Tourism and Travel Commons^™

Driving Rvpark/Campground Selection: A Grounded Theory Approach, Aj Templeton, Jill Fjelstul, Kimberly Severt, Yeon Ho Shin

Journal of Tourism Insights

The ability to “provide almost unrestricted land travel” (Prideaux & Carson, 2003, p. 307) has made drive tourism popular for tourists. A considerable sub-sector of the drive tourism industry is that of the multi-billion-dollar recreational vehicle industry (RV). Minimal academic research has been conducted on this important sub-sector of the drive tourism industry. This study builds upon previous research towards a further understanding of the RV consumer. A grounded theory approach was used to drive the direction of the research for this study. Given the scope of the data and studies that have been done regarding RV industry, this study …

Applying The Holistic Conceptual Conservation Framework For Sustainable Tourism, George Alexakis, Larry Rice

Journal of Tourism Insights

The tourism and hospitality industry has not always followed sound environmental stewardship. Increased awareness among tourists worldwide has prompted sustainabilit­y discourse encouraging long-term systemic approaches to planning and development. The research article proposes a holistic conceptual conservation framework that shows how a united tourism and hospitality industry can curtail the processes of environmental destruction and collectively offer authentic touristic experiences. Visitors can fully experience tourist destinations through integrated ecotourism, ethnotourism, and other related tangential offerings alongside those of larger tourism and hospitality providers. The conservation framework hypothetically strengthens the customer loyalty of tourists towards all industry operators and related practitioners, …

Exploring Motivational Factors For Dude Ranch Vacations, Aj Templeton, Ji-Eun Lee

Journal of Tourism Insights

Dude-ranch vacations have been popular for a segment of travelers. Research in purchase motivation spans various sectors of the hospitality industry; however issues surrounding the dude-ranch industry remain unexplored. The objectives of the study were: (1) to examine the impact of push and pull factors of motivations on customer purchase intention in dude-ranch vacations, (2) to survey the sources of information behind purchase decision for dude ranch vacations. Factor analysis and regression analysis were used for data analysis. The results of the study indicated that pull factors significantly influenced purchase intention of dude ranch vacations more strongly than push factors. …

You Look Like You’Ve Seen A Ghost: A Preliminary Exploration In Price And Customer Satisfaction Differences At Haunted Hotel Properties, Kimberly Mathe-Soulek, Grant C. Aguirre, Ioana Dallinger

Journal of Tourism Insights

With the increasing popularity of paranormal ghost hunting shows in mainstream television and popular culture, research in haunted lodging establishments is warranted. The purpose of this study is to explore differences in price and customer satisfaction between haunted vs. non-haunted properties; while also considering inn vs. hotels and chain vs. independent properties. Using TripAdvisor customer satisfaction scores and average daily rates, results of this study are opposite of what is hypothesized such that overall, haunted properties have lower customer satisfaction; while haunted, chain properties have higher prices. An exploration of interactions among variables is explored and practical implications are discussed. …

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 …

Festival Attendees’ Perceptions Of Green Hotel Practices, Jason D. Oliver, Alex Naar, Erin Harris

Journal of Tourism Insights

Lodging managers and festival organizers have an incentive to understand how festival attendees perceive hotels with green practices in place. Lodging managers that understand how to segment, target, and position their offerings to festival attendees, including sustainable practices, can maximize financial gains from festivals. Festival organizers have related interests: they want to minimize negative impacts on the physical environment and maximize positive customer experiences on- and off-site. To provide insights into festival attendees’ perceptions of green hotel practices that may assist both sets of stakeholders, the manuscript presents the results of a survey of convenience samples from two food festivals. …

Las Vegas Versus Macao As Diversified Travel Destinations, Carlos Siu Lam, John Crossley

Journal of Tourism Insights

Events and festivals can help attract people to a destination, and this study was to examine how events and festivals can build and diversify tourism. With their programs of pleasurable activities and entertainment, events and festivals have a historical trajectory of delivering development outcomes such as economic restructuring and tourism revenue generation. In addition, events and festivals can provide an opportunity for a leisure, social, or cultural experience that is outside the normal range of visitors’ choices. Furthermore, events and festivals can raise market awareness and boost the local economy.

