Search

Purpose The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the lighter (entertainment and esthetic experiences) and darker sides (educational and escapist experiences) of dark tourism experiences. This study also examines the effect of lighter and darker sides of dark tourism experiences on functional and emotional value. Design/methodology/approach To investigate how and where visitors experience lighter and darker sides of dark tourism, the authors conducted in-depth interviews from visitors to the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ). To demonstrate consequences of lighter and darker sides of dark tourism experiences on functional and emotional value, the authors collected field survey data. Taken together, the authors used mixed methods with exploratory sequential design. Findings Interviewees vividly described their entertainment (crossing the suspension bridge) and esthetic experiences (seeing a family of crane birds from a short distance) in the Korean DMZ. They also described educational (understanding the background of the civil war) and escapist experiences (limiting daily entries made them feel like they were entering a special place or even a foreign country). Survey results showed that educational and esthetic experiences increased emotional value, while educational and escapist experiences enhanced functional value of a tour of the Korean DMZ. Originality/value Previous research operationalized lighter and darker sides of dark tourism based on characteristics of dark tourism sites. Specifically, darker and lighter aspects of dark tourism were determined, depending on whether such sites are directly related to human death or not. However, the current study draws on tourist experiences to operationalize lighter and darker sides of dark tourism. While previous research focused on the supply side, this study shifts focus to the demand side, thereby advancing knowledge in hybrid dark tourism experiences.

This study identified the spatial and temporal patterns of national park visitors by combining global positioning system (GPS) technologies and surveys using the sequence alignment method (SAM) based on the concept of space–time path of time geography. Data were collected from a sample of 344 GPS tracks and questionnaires obtained from Gyeryongsan National Park in South Korea. A complex random stratified sampling method was employed to represent a national sample based on mobile positioning data. The result of the SAM analysis revealed that the derived visitor typologies constituted three groups from 83 unique paths extracted from 341 sequences. Significant intergroup differences were found for the paths based on average travel distance, average visit duration, and average travel speed. The main theoretical contribution of this study is in expanding the application of the theory by providing methodological improvements using SAM and GPS analysis of the theoretical basis of time geography.

Templestays are a form of cultural tourism in which participants visit a Buddhist temple to experience their culture. Using a choice experiment, the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) is estimated for various attributes of Templestay programs of location, accommodations, and type of meditation. Respondents are willing to pay a premium for private accommodations and to experience the natural mountain settings over an urban setting. The MWTP varies by type of meditation and by how often respondents have participated in a Templestay. For the most physically demanding form of meditation, 108 prostrations, there is weak evidence marginal utility decreases with increasing number of visits. Brewing tea and talking to a monk do not lead to a change in marginal utility. The most spiritually demanding meditation, Seon meditation, shows increasing marginal utility. Seon meditators could benefit from additional stays, as the benefits of this form of meditation can only be achieved through practice and learning from experienced meditators. It is expected that these results will provide information for the diversification of Templestay experience programs.

Purpose This paper aims to understand the impact of smart working on employees’ quality of life. The service-dominant logic indicates that key actors, including employees, are resource integrators. This empirical study contributes to the current knowledge of transformative service by expounding on smart working practices and their relationship with self-efficacy and, ultimately, quality of life of employees. Design/methodology/approach This study contends that smart working enhances employees’ self-efficacy. The current research uses conservation of resources (COR) theory as a basis in hypothesizing that self-efficacy serves as a key resource, which can stimulate workplace creativity, job satisfaction and quality of life. An onsite survey is conducted among employees who have been involved in smart working in the travel agency context. Findings Smart working has a positive effect on self-efficacy, which positively influences workplace creativity, job satisfaction and quality of life. Workplace creativity enhances job satisfaction but does not influence quality of life. Job satisfaction boosts quality of life, which is important to tourism services and their employees amid various crises. Research limitations/implications Consistent with COR theory, the immediate recommendation to managers is to invest in smart working, which can lead to employees’ creativity, job satisfaction and quality of life. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this empirical study is the first to assess the viability of smart working in the travel agency context. Smart working offers positive outcomes, such as convenience for employees to work independently, improving workplace creativity, job satisfaction and quality of life. Travel agencies are mainly categorized as small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In the future, SMEs may also introduce smart working that can eventually become their competitive advantage to retain talented employees.

