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In this study, the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the financial performance and financial failure risk of the travel agency and tour operator activities sector in Turkey was examined. For this purpose, the financial performance of the sector and the risk of financial failure were analyzed using data from the real sector statistics of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey on the subs-sector of Travel Agencies and Tour Operators Activities for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020. While examining the financial performance of the sector by calculating liquidity ratios, asset utilization ratios, financial structure ratios and profitability ratios;financial failure risk was analyzed using Altman Z Score, Altman Z' Score, Fulmer H Score, Springate Score and Ohlson Score models. In the study, it was revealed that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the travel agency and tour operator activities sector experienced cash shortages, credit debts increased and, accordingly, its financial costs increased and losses were experienced. At the same time, it has been determined that the sector is exposed to the risk of financial failure during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The COVID-19 outbreak has challenged the global tourism sector, and it has posed a significant threat to the existence of tourism business across the globe, especially in emerging economies. This study examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel intermediary businesses in India and their strategies to overcome the present predicament. The study draws on the interviews with 15 executives of selected travel intermediary firms located around the country. The findings emphasise the economic downturn, customer retention policies, resilience strategies and current shifts in the industry. The outcomes also identify the recent tendency towards the traditional travel booking/holiday-booking trend towards traditional intermediaries. This research contributes to a better understanding and implementation of business continuity methods in tourist studies, and its results have practical implications for administrators and governments. Copyright © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
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Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, tour operators have been going through uncertain times as they depend directly on supply-side (e.g. airlines, hotels) and demand-side (e.g. tourists) of tourism as well as on destination management organizations. This study explores resilience strategies made by tour operators in Bangladesh that ultimately helped them survive through the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on qualitative semi-structured interviews with 25 tour operators, findings of the study show that resilience-building depends not only on strategies of tour operators but also on supports from external agencies. The study further shows that a multi-dimensional understanding of resilience strategies is essential in tourism research and proposes that the resilience-building of tour operators can be conceptualized as a three-dimensional mechanism including innate resilience, internally-induced resilience, and externally-induced resilience. The study would facilitate improved resilience strategy and informed policymaking to better address uncertainties during and after a major crisis for tour operators.
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The COVID-19 outbreak has challenged the global tourism sector, and it has posed a significant threat to the existence of tourism business across the globe, especially in emerging economies. This study examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel intermediary businesses in India and their strategies to overcome the present predicament. The study draws on the interviews with 15 executives of selected travel intermediary firms located around the country. The findings emphasise the economic downturn, customer retention policies, resilience strategies and current shifts in the industry. The outcomes also identify the recent tendency towards the traditional travel booking/holiday-booking trend towards traditional intermediaries. This research contributes to a better understanding and implementation of business continuity methods in tourist studies, and its results have practical implications for administrators and governments.
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Purpose>This case study urges the future of visitor economy to rely on regenerative tourism to make tourism systems resilience in the long run.Design/methodology/approach>The paper draws on published research and industry reports to discuss the future visitor economy and its impact on all dimensions of well-being focused on the case of Aotearoa New Zealand.Findings>Results show that post-pandemic tourism transformation must protect and promote local identities, and enhance and enrich visitor experiences with a focus on cultural and natural heritage.Originality/value>The recovery of tourism must not implement regenerative tourism as a new specific type of tourism but as a holistic understanding of tourism futures that encompasses communities and the environment, and where visitors are committed to preserve and protect our natural and socio-cultural environment.
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The Covid-19 pandemic plunged the whole world into a protracted economic crisis, dealing a significant blow to all branches of human activity. Some areas have suffered serious losses, in particular, the tourism industry. This article discusses measures to restore and strengthen the tourism and hospitality sector after the pandemic in the Republic ofUzbekistan. A Safe Tourism program has been developed in the Republic of Uzbekistan;tourists will use tourist services, follow the sanitary and hygienic rules during trips. This project will provide travelling individually, choosing a destination and booking what they need during travelling online. The purpose of the article is to analyse the situation in the world and Uzbekistan as well, during the pandemic, as well as to develop practical measures to rehabilitate the tourism sector from the consequences of the economic crisis associated with the pandemic. New offers are being considered in the tourism market to attract tourists to our country. The primary attention in the paper is focused on the development of electronic platforms for the formation of "online tourism", architectural sights and monuments combining the history of different peoples and religious denominations. The article also provides information about alternative medicine, and lists of several of treatment methods used by our ancestors and actual nowadays. The report summarizes some of the study results, concluding that the tourism business of Uzbekistan needs to radically rethink existing business models through innovation and digitalization of tourism. Examples of the development of such market segments as agro and eco-tourism are given. This segments are currently beginning to develop and are of interest to tourists. It is mentioned that Uzbekistan is among the top 10 countries in terms of security.
