Search

The rapid emergence and vast adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) have transformed tourism marketing strategies from a conservative, static marketing model to an emerging, transformative conception. The transformative power of ICT has created a paradigm shift in the tourism industry by providing an opportunity for tourism service providers and tourists to co-create value. Moreover, recent technological developments have paved the way for new markets, product/ service innovations, management practices, and competitive strategies, thus forming a complex socio-technical tourism ecosystem. Meanwhile, postmodern, digitally savvy tourists expect tourism service providers to be more active in digital platforms. Consequently, a burgeoning research stream has started looking into these new developments, capabilities, and changes driven by ICT advancement in the tourism and hospitality industry in recent times. Moreover, to better understand and anticipate these fundamental changes, novel theoretical lenses, approaches, concepts, themes, and even research methods have emerged lately. Future of Tourism Marketing, edited by two renowned contemporary tourism scholars, Seongseop (Sam) Kim and Dan Wang, adds to this growing research stream by emphasizing how ICT developments have revolutionized conventional tourism marketing strategies. The reviewer used the academic approach as applied by Gamage (2021) and Peiris et al. (2020) in reviewing this book.

This study attempted to analyze the evolution of key documents about corporate social responsibility (CSR). A total of 172 CSR articles in the tourism and hospitality field published between 2006 and 2019 were derived from the Scopus database. A bibliometric mapping method was adopted to visualize the results using the VOSviewer software. Findings showed that hospitality- and tourism-focused journals were the main sources cited in CSR articles. In addition, the use of social identity theory and structural equation modeling was prevalent in such studies, and financial impact was the most common research topic. This study is insightful in mapping the intellectual structure of CSR research as well as the relationships among the subfields of CSR research in the tourism and hospitality field.

This study investigated the formation of travelers’ pro-social intentions of wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing, and practicing sanitary/hygiene actions in the festival tourism context b...

Despite the importance of understanding residents’ perceptions and attitudes toward tourism development, residents’ perceived political influence of tourism remains underexplored. Thus, this study ...

This article attempts to empirically test a model to explain the hypothesized relationships between important constructs such as emotional experience, personal involvement, destination image, destination satisfaction, and place attachment as antecedents of the future intentions of mature/senior diaspora tourists. The hypothesized relationships were explored using a sample of 419 mature/senior diaspora tourists visiting Ghana. A three-step process was used to explore, confirm and test the interrelationships between the constructs. The results showed that emotional experiences related to joy and love influenced personal involvement. While other hypothesized relationships were supported, unpleasantness and positive surprise did not have a direct effect on personal involvement. Future studies can apply this model to understand other types of tourism.

The global increase in the elderly population has a direct influence on the travel, tourism, and hospitality sector because senior travelers have become major consumers. Therefore, developing a deeper understanding of senior motivations for overseas travel is required. However, the presence of theoretical and practical gaps limits the comprehension of this demographic market. Thus, this research sought to identify the underlying dimensionality and measurement of senior travel motivations and developed a scale to measure them. In addition, it validated the scale across future travel behaviors and preferences for tourism types and sites. An eight-factor structure of senior travel motivations was generated. The overall construct satisfied a series of convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity tests. Furthermore, the scale demonstrated a predictive explanatory power for profiling the future travel behavior and preference of seniors.

This study proposes and verifies the slow city tourism evaluation index (SCTEI). SCTEI offers scholars and practitioners the capacity to assess the attractiveness and/or performance of slow cities ...

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the perceptions by owners and staff working in causal full-service restaurants in Macao of their two major subcultures of customers: Hong Kong Chinese and Taiwan Chinese in terms of their dining behavior and preferences. Design/methodology/approach Face-to-face interviews with 36 service staff of casual dining restaurants in Macao were conducted through the purposive convenience sampling method. Thematic content analysis was conducted in the data analysis. Findings The results reveal that although the customers from the two Chinese subcultures have a similar appearance, use the same Chinese characters and share common cultural inheritances; their dining behavior and preferences are perceived as being different. Practical implications Practical implications are given on how to better design the products and services to meet each subgroup’s needs for enhancing customers’ experience and service quality in restaurant settings. Originality/value This study focuses on examining if there are any sub-cultural differences in food behaviors and preferences among Hong Kong and Taiwan visitors, who are the major tourist sources in the world market. It contributes to the scarce literature on intracultural dining variances of sub-groups within Chinese.

