An Investigation of the Applicability of the Uses and Gratifications Theory for Providing Insight into e-Tourists’ Use of Smartphones

Despite the previous smartphone research in the context of travel and tourism, there is limited research based on a strong theoretical background that seeks to understand how tourists are motivated and satisfied via smartphone use. This study extended previous studies by systematically investigating and quantitatively measuring how and to what extent tourists are gratified (satisfied) by the use of smartphones during their trips based on the Uses and Gratifications Theory. According to this theory, individuals choose a media platform with the anticipation that it will aid them in realizing a specific intention, the satisfaction of this need being referred to as gratification (Green 2014; Logan, 2017; Stacks & Salwen, 2009). This study investigated four constructs in terms of antecedents (i.e., motivations of using smartphones by tourists) and consequences (i.e., satisfaction with smartphones use by tourists, satisfaction referred to as gratifications). This study adopted the Uses and Gratifications Theory as a theoretical framework to explore the use of smartphones by tourists and to measure quantitatively their touristic satisfaction. U&G motivations (Social Interaction, Entertainment, Convenience, and Information) and hypotheses were developed. The respondents of the main study were tourists traveling in downtown Greenville, South Carolina, who have experiences using smartphones at the destination. To test the model for the study, a multilevel analysis (multilevel SEM) was employed to avoid statistical biases caused by common traits within group tourists and to measure potential group effects. This study also analyzed multilevel mediation in the structural equation model. It was hypothesized that the attitude construct mediates the relationship between motivations of using smartphones by tourists (independent variable or predictors) and satisfactions with smartphones use by tourists (dependent variable) in the structural model. Moreover, the relationships among constructs were tested and examined based on the theoretical background developed through a review of the literature. This study provides a classification of motivations of using smartphone use by tourists (U&G motivations) and a newly developed scale to measure satisfaction with smartphone use by tourists and their experiences, and thus it may enhance deeper our understanding of motivations of using smartphone by tourists, attitude toward the smartphone use by tourists and satisfactions with smartphone use by tourists. This study addressed specific aspects of tourism experiences. The results suggest that U&G motivations have a significant effect on tourists’ attitude toward smartphone use, which, in turn, significantly affects e-tourist satisfaction at the individual level. However, there was no group effect among U&G motivations, the attitude toward smartphone use and e-tourist satisfaction. Based on the results from this study, the most important reason that tourists used their smartphones was to obtain information during their trips to Greenville, SC. The results of this study provide practical and theoretical implications for e- tourism communication and tourism marketing

Volunteer tourism, greenwashing and understanding responsible marketing using market signalling theory

Volunteer tourism has been heavily criticised for its negative consequences on destinations and volunteers, often the direct result of unrealistic demand-led marketing and lack of consideration for the environmental and social costs of host communities. While some industry participants have responded through adherence to best practice, little information or support is available about how to responsibly market volunteer tourism. This research uses an online content analysis based on the International Voluntourism Guidelines for Commercial Operators to understand the use of responsibility as a market signalling tool. Five influential web pages of eight organisations are scored across 19 responsibility criteria and compared against the organisation’s legal status, product type and price. We find that responsibility is not used for market signalling; preference is given to communicating what is easy, and not what is important. The status of the organisation is no guarantee of responsible practice, and price and responsibility communications display an inverse relationship. We conclude volunteer tourism operators are overpositioning and communicating responsibility inconsistently, which highlights greenwashing, requiring at least industry-wide codes of practice, and at best, regulation. This paper reflects on its methodological limitations, and on its practical achievements in encouraging change within some of the organisations examined

