ICT in hospitality and tourism

As successful tourism firms invest heavily in marketing to defend or improve their competitive position, they increasingly need to measure their marketing performance. Previous studies related to tourism have largely focused on financial and operational performance, but the marketing perspective has been largely overlooked. Drawing on an in-depth investigation involving 12 hotel chains, 8 travel agencies and 8 tour operators, this study provides an overview of the state-of-the-art marketing performance measurements among some of the leading tourism firms in Italy. Several issues and unanswered questions are also identified.

Purpose – In order to enhance operational efficiency, improve service quality and reduce costs, practitioners in the hospitality industry have widely adopted and implemented information and communication technologies (ICTs) in their businesses. Understanding what has been done and how ICTs have performed in the past and are performing in the present could assist practitioners and researchers in identifying research gaps and formulating future plans. This paper aims to address these issues

Design/methodology/approach – This study analyzed 88 full-length ICT-related research articles that were published in the period 1999-2008 in eight leading hospitality journals. The research focuses on all selected articles were in suppliers’ perspectives, and each article was analyzed by content
analysis.

Findings – Seven dimensions were formed after content analysis including human resources and training, security, reservation, revenue management, marketing, guest services, as well as strategic and operational management. Published articles were comprehensively overviewed on ICT usage in
suppliers’ perspectives. In this paper, suppliers refers to the providers of hospitality services.

Research limitations/implications – The major limitation of this study is the inclusion of only eight leading journals. Nevertheless, findings should be of use to researchers and practitioners to understand various ICT applications in the hospitality industry.

Originality/value – A major contribution of this paper is its comprehensive review of previous studies and their contributions to hospitality. Future research areas on ICT development and implementation in suppliers’ perspective are also offered.

Community-based tourism (CBT) is a model of community development which places the community at the centre of that development. It attempts to harness the effort of communities through their empowerment for the benefit of the community. This article develops a Community-based Visitors Affinity Index (CBTVAI) based on perusal of extant literature in which only secondary was used in terms of research methodology. The key contribution of this article is the development of a CBTVAI which is an instrument useful to owners/managers of CBT entities in evaluating their CBT businesses from a visitor perspective. The index does not include all possible items because CBT ventures exist in different contexts with different requirements. This index merely provides sample items related various basic aspects linkedto the attractiveness of CBT to visitors. As such, the index represents a flexible framework which can continuously evolve and be reformulated based on specific needs of a CBT entity. The CBTVAI has some strengths and weaknesses. Some of its strengths include the provision a visitor perspective grounded in real life experience; a framework for profiling CBT ventures; a platform for receiving visitor feedback in the form of immediate " post-trip " feedback; and a tool for assessing broad visitor/customer (dis)satisfaction with CBT offerings. The weaknesses include: failing to take into account the visitor " s demographics and psychographics; ignores prices per item; places an extra burden on communities to undertake technical data analysis which skills could be deficient in communities.

This article examines the growth of Community-Based Tourism within the broader discipline of tourism. New topics in the field have emerged such as responsible tourism, pro-poor tourism, sports tourism and moral impacts of tourism. This phenomenon also reflects the multi-disciplinarity of tourism. In this article, using the Title, Abstract and Keywords (TAK) for instances in which the words (Community-based Tourism, Community Tourism and Community-Based Eco-Tourism) to subsume Community-Based Tourism (CBT), a search was made in various databases and found that CBT as a sub-specialty of tourism started to emerge in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The number of articles published specifically on CBT has been growing phenomenally. The major contribution of this article is that we now know the evolution of CBT and we also now know its trajectory of growth which has been upward. While the number of articles on CBT is growing, there is no journal dedicated solely to CBT.

Community-based tourism (CBT) offers both opportunities and challenges in the quest
for holistic community development. The evolution and development of CBT projects
can follow different trajectories. This conceptual paper’s main contribution is the
formulation of a comprehensive model of the development of CBT. The model
suggests that CBT projects can be initiated from within and outside the community by
the private, public and non-governmental sectors or a combination of these using a topdown
or bottom-up approach. It also posits that CBT projects can take a formal or
informal character depending on the conditions leading to their initiation. The paper
highlights the benefits and constraints to the scaling up or down of operations linked to
informality. It supports further research in analyzing the various aspects associated
with the shift from formality to the informality of CBT projects and vice versa

