Tourist experience: Contemporary perspectives. Sharpley, R. & Stone, P. (Eds.). Oxon, UK: Routledge (2011)

The consumption of experiences has been acknowledged as a key research topic in tourism studies, since everything in a destination can be experienced by tourists, whether it be places, people, or activities

Designing Accessible Tourism Experiences: Slow, Sensory And Smart Framework

Slow tourism is an emergent research area focused on slowing the pace of life during vacations. A comprehensive multi-sensory approach can contribute to designing enhanced slow tourism experiences deemed accessible, both in situ and remotely. There is a research gap in considering multi-sensory stimuli in the design of accessible tourism experiences using technology. As such, this research intends to propose a theoretical framework focused on the development of slow tourism through sensory cues and smart technologies. In so doing, a critical approach to literature was carried out by intersecting three areas of literature following the rationale of the Stimuli-Organism-Response model: slow tourism, multi-sensory tourism experiences design, and smart destinations. The significance of this framework is threefold: it strengthens local identities and aids sustainable tourism by involving the community; it promotes experiences deemed authentic considering multiple stakeholders’ perspectives; and it addresses the visitor experience before, during and after the visit to the destination in an accessible manner using smart technologies. A framework with six steps is offered based on participatory methods

A dyadic approach to adolescents’ risky online behaviors

This research analyzes the discrepancies respecting parents' and their children's perspectives on adolescents' risky online behaviors and parental mediation. Rather than focus solely on youth outcomes, this study explores dyadic data, by comparing reports from adolescents attending 7th to 12th grades in Portuguese schools and those of their parents (N=1016). Moreover, this research considers the existence of defense mechanisms influencing adolescents' reports, a factor that has been neglected in previous studies. Differences regarding adolescents' gender, parents' gender, and adolescents' school year are considered and tested using One-way ANOVA. Within the family unit, the only members considered by adolescents to have the same or more online and computer skills than the teenagers themselves are their older siblings. Practical implications aiming to mitigate the risk involved in adolescents' online experiences, and theoretical contributions to the field of prevention and youth well-being in the context of consumer behavior in the digital age are discussed.FCT-Foundation for Science and TechnologyPortuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [UIDB/04020/2020]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The role of sensescapes in tourist experiences in rural areas

