ABSTRACT
This study explores the relative importance of epistemic value, value for money and perceived safety in visitors’ evaluation of a foreign destination. Based on a sample of 248 international tourists who visited Zanzibar between July 2021 and January 2022, the study shows that the three factors are significantly associated with overall satisfaction, subsequently affecting the visitor’s willingness to recommend the destination. However, perceived safety and epistemic value also directly affect the willingness to recommend. Regarding importance, epistemic value is the most important antecedent of the willingness to recommend, while the value for money is the least important. The results imply that as destinations strive to attract international visitors following the pandemic, their marketing communications should emphasize epistemic value, overall satisfaction, and safety. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
ABSTRACT
The relationships between destination image and tourist satisfaction and loyalty have been studied extensively through surveys. This study aims to measure these constructs through big data analytics by going one step further in a line of research undertaken 8 years ago. The data source is content generated by travelers and shared on social media regarding the 10 districts of the city of Barcelona (Catalonia): more than 750,000 online travel reviews (OTRs) hosted on the Airbnb platform. This study also explores a relationship demonstrated by numerous researchers through surveys: the impact of destination image on tourist loyalty through satisfaction. However, the results are not satisfactory due to the great weight of the lodging price variable that unbalances the relationship. For example, the first district in the ranking of cognitive image categories is also the first in the ranking of average scores and of positive feelings and moods. However, the last two districts in the ranking of cognitive categories are the first in the rankings of satisfaction, positive recommendations, and cheaper prices. Additionally, the findings show that the location of the accommodation significantly determines the theme of the OTR narrative. Moreover, the results confirm previous studies on the exaggerated positivity of peer-to-peer accommodation scores: only 0.92% of 15,625 rated properties had negative overall scores.
ABSTRACT
Nature-based tourism (NBT) has become a popular tool for developing countries to achieve economic growth by the non-destructive use of their natural resources. COVID-19 has caused severe financial impacts on tourism-dependent areas. Revitalizing NBT is needed for economic recovery in those regions and can also help deal with mental health issues worldwide. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (ZNFP), the first national park created in China, was selected to examine the important factors that influence visitor satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic and the relationship between satisfaction and visitors' environmentally responsible behavior (ERB) intention. The authors collected 788 onsite and online questionnaires from visitors to ZNFP during June–September 2020. This paper reveals previously underestimated factors and offers practical applications for park development at ZNFP and other NBT destinations. Visitors had a high level of satisfaction with the natural scenery of the park but were relatively dissatisfied with price reasonableness, park services, activities and events, and artificial attractions. Younger visitors, especially students, and well-educated visitors looking for environmental education opportunities tended to have lower satisfaction rates. Visitor satisfaction may have a positive but limited influence on promoting visitors' ERB intentions. We propose group-specific strategies for national park managers to attract more visitors and increase their length of stay.
ABSTRACT
Outdoor adventure parks are highly important for contemporary society, having positive social, economic, and environmental impacts. Nevertheless, to fulfill their positive role in society, and to be economically sustainable, such parks need to nurture visitor loyalty. Drawing on previous fundamental research results that ascertain that customer satisfaction has a positive influence on customer loyalty, the objective of the current research is to explore the specific elements of outdoor adventure park visitors' satisfaction, within an applied research framework, in order to emphasize those attributes that have a significant impact on visitors' loyalty. For that, an online survey was conducted among the visitors of Arsenal Park, Romania, one of the largest adventure parks in south-eastern Europe. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Our results show that visitors' satisfaction with respect to the safety and equipment involved in amusement services, the ambience of the park's food and beverage facilities, and the quality of the food are the most important satisfaction constituents for enhancing visitor loyalty in the context of outdoor adventure parks. By formatively specifying the exogeneous variables of our model (in contrast with the omnipresent reflective measurements used in previous studies), and by employing the importance-performance map analysis (IPMA), we clearly emphasize those particular aspects that are under the control of outdoor adventure parks' managers, which significantly impact their visitors' loyalty, as well as the way in which managers can clearly identify those attributes that need improvements.