International Conference on Tourism Research最新文献

{"title":"Health, Wellness, and Happiness: A Demand Analysis","authors":"J. Quintela, C. Costa, Anabela Correia","doi":"10.34190/ictr.6.1.1330","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ictr.6.1.1330","url":null,"abstract":"Wellness Tourism is one of the most promising niche markets within the tourism field worldwide, assuming a recognized role in the global tourist scenario. In socio-demographic terms, it is related to some of the major contemporary international trends and is intrinsically related to population ageing and the increase in life expectancy. That has a set of consequences to tourist phenomena, based on the demand for unique and true experiences and products, that include health services, mainly in tourist destinations with more accessible costs, with infrastructure and natural conditions conducive to well-being. This paper analyses the contribution of Health and Wellness Tourism in the improvement of Happiness levels of the ones who experience these kinds of services. In this research, the analysis is focused on the demand side, considering health and wellness users and tourists in Portugal, providing a sociodemographic characterization, observing their travel behaviour, assessing their satisfaction with the health and wellness experience, and the levels of happiness obtained. The results demonstrate the potential of health and wellness tourism on the contribution to the happiness of users, according to their different profiles. It also evidences the impact of the frequency of use of this type of service on the improvement of happiness levels. Theoretical and practical implications for the development of health and wellness tourism from a marketing perspective are provided, complemented with a set of proposals for future research.","PeriodicalId":413105,"journal":{"name":"International Conference on Tourism Research","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130163771","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":"Increasing the User Experience Research Maturity of a Global Accommodation Comparison Platform","authors":"Marco Pretorius, Lydia Penkert","doi":"10.34190/ictr.6.1.1230","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ictr.6.1.1230","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic drastically impacted the travel industry. Additionally, the recent combination of a sociopolitical crisis, natural disasters and an economic crisis resulted in increased price sensitivity and consciousness in consumer spending. However, the travel industry continues to recover as more countries ease travel restrictions. As travel volumes gradually increase in many parts of the world, product development teams focusing on the User Experience (UX) of travel websites are critical for user satisfaction and business success. User-centric design is the process of building a product or service based on the wants, needs and challenges of the users. However, being truly user-centric requires an active means of listening to users through UX research methods. When implementing such methods, organisations typically transition through different stages of UX research maturity; namely, from the beginning stages where there is a lack of resources and ad-hoc implementation, to a mature state where user research informs business strategy. This case study focuses on practice-based insights of methods used to increase the UX research maturity of an online accommodation comparison platform in the travel industry. The study covers a period of two years, analysing the outcome of the methods introduced to increase the UX research maturity. The case study aimed to achieve the following to increase the maturity: creating awareness of UX Research and the user; exposing UX Research to the wider team; and extending research ownership to product teams. The methods used included: diary study; jobs-to-be-done framework; organisational structural changes; involving product team members in research activities; increasing the frequency of interviews with users; and enabling the product team to conduct small research activities. The results included an increase in the UX Research maturity of the organisation. The product development approach increased its user-centric focus. Non-UX roles within the product team grew closer to the user by doing small research activities. User-centricity was introduced as a company value in the organisation. The results of this study are specifically of value for practitioners and academia in the travel industry and have implications for Product, UX and Research practitioners.","PeriodicalId":413105,"journal":{"name":"International Conference on Tourism Research","volume":"318 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127564935","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":"Evaluating Strategies for Sustainability and Business Performance in the Hotel Industry of Cyprus","authors":"Stelios Marneros, George N. Papageorgiou, A. Efstathiades","doi":"10.34190/ictr.6.1.1182","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ictr.6.1.1182","url":null,"abstract":"Several studies have been carried out on the topic of sustainability management. However, little has been done to evaluate the actual effects of environmental and energy management as applied to the hotel industry. This paper provides an assessment of sustainability aspects and the prospects of proactive environmental management in the hotel industry. For this purpose, interviews have been conducted to a representative sample of four- and five-star hotels in