Museum Tour Guide Performance: A Visitor Perspective

Tour guide performance and sustainable visitor behavior at cultural heritage sites, 2019

Using structural equation modeling, this study investigates how tour guide performance influences visitors’ sustainable behavior at cultural heritage sites by examining the mediating effects of visitor experience and satisfaction. The structural model was tested on a sample of 390 visitors at Petra Archaeological Park in Jordan. Tour guide performance was found to have a significant direct and indirect effects in enhancing visitor sustainable behavior. Moreover, the findings showed that visitor experience and satisfaction significantly mediates the relationship between tour guide performance and visitor sustainable behavior. This research contributes to our understanding of the tour guide role in maximizing visitors’ appreciation and enjoyment, and minimizing their negative impacts on heritage sites. Managerial implications are discussed in light of the empirical findings.

Journal of Interpretation Research, 2021

Person-led guided tours play an important role in museums’ educational programs. With this scoping review, we take a critical look at existing knowledge based on empirically-based primary studies to shed light on the practices of person-led guided tours in museums, focusing on the tour leader and his/her work practice. Our review included 39 peer-reviewed papers from 1978 to 2018. Results indicate that the research landscape is scattered across different disciplines. We specified three main research topics (docent training, professionalism/expertise, tour performance) to which the reviewed papers could be assigned and made cross-references between studies. Consequently, the review reveals the very complex practice of person-led guided tours in museums. Our review closes with the discussion of implications for practice and further research, with the intention of advancing multidisciplinary empirical research on the guiding practice in museums and person-led museum guided tours.

2020

The present study investigates the factors that affect visitors’ satisfaction and their future behavior. A survey based on the dimensions of SERVPERF among 632 visitors in two distinct in terms of atmosphere, exhibits and activities museums, the Archaeological Museum and the Museum for Science and Technology in Thessaloniki (Greece) provides the empirical evidence. The results indicate that the five dimensions of SERVPERF can successfully determine the degree of visitors’ satisfaction and predict future behavior. Future behavior is often subject to visitors’ place of residence. The type of museum is also a significant factor affecting satisfaction and future behavior. on and loyalty.

GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites

This study aims to reveal the differentiation status of the dependent variables determined in the form of perceived service quality, destination image, and revisit in museums according to demographic characteristics. A face-to-face survey technique was applied between 26.09.2020 and 29.11.2020 to 512 local tourists from the museum visitors in Eskisehir, which were selected with the easy and purposeful sampling method. T-test and ANOVA analysis were carried out within 476 available questionnaires. The results found that women approached more positively the service offered in museums, the image of the city and re-trips. In addition, it was also understood that the married people liked the service in the museums more and wanted a more frequent visit for their single friends. At the same time, it has been determined that the perceived service quality in museums, ideas about the destination, and renewed visits are not affected by the income level. In addition, it has been observed that t...

2017

As a component of tourism supply, museums have become one of the main attractions in destinations. Due to this, number of museum visitors and studies on museum visitor has increased day by day. The interest of relationship between tourism and museums has dramatically begun after 1990’s (Harrison, 1997). Nowadays, museums are accepted as a tool for development of urban tourism (Jansen-Andrbeke and van Rekom, 1996). It is estimated that every year more than one billion people visit museums (Falk, 2016). When evaluating studies on museum visitors, it is clearly understood that researchers are from various fields such as arts, museum management, tourism and education.

Traveller's wishes, needs and expectations keep changing constantly as destinations vie with each other to increase their share from the international tourism pie. Destinations need to offer qualified service and renew themselves continuously. In this context, tour guides as key representatives of destinations play a significant role on tourist satisfaction and re-visit intention. This research aims to ascertain the role played by tour guides on the satisfaction level of tourists participating in guided tours in Istanbul. Another aim of this research is to determine the impact level of tour guides on the possible re-visit intention of tourists to the same destination. Based on 530 completed surveys from international tourists, the findings revealed a significant relationship between tourist satisfaction , re-visiting intention and tour guiding service. Following the evaluation of the findings, recommendations were developed for the tourism industry.

The main motivation of this paper is that, as far as the extant literature in tour guiding and related studies are concerned, it is surprising there are few studies specifically focusing on guided tours and satisfaction in the eye of customers in the context of Turkey, though there are questionnaires conducted by the travel agencies by themselves. Drawing on the international literature on guiding and satisfaction with specific reference to guiding, we have constructed a questionnaire, subsequent to necessary analyses such as reliability and validity, and then the questionnaire, composed of different dimensions, has been administered to some 600 participants, thanks to the collaboration of tour guides and travel agencies. The results suggest that communicative skills of guides need some development.

International Journal of Heritage, Tourism and Hospitality, 2020

In spite of, Alexandria has many tourist attractions, but its archaeological sites are seen as most attracting many tourists. In consideration of the growth of mass tourism at archaeological sites, tourists' behavior and their numbers may have many possible harmful effects such as noise, overcrowding and pollution. Although, there are many factors that can affect tourists' behavior in the destination, but this research has interested to study the relationship between tour guide performance and responsible tourist behavior at archaeological sites by analyzing the impact of intermediate factors like tourist satisfaction and experience. This research has been based on a descriptive survey method through distributing a set of questionnaires from 21 November 2019 until mid-December 2019 at certain archaeological sites in Alexandria. The structural model was tested on a sample of 334 tourists who have visited these sites. This study was based on confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to evaluate and check the reliability and validity of the current conceptual model and path analysis to test the mediation effects of tourism experience and satisfaction. Finally, the Structural equation modeling (SEM) has shown the effective role of tour guide performance, tourism experience and tourism satisfaction in directing tourists' behavior towards responsible behavior.

Tour Guide Performance and Tourist Satisfaction by nzayisenga adrien, 2016

This study examines tour guide performance and its relationship with tourist satisfaction in the context of package tours in Shanghai. A multilayer framework of tourist satisfaction in the package tour context is proposed. Tourist satisfaction was conceptualized to include three aspects/layers: satisfaction with guiding service, satisfaction with tour services, and satisfaction with the overall tour experience. Tour guide performance was found to have a significant direct effect on tourist satisfaction with guiding service and an indirect effect on satisfaction with tour services and with tour experience. Satisfaction with guiding service positively affected satisfaction with tour services but showed no direct effect on satisfaction with the overall tour experience. However, indirect effect of satisfaction with guiding service on satisfaction with tour experience mediated by satisfaction with tour services was significant. Implications for tour operators and government agencies are discussed.

2022

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-jix-10.1177_10925872211065653 for Empirical Knowledge About Person-Led Guided Tours in Museums: A Scoping Review by Inga Specht and Franziska Loreit in Journal of Interpretation Research