Using segmentation to compete in the age of the sharing economy: testing a core-periphery framework

Airbnb has emerged as a credible competitive threat to the hotel industry. Consequently, hotel brands are having to rethink the experiences they provide to customer in an increasingly competitive environment. Despite these trends in the industry, experience-related research that examines and informs these developments remains under-represented in the hospitality and tourism literature. The present study offers a systematic approach to examine the potential differences in experiential consumption in the accommodations industry. Using a multiple-group analysis approach, it examines the moderating effects of individual characteristics and situational factors on the nature and dynamics of experiential consumption in the accommodations industry. The findings of the study culminate in the core-periphery framework of the hospitality consumption experience that can provide a relevant theoretical lens for future research into the different sectors and types of experiences within the hospitality and tourism industry. The study also outlines important implications for the hotel industry’s strategic experience design initiatives, from the standpoint of product development, the segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) process, and marketing communications.Accepted manuscrip

Information Technology Applications in Hospitality and Tourism: A Review of Publications from 2005 to 2007

The tourism and hospitality industries have widely adopted information technology (IT) to reduce costs, enhance operational efficiency, and most importantly to improve service quality and customer experience. This article offers a comprehensive review of articles that were published in 57 tourism and hospitality research journals from 2005 to 2007. Grouping the findings into the categories of consumers, technologies, and suppliers, the article sheds light on the evolution of IT applications in the tourism and hospitality industries. The article demonstrates that IT is increasingly becoming critical for the competitive operations of the tourism and hospitality organizations as well as for managing the distribution and marketing of organizations on a global scale

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

Destination choice in novel and mature destinations: Effects of psychographic traits and anticipated need congruity on tourist intentions

The tourism marketing literature shows that psychological variables are predictors of destination choice for vacations. However, research testing the effects of Plog\u27s (1974) personality-based psychographic traits on destination selection has yielded inconclusive results. Based on the theory of market choice behavior (Sheth, Newman, and Gross, 1991a), this research proposes that tourist´s destination choice is influenced by the mediating effects of anticipated needs congruity (epistemic, emotional, functional, and social) in the relationship between Plog\u27s psychographic traits and behavioral intentions, providing more explanation of destination preference for novel and mature beach resort destinations (Butler, 1980). In order to conduct the study, data was collected from a sample of 450 consumers in the United States, stratified in terms of geography, income, and age according to national census demographic distribution. The research hypotheses were tested employing partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in two models, one for each type of destination context (novel vs. mature). The study results show the mediation of anticipated needs congruity predicts tourist\u27s behavioral intentions better than Plog\u27s psychographic traits alone. Importantly, a common pattern in the effects of anticipated needs congruity on behavioral intentions was found for both novel and mature destinations, indicating that tourists expect to fulfill the same consumption needs when considering vacationing at beach resorts, regardless of the destination\u27s degree of development. The study also identified some measurement issues in Plog\u27s psychographic scale. Theoretical implications of the research findings are discussed and managerial recommendations are presented for destination marketing managers

Benchmarking holiday experience: the case of senior tourists

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine and benchmark the senior tourists’ preferences by considering the importance attached by them and their perception with respect to internal tourism attributes (i.e. package tour characteristics) and external tourism attributes (i.e. destination features). Design/methodology/approach: The present study makes use of importance-performance analysis and employs paired sample t-test for this purpose. Findings: The senior tourists evaluated the package tour attributes to be more important and better than destination characteristics. They also perceived that the service providers have to pay immediate attention to improve the quality of restaurants and meals and hotels. Research limitations/implications: Data are collected only from inbound senior tourists in Poland. In future, research may be conducted with a more representative sample. Practical implications: The senior tourists want to explore the local cuisine and then have food choices from their culture as well. “Tour escort” is one of the most essential characteristic of a package tour and it could serve as a factor of differentiation. Hence, the tourist service providers have to pay attention to these factors. Originality/value: The paper takes into account the internal tour attributes and destination attributes to evaluate senior tourists’ holiday experienceinfo:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersio

