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The purpose of this study is to investigate and compare the role of communication, structural and intangible elements on both tourists’ rational and emotional engagement across five different types of events (nature, gastronomy, religion, theatre and music).

Responses from 1,528 tourists were obtained through a face to face questionnaire in five heterogeneous events in the Spanish region of Extremadura, a well-known cultural tourism destination. Linear regressions were used to evaluate focal constructs’ contribution (emotional and rational engagement, formal and informal communication and structural and non-structural elements) on tourists’ engagement across events.

The results revealed that tourist’s rational and emotional engagement depends on the type of event. Non-structural elements seem to be important for rational and emotional engagement for gastronomic and cultural events. Besides the impact of structural elements on rational engagement, all other factors seem to have a mixed influence. Therefore, practitioners must select the factors to highlight according to the type of events, besides structural factors.

The current results allow tourism managers to understand the mechanisms for tourists’ engagement in a multi-event scenario to strategically select and use and communicate each type of appeal when planning and communicating events to specific target audiences.

Unlike most studies that focus on a single event or typology, this study combines a set of heterogeneous events to provide a complete picture of tourism engagement for the tourism sector.

The heritage and tourist attractiveness of Heritage Cities have aroused interest in establishing mechanisms to enhance their value based on the development of sustainability policies. The socioeconomic and socioenvironmental valuation of these heritage sites has become a necessary tool for decision-making.

Following the recommendations of International Council on Monuments and Sites – ICOMOS, this paper proposes a series of indicators and an exploratory model to define the factors that contribute to their valuation. Following the partial least squares structural equation modelling methodology, information was obtained from 363 intramural residents in the three Heritage Cities that currently have management plans in Spain.

The results show the importance of specifying indicators of sustainable mobility and socioeconomic and socioenvironmental sustainability for an adequate valorisation of heritage sites.

To this end, it is necessary to follow the guidelines of international bodies such as ICOMOS in relation to the management plans.

Conserving appropriately the culture and heritage of a city through sustainable tourism is a key element for its economic development. Heritage cities generate economic, social and environmental benefits through tourism management. This study aims to intend, in the context of economic sustainability of the territory and promotion, to improve the understanding of the relationship between the sources of information of tourists and their motivations, with satisfaction and future behaviour intentions. For this, a study has been carried out in the Old Town of Cáceres (Spain), a city recognised as a world heritage property by UNESCO.

This study applies a descriptive analysis, based on frequencies. For data collection, a structured questionnaire has been used to identify the opinion of tourists during their visit to the heritage city of Cáceres.

This study demonstrates the existence of a positive relationship between the sources of information and the tourist experience with their future behavioural intentions and satisfaction of their visit. All this in the global context of the destination for sustainable economy and the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. Furthermore, the results of the study suggest that the motivations of tourists are the most important factor in explaining the overall experience and loyalty of tourists to a city.

A limitation of this study is the data set used. The results must be contextualised at the time and place when the questionnaire was conducted.

The proposed model makes it possible to advance future heritage tourism strategies, in terms of planning and communication of the heritage resources of a destination. Tourism heritage institutions should increasingly invest in communication improvements based on new technologies and social media. At the same time, integrated planning with special policies for the sustainable protection of heritage can make important progress in the tourist and cultural development of the destination.

This article tests for the first time within the context of heritage cities in Spain and in the context of a sustainable economy and cultural heritage for destination, the relationship between different sources of site promotion information and future tourist behaviour intentions. It provides original evidence of the value of applying the underlying theory of the proposed model in a world heritage tourist destination.

This study aims to define the “smart tourism employee” and explore how combining technological and interpersonal skills helps tourism workers adapt to emerging technologies.

A qualitative-quantitative methodology was used, proposing 22 indicators related to defining the “smart tourism employee.”

Analysis of 883 responses from hotel employees across Spain using SmartPLS 4 revealed the crucial role of both technological and interpersonal skills and the importance of periodic evaluation aligned with hotels’ innovation orientation.

The study highlights that enhancing hotel competitiveness through technology requires employees who can effectively use the latest technological advances for customers.

Unlike prior research focusing solely on technological aspects in the tourism sector, this study emphasizes the need for comprehensive training of employees in technology use.

采用定性与定量结合的方法, 提出了定义”智慧旅游员工”的22项指标。

基于对西班牙883名酒店员工的调查数据, 利用SmartPLS 4分析得出, 技术与人际技能同样重要, 并强调了与酒店创新导向一致的定期评估的重要性。

研究指出, 通过技术提升酒店竞争力需要员工能够有效运用最新技术为客户服务。

与以往仅聚焦旅游业技术层面的研究不同, 本研究强调了对员工进行技术使用的综合培训的必要性。

Artisan gastronomy is becoming increasingly important in a destination’s tourism competitiveness. The aim of this chapter is to discuss why artisan gastronomy is important in developing new innovative tourism attractions. To do this, the reasons why tourists like local food and the way this increases the cultural attractiveness of a region are stated. This is important particularly for countries like Spain that derive their competitiveness from artisan gastronomy. The role of artisan gastronomy is stated in terms of Tenerife in Spain. Managerial suggestions are also stated.

This study aims to appraise the historical evolution of tourism research focused on Spain. Firstly, an analysis was conducted to assess the production and impact of research within this domain. Secondly, scientific mapping, specifically through co-word analysis, was used to identify and explore the principal research themes and their evolution in the field.

A historical approach was adopted in this study, using 1,100 bibliographic records obtained from the Scopus database. Science mapping was then conducted through co-word analysis of bibliographic data.

