Assessing gastronomic tourism using machine learning approach: The case of google review

This study aims to evaluate tourists' reviews of gastronomy tourism expressed in Google reviews according to the CAC model (Cognitive, Affective, and Conative), and to examine the inter-correlations between CAC model components. The study was applied to traditional restaurants in Amman downtown. The research then extracts the main themes from the textual reviews as well as a sentiment score of an affective image of traditional Amman downtown restaurants. The results of machine learning experiments suggest that the proposed approach can identify traditional restaurant reviews in Amman downtown into CAC model components. The results also show that the Random Forest algorithm performed best in the cognitive and cognitive dimensions, whereas the Neural Network algorithm performed best in the affective dimension. ML classifier revealed that most of the reviews were classified as cognitive (such as the type of food, and services) while the remaining reviews were classified as affective (such as pleasure and arousal) and conative (such as intention to recommend, and positive word of mouth) respectively. The highest probability of the cognitive components was the traditional food topic reflecting the unique image of Jordanian traditional food. Affective images formed by users were mainly positive emotions, indicating that the destination image spread well

Visitors' satisfaction with heritage sites in New Zealand: Causes and complexities, clusters and causes

The thesis presents findings from a survey of over 1,000 visitors at three New Zealand heritage sites. These sites were Te Puia, the Rotorua Bathhouse Museum and the Rangiriri Battlefield Interpretation Centre. All three represent a key period in New Zealand’s history from the period of approximately 1840 to 1900, but in the case of Te Puia there is also a continuing contemporary cultural importance. This last site, located in Rotorua, was founded as the Maori Arts and Crafts Institute and was established to perpetuate Maori tradition skills in areas such as carving and weaving. Its location was in part determined by the volcanic nature of the valley, long inhabited by members of Te Arawa tribal people. The site has a strong connection with tourism as Te Arawa have entertained tourists from the mid-nineteenth century in the volcanic area. The site therefore represents a tourism site from the perspective of history, culture and natural heritage. The Bathhouse Museum represents a period of late colonial architecture while the third site, the Rangiriri Battlefield is based on the remnants of the Pa (Maori fortifications) that was the site of a battle between the colonial government forces and the Maori Kingi movement on November 23rd 1840. The motive for the research was to provide a profile of visitors for the respective sites and their management, and then to assess to what degree socio-demographics might be explanatory variables in determining future visitation. The core theories being employed revolved around concepts of levels of interest in heritage and historic sites, the intellectual search for knowledge, and the degree to which people became involved in the activity of heritage site visitation. The work was driven by the finding that only about 11 per cent of visits to cultural tourism sites were ‘purposeful’ tourists as defined by McKercher and Du Cros (2002). Being purposeful implies having specific degrees of interest, of becoming involved and possibly seeking meanings that implied senses of identity. That is, self-awareness accrued from having a better understanding of the past as a means of knowing about the present. This conceptualisation implies use of the theories of involvement, benefits and self-awareness, and the managerial aspects of interpretation. Normally such an approach has been seen by many researchers as a determinant of satisfaction, but in this thesis satisfaction is not seen as simply an end to a process. Rather, this thesis argues that to be satisfied entails not only cognitive and affective components, but also the conative. That conative component can include making recommendations to others, making visits to other heritage sites, or joining organisations associated with heritage sites such as the New Zealand Historic Place Trust. These form key themes in the literature review. Unfortunately, while these premises emerged from the literature review and informed the hypotheses that are later described in the thesis, they were not wholly supported by the data. It is suggested that one reason for this, from a statistical perspective, was that measures used were subject to multi-collinearity and auto-correlation – put simply, many of the variables are not independent from each other. For example, it is suggested that satisfaction is actually enhanced by subsequently being able to make recommendations to friends and others; that the act of making a recommendation enhances one’s own self in both the eyes of that friend or through an enhanced self- perception of being helpful, and thus auto-correlation may exist between these variables. This realisation thus leads, in the conclusions of Chapter Eight, to new suggestions for potential future researchers concerning ways of looking at the nature of involvement that draw on distinctions between situational and enduring involvement. Finally, it also needs to be noted that tourists are not lay historians, but are the makers of their holidays, and hence the debate is contextualised within the act of being on holiday, which itself is a period of escape and relaxation for many. Hence the relationships being examined in this thesis are complex, interactive and yet rewarding to untangle