Cyprus. Hotels were chosen based on geographical stratification. Data was collected based on the responses of general managers of the selected hotel enterprises. The results of the study showed that proactive environmental management, and specifically life-cycle and conservation of water resources bring multiple benefits in the hotel industry. It is noteworthy that these benefits create a win-win situation for business and society.","PeriodicalId":413105,"journal":{"name":"International Conference on Tourism Research","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117040510","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 Pilgrim Consumer Behaviour along the Way of St. James","authors":"Rafael Monteiro, Susana Silva, D. Azevedo","doi":"10.34190/ictr.6.1.1142","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ictr.6.1.1142","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this study is contributing to increase the knowledge about Pilgrim’s behaviour during their journey. It focuses mainly on food consumption expenses and habits. The study aims to describe the behavior of pilgrims along the Santiago route. \u0000A cross-sectional quantitative study was performed to achieve our objectives. 225 pilgrims fulfilled a survey to characterise their profile and their consumption pattern during the pilgrimage. \u0000Our results showed that most of the pilgrims describe themselves as tourist or mystical and transcendental. The pilgrimage lasts 13 days performing 23,6 kilometers for 6,5 hours per day. Regarding differences in the amount of money spent according to the pilgrim profile or the pilgrimage we only observe significant differences for the tourist profile intending to spend more money per day. In the same way, pilgrims performing less than 6 hours of walking per day intend to spend more money. \u0000In conclusion, it seems that the Saint James Way seems to attract more people to the local community increasing their availability to spend money locally","PeriodicalId":413105,"journal":{"name":"International Conference on Tourism Research","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121965959","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":"Gender Bias in the Hospitality Sector: Female and Male Jobs","authors":"S. Silva, M. Couto","doi":"10.34190/ictr.6.1.1095","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ictr.6.1.1095","url":null,"abstract":"The hospitality sector is still very traditional and male-dominated in terms of values, it is segregating and discriminatory according to gender, not only horizontally but also vertically, the wage differences between men and women are critical, and many of the jobs are stigmatized. Indeed, despite women representing most of the workforce in hospitality, such numerical dominance is not reflected in the leadership positions they occupy. Traditionally, men and women occupy different roles in the hospitality industry: women are more often assigned functions that are in line with their social roles and that represents an extension of their domestic tasks so that it is easier to find women in-room service or cleaning. Men, on the other hand, are more easily assigned physically demanding tasks, administrative and management functions, which require more skills and are therefore better paid. \u0000This study aims to examine the female and male social representation associated with the performance of certain roles in the hospitality sector, as perceived by tourism and hospitality students, to explore gender representations associated with different hierarchical positions and departments, and to understand some of the (in)equalities that continue to persist between men and women in hospitality. \u0000A quantitative cross-sectional study was performed to achieve the study goals. Our sample consists of 200 higher education students in tourism and hospitality. Based on Bem Sex Role Inventory short-form traits questionnaire, we applied an online questionnaire with the purpose of knowing the students’ gender representations of different professional activities in the hospitality industry. \u0000Within our results, we expect to describe the gender bias of the professional functions in the hospitality sector. On the other hand, we expect to understand possible gender differences between operational and leadership positions, and from different departments. \u0000The findings of this study will help the hotels to analyse their gender practices and policies. By giving voice to the stereotypes that foster gender inequalities in the hospitality sector, hotels can become aware of their gendered practices and policies that impact the recruitment process and the various roles and functions that are assigned to men and women.","PeriodicalId":413105,"journal":{"name":"International Conference on Tourism Research","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114466069","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":"Development of Greece as a Sustainable Destination: The Case of Mykonos Island","authors":"Dimitrios Belias, Konstantinos Skagias, Ioannis Rossidis, Angelos Ntalakos, Nikolaos Trihas","doi":"10.34190/ictr.6.1.1252","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ictr.6.1.1252","url":null,"abstract":"Mykonos Island is one of the most well-known tourist summer destinations. Every year, especially during the summer period, Mykonos hosts a plethora of tourists that arrive from different countries, such as Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates. More specifically, according to Fraport Greece Traffic Data Management, in 2022, there have been 