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The successful formation and implementation of a gastronomic project in the hotel and restaurant industry require careful business planning and a developed marketing strategy. A gastronomic project is a unique product;it is necessary to highlight its difference from competitors and create a favorable image. Marketing can help achieve the performance of a gastronomic product even with a small number of tourists. The article reveals the definition and features of gastronomic tourism and also shows its beneficial effect on the development of the region. The activities that are necessary for the development of a gastronomic project are given. The main participants in the gastronomic project are listed. In addition to restaurants and hotels, Food and Beverage Businesses, Travel and Hospitality Businesses, and other related businesses take an active role in gastronomic tourism. And as target consumers - various groups of gastronomic tourists. Gastronomic projects in the hotel and restaurant industry, the uncertainty of the external environment, innovative nature, and dependence on a large number of participants require careful analysis and correct assessment of the situation, and as a result of careful business planning and development, marketing strategy. The article lists the main stages of the formation of business planning, lists the main sections of the business plan, as well as the main steps and features of the marketing strategy. As a result, the mechanism of formation and implementation of the marketing strategy of gastronomic projects in the hotel and restaurant industry is considered.
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Purpose - The purpose of this study is to define and analyze the role of virtual reality experiences, travel motivation, travel constraints, and destination image on revisit intention. Design - Exploratory analysis to investigate whether destination image and revisit intention are influenced by virtual reality experience, travel motivation, and travel constraints. Methodology - The respondents in this study were Indonesian tourists who had already visited the destinations under study. The sampling method used was random sampling and the data analysis method used was structural equation modeling. Findings - The results show that destination image can mediate the influence of virtual reality experience on revisit intention. At the same time, travel motivation and travel constraints can have a direct positive influence on destination image. Originality of the research - This study demonstrates the critical significance of virtual reality in pandemic situations to help destinations improve their image and hence increase tourist arrivals, like as in Indonesia
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Poland’s natural and geographical features, including an abundance of rivers and lakes, create favorable conditions for the development of kayaking tourism. Poland is one of the leading European countries in terms of the number of kayaking trails. The aim of this study was to propose indicators for assessing the potential of Poland’s water resources for the development of kayaking activities. This research was pursued in several stages. The number of rivers where kayaking tours are organized was determined in the first stage of the study. Indicators describing the potential of the existing water bodies for the promotion of kayaking tourism were proposed in the second stage. The study produced surprising results. The number of kayaking tour operators has increased considerably in recent years, and new water tourism centers have been established in the vicinity of large urban areas. The popularity of well-established kayaking destinations in Warmia-Masuria, Podlasie and Western Pomerania, i.e., Polish regions with considerable potential for the development of water tourism, has declined. The study revealed that the success of kayaking businesses is presently determined by other factors, and further research is needed to identify these determinants.
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This exploratory study examines the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the travel intention of French people (n = 655) for holidays in summer 2020. Qualitative results show demographic and generation differences in the intention to go on vacation caused by a combination of personal uncertainties due to the pandemic, compulsory state measures and travel bans. Using PLS-SEM, quantitative results indicate that influence of perceived risks and attitude towards Covid-19 led tourists to seek out greater proximity when considering vacation travel. The findings may help tourism managers apply proximity marketing strategies using more local and digital services during global health crises.
