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Die alpine Tourismuswirtschaft nach der Pandemie steht heute vor tiefgreifenden, langfristigen und disruptiven Veränderungen. Neue Arbeits- und Freizeitformen entwickeln sich, digitale Transformation und Künstliche Intelligenz zeigen ihre Potenziale für den Tourismussektor. Das von Thomas Bieger, Pietro Beritelli und Christian Laesser herausgegebene Jahrbuch untersucht die damit verbundenen Chancen, Lösungsansätze und Trends aus unterschiedlichen Blickwinkeln.Eine einmalige Zusammenstellung zur aktuellen Weiterentwicklung des alpinen Tourismus in Forschung und Praxis.

Touristische Kaufentscheidungen sind vielschichtig und komplex, aufgrund der Kombination einer Reihe von Besonderheiten: (1) Entscheidungen finden uber Distanz statt und sind deshalb risikobehaftet; (2) Entscheidungen sind gepragt von Portfolio-Logik mit einer Vielzahl interdependenter und oft substitutiv zueinander stehender Teilentscheidungen (oft auch in Abhangigkeit von Entscheidungen im sozialen Umfeld, bspw. Mitreisende), (3) die touristische Produktion unterliegt einer Haushalts-Produktionslogik mit einem hohen Mass eigener Leistungen in einem aufgrund der Absenz von Routine hochgradig emotionalen Dienstleistungskontext. Im vorliegenden Beitrag fassen wir auf Basis des Standes der Literatur kurz die zentralen Erkenntnisse zu touristischen Kaufentscheidungen zusammen und stellen als Antwort auf die vorherrschenden Partial- bzw. sehr spezifischen und wenig generalisierbaren Gesamtmodelle ein integratives generisches Kaufentscheidungsmodell vor. Hieraus leiten wir sodann Konklusionen fur (touristische) Dienstleistungsbranchen und andere Dienstleistungsdomanen ab.

Tourismus ist ein multidimensionales Phänomen, das nicht nur einen wichtigen globalen Wirtschaftssektor darstellt, sondern auch geografische Muster, soziale Gemeinschaften, regionale Wirtschaftsnetzwerke und politische Beziehungen beeinflusst. Aufgrund der umfassenden Natur und des integrativen Charakters des Tourismussektors gab es schon immer Bestrebungen, diesen Untersuchungsgegenstand auf der Grundlage systemischer und disziplinübergreifender Ansätze zu analysieren. Eine der Haupteigenschaften touristischer Dienstleistungen ist die Abhängigkeit von Co-Kreationen, denn touristische Produkte bestehen aus verschiedenen Dienstleistungselementen, die von unabhängigen Unternehmen zusammen mit Kunden erbracht werden. Diese Sonderausgabe enthält Beiträge, die verschiedene Perspektiven auf die Koordination der touristischen Dienstleistungskette abdecken. Es enthält auch Artikel, die sich mit wichtigen Ressourcen mit öffentlichem Gut-Charakter für touristische Unternehmensnetzwerke und Destinationen befassen, wie z.B. Daten und Qualität von Arbeitsmärkten. Zweitwohnungen eröffnen den Zugang zu wichtigen Ressourcen für Destinationen. Die unterschiedlichen Rollen von Kunden als Koproduzenten, Kunden und sogar Investoren sind ein Thema, das ebenfalls behandelt wird.de

Purpose Overnight taxes are controversial. They affect tourists’ consumption behavior and hotels’ profits. This potentially generates undesirable industry practices such as underreporting overnights to evade overnight taxes. The aim of the paper is to understand the conditions and outcomes of underreporting. This is important because underreporting affects destinations’ tax income, which in turn may have further effects on tourism or other public services. Design/methodology/approach This study uses qualitative comparative analysis to identify what specific combinations of conditions motivate managers of hospitality businesses to evade overnight taxes. Findings While potential economic gain seems to be the obvious answer, this study finds that different configurations of causal conditions account for non-compliance. Four different configurations combining six conditions explain the logics behind hotel overnight tax evasion behavior. The conditions refer to both utilitarian affordances and the individual tax morale of hospitality managers. Certain utilitarian conditions in combination can overrule moral objections to non-compliance. Originality/value The study provides a nuanced understanding of overnight tax evasion motives and suggests how to connect work on tourism taxes with destination governance issues and destination management organization funding.