Purpose This study aims to examine the current state of the research activities of scholars in the hospitality and tourism field by analyzing the first 20 years of the new millennium. Design/methodology/approach Longitudinal analyses using 14,229 journal articles as data source were realized by adopting BibExcel, Gephi and VOSviewer network analysis software packages. Findings This study provides a comprehensive overview of the hospitality and tourism research based on authorship and social network analysis, with patterns of prolific authors compared over four distinct periods. Research limitations/implications The hospitality and tourism academic society is clearly illustrated by tracing academic publication activities across 20 years in the new millennium. In addition, this study provides a guide for scholars to search for multidisciplinary collaboration opportunities. Government agencies and non-governmental organisations can also benefit from this study by identifying appropriate review panel members when making decisions about hospitality- and tourism-related proposals. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to use bibliometric analysis in assessing research published in leading hospitality and tourism journals across the four breakout periods in the new millennium.

This study aims to assess the level of casino tourism development as perceived by residents of the Grand Ho Tram Strip in Vietnam. This study is timely and crucial because the local government need...

This study aims to investigate the effects of local food attributes on tourists’ dining satisfaction and future intention in Hong Kong. In addition, the moderating effect of food culture difference...

This research aims to investigate residents’ perceptions of tourism development by exploring the sub-dimensions of impacts. The theoretical and practical implications of the four constructs are pre...

Robots and artificial intelligence represent a newly emerging trend in tourism and hospitality. However, studies examining how cultural perceptions influence tourists’ experiences interacting with service robots are lacking. In response to the industrial trend, the experiential components of robot-staffed hotels are assessed in this study. A qualitative approach is adopted to compare the semantic networks of Japanese and non-Japanese tourists’ online reviews, using 1,498 reviews from nine robot-staffed hotels in Japan. The results indicate that hotel guests’ interaction with robots is one of the main experiential components in robot-staffed hotels. The semantic network analysis results demonstrate noticeable differences, with Japanese reviews demonstrating more emotional responses to human-robot interaction and non-Japanese reviews valuing the functional and technical aspects of robot-provided services more.

Despite its increased recognition among tourism planners and destination governments, a lacuna exists regarding the motivation of diaspora tourists travelling to a destination they regard as an ancestral homeland. Thus, in the current research, we seek to develop and validate a scale that measures the motivations of diaspora tourists. The result of a rigorous seven-stage scale development procedure generates a five-factor structure for diaspora tourists’ motivations. The scale is successfully verified through various reliability and validity tests. This multidimensional scale of diaspora tourist motivations contributes to our understanding of the nature of diaspora tourism.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of experiences with local food in Ghana on satisfaction, favorability and behavioral intention. Design/methodology/approach Unlike previous studies that have used multiple regression analysis or structural equation modeling, this study adopts impact-range performance analysis (IRPA) and impact asymmetry analysis (IAA). A total of 336 questionnaires were used in the data analyses. Findings Factor analysis generates five domains of experience of consuming local food. Socialization and boasting and experience with various menus and quality of food contribute most to explaining the three dependent variables. Originality/value This study has significant value because it extends the study of local food consumption experience to the understudied area of African food tourism, particularly Ghanaian food and tourists to Ghana.

This study is a critical literature review of previous corporate social responsibility (CSR) papers in the hospitality and tourism industry. The purpose of this study is to identify the current gap...

This study aimed to identify variations of three types of perceived image including affective, cognitive, and overall image over three points in time and to test the efficacy of image in explaining satisfaction, knowledge, and attachment with a destination. Although previous studies used results collected through a cross-sectional survey, this study surveyed the same samples at three different times, that is before, during and after travel, to enrich our understanding of how image develops through the three key stages of a trip. The findings indicate there is significant variation in perceived image domains, extracted as a result of factor analysis, and overall image across time. To predict satisfaction, attachment, and knowledge, “vividness” of the affective image domains and “diverse tourism attraction” of the cognitive image domains showed significance on regression models. Interestingly, “developed tourism industry” was not reported being significant predictor in any model. The results suggest that future studies need to measure destination image over time in line with traveller’s movement.

