Yeongbae Choe and Daniel R. Fesenmaier
The purpose of this paper is to describe the core of an advanced destination management system, which uses a series of data matching techniques and business analytics.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the core of an advanced destination management system, which uses a series of data matching techniques and business analytics.
Design/methodology/approach
This study first proposes the conceptual framework for an advanced destination management system and then illustrates the core components of the proposed system using real-world data from Northern Indiana. In this study, search interests, devices used and other forms of website use derived from online clickstream data were merged with visitor demographic and tripographic information obtained from an online survey to develop an analytic model used to describe the core market structure.
Findings
Key demographic factors (e.g. gender, age and income), search interests, referred websites, the number of total sessions, temporal aspects and spatial aspects of visitor travel provide essential information defining the structure and dynamics of the visitor marketing in Northern Indiana.
Originality/value
The process and data used in this study provide a “proof of concept” for developing highly personalized marketing systems, which can substantially improve the competitiveness of a destination management organization.
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Ulrike Gretzel, Yeong‐Hyeon Hwang and Daniel R. Fesenmaier
Destination recommender systems need to become truly human‐centric in their design and functionality. This requires a profound understanding of human interactions with technology…
Abstract
Purpose
Destination recommender systems need to become truly human‐centric in their design and functionality. This requires a profound understanding of human interactions with technology as well as human behavior related to information search and decision‐making in the context of travel and tourism. This paper seeks to review relevant theories that can support the development and evaluation of destination recommender systems and to discuss how quantitative research can inform such theory building and testing.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a review of information search and decision‐making literatures, a framework for the development of destination recommender systems is proposed and the implications for the design and evaluation of human‐centric recommender systems are discussed.
Findings
A variety of factors that influence the information search and processing strategies that influence interactions with a destination recommender system are identified. This reveals a great need for data‐driven models to inform recommender system processes.
Originality/value
The proposed framework provides a basis for future research and development in the area of destination recommender systems. The paper concludes that the success of a specific destination recommender system will depend largely on its ability to anticipate and respond creatively to transformations in the personal and situational needs of its users. Such system intelligence needs to be based on empirical data analyzed with sophisticated quantitative methods. The importance of recommender systems in tourism marketing is also discussed.
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Sangwon Park and Daniel R. Fesenmaier
The purpose of this study is to estimate the extent (mean and range) of non‐response bias in online travel advertising conversion studies for 24 destinations located throughout…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to estimate the extent (mean and range) of non‐response bias in online travel advertising conversion studies for 24 destinations located throughout the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
The method uses two weighting procedures (i.e. post stratification and propensity score weighting) to estimate the extent of non‐response bias by adjusting the estimates provided by respondents to more closely represent the total target sample.
Findings
The results of this analysis clearly indicate that the use of unweighted data to estimate advertising effectiveness may lead to substantial over estimation of conversion rates, but there is limited “bias” in the estimates of median visitor expenditures. The analyses also indicate that weighting systems have substantially different impact on the estimates of conversion rates.
Research limitations/implications
First, the likelihood to answer a survey varies substantially depending on the degree of the familiarity with the mode (i.e. paper, telephone versus internet). Second, the competition‐related variables (i.e. the number and competitiveness of alternative nearby destinations) and various aspects of the campaign (i.e. amount of investment in a location) should be considered.
Originality/value
This study of 24 different American tourism campaigns provides a useful understanding in the nature (mean and range) of impact of non‐response bias in tourism advertising conversion studies. Additionally, where there is difficulty obtaining a reference survey in the advertising study, the two weighting methods used in this study are shown to be useful for assessing the errors in response data, especially in the case of propensity score weighting, where the means to develop multivariate‐based weights is straightforward.
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Shekhar and Marco Valeri
The study aims to review how the use of technology enhances the authentic tourist experience. Technology and digitalization have enhanced tourist experiences. However, critiques…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to review how the use of technology enhances the authentic tourist experience. Technology and digitalization have enhanced tourist experiences. However, critiques comment on its ability to over-commercialize activity and lack of authenticity. Thus, there is a need to synthesize knowledge of technology usage to increase authentic tourist experience.