Purpose This paper aims to provide a selective review of sectoral and academic developments that have led to the flow-based view of destination management and marketing and inspires future work. Design/methodology/approach A review of the relevant literature serves as a foundation for the discussion of the flow-based view of destination management and marketing. From the results of this review, future prospects for practice and research are derived. Findings Destination management and marketing has undergone many changes in the past and is subject for some major overhauls in the future. Originality/value The paper inspires in terms of rather asking questions for the future than finding answers from the past.

Die Corona-Pandemie und ihre massiven Auswirkungen auf alle Bereiche der Tourismuswirtschaft hält die Branche wie kaum eine andere in Atem. Welches Krisenmanagement im alpinen Tourismus Erfolg verspricht und welche Nach-Corona-Strategien sich bereits zeigen, nimmt das von Thomas Bieger, Pietro Beritelli und Christian Laesser herausgegebene Jahrbuch in den Blick.

Klimawandel, Digitalisierung, Fachkräftemangel: Die Herausforderungen für alpine Tourismusregionen sind mit klassischem Destinationsmanagement kaum noch zu bewältigen. Dass dennoch viele innovative Lösungsansätze für den alpinen Tourismus überzeugen, zeigt einmal mehr das von Thomas Bieger, Pietro Beritelli und Christian Laesser herausgegebene Jahrbuch. Ein spannender Impulsgeber für alle, die die alpine Tourismuswirtschaft mit neuen Möglichkeiten und Konzepten weiterentwickeln möchten.

This article communicates the main insights of the third Biennial Forum on Advances in Destination Management (ADM), held in Vail, Colorado (USA). The substance of scholars’ and practitioners’ discussions can be divided into five topical domains: (1) relevance of experiences to the destination concept, (2) destination strategy and resilience, (3) the future of DMOs, (4) tourism taxation and regulation, and (5) big data and visitor management. For each domain, a goal-centered research agenda is offered, built on conference participants’ collective sense-making efforts during the three-day conference, followed by a dedicated consensus session.

Tourist destination branding has become a major element in tourism marketing. However, it could potentially be the case that tourists are unaware of brands intentionally constructed by destination marketing organzations (DMOs) because they do not even recognize the main identifier as represented by the destination logo. This paper tests the truth of this assumption for the cases of four supposedly well-branded Swiss destinations. The results show that destination logo recognition is, indeed, very limited. In addition, destination logos appear to be most effective when used for specifically branding the place right on the spot. In terms of the original meaning and aim of ‘branding,’ the results imply that branding (using the logo) is primarily useful for the product (i.e. the experience) in the destination rather than for destination communication. Since DMOs spend considerable amounts of money in branding processes, we conclude that the impact of branded communication and advertising campaigns is greatly overestimated.

For actors in a tourism destination, the atmospheric turn initially means looking at themselves in a more holistic and differentiated way. Through the analysis of strategic visitor flows, it is possible to identify subspaces with high frequency, which thus become identification spaces of a destination. Together with other identification fields, they shape the destination brand understood as spatial and atmospheric entity. This enables a different view of a destination, its structure and generates new opportunities for destination management, which wll be discussed in the form of an outlook. A destination manager, for example, could in the future collaborate with governmental bodies responsible for spatial planning and with private builders on spatial design projects and introduce the perspective of the destination as a branded space.

Die Digitalisierung, neue Technologien und Kommunikationsformen sind auch im alpinen Tourismus die Themen der Stunde. Doch zeigt sich auch in klassischen Markt- und Entwicklungsfeldern viel Potenzial für innovatives Destinationsmanagement in der Alpenregion. Das von Thomas Bieger, Pietro Beritelli und Christian Laesser herausgegebene Jahrbuch stellt neueste Studien, Konzepte und Tendenzen der alpinen Tourismuswirtschaft prägnant vor: ein aufschlussreicher Querschnitt zu den wichtigsten Entwicklungen in Forschung und Praxis.