This study examined the antecedents and consequences of rapport between customers and salespersons in the context of duty-free shops. Specifically, this study proposed six sub-dimensions of service-dominant orientation (i.e., relational, ethical, individuated, empowered, concerted, and developmental interactions). These dimensions have a positive influence on rapport. In addition, rapport is hypothesized to aid in the formation of customer satisfaction and brand preference, which in turn positively affects word-of-mouth communications. Data were collected from 649 Chinese shoppers who have purchased a product in a Korean duty-free shop. In addition, this study employed confirmatory factor analysis to check the adequacy of the measurement items and structural equation modeling to test 11 hypotheses. Data analysis results indicated that five sub-dimensions of service-dominant orientation, excluding individuated interaction, play an important role in the formation of rapport. Furthermore, rapport has a positive effect on customer satisfaction and brand preference, which in turn positively affects word-of-mouth communications. The findings of this study offer valuable insights for managers of duty-free stores into the most effective methods for managing their operations and providing an appropriate blend of products. Furthermore, this paper contributes to theoretical understanding in this area by improving the acceptability of a commonly believed shopper behavior model.

Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are becoming more prominent in the tourism industry. Nowadays, consumers are faced with multiple options involving both human and robot interactions. A series of experimental studies were implemented. Four experiments demonstrated that consumers had a more positive attitude toward robot-staffed (vs. human-staffed) hotels when COVID-19 was salient. The results were different from previous studies, which were conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the moderating role of perceived threat in consumers’ preference for robot-staffed hotels was significant, the respondents’ preference was attributed to the global health crisis. This research provides a number of theoretical and managerial implications by improving the understanding of technology acceptance during a health crisis.

This study explores how familiarity and attachment, along with cognitive and affective image explain destination loyalty across visitors with divergent degrees of frequency of visitation (low vs. high). Serbians (n = 401) who have previously visited Greece comprised the sample population for this study and were surveyed using a self-administered questionnaire. Findings reveal that overall familiarity shapes cognitive and affective destination image, while each image component uniquely explains destination loyalty (R2 = 0.51). Differences also exist in the magnitude of the relationships tested among the two groups. Implications for theory and practice, along with limitations and research directions, are discussed.

Purpose This study aims to examine the attribute-benefit-value-intention (ABVI) model of local food consumption as perceived by foreign tourists. The model was designed to test the structural relationships between local food attributes, perceived benefits, consumption value and behavioral intentions. Design/methodology/approach The structural relationships of foreign tourists’ perceptions of local food consumption were conceptualized, and hypotheses were proposed. The main survey was conducted using a large sample of 1,323 tourists in Hong Kong. Findings “Food quality”, “food novelty” and “restaurant quality” significantly affected “emotional” and “epistemic benefit”. “Emotional benefit” had a significant effect on “consumption value” and “behavioral intention”, while “epistemic benefit” only influenced “consumption value”. Practical implications Local food marketers and DMOs need to promote the product features that are relevant to tourists’ benefits. Restaurant marketers need to develop distinctive strategies for tourists from different national backgrounds. Originality/value This study proposed and empirically tested a new model of tourists’ local food consumption, including two benefits, consumption value and behavioral intention.

This study is to test whether consumption value theory can be applied to food tourism in a tourism destination. Despite its importance, few studies have explored the types of local food consumption value that tourists obtain in a destination. This study sought to develop and validate a scale of local food consumption value from a tourist perspective. As a result, a seven-factor structure was generated. The overall construct demonstrated satisfactory levels of reliability and validity. The value on their satisfaction with tasting local food, positive post-purchase intention, and food destination image varied by cultural region. Future research is expected to benefit from using the validated measurement to understand the unexplored aspects of tourists’ local food consumption.

As the global senior population expands, there is increasing scholarly interest in the intersection between tourism and the aging population. After nearly four decades of scholarly inquiry, there i...

