68 research outputs found
Resident Support for Tourism Development: Application of a Simplified Resident Empowerment through Tourism Scale on Developing Destinations in Flanders
No full textsponsorship: This article is based on research done in the context of the SmartCulTour project that has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No. 870708. The authors of the article are solely responsible for the information, denominations, and opinions contained in it, which do not necessarily express the point of view of all the project partners and do not commit them. (European Union|870708)status: Publishe
The Effect of Culture Tourism Development on Ethnic Minorities and Its Influence on the Visitor Experience: Case Study Lijiang, China
No full textCultural heritage is an indispensable attraction for tourism. Heritage tourism can help to achieve poverty alleviation in some areas, but it can also lead to unsustainable situations and even longterm destruction of the cultural resource. The danger of the existence of a vicious development model is that the demand for tourism leads to commercialization, and tourist gentrification – specifically when related to heritage cities and villages. This can lead to a perceived lack of authenticity which will in turn reduce visitor satisfaction to some extent. As a result, continued unmanaged development may lead to alienation of local stakeholders and a diminished tourism experience. Discussions on heritage, its value, and local consequences requires a targeted approach. Balancing the economic benefits and maintaining the core value of cultural heritage is a particularly challenging task. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of tourism development on heritage cities with ethnic minorities, specifically focusing on the ancient city of Lijiang in China. The main research question was defined as: ”What are the effects of tourism development on local culture and the visitor experience within the old town of Lijiang, China.”
Because of the increase in urbanization and tourism, excessive commercialization and gentrification have affected the sustainable resource management of heritage sites. Legacy is not a renewable resource; it should be effectively preserved. However, because of its management complexity, there is no unified method. This study uses a qualitative method of inductive inference. The research phase begins with a secondary data collection based on the research questions. Through identifying the stages of tourism development in Lijiang, introducing the government management structure , as well as the government’s management strategies at different times, conclusions could be made in terms of restrictions on remaining residents, and a general loss of local homeownership in favour of non-local entrepreneurship. As a second research method, visitor reviews of a travel website (Tripadvisor) were collected over 3 periods (2009-2011, 2012-2014, 2015-2017), and analysed via thematic coding. This allowed for a recognition of overall trends in changes to the visitor experience from 2009 to 2017, specifically: positive reviews (such as the perception of the attractiveness of the ancient city) have declined year by year, and negative reviews (such as lack of authenticity and over-development) have increased year by year.
Therefore, the study found that the government’s management strategy mainly aimed at the uninterrupted growth of the tourism industry and tourism gentrification are two major factors that hinder the sustainable development of Lijiang heritage tourism. Therefore, this dissertation proposes to strengthen the understanding of the non-market value of the ancient city, changing the business philosophy, redefining the functional location of the ancient city and creating quality tourism products. Through this, tt may be possible to try to improve the status quo in Lijiang and realize the sustainable development of ancient city tourism. While the use of longitudinal analysis of visitor reviews offers an interesting monitoring tool, there were also some inherent limitations to the study design. The history of the Old Town's planning and management strategy could only be reviewed through secondary data. This may not be very comprehensive and detailed and cannot exactly match the timeframes for which tourism reviews were collected. At the same time, the factors of group thinking and social influence in the review cannot be ruled out. For future research it is suggested that a more in-depth interview approach can better understand the Naxi community's views on the current tourism development. As far as the second topic of this study is concerned, on the travel experience, more understanding can be provided by comparing the comments of domestic and foreign tourists and associating tourism experiences with tourism characteristics
Understanding the Effect of User-generated Content on Hotel Performance in Auckland
No full textWith the increasing use of Web 2.0 applications, user-generated content (UGC) has gained importance in the development of the tourism and hospitality industry. UGC, as part of many travel review sites, provides information regarding not just the tourism-related products in question, but also aspects of the individual post-consumption experience. Hence, the UGCs provided by purchasers have become a main source of information on product quality for both the tourism industry and its consumers. An increasing number of contemporary consumers consult UGC, including online reviews, before making purchasing decisions, therefore playing an important role in their decision making processes. The accommodation sector, particularly, has a central place within the travel industry and is an important contributor to the tourism economy. At the same time, the traditional hospitality sector operates in a competitive environment and is now becoming vulnerable due to a growth in the number of hotel room reservations being made via the internet and recent disruptive alternative accommodation types. Furthermore, the accommodation decision process is increasingly influenced by online comments of hotel guests’ experiences in a particular hotel facility. Therefore, as for the hotel performance, UGC is rapidly gaining traction as part of the hotel room purchase decision making process.