The results of the performance analysis provide insights into the volume, evolution and impact of the scientific documents published within the research area under investigation. Moreover, by adopting a longitudinal approach, science mapping through co-word analysis enables the definition of the intellectual structure within this research domain. In this regard, the main research themes are identified, conceptually assessed, and their evolution is examined across three distinct window periods: an initial research period (1972–2002), a growing research period (2003–2012) and a consolidation period (2013–2022).

The study provides a state-of-the-art position on tourism research related to Spain thus guiding future studies in the area. Furthermore, this study provides a comprehensive “snapshot” of the historical progression of tourism research in Spain, capturing the emblematic aspects that have emerged within the area over the investigated time period.

Drawing on appraisal theories, this paper aims to attempt to demonstrate how augmented reality (AR) strengthens relationships in the cognitive-affective-conative mechanism to shape visitors' recommendation of awe-inspiring heritage experiences.

A mixed-method approach was undertaken. First, an exploratory pre-study (n = 98) analyzed the multidimensionality of awe appraisals, eliciting the most salient dimensions in tourism experiences for informing the main study. Subsequently, an on-site survey was used to examine the relationships in the cognitive-affective-conative sequence, based on 316 questionnaires collected at a highly acclaimed religious heritage equipped with a multisensory AR activity.

Two distinct appraisals underlined in the awe concept were elicited during the exploratory phase: altered emotions (aggregating positive self-transformative dimensions) and the need for accommodation. The survey results demonstrated that the influence of authenticity on recommendation is shaped by emotions. Altered emotions hold a central mediating role and are differentiated from other discrete emotions. AR and the need for accommodation are revealed as contingencies that regulate the mediated mechanism.

This paper provides the hospitality and tourism stakeholders with a better understanding of how immersive technologies can be used for boosting recommendations, by enhancing the emotional responses toward authenticity perceptions.

This study introduces a novel conceptual framework to broaden our understanding of how cognitive and affective mental processes are linked to visitors’ recommendations, and how AR amplifies the outcomes. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first research to distinguish and document the specific effects of two different types of awe appraisal.

The main objective of this research is to analyze satisfaction with tourist services linked to the concept of sustainability in the context of a visit to the so-called equestrian show. The equestrian show adds values from the cultures that passed through the city. Specifically, the study focuses on tourist loyalty based on satisfaction with tourist services, satisfaction with the equestrian show and its overall quality. The fieldwork has been conducted in Córdoba, Spain. There are few studies on the relationship between tourist services linked to the concepts of sustainability and loyalty from the perspective of equestrian show management, making this a novel contribution to research.

The methodology used is based on a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach.

To achieve the proposed objective, a structured questionnaire was used, and the results obtained confirm that satisfaction with tourist services linked to the concept of sustainability and the assessment of quality positively influence tourist loyalty. Consequently, they recommend returning to the destination and repeating the visit.

Heritage in Córdoba, Spain, is internationally recognized. Its uniqueness, with four world inscriptions along with the cultures that inhabited it, left a material heritage legacy in the city. Over time, this legacy has made it a magnet for visitors, making it essential to delve into its management and how concepts such as satisfaction with tourist services, combined with sustainability, impact the improvement of the visit.

With the evolving landscape of technology and innovations, metaverse has revealed a huge potential for changing the world. Gradually, it has expanded its wings to different sectors, including higher education. The key purpose of this research work is to synthesize the existing literature on metaverse in higher education and develop future research directions for researchers.

The present study uses the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)” technique to recognize relevant articles from the database, i.e. SCOPUS. Furthermore, it conducts a “bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review” to explore the research area of metaverse in higher education.

The findings reveal that the synthesis and analysis of existing literature led to the identification of an intellectual structure, which resulted in the formation of four clusters. These clusters are defined as attributes related to metaverse applications in higher education, sustainable management of complex learning practices, customization of the teaching–learning process through the metaverse and model development. The theoretical structure informs the co-word analysis and thematic map, identifying four themes: the basic theme, motor theme, niche theme and decline theme. Finally, the social structure is assessed in terms of the author’s network and collaboration across countries.

The study investigated the conceptual structure by developing a thematic map and social structure by measuring the relationship between country–author collaboration through bibliographic coupling (BC). The study also identified future research avenues based on the “TCCM (theory, context, characteristics, and methodology)” framework for future researchers and practitioners.

The research study thrives on enlarging the review scope to measure the metaverse’s role in higher education. Though bibliometric studies have been developed in the metaverse, no study has attempted to measure the relationship between metaverse in higher education using bibliometric and TCCM framework. Thus, developing a synthesized work provides a comprehensive picture of the research domain.

Gastronomy can be a key destination choice factor. As tourists, people will be able to learn more about the culture of the place through its culinary assets. This paper aims to analyse the interest and the gastronomic motivations of tourists to the city of Granada (Spain), where two important UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS) are included.

To achieve the aim of this study, fieldwork was carried out on a representative sample of tourists in Granada (Spain). Specifically, a total of 1,612 valid surveys were filled out in culinary establishments and historical sites. In these surveys, the opinion of tourists regarding gastronomy and their motivations when travelling was assessed.

The results of this research allow to make a segmentation of tourists into three groups according to their position and their interest in gastronomy based on their destination choice, distinguishing among survivors, enjoyers and experiencers’ tourists. Additionally, it is confirmed that gastronomy is shaped as a motivation that influences the level of tourist satisfaction, performing as a differentiating element that can help increase the competitiveness of the destination.

This research contributes to the scarce academic literature on tourism experiences in a city with WHS recognitions. This study confirms the existence of a relationship between gastronomic motivations and the level of satisfaction achieved by tourists who visit the city of Granada, where no similar studies were found. In addition, this work confirms the connection between gastronomy and culture.