Design/methodology/approach
The study carries out a bibliometric review of the studies focusing on the use of technology in enhancing tourist experiences. Two hundred journal articles, published between 1997 and 2023 were retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) database to carry out descriptive and network analysis using the Gephi, VOSviewer and Science of Science (Sci2) software. The components of authentic tourism experience are identified from the literature through a content analysis.
Findings
The findings of the study are broadly classified into two: first, the most frequently used keywords in the study include tourist experience and satisfaction, co-creation, virtual reality, smart tourism, technology, authenticity and heritage tourism. Second, the five major themes studied in the topic include virtual reality and tourist experience; media, tourist experience and encounters; technology, smart tourism and tourist experience; digital transformation, social media and tourist experience; and virtual reality and tourist experience which are still relevant in the literature because of the presence of study gaps.
Originality/value
The findings are used to develop a conceptual framework for the role of technology in enhancing authenticity in tourism typologies where authenticity is critical.
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Khaldoon Nusair, Irfan Butt and S.R. Nikhashemi
While the importance of social media will continue to grow, the purpose of this study is to provide a retrospective systematic literature review of the social media research…
Abstract
Purpose
While the importance of social media will continue to grow, the purpose of this study is to provide a retrospective systematic literature review of the social media research published in major hospitality and tourism journals over a specific time period.
Design/methodology/approach
The study conducted a bibliometric analysis to review the literature of 439 social media articles published in 51 hospitality and tourism journals over a 15-year time span (2002-2016).
Findings
Ulrike Gretzel authored the highest fractional citations. The results indicated that social media-related research was mostly published in top-tier journals. The International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management was amongst the four leading journals in terms of the percentage of published social media articles. While inter-country social media research collaborations were relatively modest, interestingly, inter-country collaborations have been steadily increasing in the past five years. Another finding indicated that social media research in hospitality and tourism journals has been predominantly quantitative. The results revealed six new areas within the consumer behaviour research theme, namely, eWOM, service recovery, customer satisfaction, brand/destination image and service quality. Finally, it is important to note that four new trends in social media research appeared between 2011 and 2016, namely, big data, netnography, Travel 2.0 and Web 2.0.
Research limitations/implications
While this study made significant contributions to the social media literature, some limitations do exist. For example, the current research excluded publications from major conferences, books, book chapters and dissertations. Additionally, it is not within the scope of this paper to take into account issues related to self-citations.
Practical implications
The results obtained from analysis contribute to a comprehensive understanding of social media research progress in hospitality and tourism. For example, evaluating the performance of individual scholars helps educational institutions to compete in the global university ranking system. Additionally, to compete for funding opportunities on the topic of social media, institutions can use citation counts to demonstrate their competitiveness. Furthermore, due to the expected future growth in the number of social media platforms, practitioners need to understand motivating factors and tourists’ needs in different countries, target market segments, age groups and cultures to create highly engaging communities around their brands.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the sample of this study synthesized the largest selection of social media articles published in hospitality and tourism journals. This is the first study to apply the fractional score at the author level, the adjusted appearance score at the university level and the average citation score at the journal and inter-country levels in the analysis. In addition, prevalent research orientations and research trends in social media made significant contributions to existing literature.
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Saddam Abdullah, Philippe Van Cauwenberge, Heidi Vander Bauwhede and Peter O’Connor
This study aims to assess if the benefits outweigh the costs of participation in online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Booking.com.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to assess if the benefits outweigh the costs of participation in online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Booking.com.
Design/methodology/approach
A two-step system generalised method of moments estimation of a regression model of firm-level return on assets (ROA) is used on a dummy variable indicating whether a lodging facility participates in Booking.com. The assessment contained various control variables, including size, age, leverage, liquidity and lagged ROA. The moderating effect of firm age and size was studied by including interaction variables between the Booking.com dummy and age and size, respectively. The model was estimated using participation and financial data of 775 Belgian firms over a 20-year period (1999–2018).
