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This study investigates differences in tourists' conservation commitment at developed and developing heritage sites. It examines relationships between conservation commitment and related concepts: cultural motivation, place attachment, and participation. Data was collected from two troglodyte heritage sites: Kandovan, Iran (developing) and Cappadocia, Turkey (developed). Five hundred eighteen survey responses were collected at Kandovan and 627 at Cappadocia. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was employed to perform analysis. Multigroup analysis findings indicate that direct relationships among conservation commitment, cultural motivation, place attachment, and participation were significantly higher in the developing context; encouraging industry managers to use participative feedback to stimulate conservation commitment.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scale for host sincerity. Design/methodology/approach The ten-item host sincerity scale was developed by following a multi-stage scale development procedure (Delphi technique, qualitative interviews and surveys). Findings The findings reveal that host sincerity is a second-order construct with two underlying dimensions: “sincere social interaction” and “sincere emotional response”. By incorporating host sincerity into the consumer-based model of authenticity, the findings established significant relationships among all constructs, confirming the predictive validity of the host sincerity construct. Research limitations/implications Data were gathered from visitors to troglodyte heritage sites (Kandovan and Cappadocia). Future studies should test the newly formed sincerity scale at other cultural destinations to further explore the generalisability of the scale. Further, data were gathered from tourists. Future studies should consider host sincerity from a host perspective. Practical implications Cultural destination managers and local hosts can use this instrument as a supplementary tool to evaluate how sincere their hospitality offering appears to tourists. Originality/value This paper develops a host sincerity scale to explore the importance of sincere host–guest interactions and tourists’ emotional response to these interactions. It extends the consumer-based model of authenticity by drawing further attention to the importance and impact of host sincerity in stimulating memorable tourism experiences.

Using data collected from 538 Iranian tourists undertaking the religious pilgrimage of Umrah (i.e. voluntary travel to the holy city of Mecca at any time throughout the year), this study investigates the concept of play and its relationship with self-expression and hedonism in an Islamic tourism context. By testing a theoretically derived structural model, the findings suggest that self-expression strongly influences tourists’ sense of play. Here, play is realised when tourists feel that they can express themselves freely and augment their self-image while travelling, irrespective of the religious context. Nonetheless, the pilgrimage environment is characterised by the religious congregation–with tourists engaging in communal experiences that reflect themselves and their faith. Therefore, the ideal experience, where tourists feel a sense of escapism from the pressures of everyday life, is a product of their ability to project, develop, and ratify their self-concept. Finally, the study suggests that pilgrimage managers and marketers should focus on the importance of play, enabling their destinations to heighten the intensity of the ‘enjoyable’ elements of religious travel (e.g. group camaraderie, escapism and positive emotional reactions) alongside their inherent religious benefits.

This research addresses the limited studies which apply stakeholder theory to World Heritage Site (WHS) management and managerial theory to heritage management. WHS management highlights a context where sites rely on numerous interests uniting through goodwill. This is intensified by the multiple-ownership patterns which characterise many WHSs, necessitating a need for collective action. This study aims to explore how managers attempt to manage stakeholders and generate involvement and support. This study adopts a multiple case study approach, exploring three United Kingdom WHSs. Data were collected through interviews, documentation and physical artefacts. The analysis found that through representation, raising awareness and support, managers were able to generate stakeholder patronage. However, this required managers to look beyond informative engagement toward participatory means. Furthermore, the findings highlight the importance of the facilitators, time and money in successful stakeholder eng...

Services reliant on revenue generated from tourism are often beholden to how authentic visitors perceive their offering to be. From a managerial perspective, this is exacerbated when they serve a dual-purpose, as both actively ingrained in local culture and as showcased international tourist attractions. As such, this study contributes to Kolar and Žabkar's (2010) consumer-based model of authenticity by assessing the relationships between serious leisure, object-based and existential authenticity, and visitor word-of-mouth recommendations in Iranian cultural tourism. Utilising PLS-SEM, and drawing upon responses from 615 visitors to the Tabriz Grand Bazaar, it thus extends the model's applicability to the developing Middle-Eastern context. The results extend extant research by emphasizing the importance of object-based authenticity, as opposed to existential authenticity, in stimulating positive visitor word-of-mouth recommendations. Consequently, this study advances the prevailing understanding of the role of authenticity in stimulating positive behavioural intentions by highlighting how destinations can stimulate visitor recommendations.

This paper examines the influence of negotiation intention, recreational shopper identity, and social shopping orientation on both servicescape and visitors’ overall shopping value in the Istanbul Grand Bazaar, Turkey. We developed and tested a conceptual model using a sample of 300 international visitors to the Bazaar. The results demonstrate that bargaining intention, recreational functions, and social interactions influence servicescape. This implies that, when tourists are motivated by bargain hunting, recreation, and socialisation, their attitude towards the shopping environment is more positive, which subsequently results in increased overall shopping value. Implications for managerial practice are also presented alongside suggestions for future research.