Purpose This paper aims to identify means and ways to reduce redundancies and increase relevance in tourism research in a culturally diverse and globalised world. Design/methodology/approach The content of this paper is based on minutes of an extensive discussion (panel as well as townhall-type of discussion) at the 2015 AIEST conference in Lijiang, PR China. Findings Challenges in today’s tourism research world are identified and ways of how to deal with them are shown. Some of those solutions might provoke change in certain domains. This is why ideas are provided for the AIEST to support and facilitate this change. Researchlimitations/implications Limitations come from the research settings of this contribution, which is essentially based on records of a panel and a townhall-type discussion. Originality/value We try to provide food for thought, in order to provoke one or the other discussion. This is why we are happy to receive feeback.

Recent research underlines the importance of understanding the tourist destination as a demand-driven construct. Visitors activate different configurations of supply elements that produce a complex and dynamic fabric referred to as a space of flows. Today, we have the means to understand how these flows shape the evolution and gestalt of tourist places. This article proposes a new framework combining three concepts and related foundational theories: visitor flows, trajectories, and corridors. In tandem, they describe how tourism manifests itself in space and time. Trip decision, trip execution, and tourist performance unfold through social mechanisms generating the totality of visitor flows. Stakeholders must understand how visitor flows in their destinations emerge and evolve in order to decide on specific design interventions.

Purpose Most state-of-the-art approaches for the analysis of the process of travel decision-making follow Woodworth’s neo-behaviouristic S–R (stimulus–response) or S–O–R (stimulus–organism–response) model. However, within this model, scholars primarily focus on the S–R relationship, investigating specific decisions by describing or explaining an outcome as the result of an input of several stimuli. There is a lack of investigation into the “O” dimension of the S–O–R model. This paper aims to contribute towards closing of this gap by conceptually and holistically expanding existing models with new perspectives and components. Design/methodology/approach The authors base the conceptual process on a subjective/interpretative research paradigm, by combining outcomes from different theories and concepts into a new, more holistic approach; and challenging this approach by seeking counterarguments as well as supportive arguments at three conferences and workshops. Findings The paper expands the body of literature by positing a generic conceptual operationalization model focusing on the organism (“O”) domain of decision-making. To achieve this, and further to operationalize the S–O–R model, the paper proposes to integrate an M–O–A (motivation–opportunity–ability) approach. Originality/value The analysis of the body literature reveals that there is still a lack of analytical and especially workable models/approaches for the analysis of the process of tourist decision-making. The paper contributes to that discussion by offering an alternative and generic operationalization of the tourist decision-making process by inducing a theoretical framework from the deductions gleaned from a number of existing theories.

Inspired by the recent emergence of the hybrid consumer in the marketing literature, the present article defines hybrid tourists and assesses empirical evidence of their existence. Results indicate that hybrid tourists—tourists whose segment membership for the next trip cannot be predicted from their segment membership of their last trip—are the norm, rather than the exception. Only one quarter of tourists remain in the same motivation segment across more than one trip. Results are similar for expenditure segments. Tourist hybridity exists both with respect to travel motivations and expenditure. Personal characteristics predict hybridity. New approaches of market segmentation are needed to cater for the hybrid tourist.

Real Estate is one of the driving factors of destination development. This book, edited by Peter Keller and Thomas Bieger, contributes to the deeper understanding of the dynamics of Real Estate development in destinations. Issues among others are: evolving Real Estate Business Models in Destinations, the Socio-Economic Impacts of Real Estate on Destinations, optimizing Destination Capacity. An unique database for the topic with contributions from 43 researchers and 18 case studies.

Sich wandelnde ökonomische, technische und gesellschaftliche Rahmenbedingungen zwingen auch die alpine Tourismuswirtschaft zur konsequenten Prüfung und Neuausrichtung bestehender Vorstellungen und Geschäftsmodelle. Über aktuelle Markt- und Branchenentwicklungen gibt Ihnen das von Thomas Bieger, Pietro Beritelli und Christian Laesser herausgegebene Jahrbuch wieder einen praxisnahen Überblick.