The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of UGC on the hospitality industry, specifically with regard to hotel room sales, while also attempting to understand the accommodation attributes influencing customer satisfaction. By adopting secondary data from Booking.com in the form of review scores and qualitative comments, this dissertation attempted to understand the importance of different service attributes towards hotel performance in Auckland, New Zealand. Specifically, the influential factors of hotel service were studied in order to understand the influential elements of customer satisfaction, their contribution to a general hotel satisfaction score and its effect on hotel performance.
By utilising post-positivism as the research paradigm, this study adopted a mixed-method approach. A quantitative methodology was combined with a thematic analysis to analyse the significance between hotel performance and UGC in the form of hotel ratings and qualitative comments. A sample of 89 star-rated hotels within Auckland’s central business district (CBD) was selected and both independent and dependent variables regarding influential elements of the hotel service were identified and collected in the first quantitative stage. For the second qualitative stage, thematic analysis was employed to study 100 online reviews of 10 purposely selected hotels. The additional amenities that were not considered within the quantitative scores were discovered in order to provide better quality service and improve hotel performance.
The relationship between different hotel attributes and hotel performance were analysed quantitatively and confirmed the significance of value for money and location. The ANOVA test examined the effect of star classification on overall scores and concluded that cleanliness, comfort, facilities, staff service and other measurable variables like free Wi-Fi and location were significantly lower for 2 to 3.5 star hotels when compared to 4 star and above, according to Bonferroni’s test. A multivariate regression analysis compared effects on review numbers – as a proxy for room bookings – as well as price levels. Value for money seemed the most significant indicator to positively influence review numbers (specifically so for luxury hotels), as well as negatively correlating with the price per night for a double room. Hotels charging a lower price per night for a double room were found to offer better value for money. Having better levels of cleanliness, comfort and facilities and a good location were more likely to increase the price level for a room. As the finding suggests, higher price level hotels might offer customers accommodation in a prime location and with high levels of cleanliness and facilities, while conversely lower value hotels focus primarily on the price proposition. Cleanliness, comfort and facilities only positively influenced review numbers for budget hotels, possibly indicating that this is a hygiene factor in the luxury segment that is seen as a minimum requirement, and not so much a competitive advantage. A similar observation could be made for Free Wi-Fi. The thematic analysis of the reviews confirmed the general importance of 7 independent hotel attributes. The category of location and room facilities received a relatively great number of positive feedback, whereas significant negative feedback related to the category of value for money, with a significant number of reviews mentioning the over-priced situation of hotel price within Auckland CBD
Understanding the Effect of User-generated Content on Hotel Performance in Auckland
No full textWith the increasing use of Web 2.0 applications, user-generated content (UGC) has gained importance in the development of the tourism and hospitality industry. UGC, as part of many travel review sites, provides information regarding not just the tourism-related products in question, but also aspects of the individual post-consumption experience. Hence, the UGCs provided by purchasers have become a main source of information on product quality for both the tourism industry and its consumers. An increasing number of contemporary consumers consult UGC, including online reviews, before making purchasing decisions, therefore playing an important role in their decision making processes. The accommodation sector, particularly, has a central place within the travel industry and is an important contributor to the tourism economy. At the same time, the traditional hospitality sector operates in a competitive environment and is now becoming vulnerable due to a growth in the number of hotel room reservations being made via the internet and recent disruptive alternative accommodation types. Furthermore, the accommodation decision process is increasingly influenced by online comments of hotel guests’ experiences in a particular hotel facility. Therefore, as for the hotel performance, UGC is rapidly gaining traction as part of the hotel room purchase decision making process.
The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of UGC on the hospitality industry, specifically with regard to hotel room sales, while also attempting to understand the accommodation attributes influencing customer satisfaction. By adopting secondary data from Booking.com in the form of review scores and qualitative comments, this dissertation attempted to understand the importance of different service attributes towards hotel performance in Auckland, New Zealand. Specifically, the influential factors of hotel service were studied in order to understand the influential elements of customer satisfaction, their contribution to a general hotel satisfaction score and its effect on hotel performance.