Positioning analysis of second-tier convention destinations as perceived by association meeting planners in the United States of America

This research examines and compares the association meeting planners\u27 perceptions (cognitive, affective, and overall) and behavioral intentions of four selected second-tier convention destinations: Indianapolis, Nashville, Charlotte, and San Jose. The study measures both quantitative (structured) and qualitative (unstructured) perceptions to uncover perceived strengths and weaknesses of each convention city; This study can confirm that there are significant differences in the perceptions and the behavioral intentions for the four convention destinations. The findings of the study will be beneficial to both second-tier cities and association meeting planners. The second-tier cities will better understand planners\u27 site selection criteria and perceptions, which will help the cities to develop a more effective marketing strategy; The results will also be useful to the association meeting planners in terms of revealing industry peers\u27 opinions of important site selection criteria for second-tier cities

Designing a real-time data streaming technique for enhancing the effectiveness of destination selection

The effectiveness of tour destination selection is dependent on pre-visit information sources. As competition increases in the tourism industry, destination organisations need to improve current destination selection processes. Research on current processes indicate that information sources accessed by potential tourists when making travel decisions may not be a true reflection of what the destination is offering. Any negative difference between perceived images during pre-visit and real images during the actual visit may result in poor destination reputation and dissatisfied customers. This research addresses this gap by improving the process of destination selection using a real-time data streaming mediation technique as an additional pre-visit information source. The researcher adopted a social-technologist research paradigm and a design-science approach. The research process was executed in three phases; the first phase focused on gathering knowledge on destination selection and pre-visit information sources. The findings in Phase 1 were used in Phase 2 to develop and test the performance of a prototype. Phase 3 involved the evaluation of the prototype tool in a real-world setting. One of the main outcomes of this research is the development of a destination selection framework using real-time data streaming mediation and a tool (http://www.tourcamportal.com) as proof of concept. This research has shown that real-time images are valuable pre-visit information sources when making travel decisions. Real-time images authenticate destination attractions, provide real-time availability of destinations, reduce speculations on destination attractions, and provide actual representations of destinations. The findings of this study contribute the body of knowledge and practice in the tourism sector and provide new areas for further research.ComputingD. Phil. (Information Systems

Le rôle de l’éthique sur les processus de formation de l’image d’une destination touristique : Une analyse d’un public étudiant voyageur français

The tourism industry has proven to be an economic reliance in a global environment that is subject to macro influences that are difficult to manage and sustain. Alternative tourism, such as Ethical tourism, is seen to be a sustainable solution for an industry that holds much importance worldwide and for some countries, presents economic survival. The aim of this research was to evaluate how the French student travel market perceive the role of ethics on tourist destination image formation and its influence on holiday choice. This was primarily achieved by adopting a constructivist and qualitative approach that allowed for rich knowledge of contribution to be transferred to several academic disciplines and provided managerial implications for the tourism industry. Findings show that although an ethical tourist destination image is principally influenced by social and environmental impacts, there are also managerial considerations that derive from the economic and political implications that come from tourism and tourist activity. These considerations will be key when developing future tourism products for a target market who are the future visitors of an ever increasing accessible global environment.L’industrie du tourisme est reconnue comme partie intégrante de l’économie dans un environnement mondial soumis à des influences macro difficiles à gérer et à maîtriser. Le tourisme alternatif tel que le tourisme éthique, est considéré comme une solution durable pour une industrie d’une grande importance dans le monde et qui représente une possibilité de survie économique pour certains pays. L’objectif de cette recherche était d’évaluer la perception du rôle de l’éthique sur la formation de l’image d’une destination touristique par un public étudiant voyageur français, et son influence sur ses choix. La méthode choisie a été principalement une approche constructiviste et qualitative permettant de transférer la contribution des connaissances à plusieurs disciplines, et a engendré des implications managériales dans l’industrie du tourisme. Les résultats démontrent que, bien que l’image éthique d’une destination touristique est principalement influencée par les aspects sociaux et environnementaux, pèsent également des considérations de gestion qui découlent des implications économiques et politiques du tourisme et des activités touristiques. Ces considérations seront essentielles lors de l’élaboration de futurs produits touristiques pour le marché cible que sont les futurs visiteurs dans un environnement mondial de plus en plus accessible