Travel Motivations of Seniors: A Review and a Meta-Analytical Assessment

Over the past decades, leisure travel has become increasingly popular in older segments of the world population, as a consequence of global factors such as a rise in life expectancy, improved health conditions, a higher disposable income, and increased availability of discretionary time in retirement age. Consequently, researchers have become more interested in studying the motivations for travel of seniors. A number of questions may be raised or have been addressed in the recent past: What are the main factors explaining the travelling choices of seniors? Are their travel motivations different from the ones of the younger population, which have been widely studied in the past? Are geographical differences in terms of motivations comparable between different age groups? Why is senior tourism a topic of particular interest with regard to Asia? In order to answer such questions, in this paper we provide a review of the literature on the travel motivations of seniors. On the basis of 29 articles published on the topic, we provide a qualitative and meta-analytic assessment of past findings, by investigating the dimensions of travel motivations most frequently employed in past seniors surveys. Finally, we discuss a research agenda for further analysis of senior travel motivations and for the integration of this branch of travel research within a wider framework

Destination image in travel magazines: A textual and pictorial analysis of Hong Kong and Macau

Based on the analyses of texts and pictures in the top six outbound travel magazines in Mainland China, this article presents an evaluation of the destination images of Hong Kong and Macau as portrayed in 88 travel articles over a three-year period. The results showed that the projected destination images of Hong Kong and Macau were dominated by attributes related to culture, history, and art and leisure and recreation. Hong Kong was often described by image attributes such as places and attractions, shopping, cuisine and food, hotels, and the creative industries. For Macau, history and heritage, places and attractions, gambling, cuisine and food, and hotels were the most often reported. During the study period, Hong Kong and Macau witnessed several significant changes in the image attributes featured in both texts and pictures. These changes were partly influenced by news and events over the period. In this article, implications for destination marketing organizations and directions for future research were suggested

Israel in Adult Education

The relationship between American Jews and Israel has been impacted by the growing differences between the two communities. This research outlines the challenges of adult Jewish education today and provides recommendations on how to enhance the quality and frequency of Israel education in adult learning experiences

Destination Satisfaction in Senior Tourism: A Case Study

[EN] In this paper, we present a study which analyzes the experiences of elderly people, when travelling as tourists to specific destinations. With this specific profile we searched results that help us to determine their prospects in tourism. The research is also focused on a specific country, Ireland, although cross-cultural studies are being developed in Spain. The surveys are carried out in three touristic places chosen because of their popularity with our target audience. We conduct a survey in which we elicited the expectations that exist before visiting that destination regarding the perceived reputation of that tourist destination and of the quality of the services offered. These aspects also relate to the degree of hospitality of its inhabitants. This allows us to determine the tourist experience in the destination, focusing on the emotions of the visitor to the destination and of the level of disconnect from everyday life that is achieved. We establish the degree to which their feelings on the destination are discussed in social networks – an important point as this group have not traditionally used social media to a significant degree. We try to establish by means of a quantitative study the tourist profile of these people of advanced age, which is an area of research that has received little attention to date. For this reason, the study reveals knowledge of a new visitor profile in tourist destinations, determined by the experience lived.Gómez Aguilella, MJ.; Cardiff, J. (2020). Destination Satisfaction in Senior Tourism: A Case Study. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 399-408. https://doi.org/10.4995/INN2019.2019.10269OCS39940

Potential mainland Chinese cruise travelers’ expectations, motivations, and intentions

The global cruise industry is the fastest growing sector in the entire leisure market. Due to the limited development of the Chinese cruise sector and government controls on outbound travel, the cruise, especially the outbound cruise, is a new concept in China. Few studies have addressed Chinese consumers’ perceptions of cruises. This study aimed to explore the preferences of potential Chinese cruisers and their expectations, motivations, and intentions in relation to taking an outbound cruise. This study also proposed and tested a conceptual framework: the Expectation, Motivation, and Intention (EMI) Model. Data were collected in Beijing and Shanghai; 242 valid responses were received. The results partially supported the proposed model. The theoretical and practical contributions of the study are discussed