Cinematic nostalgia can influence visitors in choosing destinations where particular films have been made or shot. Focusing on the case of Hong Kong this study investigated the incidence of nostalg...

To explore popularly visited tourist locations, travel movement patterns, and movement points, this study collected samples of 321 Chinese tourists and 337 Japanese tourists who were visiting major...

Despite the importance of understanding food consumption value from tourists’ perspectives, few studies have explored how experiencing local food in a destination shapes tourists’ consumption value. This study explores the effect of tourists’ local food consumption value on their perceptions and behaviors. Tourists’ cultural background is used as a moderating variable. The findings show that tourists’ local food consumption value effectively explains tourists’ attitudes toward local food, food destination image, and behavioral intentions. In addition, the cultural background of tourists partially moderates the relationships between the proposed constructs. This study is the first empirical application of consumption value theory to the context of tourists’ local food experiences. It provides insights into appropriate marketing strategies for the restaurant and food tourism industries and offers practical suggestions to destination marketing organizations (DMOs) for using local food as a destination marketing tool.

To provide an enhanced understanding of performing arts tourism in the Asian context, the present study investigates the motivations, intentions and performance preferences of a particular source market – Japan. Five primary motivations identified for this group when travelling to Korea to watch a theatre-based performance were: to relieve stress, to learn about Korean culture, to socialise, to enhance their life satisfaction, and curiosity. The various motivations were significantly different in the case of the following independent variables: socio-demographics, prior experiences of travel and of attending performances. Diverging results were reported from the respective analyses using the multinomial logit and BN regression models. The respondents who were most favourably disposed to attending a future theatre-based performance in Korea were (based on their future intentions), married, aged over 40, had prior experience of attending a Korean performance, had at least a college level education, preferred modern-style performances and were ready to pay an admission fee of US$40 or above.

The impacts of health crises on tourism demand vary according to the crises’ magnitude, causes, and recoverability. In some cases, the effects of these unexpected incidents have been severe. This study investigates the underlying stability of Hong Kong’s inbound tourism during three phases of health events. Data on 14 market sources for Hong Kong tourism are compared and the results discussed. Specific examinations suggest that travel from India, the U.S., the U.K., Indonesia, and the Philippines are, somewhat, less influenced by health crises in Hong Kong. Men, unmarried travelers, non-working vacationers, and repeat visitors display resilient tendencies. Expenditure tends to decrease during crises, although lengths of stay tend to increase. The inclusion of three types and phases of health crisis events and their effects on inbound travel markets suggest that the impacts of health crisis events differ according to the profile of health crisis. Implications and suggestions for future studies are ...

This study aims to identify the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) studies in formulating the intellectual structure of the hospitality and tourism literature by conducting a bibliometric analysis. A total of 8049 articles published in the top six hospitality and tourism journals between 1973 and 2019 and 401,473 listed references are extracted from Scopus. BibExcel and VOSviewer are used to develop and visualize bibliometric mapping and indicate the level of contribution of the CSR studies. Findings show that environmental responsibility outweighs the other CSR-related topics. In addition, stakeholder theory is the most commonly applied theory in the CSR literature, and five research clusters are identified. Furthermore, CSR-related studies remain in the emerging stage in the hospitality and tourism literature, and studies examining the perspectives of local communities are scarce. Finally, a holistic approach is necessary in CSR-related studies to connect and consolidate current CSR knowledge.

Previous literature has focused on luxury tourism or luxury shopping, revealing that luxury-driven attitudes comprised unveiled reasons such as materialism, a desire for social status and the need to conform with others. Different outlets play different roles in the enactment of shopping attitudes, but even this has been scarcely researched within the context of tourism. This research combines these three areas of research in order to assess how materialism, the desire for status or to conform with others enact tourists’ intentions of buying luxuries while on holiday, within different outlets. A sample of 314 tourists in Hong Kong was used to test eight hypotheses, by means of an ordered probit model. The study’s findings enlighten the social nature of luxury tourists’ shopping behaviours, a nature that depends not only on what they buy but also largely on where they buy.

