{"title":"Ethno-tourism in Russian Regions: Challenges and Prospects for Development","authors":"A. Polukhina","doi":"10.30958/AJT.5-3-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/AJT.5-3-3","url":null,"abstract":"This paper aims to shed light on the prospects of ethno-tourism cluster development in Russian regions. The methodology provided in the paper is applicable for the study of cluster approaches in tourism. The focus here is on good practices of ethno-clusters in tourism in Russian regions. In order to achieve this analysis, specific methods are used, including: system and comparative analysis, assessment of the resources and capacities of regions, administrative diagnostics, expert estimates, in-depth interviews, and social and psychological researches. The main results of this study show that the challenges and prospects for ethno-tourism development are defined and supported by the Mari El case study. The factors influencing ethno-tourism development are the tourism potential of the region, the attitude of local authorities towards tourism, the availability of necessary infrastructure and qualified personnel. The conditions facilitating the success of tourism cluster development are also analyzed. Firstly, this requires development of the target program for tourism with an emphasis on ethno-tourism at the level of local authorities; secondly, investment in tourism infrastructure development is necessary. This research is of practical importance for the modernization of domestic tourism programs in order to boost the regional economy.","PeriodicalId":302918,"journal":{"name":"Athens Journal of Tourism","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125658394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Impacts of Tourism in an Urban Community: The Case of Alfama","authors":"A. Castela","doi":"10.30958/AJT.5-2-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/AJT.5-2-4","url":null,"abstract":"Urban tourism has in the last 5 years grown expansively, especially in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean . Lisbon is no exception. In the last four years, there has been a major development in urban tourism, a trend that will certainly continue increasing thanks to being named the best ‘city break’ destination in 2017. Residents play a very crucial role in the development of cultural tourism. The literature indicates that when residents perceive tourism as beneficial there is a greater level of interaction between residents and visitors, and consequently loyalty to the destination. This article aims to analyze the level of interaction between tourists and residents and the extent to which this interaction will influence the residents’ perceptions regarding tourism’s social representation and community impacts. We chose Alfama for this case study because it is one of the most typical and historical neighborhoods of Lisbon and one of the most visited by tourists. We decided to use the following qualitative methods: direct observation, 24 residents’ interviews and one interview with a local association president. The results show a high level of interaction between visitors and residents, an ambiguous and contradictory social representation, and a positive perception of tourism impacts both economically, socioculturally and environmentally. Based on the results, we proposed some strategies directed to public powers, government and Lisbon City Council to adjust the city to these tourist demands in such a way that the destination remains different and authentic.","PeriodicalId":302918,"journal":{"name":"Athens Journal of Tourism","volume":"89 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127885513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Mothers’ Perceptions of Adolescents’ Influence on the Purchase Decisions of Family Vacations","authors":"João Baía","doi":"10.30958/AJT.5-2-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/AJT.5-2-3","url":null,"abstract":"The adolescent is considered an active element in family purchases, especially in the purchasing decision phase. However, services for family use have been neglected. Therefore, the main objective of this research is tostudy the adolescent’s influence on purchase decisions of family vacations. In the empirical phase, several secondary schools were contacted in four main districts througha convenience sample. During this stage, 2,800 questionnaires were delivered in classrooms during May 2016. The adolescents were instructed to submit the questionnaires to their mothers and to return them fully completed. This decision stems from the fact that the mother is pointed out in many studies as the most reliable informant in determining the adolescent ́s influence. 966 validated questionnaires were returned. The results of the logistic regression analysis point to adolescents’ service knowledge and mothers’ occupational statuses as the relevant explanatory variables in the considered purchases. These results are innovative in the study of family purchases. Thus, the present research provides several contributions to this area of knowledge. First, it reinforces the importance of including adolescents in the final decision of family purchases, which is innovative compared to past literature. The interest of the results is reinforced by the study of a service for family use. Second, the results point to the relevance of including adolescents’ service knowledge and mothers’ occupational statuses as explanatory variables in determininginfluence onfamily vacation purchases. The present research