Der Beitrag fuhrt in ein neues Verstandnis der Destination und den darauf basierenden Ansatz des St. Galler Modells fur Destinationsmanagement ein und zeigt die weitreichenden Konsequenzen fur das Entscheidungsverhalten sowie die Handlungen der Akteure auf. Touristen uberschreiten in ihrem Reiseverhalten die Grenzen angebotsseitiger Planungseinheiten und Leistungsbundel. Das vor allem durch soziale Krafte getriebene Verhalten der Touristen stellt fur das Destinationsmanagement und -marketing eine grosse Herausforderung dar. Diesem wird mit opportunistischen Praxisansatzen und perspektivischen Teillosungen aus der Wissenschaft heute nur ungenugend Rechnung tragen. Der Beitrag stellt einen neuen Ansatz dar, den drei Eigenschaften auszeichnen: (1) Er verbindet neuste wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse mit Umsetzungserfahrungen aus der Praxis; (2) er versteht Tourismus als soziales Phanomen und stellt somit die Nachfrage und das Besucherverhalten in den Mittelpunkt; und (3) er fuhrt zu einer dif ...

Purpose – This study aims to study different native languages as proxy for cultural differences in travel behaviour in multilingual Switzerland. Differences in travel behaviour between tourists from different nations (implying different cultural backgrounds) have been investigated in several studies. However, most studies do not reveal the potential confounding effects associated with cross-nation studies, such as differences in the economic, legal/regulatory or subcultural contexts of their residents. This exploratory study tries to overcome this gap by investigating differences in travel behaviour between language groups within one country: Switzerland. By holding potential confounding effects constant, our results reveal differences in travel behaviour associated with language, including travel motivation, choice of destination, choice of type of accommodation, duration of trip and travel expenses. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on data from one of the most comprehensive outbound travel behaviour survey: Travel Market Switzerland. Findings – By holding potential confounding effects constant, our results reveal differences in travel behaviour associated with language, including choice of destination, choice of type of accommodation, duration of trip and travel expenses. Originality/value – Differences in travel behaviour between tourists from different nations (implying different cultural backgrounds) have been investigated in several studies. However, most studies do not reveal the potential confounding effects associated with cross-nation studies, such as differences in the economic, legal/regulatory or subcultural contexts of their residents. This exploratory study tries to overcome this gap.

Research on the composition of the board of directors of DMOs as well as the governance of DMOs is of particular interest for destination management, because it helps understand the context of community-type tourist destinations. There is an increasing body of research on the composition and roles of DMO boards of directors as well as the duties and tasks of those individuals. However, to date, no study has addressed their influence on the financial revenues of the organization. A DMO's budget is not God-given but evolves along with the development of the organizations and the institutions in the destinations. Thus, we investigate to what extent directors on the boards affect the amount from different revenue sources. Using data from 44 Swiss local and regional DMOs, we perform seven distinct multiple regressions with the following revenue sources as dependent variables: (1) membership fees, (2) partnership platforms/initiatives, (3) commercial revenues, (4) overnight taxes, (5) regional and state subsidies, (6) municipal subsidies, and (7) tourism taxes. Four independent variables (1) stakeholders, (2) public agents, (3) leaders, and (4) networkers, positively and negatively affect the revenue sources. The results reveal two contrasting roles: while leaders and networkers likely increase the revenue sources, stakeholder representatives and public agents negatively affect the revenue sources. Additionally, the latter two functions strongly increase the size of the DMOs' boards. We conclude with a new perspective on how to understand DMO boards, their functions, and finally the organizations themselves.

This study challenges the way the research community has approached issues and implemented concepts in the field of destination management. In contrast to previous contributions that deliver a particular framework, this study aims to literally deframe the construct of the destination. To this end, we propose an alternative and dynamic viewpoint for researchers and practitioners that might have evolved decades ago, if the research community had not tried to constrain or reduce the phenomenon of the destination to a comprehensive and inherently static system. We identify the main problems of destination management and attempt to explain the reason for the many failures and shortcomings in practice. Building on an alternative concept, we present its applicability to the case of the currently ongoing reform of the destination management organizations (DMOs) in Switzerland. The study has a conceptual character, although its practical relevance has been proved over the past two years.