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of a food tourism video clip created by a destination marketing organization on potential tourists’ perceptions of the destination’s food values, familiarity with the destination’s food, behavioral involvement with the destination’s food, and intention to visit the destination for food tourism. A number of important findings were generated. First, of the five food values, “global food” and “attractive food” significantly influenced the respondents’ familiarity with Hong Kong food. Second, for the Generation Y group, Hong Kong food values such as “global food”, “attractive food”, and “realistic restaurants” had strong effects on the viewers’ behavioral involvement with Hong Kong food, while no such relationship was found between food value and behavioral involvement with Hong Kong food among the non-Generation Y group. Third, comparison of two generation groups showed that “realistic restaurants” had significantly more influence on behavioral in...

This study attempts to develop a drama consumption model in the context of film tourism and empirically test it using the mainland Chinese audience of Korean television dramas (K-dramas). Celebrity and dramatized characters strongly influenced the emotional involvement and referential reflection of this audience, whereas the effects of filming location and backdrops were relatively weak in this respect. It is worth noting that the perceived values of K-dramas did not have a direct effect on behavioral intention to visit film tourism locations. Rather, they are expected to lead to film tourism through a process of psychological and emotional involvement with the dramas. Further studies can beneficially apply this model to measure media value, audience involvement, and intention in different social and geographical settings.

The current study sought to identify the role of nostalgia in film tourism, specifically in relation to the development of preferred film tourism products and activities for potential Korean film tourists visiting the shooting locations of Hong Kong films made from the 1970s to the late 1990s. The findings suggest that the concept of nostalgia in the context of film tourism is multidimensional and consists of five identified domains. Of these domains, “reminiscence of mimicking”, “memory of film backdrops”, and “memory of Hong Kong history and culture” were highly significant in explaining familiarity with film destinations and the intention to engage in nostalgia film tourism. Differences in characteristics of respondents’ profiles were categorized into clusters generated using extracted domains. Among the four extracted clusters, the high film nostalgia group (Cluster 2) and the low film nostalgia group (Cluster 3) showed completely different characteristics. These differences included preferred...

Diaspora tourism offers potential benefits for emerging African destinations that are rarely associated from traditional mass tourism - preserving historic sites, creating a sense of place and increasing awareness of the dark history of slavery, particularly amongst upcoming generations. Noting the importance of managing diaspora tourism effectively, this in-depth empirical investigation identifies whether the motives of diaspora tourists explain their evaluations of Ghana as a destination, satisfaction, place attachment, and future travel intentions. The study concludes that four of the five motivational dimensions have a significant influence on evaluations of the diaspora homeland destination, with escape being the exception. The study contributes to knowledge by providing a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of diaspora tourism.

This study was designed to identify the relationships between place attachment, residents’ perceptions of tourism effects, and their attitudes toward tourism developments in the context of film tourism destination. A main survey was conducted at seven representative TV drama/film production towns in Korea. Among various findings, both the local communities’ beliefs about local development through the construction of TV drama/film production towns and their attachment to the communities had a significant positive effect on support for the development of film tourism. In addition, beliefs about local development significantly contributed to explaining the level of local community support for the development of a film tourism destination. Local communities’ beliefs also positively and significantly affected attachment to these communities. Interestingly, perceived negative social and environmental effects of film tourism did not indicate statistical causal relationships with the local residents’ beli...

The performing arts are an integral part of the economies of many communities and often highlight the cultures of places visited. Because of this, studies on performing arts have been actively conducted in the arts management and marketing fields. Yet, little research has examined the benefits of the performing arts from a tourism perspective. Thus, the current study employed conjoint analysis in an attempt to identify the most preferred performing arts tourism products as perceived by Japanese tourists. Results revealed the most important determinant attributes Japanese tourists consider in purchasing a Korean performing arts product were ‘admission price’, followed by ‘type of theater’, ‘genre’, and ‘location of theater’. The most preferred performing arts tourism product was found to be the following: 5.517 (overall utility) = 1.081 (Korean pop music concert) + 2.233 (less than 5000 Yen) + 0.775 (downtown Seoul) + 1.428 (exclusive theater).

