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The Evolution Of The Internet And Social Media: A Literature Review, Charles Alves De Castro, Isobel O'Reilly Dr, Aiden Carthy

Articles

This article reviews and analyses factors impacting the evolution of the internet, the web, and social media channels, charting historic trends and highlight recent technological developments. The review comprised a deep search using electronic journal databases. Articles were chosen according to specific criteria with a group of 34 papers and books selected for complete reading and deep analysis. The 34 elements were analysed and processed using NVIVO 12 Pro, enabling the creation of dimensions and categories, codes and nodes, identifying the most frequent words, cluster analysis of the terms, and creating a word cloud based on each word's frequency. The …

Seeking Coherence In A Covid-19 Context: The Maltese Islands During The Pandemic, Maximilian Bonnici, Isabelle Bonnici, Brett Miller, Jack Victory, Parth Panchal, Nathan Williams

International Journal of Islands Research

Malta had a rollercoaster experience with the COVID-19 pandemic. One moment it was doing exceptionally well. The next moment it became a basket case, the second worst in Europe. It was unlikely that a little island would garner an ongoing attention in the international press when each country was focusing on its pandemic problems at home. For this research, we visited Malta and explored first-hand the dichotomy between official statements and what transpires on the ground during a pandemic. Maltese public policy communications rely on a conduit model where policy messages are sent to the public in a one-way direction. …

Portuguese Continental Islands As Coastal And Maritime Tourist Destinations. Ria Formosa: An Exploration Of Its Media Impact Through Marketing, Adalberto Dias De Carvalho, Cristiana Oliveira

International Journal of Islands Research

This paper highlights the tourism promotional impacts of the tourism marketing strategies and the related media activities in relation to the Ria Formosa Natural Park, a set of islands located in the Algarve, in southern Portugal. It seeks to understand which representations are induced in the potential customers of a directly targeted tourist market. For this, we will use the conclusions of scientific studies on the geographical and physical reality of this territory and the content of the messages spread by intentionally directed marketing as well as the news spread by the media. Here we particularly reflect on the prevailing …

Application Of Competitive Intelligence For Insular Territories: Automatic Analysis Of Scientific And Technology Trends To Fight The Negative Effects Of Climate Change, Henri Dou, Pierre Fournie

International Journal of Islands Research

Islands are fragile territories because of their geographical position. As a result, climate impacts can have serious consequences, of which some are irreversible. Therefore, it is necessary to allow insular territories to benefit from the latest scientific and technological advances in combating climate effects. The current article shows how to deal with automatic analysis of scientific information on the one hand, but also its applications via patents. We will analyse the latest scientific results as well as their possible applications using patent analysis. We will also focus on experts, laboratories, and leading companies, that are active on the field. The …

Island Sustainability-Predicted Impacts Of Climate Change On The Tourism Sector In Malta: Recent Experiences And Anecdotes From A Small Island, Andrew Jones Dr, Julian C. Zarb

International Journal of Islands Research

This paper aims to review threats to, and consequences of current climate change predictions on tourism in Malta. The paper reviews recent published research on the impacts of climate change and consequences of such on the physical social and economic character of tourism operations in the Maltese islands. The validity and practicality of management options to tackle the complex nature and juxtaposition between tourism growth, environment and climate change, and tourism destination management are considered, including an evaluation of management responses, the efficacy of local governance and current and future policy options and choices. The research methodology is primarily focused …

The Potential Impacts Of Climate Change On Avitourism To Islands: The Example Of Fair Isle, Scotland, Richard W. Butler Professor

International Journal of Islands Research

This paper discusses the potential impact of climate change upon a specific form of tourism, avitourism (birdwatching), and the resulting effects upon islands dependent upon this form of tourism. Bird populations, distributions and migratory patterns are all vulnerable to the impacts of global warming, extreme weather events and changes in the marine environment, as are the islands which provide their habitat. Avitourism is a lucrative and non-consumptive form of tourism that is of major importance to some small islands, particularly those that have unique indigenous breeding species and/or are visited by migrating species on a regular basis. A number of …

Climate Change-Induced Effects On Beach Degradation And Tourist Behaviour: A Review Of Previous Studies With Potential In An Island Tourism Context, Yen E. Lam González, Carmen Garcia, Matias M. González Hernández, Carmelo J. Leon

International Journal of Islands Research

This article conducts a qualitative meta-analysis of papers addressing the topic of climate change impacts on beach loss and degradation, and its relation to tourist behaviour (destination choice, willingness to re-visit, expenditure and willingness to pay). The main aim is to identify values that can be used in future research works in the context of island tourism. We found that the strong specialisation and fragmentation of data and methods limit the transferability potential of previous research analysing climate-induced effects on beaches and tourist behaviour. Researchers from different fields bring their own conceptual models which often address similar problems but use …

Ijir Table Of Contents Vol. 2, Giovanni Ruggieri, Patrizia Calò, Kevin A. Griffin, Razaq Raj

International Journal of Islands Research

No abstract provided.