By utilising post-positivism as the research paradigm, this study adopted a mixed-method approach. A quantitative methodology was combined with a thematic analysis to analyse the significance between hotel performance and UGC in the form of hotel ratings and qualitative comments. A sample of 89 star-rated hotels within Auckland’s central business district (CBD) was selected and both independent and dependent variables regarding influential elements of the hotel service were identified and collected in the first quantitative stage. For the second qualitative stage, thematic analysis was employed to study 100 online reviews of 10 purposely selected hotels. The additional amenities that were not considered within the quantitative scores were discovered in order to provide better quality service and improve hotel performance.
The relationship between different hotel attributes and hotel performance were analysed quantitatively and confirmed the significance of value for money and location. The ANOVA test examined the effect of star classification on overall scores and concluded that cleanliness, comfort, facilities, staff service and other measurable variables like free Wi-Fi and location were significantly lower for 2 to 3.5 star hotels when compared to 4 star and above, according to Bonferroni’s test. A multivariate regression analysis compared effects on review numbers – as a proxy for room bookings – as well as price levels. Value for money seemed the most significant indicator to positively influence review numbers (specifically so for luxury hotels), as well as negatively correlating with the price per night for a double room. Hotels charging a lower price per night for a double room were found to offer better value for money. Having better levels of cleanliness, comfort and facilities and a good location were more likely to increase the price level for a room. As the finding suggests, higher price level hotels might offer customers accommodation in a prime location and with high levels of cleanliness and facilities, while conversely lower value hotels focus primarily on the price proposition. Cleanliness, comfort and facilities only positively influenced review numbers for budget hotels, possibly indicating that this is a hygiene factor in the luxury segment that is seen as a minimum requirement, and not so much a competitive advantage. A similar observation could be made for Free Wi-Fi. The thematic analysis of the reviews confirmed the general importance of 7 independent hotel attributes. The category of location and room facilities received a relatively great number of positive feedback, whereas significant negative feedback related to the category of value for money, with a significant number of reviews mentioning the over-priced situation of hotel price within Auckland CBD
Analysing the importance of online trust on intention to use Airbnb by consumer groups differentiated by risk propensity and prior experience
No full textAirbnb is a peer-to-peer platform that enables hosts to provide private accommodation to travellers. The development of Airbnb attracted this study to investigate the usage intention of potential consumers, especially individuals who reside in New Zealand. Moreover, given the particularities of the peer-to-peer economy, online trust has been seen as a high potential driver – or barrier – of Airbnb use. Previous studies on online trust have found that the construct consists of different dimensions, particularly the ability belief, benevolence belief, and integrity belief. Adopting a three-dimension online trust construct, it could further be hypothesised that prior Airbnb experience and personal risk propensity could have an effect on the entire online-trust-belief construct.
The purpose of this research was thus to observe how multidimensional online trust influences consumer intention to use Airbnb under individual risk propensities and prior Airbnb experiences. By adopting a model tested in the business-to-customer environment for many times, this dissertation attempted to fill a gap in the existing literature on P2P peer-to-peer market.
A quantitative methodology was adopted, delivering an online questionnaire through the snowball sampling method with the direct environment of the research and the supervisors as a starting point. A total of 184 responses were collected from people over 16 years old who reside in New Zealand. Since 32 respondents specified they had not previously heard of Airbnb, 152 responses were ultimately used to test the constructed model. SPSS 22.0 and AMOS were used for data analysis and hypotheses tests, using frequency tables, descriptive statistics, ANOVA-tests, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and linear regression.
