual self-congruity plays a mediating role between sincere, another DP, and tourists’ pro-environmental BI.
Practical implications
In practice, it offers multidimensional knowledge and robust evidence-based recommendations for the sustainable development and destination branding of NBT destinations in the post-epidemic era.
Originality/value
The study presents pioneering work that reveals previously underestimated factors influencing pro-environmental BI.
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Francesco Saverio Massari, Pasquale Del Vecchio and Eva Degl'innocenti
This paper aims to explore how digital technologies can transform the museum into an “interaction platform” able to play a key role in the value co-creation processes of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how digital technologies can transform the museum into an “interaction platform” able to play a key role in the value co-creation processes of the tourism destination.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper applies the “co-creation through interactions” perspective by Ramaswamy and Ozcan. Empirically, the paper is based on the methodology of single case study identified in MArTA, the well-known National Archeological Museum of Taranto (South Italy). Data collection has been implemented through interviews with key informants and secondary data related to online interviews, press release and reports.
Findings
Findings provide empirical evidence about the contribution that a digitalization strategy can create a “museum as a platform” in which the interactions between the museum, its stakeholders and other co-creation elements (interfaces, artifacts and processes) bring benefits in terms of tourism experiences and sustainable development of the destination.
Practical implications
This research highlights the cultural changes and the actions that museum management has to implement to properly benefit from digitalization and to transform the museum into a reference point for reflection and innovation.
Originality/value
Elements of originality can be found in (1) the exploration of the wide spectrum of benefits and innovations that digital technologies can offer to the museum-mediated interactions and (2) the contribution to the understanding of the museum as a digitalized “interaction platform” capable of supporting the processes of co-creation of value in the complex network of actors and objects of a tourism destination.
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Kléber Patricio Castro Pacheco, Yasser Vázquez Alfonso, Mónica Liliana Castro Pacheco, Victor Hugo Del Corral Villarroel and Luis Eduardo Álvarez Cortez
The objective of this research conducted in the city of Cuenca is to elaborate on the management platform model of the smart tourist destination (STD). The chapter provides the…
Abstract
The objective of this research conducted in the city of Cuenca is to elaborate on the management platform model of the smart tourist destination (STD). The chapter provides the components to develop such a system as a pilot plan. To maximize the impact of the proposed approach and enhance the decision-making capacities of local actors, the metrics that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) developed for the so-called intermediate cities in the study “Cuenca Sustainable City” are used. The platform (www.smarturcuenca.com) considers the transcendence of the current reality of the tourism sector, which is open to multidisciplinary work with other sectors to promote the rational use of cultural and natural resources through the Internet of Things (IoT).
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Despite the importance of tourism ethnocentrism in emerging tourism destinations, there is limited, but growing, research interest in this area. This study aims to respond to…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the importance of tourism ethnocentrism in emerging tourism destinations, there is limited, but growing, research interest in this area. This study aims to respond to current calls for investigating mechanisms that can promote tourism ethnocentrism in both emerging and developed tourism destinations.
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A. Vinodan and S. Meera
The study explores the possibility of developing a valid scale for integrated management of heritage sites to bring a holistic approach to heritage properties' conservation…
Abstract
Purpose
The study explores the possibility of developing a valid scale for integrated management of heritage sites to bring a holistic approach to heritage properties' conservation practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The study followed the exploratory sequential method. An in-depth interview was adopted for exploring indicators, and a questionnaire survey was administered for descriptive analysis.
Findings
Cultural resources conservation strategies have been analyzed from a tourist, local communities and stakeholder's perspective with local-specific indicators. The study indicates that a multi-dimensional approach that integrates tourists, local communities and other stakeholders-based indicators can be developed at the destination level for the integrated management of heritage properties. Tourist-centric, local community-specific and stakeholder-oriented approaches could act as catalysts for more pragmatic conservation practices in the local areas based on the site-specific indicators.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to lesser-known heritage sites located in the southern provincial states of India. The technical conservation strategies on the structure and architecture are not part of the study. Theoretical implications on the study of this kind can contribute to the literature as it throws light on future studies seeking local-centric conservation and management practices of heritage sites hitherto less explored in the domain of conservation science. The scale provides insight into the appropriate form of intervention that the local communities, tourists and other stakeholders can do at the heritage sites, hence the possibility of garnering the attention of other discipline strivings towards the conservation of heritage sites and to apply along with other relevant variables. It is expected that the study might expedite the knowledge accumulation in conservation science.
Practical implications
The scale can be used in a similar context for the integrated management of heritage sites. The study can assist the policymakers and planners in seeking the support of stakeholders, local communities and tourists for the implementation of heritage conservation and management programs. Such a local-centric management strategy promoting responsible consumption and production could contribute to SDG 12. Further, the study can also contribute towards SDG 11.4, which calls for strengthening the effort to protect and safeguard cultural and natural heritage. This scale can be a tool for destination management organizations (DMOs) to understand the level of intervention of local communities, tourists and other stakeholders at the heritage site.
Social implications
The integrated management approach of heritage conservation immensely helps the lesser-known heritage sites the world over as such structures are out of the focal point of government funding and other conservation efforts. The synergy of the integrated approach could protect lesser-known unfunded heritage sites, and thereby, the cultural reflections of the community concerned can be made available for future visitors’ consumption.
Originality/value
The study attempted to understand the conservation approaches for lesser-known heritage sites with the support of both demand and supply-side stakeholders. Such a collaborative approach is the first of this kind in the conservation of heritage sites in India.
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Abstract
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Ravi Dandotiya, Arun Aggarwal and Ishani Sharma
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between tourists’ motivations, perception of tourism impacts, place attachment (PA) and loyalty toward Jallianwala Bagh…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between tourists’ motivations, perception of tourism impacts, place attachment (PA) and loyalty toward Jallianwala Bagh, a dark heritage site in Punjab, India.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-method approach comprising qualitative and quantitative methods was used. Semi-structured interviews and the Delphi method helped generate a 34-item survey instrument. A sample size of 869 respondents was obtained, split into two subsets for exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.
Findings
Seven out of nine hypotheses were supported. Motivated tourists perceived higher positive tourism impacts but lower negative tourism impacts. Higher perceptions of positive tourism impacts increased both PA and loyalty to the destination. Surprisingly, the perception of negative tourism impacts did not significantly affect tourist loyalty, contrary to some previous research.
Practical implications
This study informs stakeholders about tourists’ cognitive and affective responses at a dark tourism site, aiding in the planning and development of sustainable tourism strategies.
Social implications
By understanding the tourists’ motivations and perceptions, stakeholders can manage tourism impacts more effectively, ensuring that tourists’ experiences align with sustainable practices.
Originality/value
This study enriches the understanding of the tourists’ complex interactions with dark heritage sites. It introduces a new angle by examining how motivations, PA and perceptions of tourism impacts influence tourist loyalty, especially in the context of dark tourism.
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