Insurance Reserve Prediction: Opportunities And Challenges, Ayman Taha Farahat, Bernard Cosgrave Dr., Wael Rashwan, Susan Mckeever Dr.

Conference papers

Predicting claims’ reserve is a critical challenge for insurers and has dramatic consequences on their managerial, financial and underwriting decisions. The insurers’ capital and their underwriting capacity of further business are impacted by inaccurate reserve estimates. Increasing premium rates and adjusting the underwriting policy decisions may balance the impact of unexpected claims, but will have a negative impact on their business opportunities. To address this, several papers focusing on the prediction of insurance reserve have been published in the literature. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of the research on the insurance reserve prediction techniques in economics and …

School Of Culinary Arts & Food Technology – Winter Newsletter 2021, James Murphy

Other resources

The School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology, TU Dublin, Winter Newsletter captured the many events, research, awards, significant contributions, special civic, community and sustainability activities which the students and staff members of the school have successfully completed up to the Winter period of 2021. The successful completion of these activities would not be possible without the active and on-going support of the 'INSPIRED' friends of Culinary Arts (school supporters) and our school's industry association supporters. We thank you all, consider getting involved in our New Campus (Central Quad, Grangegorman, Dublin 7). Take care and stay safe !!

Reflections On Co-Creating, Developing And Evaluating Virtual Reality Fieldtrips (Vrf): The Student’S Perspective, Catherine Gorman, Jennifer Stewart, Louise Bellew

Conference papers

To ensure graduates have the skill to work within the tourism industry, and spurred on by the paradigm shift in teaching due to Covid 19, this research focused on developing innovative solutions using technology. Using virtual assessment techniques, industry co-created evaluation, and integrated assessment, it explored how virtual field-trips can be developed as part of remote teaching methods. To provide context to the topic of sustainable tourism and technology, a student-led virtual seminar with industry was undertaken linking with TU Dublin Green Week 2021. In place of a fieldtrip using Google Earth and Screen-casto-matic, students created videos incorporating the sustainability …

Social Media Influencers (Smis) In Context: A Literature Review, Charles Alves De Castro, Isobel O'Reilly Dr, Aiden Carthy

Articles

This review focused on three main areas, "Social Media Influencers (SMIs) in Context, The Impact of SMIs on Adolescents, and Consumer Behaviour in a Digital Era – Generation Z in Perspective". This article aims to further the overall understanding of SMIs and outlines the impact of SMIs on adolescents‘ lives. Thus, the main objective of this literature review is to raise awareness within the marketing field about the influence of social media influencers on adolescents and how brands promote their products and content through social media influencers. The review comprised a regular search using electronic journal databases and secondary data …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Temple Stays: A Case Study From Koyasan, Japan, Ricardo Nicolas Progano

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic had a dramatic impact on worldwide religious tourism, with wide repercussions for both visitors and local stakeholders. However, previous studies on disaster management and tourism do not address the impacts on religious destinations. The viewpoints and experiences of religious stakeholders are seldom studied. Therefore, using a qualitative approach, this research aims to examine the impact of COVID-19 on temple stays by utilising Faulkner’s tourism disaster management framework. The case study of the Buddhist complex of Kōyasan (Wakayama Prefecture, Japan) is taken, where 52 temples offer temple stay services. Two rounds of semi-structured interviews were first carried …

Travelling To The Inner Self: Tourism, Buddhism And Sustainability In The Alpine Area, Tatjana Thimm

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This paper examines the interdependencies of tourism, Buddhism and sustainability combining in-depth-interviews with Buddhism experts and non-participant observation in a mixed-method approach. The area under investigation is the Alpine region of Austria, Germany and Switzerland, since it is home to Asian and Western forms of Buddhism tourism alike. Results show that Buddhism tourism as a value-based activity on the one hand is not commercial, but since demand is rising, on the other hand tendencies towards more commercial forms can be observed. As a modest form of activity Buddhism tourism does not shape the landscape of the Alpine area and by …

Impact Of Social Media On Spiritual Tourism In India: An Sem Analysis Of The Critical Factors Impacting On Decision Making, Alpana Agarwal, Komal Kapoor, Sandeep Walia

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Over the last two decades, an exponential rise has been observed in the growth of spiritual tourism where travellers are preferring and visiting places of religious inclination seeking to align their body and mind. In the current fast paced life where stress, anxiety, insecurities and depression have become common place, travelling to certain places that provide connection with the almighty or peace to the traveller has become very important. Spiritual tourism in India has always been very highly valued and is active as an industry in a country known as the land of temples and gods. Many globally popular destinations …

