Being away or being there:British holidaymakers' motivations and experiences visiting Alanya, Turkey

This thesis investigates British holidaymakers' motivations, behaviours and experiences visiting Alanya, Turkey, based on the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data gathered through structured self-administrated questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. Employing a convenience sample of 505 holidaymakers visiting a coastal holiday resort in the Mediterranean, the thesis provides a destination-based analysis of the tourist experience process in three analytical phases. Utilising qualitative and quantitative techniques, the study investigates and addresses, in particular, two specific issues: Motivators, constraints and facilitators of holiday choice; and evaluation of holiday/destination behaviour and experiences. The underlying characteristic of Alanya holiday was found to be seeking 'fun in the sun'. ‗Being away‘ was more important than ‗being there‘ as long as sunny weather and the 'right price‘ were guaranteed. Coastal pleasures dominated the holiday activity, and social and cultural contacts were also significant. Motivations, constraints and facilitators were significant determinants of holiday choice and holiday activity patterns. Supporting consumption experiences were the facilitators of peak experiences. Both peak and supporting consumption experiences were crucial in combination for holidaymakers‘ satisfaction. Preferences and perceptions indicated both similarities and differences between holidaymakers. Differences that are rather more significant were based on repeat visitation patterns. Socio-demographic characteristics were more significant for pre-and on-site experience phases. Trip characteristics were more significant for on-site- and post-experience phases. This study adds substantially to our understanding of tourist motivations, behaviours and experiences and provides additional evidence in terms of their complexity and heterogeneity. Demonstrating the relevance of peak touristic experiences and supporting consumption experiences, the study highlighted the importance of the constraints/facilitators, on the structural, interpersonal and intrapersonal levels. Using mixed methods research design and studying three phases of the tourist experience process simultaneously, the study provides both a theoretical and a methodological base for future research. The study has important implications for the management and marketing of destination experiences. This study calls for cross-national research involving its replication with random sampling in the same resort area, and other tourist resorts in the Mediterranean

Local authorities\u27 and NGOs\u27 perceptions of tourism development and urbanization in Alanya

Tourism development and urbanization have economic, socio-cultural and environmental impacts on host destinations. With the recognition of the importance of these impacts on host perceptions and attitudes, numerous studies have been conducted towards tourism development. However, resident’s perceptions studies of tourism development are superfluous; there are a few empirical studies on local authorities’ and non-governmental organizations’ (NGOs) perceptions of tourism development. In this regard, this study aims to determine the local authorities’ and NGOs’ perceptions of tourism development and urbanization in Alanya with an empirical study. The major findings have shown that both local authorities and NGOs strongly agree that tourism certainly improves the quality of life in the region, the establishment of an integrated management approach is essential and that the tourism development should be promoted in qualitative perspective. The findings indicated that the planning of further tourism development and urbanization should be encouraged within the aim to offer a higher quality of life for hosts and guests

Do Tourists Change Their International Travel Plans in Times of Terror?

This study presents the preliminary findings of a broader investigation into the level of concern regarding international travel at times of terrorist attacks. The results indicate that there is not a significantly different pattern in demographic characteristics regarding the level of concern. The preliminary findings reveal a strong association between media searching behavior regarding terrorist attacks and level of concern in international travel. Tourists are selective in their destination choice with a tendency to travel more developed destinations. However, tourists demonstrate that they do not change their trip once destination choice is made even in the case of terrorist attacks. Behavioral resistance differs slightly between the most risky and least risky destination choices. Industry specific accessible research such as this enhances theoretical knowledge about resilient or resistant tourists and informs practitioners about how to formulate strategic responses to disruptions to maintain the level of tourist arrivals

Residents as destination advocates: The role of attraction familiarity on destination image

Purpose – Emphasizing the role of residents as destination advocates, this study investigates the influence of residents’ familiarity with, and, favorability of attractions on destination image. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methods research strategy was employed using fifteen individual in-depth interviews and a survey questionnaire with a sample of N=364. The study utilizes an attraction familiarity index to classify respondents into four groups based on high, average, and low familiarity and examines the characteristics of each in the relationship between informational familiarity, experiential familiarity, and favorability and destination image. Findings – The study reveals resident perceptions of attractions within the tourism product assembly framework and illustrates the positive relationship between the residents’ level of familiarity with, and favorability of visitor attractions and destination image. Further, the findings also demonstrate the significant role of demographic characteristics such as gender and length of residency in the area. The study findings suggest that temporary residents can function as destination advocates. Research limitations/implications – Employees and students from a prominent northeastern university were sampled, representing local residents and temporary residents respectively. While appropriate and fairly representative of the target market for the research questions in this investigation, more work is required to replicate this study utilizing representative samples across different locations. Practical implications – Evidence from our study indicates the importance of marketing to residents as they serve as destination advocates. In particular, the residents’ familiarity with and favorability of attractions is critical to positive destination image. The research offers insights into the identification of potential segments of residents that require special attention. Originality/value – Limited existing research investigates the role of residents as destination advocates, especially in the context of destinations that lack a primary tourism attraction but have a well-balanced mix of attractions