Findings
The findings indicate that participation in Booking.com is associated with higher profitability, with this effect more economically important and pronounced for smaller hotel properties.
Research limitations/implications
The study provides a broadly applicable empirical model to assess the impact of platform participation on the financial performance of tourism, hospitality or retail businesses.
Practical implications
The study provides empirical evidence that, from a transaction cost perspective, the benefits of participation in OTAs outweigh the costs, resulting in substantially higher profitability. The evidence can be used to justify the use of OTAs as distribution channels.
Originality/value
While prior studies have described and conceptually analysed the evolution and role of OTAs in the hotel sector, and speculated on the net effect of OTA participation, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to empirically assess whether OTA participation creates value for hotel owners and investors.
设计/方法/途径
本文采用了两步系统GMM的估计方法, 用一个虚拟变量指示住宿设施是否参与了Booking.com, 以确定企业级别的资产回报率(ROA)的回归模型。评估涵盖了多种控制变量, 包括公司规模, 年限, 杠杆, 流动性和滞后资产回报率。企业年龄和规模的调节作用是通过加入Booking.com虚拟变量与年龄和规模之间的交互变量实现的。该模型是使用20年(1999–2018年)间775家比利时公司的参与和财务数据估算得出的。
目的
本文目的是评估收益是否超过了参与Booking.com等在线旅行社(OTA)的成本。
结果
研究结果表明, 参与Booking.com与更高的获利能力相关联。这种影响在经济上更加重要, 并且对于较小的酒店物业而言更为明显。
研究贡献
该研究提供了广泛适用的经验模型, 以评估平台参与对旅游业, 酒店业或零售业的财务绩效的影响。
实际应用
该研究提供了重要的实证依据。从交易成本的角度来看, 参与OTA的收益大于成本, 从而大大提高了盈利能力。该实例证明了使用OTA作为分销渠道是合理的。
原创性/价值
尽管先前的研究已经描述并从概念上分析了OTA在酒店领域的演变和作用, 并推测了OTA参与的净效应, 但据我们所知, 这是第一个凭经验评估OTA参与是否为酒店所有者和投资者创造价值的研究。
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Una estimación GMM en dos pasos de un modelo de regresión del rendimiento de los activos (ROA) a nivel de empresa sobre una variable ficticia que indica si un establecimiento de alojamiento participa en Booking.com. La evaluación contenía diversas variables de control, como el tamaño, la edad, el apalancamiento, la liquidez y el ROA retardado. El efecto moderador de la edad y el tamaño de la empresa se estudió incluyendo variables de interacción entre la variable ficticia de Booking.com y la edad y el tamaño, respectivamente. El modelo se estimó utilizando datos de participación y financieros de 775 empresas belgas durante un periodo de 20 años (1999–2018).
Objetivo
Evaluar si los beneficios superan los costes de la participación en agencias de viajes online (OTAs) como Booking.com.
Conclusiones
Los resultados indican que la participación en Booking.com está asociada a una mayor rentabilidad, siendo este efecto más importante y pronunciado desde el punto de vista económico para las propiedades hoteleras más pequeñas.
Limitaciones/implicaciones de la investigación
El estudio proporciona un modelo empírico ampliamente aplicable para evaluar el impacto de la participación en la plataforma en los resultados financieros de las empresas turísticas, hoteleras o minoristas.
Implicaciones prácticas
El estudio proporciona pruebas empíricas de que, desde la perspectiva de los costes de transacción, los beneficios de la participación en las OTAs superan los costes, lo que se traduce en una rentabilidad sustancialmente mayor. Las pruebas pueden utilizarse para justificar el uso de las OTAs como canales de distribución.
Originalidad/valor
Aunque estudios anteriores han descrito y analizado conceptualmente la evolución y el papel de las OTAs en el sector hotelero, y han especulado sobre el efecto neto de la participación en las OTAs, hasta donde sabemos, éste es el primero que evalúa empíricamente si la participación en las OTAs crea valor para los propietarios e inversores de hoteles.
