Research

15 pages, 4190 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatial Configuration and Online Attention: A Space Syntax Perspective

by Peixue Liu, Xiao Xiao, Jie Zhang, Ronghua Wu and Honglei Zhang

Sustainability 2018, 10(1), 221; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10010221 - 17 Jan 2018

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5916

The spatial behavior of tourists is an important part of the research on congestion management and sustainable planning of tourism destinations. Combined with user-generated content (UGC) and site-based survey data, this study conducted an overlaying analysis between street network configurations that resulted from [...] Read more.

The spatial behavior of tourists is an important part of the research on congestion management and sustainable planning of tourism destinations. Combined with user-generated content (UGC) and site-based survey data, this study conducted an overlaying analysis between street network configurations that resulted from space syntax and tourist preferences. Based on space syntax, tourist movement is influenced by the distribution of scenic spots and the structure of tourist trails in scenic mountain areas. The results reveal that the distribution of scenic spots has a significant impact on tourist flow and visitors’ choices of entrance to the mountain; the volume of online sign-ins is highly correlated with landscape attention, axial control values and the local integration value of the trails; and tourists’ attention focuses on the entrance area and the few tourist-sight markers. This study advances the understanding of the spatial patterns of within-destination tourist behavior; this knowledge will be helpful in alleviating congestion in mountain scenic areas and providing effective guidance for tourists to plan an ideal tour route. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Planning and Sustainable Development)

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1002 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Investigation of Passengers’ Psychological Benefits from Green Brands in an Environmentally Friendly Airline Context: The Moderating Role of Gender

by Jinsoo Hwang and Jung Kyu Choi

Sustainability 2018, 10(1), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10010080 - 30 Dec 2017

Cited by 96 | Viewed by 8087

Abstract

In recent years, as natural environmental problems have become more serious, environmentally friendly airlines have been attracting attention from many practitioners and scholars. The purpose of this study was to apply the concept of psychological benefits of green brands in an environmentally friendly [...] Read more.

In recent years, as natural environmental problems have become more serious, environmentally friendly airlines have been attracting attention from many practitioners and scholars. The purpose of this study was to apply the concept of psychological benefits of green brands in an environmentally friendly airline context. Based on the theoretical relationships between the conceptual constructs, a model was developed and then evaluated using data collected from 322 airline passengers in Korea. The results indicated that the three sub-dimensions of psychological benefits of green brands (i.e., warm glow, self-expressive benefits and nature experiences) help to enhance the overall image of an environmentally friendly airline. Furthermore, the overall image plays an important role in the formation of three outcome variables: intentions to use, word-of-mouth intentions and willingness to pay more. Lastly, gender moderates the relationship between overall image and intentions to use. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Planning and Sustainable Development)

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7908 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identifying Tourist Places of Interest Based on Digital Imprints: Towards a Sustainable Smart City

by Luis Encalada, Inês Boavida-Portugal, Carlos Cardoso Ferreira and Jorge Rocha

Sustainability 2017, 9(12), 2317; https://doi.org/10.3390/su9122317 - 13 Dec 2017

Cited by 83 | Viewed by 12339

Abstract

As cities become increasingly complex, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) bring smartness into organisations and communities, contributing to a more competitive tourism destination, i.e., smart tourism destinations. Enhanced information access coupled with a new kind of tourists avid for online content and predisposed [...] Read more.

As cities become increasingly complex, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) bring smartness into organisations and communities, contributing to a more competitive tourism destination, i.e., smart tourism destinations. Enhanced information access coupled with a new kind of tourists avid for online content and predisposed to share information on social media, allows for a better understanding of tourist behaviour regarding their spatial distribution in urban destinations. Thus, smart tourism portrays individuals as information makers, refining the available alternatives for tracking their location. Big data analytics is a technology with the potential to develop Smart City services. From the analysis of the spatial distribution of tourists in the city of Lisbon based on data collected from the ‘Panoramio’ social network, we identify the most popular places in the city in a context of tourist visits. This new data largely contributes to understanding the consumption of space within urban tourist destinations and therefore enables us to differentiate the overcrowded places from the ones with potential to grow. This allows decision-makers to imagine new ways of planning and managing towards a sustainable ‘smart’ future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Planning and Sustainable Development)