Modern technologies, primarily information and communication technology (ICT), have a leading role in determining the future direction and pace of the tourism industry development as well as the establishment of new relations in the tourism market between supply and demand sides. Influences of modern technologies on tourism development and its forms are numerous and strong. This is reflected not only through the reservation systems and distribution channels, which are among the first to use the opportunities of modern technology in tourism industry, but also through increasingly stronger presence of ICT in different aspects of the tourism industry and tourists' behavior. This paper focuses on the impacts of ICT on the formation of new relations and emergence of new phenomena in the tourism market, changes in the tourism industry as well as changes in the tourists' behavior and decision-making process. Networking is a word that will designate the development of tourism and tourist destinations in the coming period. Thus, in this paper, special emphasis will be put on interrelations of information, technology, tourism and people (tourists) in any place at any time.

With the aim of enhancing their online reputation, several hospitality businesses have started soliciting their guests to write online reviews. Available studies have not yet evaluated the effects of this strategy. To fill this knowledge gap, this study draws on the Theory of Psychological Reactance and investigates guests' attitudinal and behavioral reactions to received solicitations. Evidence collected from a sample of Italian travelers indicates that soliciting reviews has both benefits and drawbacks: it increases the number of reviews for the business, but it also irritates a significant share of guests. Particularly high levels of irritation arise when a business explicitly asks its guests to write positive reviews. The implications of these findings for the reputation management strategy of hospitality businesses are discussed.

In the increasingly saturated tourism market, an effective tourism destination management is essential to support competitive and sustainable growth. The topic becomes interesting in light of the spread of the collaborative network (CN) organisational models and the massive diffusion of web 2.0 and mobile technology. The formers have proven to give concrete opportunities of development in many industrial sectors, the latter has been changing the way tourists experience a destination. Even if several case studies of CNs in tourism are known, a comprehensive study of how tourism destinations can benefit of CN models and enabling technologies is not present; especially in the effort to help tourism destinations in setting up services able to actively support each phase of the tourist 2.0 lifecycle. In this paper we highlight how CN models are able to support the tourism destination management in order to gain competitiveness for local areas, to improve flexibility in services provision and to give tourists the possibility to live an augmented tourism experience. Furthermore, a review of the most suitable forms of collaborative network for tourism destination and their ways to actively support the augmented experience of the tourist 2.0 are proposed.

RESUMEN Los adversos efectos socioeconómicos, psicológicos y ambientales del turismo convencional, o de masas, provocaron la aparición de nuevas formas de turismo como el turismo comunitario. Esta forma de turismo presenta características prometedoras y alternativas como el empoderamiento de la comunidad y la sensibilidad medioambiental que podrían aplicarse a los sistemas de clasificación (rating/grading) turísticos. Este artículo presenta un nuevo e innovador sistema de clasificación turística inspirado por estos principios del turismo comunitario. El artículo se basa en trabajos previos de los autores y en ideas provenientes de la literatura especializada y su contribución principal es una propuesta de modelo de clasificación turística que, inspirada en el turismo comunitario, incorpora aspectos como la equidad, la educación, el empoderamiento, el carácter endógeno y la sensibilidad ambiental como pilares y criterios para la clasificación turística. La aplicación de este sistema de clasificación requeriría de incentivos oficiales ya que la mayor parte de estos sistemas son de carácter voluntario.

ABSTRACT The adverse socioeconomic , psychological and environmental impacts of conventional/mass tourism prompted the emergence of new forms of tourism such as community-based tourism. This form of tourism manifests promising and progressive characteristics such as community empowerment and care for the environment with potential of these characteristics to be harnessed for rating/grading of facilities. This article presents a novel and innovative rating/grading system which leverages these CBT principles. The article is based on previous work and insights on grading systems from the extant literature. The major contribution of this article is the E-based model of facility classification system. The proposed classification system incorporates aspects such as Equity; Education; Empowerment; Endogenous; and the Environment as pillars/criteria for grading facilities. The operationalisation of this grading system has policy implications in that it requires incentives from the government given that most grading systems are voluntary. PALABRAS CLAVE sistemas de clasificación turística | turismo comunitario KEYWORDS classification | grading | rating system | community-based tourism

The importance of the Internet on the image formation process has been widely recognised by both academic and practitioners. Despite the increasing use of user-generated electronic content as an information source for tourists, its influence on destination image formation is not yet fully understood. In order to bridge this knowledge gap in tourism management, we conducted an empirical study to identify the impact of online user generated reviews on the two dimensions of destination image: affective and cognitive.
The results of this study extend previous works by demonstrating how user-generated content affects the image of a tourist destination. This study also analyses the mediating effects of the cognitive and affective dimensions of destination image on behavioural intentions.