Profiling food festivals by type, name and descriptive content: a population level study

Purpose: This research aims to classify and describe food festivals and examine the patterns in food festival naming and festival descriptions in online media. Design: This research represents the first population-level empirical examination of food festivals in the United States using a purpose-built dataset (N=2626). Methodology includes text mining to examine food festival communications. Findings: Food festival size varies across local and regional spheres within the country. Food festivals employ geographical (place-, destination-based) associations in their names. Food festivals’ descriptions and online communications showcase a welcoming environment predominantly emphasizing family-oriented and live entertainment experiences. Food festivals across the country show common naming patterns based on the elements of longevity, recurrence, location name, brand name, geographic scope, theme, and occasion. Originality/Value: The study makes an original contribution to the theory and practice by identifying festival forms, styles, functions, and their diversity. A population level examination of food festivals does not currently exist. Therefore, this research will serve as a foundation for scholarly work in the future and as a benchmark for evaluating current and future researc

Hotels as Critical Hubs for Destination Disaster Resilience: An Analysis of Hotel Corporations’ CSR Activities Supporting Disaster Relief and Resilience

Disaster management has begun to examine the unique role of the private sector in disaster relief. The hotel and lodging industry is an especially critical infrastructure for community disaster relief and resilience, providing many lifeline services in addition to core skills and competencies contributing to the community’s social and human capital. Social and human capital empower the community to better cope with disturbance, and companies’ efforts to build social and human capital are often tied to their corporate social responsibility (CSR) management systems. A framework was developed to evaluate the management system maturity of the hotel and lodging industry’s CSR management for disaster relief and resilience. An analysis of three hotel and lodging corporations was performed to understand the current state of the industry. While many hotel properties are engaging in CSR activities during disaster relief, the analysis revealed that corporate management systems have room for maturation and growth to support the resilience of their community

Gastro-tourism well-being: The interplays of salient and enduring determinants

Purpose-This research developed and tested an integrated structural gastro-tourism well-being model consisting of food-related lifestyle and leisure attitude as precursor of the consumption enjoyment of the gastro-tourism experience with satisfaction, life domain outcomes, tourism autobiographical memory and life satisfaction as outcomes of the consumption enjoyment. Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual model was assessed with quantitative data collected from tourists based on their deliberate and incidental gastro-tourism experiences (N=617). Findings – Findings indicated that enjoyment of gastro-tourism consumption experience significantly influences satisfaction, life domain outcomes, life satisfaction, and tourism autobiographical memory. Life domain outcomes and tourism autobiographical memory have enduring influence on life satisfaction over time. Food-related lifestyle and leisure attitude are salient determinants of gastro-tourism well-being with their significant influence on consumption experience. Satisfaction with consumption experiences contributes to life satisfaction regardless of the experience type (deliberate versus incidental). Research limitations/implications – This research extends our knowledge of tourism consumption experience in the domain of gastro-tourism as well as quality of life or well-being. Originality/value – This research has offered an integrated framework to measure the interplays of salient and enduring determinants of gastro-tourism well-being. Future studies will benefit from this research as a baseline model linking consumption experience and life satisfaction

Brand personality of Balikesir province as a destination: Analysis of Wikipedia contents

In tourism, it is extremely important to benefit from information technologies and web pages in order to achieve the management and marketing goals of destinations, to create awareness, information and convenience in the purchasing preferences of potential tourists who constitute the target groups. In channels with open-source features such as Wikipedia, page visitors with the potential to become tourists are provided with the opportunity to access all kinds of information about destinations and learn what destinations promise. The content created on Wikipedia is enriched with information added by users, and the perception of destination brand personality created with the support of relevant public institutions and academics offers the advantage of increasing the loyalty of tourism stakeholders, especially potential tourists. In this study, by taking into account the brand personality model of Aaker in Wikipedia, an area that seems to be ignored in academic circles, the content analysis of the Turkish and English pages in the Wikipedia for Balıkesir center and its districts as a tourism destination was carried out by using the Nvivo Program. According to the findings of the research, it has been concluded that there are differences in the Turkish and English pages of the contents for the Balıkesir destination, the images are shared at a very low level, the content for tourism attractions is quite inadequate, the expressions that will reveal the personality of the destination are almost non-existent, and the page contents needs to be improved. Keywords: Balıkesir, destination, brand personality, Wikipedia, content analysis Bir destinasyon olarak Balıkesir ilinin marka kişiliği: Vikipedi içeriklerinin analizi Özet Turizmde destinasyonların yönetim ve pazarlama hedeflerine ulaşabilmesi, hedef kitlesini oluşturan potansiyel turistlerde farkındalık, bilgi birikimi ve satın alma tercihlerinde kolaylık yaratılabilmesi için bilgi teknolojilerinden ve web sayfalarından yararlanmak günümüzde son derece önemlidir. Açık kaynak özelliği gösteren Vikipedi gibi mecralarda destinasyonlar hakkında her tür bilgiye ulaşma ve destinasyonların vaad ettiklerini öğrenme fırsatı, turist olma potansiyeli bulunan sayfa ziyaretçilerine sunulmaktadır. Vikipedi’de oluşturulan içerikler, kullanıcıların eklemledikleri bilgilerle zenginleştirilmekte, ilgili kamu kuruluşlarının, akademisyenlerin destekleriyle oluşturulan destinasyon marka kişiliği algısı başta potansiyel turistler olmak üzere turizm paydaşlarının yer bağlılığını artırma avantajı sunmaktadır. Yapılan çalışma ile akademik çevrelerde göz ardı edildiği görülen bir alan olan Vikipedi’de Aaker’in marka kişiliği modeli gözetilerek, bir turizm destinasyonu olarak Balıkesir merkez ve ilçelerine ait Vikipedi içeriklerinin Türkçe ve İngilizce sayfalarının analizi Nvivo Programı\u27ndan faydalanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmadan elde edilen bulgulara göre; Balıkesir destinasyonuna yönelik içeriklerin Türkçe ve İngilizce sayfalarında farklılıklar olduğu, oldukça düşük düzeyde görseller paylaşıldığı, turizm çekiciliklerine yönelik içeriğin oldukça yetersiz, destinasyon kişiliğini ortaya koyacak ifadelerin yok denecek kadar son derece az olduğu, sayfa içeriklerinin geliştirilmesi gerektiği sonuçlarına ulaşılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Balıkesir, destinasyon, marka kişiliği, vikipedi, içerik, içerik analiz