Protest tourism is visiting a destination with the major aim of viewing or participating in protests. This qualitative study examined the motivations of Hong Kong protest tourists as a starting point for future exploration of distinctions between this emerging type of tourism and other existing categories. Five primary motivations were revealed. Two push motivations were the desire to (1) have special, new experiences that few others have experienced; and (2) experience tourist offerings first-hand. Three pull motivations were created by sites providing tourists the opportunity to (i) see a one-time historical event; (ii) share the moment with local citizens, even if indirectly; and (iii) experience real-time events with a local guide. The findings point to unique temporal and geographic aspects of the interplay between protest tourist motivations and the unique merging of the subject and object of tourism, shedding light on how different tourism experiences can be framed.

The changes in the crystallographic parameters of Y0.79-zAlzYb0.18Er0.03NbO4 powders prepared with varying Al content were determined by Rietveld refinement, and their effects on the up- (UC) and down-conversion (DC) spectra were studied. The findings confirmed that the Al3+, Yb3+, and Er3+ ions were completely incorporated at the Y3+ sites. The substitution of the small Al3+ ions led to the modification of the interatomic distance. As a result, the highest polyhedral distortion index of the YO8 dodecahedron (DYO) could be achieved at z = 0.2. Under infrared radiation, UC spectra demonstrated that a two-photon energy transfer (ET) UC process from Yb3+ to Er3+ was responsible for the green and red emissions, whose intensities increased dramatically by 160 and 166% at z = 0.2, respectively. This enhancement was a consequence of a large crystal-field asymmetry surrounding the Yb3+ and Er3+ ions, which resulted from the highest DYO at z = 0.2. In addition to D, the Yb‒Er interatomic distance was responsible for the enhanced UC emission, affecting the ET probability from Yb3+ to Er3+. Under 379 nm excitation, the DC green emission of Er3+ also showed the maximal intensity at z = 0.2 owing to the largest DYO. However, a correlation between the crystallographic variations and the DC emissions activated by [NbO4]3- niobates could not be fully elucidated owing to the complexity of the emission mechanism.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, our indoor and outdoor leisure activities have profoundly changed. However, research on the way people negotiate leisure motivations with constraints and the relationship between leisure and quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic is scant. On the basis of in-depth interviews with 32 residents in South Korea in 2020, this study reveals that they proactively overcome leisure constraints;their leisure activities are not reduced but slightly modified (e.g. watching baseball games online vs. at a ballpark) or even increased (e.g. camping). When people articulate quality of life during the pandemic, work, health, and family are more salient themes than leisure and travel. Such finding is incongruent with previous research emphasising the importance of leisure and vacations in the quality of life. This study extends the model of leisure constraints negotiation to the context of a pandemic and advances our understanding of the multi-dimensional nature of the quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Leisure Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although e-learning has been studied in different contexts, the intention to use e-learning during the Corona virus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has yet to be explored. This study extends the technology ...

This study integrated a theory of consumption values and place attachment theory to hypothesize the relationships among visitors’ consumption values such as hedonic and utilitarian values and their...

This empirical research contributes to the current knowledge of sustainable destination management by applying nudge and value belief norm theories. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of sustainable intelligence, destination social responsibility (DSR), biospheric value, and visit experience on pro-environmental behaviour in the eco-tourism site of Upo Wetland, South Korea. This study also compares pro-environmental behaviour across two DSR segments (high and low DSR clusters). Results reveal that sustainable intelligence, biospheric value, DSR, and visit experience at ecotourism sites significantly influence pro-environmental behaviour. Sustainable intelligence exerts the highest effect on pro-environmental behaviour among the variables. The impact of the high DSR group on pro-environmental behaviour is stronger than that on the low DSR group. Thus, managers of ecotourism sites should engage in the high DSR group that does care about sustainable intelligence and biospheric value in environmentally friendly activities.