Questioning The Inclusivity Of Events: The Queer Perspective, Faith Ong, Clifford Lewis, Oscar Vorobjovas-Pinta

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Event programmes are typically designed with a target audience in mind, and such design can inherently signal inclusion or exclusion of marginalised segments. This is particularly the case for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) individuals, whose sexual and gender identities position them as an invisible minority on the periphery of society. Given the role of events in building community spirit, it is essential to ensure all members of a community feel able to participate in order to create a sense of belonging, fulfilling Sustainable Development Goals of inclusivity in community. Through the lens of Social Dominance Theory …

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 …

Economic Forecast Of Grand Rapids, Mi, Zachary Fillmore

Honors Projects

The purpose of this report is to analyze the current state of the Grand Rapids, MI economy, as well as provide a ten-year forecast of the city’s economic condition. Economic forecasting is the process of predicting the future condition of an economy using the combination of several indicators. The indicators being used for this report will include population growth, economic production, wages, industry specific production trends, unemployment rates, home values, occupancy rates, rent forecasts, education, and tourism. From intensive research and data analysis, a snapshot of the economic condition of Grand Rapids in ten years will be displayed. Additionally, several …

The Influence Of Social Media On The Tourism Industry: A Content Analysis Of Culinary Tourism Brands Via Instagram, Angela White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The tourism industry in the United States is constantly changing and being influenced by social media, specifically Instagram. Culinary brands use Instagram to advertise their restaurants and dishes in a creative, visual way. As a result, Instagram is now being used as a tool by tourists and both potential and current customers to share their dining experiences and find these locations based on the visual appeal. This study provides a content analysis of Instagram account information and photo composition within eight popular culinary tourism destinations by examining the strategies used by the accounts. 50 randomly selected photos were used from …

The Importance And Role Of Digital Marketing In The Preference Of Touristic Products In Turkiye, Gul Yilmaz, H. Neyir Tekeli

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

OVERVIEW

The rapid development of technology all over the world, the widespread use of the Internet in all areas has enabled consumers to benefit from digital marketing in their product purchasing activities. Tourism companies use digital platforms and channels for promotional purposes in touristic product marketing to reach potential tourists. Young people who are familiar with the technology make their hotel reservation or car rental preferences for the time period they need through digital platforms. They always take into account the so-called electronic advice (e- WOM) messages before selecting the destination. Tourists can easily examine the virtual images of the …

Advances In Hospitality And Tourism Information Technology, Cihan Cobanoglu, Seden Dogan, Katerina Berezina, Galen Collins

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Advances in Hospitality and Tourism Information Technology has the following chapters:

Chapter 1: Digital Marketing in Hospitality and Tourism

Chapter 2: The Importance and Role of Digital Marketing in the Preference of Touristic Products in Turkiye

Chapter 3: Virtual Reality Marketing in Hospitality and Tourism

Chapter 4: Contributions of Information and Communication Technologies to Cultural Tourism Experiences: Toward a Smart Destination

Chapter 5: Technology in Senior Living Communities

Chapter 6: Tourism Products and Sentiment Analysis

Chapter 7: Analytics in Hospitality and Tourism: Online Travel Reviews

Chapter 8: Wearable Technologies: Kinesthetic Dimension in Enriching Tourist Experience

ISBN: 978-1-7321275-8-6

TABLE OF CONTENTS …

Antecedents And Consequences Of Tourist Satisfaction: A Literature Review, Joko Adinegara, Ni Wayan Sri Suprapti, Ni Nyoman Kerti Yasa, I Putu Gde Sukaatmadja

ASEAN Marketing Journal

The concept of satisfaction is being practiced worldwide at very large scale and has drawn significant attention from academics and practitioners, because it played an important role in company marketing strategies and it was recognized as driving force of loyalty. Although the antecedent of satisfaction was widely learned, the antecedent of satisfaction is still debate by the researcher. The aim of this article is to develop more integrative constructs of satisfaction and its consequences and how the correlations among constructs that form the satisfaction. By understanding the factors that form the satisfaction and its consequences, is expected to be composed …

The Use Of Travel Guidebooks By Tourist Visiting Yogyakarta, Gabriela Intani Putri, Ike Janita Dewi