Purpose -In order to enhance operational efficiency, improve service quality and reduce costs, practitioners in the hospitality industry have widely adopted and implemented information and communication technologies (ICTs) in their businesses. Understanding what has been done and how ICTs have performed in the past and are performing in the present could assist practitioners and researchers in identifying research gaps and formulating future plans. This paper aims to address these issues Design/methodology/approach -This study analyzed 88 full-length ICT-related research articles that were published in the period 1999-2008 in eight leading hospitality journals. The research focuses on all selected articles were in suppliers' perspectives, and each article was analyzed by content analysis. Findings -Seven dimensions were formed after content analysis including human resources and training, security, reservation, revenue management, marketing, guest services, as well as strategic and operational management. Published articles were comprehensively overviewed on ICT usage in suppliers' perspectives. In this paper, suppliers refers to the providers of hospitality services.

The goal of this paper is to analyze the effects of ICT on firms’ competitiveness, as well as on their level of innovation, productivity and on the market share depending on the
tourism area: Accommodation, Gastronomy and Travel Agencies. On the whole, it has been proved that the use of diverse ICTs has little effect on the level of competition as well as on increasing productivity, while in general, they have a positive effect on increasing the market share of the firms.

This study aims to identify which factors affect pilgrim's intentions to use a pilgrimage app, based on the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2). The empirical results were obtained from a sample of 222 pilgrims of the Camino de Santiago (Saint James's Way). Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling was applied to test the hypothesized relationships of the proposed model. The results indicate that the most important factor affecting intentions to use the app is performance expectancy. Effort expectancy, social influence and hedonic motivations are other determinants of intentions to use a pilgrimage app. Facilitating conditions and habit do not affect intentions to use the app. The results of this study are valuable for a successfully implementation of pilgrimage apps, providing useful insights for pilgrimage app designers.

To cite this article: Oliver Mtapuri & Andrea Giampiccoli (2013) Interrogating the role of the state and nonstate actors in community-based tourism ventures: toward a model for spreading the benefits to the wider community, South African Geographical Journal, 95:1, 1-15,

ICT (Information and Communication Technology) is benefiting every individual citizen in his/her daily life. It can be used to support distance learning, health care service, e-government initiatives, virtual shopping, virtual communities and so forth.
For the last fifty years or so tourism has been the fastest growing industry in the world, making it one of the world’s largest industries in present time. The fast development of ICT and expansion of internet have changed the structure of tourism industry around the world. New technologies have been adopted by the tourism industry for the last thirty years and the trend is still going on. ICT is playing an important central role in various businesses connected travel and tourism. Hence e-commerce as well as mobile commerce has been widely utilized in tourism industry.

This article is conceptual based on a perusal of academic journal articles and books on matters related to Community-based Tourism (CBT). It contends that CBT is a very important tool for local economic development, community development, empowerment and the attainment of social justice. It observes disparities between rich and poor countries in terms of endowments and how the multiple dimensions of poverty can confound how tourism can be experienced in different contexts. It posits an eight Es model which represents the fundamental pillars upon which to judge a CBT for purposes of support, monitoring and evaluation. The eight E are Endogenous (emphasising a reliance on local resources); Environment – (reflecting the importance of caring for the environment, and broader environmental conditions and infrastructure); Education – (to advance skills and education); Empowerment – (which embraces economic, psychological, social and political empowerment); Equity – (for equitable distribution and redistribution of both benefits and resources); Evolving – (always improving and changing to take advantage of dynamic opportunities); Enduring – (for long term sustainability) and supporting Entrepreneurship – (for innovation, creativity and viability). The framework/model is also significant as it provides a common ground upon which the understanding of CBT could be carried at international and national level. The model can be customised to take into account local conditions; it is flexible and all-encompassing with potential to be used for rating facilities.

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of social couponing campaigns for hotels. In particular, the perceived effectiveness related to four specific objectives is explored (acquiring and retaining new customers, building brand awareness, balancing seasonality and stimulating demand among existing customers).

Design/methodology/approach
– A questionnaire-based survey was conducted that involved 108 hotels, each of which has run at least one social couponing campaign through Groupon in Italy. The importance-performance approach was applied to analyze the data.