Brand personality of Balikesir province as a destination: Analysis of Wikipedia contents

In tourism, it is extremely important to benefit from information technologies and web pages in order to achieve the management and marketing goals of destinations, to create awareness, information and convenience in the purchasing preferences of potential tourists who constitute the target groups. In channels with open-source features such as Wikipedia, page visitors with the potential to become tourists are provided with the opportunity to access all kinds of information about destinations and learn what destinations promise. The content created on Wikipedia is enriched with information added by users, and the perception of destination brand personality created with the support of relevant public institutions and academics offers the advantage of increasing the loyalty of tourism stakeholders, especially potential tourists. In this study, by taking into account the brand personality model of Aaker in Wikipedia, an area that seems to be ignored in academic circles, the content analysis of the Turkish and English pages in the Wikipedia for Balıkesir center and its districts as a tourism destination was carried out by using the Nvivo Program. According to the findings of the research, it has been concluded that there are differences in the Turkish and English pages of the contents for the Balıkesir destination, the images are shared at a very low level, the content for tourism attractions is quite inadequate, the expressions that will reveal the personality of the destination are almost non-existent, and the page contents needs to be improved. Keywords: Balıkesir, destination, brand personality, Wikipedia, content analysis Bir destinasyon olarak Balıkesir ilinin marka kişiliği: Vikipedi içeriklerinin analizi Özet Turizmde destinasyonların yönetim ve pazarlama hedeflerine ulaşabilmesi, hedef kitlesini oluşturan potansiyel turistlerde farkındalık, bilgi birikimi ve satın alma tercihlerinde kolaylık yaratılabilmesi için bilgi teknolojilerinden ve web sayfalarından yararlanmak günümüzde son derece önemlidir. Açık kaynak özelliği gösteren Vikipedi gibi mecralarda destinasyonlar hakkında her tür bilgiye ulaşma ve destinasyonların vaad ettiklerini öğrenme fırsatı, turist olma potansiyeli bulunan sayfa ziyaretçilerine sunulmaktadır. Vikipedi’de oluşturulan içerikler, kullanıcıların eklemledikleri bilgilerle zenginleştirilmekte, ilgili kamu kuruluşlarının, akademisyenlerin destekleriyle oluşturulan destinasyon marka kişiliği algısı başta potansiyel turistler olmak üzere turizm paydaşlarının yer bağlılığını artırma avantajı sunmaktadır. Yapılan çalışma ile akademik çevrelerde göz ardı edildiği görülen bir alan olan Vikipedi’de Aaker’in marka kişiliği modeli gözetilerek, bir turizm destinasyonu olarak Balıkesir merkez ve ilçelerine ait Vikipedi içeriklerinin Türkçe ve İngilizce sayfalarının analizi Nvivo Programı\u27ndan faydalanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmadan elde edilen bulgulara göre; Balıkesir destinasyonuna yönelik içeriklerin Türkçe ve İngilizce sayfalarında farklılıklar olduğu, oldukça düşük düzeyde görseller paylaşıldığı, turizm çekiciliklerine yönelik içeriğin oldukça yetersiz, destinasyon kişiliğini ortaya koyacak ifadelerin yok denecek kadar son derece az olduğu, sayfa içeriklerinin geliştirilmesi gerektiği sonuçlarına ulaşılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Balıkesir, destinasyon, marka kişiliği, vikipedi, içerik, içerik analiz