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BACKGROUND: The public health burden of travel related diseases (TRDs) remains significant despite the fact that most can be avoided, particularly with the assistance of local tourist handlers such as Safari Tour Operators' (STOs). The STO's are the immediate close contact with tourist groups, and yet their perspectives regarding provision of travel health advice are unknown in Uganda. This study was conducted to determine the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices of STOs regarding TRDs in Uganda. METHODS: A cross sectional study was carried out among selected STOs in Kampala and Wakiso Districts using self-administered questionnaires. RESULTS: The overall level of knowledge about travel health information was inadequate. Although 77.5% of the STOs were aware of some TRDs, the availability of travel health information or database in their organisations was not observed. Knowledge of the current TRDs in Uganda among the STOs was very low, with a few individuals mentioning yellow fever (9.7%), malaria (9.2%), cholera (9.2%), and HIV/AIDs (8.9%). Knowledge related to the sources of the travel health information was also low, with STOs (19.1%) and travel health clinics (14.9%) being mentioned as the main sources. The STOs had mostly positive attitude towards provision of travel health advice related to travellers, and all agreed that STOs should play a big role in the provision of travel health advice. First Aid and simple treatment options were mentioned as practices that STOs conducted to keep the travellers safe. CONCLUSIONS: While the STOs are motivated to do the right thing and provide their clients with sound travel health advice, they have a limited awareness of the actual TRDs in Uganda. The STOs must be educated on pertinent travel health advice, and intra-travel disease and injury management. The responsible government and non-governmental entities in Uganda need to develop educational materials emphasising the relevance of travel health advice.
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Malaria , Travel , Cross-Sectional Studies , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Humans , Malaria/prevention & control , Surveys and Questionnaires , Travel-Related Illness , UgandaABSTRACT
Religion tourism has a significant contribution to Indonesia's national economic development. culture, religion, and economics are covered in the global hospitality business tourism. This research aims to examine the influence of driving motivation, attracting motivations, motivations of Islamic attributes to the loyalty of visits through the satisfaction of visiting, from tourists who come to Indonesia. This article used an empirical study based on research during the COVID 19 pandemic happened. The data research was collected by 298 foreign and national tourists using purposive sampling techniques. The data is analyzed using Path analysis with SPSS software. The motivation of Islamic attributes indirectly affects the loyalty of visits (through the satisfaction of visiting) to tourists before they decide. The results highlight the importance of Islamic attributes related to Indonesia tourism, that contributes several contributions: 1) as a theoretical contribution, religion still takes place in everyone decisions, 2) as a tourism industry, there are many efforts to increase tourist satisfaction and loyalty to their visits, 3) as a policymaking contribution, the Indonesian government needs to improve marketing strategies that will ensure satisfaction and encourage tourists to come again.
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Airbnb hosts' pricing decisions are the choices hosts make when setting the daily rate for their listing of properties. Some Airbnb hosts have a long run approach, charging lower prices to attract more customers and achieve higher occupancy rates, while others have a short-run approach, charging higher prices to maximize the short-run opportunities from the market. The pricing strategy of Airbnb hosts is the key to their eventual success and plays an important role, since it influences their relationship with customers. Airbnb listings can be hard to price. Therefore, each Airbnb host faces an important decision when entering the market: What is the perfect daily rate to charge such that to achieve their goal? Major aspects, such as property location, type (private room, entire home, etc.) and amenities, target customers, other Airbnb competitors, thinking like a guest, the safety and beauty of the neighborhood, seasonality, etc., must be considered. Considering Airbnb's exponential growth since it started in 2007, it is obvious that establishing a suitable pricing strategy is vital for any new host. The present paper uses information from the new listings in 2020 to investigate different hypotheses that explore the pricing strategies of Airbnb hosts for their new listings on the market. This study highlights, on one hand, the great need for Airbnb to encourage dynamic pricing among its new hosts and, on the other hand, the challenges faced by these hosts when they establish the price. An important characteristic of this article is the set of theoretical and methodological implications for the pricing strategy for the new Airbnb new hosts. Furthermore, this document reinforces the idea that the pricing strategy differs between cities and countries, emphasizing the strategy in the case of the new Airbnb new hosts.
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Voluntourism is a relatively new type of tourism considered to contribute to the sustainability of the industry because of its ties to the local community and the destination. In recent years, with the strong impact of covid-19 crisis on the travel economy new practices and directions of tourism development were driven, and the requirement for sustainability has been emphasized. This research investigates the question: What is the potential for voluntourism in the province of Central Finland? Three studies were conducted. Firstly, existing secondary data was investigated, such as online reviews, blogs and media articles regarding voluntourism in Finland. Secondly, a questionnaire was conducted, which targeted municipality actors, such as mayors, business representatives, as well as regional developers and Leader local action groups, rural entrepreneurs, farm owners, village associations and other parties of interest. Thirdly, theme interviews were conducted with key actors about their current activity and interest in voluntourism to discover examples of existing uncoordinated voluntourism activity in the region. The results, which regard the identification of the voluntourism term, the existing concepts in Finland and the activity in Central Finland, revealed both opportunities and challenges. The term is unknown, and it does not cover all the activity that could be developed in Central Finland. The need is evident for multifaced and complex networking, as well as for the planning and funding of concrete piloting actions of voluntourism in the province. The data gathered could also be applied to the building of a national operating model of voluntourism. This study is a part of "The Value Project: Central Finland as a Leading Province for Volunteer Tourism", which is implemented in cooperation between Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences and Central Finland Villages Association, and co-funded by the European Union.
