Leisure Studies Commons^™

Understanding Tourism Dynamics Using Gis And Forecasting Model In Banswara District, Rajasthan, India, Viranch N. Dave, Mudit D. Mankad, Ami U. Rawal

Journal of Tourism Insights

Understanding the tourism dynamics of an area involves a rigorous literature review, interviewing the local people and experts, and visiting the sites. This also involves getting acquainted with the transport network of the area to know about the accessibility to the tourism destination, which ultimately helps in preparing a suitable plan for tourism development by creating tourist circuits. Forecasting tourism demand with the help of past data helps put a better picture in front of planners and administration so they can plan more efficiently. Thus, a proper understanding of tourism dynamics requires a holistic vision. The present study tried to …

Customer Tipping Patterns In Hospitality Sector: A Study In Goa, Edgar Dsouza Dr.

Journal of Tourism Insights

This research delves into the complex relationship between service quality, tipping behavior, and various influencing factors within the context of the hospitality industry. By collecting data from 19 casual and fine dining restaurants in Goa, India, the study focused on frontline employees, including waiters and barmen, who regularly interacted with diners. A total of 216 questionnaires were distributed during lunch and dinner periods, capturing diners' perspectives on service quality using a 7-point Likert scale.

The results revealed significant insights into the dynamics of tipping behavior. There was a statistically significant, medium-sized positive correlation between customer service assessments and the percentage …

Personal Factors Influencing Us Travelers’ Sentiments Toward Travel Policies To Cuba, Carol Kline, Whitney Knollenberg, Bynum Boley, Evan Jordan

Journal of Tourism Insights

The United States and Cuba have navigated a strained political and economic relationship over the past sixty years; the tone of the relationship is in flux according to Cuban and US leadership, and most recently, COVID-19. Anticipating US travelers’ sentiments towards access to Cuba is more crucial now because of resulting policies playing out within the intersection of the shifting dynamics of the virus and the tumultuous political climate within the US. This study identified the personal factors that influence US travelers’ sentiment towards the US trade embargo and travel restrictions to Cuba. Results reveal that respondents with higher educational …

Locals, Tourists, And Water Recreation Issues At Claytor Lake, Virginia, Joshua Carroll Ph.D., Ethan Hinckle

Journal of Tourism Insights

Claytor Lake is a 4,500 acre impoundment of the New River, located in southwestern Virginia and is ideal for pleasure boating, fishing, swimming, and exploration. In fall 2020 a visitor survey was administered to capture boater and adjacent landowner perceptions of the recreation experience, identify safety concerns, and help managers to informed decisions. Almost 200 surveys were collected over a month of data collection.

Results indicate that respondents tend to be a dichotomous group of “locals” who live on or within a mile of the lake, and “tourists” who travel greater than 50 miles to visit the lake. Additionally, these …

Waste Management Practices Of Small Hotels In Dehradun, Arakhita Behera, Surendra Singh Jatav

Journal of Tourism Insights

Waste has emerged as a major issue in the modern society. Due to urbanization, the volume of waste is speedily rising. If the origin of waste creation makes no effort, then all wastes are either disposed of or burnt which results in waste of land, air, water, and energy as well as the growth of undesirable animals, plants and microorganism. Through the associate and involvement of the local population, waste may be managed locally in a sustainable manner. Waste management may be an expensive endeavor if not carried out appropriately. In most of the developing nations, 20-50 percent of urban …

A Longitudinal Analysis Of Music Tourism Impacts, Kate Price-Howard, John C. Crossley, Andrew Holdnak Dr.

Journal of Tourism Insights

Music tourism has boomed in recent decades and has been part of the rise in cultural tourism. In recent years, several communities have implemented a concert series to help promote tourism during the shoulder season, or slower months during the off-season. In this study, a longitudinal examination of several concerts of various sizes and genres spanning about three years looks at the economic impacts for the tourist destination of Panama City Beach, FL. This paper will conduct an analysis comparing the tourism development tax, hotel/motel data provided by the industry leading data resource, Smith Travel Research (STR), in order to …

Teaching Happiness: Developing And Assessing A Happiness Course, Charles Hammersley

Journal of Tourism Insights

Can “happiness” be taught? In the spring of 2015 the Northern Arizona University’s Parks and Recreation Management program introduced a new course, PRM 205 Happiness. A study of the fall 2015 PRM 205 Happiness courses (campus section and distance section) were conducted to determine if the PRM 205 Happiness course resulted in measurable changes in student “happiness” scores. Also, if there were any differences between campus and distance delivery modes and student “happiness” scores. A Pre-test / Post-test survey design using the Fordyce Emotions Questionnaire (Fordyce, 1988) was conducted on both a campus class (N=49) and a distance class (N=23). …

Motivations For Staying In Vacation Rentals And Evaluation Of Experience, Patrick Tierney

Journal of Tourism Insights

Persons attending the 2015 Outside Lands Music and Art Festival at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco had a range of lodging options. One of relatively new lodging options available was staying at non-commercial residences with a fee, also known as “vacation rentals.” Vacation rentals (VR), where a tourist rents a room or entire house from a private individual for a short term stay, are booming, especially at online booking sites, such as Air BNB. There are over a million rentals listed on Air BNB and its growth has been stunning (Weed 2015). Mayock (2015) found that vacation rentals are …

An Exploratory Examination Of Perceptions Of Impacts To A Coastal Destination: Tourists Versus Locals, Eric Frauman