1,668,538 domestic and international arrivals at Mykonos Airport. Mykonos attracts, every year, several types of tourists due to the provided facilities, such as Greek traditional restaurants as well as fancy restaurants with international gastronomy, bars-cafeterias and glamorous clubs and beach clubs, 4 and 5 star hotels, beautiful beaches and beach bars and last but not least a wonderful climate and magnificent scenery. The aim of this paper is to examine the touristic profile of Mykonos Island over the past decade. The tourism industry has been seriously “injured” over the past years (financial crisis, Covid-19 pandemic). This paper will investigate the development of Mykonos Island over the past decade, through data which will be collected by statistical institutes (for instance SETE Institute) and Greek-authorized organizations (such as the Greek Ministry of Tourism). Also, the purpose of the current paper is to examine the case of Mykonos Island as a sustainable destination. Apart from the fact that Mykonos is globally famous for its luxurious image for summer vacations, the island of Mykonos has amazing geographical treasures and a unique environment. Thus, sustainable development needs to be implemented for Mykonos Island, in order to protect the unique environment, improve the existing infrastructure and create a better quality of life for residents and visitors. Hence, this study will focus on the opportunities and the obstacles which could arise from the development of Mykonos as a sustainable destination.                 ","PeriodicalId":413105,"journal":{"name":"International Conference on Tourism Research","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125358843","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":"Customer Loyalty in Spa Tourism: A Case Study","authors":"Kateřina Kantorová, Martina Mlazovsky, O. Svoboda","doi":"10.34190/ictr.6.1.1213","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ictr.6.1.1213","url":null,"abstract":"In today's business world, acquiring and retaining customers in the tourism industry is becoming increasingly challenging. High competition, constantly changing markets, and growing customer demands require constant adaptation to new trends and marketing innovations. It is crucial to cultivate customer loyalty, as it leads to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth promotion. Achieving this goal is an increasingly difficult task that requires innovative approaches to service marketing. Tourism includes very specific sub-sectors that are significantly different from the mainstream of the industry and serve not only well-being but also other needs. An example of a sub-sector that combines well-being and health is spa tourism. Existing studies suggest that factors influencing the loyalty of health spa visitors may vary depending on the region and cultural factors and may also change over time. Further research is therefore needed to precisely identify which factors are currently most important for promoting the loyalty of spa customers. This article presents a case study of increasing customer loyalty, with a special focus on the Czech Republic. The study identifies the current needs, preferences, and requirements of customers in the selected tourism industry. The article aims to complement a model of visitor loyalty for the needs of spa tourism and introduce marketing tools that currently influence customer loyalty in spa tourism. The complementation of the model is based on the generally accepted model of customer satisfaction in tourism. The proposed suggestions can inspire tourism businesses to fulfil the needs of health, active living, and well-being by effectively acquiring and retaining customers in a highly competitive environment. The study provides theoretical and managerial recommendations for increasing customer loyalty. The study is based on a questionnaire survey conducted in 2022 among spa visitors throughout the Czech Republic. The motivation was to identify key factors that support customer loyalty. The results show that specific treatment effects and procedures, information and personal experience, a pleasant environment and ambience of the spa contribute more to loyalty than satisfaction with accommodation or the offer of complementary services. The paper also provides a set of practical recommendations for setting up marketing programs and improving marketing communication for owners and managers of spa tourism.","PeriodicalId":413105,"journal":{"name":"International Conference on Tourism Research","volume":"67 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124542521","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":"Coastal tourism entrepreneurship during COVID-19 in Estonia, Finland and Latvia","authors":"Linda Veliverronena, Ilze Grinfelde, Sanna-Mari Renfors, Marit Piirman, Margrit Kärp, Tiina Viin","doi":"10.34190/ictr.6.1.1111","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ictr.6.1.1111","url":null,"abstract":"The comparative study focuses on the resilience of small tourism enterprises in coastal and marine tourism in three Baltic Sea countries - Estonia, Finland and Latvia. The research aim is to explore the response of the micro and small-scale tourism enterprises in Estonia, Finland and Latvia to COVID-19 and their development plans in the context of the pandemic. These countries share common strengths and weaknesses in tourism as well as their main tourism resources (e.g., the significance of natural resources), partially overlapping target markets. Data were collected in coastal regions in all three countries