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This study focuses on micro-environmental factors (Casado-Aranda et al, 2021) related to changes in consumers' travel behaviours, arising from COVID-19. It seeks to understand if risk perception associated with COVID had an impact on travel intentions of residents in Portugal and if there are changes, regarding more sustainable choices, in 2021 summer holiday's intentions. Data was collected through an online questionnaire between December 2020 and March 2021 (overlapping the first 3 months of the vaccination process, corresponding to 5% of the full vaccination of the Portuguese (Our World in Data, 2021) and reflects short-term effects (Miao et al, 2021) on the travel behaviours of residents in Portugal (n=610). Almost half of the participants (48,5%) responded positively to the probability of going on holidays in 2021. From these, the majority (64,2%) intended to travel only to domestic destinations, mostly justified by the willingness to help the country (54,5% of those who considered likely to go on holidays) and not as much as a risk perception associated to the pandemic (only referred by 26,8%). As for holiday's consumption intentions, residents expressed concerns that may have a positive impact on the socio economical sustainability of the destinations. In fact, from those who considered likely to travel, 71,6% referred that they will prefer national products, 64,5% will value more than before certified touristic services and 57,4% intends to shop mostly in small traditional business. In terms of environmental sustainability, 59,5% will have an increased concern in reserving touristic services environmentally responsible. Results emphasize the need for reflection on the effective positioning of sustainability issues concerning the tourism sector's future. COVID-19 has created an opportunity for tourism to review and relaunch itself, based on more responsible and sustainable approaches (Brouder, 2020;CasadoAranda et al, 2021;Jones and Confort, 2020). It's important to understand to what extent consumers are willing to assume more sustainable behaviours in their future travel options. These results ask for future research regarding the importance of understanding the difference between tourists' stated intentions and effective actions when it comes to sustainable travel behaviour.
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Wildlife tour operators often visit natural habitats regularly and remote ones less often. Academic researchers and their students often do not have the budget to do so, or to send research assistants. Keepers in wildlife parks and zoos and ecolodge managers often have the opportunity to observe animals almost daily, but may lack the time to sit and watch for many hours. There would appear to be much scope for tour operations and their tourists to participate in citizen science. There are already numerous examples, from day-trippers photographing whale tails on cruises to help monitor migratory individuals, to experiences such as 'Wildlife of the Mongolian Steppes', a two-week citizen science excursion run by the Earthwatch Institute and Denver Zoo to collect data on Mongolian wildlife in cooperation with local researchers. Potential and actual problems of using tourists and tour operators as citizen scientists have been voiced, but there are ways of overcoming at least some of them. Tour operators looking for ways of engaging domestic tourists now that Covid-19 lockdown prevents many international visits may consider the potential for incorporating citizen science activities that offer their guests a food learning experience, a sense of achievement and perhaps a closer look at some species than would normally be possible.
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Purpose>This study aims to incorporate innovative technology (i.e. blockchain) into the design of an online travel agency (B-OTA). The authors accelerated the design of the prototype system through expert interviews to understand the convenience of the blockchain travel and accommodation platform for users. The authors further validated the prototype system design and improved reference capability through usability testing.Design/methodology/approach>Rapid prototyping of B-OTA was carried out through the Delphi method and literature compilation. Design validation of usability testing was conducted using modified systematic evaluation methodology. Prototype system suggestions and improvements were collected through feedback from test subjects.Findings>This study will be helpful for the development of B-OTAs and related technologies. Through usability testing, the authors verified that creating a familiar operating environment for users can reduce users’ fear of unfamiliar technology. The results of this research provide future B-OTA researchers and practitioners with design guidelines.Originality/value>Beyond the blockchain-related technologies used, few studies have reported experiences and interface design of B-OTAs. This study states that, as many human–computer interaction-related papers have pointed out, the basic prerequisite for successful interface design is a clearer definition of users’ needs during operation. User experience and user interface design should provide a good user experience.
