'You will like it!' Using open data to predict tourists' responses to a tourist attraction

The increasing amount of user-generated content spread via social networking services such as reviews, comments, and past experiences, has made a great deal of information available. Tourists can access this information to support their decision making process. This information is freely accessible online and generates so-called “open data”. While many studies have investigated the effect of online reviews on tourists’ decisions, none have directly investigated the extent to which open data analyses might predict tourists’ response to a certain destination. To this end, our study contributes to the process of predicting tourists’ future preferences via MathematicaTM, software that analyzes a large set of the open data (i.e. tourists’ reviews) that is freely available on tripadvisor. This is devised by generating the classification function and the best model for predicting the destination tourists would potentially select. The implications for the tourist industry are discussed in terms of research and practice

Marketing, Communications and Rural Business in Developing Countries

AbstractThis chapter introduces the concept of marketing and communications for rural businesses in developing countries. Various cases coming from a range of business activities are included to reveal the practical aspect of relevant theoretical frameworks. For example, this chapter delineates the importance of marketing for rural tourism businesses; the core concepts, theories, models and strategies of marketing to be applied in enhancing rural tourism in developing countries; and the contemporary types of communication in rural marketing. A mix of communication activities to promote rural marketing is provided, which is illustrated through a success story on the use of communication for rural business marketing in a Nigeria. Finally, the communication challenges regarding marketing in rural areas and common government marketing policies are discussed.</p

The affective impact of sightseeing bus tour experiences: using Affective Events Theory (AET) to examine length-of-stay and electronic word-of-mouth

This study investigates the key components and influences of positive affect and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on tourist visits at two developing urban destinations, namely Birmingham, United Kingdom and Valencia, Spain. These two data collection sites yielded evidence gathered from 615 and 627 sightseeing bus tourists, respectively. Through the analytic lens of Affective Events Theory (AET), data were examined, and results verify the significant mediating role of affect in two regards: (1) tourists’ decision to extend their visits and (2) eWOM of sightseeing bus tour experiences. The moderating role of past sightseeing experiences in these relationships was also supported by the data analysis. This paper further strengthens the role of affect in tourism management scholarship as well as expands AET from the work-setting into the tourism context thus marking a new research trail. Practical implications for tourism destination management organizations (DMOs) are also discussed. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Prevalence and spatio-temporal variation of epidermal conditions, deformities and injuries in common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Welsh waters

Epidermal conditions, traumatic marks, deformities, and unusual body pigmentation were visually assessed on common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) using photo-identification and sightings data collected between 2007 and 2018 in Welsh waters. The goals of this study were to describe and categorize external body conditions, in particular, analyse the influence of age, sex, and distribution patterns on the mark prevalence, and assess the temporal and spatial patterns of lesions over time. During 222 boat-based trips, 287 individual dolphins were identified and almost all (99.3%) had skin marks, with individuals carrying between 1 and 12 different types. Linear, conspecific tooth-rake, dark fringe and abraded fin tip were the most prevalent mark types. The investigation of the influence of age, sex, and distribution patterns on skin lesion prevalence showed that adults had significantly higher prevalence compared to calves (t75 = 3.6, p = 0.001, μA = 3.9, μC+J = 2.6), males compared to females (t64 = 2.3, p = 0.03, μF = 4.4, μM = 5.6), whilst “transients” had a significantly higher number of different marks (t31 = 3.3, p = 0.001, “residents” = 3.6; “transients” = 5.9) compared to “residents” within the study area. Eighteen mark types were re-sighted over time. Despite a number of limitations which need to be taken into account, the minimum skin mark prevalence estimates produced in this study provide insights into the health status of common bottlenose dolphins and key evidence on local antagonistic, anthropogenic, infectious and parasitic pressures informing the conservation of this species in Welsh waters. © 2022, The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Deutsche Gesellschaft für Säugetierkunde

A First Analysis of String APIs

International audienceMost programming languages natively provide an abstraction of character strings. However, it is difficult to assess the design or the API of a string library. There is no comprehensive analysis of the needed operations and their different variations. There are no real guidelines about the different forces in presence and how they structure the design space of string manipulation. In this article, we harvest and structure a set of criteria to describe a string API. We propose an analysis of the Pharo 4 String library as a first experience on the topic