This paper examines the effects of negotiation intention, bargaining propensity, and discount satisfaction on word-of-mouth (WoM) behaviours for tourists visiting Tabriz bazaar, Iran. Data from 615-survey respondents highlight that tourists are motivated to conduct WoM behaviour when they are experientially satisfied with the opportunity to negotiate and bargain, and when they are satisfied with the discount they receive. This paper makes theoretical contributions to social exchange theory and presents managerial implications for policy-makers to generate tourism development.

This paper examines the links between cosmopolitanism, self-identity, and a desire for social interaction on perceived destination image and behavioural intentions. A model was tested using a sample of 538 Iranian visitors to Mecca for the purpose of Umrah. The result from the structural model suggests that destination attributes influence perceived destination image. Further, such tourists are likely to revisit or recommend Islamic destinations if their experience matches their perceived image of the destination. This implies that, while the religious characteristics of the destination remain important, destination managers cannot disregard the tangential, non-religious attributes of a destination which are crucial in order to satisfy more conventional tourist desires. As such, this study suggests that those managing religious travel destinations should endeavour to foster a welcoming image, where experience, interaction, and tolerance are at the forefront of the destination’s offering.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore commercial hospitality enterprise and its impact on settlement development in the American West during the 1800s, focussing on the story of the Fanthorp Inn in Texas, USA.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the theory relating to entrepreneurial opportunity and applies it to the historical case of the Fanthorp Inn, Texas, USA. The methodological approach of the paper is based on an in‐depth study into the development of one tavern using multiple sources of evidence.FindingsFirst, opportunity on the frontier was controlled to the extent that it became objective in the Kirznerian sense. Second, commercial hospitality enterprise was used as a vehicle for settlement development in frontier America.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is limited by its use of one case study and the scarcity of sources of historical evidence. Further studies could engage with different examples of frontier hospitality businesses and develop the method further.Practical implicationsThe paper provides deeper understanding of settlement development in the American West during the 1800s and supplies a methodological framework with which further organisational research can engage with historical sources of data. The findings also suggest that opportunity exists relative to its context.Originality/valueThe paper explores hospitality as a context for entrepreneurial activity in the American West and uses a historical case study method.

Situated in the northwest corner of Iran in the East-Azerbaijan province, Kandovan is a troglodyte village thought to be over 850 years old (Yahyavi & Shaghaghi, 2012). Despite the village’s secluded nature, its distinctiveness has made it a popular tourist site attracting over 600,000 visitors annually (Ashrafi, 2013). With this in mind, and within troglodyte heritage context, we aim to develop, for the first time, a ‘sincerity’ scale within the consumer-based model of authenticity (CBA) presented by Kolar and Zabkar (2010) and Bryce et al. (2015). This model explores the relationships surrounding cultural motivation, heritage-based behavior, perceptions of authenticity, and behavioral consequences. However, our study further develops this by adding a sincerity variable and replacing loyalty with memorable tourism experience, before amending the relationships between various variables in the CBA model

This chapter discusses three main methods for gathering qualitative data. These methods are interviews, focus group discussions and ethnography. Important steps and procedures for gathering qualitative data using these methods are highlighted with examples to enable users to conduct their own data gathering. The chapter also provides potential challenges that users may encounter while using these methods and suggestions to manage these challenges or minimise the effect on the data and overall research findings.

This chapter represents the first stage in the gathering of data for research projects and introduces some of the factors that influence the choice of data collection methods. Different areas of accounting and finance research have different traditions for conducting research, which will have a direct impact on the researcher’s choice of data collection method. The chapter then proceeds with case study approach to collecting data, an approach that utilises a wide range of data sources and techniques. The chapter discusses the strength, difficulties and practicalities of using that approach in a research project.

As a primary methodology in the Methods Map, qualitative research techniques promote the collection of rich and revelatory data. This chapter presents several qualitative data collection techniques appropriate to business management research, such as interviews, focus groups, ethnographic approaches, observations, and the use of diaries. To the inexperienced researcher, these approaches may initially appear a less challenging methodological option to pursue, however, this chapter serves to highlight the inherent complexities associated with qualitative techniques and offers accessible advice and guidance for researchers new to qualitative research, or those looking to formalise their current understanding.

The backbone of every research project is the collection of data that a researcher has identified as worthy of analysis. Interviews, survey questionnaires, publically available information and audio-visual material are all potential sources of data to a researcher. However, collecting data can be a daunting experience, either because you have too little data or because what looked like a rich dataset has turned into a nightmarish sense of data-overload. It is therefore helpful to spend time thinking about where you will look for data. Evaluating data sources will save valuable time and resources but also tends to lead to better analysis and more robust results. What constitutes good practice when collecting data is very much dependent on the research tradition within which your project is placed. How do different research traditions define and use data? For those scholars whose work you are engaging with closely, where did they source data? The chapter will help you evaluate data quality, consider ways in which different sources of data be combined and will provide practical advice on data collection. Additionally, a great part of this chapter is dedicated to case studies as an example of a methodology that can be based on different types of data. By following the advice offered here, you will be able to collect data that are relevant to your research methodology and build high quality insights.