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2403 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Transformation Planning of Ecotourism Systems to Invigorate Responsible Tourism

by Yun Eui Choi, Minsun Doh, Samuel Park and Jinhyung Chon

Sustainability 2017, 9(12), 2248; https://doi.org/10.3390/su9122248 - 05 Dec 2017

Cited by 27 | Viewed by 9073

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to introduce transformation plans that can stimulate responsible ecotourism by using systems thinking to solve ecotourism problems in Korea. Systems thinking is a research method used to understand the operating mechanisms of the variables that influence an [...] Read more.

The purpose of this study is to introduce transformation plans that can stimulate responsible ecotourism by using systems thinking to solve ecotourism problems in Korea. Systems thinking is a research method used to understand the operating mechanisms of the variables that influence an entire system, in order to identify its problems. The four types of ecotourism systems are classified as follows: low-infrastructure and resident-initiated, high-infrastructure and resident-initiated, high-infrastructure and government-initiated and low-infrastructure and government-initiated. These systems vary based on the need for tourism facilities and the form of governance. Each type of system is analyzed using the systems thinking process (dynamic thinking, causal thinking, feedback thinking, strategic thinking) at representative ecotourism sites in Jeollanam-do and the following transformation plans are proposed to improve the responsibility at the tourism sites: First, local residents will develop a system to manage and operate ecotourism ventures and establish cooperative governance structures to strengthen the local capacity. Second, ecotourism operators will improve the quality of their educational and interpretative programs and tourist information platforms in order to raise awareness of the responsibilities of ecotourists. Third, ecotourism systems that are improved through ecotourists’ and tour operators' heightened senses of responsibility can sustain ecotourism independently. These transformation plans can be applied to policy proposals for revitalizing ecotourism, to guidelines for improving community resilience and to biological habitat protection plans. This study is meaningful in that it discusses the role of stakeholders in ecotourism planning and promoting responsible tourism and their role in utilizing and conserving natural resources accordingly. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Planning and Sustainable Development)

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543 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fostering Nautical Tourism in the Balearic Islands

by María J. Moreno and F. Javier Otamendi

Sustainability 2017, 9(12), 2215; https://doi.org/10.3390/su9122215 - 30 Nov 2017

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4641

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to determine pillars for fostering nautical tourism based on the beliefs and attitudes that professionals in the sector have towards the particularities and difficulties that the market is going through. To achieve these goals, in-depth interviews structured [...] Read more.

The aim of this paper is to determine pillars for fostering nautical tourism based on the beliefs and attitudes that professionals in the sector have towards the particularities and difficulties that the market is going through. To achieve these goals, in-depth interviews structured around 37 questions were carried out with agents of associations and nautical firms, public institutions, and the Chamber of Commerce. The qualitative analysis program NVIVO 11 was used to analyze the content of the gathered data. The findings reveal that the main difficulties are related to normative issues and taxation, illegal supply, and a lack of definition of the nautical tourist profile. This absence of definition causes a vagueness when estimating the total number of nautical tourists that visit a destination. Thus, this affects evaluation of the economic, social, and environmental impact of nautical tourism. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Planning and Sustainable Development)

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2569 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Vulnerability of Coastal Tourism Destinations to Climate Change: The Usefulness of Policy Analysis

by Raquel Santos-Lacueva, Salvador Anton Clavé and Òscar Saladié

Sustainability 2017, 9(11), 2062; https://doi.org/10.3390/su9112062 - 09 Nov 2017

Cited by 46 | Viewed by 8644

Abstract

Climate change conditions the sustainability of coastal destinations. This paper looks at the physical conditions that determine exposure and sensitivity to and risk from climate change and explores the sociopolitical contextual factors that determine the vulnerability of destinations. We define a destination’s vulnerability [...] Read more.