Journal of Tourism Insights

Do tourists believe they positively or negatively impact the destinations they visit, particularly those that rely on coastal nature and heritage-based environments to attract visitors? How do tourist’s perceptions compare to residents, and what additional insight might this information provide for destination management organizations (e.g., Convention and Visitors Bureau’s) and local government officials? Furthermore, how do residents perceive their own impacts to the communities they live in? As such, this exploratory study, unlike previous studies, compared tourists and residents perceived impacts to a coastal destination. Statistically significant mean differences were found across the social, economic, and environmental condition impact items …

Tourism Planning In The Northern Bahamas, Joshua Carroll Ph.D., Emily Farmer, Shannon Saa

Journal of Tourism Insights

The Abaco region of the northern Bahamas is developing its niche as a nature-based tourism destination with a wealth of natural and cultural attractions such as beaches, snorkel and dive sites, blue holes, cultural features, vibrant history, and colorful towns and artistry. Part of this effort is the development of the Abaco Trail, which will highlight regional attractions and link them together for visitors to follow on their own, fulfilling their own interests as their visit allows. In this study, the Tourism Opportunity Spectrum (TOS) was used to gather information to aid in the process of assembling tourism site conditions …

Evaluating Rv Campground Attributes Using Ipa Analysis, Kimberly Severt, Jill Fjelstul

Journal of Tourism Insights

The objectives of the current study were to examine the perceived importance and performance of campground attributes from the perception of RV Association members. One of the benefits the RV association provides its members is a discount on parking fees for campgrounds affiliated with the RV association. This study used Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) to determine areas of differences in which improvement could be made. The study also compared motorized and non-motorized vehicle owner’s perceptions of camp ground attributes as well as female and male perceptions of camp ground attributes. The campground attribute ‘loyalty programs’ was the only attribute that showed …

Exploring Foodie Segmentation, Carol S. Kline, Jerusha Greenwood, Leah Joyner

Journal of Tourism Insights

Previous research studies have explored the activities, motivations, and outcomes for the culinary tourist, and researchers have theorized certain segments of culinary travelers (Boniface, 2003; Mitchell, Hall & McIntosh, 2000). Contrasting to this, investigation into “the foodie” and his or her activities at home has been strikingly infrequent. Exploring the foodie ‘at home’ or the foodie’s everyday behavior is critical to understanding different types of foodies, how to market to foodies, and their decision-making processes for culinary travel. The purpose of this study is to test, via an online survey, a scale that distinguishes between different types of foodies, and …

Developing A Tourism Opportunity Spectrum Scale, Joshua Carroll, Kelsey Hession

Journal of Tourism Insights

The Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) has been used in a multitude of recreation planning and management applications, and has led the way for the development of the Water Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (WROS) – its water based counterpart. More recently the Tourism Opportunity Spectrum (TOS) has been identified as a valuable tool for assessing nature-based tourism viability and host community-visitor relationships (Butler and Waldbrook, 2003). This tool relies on important tourism conditions of site access, compatibility of other uses, regimentation, tourism impacts, onsite management, and social perceptions of visitors and hosts.

This tool however, has its merits for application, but …

Travel Preferences Of Recreational Motorcyclists’, Melissa Weddell

Journal of Tourism Insights

The Blue Ridge Parkway, located in the mountain region of North Carolina, attracts over 20 million visitors each year with an estimated 500,000 touring on motorcycles, who often consider the region the best motorcycle venue in the United States. While many studies have examined both recreation preferences and a wide array of recreation activities in the Blue Ridge Mountain area, empirical research is lacking on motorcycle recreationists’ preferences and economic impacts. Therefore, this research project aims to understand these aspects of the recreational experience within a specific travel group. A total of 189 people completed the online survey administered to …

Emerging Opportunities For Commercial Recreation, Joshua Carroll Ph.D.

Journal of Tourism Insights

The commercial recreation industry faces new opportunities due to the changing economic climate and its impact upon public recreation providers (Outdoor Industry Association, 2012). Those recreation opportunities historically offered by public entities are transforming and as a result recreationists are experiencing more park closures, limited hours of operation, a reduction in quality, and ultimately dissatisfaction (Crompton, 1999; Koeberer, 2011). There is a shift occurring and this opens up a wide market for new commercial recreation operators to fulfill this gap. For trail-based recreation this usually requires a sizable piece of land that often precludes most potential market interests. However, with …

Revising A Summer Internship Course Using Student Evaluations, Holly B. Perry, Lynda J. Sperazza

Journal of Tourism Insights

Internships play an important role in a university curriculum because they allow students to gain practical experience and explore possible career paths. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the summer internship experience from the students’ perspective to determine whether they achieved course learning outcomes. We objectively examined the course evaluations from students who completed their summer internships within a recreation and leisure studies program. Student responses (n = 29) to the 14 self-appraisal items in their course evaluation were the central focus of data analysis. Our primary research question was, “In what KSA [knowledge, skills, attitudes] areas …

Exploring Pull Factor Influences At Campgrounds By Rv Association Members, Jill Fjelstul

Journal of Tourism Insights

Recreational vehicles (RVs) are owned and/or rented by travelers of diverse ages, traveling parties, and agendas. RVs, in most cases, will be parked at a campground during use, lending to the question of what factors influence campground selection. The current study explored pull factors specific to RV campground attributes by members of a RV association, identified the general demographics of the respective RV association, and investigated campground travel decisions by members of the RV association. Findings from the current study can assist campground owners/operators in developing effective marketing strategies for attracting RV travelers with customized products, onsite amenities, and/or services. …