Exploring the constraint profile of winter sports resort tourist segments

Many studies have confirmed the importance of market segmentation both theoretically and empirically. Surprisingly though, no study has so far addressed the issue from the perspective of leisure constraints. Since different consumers face different barriers, we look at participation in leisure activities as an outcome of the negotiation process that winter sports resort tourists go through, to balance between related motives and constraints. This empirical study reports the findings on the applicability of constraining factors in segmenting the tourists who visit winter sports resorts. Utilizing data from 1,391 tourists of winter sports resorts in Greece, five segments were formed based on their constraint, demographic and behavioral profile. Our findings indicate that such segmentation sheds light on factors that could potentially limit the full utilization of the market. To maximize utilization, we suggest customizing marketing to the profile of each distinct winter sports resort tourist segment that emerge

Exploring the negotiation thesis application among ski resort tourists: a segmentation approach

The negotiation thesis offers a framework for understanding the participation decision making of tourists. Unlike previous studies that investigate the causal relationship between constraints and tourists’ revisit intention, this study identified distinct segments of ski tourist based on the relative strength of constraints experienced and then investigated their decision-making process across a sample of 1,348 tourists of ski resorts. Chi-Squared Automated Interaction Detection (CHAID) analysis revealed that the decision making process regarding intention to revisit a ski destination varies between highly versus less constrained ski tourists, indicating different relative strengths of interpersonal, intrapersonal and structural constraints and different interactions among them when predicting revisit intention. On a practical basis, albeit the vast majority of participants were willing to repeat its visit, we offer customized per segment recommendations on increasing frequency of visitation and spending levels

Global assessment of innovative solutions to tackle marine litter

AbstractMarine litter is one of the most relevant pollution problems that our oceans are facing today. Marine litter in our oceans is a major threat to a sustainable planet. Here, we provide a comprehensive analysis of cutting-edge solutions developed globally to prevent, monitor and clean marine litter. Prevention in this research includes only innovative solutions to prevent litter entering oceans and seas rather than interventions such as waste reduction and recycling. On the basis of extensive search and data compilation, our analysis reveals that information is dispersed across platforms and is not easily accessible. In total, 177 solutions—the equivalent to <0.9% of the search hits—fulfilled our validation criteria and were evaluated. Most solutions (n = 106, 60%) primarily address monitoring and were developed during the past 3 years, with the scientific community being the key driver. Few solutions reached mature technical readiness and market availability, while none were validated for efficiency and environmental impact. Looking ahead, we elaborate on the limitations of the existing solutions, the challenges of developing new solutions, and provide recommendations for funding schemes and policy instruments to prevent, monitor and clean marine litter globally. In doing so, we encourage researchers, innovators and policy-makers worldwide to act towards achieving and sustaining a cleaner ocean for future generations

Linking the dots among destination images, place attachment, and revisit intentions:A study among British and Russian tourists

Limited evidence suggests that the incorporation of both image components (cognitive, affective, and conative) and holistic image is meaningful for predicting tourists' revisit intentions. Extending this line of research, the present study aims to unravel the relative influence that each component of image has directly and indirectly, via holistic image, on revisit intentions. In doing so, we incorporate two national samples (British and Russians) of diverse tourist profile and significantly different levels of visitation frequency to investigate place attachment as a moderator. Evidence from 1362 British and 1164 Russian tourists indicated that all image components have a positive indirect effect on revisit intention via holistic image, while conative has also a direct one. As expected, the image components rank differently for British and Russian tourists. The indirect effects of destination images on revisit intention, except conative, are conditional and, interestingly, most of these are stronger for tourists with low PA

Quality in bank service encounters: Assessing the equivalence of customers’ and front-line employees’ perceptions

Purpose: The paper discusses the need to evaluate perception-based quality in service encounters. It sets out to diagnose potential mismatches in how customers and front-line employees perceive quality in high involvement service settings, based on the premise that any initiatives towards quality enhancement in service encounters is advisable only when employees and customers evaluate quality utilizing common perceptual structures. Design/methodology/approach: The study utilizes invariance analysis. The survey involved 165 bank branches and 1522 respondents (463 front-line employees and 1059 customers) and operationalized the same set of questions for both groups of participants. Multisample Confirmatory Factor Analysis tested a series of measurement models. Findings: Results revealed equivalence for tangibles, responsiveness, and assurance but also mismatches between customers and front-line employees perceptions of reliability and empathy. Practical implications: Findings add to current knowledge of how both groups of participants evaluate quality in service encounters and are discussed with reference to managerial consequences for perception-based quality mismatches. Originality/value: So far only a few studies have simultaneously examined front-line employees’ and customers’ perceptions of service quality in service encounters. Unlike previous research designs, this study addresses the critical aspect of potential mismatches in how customers and employees perceive service quality, and presents a methodological procedure to detect them

Exploring the negotiation thesis application among ski resort tourists: a segmentation approach

The negotiation thesis offers a framework for understanding the participation decision making of tourists. Unlike previous studies that investigate the causal relationship between constraints and tourists’ revisit intention, this study identified distinct segments of ski tourist based on the relative strength of constraints experienced and then investigated their decision-making process across a sample of 1,348 tourists of ski resorts. Chi-Squared Automated Interaction Detection (CHAID) analysis revealed that the decision making process regarding intention to revisit a ski destination varies between highly versus less constrained ski tourists, indicating different relative strengths of interpersonal, intrapersonal and structural constraints and different interactions among them when predicting revisit intention. On a practical basis, albeit the vast majority of participants were willing to repeat its visit, we offer customized per segment recommendations on increasing frequency of visitation and spending levels

Annotated list of marine alien species in the Mediterranean with records of the worst invasive species

This collaborative effort by many specialists across the Mediterranean presents an updated annotated list of alien marine species in the Mediterranean Sea. Alien species have been grouped into six broad categories namely established, casual, questionable, cryptogenic, excluded and invasive, and presented in lists of major ecofunctional/taxonomic groups. The establishment success within each group is provided while the questionable and excluded records are commented in brief. A total of 963 alien species have been reported from the Mediterranean until December 2005, 218 of which have been classified as excluded (23%) leaving 745 of the recorded species as valid aliens. Of these 385 (52%) are already well established, 262 (35%) are casual records, while 98 species (13%) remain "questionable" records. The species cited in this work belong mostly to zoobenthos and in particular to Mollusca and Crustacea, while Fish and Phytobenthos are the next two groups which prevail among alien biota in the Mediterranean. The available information depends greatly on the taxonomic group examined. Thus, besides the three groups explicitly addressed in the CIESM atlas series (Fish, Decapoda/Crustacea and Mollusca), which are however updated in the present work, Polychaeta, Phytobenthos, Phytoplankton and Zooplankton are also addressed in this study. Among other zoobenthic taxa sufficiently covered in this study are Echinodermata, Sipuncula, Bryozoa and Ascidiacea. On the contrary, taxa such as Foraminifera, Amphipoda and Isopoda, that are not well studied in the Mediterranean, are insufficiently covered. A gap of knowledge is also noticed in Parasites, which, although ubiquitous and pervasive in marine systems, have been relatively unexplored as to their role in marine invasions. Conclusively the lack of funding purely systematic studies in the region has led to underestimation of the number of aliens in the Mediterranean. Emphasis is put on those species that are current or potential threats to the marine ecosystems, namely the Worst Invasive Alien Species providing their record across major groups