PurposeClassical socio‐demographic segmentation approaches of tourists mostly fail to cluster customer groups appropriately. More recent segmentation approaches have employed a more customer‐centric perspective, attempting to capture consumer behavioral patterns. Within such segmentation, one very promising approach examines the activities pursued by tourists. This research aims to identify activity patterns of outbound travelers for segmentation and ultimately to recognize experiential consumption spheres created by tourists at a destination.Design/methodology/approachThis paper applies a posteriori, data‐driven, activity‐based segmentation to outbound travelers.FindingsThe present study identifies six activity‐based clusters: average short‐haul holiday experiences (Cluster 1); short repeat healthy winter experiences (Cluster 2); new beach experiences (Cluster 3); short social encounter experiences (Cluster 4); new place experiences (Cluster 5); and seniors' new place experiences (Cluster 6).Originality/valueThis research is unlike many other studies that apply segmentation to inbound travelers. The authors' approach analyzes outbound travelers and is based on the notion that activities are the basis of the experiential consumption of consumers and the idea that customers co‐create experiences in so‐called experiential consumption spheres during activity‐based encounters with service providers at a destination.

In the last decades, tourist destinations have been conceived as a geographic area in which tourism takes place and which is supposed to be organized, coordinated, be made competitive. Experiences from mature destinations such as in Switzerland show that the territorial concept of the destination fails in practice, limiting the actors in a self-made mental corset. Our lately applied approach that sees the destination as a space in which several dynamic visitor flows, each one in a different maturity stage, take place, allows a more relaxed view on the complex situation of the destination’s context. The corresponding techniques help entrepreneurs, tourist organizations, and public authorities to jointly (1) understand the past development and the current state of the destination, (2) articulate challenges and identify possible solutions, and (3) prioritize on feasible and useful projects and initiatives, including investments. In the first part of the article we explain the different perspectives and how the alternative viewpoint helps identify better the needs of the demand and consequently the requirements for (re-)designing infrastructure and services. The second part builds on experiences made in the tourist region of Heidiland, Switzerland. With the help of the new techniques: (1) actors focused specifically and unmistakably on the relevant areas of intervention, (2) rapidly agreed upon key projects in the region, and (3) found how these projects contributed to current and new visitor flows in the destination. The case presents four different projects in different maturity stages and highlights the linkages between market needs, supply-sided collaboration, and the role of the organizations. In the end, the approach argues for a shift away from ‘one (rather stable) functional space’ to ‘spaces with multiple dynamic functions’. Consequently, and relating to investments, we build a case to move from a land-related towards a flow-based approach.

Wie sich die fundamentale Veränderung etablierter Denkmuster und Modelle unmittelbar auf die alpine Tourismuswirtschaft auswirkt, analysiert das von Thomas Bieger, Pietro Beritelli und Christian Laesser herausgegebene Jahrbuch aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln.

Existing literature suggests that information search and planning always precede travel activity. This contrasts with our understanding of purchasing behaviour in other contexts where a significant amount of non-planned, impulse purchasing occurs. We propose that impulse purchasing also occurs in tourism. Results from an empirical study show that impulse purchasing does occur in tourism and is specifically associated with shorter trips, a small number of travel companions, specific travel motivations, and familiarity with the destination.

People travel to different destinations for different reasons. In this study, we investigate the viability of market segmentation by personal traits (based on and exemplified by Jungian's MBTI variables) of travelers from Switzerland, by performing a data-driven a posteriori segmentation by means of k-means clustering. To identify the segmentation power of personal traits, this analysis is complemented with a multiple discriminant analysis as well as a number of contingency tests to identify differences between the segments. We identified four clearly definable segments, which differ in terms of the psychographic traits of the segment members but also in terms of some sociodemographic characteristics as well as travel profiles. Despite a growing body of work on classical market segmentation, there is a growing but still limited number of works on potentialities of psychographic approaches relating to a traveler's traits and/or personality as a segmentation basis in tourism.