Social networks and international relations in the tourism sector

Dossiê temático Relações Internacionais e Redes SociaisEl turismo es un fenómeno social y científico. A partir de aquí, su conocimiento debe enfocarse desde una visión integral y no limitarlo a una sola disciplina o conjunto de ellas por separado, ya que es multidisciplinar. El papel de las Relaciones internacionales en el turismo es un fenómeno de grandes consecuencias económicas, sociales, culturales y ambientales, que puede condicionar el comportamiento del turista y del sector turístico en su conjunto. La pandemia provocada por la covid-19 ha afectado a toda la población mundial, a los principales motores económicos de todos y cada uno de los países y a las Relaciones internacionales derivadas del sector turístico. El coronavirus no solo ha afectado a las personas que se encuentran bajo sus efectos, sino que ha cambiado la percepción global de la realidad al igual que los medios de información se han visto forzados a crear una nueva manera de comunicar. Por su parte, las redes sociales han supuesto la vía más rápida y sencilla en la difusión de todo tipo de información y desinformación, adoptando nuevos formatos y nuevas medidas anti bulos (fake news). Han sido eficaces y se identifica que gracias a las diferentes plataformas los ciudadanos se han encontrado algo más arropados, comprendidos y han recibido información sobre lo que ocurre alrededor de sus vidas. Debido al cierre de fronteras y a la disminución de vuelos, el turismo mundial sufre graves consecuencias y por todo ello, la incidencia del coronavirus en la economía y las Relaciones internacionales son protagonistas de una difícil realidad y una pronta y esperada recuperación.Tourism is a social and scientific phenomenon. From here, its knowledge must be approached from a complete vision and not limited to a single discipline or set of them separately, since it is multidisciplinary. The role of international relations in tourism is a phenomenon with great economic, social, cultural, and environmental consequences, which can condition the behavior of tourists and the tourism sector as a whole. The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has affected the entire world population, the main economic engines of each and every one of the countries and international relations derived from the tourism sector. The coronavirus has not only affected the people who are under its effects, but it has also changed the global perception of reality just as the media have been forced to create a new way of communicating. Meanwhile, social networks have been the fastest and easiest way to disseminate all kinds of information and misinformation, adopting new formats and new anti-hoax measures (fake news). They have been effective and it is identified that thanks to the different platforms, citizens have found themselves somewhat more sheltered, understood and have received information about what is happening around their lives. Due to the closure of borders and the decrease in flights, worldwide tourism suffers serious consequences and for all this, the incidence of the coronavirus in the economy and international relations are protagonists of a difficult reality and a prompt and expected recovery

Human Value Manifest in Instagram: A Visual Content Analysis of DMO Photography

The relationship of social media and tourism marketing through image projection by which visual content is produced was well documented. However, minimal research was reported on the human values promoted through the usage of social media in the context of marketing tourism by various elements of Destination Management Organization (DMO), such as government, tourism industry, and official marketing agency. Since visual content was widely used to attract visitors, this paper aims to highlight and discuss the prominent human values within photographs posted on Instagram of the three categories of DMO. Visual content analysis was applied to measure those values promoted through the collected photograph. Findings of this study shown values classified into self-transcendence and conservation categories are more prominent than those of self-enhancement and openness within Instagram of all marketer categories. Both theoretical and managerial implications of this study to tourism study were discussed. Keywords: Instagram, Human Value, Photography, Tourism Marketing DOI: 10.7176/NMMC/80-06 Publication date:May 31st 201

Digital entrepreneurship in a resource-scarce context: A focus on entrepreneurial digital competencies

Purpose – Thepurpose of this paper is to criticallyexplorehow context asan antecedent to entrepreneurial digital competencies (EDCs) influences digital entrepreneurship in a resource-scarce environment. Design/methodology/approach – The data comprises semi-structured interviews with 16 digital entrepreneurs, as owner-managers of small digital businesses in Cameroon. Findings – The results reveal the ways in which EDCs shape the entry (or start-up) choices and post-entry strategic decisions of digital entrepreneurs in response to context-specific opportunities and challenges associated with digital entrepreneurship. Research limitations/implications – The data comes from one African country and 16 digital businesses thus the research setting limits the generalisability of the results. Practical implications – This paper highlights important implications for encouraging digital entrepreneurship by focussing on institutional, technology and local dimensions of context and measures to develop the entrepreneurial and digital competencies. This includes policy interventions to develop the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, transport and local distribution infrastructure, and training opportunities to develop the EDCs of digital entrepreneurs. Originality/value – Whereas the capabilities to adopt and use ICTs and the internet by small businesses have been examined, this is among the first theoretically sensitised study linking context, EDCs and digital entrepreneurship

Examining the relationship between hoteliers’ review site use intensity and hotel characteristics - Moroccan Hotels

Due to rapid development and consumer adoption of technology, the hospitality industry has dramatically increased online-based user-generated reviews for a variety of services, such as those found in eWOM communities (e.g., TripAdvisor). Few studies have tested-among eWOM communities-the correlation between hoteliers' review site use intensity and hotel characteristics. The purpose of this paper is to examine the predictors of TripAdvisor use intensity, as perceived by Moroccan hoteliers. After the literature review on user-generated content, a quantitative study based on a structured questionnaire survey was developed, and correlation analyses were conducted to empirically validate the relationship between hotel characteristics and the use of TripAdvisor among a population of 48 hotel managers. The results showed that all variables studied commitment, competence, hotel size (number of beds), hotel category, and type of ownership were positively related to the intensity of use of review sites. This study deepens hotel practitioners' understanding of the importance of user-generated content and offers suggestions on how to improve eWOM advocacy. Moreover, this paper contributes to the recent and still scanty research line on eWOM from the hoteliers' perspective. The novelty lies in the positive relationships between hotel features (commitment, competence, hotel size, hotel category, and type of ownership) and user-generated review sites (TripAdvisor). It extends current literature and provides practitioners with some guidance on user-generated content and hotel characteristics.FCT-Foundation for Science and TechnologyPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [UID/SOC/04020/2019

