Information Search Behaviors of Free and Independent Travels

The purpose of this study was to describe the extent to which visitors to a historic attraction acquired information in their vacation deliberations and the degree to which their trip characteristics could be used to discriminate between levels of active and passive information seekers. In this data set, respondents who sought out and used information in their trip planning significantly differed from their passive counterparts in terms of their travel decision making. Active groups of information seekers tended to evaluate more alternatives, traveled greater distances, and had limited prior experience with the attraction as compared to their more passive counterparts. Findings of this study provide the marketing manager additional insights to define the potential audience for advertising and promotional campaigns. The implications of the findings as they relate to both the marketing message and its distribution are discussed

The Purchase Involvement of Repeat Visitors to a Destination Resort

An understanding of the decision making processes repeat visitors use is important to resort managers since the economic health of their property is dependent to a large extent by such patronage. Employing the typology of Newman and Webel (16), this study found that few customers could be characterized as loyal patrons. In other words, the vast majority of repeat visitors in this data set were not beyond the influence of marketers. The relative abilities of respondent\u27s age, education, planning time and distance traveled are examined in an effort to account for the degree of complexity repeat visitors used in vacation decision making. Implications for marketers are discussed

Information\u27s Effects on Residents\u27 Perception of Tourism Development

Resident support for existing and future tourism development is an important issue facing tourism managers. This study addressed the relative influence of a public relations campaign on the attitudes of residents towards tourism development. Two random samples were drawn from two comparable Florida counties. Analysis revealed that, on average, residents of the community with a public relations campaign had more positive attitudes toward tourism development than did residents of the community with no campaign. Implications for future tourism public relations campaigns are discussed

Segmenting the Visitor Market by the Timing of Their Activity Decisions

The purpose of this study was to describe visitors to a Florida county and determine if a CVB\u27s promotional campaign strategies conformed with visitors\u27 need for information. The research focused on the timing of visitors\u27 activity decisions to assess whether promotional efforts were being channeled in ways that conformed to the timing of visitors\u27 information needs and decision making. Responses from 546 completed surveys revealed that 71.5% of the respondents decided which recreational activities they would engage in prior to leaving home; 3.7% made that decision en route to the county; and 24. 9% after arriving in the county. Further analysis revealed that respondents who made their activity decisions after arriving in the county were typically a part of the long haul market, stayed significantly longer than the other counterparts, and spent, on average, nearly twice as much as those that made their activity decisions prior to leaving home. Implications for marketers are discussed

A Strategic Planning Approach to Tourism Development in Rural Communities

Rural tourism planners have called for more consideration to be given to potential social and environmental costs associated with tourism development. This paper demonstrates a process of developing a tourism strategic plan with goals consistent with the limitations imposed by the social and environmental conditions of the destination area. It outlines the seven sequential steps of a rural tourism planning approach. A strategic planning process of inventorying attractions, competitive analysis, assimilating resident, business leader and natural resource advocate input, using a Delphi approach to work toward consensus, testing ideas with potential or existing tourists and monitoring quality of life and visitor satisfaction is summarized. Although most of· the individual steps of this approach have been applied in different tourism planning settings, the full strategic planning approach where this information is integrated into an applied development plan has yet to be implemented

Funding Public Streetscape Improvements in a Heritage City: A Willingness to Pay Survey

How to finance downtown redevelopment activities can be problematic for city planners since the viability of .a plan to make improvements often rests with the willingness of merchants to pay for them. this article describes and illustrates two methodologies that are particularly well suited for such assessment purposes. The first is the contingent valuation survey methodology that elicits stakeholders\u27 improvement priorities and their willingness to contribute towards those improvements. The second is the design charrette process that embellishes upon such survey results and invites further consensus building. Since the initial stage of a redevelopment project is at best speculative, these methods are useful tools for planners since they can be performed quickly with minimum costs and allow all stakeholders a say in the planning process

Adding Psychological Value to Heritage Tourism Experiences

This study employed an under-utilized methodology known as the Hierarchical Value Map (HVM) technique to explore the underlying motives and needs of visitors to a heritage site. Drawing from a small sample of visitors to a preserved 18th century plantation, the analysis revealed that most respondents were looking for a satisfying leisure experience where pleasure and learning are complementary. In addition the results support the notion that there is a specialized tourist segment (e.g., heritage tourists) that as a group has unique motives and needs. Implications for both optimizing the visitors experience as well as projecting an effective image and marketing communications are discussed

First-Year Spectroscopy for the SDSS-II Supernova Survey

This paper presents spectroscopy of supernovae discovered in the first season of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey. This program searches for and measures multi-band light curves of supernovae in the redshift range z = 0.05 - 0.4, complementing existing surveys at lower and higher redshifts. Our goal is to better characterize the supernova population, with a particular focus on SNe Ia, improving their utility as cosmological distance indicators and as probes of dark energy. Our supernova spectroscopy program features rapid-response observations using telescopes of a range of apertures, and provides confirmation of the supernova and host-galaxy types as well as precise redshifts. We describe here the target identification and prioritization, data reduction, redshift measurement, and classification of 129 SNe Ia, 16 spectroscopically probable SNe Ia, 7 SNe Ib/c, and 11 SNe II from the first season. We also describe our efforts to measure and remove the substantial host galaxy contamination existing in the majority of our SN spectra.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal(47pages, 9 figures

Evidence for Type Ia Supernova Diversity from Ultraviolet Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope

We present ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy and photometry of four Type Ia supernovae (SNe 2004dt, 2004ef, 2005M, and 2005cf) obtained with the UV prism of the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope. This dataset provides unique spectral time series down to 2000 Angstrom. Significant diversity is seen in the near maximum-light spectra (~ 2000--3500 Angstrom) for this small sample. The corresponding photometric data, together with archival data from Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope observations, provide further evidence of increased dispersion in the UV emission with respect to the optical. The peak luminosities measured in uvw1/F250W are found to correlate with the B-band light-curve shape parameter dm15(B), but with much larger scatter relative to the correlation in the broad-band B band (e.g., ~0.4 mag versus ~0.2 mag for those with 0.8 < dm15 < 1.7 mag). SN 2004dt is found as an outlier of this correlation (at > 3 sigma), being brighter than normal SNe Ia such as SN 2005cf by ~0.9 mag and ~2.0 mag in the uvw1/F250W and uvm2/F220W filters, respectively. We show that different progenitor metallicity or line-expansion velocities alone cannot explain such a large discrepancy. Viewing-angle effects, such as due to an asymmetric explosion, may have a significant influence on the flux emitted in the UV region. Detailed modeling is needed to disentangle and quantify the above effects.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, accepted by Ap