Exploring the Shopping Motivations of International Residential Tourists

Over the last few decades, so-called “international residential tourism” has increased considerably, creating a new consumer base in tourist destinations, particularly in southern Europe, whose shopping motivations are unknown. As a rule, existing literature has focused its attention on studying consumer motivations in their places of residence, references to the study of the international residential tourist's (IRT's) shopping motivations being very limited. It is in this context that this study examines the main contributions related to IRT shopping motivations. Taking as a starting point empirical research carried out in two top international tourist destinations, the study analyzes and contrasts the applicability of general theoretical contributions to this specific IRT segment. The results obtained confirm the existence, although not without its variations, of certain stability in the main aspects relating to shopping motivation, allowing the foundations to be laid for the incorporation of shopping motivation as a variable for the segmentation of IRTs. Both for tourist resort managers and retailers in the area, having access to a valid scale for measuring these motivations may be of great help to them in being able to categorize IRTs in accordance with their shopping motivations. In this way, they will have a broader knowledge of the market and how it is made up and it will facilitate the implementation of marketing policies aimed at improving the planning of commercial areas, as well as help them to adapt their product range and communication to the segments that are of most interest to their companies and destinations.The authors would like to express their thanks for the financial support received under the MCYTFEDER Research Project, grant SEJ-2006-08342/ECON

Residents’ willingness to become peer-to-peer tourism experience providers in mass tourism destinations.

In this article we explore residents’ willingness to become peer-to-peer (P2P) tourism experience providers. Grounded in the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and the self-determination theory (SDT), we put forward a model relating residents’ willingness and their attitude towards such experiences, their resources and capabilities, their perceptions of P2P tourism experiences and their intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. An empirical survey was conducted among 880 residents of Majorca (Spain), one of the top leading mass tourism destinations in Europe. The results indicate a direct and positive relationship between residents’ attitude towards P2P tourism experiences, their resources and capabilities, their intrinsic motivations (enjoyment and wellbeing gains), and their willingness to become P2P tourism experience providers. Enjoyment and wellbeing gains stand as the two most important influences of residents’ willingness. Surprisingly, the direct influence of extrinsic motivations, such as economic and reputational benefits, has not been proven. Furthermore, a negative indirect influence of the economic benefits on willingness was unveiled. The findings allow relevant managerial implications to be considered for the development of competitive and sustainable tourism destinations.Este trabajo ha sido financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación de España con la subvención PID 2020-114788RB-I00

The acculturation of international residential tourists and their shopping behaviours

This study deals with an unexplored question regarding the role of the acculturation of international residential tourists (IRT), and provides companies in tourist destinations with keys to develop strategies aimed at this type of tourists. Results show that the acculturation of IRT follows a Pareto/Bradford distribution: few show high levels of acculturation and many show low levels. Finally, we find significant differences in shopping behaviour and socio-demographic variables.The authors would like to express their thanks for the financial support received under the MEYC, DGI Research Project, grant SEJ2006/08342, Spain

Respiratory infection by Corynebacterium striatum: Epidemiological and clinical determinants

© 2014 The Authors. The increasing prevalence of advanced chronic respiratory disease, with frequent exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics for repeated and prolonged hospitalizations, favours the emergence of nosocomial respiratory infection by Gram-positive bacteria, such as outbreaks of Corynebacterium striatum. There is little evidence about patterns of respiratory infection, transmission and adaptive ability of this pathogen. Seventy-two C. striatum isolates from 51 advanced respiratory patients, mainly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, were studied during 38 months. Patients were 74.8 ± 8.6 years old and 81.9% were men, who had required an average of 2.2 hospitalizations and 63.5 days in the hospital in the previous year. Of 49 isolates from 42 patients we were able to identify 12 clones by multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA), nine phenotypic variants and 22 antibiotic susceptibility patterns, and we determined their clinical and epidemiological determinants. MLSA allows identification of the existence of nosocomial outbreaks by transmission of the same or different clones, the persistence of the same clone in the environment or in patient airways for months. The study showed the high variability and adaptive capacity of the isolates, the antibiotic multidrug-resistance in all of them, and their contribution to a high morbidity and mortality (41%) during the study period.This work was supported by the General Board for Research, Technological Development and Innovation of the Department of Finance and Innovation of the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands (Direcció General de Recerca, Desenvolupament Tecnològic i Innovació, de la Conselleria d'Hisenda i Innovació, de la Comunitat Autònoma de les Illes Balears). This work was supported also by funding from Spanish MINECO through Consolider CSD2009-00006. Margarita Gomila was supported by a postdoctoral contract from the University of the Balearic Islands, with funds from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports through the International Excellence Campus ProgrammePeer Reviewe

Actitud de los residentes hacia el alojamiento P2P: la perspectiva de los millennials