Visitors to Mauritius - Place, Perceptions and Determinants of Repeat Visitation

Tourism has long been recognised as a vital element of the economic development and growth of island destinations. This has been no different for the island of Mauritius, whose appeal is predominantly based on a sun, sand and sea product anchored in resort-based experiences. At the maturity stage of its destination life cycle, the island has embarked on product development and market diversification strategies for growth. In this respect, this study investigates cultural differences in image perceptions for the key generating markets of Mauritius and the factors determining repeat visitation. The relationship among several constructs such as destination image, service interactions, place attachment, personal involvement, satisfaction and future behaviour is explored. Understanding these relationships, can possibly improve segmentation, targeting, product development strategies and revisit intentions. Also, the role of interactions by visitors with hotel employees and how these influence other constructs such as place attachment and personal involvement have been of lesser interest to researchers. Therefore, a literature review on these relationships informs the construction of a theoretical model. Adopting a post-positivist stance, the qualitative component of the research focuses on exploring visitors‟ perceptions of image and service interactions using social constructionism. Personal construct theory informed the choice of a convenience sample of 103 visitors. Broad questions were designed within a phenomenological approach to allow participants to narrate their lived‟ experiences. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data and supplemented by content analysis using CATPAC to improve credibility of interpretation. The findings revealed that images are linked to motives for choice and in the case of Mauritius, fulfilment of needs for relaxation and escape as well as socialisation and learning determine visitors‟ perceptions. Service interactions are imbued in values such as integrity and respect, mutual understanding and authenticity of display. Place attachment as a latent dimension was related to the affective image of the place while personal involvement and familiarity influenced perceptions of service interactions. Nationality, ethnicity and language spoken had some influence on perceptions. These findings informed the design of a survey instrument that was administered to a quota sample of 1000 visitors, of which, 705 were useable. The method of data collection iii was self- completion by hotel guests and self-completion in the presence of the researcher on beaches around hotels. Exploratory factor analysis was initially used to assess the dimensionality of the various constructs in the theoretical model, thereafter confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations modelling were undertaken to validate the model. Cluster analysis was used to identify different segments of visitors based on their level of personal involvement and place attachment. Regression models were developed to predict visitors overall image, satisfaction and loyalty as well as their propensity to be repeaters. The results indicated that destination image has both direct and an indirect influence over future behaviour. In particular, personal involvement and perceived service interactions are antecedents of destination image, while place attachment has motives for choice and personal involvement as antecedents. Given these relationships, important implications for destination image, product development as well as direction for destination marketing are offered. Implications for service providers are discussed and theoretical contributions of the study are highlighted

Repeat tourist behaviour: understanding the motivations and experiences of repeat tourists and identifying stakeholder perspectives

Manisha Agarwal investigated the motivation and experience of repeat tourists and the stakeholder perspectives about repeat tourism. She found that the experience and motivation for repeat tourists varied significantly with different number of repeat visits. The findings have implication for strategy development for repeat tourists not only in India but in wider tourism context

The impact of artificial intelligence on customer loyalty and entrepreneurship

Nowadays, every company struggles to success, however there are few of them that actually do. Artificial intelligence is something that is revolutionize the market, as well as, the way that companies structure themselves. This work pretends to illuminate who is searching about the effects that the artificial intelligence can have on customer loyalty and on entrepreneurship. To do that, I created an online survey, answered by 103 people and I made eleven interviews to people that worked or are working in one of these three areas. With these, I pretend to have a better notion about the impact that AI is having or can have in a near future in these areas, the benefits and disadvantages that can create for the companies, or even the utility that can be for a worker launch his own business. After conducting the questionnaire and the interviews and comparing it with the literature review, I came to some conclusions right now that in a very near future the use of AI will be fundamental to the success of any company. You will inevitably have to use AI tools to optimize processes, save costs, but never mischaracterize the company. On the other hand, customer satisfaction is extremely important because it leads to a buyback from the clientes and the good publicity they will do with third parties, however this is only achieved when there is a good mix between the quality of the salesman and the product.Hoje em dia, todas as empresas lutam para serem bem-sucedidas, no entanto, poucas delas realmente o são. A inteligência artificial é algo que está a revolucionar o mercado, bem como a forma como as empresas se estruturam e por isso pode ter um papel fundamental. Com este trabalho pretendo iluminar quem está à procura de respostas sobre os efeitos que a inteligência artificial pode ter na fidelidade do cliente e no empreendedorismo. Para isso, realizei um inquérito "online", respondido por 103 pessoas e fiz 11 entrevistas a pessoas que trabalharam ou estão a trabalhar numa destas três áreas. Com isso, pretendo ter uma melhor noção sobre o impacto que a IA está a ter ou pode vir a ter num futuro próximo nestas áreas, os benefícios e desvantagens que podem criar para as empresas, ou mesmo a utilidade que pode ter para o lançamento de um negócio próprio. Após realizar o questionário e as entrevistas e comparando com a revisão de literatura cheguei a algumas conclusões desde já o facto de num futuro bastante próximo a IA ser fundamental para o sucesso de qualquer empresa. Terá inevitavelmente de usar ferramentas de AI para otimizar processos, poupar nos custos, mas nunca descaracterizando a empresa. Por outro lado, a satisfação do cliente é extremamente importante pois leva a uma recompra por parte dos mesmos e à boa publicidade que irão fazer junto de terceiros, porém isto só é conseguido quando existe um bom mix entre a qualidade do vendedor e do produto