This study is involved with five objectives: understanding hospitality and tourism management (HTM) students' preferences, their characteristics for future HTM career, their motivations for choosing HTM as a major, their reasons for choosing or not choosing whether to work in the hospitality and tourism industry, and the important factors that they consider when making career decisions. The responses of HTM students living in three Asian countries where HTM programs are popular were compared. Taiwanese students exhibited the highest level of motivation to study HTM and the lowest level of willingness to work in a low position at the starting of their career among the three regional groups. In contrast, Hong Kong students indicated the lowest motivation to study HTM and the most negative responses regarding welfare or working conditions in the hospitality and tourism fields as reasons for not choosing to work in the industry. Korean students showed the highest expectation of international working opportunities and a flexible organization culture, and the highest level of willingness to work in a high position at their starting career point. All of the student groups indicated the importance of practical learning or interest in employment over scholastic pursuits or intellectual interest. The results of this study are useful for HTM education stakeholders, including potential students, HTM school staff and the HT industry.

Apart from economic factors, issues that may influence, bilateral tourist flows include shared histories, geopolitical factors, diplomatic relations, nationalism and domestic political issues. China and Japan provide an example of a bilateral tourism relationship that has been influenced by a range of factors beyond the usual economic factors of GDP, price and exchange rates. A recent history of invasion, occupation and attempts at reconciliation underlie contemporary diplomatic relations between these nations producing both fascination and mistrust. A detailed understanding of the full range of factors that may affect bilateral relations is necessary to understand bilateral tourism flows. This study identifies the effects of history, nationalism, occupation, socio-cultural factors and geopolitical factors on the flow of tourists between China and Japan.

Since the 1990s, the Asia-Pacific region’s world market share of international travelers has increased, as America’s and Europe’s shares have fallen. China (People’s Republic of China) has become the world’s biggest tourism source market with an overseas spend of US$292 billion in 2015, fueling opportunities for the region and beyond. Now, Asia Pacific outbound travel is extending past short-haul interregional travel to long-haul destinations, specifically Europe. To realize this potential, European destinations need a better understanding of the Chinese traveler; their perceptions of destinations, awareness, and loyalty. This study measures the brand equity of Switzerland and Austria as perceived by Hong Kong Chinese tourists. Structural equation modeling results indicate that destination brand image and associations significantly impact brand loyalty, whereas destination awareness does not, contrary to past interregional research findings. Understanding the influence of brand components on overall brand equity supports the efficacy of the brand equity model for interregional destinations.

This study aimed to determine whether, in accordance with socio-demographic and travel-related variables, there are differences in Japanese tourists’ preference, behavior, and perception of Hong Kong as a tourist destination. Diverse interesting results were revealed. Leisure group showed a higher preference than a non-leisure group for package tours, shopping, and participating in indoor activities. Male tourists showed more generosity in giving tips and a greater preference for shops with a “Quality Tourism Scheme” accreditation. A first-visit group showed the highest level of preference for shopping, spending more money than frequent-visitor groups. Hong Kong cultural and festival events were regarded as attractive tourist activities by one who had revisited Hong Kong three times or more even though the Japanese market is considered a tourist cohort that prefers shopping.

This paper analyzes television commercials (TVCs) launched by Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) from 1999 to 2012. By repeating shots of traditional and Korean popular (k-pop) culture, high-tech machinery, and sportsmanship, it is fair to say that Korean tourism TVCs both reflected and fueled the fad a target audience has for Korea. Hence the commercials not only promoted tourism, they were also projecting national power in general and cultural power in particular. It is surmised that through power projection the TVCs intend to create a country halo effect so that the country’s products and services may enjoy an aspired added value.

This exploratory study, based on 316 questionnaires completed by mainland Chinese tourists in Hong Kong, investigates whether certain conditions are sufficient to motivate tourists’ decisions to buy luxury products. The results of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis reveal that a combination of four conditions (emotional attachment, fashion leadership, prestige sensitivity, and social value) is sufficient to influence tourists to shop for luxury brands. It must be pointed out, however, that the four conditions are unnecessary in some social and shopping contexts, and thus the findings do not reject the possibility that alternative conditions may also influence luxury shopping decisions. This study using fuzzy-set theory demonstrates that tourists who score highly in all four conditions constitute an almost perfect subcategory of luxury shoppers. Therefore, it is recommended that other scholars examine the conditions that are sufficient to influence tourists rather than concentrating on other factors.

