ANALYSING THE HOLIDAY PATTERN AND TRAVEL DEMAND OF REPEAT TRAVELLERS: THE CASE OF PENANG

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the travel characteristics as well as tourism attributes that are perceived as important amid repeat travellers in Penang, paying attention on comparison between first time and repeat travellers among international tourists. A comprehensive 55-item survey was developed that solicited data in four major areas: respondents’ demographics, travel behaviour, perceived activities of importance, as well as evaluation on the level of satisfaction. The establishment of holiday pattern will lead to possible demand among the samples of study. This information is regarded as valuable resource that could be used by those in tourism planning to better determine the most preferred activities of these repeat travellers and how destination managers and developers might better attract and accommodate them. Suggestion will be made based on the findings to identify the marketing strategies, resource allocation as well as operational changes that could be effectively implemented out of both first time and repeat travellers current holiday behaviour within the study areaTravel behaviour, travel demand, repeat travellers, international tourist, Penang

The sky is the limit?: The determinants and constraints of European airports' commercial revenues

This study investigates the determinants of commercial and retail airport revenues as well as revenues from real estate operations. Cross-sectional OLS, 2SLS and robust regression models of European airports identify a number of significant drivers of airport revenues. Aviation revenues per passenger are mainly determined by the national income per capita in which the airport is located, the percentage of leisure travelers and the size of the airport proxied by total aviation revenues. Main drivers of commercial revenues per passenger include the total number of passengers passing through the airport, the ratio of commercial to total revenues, the national income, the share of domestic and leisure travelers and the total number of flights. These results are in line with previous findings of a negative influence of business travelers on commercial revenues per passenger. We also find that a high amount of retail space per passenger is generally associated with lower commercial revenues per square meter confirming decreasing marginal revenue effects. Real estate revenues per passenger are positively associated with national income per capita at airport location, share of intra-EU passengers and percent delayed flights. Overall, aviation and non-aviation revenues appear to be strongly interlinked, underlining the potential for a comprehensive airport management strategy above and beyond mere cost minimization of the aviation sector

Tourism for pro-poor and sustainable growth: economic analysis of tourism projects

Despite the increasing importance of tourism in economic development and the rise of “pro-poor” tourism development strategies, properly designing and implementing tourism projects remain generally a difficult process. There are both theoretical and practical challenges in justifying public sector investments in tourism and properly measuring the projects’ benefits and sustainability. There is a need to come up with an analytical framework that would address these challenges and help evaluate a tourism project’s economic viability. This technical note introduces a simple framework that could underpin the systematic economic analysis of tourism projects.tourism; economic development; pro-poor growth; economic analysis

Analyzing international travelers\u27 profile with self-organizing maps

It is generally agreed that knowledge is the most valuable asset to an organization. Knowledge enables a business to effectively compete with its competitors. In the tourism context, an in-depth knowledge of the profile of international travelers to a destination has become a crucial factor for decision makers to formulate their business strategies and better serve their customers. In this research, a self-organizing map (SOM) network was used for segmenting international travelers to Hong Kong, a major travel destination in Asia. An association rules discovery algorithm is then utilized to automatically characterize the profile of each segment. The resulting maps serve as a visual analysis tool for tourism managers to better understand the characteristics, motivations, and behaviors of international travelers

The Sky is the Limit? The Determinants and Constraints of European Airports' Commercial Revenues

This study investigates the determinants of commercial and retail airport revenues as well as revenues from real estate operations. Cross-sectional OLS, 2SLS and robust regression models of European airports identify a number of significant drivers of airport revenues. Aviation revenues per passenger are mainly determined by the national income per capita in which the airport is located, the percentage of leisure travelers and the size of the airport proxied by total aviation revenues. Main drivers of commercial revenues per passenger include the total number of passengers passing through the airport, the ratio of commercial to total revenues, the national income, the share of domestic and leisure travelers and the total number of flights. These results are in line with previous findings of a negative influence of business travelers on commercial revenues per passenger. We also find that a high amount of retail space per passenger is generally associated with lower commercial revenues per square meter confirming decreasing marginal revenue effects. Real estate revenues per passenger are positively associated with national income per capita at airport location, share of intra-EU passengers and percent delayed flights. Overall, aviation and non-aviation revenues appear to be strongly interlinked, underlining the potential for a comprehensive airport management strategy above and beyond mere cost minimization of the aviation sector.Commercial revenues, non-aviation activities, European airports, regression analysis

What Difference do the Government Institutions of Haiti and the Government Institutions of the Dominican Republic Make for Tourism Growth?

