Analysis of the impact of length of stay on the quality of service experience, satisfaction and loyalty

Although length of stay is a relevant variable in destination management, little research has been produced connecting it with tourists' post-consumption behaviour. This research compares the post-consumption behaviour of same-day visitors with overnight tourists in a sample of 398 domestic vacationers at two Mediterranean heritage-and-beach destinations. Although economic research on length of stay posits that there are destination benefits in longer stays, same-day visitors score higher in most of the post-consumption variables under study. Significant differences arise in hedonic aspects of the tourist experience and destination loyalty. Thus, we propose that length of stay can be used as a segmentation variable. Furthermore, destination management organisations need to consider length of stay when designing tourism policies. The tourist product and communication strategies might be adapted to different vacation durations

The role of place branding and image in the development of sectoral clusters: the case of Dubai

This paper contextualizes how place branding and image influence the development of Dubai’s key sectoral clusters, including the key determinants of growth and success under the impression of Porter’s cluster theory. The approach is exploratory and of a qualitative inductive nature. Data was collected through conducting 21 semi-structured interviews with Dubai’s marketing/communication managers and stakeholders. Findings suggest that Dubai’s traditional clusters, namely, trading, tourism and logistics that have strong place branding and image show strong signs of success owing to Dubai’s geographical location (i.e., physical conditions). Among the new clusters, the financial sector is also benefitting from place branding. The results suggest that the success of traditional clusters have a positive spill over effect on the new clusters, in particular on construction and real estate. For policy makers it is worth to note that the recent success of the financial services cluster in Dubai will have positive impact on both, the traditional as well new clusters. The marketing and brand communication managers must consider the correlation and interplay of strength of activities amongst trading, tourism and logistics clusters and its implication while undertaking place branding for clients in their sector

Determination of pH or lactate in fetal scalp blood in management of intrapartum fetal distress: randomised controlled multicentre trial

Objective To examine the effectiveness of pH analysis of fetal scalp blood compared with lactate analysis in identifying hypoxia in labour to prevent acidaemia at birth

The experience co-creation in smart tourism destinations: a multiple case analysis of European destinations

In the last years, destinations have started to redefine their role and their entrepreneurial logics, involving tourists as active co-creators of their own experiences and considering new technologies as the main tools for defining tourism products. It implies the birth of a new kind of destinations, the smart tourism destinations (STDs), in which new technologies are so extensively embedded to influence tourism experiences, enhance destinations’ competitiveness and favour tourism development projects. Starting from these considerations, the main purpose of this paper is to contribute to the recent debate on innovation in tourism, by proposing an interpretative framework able to explain the way in which technological components in a STD may improve the co-creation of tourism experiences. Empirical analysis on two European STD best practices, Venice and Salzburg, conducted triangulating qualitative methods, reveals that the smart approach adopted by STDs improves the co-creation of tourism experiences by encouraging the interaction with tourists, increasing their active participation during the experience, and promoting the sharing of the experience among the tourists themselves. The paper provides interesting insights for destination managers and policy makers on how they should use innovative technologies in STDs to improve the experience co-creation