Uno de los fenómenos que con más fuerza está impactando la actividad turística en la actualidad es el intercambio, a gran escala, de plazas de alojamiento entre particulares. Aunque existe una extensa producción científica sobre la actitud de los residentes hacia el turismo, en general existen muy pocas investigaciones relacionadas con la formación de su actitud hacia este tipo de alojamiento y, específicamente, por parte de los millennials. A partir de un modelo de medición de la percepción de los impactos del turismo basado en la teoría del intercambio social se ha efectuado un análisis comparativo entre los millennials y las generaciones de mayor edad, de la actitud de los residentes hacia esta actividad y de la percepción de los impactos que provoca. El análisis se realiza utilizando una muestra de 1088 ciudadanos de Tenerife y 529 de Mallorca. El estudio confirma que el apoyo que recibe esta actividad es mayor por parte de esta generación.One of the phenomena that has made an important incursion into the tourism activity today is the exchange of accommodation in private homes. Although there is an extensive scientific work on the attitude of residents towards tourism, in general there is very little research related to the formation of their attitude towards this type of accommodation and, specifically, on the part of the millennials. The study has been based on a model of measurement of the perception of the impacts of tourism by using the theory of social exchange. A comparative analysis has been carried out between the millennials and the older generations, the residents’ attitude to this activity and the perception of the impacts that it causes. The analysis is performed by using a sample of 1088 citizens from Tenerife and 529 from Mallorca. The study confirms that the support received for this activity is greater in this generation

Identification and diversity of multiresistant Corynebacterium striatum clinical isolates by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and by a multigene sequencing approach

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The genus <it>Corynebacterium </it>is composed of Gram-positive bacteria that are widely distributed throughout the environment; these bacteria are also part of the normal microbiota of human skin and mucous membranes. Multiple studies have shown that species of this genus, including <it>C. striatum</it>, become pathogenic to humans under special conditions. Our aim was to determine the characteristics of clinical multiresistant strains of <it>C. striatum </it>that were isolated in our geographical region, to determine their diversity, and to compare them with the type strain and with related species. We studied fifty-two strains of <it>C. striatum </it>isolated from different hospitals from Mallorca, Spain, mainly from the Hospital Joan March in Bunyola, Mallorca. Most of the strains were isolated from sputum cultures of respiratory samples from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. To gain further insight into the genetic diversity of the strains, we analysed several housekeeping genes and other genes associated with antibiotic resistance. Strains were also characterised phenotypically by their antibiotic resistance profiles and by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The ITS1 region, <it>gyrA </it>and <it>rpoB </it>were chosen as the appropriate genes in the <it>C. striatum </it>genome to study the genetic diversity of <it>C. striatum </it>species and to discriminate between strains. After analysing these three genes, four sequence types (ST2, ST4, ST1 and ST11) were found to be the most abundant. Splits tree analysis of the strains demonstrated that these clinical isolates did not share any alleles with the type strain of the species. Recombination was detected within all of the <it>C. striatum </it>isolates, and different clonal populations were detected within the samples.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results demonstrate that the isolates were best identified using gene-based molecular methods; using these methods, the isolated strains were determined to be different from the type strain of <it>C. striatum</it>. The ITS1 region and the <it>gyrA </it>and <it>rpoB </it>genes were selected because of their variability and were the most useful tools for discriminating between strains. The phenotype and antibiotype characteristics of the strains did not seem suitable for typing purposes. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry can be a useful method for identifying and discriminating between <it>C. striatum </it>strains.</p

Microwave Spectroscopy Investigation of Carasau Bread Doughs: Effects of Composition up to 8.5 GHz

Carasau bread is a flat bread, typical of Sardinia (Italy). The market of this food product has a large growth potential, and its industry is experiencing a revolution, characterized by digitalization and automation. To monitor the quality of this food product at different manufacturing stages, microwave sensors and devices could be a cost-effective solution. In this framework, knowledge of the microwave response of Carasau dough is required. Thus far, the analysis of the microwave response of Carasau doughs through dielectric spectroscopy has been limited to the dynamics of fermentation. In this work, we aim to perform complex dielectric permittivity measurements up to 8.5 GHz, investigating and modeling the role of water amount, salt and yeast concentrations on the spectra of this food product. A third-order Cole–Cole model was used to interpret the microwave response of the different samples, resulting in a maximum error of 1.58% and 1.60% for the real and imaginary parts of permittivity, respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis was also performed to support the microwave spectroscopy investigation. We found that dielectric properties of Carasau bread doughs strongly depend on the water content. The analysis highlighted that an increase in water quantity tends to increase the bounded water fraction at the expense of the free water fraction. In particular, the free water amount in the dough is not related to the broadening parameter (Formula presented.) of the second pole, whereas the bound water weight fraction is more evident in the (Formula presented.) and (Formula presented.) parameters. An increase in electrical conductivity was observed for increasing water content. The microwave spectrum of the real part of the complex permittivity is slightly affected by composition, while large variation in the imaginary part of the complex dielectric permittivity can be identified, especially for frequencies below 4 GHz. The methodology and data proposed and reported in this work can be used to design a microwave sensor for retrieving the composition of Carasau bread doughs through their dielectric signature