Nostalgia plays a crucial role not only in stimulating perceived familiarity with certain locations but also in motivating tourists to visit the locations and satisfying on-site experiences in the context of film tourism. However, the role of nostalgia has, until now, not been fully theorised and integrated in related theories on film tourism. This chapter aims to examine and identify the role of nostalgia in the development of future film tourism products and activities in Hong Kong, particularly those that target Korean audiences who enjoyed Hong Kong films produced from the 1970s to the late 1990s. The findings suggest that nostalgia formed by lasting memories of these Hong Kong films from the ‘good old days’ is represented and embodied by (1) memories of films’ content and film stars, (2) memories of film backdrops, (3) reminiscence of mimicking, (4) envy of Hong Kong society and (5) memories of Hong Kong history and culture. Stronger feelings of nostalgia and sentimentality, particularly associated with film content and film stars, as well as film backdrops, are crucial to the support needed for the development of Hong Kong film tourism-related tour programmes.

This study investigates the competitiveness of overseas destinations as perceived by leisure tourists from mainland China, with a focus on how the competitiveness of destinations varies by choice set. The results of this study confirm the funnel-down structure of consumer choice sets including the early choice set, the middle choice set, and the late choice set: The size of these sets became progressively smaller as the moment for making the final decision drew nearer. In addition, the results clearly indicate that travel distance is an important determinant of tourism demand: Short-haul destinations are more competitive than long-haul destinations.

Television (TV) drama/film production towns have been mushrooming in Korea to cater for the increasing popularity of film tourism. Most of these towns have been constructed by local governments to stimulate economic development, enhance the image and awareness of the region, and to fulfill the political desires of the local government officials. However, in the last 15 years, 34 towns have been established, which has led to heavy competition for film tourists and in attracting subsequent TV drama and film productions. Consequently, most of the towns are currently experiencing financial difficulties and are exploring effective measures to maintain their popularity. In this study, film tourists' perceptions of TV drama/film production towns were analyzed using a structured survey method. The survey data were analyzed using paired t-tests and importance–performance (I–P) analyses. The results reveal that the film tourists' had different perceptions of the I–P of the products and services provided by the town...

The goal of this study is to assess the effects the Korean food featured on the Korean TV drama series Daeganggeum has on the perceptions of national image and intention to visit Korea by residents of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand. Estimates of structural equation models are used for samples from the three countries to produce information for comparing relationships between variables: on preferring Korean food, the national image of Korea, and the intention to visit Korea for food tourism. The results show similarities and differences between the three national groups. Virtually identical models are found for Hong Kong and Taiwan groups. However, the comparison of Hong Kong and Taiwan groups to the Thailand group demonstrate differences. Specifically, in the Thai sample, distinctiveness of Korean food culture significantly increases the intention to visit Korea for food tourism. All three national groups demonstrate that a strong relationship exists between the national image of Korea and the in...

The aim of this study is to ascertain, in an international tourism context, whether there are cultural discrepancies between hotel employees who have been educated and trained in a host country, and guests who have traveled to that country, given that each group is imbued with their own national culture. The findings indicate that not only do Thai frontline hotel employees have different expectations about the behavior of Japanese and Korean customers, but that the expectations of both customer groups concerning their own behavior differ from those of Thai employees. A significant gap was found in perceptions of actual behavior between the international customers and hotel staff, suggesting that cultural discrepancies are indeed present, but also vary by ethnicity. The scale of the discrepancy between Thai employees’ perceptions of Japanese tourists’ behavior, for example, was larger than in the case of the Korean customers. Comparison of the expectations of the two international customer groups also reve...

Seeing is believing. This idiom may not be true when virtual reality and perceived reality are ubiquitous in our daily life. However, visual (and audio) content is more effective in stimulating one...