ASEAN Marketing Journal

This research aims to know to what extend tourist use travel guidebooks for their visit to Yogyakarta, as one of tourism destination in Indonesia. This research was conducted by taking tourist who has been to or during their visit to Yogyakarta. Qualitative interviews with three travel experts precede this research in order to gather the purpose of using travel guidebooks by tourist visiting Yogyakarta. The results are 31 purposes of using travel guidebooks. After conducting factor analysis and reliability tests, seven factors comprising 26 statements were extracted which are: functional needs, forward-looking needs, learning needs, autonomy needs, tension reduction needs, …

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 …

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 …

Covid-19 And Tourism: Analyzing The Effects Of Covid-19 Statistics And Media Coverage On Attitudes Toward Tourism, Maksim Godovykh, Jorge Ridderstaat, Carissa Baker, Alan Fyall

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

COVID-19 has significantly influenced tourism, including tourists’ and residents’ attitudes toward tourism. At the same time, attitudes and consumer confidence are important for economic recovery in the tourism sector. This study explores the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s attitudes toward tourism by analyzing time-series data on the number of COVID-19 positive cases, vaccinations, news sentiment, a total number of daily mentions of tourism, and the share of voice for positive and negative sentiment toward tourism. The applied data analysis techniques include descriptive analysis, visual representation of data, data decomposition into trend and cycle components, unit root tests, Granger …

Risk Communication In The Tourism Industry, Lindsay E. Usher, Ashley Schroeder

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

This chapter focuses on risk communication in the tourism sector. Tourism organizations must communicate with a variety of stakeholders when conveying messages about impending severe weather or disasters, which are increasing due climate change and sea level rise. There is also an increased need to distribute information to tourism stakeholders about preparing for, continuing service during, and recovering from, disasters. Stakeholders involved with the tourism industry include business owners, government officials and tourists, all of whom have differing degrees of vulnerability in a destination when a threat occurs. Different messages regarding disaster preparation and recovery must be communicated to the …

Museums And Shrines: Reflecting On Relationships And Challenges, Lorenzo Bagnoli, Rita Capurro

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The aim of this paper is to introduce a method for analysing a specific kind of contemporary tourism positioned between two different traditional customs: visiting museums and going to pilgrimage sites. The case studies provided are focused on Italian shrine museums where it is difficult to ascertain whether visitors are cultural tourists or pilgrims or a combination of both. Regardless, the tourist flows and networks created by Italian shrine museums can provide promising elements for local development. Four case studies that are representative of different regions in Northern Italy and have specific features in common have been chosen: shrines dedicated …

An Empirical Modeling Of Transformation Process Through Trip Experiences, Asli D.A. Tasci, Maksim Godovykh

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Transformative experience has been the buzzword in recent years. Tourism and hospitality experiences in natural, historical, cultural, and authentic spaces are some of them. However, to this date, specific dimensions of transformation or its process have not been empirically identified. This study reviewed the literature on transformation, used open-ended questions to collect free-elicited responses on the meanings of transformation, collected expert opinion, and developed a 101-item scale reflecting different dimensions and the steps of the transformation process. The scale was validated with a sequential scale validation procedure; Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) were used …

From Hurricanes To Pandemics: Community-Based Transformation And Destination Resilience In Utuado, Puerto Rico, Patrick J. Holladay, Pablo Méndez-Lázaro, Katja Brundiers

Journal of Sustainability and Resilience

Community-based tourism that is both sustainable and resilient lends strength to the community-based tourism system. Local mobilization of resources, cohesiveness, coordination, opportunities for change, healthy social and natural capital, economic diversification, strong leadership, and management that embraces creativity all build resilience. An example from Utuado, Puerto Rico is presented that illustrates these concepts with conceptual parallel of Hurricane Maria’s devastating impact to that of COVID-19. Post-coronavirus tourism should support local communities that could be resilient, creative, adaptive and transformative while it protects and provides long-term benefits to local communities and people.

