Antecedents of Heritage Tourists’ Satisfaction: The Role of Motivation, Discrete Emotions and Place Attachment

While the literature on heritage tourism recognizes the importance of emotions in predicting satisfaction and other post consumption behaviours, few studies examine the discrete emotions that determine tourists’ attachment to heritage sites. Accordingly, this study evaluates the relationships between three important antecedents of tourist satisfaction namely, motivation, discrete emotions and place attachment. Visitors at the Su Nuraxi UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sardinia, Italy were surveyed at the end of their visit. From the 497 useable surveys, the findings indicated that not all positive and negative discrete emotions predict satisfaction and attachment. The emotions of pride, love, gratitude, positive surprise and sadness predict different dimensions of attachment. Only two discrete emotions (positive surprise and regret) predict overall satisfaction. Implications for theory and managerial practice are suggested

Residents’ Engagement and Local Tourism Governance in Maturing Beach Destinations: Evidence from an Italian Case Study

In academia as well as in practice there is increasing interest in governing the complex relationships within destinations. Nevertheless, a gap persists in knowledge on how to valorize and engage the local community in the tourism development process. This paper analyzes residents’ perceptions, attitudes, and involvement towards tourism development in a mature Italian “Sun, Sea and Sand” tourism destination. An Exploratory Factor Analysis was applied to reveal the underlying factors in the data, followed by a K-Means Cluster Analysis that resulted in the identification of four groups of residents representing different levels of interest towards tourism ranging from euphoria to apathy. The findings and conclusions are proposed as useful tools for tourism policymakers in Italy and beyond that are generally unfamiliar with stakeholder management and other strategic management approaches

Tourism Destination Competitiveness in Italy: a Stakeholders’ Perspective

The paper aims at evaluating destination competitiveness of one the world’s leading tourism countries from a stakeholders’ perspective. A survey questionnaire has been submitted to 550 tourism stakeholders from a number of outstanding Italian destinations. Destination competitiveness was analysed at national level, as well as according to type, size and geographic localization of the destinations. Empirical analysis shows that tourism policy, destination management and general infrastructures are the weakest features of the Italian tourism system. They contribute to explain the gap that has emerged between Italy and its main competitors in the last two decades. Unexploited tourism potentials have been found in smaller and inland destinations and in the less developed southern part of the countr

Uncovering knowledge on travel behaviour during {COVID}-19: a convergent parallel mixed-methods study in the context of Italy

Against the background of uncertainty and crisis generated by COVID-19, academics and practitioners have struggled to envision how travelling behaviour will be transformed by the pandemic and when it will resume. Despite its relevance to both theory and practice, current research devoted to this research strand is still in its early stages. This study, reliant on Protection Motivation Theory, was conducted in order to assess the ways in which travellers’ preferences are changing as a result of the coping strategies they adopt to protect themselves from the health crisis. To do this, a convergent parallel mixed method approach (data validation variant) was applied to a sample of 4,539 completed questionnaires, collected in Italy, which included 1,577 usable qualitative answers. A factor-cluster analysis was carried out on the quantitative data. Two factors driving destination choice emerged, namely: “Personal protective equipment, sanitation, and physical distancing” and “Outdoor and under-crowded tourism attractions and destinations”. The cluster analysis divided individuals into three groups: “All-round concerned tourists”, “Middle-concerned tourists”, and “Outdoor-driven tourists”. Finally, a series of chi-square and F-tests revealed that significant differences existed between the clusters, based on socio-demographics and travel-related characteristics (i.e., preferred accommodation facilities and means of transport, geographical scale of travelling, and travel companions). Quantitative results were then merged with qualitative results, allowing us to further deepen our understanding of travel behaviours during the pandemic and the related coping strategies. Contributions to this body of knowledge and managerial implications are discussed and suggestions for further research are given

Profiling airport travellers based on their perceptions, satisfaction and intention to recommend food and beverage services

Abstract: Consuming Food and Beverage is one of the most frequent non-aeronautical activities that passengers enjoy at airports and that significantly contributes to airport profitability. Despite this, there is still limited research aimed at analysing passengers’ consumption behaviour of F&B. With the aim to contribute to this somewhat under investigated research area, this study applies a factor-cluster analysis on a sample of 1,139 airport travellers. Results from factor analysis reveal four underlying dimensions of F&B perceptions (i.e. atmospherics, staff quality, value of money, product quality) and one dimension related to satisfaction and intention to recommend airport-based F&B services (i.e. “satisfaction and intention to recommend”). Cluster analysis applied to the scores of the five factors reveal that three clusters exist (i.e. “enthusiastics”, “neutrals” and “price sensitives”). Chi-squared analysis tests show that significant differences exist based on socio-demographics (i.e. age, education level, employment status), travel-related variables (i.e. frequency of travelling) and flight-related variables (i.e. flying and check-in modality). Contributions to the theory, managerial implications and limitations to the study are discussed, and suggestions for further research are made

The impact of COVID-19 on Italian accommodation: A supply-perspective

Purpose: The current COVID-19 pandemic has created an extremely dynamic and uncertain environment in which businesses find it very difficult to operate, particularly those in the hospitality industry. It is therefore very important to understand which actions hospitality businesses think the private and public sectors should adopt in order to cope with the pandemic and its impact. To facilitate this, this research adopted chaos theory to investigate Italian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the hospitality sector. Methods: A mixed method approach, based on a convergent parallel design data validation variant, was adopted. A survey with open and closed questions was developed and sent to a sample of businesses. 1,040 completed questionnaires were collected and analysed through descriptive statistics; in addition to these usable surveys, 361 open-ended answers were analysed thematically. Results: The results showed that Italian entrepreneurs and managers were over-relying on interventions from the public sector and that there was a lack of business actions being made, thus evidencing a deficit in terms of long-term strategic thinking and the innovation required during such turbulent times. Implications: Although these results cannot be generalised to the whole of the hospitality industry, they shed light on important elements that industry associations should take into account

Disintermediation and User-generated Content: A Latent Segmentation Analysis

This research investigates the perceptions of different groups of consumers for and against the disintermediation of travel agencies also considering the relative power in influencing the tourist's choices exerted by user generated-content (UGC). A web-based survey is carried out in Spain and 961 complete questionnaires was obtained. A latent segmentation was applied on factors identified running an exploratory factor analysis on a list of 16 statements, the use and frequency of use of the Internet to make hotel reservations, if consumers are bookers or lookers, and they have changed hotel reservations after having read UGC. Findings revealed that different clusters exist based on the identified factors and aforementioned variables, and that significant differences between these clusters based on sociodemographic characteristics, their behavior in using the Internet for searching for information and/or buying, and the extent to which they change the accommodation that had been suggested by a travel agent after having read UGC. The generalization of this research is limited by its method of sampling. This study provides further insights into the scientific debate on disintermediation also considering the relative power of UGC in influencing the tourist's choices. Further, it suggests that hotel marketers should use different types of online and offline distribution channels according to the different characteristics of the consumers who use them and of the products they are looking fo