The research findings firstly revealed the potential for Airbnb to further develop the New Zealand travel market. Close to half of the 152 respondents in this study had already used Airbnb and an additional number of people showed interest in using Airbnb for future travels. The conceptual model, which was originally established in a business-to-customer environment, was validated in the Airbnb context as well, with results revealing that ability, benevolence and integrity beliefs of online trust all significantly impact the intention to use Airbnb, with benevolence being the strongest predictor. These relationships between online trust beliefs and intention to use Airbnb were influenced by prior experience and individual risk propensity, as was hypothesised. Risk avoiders’ intention to use Airbnb was affected by benevolence and integrity belief, and this was true for both prior Airbnb users as respondents without Airbnb experience. However, the situation was different for risk takers. Risk takers without prior experience were only influenced by the ability belief, indicating that risk-taking individuals value Airbnb accommodation’s functionalities instead of intangible trust aspects when intending to use Airbnb. For risk takers with prior Airbnb experience, no trust-aspects affected their usage intentions
Territorial capital, smart tourism specialization and sustainable regional development : Experiences from Europe
No full textThis study analyses the contribution of territorial sensitive resources related to natural and cultural features (environmental dimension), innovation capabilities and specialization patterns (smart specialization) to regional sustainable development (spatial sustainability). In the context of a fast and continuous expansion of tourism activities, particular attention is given to their impacts. The results of our path model suggest that different patterns of tourism dynamics coexist in European regions and that, for those where this sector assumes larger socio-economic importance, the contribution to the achievement of the “Millennium Goals”, as proposed by the United Nations, is relatively poor. Regions particularly endowed in natural resources reveal a weak socio-economic performance, while showing high levels of specialization in tourism, based on large scale and low value-added products and services, suggesting that new approaches to territorial design are required. This also leads to important spatial unbalances, with the most tourism-dependent European regions revealing relatively low levels of regional gross domestic product and high levels of unemployment. Despite their relatively good performance in terms of CO2-emissions, it seems important for those regions' sustainable development to increase the value added in tourism, by reinforcing the linkages with other relevant regional economic sectors. Information and communication technologies can contribute to these achievements, through the integration of knowledge and innovations into the products and services comprising the smart tourism experiences (smart development) and their connections with related sectors (smart specialization)
Insights into Social Media Strategies by Small Marine Tourism Operators in Auckland
No full textThe development of Social Media from its infancy towards the end of the 20th century, to its mass proliferation in recent years has been rapid. Its function as a communication, marketing and distribution tool has influenced the consumer decision making process, especially for intangible, information intensive service industries, such as tourism. As a result of the low start-up costs and its ease of use, Social Media has facilitated new marketing channels for smaller businesses. The aim of this explorative study is to gain an insight into the usage, perception and barriers of using Social Media as a tool by small marine tourism operators in Auckland, New Zealand; to offer recommendations to improve the use of the tool by these businesses; and to add to existing scholarly knowledge in the area. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from twelve marine operators based in Auckland. The exploration of this data was carried out by using a thematic analysis approach. Results indicated that the most popular and most frequently used Social Media channels were the social network Facebook, and the recommendation and review website TripAdvisor.
Findings suggest that Social Media use by participants lacked clear goals and strategies, mainly due to barriers such as lack of resources, lack of time, lack of knowledge, and due to, in a minority of cases, prioritisation of lifestyle choice over business growth. The absence of clear goals, accentuated by an absence of monitoring, led to disillusionment, owing to the perceived lack of return on investment of using Social Media. Findings did indicate that participants felt Social Media did positively enhance the business brand, though again due to the lack of monitoring, there was no way to clearly measure how much of an actual influence Social Media had on positive brand image.
A theoretical framework of barriers faced by the participants was developed. These barriers include a lack of control, operational issues, and a loss of trust in Social Media. With these barriers in mind, recommendations were suggested to improve the effective use of Social Media for the participants of this study and similar businesses. This included carrying out analysis of existing Social Media activities; the development of a clear strategy with measureable and qualitative goals; suggestions of cost free online tools for monitoring and analysis; and proposals for the most effective content to be uploaded. In conclusion, this study highlighted the difficulties of small businesses to keep up with the rapidly evolving nature of Social Media, the challenges of resource deficient operations of adequately utilising this hugely prevalent mass communication tool, and the need for
iii
such businesses to develop communications methods, which lead to personalised and rewarding relationships with consumers
Insights into Social Media Strategies by Small Marine Tourism Operators in Auckland
No full textThe development of Social Media from its infancy towards the end of the 20th century, to its mass proliferation in recent years has been rapid. Its function as a communication, marketing and distribution tool has influenced the consumer decision making process, especially for intangible, information intensive service industries, such as tourism. As a result of the low start-up costs and its ease of use, Social Media has facilitated new marketing channels for smaller businesses. The aim of this explorative study is to gain an insight into the usage, perception and barriers of using Social Media as a tool by small marine tourism operators in Auckland, New Zealand; to offer recommendations to improve the use of the tool by these businesses; and to add to existing scholarly knowledge in the area. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from twelve marine operators based in Auckland. The exploration of this data was carried out by using a thematic analysis approach. Results indicated that the most popular and most frequently used Social Media channels were the social network Facebook, and the recommendation and review website TripAdvisor.
Findings suggest that Social Media use by participants lacked clear goals and strategies, mainly due to barriers such as lack of resources, lack of time, lack of knowledge, and due to, in a minority of cases, prioritisation of lifestyle choice over business growth. The absence of clear goals, accentuated by an absence of monitoring, led to disillusionment, owing to the perceived lack of return on investment of using Social Media. Findings did indicate that participants felt Social Media did positively enhance the business brand, though again due to the lack of monitoring, there was no way to clearly measure how much of an actual influence Social Media had on positive brand image.