There is consensus among scholars and practitioners that planning and marketing of community-structured destinations requires a cooperative approach among numerous different actors. It is alleged that power plays a central role, in building the influence reputation of actors in such a cooperative network and thus is important in planning and decision-making. However, there is little empirical evidence with regard to the dimensions of power in a destination community context. This paper contributes to the understanding of how power is perceived by different individuals and stakeholder groups in an actor’s network of an Alpine tourist destination. To this end we identified a relevant network of actors and their individual influence reputations (independent variable) as well as relevant power dimensions (dependent). Multiple and simple regression models of in-degree and out-degree centralities, for the whole network as well as network partitions based on stakeholder affiliation of the actors, provide a differentiated insight into the issue of power in actors’ networks. The results indicate that in almost all of the models, knowledge and process power as a second important variable play a central role in people’s perception of an actor’s influence (out-degree) as well as for one’s reputation as influential (in-degree). The results of the partitioned models show that depending on the stakeholder group the actors belong to, their out-degree as well as their in-degree models differ significantly. Hence, the interpretation of influence and power varies across stakeholder groups and must be regarded as a perceptual and not only a structural concept.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate predictors (stated motivation and reported leisure activities) of health travel as opposed to a control group incorporating all other travel of the Swiss resident population, a well‐matured market.Design/methodology/approachAn a priori segmentation of more than 11,000 trip cases (health travel as opposed to non‐health travel) was chosen as means of methodological concept, and stepwise logistic regressions of 25 types of motivations and 72 types of activities towards group membership served as means of analysis.FindingsThere appears to be a mature perception of health travel in the developed Swiss market, comprising rewarding elements of beauty, indulgence, and regeneration combined with demanding elements such as (challenging and stimulating) sports, including mountain biking, hiking, and golf.Originality/valueThe paper enhances the still slim body of knowledge on health travel.

This paper investigates (1) if, and to what extent, self-congruity theory is applicable in tourism, (2) to what extent travel and person characteristics explain the degree of self-congruity, and (3) how the operationalization of self-congruity affects the conclusions about whether self-congruity holds in tourism. Results derived from a large-scale study of Swiss travelers indicate that conclusions depend heavily on how self-congruity is measured. Using a relatively strict measure, more than half the trips under study can be classified as self-congruent. However, travel and sociodemographic characteristics are very limited in their ability to explain when self-congruity occurs.

Zusammenfassung Kleine und mittlere Hotels zählen zum Rückgrat des Tourismus - auch in der Schweiz. Allerdings ist über die konkreten Herausforderungen an das Management solcher Betriebe nur beschränktes Wissen vorhanden. Der vorliegende Beitrag entwickelt und diskutiert einen Ansatz zur Strukturierung und Dimensionierung von Herausforderungen an das Management kleiner und mittlerer Hotelbetriebe in der Schweiz. Anders als zum Teil in der bisherigen Literatur strukturiert sind dies (1) Finanzierung und Erneuerung, (2) Personal und Prozesse, (3) Kooperationen, (4) Marktauftritt (Pull), (5) Qualität sowie (6) Marktpenetration und -erschließung (Push). Hierbei treten je nach Betriebsgröße, Standort und Geschäftsmodell geringfügig unterschiedliche Ausprägungen auf. Innovationsfähigkeit erweist sich weniger als eigene, sondern vielmehr als vorgelagerte oder gar die identifizierten Dimensionen übergreifende Domäne.

Relationship and customer loyalty management have been an important field of research in marketing for decades. However, the focus for many years was mainly on the benefits of relationship marketing for companies. This article contributes to a deeper understanding of the benefits of relationship marketing for customers in the travel industry. It investigates the effects between relational benefits, relationship intention and intentional loyalty using the tour operator industry as an example. Relationship intention will be introduced as a variable influencing intentional loyalty. The role of relationship intention in the customer benefit‐intentional loyalty context will be analyzed by testing different path models. The measurement model is estimated, based on a confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL with a sample of 1,702 tour operator customers. The structural model as well as the estimate path coefficients were analyzed applying a partial least square approach (PLS) using SmartPLS. This article not on...