Ethical Perceptions Of Housekeeping Department Employees: A Study In Izmir Province, Tuba Turkmendag, Bayram Sahin

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

This study aims to determine the ethical perceptions of housekeeping employees. The field research in the study was conducted with the housekeeping department employees of the hotel enterprises operating in the central district of İzmir in Turkey. The quantitative research method was used in the research and the convenience sampling method was used in collecting the data. The frequency analysis, difference analysis, and relationship analysis were conducted through Jamovi software. Research findings show that the ethical perceptions of housekeeping department employees are high. Further, male employees' perceptions of ethics were higher and there was no significant difference according to their …

An Exploratory Study On Cognitive Internship Perception Of Tourism Students, Ozge Buyuk, Gulsah Akkus

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Tourism and hospitality education fills the need of skilled employees for tourism industry. Turkey has many vocational schools which provide the qualified personnel need. Students training in these institutions concerned carry out compulsory internships in tourism enterprises. Internship is a beneficial process that leads students the opportunity to transform their theoretical knowledge into practice. However, many problems exist during the internship. During this period, interns recognize both the sector and themselves further. Positive perceptions of internship period increase the willingness of students to work in the tourism industry after graduation. So defining the students’ perceptions and complaints during the internship …

Effect Of Real Exchange Rate And Income On International Tourist Arrivals For Turkey, Erhan Aslanoglu, Oral Erdogan, Yasin E. Aksu

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Tourism has been one of the fastest growing sectors in the world economy for decades. It has been the third biggest export item in the world economy. According to World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), total 1.34 billion tourist arrivals has recorded in destinations around the world and total international tourism receipts has reached %10 of World GDP in 2017. By 2030, total number of international tourist arrivals is expected to be 1,8 billion. Beyond its effect on country’s brand value and image, tourism has significant contribution on every host country’s economy. Particularly, international tourism receipts stand as an important foreign exchange …

Efficiency Of Internal Control Systems And The Effect Of Organizational Structure And Culture On Internal Control Systems In Accommodation Industry, Kadriye A. Akmese, Ali Ilgaz

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Accommodation businesses are based on a structure of producing services and customer satisfaction. Due to this relationship, non-financial information stands in the forefront among various evaluations for these businesses. Additionally other Dynamics need to be under control in order to attain the middle and long-term business profitability and sustainability. At this point internal control is considered as a vital system, which provides the chance of evaluating crucial characteristics of the business that seem to be functioning at the background such as financial position, structure and operating. In this study, the effectiveness of internal control systems in accommodation businesses is evaluated …

Determination Of Students’ Characteristics And Perspectives About Social Entrepreneurship: A Case Of Anadolu University, Muhammed Kavak, Ipek I. Can, Emre O. Aksoz

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Social entrepreneurship enables stakeholders to take innovative and inclusive approaches to social, environmental, and economic problems and to produce solutions to eliminate social injustice. It is not only self-sufficient by providing an economic return, but also offers people the opportunity for a more sustainable common world. Considering that, training of tourism faculty students to develop both entrepreneurial and social entrepreneur characteristics will bring the tourism industry to the forefront and lead to the increase of social, sectoral, and public benefits. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the social entrepreneurship characteristics and perspectives of students taking tourism higher …

The Effects Of Covid-19 Epidemic On Guided Tours And Alternative Tour Samples From Turkey, Bayram Akay

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effect of covid-19 on guided tours and examine the alternative tour examples that have emerged in Turkey during the pandemic. In this study, qualitative research method was used and data analyses were conducted using content analysis. The content analysis have been made through the statistics, reports and qualitative research methods by tourism portals (Tourism current, tourism news), UNWTO, Turkish Statistical Institute (TSI), Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TÜRSAB and Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism (ATTA). In Turkey during the pandemic, the number of tourists decreased by 70% and …

The Place Of Kazakhstan Tourism Sector In The Countries Of The Region In Terms Of Transportation Infrastructure, Maiya Myrzabekova, Muhsin Halis, Zafer Camlibel

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

For most countries with high tourism potential in today's world to develop economically and provide the foreign currency income it needs, it is necessary to increase the level of employment, market share and revenues it receives in the national sense. Because of this, many countries are engaged in relentless competition with each other in the international tourism sector. The different dimensions of the concept of National Competitiveness have attracted the attention of many researchers from various disciplines. While the discipline of economics makes the concept of competition a subject of examination at the international level in the light of the …

A Conceptual Framework For The Mediating Role Of The Flow Experience Between Destination Brand Experience And Destination Loyalty, Ipek Kazancoglu, Taskin Dirsehan

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The global tourism economy has created a competitive industry, and the customer experience in destination branding has emerged as a competitive tool for practitioners. It has also been attracting attention in the tourism literature. Individuals who experience high degrees of flow tend to feel more engaged in activities during their travel experiences. However, the antecedents of the flow experience and its outcomes are still limited in the literature. Considering the gaps in the literature, this study is aimed at developing a conceptual model for the mediating effect of the flow experience on the relationship between destination brand experience and destination …