by using semi-structured interviews (Estonia N=12, Latvia N=12, Finland N= 5). Additionally, a quantitative data collection tool - a survey (N=51) was used in Finland. The content analysis generated several themes: (1) The ability of an enterprise to adapt to changes; (2) future expectations; (3) educational needs; (4) mind-set changes of entrepreneurs as a result of corona-pandemic and motivation to learn. Results suggest that more than before, coastal entrepreneurs estimate the rationality of decisions and the feasibility of investments. They report the ability to transform the design of tourism services to move towards touchless, digitized solutions as well as present an ability to produce unique service ideas under the pressure of the pandemic. Future expectations are related to the need for intensified cooperation among public and private sectors and different sectors of the economy to ensure entrepreneurial resilience and/or development. Entrepreneurs also stress their expectations regarding public (e.g. in nature areas) infrastructure development.  COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the emergence of business shrinkage strategies and vigilance toward development. The pandemic aggravated the deficit of employees and is directly linked to human resource motivation programs and the lack of resources needed to maintain that. Educational needs reveal several categories of topics entrepreneurs would like to learn about such as marketing, tourism product, and service design, management, and cooperation. The results in the three countries show a lot of similarities, the biggest differences can be seen in the various educational needs, also not in all countries the pandemic increased awareness of the role of cooperation or need to improve the quality of service when facing falling demand.","PeriodicalId":413105,"journal":{"name":"International Conference on Tourism Research","volume":"79 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130494038","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":"Circular Economy in Tourism: A System-Level Approach","authors":"Sanna-Mari Renfors","doi":"10.34190/ictr.6.1.1171","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ictr.6.1.1171","url":null,"abstract":"Tourism is a sector where circular economy unfolds extensive opportunities. Despite being classified as a service sector, tourism depends on significant quantities and flows of exhaustible natural resources. As a result, circular economy in tourism has become an emerging field of study. This can also be ascribed to the fact that the topic of circular economy is currently high on the political agenda, especially in Europe. Because circular economy is receiving exponential attention from policy makers, it has also received more interest among tourism scholars. \u0000The aim of this paper is to increase understanding of circular economy in tourism research considering its systemic nature. The paper is based on a review of the scientific articles published in the years 2015-2022. The research question is: What are the recent developments and trends in the research on CE in tourism from a system-level approach? \u0000The findings indicate that the previous studies have mainly focused on the micro level from the environmental and business management perspectives in the hospitality sector. However, there are many emerging research themes, for example circular consumption behaviour, circular economy and smart tourism. In addition, other types of tourism companies should be considered, e.g., spas, events, and programme service providers.  It is evident that more research is required on the meso and macro levels. In all levels, more attention should be paid on the social and cultural aspects of circular economy in tourism. \u0000 ","PeriodicalId":413105,"journal":{"name":"International Conference on Tourism Research","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122511998","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":"Social media in hotel crisis communication: a case study","authors":"Cândida Silva, S. Silva, B. Rodrigues","doi":"10.34190/ictr.6.1.1197","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34190/ictr.6.1.1197","url":null,"abstract":"The evolution of social media has transformed the way people communicate, share experiences and search for information before and after a trip. These platforms can bring countless benefits to businesses but implementing them effectively brings countless challenges. \u0000In the hotel industry, the use of social media as a digital marketing strategy has become fundamental to promote brands and services, as well as to create a closer relationship with the customer. It then becomes essential to understand how hotels can use these platforms effectively. Moreover, defining communication strategies, especially in periods of global crisis, with customers and public that include social networks are fundamental and a great challenge. \u0000In this sense, in this paper a case study of a hotel in a period including the global pandemic crisis of COVID-19 was conducted where good practices for social media management in hospitality are proposed, supported by the literature review and the practical learning provided in the fieldwork. These good practices also take into consideration the application of successful social media strategies in a hotel during times of crisis.","PeriodicalId":413105,"journal":{"name":"International Conference on Tourism Research","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122543575","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}