A theoretical framework of barriers faced by the participants was developed. These barriers include a lack of control, operational issues, and a loss of trust in Social Media. With these barriers in mind, recommendations were suggested to improve the effective use of Social Media for the participants of this study and similar businesses. This included carrying out analysis of existing Social Media activities; the development of a clear strategy with measureable and qualitative goals; suggestions of cost free online tools for monitoring and analysis; and proposals for the most effective content to be uploaded. In conclusion, this study highlighted the difficulties of small businesses to keep up with the rapidly evolving nature of Social Media, the challenges of resource deficient operations of adequately utilising this hugely prevalent mass communication tool, and the need for
iii
such businesses to develop communications methods, which lead to personalised and rewarding relationships with consumers
Analysing the importance of online trust on intention to use Airbnb by consumer groups differentiated by risk propensity and prior experience
No full textAirbnb is a peer-to-peer platform that enables hosts to provide private accommodation to travellers. The development of Airbnb attracted this study to investigate the usage intention of potential consumers, especially individuals who reside in New Zealand. Moreover, given the particularities of the peer-to-peer economy, online trust has been seen as a high potential driver – or barrier – of Airbnb use. Previous studies on online trust have found that the construct consists of different dimensions, particularly the ability belief, benevolence belief, and integrity belief. Adopting a three-dimension online trust construct, it could further be hypothesised that prior Airbnb experience and personal risk propensity could have an effect on the entire online-trust-belief construct.
The purpose of this research was thus to observe how multidimensional online trust influences consumer intention to use Airbnb under individual risk propensities and prior Airbnb experiences. By adopting a model tested in the business-to-customer environment for many times, this dissertation attempted to fill a gap in the existing literature on P2P peer-to-peer market.
A quantitative methodology was adopted, delivering an online questionnaire through the snowball sampling method with the direct environment of the research and the supervisors as a starting point. A total of 184 responses were collected from people over 16 years old who reside in New Zealand. Since 32 respondents specified they had not previously heard of Airbnb, 152 responses were ultimately used to test the constructed model. SPSS 22.0 and AMOS were used for data analysis and hypotheses tests, using frequency tables, descriptive statistics, ANOVA-tests, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and linear regression.
The research findings firstly revealed the potential for Airbnb to further develop the New Zealand travel market. Close to half of the 152 respondents in this study had already used Airbnb and an additional number of people showed interest in using Airbnb for future travels. The conceptual model, which was originally established in a business-to-customer environment, was validated in the Airbnb context as well, with results revealing that ability, benevolence and integrity beliefs of online trust all significantly impact the intention to use Airbnb, with benevolence being the strongest predictor. These relationships between online trust beliefs and intention to use Airbnb were influenced by prior experience and individual risk propensity, as was hypothesised. Risk avoiders’ intention to use Airbnb was affected by benevolence and integrity belief, and this was true for both prior Airbnb users as respondents without Airbnb experience. However, the situation was different for risk takers. Risk takers without prior experience were only influenced by the ability belief, indicating that risk-taking individuals value Airbnb accommodation’s functionalities instead of intangible trust aspects when intending to use Airbnb. For risk takers with prior Airbnb experience, no trust-aspects affected their usage intentions
The European Innovation Ecosystem and the role of green start-ups in the European Green Deal: clusters and perspectives.
No full textopenThe aim of this study is to provide insights on the factors that foster green innovation, and understand how such dynamics relate to the overarching framework of the European Green Deal. Those points are analysed by screening the presence of successful green startups in the Union and assessing which factors enable their growth, with a focus on their relationship with innovation funding provided by European Institutions within the political framework of the European Green Deal. Through a combined quantitative and qualitative approach, This study examines the elements that facilitate green innovation in specific European contexts, with the objective of developing a suite of legal and financial support tools to promote green innovation across Europe.The aim of this study is to provide insights on the factors that foster green innovation, and understand how such dynamics relate to the overarching framework of the European Green Deal. Those points are analysed by screening the presence of successful green startups in the Union and assessing which factors enable their growth, with a focus on their relationship with innovation funding provided by European Institutions within the political framework of the European Green Deal. Through a combined quantitative and qualitative approach, This study examines the elements that facilitate green innovation in specific European contexts, with the objective of developing a suite of legal and financial support tools to promote green innovation across Europe
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