Tese de doutoramento, Turismo, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Algarve, 2013The sensory appealing of destinations has recently been in focus as an important dimension in the process of facilitating positive and memorable tourist experiences. Particularly, the countryside embraces local resources rich in multi-sensory effects that could be explored in the planning and marketing of stimulating tourist experiences addressed to segments of tourists suitable for sustainable local development. Despite being well documented that the so-called five senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch – influence human perception, memory, and behavior, research following a holistic approach to all modalities of sensory experiences in tourism, specifically in rural destinations, is still scarce. In this light, this thesis encloses four studies aiming to explore the role of sensescapes in tourist experiences in rural areas. The first study explores the conceptualization of the sensory dimension of tourist experiences by discussing its theoretical underpinnings. The second study presents a conceptual framework intended to support the appropriateness of the research on sensory experiences as perceived by tourists and resulting contribute to marketing sustainable sensory-themed tourist experiences in rural destinations. Subsequently, study three shows through a questionnaire presented to tourists in rural lodgings in Southwest Portugal that reported sensory experiences could be used to capture meaningful sensory-based themes adequate for segmenting tourists and tangibilize tourist offerings based on sensory experiences. Study four uses a two-step process of data collection, conducted in loco and six months after the tourists’ visit to Southwest Portugal, revealing that richer sensory tourist experiences may have an important role in the long-term memory of individuals’ experiences, potentiating favorable tourist behavior with respect to rural destinations loyalty. Overall, the results corroborate the importance of the sensory dimension for individuals’ likelihood of having a positive and memorable tourist experience, as well as the potential of using sensory stimuli in marketing tourist experiences in rural destinations.A importância dos cinco sentidos humanos – visão, audição, olfato, paladar e tato – no marketing de experiências turísticas positivas e memoráveis tem vindo a ser enfatizada no âmbito da investigação em turismo. Particularmente, a vulnerabilidade e riqueza multissensorial dos recursos endógenos oferecidos nas áreas rurais (ex. fauna, flora, gastronomia), com características divergentes do ambiente urbano e potenciadoras de atividades ligadas à natureza e à vida rural, justificam um estudo atento da experiência sensorial turística em destinos rurais. Neste contexto, é evidenciado o papel dos sentidos humanos no planeamento e marketing de experiências turísticas especialmente dirigidas a segmentos de turistas que potenciem o desenvolvimento sustentável das áreas rurais. Apesar de estar bem documentada na literatura a influência de todos os sentidos na perceção, memória e comportamento dos indivíduos, e por consequência no comportamento de consumo, assiste-se a uma escassez de estudos que abordem a importância dos cinco sentidos na experiência turística de uma forma holística, particularmente em destinos rurais. Assim, para além da paisagens visuais, que têm sido mais estudadas, diversos autores sugerem que a investigação na área do turismo inclua também as experiências auditivas, olfativas, gastronómicas e táteis. Desta forma, a presente tese compreende quatro estudos com o objetivo de explorar o papel da dimensão sensorial da experiência turística em áreas rurais, com uma abordagem póspositivista e uma perspetiva de marketing. O primeiro estudo contribui para a conceptualização da dimensão sensorial da experiência turística, através da discussão de uma revisão de literatura multidisciplinar, assim como para a identificação de tópicos de investigação pouco explorados com potencial interessante para investigação futura. O segundo estudo apresenta um instrumento conceptual com o objetivo de mostrar a relevância do estudo de experiências sensoriais relatadas por turistas e o respetivo contributo na definição de temas multissensoriais adequados ao marketing de experiência turísticas em destinos rurais. O terceiro artigo é de natureza empírica e revela, através de um questionário aplicado a turistas que pernoitaram em alojamentos de espaço rural da Costa Alentejana e Vicentina de Portugal, que o estudo de experiências sensoriais relatadas por visitantes xiiié adequado ao processo de segmentação de turistas e na definição de uma oferta turística com base em experiências multissensoriais em áreas rurais. No caso particular em estudo, quatro temas sensoriais são sugeridos através de uma análise de correspondência múltiplas, traduzindo-se em quatro segmentos de turistas com perfis distintos, com base nas atividades desenvolvidas no destino e nas motivações dos participantes para a escolha do destino de férias. Os quatro temas identificados dizem respeito a experiências especificamente rurais, experiências globais do destino com especial foco nas atividades relacionadas com a praia, experiências de natureza e experiências de natureza espiritual. O quarto estudo é empírico e recorre a dados recolhidos junto de turistas in loco, assim como seis meses após a visita ao Sudoeste de Portugal. Os resultados permitem concluir que experiências sensorialmente mais ricas têm um papel importante na memória a longo-prazo de experiências turísticas, promovendo um comportamento mais favorável dos visitantes em relação aos destinos rurais, no que diz respeito à recomendação e revisita por parte de turistas, o que sugere uma ligação entre a dimensão sensorial da experiência turística em destinos rurais e a fidelização ao destino. No geral, os resultados permitem corroborar a importância dos sentidos para os indivíduos viverem uma experiência turística positiva e memorável, assim como o potential do uso de estímulos sensoriais no marketing de experiências turísticas em ambientes rurais

A imagem de Lagos enquanto destino turístico: perspectiva dos turistas versus perspectiva dos residentes

Dissertação de mest., Marketing, Faculdade de Economia, Univ. do Algarve, 2010O estudo da imagem dos destinos turísticos tem vindo a afirmar-se como instrumento de diferenciação, contribuindo para o aumento da competitividade dos destinos. Apesar de ser um tema bem documentado na literatura, assiste-se a uma carência de estudos que permitam comparar as perspectivas dos turistas, público pelo qual as organizações responsáveis pela gestão dos destinos competem pela atenção, com a dos residentes, actores passivos e activos no processo de formação da imagem do destino. O principal objectivo do estudo consiste em medir a imagem percebida de Lagos, concelho da região do Algarve, enquanto destino turístico, comparando as perspectivas dos turistas e dos residentes, numa abordagem cognitiva, afectiva e comportamental. Na investigação empírica recorre-se a uma metodologia mista, que permite detectar, numa fase exploratória, atributos para a análise da componente cognitiva, possibilitando uma abordagem holística, através da utilização de questões abertas. A aplicação de questionários a uma amostra de 379 turistas e de 378 residentes possibilita uma metodologia quantitativa, com recurso a indicadores descritivos, a testes de hipóteses e à técnica multivariada CHAID. Os resultados obtidos apontam para uma imagem global positiva do destino, na perspectiva dos dois públicos. Os atributos que, de forma mais consensual, se associam a Lagos são o “clima” e as “praias”, muito embora as variáveis referidas não tenham poder discriminatório significativo relativamente à variável dependente “recomendação do destino a amigos e familiares”, na análise CHAID. Neste aspecto, na perspectiva dos turistas, o “património cultural de grande interesse” é a variável explicativa mais significativa, enquanto que, para os residentes, esta traduz-se no “bom nível de preços”. Na abordagem afectiva, ambos os públicos associam o destino aos adjectivos “dinâmico/excitante/agradável”