offers a contribution to companies by providing evidence of adolescents’ influence onthe purchase decisions of family vacations. Given the adolescents’ importance within family decisions, it is important that marketers focus their efforts on adolescent satisfaction and adopt strategies adjusted to the whole families.","PeriodicalId":302918,"journal":{"name":"Athens Journal of Tourism","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132167608","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Co-integration Analysis of the Central and Eastern European Tourism Demand in Tunisia using Non-stationary Panel Data","authors":"Chokri Ouerfelli, A. Abdellatif","doi":"10.30958/AJT.5-2-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/AJT.5-2-2","url":null,"abstract":"This paper aims to model the destination choice process of tourists from Central and Eastern Europe using non stationary panel data. If the unit root hypothesis is accepted, co-integration analysis is applied to estimate common long run demand relationships for these origin countries. The behavior of tourists from this part of the world is analyzed through estimated long run demand elasticities. The main finding of this study is that the existence of these relationships is expected given identical geopolitical and historical factors characterizing these countries. In addition to prices and income factors, the supply factor is introduced as an explanatory variable in the econometric model. The cointegrating relationships show that the large elasticity magnitude may be a reflection of tourism in Tunisia being regarded as a luxury by tourists. These results are corroborated by the estimated values of the short run demand elasticities obtained through the dynamic panel data model. They show also that only 1% of the increase in the tourist arrivals is due to tourist loyalty, which reflect the failure of the tourism policy in these markets to create and retain tourist loyalty to Tunisian services.","PeriodicalId":302918,"journal":{"name":"Athens Journal of Tourism","volume":"77 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125001863","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Destination Information Sources for Itinerant Holidaymakers: A Study of Island Hoppers in Greece","authors":"J. K. S. Jacobsen","doi":"10.30958/AJT.5-2-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/AJT.5-2-1","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores information sources for destination decision-making in the underresearched context of mobile tourism with a quite low level of pre-tour decisions. The questionnaire-based study attends to this gap through updated documentation of vacationer use of online networking sites, review sites, and other information sources. The results show that conventional word-of-mouth was still decisive for destination choices in this context of island hopping in the Aegean, Greece. Websites with traveller evaluations proved more popular than guidebooks, indicative of the advance of usergenerated content (eWOM). Nevertheless, guidebooks were nearly as important as review sites, contrasting several studies and indicative of a continued or renewed guidebook interest. Despite some earlier assertions, there were only small differences in employment of internet-based information sources between younger “digital natives” and older “digital immigrants”. Information conveyed through social networking sites was of little importance for destination decision-making for these tourists, contradicting some of the literature. Particularly to attract younger holidaymakers and first-time visitors, destination marketing organisations might encourage more vacationers to post photographs and videos on the internet (visual eWOM).","PeriodicalId":302918,"journal":{"name":"Athens Journal of Tourism","volume":"45 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125413846","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Interplay of Stakeholder Theory and Blind Spot Theory in Rural Tourism Development","authors":"","doi":"10.30958/ajt.8-2-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.30958/ajt.8-2-2","url":null,"abstract":"This paper explores the emergence of Stakeholder Theory and Blind Spot Theory over time from two distinct points of views in rural tourism development. After World War II, community development in most rural European areas have been challenged by negative demographic situations caused by centripetal economic development. In order to stabilize vital economic development, new or well-established initiatives have adopted different rural tourism development projects. Most of these projects include local stakeholders from both the private and public sectors. Using a longitudinal multiple case study analysis combined with a comparative method, this study reveals two points of views (stakeholder theory and blind spot theory). Three cases have been chosen in sparsely populated areas in Mid Sweden. This longitudinal study describes outcomes, measured by an estimation of their degree of development success or failures regarding their demographic situation over a span of thirty years. Implications are discussed concerning the rural tourism development process with recommendations of a best practice approach. Keywords: community development, rural tourism, stakeholder theory, blind spot theory, Nordic periphery","PeriodicalId":302918,"journal":{"name":"Athens Journal of Tourism","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122091130","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}