Findings
– Overall, the perceived effectiveness of social couponing for hotels is quite low. Social couponing is useful to increase brand awareness but does not encourage customer behavioral loyalty. Larger hotels can successfully use this marketing tool to balance demand seasonality.

Research limitations/implications
– The sample size is limited but includes approximately one-fourth of all Italian hotels that have run social coupon campaigns through Groupon. Only social couponing campaigns run through one daily deal site (Groupon) in one country (Italy) were considered.

Practical implications
– Social couponing is not perceived as equally effective for all hotels. This study provides hotel managers with suggestions for deciding whether to allocate a share of their marketing resources to social couponing.

Originality/value
– To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to present field data to complement the available theoretical knowledge on social couponing for hotels.

The term 'Social media' describes web-based and mobile technologies that are used to turn electronic communication into an interactive dialogue and let users to exchange user-created content. Social media resources are widely used by travelers as channels for destinations' and hotels' information. Russian tourists are not an exception to this respect. In this study, the impact of social media on customer choice and booking decisions in hospitality industry is examined based on the case of the Russian Federation.

Tourism is important for its growing potential to create jobs and new businesses, generate foreign currency and contribute to the GDP of the country. The aim of this article is to unpack how tourism could be transformative in creating jobs for the youth and to develop a model for youth empowerment. The capacity of tourism to create jobs for the less and unskilled as well as part-timers as opposed to full timers is being recognized. The problem of youth unemployment is untenable and calls for a paradigm shift in the manner in which the issue should be addressed. Based on extant literature and primarily a desktop review, this article was compiled. This article posits a model whose aim is to craft an overarching pathway towards the empowerment of blacks and the transformation of the tourism sector through education and training, professional development and support to entrepreneurship development through a multi-sector collaboration in South Africa. The model suggests the creation of a collaborative structure, the national youth empowerment forum (with decentralized offices) to champion its implementation. The model suggests pathways for being 'employees' and pathways for 'entrepreneurs' based on individual aspirations. This model is a tool upon which deliberative policies which aim at uplifting the educational status and employability chances of the youth can be developed and importantly to traverse a path towards total empowerment and transformation.

The structure of hospitality distribution has experienced profound changes within the last few decades. With the evolution and spread of internet, a substantial number of consumers started to use electronic channels for hotel bookings. This has resulted in disintermediation of traditional offline travel agencies. Yet, it has also initiated a new type of middleman to emerge and grow. Much powerful than its former version, online travel agencies (OTAs) bring about some benefits but also challenges particularly for small and medium sized independent hotels (SMHEs). This paper focuses on the difficulties SMHEs face during this transformation. The characteristics of SMHEs, the evolution of channels and the role of OTAs were discussed based on a qualitative study. 22 SMHE managers were interviewed about their perceptions of OTAs and challenges with reintermediation. Based on the data the challenges were grouped under; complexity, dependency, unfair competition and commodification. Solutions to complications of reintermediation for SMHEs and directions for future research are suggested.

The present paper aims at examining the importance of the ICTs in the development of cultural tourism in Algeria. This will be tackled mainly by comparing and contrasting Algeria, on the one hand, with Tunisia and Morocco on the other: two neighboring countries where tourism industry is much more developed. The comparative perspective adopted will help us highlight the cultural potential of Algeria, and the effects linked to the (non)use of the ICTs regarding their increasing importance in the sector. In this regard, the paper will focus on aspects linked to two major dimensions: 1) accommodation and 2) National Tourism Offices Websites. Such analysis allows highlighting some of the drawbacks that contribute in hindering the development of tourism, and that accordingly need to be assessed and revised if Algeria is willing to secure a place in a highly competitive and fast growing sector. "
L'importance des TIC dans le développement du tourisme culturel: une étude comparative entre l'Algérie, la Tunisie, et le Maroc " Résumé: Le présent article tente d'examiner l'importance des TIC dans le développement du tourisme culturel en Algérie. Le sujet sera principalement abordé en comparant et en contrastant l'Algérie, d'un côté, la Tunisie et le Maroc d'un autre : deux pays voisins ou l'industrie du tourisme est beaucoup plus développée. L'approche comparative adoptée nous aidera à mettre en lumière le potentiel culturel en Algérie, et les effets liés à la (non) utilisation des TIC ; cela en considérant leur importance croissante dans le secteur. A cet effet, l'article examinera des aspects liés à deux dimensions majeures: 1) Hébergement 2) Sites des Offices Nationaux de Tourisme. Cette analyse permettra de soulever certaines défaillances qui contribuent à freiner le développement du tourisme, et qui doivent ainsi être évaluées et révisées si l'Algérie ambitionne de se réserver une place dans un secteur hautement compétitif et en constante évolution.