Experience Dimensions Of Religious Festivals: Religion And Spirituality At Paryaya, Udupi, India, Senthilkumaran Piramanayagam, Partho Pratim Seal

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Festivals and events have been found to be an important motivation for travel, and are a significant component in a destination offering. All religious festivals, irrespective of religion and tradition, aim to develop spirituality. Experience is the core of festivals and events, and the experience is multifaceted. This research aims to analyse the impact of various experience dimensions of religious festivals on participants’ overall festival experience and behavioural intention at a biennial festival called ‘Paryaya’ held at Udupi, India, using the concept of the experience economy. The researchers have adopted a quantitative research approach for the study. The result obtained …

A New Look At The Arba’Een Mega-Event From The Perspective Of Iraqis As The Host Community, Ali Asghar Shalbafian, Neda Zarandian

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The present study explores the impacts of the Arba’een event from the perspective of the inhabitants in the host community, Iraq, as the key stakeholders. Arba’een procession is one of the forms of pilgrimage that has expanded significantly in recent years and has a special place among Muslims. Due to the huge number of pilgrims, this phenomenon can be considered as a mega-event with different effects. One of the best judges of these effects is the host community. To evaluate the judgements, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 Iraqis selected via convenience snowball sampling. The data collected from the interview …

Exploring The Motivations Of Millennials Opting For Temple Stays In India, Aruditya Jasrotia, Pooja Choudhary, Parvinder Kour, Vibha Yadav

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Millennials are the most promising consumer segment of the tourism industry and the fast pace of development and emergence of newer trends has led to a drastic change in consumer behaviour. Temple Stays are emerging as a significant source of tourism for sites that are transforming traditional religious practices into a complete hybrid of leisure and recreation. Considering this, the current research is framed to analyse the factors that motivate Millennials to undertake spiritual tourism activities, with special focus on Temple Stay programs at various Buddhist sites / monasteries in India and the revisit intentions of Millennials. The research is …

Can Spiritual Tourism In India Be Marketed Properly? Learnings From An Analysis Of Twitter, Veerasamy Senthil, Susobhan Goswami

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The tourism sector is an economic powerhouse for any country and tourism growth improves the quality of people’s lives by providing employment of diverse kinds. Electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) has emerged to become a highly influential strategy of modern marketing and a significant medium as harnessed by travel marketers. Sentiments are a representation of human emotions and present a wide spectrum of varying intensity. The objectives of this research paper are to examine what propels a spiritual traveller towards Indian sites of interest, to appreciate the function of beliefs and where does it yield fruits? It also analyses the …

The Role Of Communication Technologies In Restructuring Pilgrimage Journeys, Reni Polus, Neil Carr

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage has evolved alongside the evolution of communication technology. Emergent communication technology is changing how people present themselves and tell others about their experiences, including within the context of pilgrimages. Building upon this recognition, this paper examines how evolving communication technologies have changed pilgrimage using Victor Turner’s concepts of rite of passage and communitas. This conceptual paper recognises that technologies, such as the internet, mobile phones and social media, all influence the three stages of the pilgrimage ritual process: separation, liminality, and reintegration. This paper provides a conceptual clarification of the differences between how the medieval and the 21st Century …

Revisiting The Inner Self In Times Of Debilitating Distress: Gateways For Wellness Through Spiritual Tourism, Manpreet Arora, Roshan Lal Sharma, Sandeep Walia

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on our bodies, minds and souls. Having suffered it for more than a year now we know how crucial it is to tackle the pandemic at physical, psychological and spiritual levels. We have well-established Standard Operating Procedures alongside vaccines to deal with it at physical level, but equally crucial are mental and spiritual problems caused by COVID-19 (Chopra, 2020).

This paper seeks to explore certain gateways and possibilities of dealing with distress, despair, anxiety, angst, trauma and disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in diverse arenas of human activities to ascertain how crucial …

Women’S Experiences In Religious Tourism: An Investigation Into Women’S Involvement In Sabarimala Pilgrimage, Kerala, Shyju P.J., A. Vinodan, S. Meera, Jithendran Kokkranikal

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Preparations for the Sabarimala pilgrimage involves devotees observing a 41 day period of austerity (vrata) during which they practice an ascetic life. Women between the age of 10 and 50 do not visit the shrine at Sabarimala due to long-established customs. However, women do play an important role during the 41-day austerity observed by family members preparing for the pilgrimage, which could be described as a non-participant involvement in the pilgrimage. While there have been many studies on the spiritual and secular experiences of pilgrims, research on this unique form of non-participant involvement in pilgrimages is not found especially in …

Drivers Of Spiritual Tourism: A Destination-Specific Approach, Bipithalal Balakrishnan Nair, M. R. Dileep

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

With a rising number of visitors worldwide, spiritual tourism is becoming more relevant than ever before. Spiritual tourism is defined as travel to discover the goal and significance of one’s life, thus, self-experiences are crucial for the transition of a person’s mind, body, and soul. Because of this, both the destination chosen and the inspiration and intention of the tourists involved play central roles. However, existing research on spiritual tourism mainly focuses on classification and motivation and explicitly focuses on the demand side. Given the recent increase of participation in spiritually-focused tourism, it is important to accurately grasp the practical …

Ijrtp Volume 9(V) Table Of Contents & Editorial, Sandeep Walia, Saurabh Kumar Dixit, Razaq Raj, Carlos Fernandes, Kevin A. Griffin

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

No abstract provided.