Climate change conditions the sustainability of coastal destinations. This paper looks at the physical conditions that determine exposure and sensitivity to and risk from climate change and explores the sociopolitical contextual factors that determine the vulnerability of destinations. We define a destination’s vulnerability to climate change as being a reduction in its attractiveness caused by climate change combined with the consequences of adaptation and mitigation strategies. To be more specific, this paper aims to discuss the linkage between policymaking and the vulnerability of coastal destinations to climate change. We look at how this vulnerability is determined by decision-making, policies and strategies and propose an innovative analytical framework to assess vulnerability using a policy analysis approach. It is our intention to combine a content analysis of policy documents with an analysis of the perceptions and opinions of the stakeholders that influence decision-making. The paper deals with the complex, multiple, dynamic and fuzzy attributes that characterize all the items that make up this kind of research: climate change (phenomenon), vulnerability (variable), policy analysis (method), policy contents and stakeholder perceptions (indicators), coastal destinations (territorial system) and tourism (activity and policy). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Planning and Sustainable Development)

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535 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Self-Evaluation System of Quality Planning for Tourist Attractions in Taiwan: An Integrated AHP-Delphi Approach from Career Professionals

by Luan Chen, Eric Ng, Shyh-Chang Huang and Wei-Ta Fang

Sustainability 2017, 9(10), 1751; https://doi.org/10.3390/su9101751 - 28 Sep 2017

Cited by 33 | Viewed by 6964

Abstract

This study seeks to identify a set of key indicators along with weightings for tourist attractions in Taiwan, and develop a quality management self-evaluation mechanism for tourism businesses, using an advanced integrated Analytic Hierarchy Process and Delphi (AHP-Delphi) approach derived from the supply [...] Read more.

This study seeks to identify a set of key indicators along with weightings for tourist attractions in Taiwan, and develop a quality management self-evaluation mechanism for tourism businesses, using an advanced integrated Analytic Hierarchy Process and Delphi (AHP-Delphi) approach derived from the supply side perspective. This research study comprises two phases: (1) Delphi method analysis that involves 17 experts, providing confirmation about the evaluation criteria; and (2) Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) method which aims to allocate weightings to the evaluation criteria from the experts. Findings from the Delphi method analysis revealed the acceptance of two dimensions, six sub-dimensions and 17 indicators as key evaluation criteria. The AHP method analysis indicated that the most significant dimension was managing quality, with tourism services and public sector facilities being the most important sub-dimension and indicator respectively. The self-evaluation mechanism proposed in this planning perspectives can assist tourism businesses and national/regional Destination Management Organization to identify quality management problems and possible ways of enhancing quality tourism, so that tourism experience, and tourist’s satisfaction can be further improved effectively between the conflicting views by career professionals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Planning and Sustainable Development)

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1972 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Residents’ Attitude toward Tourism Development: A Sociocultural Perspective

by Sajad Ebrahimi Meimand, Zainab Khalifah, Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas, Abbas Mardani, Amir Abbas Najafipour and Ungku Norulkamar Ungku Ahmad

Sustainability 2017, 9(7), 1170; https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071170 - 07 Jul 2017

Cited by 33 | Viewed by 10738

Abstract

Host population support for tourism development has attracted the attention of researchers in tourism studies. Given the importance of understanding local community support for tourism development, limitations in understanding their priority and lack of a socio-cultural model of support for tourism, this study [...] Read more.

Host population support for tourism development has attracted the attention of researchers in tourism studies. Given the importance of understanding local community support for tourism development, limitations in understanding their priority and lack of a socio-cultural model of support for tourism, this study attempted to model locals’ support for tourism development based on socio-cultural factors in Malaysian Homestay program. Using extensive literature review, a tourism support model was proposed including several hypothesized paths. The proposed socio-cultural research framework predicted the impact of Islamic religiosity, locals’ knowledge about tourism, intrinsic motivation factors and community attachment on locals support for tourism development through mediating variables of perceived socio-cultural benefits and costs in Malaysian Homestays. , the model and paths were tested using structural equation modelling and partial least square algorithm (PLS-SEM) with the aid of SmartPLS software. Findings reveal that locals’ support for tourism development in Homestay program is a function of perceived socio-cultural benefits and costs perceived by local community and four independent variables of Islamic religiosity, knowledge about tourism, intrinsic motivations, and community attachment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tourism Planning and Sustainable Development)

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