The aim of the present research is to assess which type of online promotional incentive (monetary or non-monetary) is the most effective at achieving purchase intention for airline tickets, depending on the user’s level of Internet experience (characterized as novice, moderate, or expert user). A Univariate General Linear Model is conducted, using data obtained from an experimental design with two levels: monetary online sales promotion and non-monetary online sales promotion. The findings indicate that in the case of acquiring an airline ticket online, monetary incentives are more appealing to novice Web users, while non-monetary incentives are preferred by expert users. The present study breaks new ground in that it examines, in the travel sector, the effectiveness of online sales promotions at prompting the individual to purchase online, in a comparative analysis based on online sales incentive type (monetary vs. non-monetary). The work contributes to the literature on the online travel sector by analyzing how the user’s level of Web experience affects the effectiveness of each type of online sales promotion

E-Health is alluded to as utilizing of information and communication technologies (ICT) in restorative field to control treatment of patients, research, and wellbeing training and checking of general wellbeing. The reason for this paper is thusly to investigate an institutionalized system for E-Health challenges confronted by e-wellbeing A rundown of both e-wellbeing difficulties are given and a proposed structure is likewise accommodated E-Health and could give direction in the execution of e-wellbeing To understand the motivation behind the paper, an inductive substance examination procedure was taken after. The fundamental outcomes were that in spite of the fact that the difficulties exceeds the advantages in the gave records, there is still trust that through appropriate ICT arrangements the advantages of e-wellbeing can develop all the more quickly. This can prompt to enhanced e-wellbeing administration conveyance and nationals in nations can all profit by this.

Smart Tourism Technologies for the Fruition of the Territories: The Portals for Alternative Touristic Hospitality

The recent definition of Smart Tourism Technologies (STT) shows the wide range of technological applications in the touristic sector (websites, social media, augmented reality, blogs) that contribute to the innovation of both promotion and tourist enjoyment strategies of the territories. The case study focuses on the diffusion in Italy of three types of alternative tourist hospitality (WWOOF, WorkAway, Couchsurfing). Using a quantitative analysis methodology, it evaluates, on one hand, access to the relevant websites by potential Italian users and, on the other hand, the regional distribution of structures
and hosts. A comparison on the European scale highlights both the diffusion of these types of hospitality and tourist experience disseminated via the web and a possible correlation with the digital performances and competitiveness of the various countries. A qualitative-quantitative in-depth study of Liguria allows us to highlight some margins of error in the data. Multi-scale comparisons and detailed analyses aim to help to understand the role of STT: from a communicative and
promotional point of view, are they useful in promoting those territories which are still far from the big flows of tourism?

Tourism industry has been viewed as an information-intensive industry (Sheldon, 1997). Globalization has drastically changed the tourism industry. ICT has accelerated the process of globalisation in tourism industry by offering efficient tools for the vendors in developing, operating and distributing their products and services worldwide (Buhalis, 2003). The post-globalization era has made a turnaround impact in altering the social and the economic structure. These changes are attributed to the advent and the adoption of ICT (Information and Communication Technology). Unlike other industries, the diffusion of the ICT in tourism industry is significantly more because of the worldwide operations. This paper aims at finding the level of ICT adoption in tour operations, and the relationship between the ICT applications and tools with the business functions.

With the advancement of the tourism industry, the importance of research on visitor satisfaction has been increasing as of recent years. The prime objective of current study is to explore the factors influencing visitor satisfaction from the perspective of archaeological sites, in Bangladesh. A thorough and well-constructed research design is administered to analyze 200 data collected from the visitors having experience in visiting Paharpur Buddha Vihara. From the data, we conducted an extensive analysis to find out the main factors which influence visitor satisfaction. It is recognized that there are some essential factors; destination attractions, safety and security, favorable environment, food attraction and cost at said destination. These factors significantly influence visitor satisfaction. It is expected that the outcome of the study will support the tourism practitioners in planning and development for successful business operations. The paper concludes with some implications and future research directions.