Dark Side Of Black Friday: The Major Drawbacks With This Shopping Bonanza, Sarah Schiffling, Nikolaos Valantasis Kanellos

Articles

Black Friday is upon us again. It’s one of the biggest shopping events of the year, although there are mixed signals about how successful it is likely to be in 2021. One recent study found that only a third of consumers plan to take part. The financial strain of COVID-19 is still evident, and inflation running at its highest level in a decade.

All the same, consumer confidence has been rising. According to GlobalData, shoppers are set to spend nearly £9.2 billion in the four days from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. This would still be a big increase …

Real-Time Bidding Campaigns Optimization Using User Profile Settings, Luis Miralles-Pechuán, Muhammad Atif Qureshi, Brian Mac Namee

Articles

Real-time bidding is nowadays one of the most promising systems in the online advertising ecosystem. In this study, the performance of RTB campaigns is improved by optimising the parameters of the users' profiles and the publishers' websites. Most studies concerning optimising RTB campaigns are focused on the bidding strategy, i.e., estimating the best value for each bid. However, this research focuses on optimising RTB campaigns by finding out configurations that maximise both the number of impressions and the average profitability of the visits. An online campaign configuration generally consists of a set of parameters along with their values such as …

An Investigation Of The Personality Traits That Could Identify Vulnerable Young People Who Will Be Susceptible To Undue Influence By Social Media Influencers (Smis) - 7th Sim (Società Italiana Marketing) Doctoral & Research Colloquium, Charles Alves De Castro, Isobel O'Reilly Dr, Aiden Carthy

Other Resources

Presentation for the 7th SIM Doctoral & Research Colloquium organised by the Società Italiana Marketing (Italian Marketing Society) and University of Salento in Italy. Experts and research colleagues reviewed my presentation and proposal. I received feedback about many aspects of my research regarding research questions, clarity, focus, methodology and other elements. This is important to enhance the quality of my research and makes it relevant to the scientific field.

Shifting The Eu Taxonomy From Theory To Practice: A Review Of The Literature Highlighting Potential Academic Contributions To Its Adoption, Implementation, And Impact, Dylan Kirby, Sandra Thompson, Cormac H. Macmahon

Articles

The EU Taxonomy seeks to identify those sustainable economic activities, thereby supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation. Recent legislation underpinning the EU Taxonomy, such as the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), highlight the urgency for academic contributions that might shed light on its operationalisation. At this embryonic stage in the Taxonomy’s lifecycle, there is potential for the academic community to contribute to understanding its implications. Hence, we undertake a thematic analysis of predominantly, but not exclusively, professional literature to prioritise potential empirical research or conceptualisations that might offer insights for finance and accounting professionals, …

Factors Affecting Satisfaction And Revisit-Intention Of Pilgrimage Tourists: Bà Chúa Xứ Shrine In Vietnam, Bang Nguyen Viet, Si Nguyen Van

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This study aims to define and measure key factors of the satisfaction and revisit-intention of pilgrimage tourists to Bà Chúa Xứ Shrine in Vietnam. The study involved both qualitative and quantitative methods: (i) qualitative research was carried out through focus group discussions with pilgrimage tourists, and (ii) quantitative research was conducted through interviews with 288 pilgrimage tourists. The results showed that intentions to revisit the Ba Chua Zu Shrine was directly affected by satisfaction, destination image, cultural contact, and spirituality. The results reveal that pilgrimage destination image, spirituality and cultural contact had positive and direct significant influences on revisit-intention and …

Motivation And Experience Of Sacred Tomb Pilgrimage: Learnings From The Sasak Tribe Lombok, M Sobry, Teti Indrawati Purnamasari

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

This study analyses the motivations and experiences that drive the pilgrimage to the sacred tombs of the Lombok Sasak Tribe. This sacred graves pilgrimage is a tradition that has survived from the past and a heritage that passes from generation to generation. The study uses a constructivist paradigm with a phenomenological qualitative approach. The research locations are at the tomb of Almagfurlah TGKH Muhammad Zainuddin Abdul Madjid, in Pancor East Lombok; The Batu Layar Tomb in West Lombok; The Ketaq Tomb, Central Lombok; Bintaro Tomb in Mataram City and; the Tomb at the Bayan Beleq, Bayan in North Lombok. The …