To evaluate sense of place of tourists visiting Kazbegi National Park

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências Empresariais.As pessoas, muitas vezes, são atraídos para ambientes naturais únicos. Mas o que as faz desenvolver o “sentimento de lugar”? O foco desta investigação foi o de explorar o significado de "sentimento de lugar” no caso dos parques nacionais. Procurou-se desenvolver uma melhor compreensão do conceito, uma vez que a sua interpretação se altera em função da disciplina que se debruça sobre esta temática. Neste contexto, esta dissertação contribui empiricamente para a análise e a interpretação das questões relacionadas com o “sentimento de lugar” em termos de ambiente e turismo, em particularmente nos parques nacionais Com base na revisão da literatura e nos estudos anteriores, identificamos algumas limitações relativas ao “sentimento de lugar” para destinos turísticos em ambientes naturais. Assim, foi desenvolvido um modelo conceptual que identifica os fatores explicativos do “sentimento de lugar”, tais como: “identidade de lugar”, “dependência do lugar” e “experiência do lugar”. O modelo considera que o “sentimento de lugar” tem impato na satisfação dos turistas. No geral, o modelo revela o quão profunda é a dimensão de "sentimento de lugar “ e, como isso, pode contribuir para a melhoria do turismo A validade do modelo foi analisada através da exploração do significado de cada conceito em termos de áreas protegidas e turismo. O trabalho empírico recorreu ao método quantitativo para obter os dados que retratam o estudo de caso do Parque Nacional de Kazbegi. O questionário foi realizado com o objetivo de relacionar a experiencia dos turistas com o lugar, o sentimento de lugar, as suas actividades, as suas atitudes perante o desenvolvimento das condições atuais do turismo e das futuras melhorias. Os resultados evidenciam que os turistas que visitam a Parque Nacional de Kazbegi apresentam níveis significativos de “apego ao lugar”, “identidade ao lugar”, “dependência do lugar” e satisfação com o lugar. Além do mais, o estudo demonstra que os turistas revelam ter um forte sentimento do lugar.People are often attracted to unique natural environments, but what makes them having the Sense of place? The focus of the research was to explore the meaning of ‘sense of place’ in national parks setting. Develop better understanding of the concept, since the nature of the concept is changing from discipline to discipline. In this framework the given thesis makes the empirical contributions to the resolution of issues connected with sense of place in terms of tourism and particularly national parks setting. Based on literature review and background studies, we have identified some limitations concerning sense of place for natural tourism destinations. Therefore, we have developed conceptual model, which explains the factors related to sense of place. The given model is grounded on the variables such as: Place attachment, Place identity, Place Dependence and Place experience. The model supports understanding of tourist’s Place satisfaction. Overall, model illustrates how deep consideration of ‘sense of place’ can enhance tourism. The validity of the model was examined by exploring the meaning of each concept in terms of protected areas and tourism. Besides the empirical work, quantitative method was used to obtain the data involving case study of Kazbegi National Park. The questionnaire was conducted with the aim of recognizing people-place relationship, their activities and experience, their attitude of existing tourism development and future improvements. The results show that tourists visiting to Kazbegi National Park have significance level of Place attachment, Place identity, Place dependence and place satisfaction. Therefore they have Sense of place