Resumen: El artículo consiste en una investigación realizada con profesionales de diversos segmentos de la actividad turística para analizar la información disponible en la aplicación Find Natal a través del método de grupo foco online. Se seleccionaron siete profesionales graduados en turismo que hubieran actuado en algún área del sector turístico, quienes utilizaron la aplicación previamente por un período de dos semanas para fundamentar su participación en la discusión en grupo. En la primera etapa del debate respondieron individualmente preguntas cerradas para formar el perfil de los participantes. Posteriormente, al grupo se le aplicó colectivamente un cuestionario compuesto por preguntas abiertas acerca de las categorías existentes en el dispositivo. La herramienta de análisis cualitativa NVivo fue aplicada para analizar el material obtenido y explorar los resultados. El software identificó los ítems más citados por los participantes en sus testimonios a través de una nube de palabras ayudando a categorizar los datos. Los resultados indicaron que los entrevistados hacen uso de aplicaciones turísticas cuando están en la posición de turistas porque pueden ayudarlos durante un viaje. Se observó que los entrevistados esperan mayor interactividad entre la aplicación y el usuario, pues eso transmite mayor confiabilidad en la información. En general, la información fue evaluada como superficial por el grupo entrevistado. A pesar de que los entrevistados indicaron algunas fallas se observó que la aplicación es vista como una herramienta facilitadora para los viajeros. PALABRAS CLAVE: Aplicación turística, dispositivos móviles, información turística, tecnología de la información, guía turística.

Abstract: Information Assessment in Tourism App: An Analysis Made by Tourism Professionals on the Find Natal e-Guide (Brazil). This paper presents an online focal group method which surveyed professionals of the tourism sector to analyse tourist information available on Find Natal application. Seven professionals graduated in tourism and / or having worked in some area of the tourism sector were selected, who made the installation and previous use of the application for during two weeks to substantiate their participation in the group discussion. In the first stage of the discussion, respondents answered individually closed questions related to their profile. Afterwards, the group was collectively conducted through a script composed of questions related to the information's categories available on the application. It was used the NVivo qualitative analysis software to analyse the material gathered with the participants, and to explore the results. The software identified the most cited items by the participants in their speeches through a cloud of words assisting the data categorization. The results found that respondents use tourism apps once visitor and they believe this kind of tool can help them while travelling. Respondents also expected greater interactivity between
the application and the user, as this gives greater reliability of  information. In general, the information was evaluated as superficial by the interviewed group. Although respondents have found some
shortcomings on the application information, it has been seen in their perspective as a facilitating tool for travellers.
KEY WORDS: Tourism app, mobile devices, touristic information, information technology, touristic guide.

Este artigo investiga a influência da satisfação do cliente (expressa nas avaliações on-line) sobre os preços ofertados pelos hotéis no sítio booking.com. Objetiva-se analisar se a satisfação dos hóspedes com itens como localização, conforto, limpeza e serviços estão associados aos preços praticados pelos hotéis. Para tanto, uma pesquisa quantitativa foi realizada com 5.459 casos oriundos de 499 hotéis de 25 países diferentes. Foram analisadas avaliações on-line registradas no sítio booking.com a fim de relacioná-las com o preço praticado pelos hotéis no aluguel de seus quartos. Os resultados indicam que os diferentes atributos de qualidade dos serviços prestados e disponibilizados no sítio pesquisado não estão relacionados aos preços praticados pelos hotéis, o que coloca em dúvida sua inclusão em modelos com vistas a maximizar as receitas

This study contributes to the understanding of the Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel segment, as it focuses on the use of tourism distribution channels as information sources for consumer travel behaviour in the VFR segment. Demographics and trip characteristics of the VFR travel segment were also analysed, according to trip organization (package holiday/self-guided holiday), time used to decide about the trip, type of accommodation, travel companion, and booking; the findings justify the significant and profitable role of VFR in commercial accommodation. The data are representative of the province of Arcadia, Greece, serving as the research field of a longitudinal study. The findings underscore the important role that VFR travel holds in commercial accommodation, confirming the ‘hybrid’ nature of VFR travel, and highlight the importance of social identity issues involved in VFR travel, as well as indicating an emerging role of the diasporas in their return visit(s) to the...