A contribution to marketing sustainable and innovative sensory-themed tourist experiences in rural destinations

This presentation aims to explore existing frameworks to analyse sensory information perceived by tourists while experiencing the countryside, which contributes to the process of innovatively marketing sustainable sensory-themed tourist experiences in rural destinations

Exploring the conceptualization of the sensory dimension of tourist experiences

This paper aims to contribute to the conceptualization of the sensory dimension of tourist experiences by discussing its theoretical underpinnings. A multidisciplinary approach to the human senses shows their importance to the individual’s experience and perception of the surrounding world, recommending the appropriateness of a holistic analysis of sensescapes in tourism. A review of empirical studies conducted under the experiential paradigm of tourism on the five human senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch) evinces the use of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, which depends on research purposes, but also the practical implications of findings and data analysis to destination marketing and management. The paper discusses the role of the senses in designing tourist experiences, and identifies important topics regarding the study of the sensory dimension of tourist experiences, considering future research opportunities

Understanding tourist recommendation through destination image: A CHAID analysis

In spite of the efforts of marketers and managers to boost a favourable destination image, with a focus on encouraging tourists‟ revisit, other factors contribute to tourists‟ decision-making processes with regard to revisiting destinations. Moreover, recommendation from family and friends are considered to be the most credible source of information in the process of choosing a holiday destination, becoming relevant that studies on destination loyalty focus on this variable. Therefore, this research aims to identify the attributes which contribute to tourists‟ willingness to recommend a destination. The first stage of this study involved identifying the attributes to measure the image of Lagos in the Algarve region, an important Portuguese destination, through open-ended questions. In the second phase, the application of the Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID) to survey responses from a sample of 379 tourists allowed to identify the features that explain the intention to recommend the destination. The results show that culture is the attribute with the strongest power to explain recommendation, highlighting the need for sun and sand tourism destinations to diversify their offer. Of the seven terminal nodes produced by CHAID, two segments with opposite trends were found, for which profiles were drawn

The contribution of external factors to the marketing management of appealing hospitality experiences: Testing a framework in a rural tourism context

This research tests a framework of external factors presented in the literature that contribute to the marketing management of hospitality experiences, in a rural tourism context. Data analysis begins with an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on the items used to measure the concept of appealing hospitality experience. Once established this second order construct, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to estimate and test the complete proposed model that links: (1) the second-order construct appealing hospitality experience with its first order indicators; (2) the constructs appealing hospitality experience and tourist loyalty. The analysis of data collected from a questionnaire administered in rural lodgings in the region of Southwest Portugal suggests that five factors contribute to appealing hospitality experiences which lead to tourist loyalty: staff performance, physical features, product-related aspects, social interactions, and the existence of a theme. Practical implications for managing responsible hospitality experiences in rural destinations are presented

Sensory marketing and tourist experiences

Marketing has been increasing its focus on the role of the five human senses in consumer behaviour, since research under the experiential paradigm has pointed to multisensory stimuli as intensifiers of consumers’ experiences, such as tourist experiences. Whereas previous studies in tourism touted vision, current research claims a holistic approach to sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch in order to develop effective communication and branding strategies, as well to boost the performance of destinations and tourist organizations by designing and creating conditions to enhance tourist experiences. This study aims to present the main contributions of the literature on a sensory marketing approach to the tourist experience, and to discuss some preliminary results of an empirical study on the role of human senses in tourist experiences in rural areas. Data analysis from a questionnaire presented to tourists supports the multisensory nature of tourist experiences and the importance of the five senses to the intensity of the experience