This comparative case study examines the actions that the Haitian and Dominican governments, respectively, have taken to develop and sustain tourism within their borders. My premise is that governments, through state institutions and policies, can implement branding strategies that impact and change existing country image perceptions. Expanding on the determinants of tourism demand literature, I present a theoretical framework for how government institutions collaborate to create a favorable country brand by investing in the development of functional benefits {public safety and infrastructure quality}. The functional benefits are then supplied to the mass tourist market, who demands them in order to visit, lodge and spend money in the country. The findings of this study confirm that a causal relationship exists between a country’s level of stability and tourism arrivals and receipts, further establishing this study’s theory that high levels of investment in infrastructure quality and nation branding can positively influence country image perception to generate arrivals and receipts. Surprise outcomes regarding crime’s impact on arrivals and receipts present future opportunities to advance the literature

The Economic Impact of the Arts, Film, History and Tourism Industries in Connecticut

This report contains four ecnomic impact studies corresponding to the four divisions (arts, film, historic preservation, and tourism) of the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism that commissioned them. There is an Executive Summar, the four industry studies, and a methodological overview that includes a discussion of the overall approach, economic impact multipliers, data sources, and an explanation of the conservative nature of the studies.Arts, Film, Historic preservation, heritage, Tourism, travel, impact, Connecticut,

Daily and monthly costs of terrorism on Pakistani exports

This is first of its kind empirical study on the costs of terrorism on Pakistan’s exports. The analysis finds that intensity of terrorist activity can be divided into three distinct periods. The LAL Masjid incident in mid 2007 marks the first sign of intensification of terrorism in Pakistan. The second one is the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. The third one comes in 2008 when the US announced to shift gear from Iraq to Afghanistan and incumbent government in Pakistan created a political support for armed action within Pakistani borders against the terrorists. The analysis finds that terrorism has more significant affect on Pakistani exports post Benazir assassination. The report calculates the monthly and daily costs of terrorism. On average there are 2 terrorist attacks every day whereas 5 citizens on average die in these attacks. A single terrorist attack costs 12 million dollars to the exports. Post Benazir assassination the costs rise to 18 million dollars due to increased intensity where not only the death toll on average has risen but the number of terrorist attacks have gone up. Average per month loss in exports due to terrorism is calculated to be around 500 million dollars. Pakistan in 2006-09 has lost nearly 30 billion dollars in exports as its market shares have fallen. Part of this loss is explained by terrorism, where we find that 18 billion dollars accounts for it. Please note that extending the data for later years may make our results more pronounced but suffice to say our calculated β’s are robust capable of predicting terrorism for coming years. For example, it is found out that costs of number of deaths and number of injured are different while exports are more sensitive to the former capturing severity of casualties that is the hall mark of extreme terrorist actions like suicide attacks.Conflict, Trade

The medical tourism index and behavioral responses of medical travelers: A mixed-method study

This empirical study applies complexity theory to understand complex interactions of demographics and medical tourism index (MTI) dimensions in predicting causal models leading to high and low levels of satisfaction and behavioral intentions among medical travelers. A questionnaire-based survey is applied to investigate causal models (i.e., a combination of predictors) to predict satisfaction and the behavioral intentions of international patients who traveled to Cyprus. This study also conducted an in-depth interview to identify motives, complications, and conditions stimulating the behaviors of medical travelers. According to the necessary condition analysis (NCA) results, three dimensions of MTI, excluding cost, are necessary to achieve satisfaction and desired behavioral intention. Findings from interviews reveal that medical complications and legal conditions in the origin country influence medical traveler’s behaviors. The model testing results support key tenets of complexity theory and extend our knowledge of how to regulate conditions to discharge a dis/satisfied and dis/loyal patient