Challenges Domestic Tourism Egypt Opportunities Smart Marketing Smart marketing has a large number of methods such as websites, search engines, social media sites, mobile apps, videos, etc. which play a vital role in enhancing the relationship between travel agency and tourists. Therefore, this study aims to identify the Smart Marketing Methods and explore the opportunities and challenges of using smart marketing methods in domestic tourism in Egypt. Accordingly, it adapted the descriptive methodology and used a mixed approach in collecting quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative approach is used by employing questionnaire to gather the primary data from domestic tourists in Egypt. The qualitative method is represented in semi-structured interviews with Top Ten Travel Agencies representatives in Egypt. The main results of study demonstrated that there are many advantages of using smart marketing methods in domestic tourism in Egypt; however, there are some obstacles that have clear impacts upon them. The study recommends that Travel Agencies and Tourism Associations in Egypt should apply formal platform to promote domestic tourism and improve their marketing strategy to take advantages of using Smart marketing methods in tourism.

The aim of the present research is to assess which type of online promotional incentive (monetary or non-monetary) is the most effective at achieving purchase intention for airline tickets, depending on the user’s level of Internet experience (characterized as novice, moderate, or expert user). A Univariate General Linear Model is conducted, using data obtained from an experimental design with two levels: monetary online sales promotion and non-monetary online sales promotion. The findings indicate that in the case of acquiring an airline ticket online, monetary incentives are more appealing to novice Web users, while non-monetary incentives are preferred by expert users. The present study breaks new ground in that it examines, in the travel sector, the effectiveness of online sales promotions at prompting the individual to purchase online, in a comparative analysis based on online sales incentive type (monetary vs. non-monetary). The work contributes to the literature on the online...

The importance of the Internet on the image formation process has been widely recognised by both academic and practitioners. Despite the increasing use of user-generated electronic content as an information source for tourists, its influence on destination image formation is not yet fully understood. In order to bridge this knowledge gap in tourism management, we conducted an empirical study to identify the impact of online user generated reviews on the two dimensions of destination image: affective and cognitive. The results of this study extend previous works by demonstrating how user-generated content affects the image of a tourist destination. This study also analyses the mediating effects of the cognitive and affective dimensions of destination image on behavioural intentions.

This paper uses lessons learned from a recent study done in Uganda (East Africa) to show case the urgent need to mainstream the ICTs in environmental policy awareness communication strategy. A recent multimedia public communications campaigns evaluation study conducted in Uganda has indicated that electronic media was the most accessible channels in delivering environmental policy messages countrywide. The problem was based on the assumptions that the campaigns strategy for the national wetlands policy awareness in Uganda has for along time been less successful because it did not focus on the right media strategy with respect to the target audience participation and audience demographic characteristics. There was no gender barrier to information uptake. Low income and education levels were barriers to community access to wetlands information. The study found that the socioeconomic backgrounds of the audiences were identical in their access to public information and the types of media used in the campaigns. A combined use of ICTs with human interactions enhances audience exposure to environment messages.

The importance of the Internet on the image formation process has been widely recognised by both academic and practitioners. Despite the increasing use of user-generated electronic content as an information source for tourists, its influence on destination image formation is not yet fully understood. In order to bridge this knowledge gap in tourism management, we conducted an empirical study to identify the impact of online user generated reviews on the two dimensions of destination image: affective and cognitive. The results of this study extend previous works by demonstrating how user-generated content affects the image of a tourist destination. This study also analyses the mediating effects of the cognitive and affective dimensions of destination image on behavioural intentions.

Smart marketing has a large number of methods such as
websites, search engines, social media sites, mobile apps,
videos, etc. which play a vital role in enhancing the
relationship between travel agency and tourists. Therefore,
this study aims to identify the Smart Marketing Methods and
explore the opportunities and challenges of using smart
marketing methods in domestic tourism in Egypt.
Accordingly, it adapted the descriptive methodology and
used a mixed approach in collecting quantitative and
qualitative. The quantitative approach is used by employing
questionnaire to gather the primary data from domestic
tourists in Egypt. The qualitative method is represented in
semi-structured interviews with Top Ten Travel Agencies
representatives in Egypt. The main results of study
demonstrated that there are many advantages of using smart
marketing methods in domestic tourism in Egypt; however,
there are some obstacles that have clear impacts upon them.
The study recommends that Travel Agencies and Tourism
Associations in Egypt should apply formal platform to
promote domestic tourism and improve their marketing
strategy to take advantages of using Smart marketing
methods in tourism.