This paper is about the perception of time by air travellers on business trips. Time is becoming a more relevant factor at airports due to all security checks. Furthermore, punctuality of airlines becomes an increasingly relevant factor due to overfilled airspaces around mega hubs. The question which arises is what level of delay is still accepted by air passengers on business trips without creating dissatisfaction with the delayed airline and if the accepted delay changes with frequency of air travels by business passengers. The sample includes 2834 air travellers which were interviewed before they were entering their flights at gates or in business lounges. The results reveal that a delay up to 30 minutes is acceptable in air travel. The more a passenger travels by plane the lower is the level of acceptance towards delays or the more punctuality becomes a basic factor and a power factor.

The article reports on the segmentation of Swiss senior travellers on the basis of their travel motivation. Switzerland is considered a mature market which is why this country serves as a role model for future travel behaviour. In contrast to previous studies, which identified up to six clusters, the results reveal that in the case analysed there are three clusters. Two of them partially represent a life cycle concept: TIME HONOURED BON VIVANTS (phase 1; towards the end of a professional life), and GRIZZLED EXPLORERS (phase 2; from the start of a retired life). These two segments are complemented by RETRO TRAVELLERS, which incorporate many characteristics of the previous two but differentiate themselves in terms of education as well as professional positions.

This study examines solo travel, and offers (1) a conceptual framework of solo travelers, (2) a profile of these types of travelers (by socio-demographic characteristics), and (3) a profile of travels (by specific descriptors). The data for this study stem from a comprehensive survey of Swiss travel behavior conducted in 2004 by the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland). The conceptual model is derived from transportation research. It proposes an a priori segmentation of four types of solo travel, delineated on the combination of the (1) departure status (a single, one-person household, compared to a collective, multi-persons household) and (2) arrival status (solo travel, compared to group travel), thus creating a two-by-two matrix with four segments overall. Solo travelers basically either tend to foster an existing social network or try to nurse their curiosity and at the same time look for new social contacts. The results of the profiling further reveal significant differences between the solo travel groups, as well as towards a control group incorporating all other travel. They include income, profession, and age, as well as familiarity with the destination, choice of type of accommodation, expenditures and various types of trips. However, no significant differences can be reported with regard to the choice of destination.

This paper seeks to understand the patterns inherent in vacationer behaviour and decision-making processes, by presenting a structural theory of the vacation. The paper seeks to establish the common structural elements in vacations and to establish a limited number of decision-making processes by which these elements are combined by vacationers. A structural theory of the vacation is presented based on four premises: (1) vacations have structure, (2) that structure consists of a composite of elements, (3) vacation structure results from situationally-constrained decision-making, and (4) many vacationers desire and seek structure to their vacation experiences. It is proposed that three general types of vacation structure exist - stay put vacations, arranged touring vacations, and freewheeling touring vacations - each with a unique decision hierarchy. Data on the vacation trips taken by all persons in a representative sample of 1,540 Swiss households throughout a 12-month period are examined. The data indicates that the three general vacation types can be readily identified. Consistent differences are identified between the three vacation types in choices of destination, duration of vacations, levels of vacation expenditure, composition of travel parties, choices in transport mode, and motives for travel. By understanding how the travelling consumer structures a vacation, tourism operators will be better placed to create value in consumer vacation experiences.

The popularity of online surveys is rising, yet the validity of survey data collected online is frequently questioned. This study compares online surveys versus paper surveys administered via regular mail in the tourism context, and examines in detail the extent and nature of survey bias resulting from survey format-specific respondent self-selection. Results suggest that (1) both online and mail samples deviate from census data population statistics regarding sociodemographics to the same extent (but differ in nature), (2) no differences exist in the contamination of data by response styles, (3) online respondents have a lower dropout rate and produce less incomplete data, and (4) responses to tourism-related questions differ significantly, indicating that survey format can dramatically influence results of empirical studies in tourism. Our findings show that neither pure online surveys nor pure paper surveys administered through regular mail are unbiased. Format-specific self-selection of respondents to participate leads to systematic biases in both cases, making multimethod survey approaches the most reliable way of data collection at present.