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Taketo Naoi, Shoji Iijima, Akira Soshiroda and Tetsuo Shimizu
This study aims to identify the elements that characterise spaces for tourists and those that characterise spaces for locals in a shopping district based on the perspectives of…
Abstract
This study aims to identify the elements that characterise spaces for tourists and those that characterise spaces for locals in a shopping district based on the perspectives of local students. Forty-five local undergraduates took photographs of settings that impressed them in the shopping district in Naha-shi, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, and the reasons given by each respondent for photographing a particular setting were recorded. Frequently used nouns and adjectives were extracted for each category. The results suggest the importance of the types of commercial facilities and people on the perspectives of locals. Affordable and mundane products are associated with local spaces, while souvenirs may be regarded as symbols of touristic spaces. The absence of locals and the presence of tourists may be characteristics of touristic spaces whereas the potential attractiveness of encounters with locals for tourists is also implied.
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Francisco José Ortega-Fraile, Miguel Ángel Ríos-Martín and Cristina Ceballos-Hernandez
This paper aims to outline a map of all the research that exists on mobile technology and tourism archived in the two main databases worldwide (Web of Science and Scopus)…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to outline a map of all the research that exists on mobile technology and tourism archived in the two main databases worldwide (Web of Science and Scopus). Accordingly, with the identification of all the scientific articles that deal with both mobile technology and tourism, the authors seek to ascertain the evolution of mobile technology in the tourism sector through the years, countries, universities and authors and determine the various collaborations brought about between authors, universities, institutions and/or companies in various research projects. Finally, it also allows the authors to distinguish the main topics under study within the scope of ‘mobile tourism’.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed methodology has been carried out. The search focused on the principal databases of bibliographic references and citations of periodical publications, such as articles from scientific journals, books and other types of printed material. Once the results were obtained in the respective databases, it was necessary to be able to work with them. In this respect, the authors had to extract the relevant data and dump it in a bibliographic reference manager, for which they chose Mendeley. After this, the tabulation of data was performed in Excel and tables and graphs were created from all the data collected.
Findings
The main results obtained and analyzed are the number of articles per year, countries and universities. In the same way, it is interesting to highlight the number of countries and universities that participate in each article under study. On the other hand, an analysis has been carried out regarding the number of articles per author, as well as the topics dealt with in the different articles.
Originality/value
This analysis reveals the role that has been played by mobile phones in tourism since the first scientific article was recorded in 2002. In this regard, in recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of articles, finally resulting in moderate figures in relation to countries (40) and universities (233) that have formed part of the subject matter under study. In contrast to other areas of research in tourism, the relevance of this subject is therefore evident, as is the need for greater background knowledge to establish research models adapted to the new reality of tourism in a world of ever-increasing mobility.
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Purpose: Process innovations are becoming increasingly significant in a changing digital society. The goal of this study is to focus on the service industry, particularly on how…
Abstract
Purpose: Process innovations are becoming increasingly significant in a changing digital society. The goal of this study is to focus on the service industry, particularly on how this sector has lately been influenced by sustainable development and digitalisation. The main focus will be on education. The cohabitation of three aspects (innovation, digitalisation, and sustainability) is declared as a fact in the competitive landscape.
Methodology: This study uses a multi-case approach emphasising the new system of processes in educational institutions in Canada, Ontario. These case studies are relevant to exceptional results consistently produced by various educational institutions.
Findings: The Waterloo region is known as a digitalisation triangle in Canada. Personal experiences and research findings serve as an example of the value of the global digitalised economy as a partnership principle in the educational and entrepreneurship fields.
Significance: The obtained experience and the attempt to share the knowledge and results of this work and research will be useful in future for other academic environments, cities, and countries.
Practical Implications: Cohesion between the purpose of this study and practice is explained as a need to see educational institutions as an important factor of innovation and economic development. In this case, the author shows how this successful case of Ontario, Canada created a stronger base for competitiveness and economic growth.