The use of social media in travel planning: solutions for destination management organizations (DMOS)

JEL Codes: L83, M31Social media has been a widely discussed subject in the marketing and tourism literature. Even though most of tourism entities have adopted social media as marketing tool, its real potential and benefits still remain unclear for most of companies and businesses involved. Also, there is little evidence on the purposes of using social media in the travel planning and whether these platforms are relevant or not for companies to market their products and destinations. This project aims at understanding the role of social media in tourists’ travel planning while analyzing the current role of Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) in destination promotion. This study comprised a survey with 200 tourists visiting the city of Lisbon. It was examined their usage of social media in travel planning, sites content information and influence in their travel plans and destination image. The analysis suggests social media is a relevant source in tourists’ travel planning, providing a wide range of information and used throughout all travel planning stages. Also, research claimed social media content is perceived as trustworthy and it will influence tourists travel plans as well as tourists’ destination overall image. In addition, the current level knowledge and satisfaction with Portuguese DMOs social media sites content and features was also analyzed and further combined with a qualitative study of two DMOs interviews. This work provides insights of social media usage in the travel context and ultimately point solutions for DMOs to use them as a marketing tool. Given the fact this is one of the first studies analyzing Portuguese DMOs social sites, several recommendations are provided for future research.O tema das redes sociais tem sido amplamente discutido na literatura de marketing e turismo. Ainda que a maior parte das entidades turísticas tenha adotado as redes sociais como ferramenta de marketing, o seu potencial e benefícios ainda parecem não ser totalmente conhecidos pela maior parte das empresas e negócios. Acresce a isto, parece predominar pouca fundamentação científica relativamente aos motivos de utilização das redes sociais no planeamento de viagens, e na importância destas plataformas para as empresas na promoção de produtos e destinos. A presente tese procura aprofundar o papel das redes sociais no planeamento das viagens pelos turistas e analisar o papel atual das Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) portuguesas na promoção do destino. Este estudo compreendeu uma pesquisa quantitativa a 200 turistas que visitavam a cidade de Lisboa. Foram examinadas a utilização das redes sociais no planeamento das viagens, conteúdo dos sites e influência nos planos de viagem e imagem do destino. A análise sugere que as redes sociais são uma fonte relevante no planeamento das viagens pelos turistas e usada durante as fases de planeamento da viagem. Sugere-se ainda que o conteúdo apresentado nas redes sociais é confiável e que este influencia os planos de viagem bem como a imagem do destino pelos turistas. O nível de conhecimento e satisfação como os sites de redes sociais dos DMOs portugueses foram também analisados e posteriormente combinados com um estudo qualitativo de duas entrevistas a DMOs nacionais. Este projeto visa contribuir para uma melhor compreensão da utilização das redes sociais no âmbito turístico e sugerir soluções para os DMOs para utilização destas plataformas como meio de promoção. Sendo este estudo pioneiro na análise das redes sociais destas entidades turísticas, é apontado um número de sugestões para pesquisa futura nesta área

Sustainable Heritage Tourism: A Tourist-Oriented Approach for Managing Petra Archaeological Park, Jordan

Although sustainability of heritage tourism has become a major concern from the perspectives of both academics and practitioners, the majority of research and studies have tended to understand the cultural and educational issues of heritage tourism rather than focusing on the application of sustainability in a practical context. To achieve sustainability in heritage tourism, heritage sites should be managed effectively in a way that ensures preservation of heritage resources and provides quality experiences to the tourists. Traditionally, heritage tourism planning and management relied on a top-down, professional-led approach that ignores the interests of different stakeholders (e.g., heritage tourists) in heritage attractions. Furthermore, strategies for heritage tourism management have conventionally focused on the supply side (i.e., the resource) and ignored the demand side (i.e., the tourists). Recently, it was recognized that involving tourists in the management process is a key element to achieve sustainability; therefore, the global trends in heritage tourism are now moving forward from a product-led approach that underlies exhibits and education, to a more tourist-oriented approach that focuses on consumer preferences and quality of personal experiences. It was suggested in the literature that sustainability can be applied through development and implementation of contemporary indicators and standards-based frameworks such as Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC), Visitor Impact Management (VIM), and Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP). Generally, the main objective of this dissertation was to understand tourists and their experiences at Petra Archaeological Park. The series of articles included in this dissertation were intended to address the three main elements of these management frameworks. Specifically, this research presented studies intended to help formulate empirical, science-based, tourists-informed indicators and crowding-related standards for the tourism experience at Petra, and monitor these standards. Also, tourists\u27 support for alternative management strategies was addressed