PurposeThis paper seeks to broach the issue of interdependence in the travellers’ use of online and printed destination information, thus giving insight into a key issue when it comes to the sourcing of channels of promotion as well as information dissemination. The case study used is Switzerland, which stands for a very mature travel market.Design/methodology/approachDifferent groups of travellers to a destination are profiled according to their information‐sourcing behaviour. The data used in the study stem from a 2004 survey of a representative consumer panel.FindingsThe results show that destination information brochures would be preferred to online information in the following contexts: not very well educated, older and aged non‐office professionals and pensioners, travelling to a destination with which they are not likely to be familiar, having their (rather long) trips organised by means of an intermediary (travel agent/tour operator).Practical implicationsFrom a destination point of view, the potential purpose of both channels needs to be positioned as follows: static basic and general printed information for the non‐familiar visitor vs dynamic, additional and specific online information for the familiar visitor. Originality/value –The paper contributes to improvement in approaching different target groups regarding a destination.

This paper contributes to the study of information sourcing behaviour of travellers and, in particular, considers the impact of the WWW on the composition of information sources. The case under study in this paper is the Swiss travelling population, whose consumption behaviour can be characterised as mature. Methodologically, a combined two-step market segmentation is applied, with Step 1 consisting of an a priori segmentation between subjects, assigning either low or high importance to the WWW as a source of information (hence forming two groups), and Step 2 consisting of an a posteriori data-driven segmentation on the basis of all other sources of information within each of the above groups. The information about the clusters is enhanced by a number of profile variables, both with regard to travel situations as well as socio-demographic issues. The results reveal an alignment with earlier studies' findings: that travellers who assign a high importance to the WWW as a source of information tend ...

This article provides insight into alternative strategies for travel agencies in a matured travel market with a high Internet penetration. Discounting arguments that claim that there will be no need for travel agents in the future, two possible roles for travel agents can be derived from theory and prior studies in the field: travel agents can survive if they focus on specific specialized services, such as travel consultation (specialization; hypothesizing that systematic differences exist between the usage of travel agents for different travel contexts); and travel agents can survive if they focus on specific segments of the market, such as older travelers (segmentation; hypothesizing that systematic differences exist between the usage of travel agents depending on the personal characteristics of travelers). Results indicate that the use of travel agencies is indeed associated with specific services related to package holidays, transport services, beach or city holidays, as well as destinations travelers are not familiar with. In contrast, no clear association between travel agent use and sociodemographic characteristics of travelers exists. Hence, the findings from this study support the notion that the most promising future for travel agents will lie in specializing in travel contexts and travel components where other booking channels and media are unlikely to be able to offer a full substitute for travel agent services.

This article adds to the ongoing debate on the performance of corporate-based versus community-based destination management models. New forms of integrated, centrally managed destinations challenge the business models of traditional, historically grown destinations driven by decentralized ownership. This article analyzes the contribution of corporate governance theories to the explanation of destination governance structures and evolution. The research uses six selected dimensions of corporate governance, and the operationalization through concrete items, to analyze and assess twelve destinations in the Swiss Alps. Various destination governance forms and mechanisms reveal the context for conditions for success.

This article introduces the concept of customer value as a driving factor for continued growth in demand and eliminates a subversion of the customer-value theory for the air-transport industry. This theoretical framework includes risk as subcomponents of perceived relative benefits as well as perceived relative costs. Based on data of a survey the weight of the different influential factors is evaluated. Management implications as well as methodological learning for the measurement of customer value are derived. The key conclusion thereby is that a stronger focus on customer value will be a key challenge of airline management. Important developments take place at the lower and upper end of the price and quality ranges. Thereby the orientation should be directed by the real, often hidden and not only to the stated preferences of customers.

Dieser Beitrag stutzt sich insbesondere auf die ersten zwei Kapitel des Buches: Beritelli, P./Laesser, C./Reinhold S./Kappler A. (Hrsg.): Das St. Galler Modell fur Destinationsmanagement – Geschaftsfeldinnovation in Netzwerken. Verlag IMP-HSG. St. Gallen, (2013).