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Purpose>This study aims to identify whether halal tourism, as advocated by Mastercard-Crescent Rating guidelines on halal tourism can be considered as supporting sustainable tourism.Design/methodology/approach>Three Mastercard-CrescentRating 2019 Reports which are Global Muslim Travel Index, Indonesia Muslim Travel Index and Halal Travel Frontier were evaluated using a qualitative method supports by NVivo software to analyze text and images. Eight indicators (number of tourists, main motivations, main values, interaction with the community, interaction with the environment, most possible destinations, infrastructure and visitor monitorings) are used to classify halal tourism items into mass tourism (traditional, experiential and sensational) and non-mass (alternative) tourism. The qualitative analysis is supported by correlation analysis of GMTI scores with environmental performance index and the global sustainable competitiveness index scores.Findings>The results showed that halal tourism has unique characters compared with mass and non-mass tourism types. However, halal tourism advocated by CrescentRating unlikely shows similarity with non-mass tourism. It tends to be traditional mass tourism, especially on the perspective of the type of activity, interactions with the environment and local communities, as well as the main values.Originality/value>Previous research suggested the needs of halal tourism and its relations to sustainability. This research fills the gap by showing the halal tourism, in the perspective of Mastercard-CrescentRating is not prioritized toward sustainable tourism by qualitative and quantitative evidences. This study contributes to the knowledge of sustainability from Islamic perspectives and practices and provides a way to the theory of Islamic sustainable tourism. It also suggests improvements to halal tourism guidelines such as the transparency and guarantees that the profit will be used for social welfare, promotion of sustainability using Qur’anic verses and promotion on environmental and social empowerment activities.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the risks associated with lending to tourism and hospitality businesses in the context of COVID-19 restrictions. The author proposes a scoring methodology to assess the quantitative and qualitative factors of borrowers' credit standing based on industry-related risks and the quantification of potential loss given default. The analysis of credit standing draws on actual figures from financial statements of the ten biggest tour operators present in the Russian and Kazakh tourism markets, as well as a survey of experts specialising in bank lending. The findings confirm the proposed hypothesis of a negative impact of the pandemic on the financial condition and credit standing of tourism and hospitality businesses and an increase of banks' credit risks. The trends of lending to tourism and hotel businesses have indicated a contraction of credit supply as a result of the low credit standing of borrowers. An industry analysis shows that losses from the materialisation of credit risks in the group of tourism businesses could be significant for banks. The author concludes that to maintain financial stability and the level of credit in the industry, the state should continue to support the sector, including the provision of soft loans to help finance some items of expenses.
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Purpose>In an adventure tourism context (i.e. sky diving, bungee jumping) the effect of the absence or presence of a travel companion;companion relative ability (i.e. perception of a companion’s possessed resources useful for the achievement of travel goals);and tourist gender on the impact of companion relative ability on tourists’ satisfaction and subjective well-being is examined. This paper aims to investigate the mediating role of satisfaction that combines companion relative ability, tourist gender, tourist satisfaction and subjective well-being.Design/methodology/approach>This research uses three situational experiments. A one-factor between-subjects experimental design was used for Study 1. Studies 2 and 3 used a one-factor between-subjects and a 2 × 3 factorial between-subjects design. Participants included tourists visiting a national park in China assigned to scenarios using an anonymous intercept approach and an online survey.Findings>Having a companion with greater/comparable relative ability produces a greater effect on tourist satisfaction and subjective well-being than having a companion with lower relative ability. Furthermore, the perceived relative ability of a travel companion results in a stronger positive effect on tourist satisfaction and subjective well-being for female tourists. Meanwhile, satisfaction fully mediates the impact of the interaction between companion relative ability and tourist gender on subjective well-being.Originality/value>The current research validates the companion effect on adventure tourists’ satisfaction and subjective well-being. An additional contribution is an investigation into the effect of companion relative ability. The study is the only one the authors are aware of that examines the moderating role of tourist gender on the effect of companion relative ability on tourist satisfaction and subjective well-being and identifies the mechanism that combines companion relative ability, tourist gender, tourist satisfaction and subjective well-being.