Based on secondary data from books, research papers, and websites, …

Resorts, Resilience And Retention Ater The Bp Oil Spill Disaster Of 2010, Kate Price-Howard, Patrick J. Holladay

Journal of Tourism Insights

This study attempted to quantify intention to return to a vacation rental along the Florida/Alabama Gulf Coast. Compounding this was the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. We examined the intention to return to a vacation rental (nontraditional whole-ownership condominium resorts), as well as investigated marketing/retention efforts following the oil spill disaster and data on tourists’ trends over the summers of 2010 – 2013 via bed tax data. Data on tourists' trends since the oil spill provided inference on the resilience of resort tourism in the area. Qualitative interviews with key informants of property management companies allowed analysis of customer …

Rv Association Members' Profile: A Demographic Segmentation And Lifestyle Exploration, Jill Fjelstul

Journal of Tourism Insights

The aim of this study was to profile members of a large RV association by market segmentation and lifestyle travel patterns. A cluster analysis identified two clustered segments utilizing demographic variables. Findings were further examined by travel patterns within each cluster. Destination RVers favored weekend travel and/or staying at a particular destination throughout their travel experience. Touring RVers, conversely, traveled from park to park with minimal stays at each park. A one-way ANOVA revealed significance between clusters with each travel pattern. Implications and strategies were outlined for the stakeholders and travelers of the RV industry.

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 …

An Exploratory Study Of Wellness Travel: Differences Between U.S. And Non-U.S. Travelers, Rebecca Boulay, Nancy M. Hritz, Candace Ashton

Journal of Tourism Insights

Wellness tourism has become an increasingly popular trend as many resorts and destinations now offer these activities and amenities. Given that the “wellness travel” term is relatively new for U.S. travelers, it is unknown how they may differ in their wellness and travel choices from non U.S. travelers. Convenience samples of tourists in the US and Europe were surveyed about their differences in wellness travel motivations and perceived wellness. T-tests revealed significant differences. U.S. travelers were more likely to want to participate in outdoor activities such as hiking and camping when traveling compared to non U.S. travelers. Non U.S. travelers …

Dominican Resort Tourism, Sustainability, And Millennium Development Goals, Vinod Sasidharan, Marilyn E. Hall

Journal of Tourism Insights

The tourism industry continues to be touted as the main income and employment generator for Caribbean nations. In the Dominican Republic (DR), international tourism has become one of the largest industries and is a major contributor to the country’s economic growth. A recent trend in the DR is the development of luxurious residential resort complexes and private resort cities, mainly designed and created for foreign ownership. The Dominican government support for such projects has been very strong due to the economic propensity of these high-end resorts to assist the country in generating local opportunities for stable employment, creating basic infrastructure, …

Tourism, Agriculture, And Identity: Comparing Grenada And Dominica, Velvet Nelson

Journal of Tourism Insights

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between agriculture and tourism in the promotion of economic identity at the turn of the twentieth century and again at the turn of the twenty-first in the case of two Eastern Caribbean islands: Grenada and Dominica. From the beginnings of export-oriented agriculture in the Caribbean until recent decades, agriculture was the dominant economic activity in the islands. Consequently, the economic identity of these islands has also been tied to their agricultural produce. Initially the emphasis placed on sugarcane cultivation in the region gave rise to the idea of the “sugar …

Perception Of Green Hotels In The 21st Century, Godwin-Charles Ogbeide

Journal of Tourism Insights

This study was conducted to examine the perceptions, attitudes, behaviors, and thoughts of consumers when it comes to “green” hotels (resorts) in the twenty-first century. People have, in recent years, shifted their focus towards preserving the environment; thus, leading a movement to an expectations of “green” lifestyles. These lifestyles are not only in the home, but wherever the traveler goes leading to “green” hotels being a major interest to consumers. The result of this study indicated that consumers are willing to stay in green hotels. The study also showed that a majority of consumers considered going “green” as an important …