Does Coronavirus (Covid-19) Transform Travel And Tourism To Automation (Robots)?, Omar Parvez, Ali Ozturen, Cihan Cobanoglu

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Global coronavirus is the name of consternation. It has a depraved impact on world health, the international economy, as well as the travel, tourism, and hospitality (TTH) industry. The World Health Organization (WHO) already declared an international public health emergency in the concern of cases and deaths. Tourism is a human-intensive industry, but on one side, the circumstances of the virus separate people from personal interaction, on the other side, technological development offers automatic robots to the service. So the future of the TTH might be transformed toward automation (robots). The paper aims to extend the knowledge by investigating and …

Factors That Prevent Participation Of Tourists In Online Co-Creation Activities, Resat Arica, Feridun Duman, Abdulkadir Corbaci

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The study aimed to identify the factors that prevent tourists from participating in online co-creation activities. With this aim, the study sample was selected from the tourists who travelled to Istanbul, who did not participate in co-creation. The data were collected through the questionnaire technique, then, analyzed with descriptive and exploratory factor analysis. The findings of the study showed that three factors prevented the tourists from participating in online co-creation activities. These factors were named as (i) lack of knowledge, (ii) lack of participation in social communication networks, and (iii) personal perceptions of co-creation. Lack of knowledge is the most …

Health Sector After Covid-19: Salt Thermal Facilities Example, Azize S. Tuncer, Sinan Bulut

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

While the demand for more and better health care increases as a result of increasing life expectancy, the increasing awareness of "healthy living" has turned young and old to take interest in health care issues. When the booming world population is taken into context, the upwards trend of such profitability gains importance. In addition, tourism has expanded from visiting places of interest to concepts such as "culture tourism" and "health tourism". Covid 19 pandemic has especially increased the importance of natural health therapy centers. In this study, after evaluating all these processes and examining their effects on cities, the role …

The Effect Of Covid-19 Phobia On Holiday Intention, Halil Akmese, Ali Ilgaz

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Since the day of human existence, millions of people have traveled from their places to different regions for many reasons. A number of negative factors such as war, natural disasters and epidemics damaged this ongoing dynamic structure of tourism with varying extensions. The new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic that emerged in December 2019 has also affected tourism activities and individuals' intentions and motivations to go on holiday. The main purpose of this research is to measure the effect of Covid-19 phobia on individuals' holiday intentions. The sample of the study was 388 people. In the research, a questionnaire form …

Destination Management During The Health Emergency: A Bibliometric Analysis, Valentina Della Corte, Giovanna Del Gaudio, Giuliana Nevola, Erico Di Taranto, Simone Luongo

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The pandemic emergency has shifted the attention from a tourism focused on economic growth to a tourism focused on social wellbeing (Everingham & Chassagne, 2020). Destinations are required to answer new emerging needs in terms of health and safety without precluding the emotional side of the leisure travel experience. One of the ways destinations are rethinking their management is the introduction of innovation in terms of sharing knowledge, creation of new ideas and engagement of stakeholders (Pillmayer, Scherle & Volchek, 2021). Destinations need to strengthen their own networking of operators and relations to reduce risk perception and to ensure security …

Tourism And Women Empowerment: Empirical Findings From Past Experience And Predictions For The Post-Covid Era, Burcu Turkcan

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Tourism industry is one of the major industries of today’s world and hence it is in the forefront of current national and international policies. Tourism is perceived as one of the fundamental engines of economic growth and development due to the fact that it has many contributions to the economy. Moreover, tourism has a dimension of women empowerment which is one of the critical issues of modern world. Hence, researchers and policymakers have begun to pay more attention to the issue of gender discrimination and tourism relationships. There are some direct linkages between tourism and women empowerment, and what is …

What Makes Tourists’ Experience Spiritual?: A Case Study Of A Buddhist Sacred Site In Koyasan, Japan, Kaori Yanata

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

In postmodern society the importance of traditional religious organisations and practices have declined. As a result, spirituality tends to be sought outside of institutionalised religion. Tourism is seen as one avenue for such spiritual fulfilment. Tourism research commonly frames tourism as a sacred journey and has pointed out that like modern-day pilgrims, tourists seek spirituality through travel. Of course, not all tourist travel is motivated by a search for spirituality, and yet many tourists still describe their travel experiences as spiritual. Therefore, in addition to understanding motivations of travel, the tourist experience is also an important element of making tourism …