As one of its main resources, weather is an integral part of tourism. Yet little is known about how individual tourists experience the weather and how it affects the subjective perception of their holidays. The weather appears to have a prominent place in language and the use of the weather in narratives of tourists can provide insight into how the weather affects tourist experiences. Based on a qualitative analysis of online travel blogs written by Dutch tourists, 16 weather themes could be distinguished, representing how the weather was narrated about by tourists. Moreover, different impact themes emerged describing how the weather impacted the tourists: tourists revealed positive, negative or neutral evaluations about the weather impacts. The findings of this study can be used for future research on tourist behaviour and how specific weather types and impacts influence the decision making of tourists in terms of itineraries and activities.
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Differences between tourists in photographing and photo-sharing behaviours have been under-researched. We examined the influence of geographic origin and travel group composition on tourist photographing and sharing. Questionnaires were used to measure photographing and sharing frequency, while participant observation afforded a deeper examination of sharing processes. Findings showed differences in photography behaviour between solo and accompanied tourists. Tourists from some continents also took and shared photographs more frequently. Observations uncovered processes connecting sharing, photographing, and content of photographs. As user-generated content becomes increasingly influential in tourism management, attention to origin, group composition and other individual differences can help engage tourists in photographing and sharing.
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In Amsterdam, the phenomenon of overcrowding is increasing, and tourism is one of the causes. Both the public debate and the municipal authorities are pointing to an increasing need for more expertise and knowledge regarding ways of achieving a healthy balance for various stakeholders. This article focuses on the stakeholder role of city residents and discusses their attitudes to tourists and tourism-related developments in their own neighbourhood and in the rest of the city. The term “attitude” can be divided into three components: feeling, behaviour and thinking. The results of this study are based on both quantitative and qualitative fieldwork (surveys and semi-structured interviews) and on desk research. It can be concluded that, for the most part, residents have a positive attitude to tourists and tourism. Differences in attitude are mostly determined by the city district where respondents live and by personal feelings and thinking. Follow-up research in the coming years will examine the complexity of the issue of overcrowding in more depth.
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To what extent does receiving information about either popular attractions or less-visited at-tractions, presented as “highlights” of the city, influence the movement of tourists to popular or less-visited attractions, and how does this differ by information channel through which the information is presented? To what extent does receiving information about either popular attractions or less-visited at-tractions, presented as “highlights” of the city, influence tourists’ experience, including their evaluations of the destination, their visit as a whole, and the specific information channel they received, and how does this differ by information channel through which the information is presented? What implementation models and financing mechanisms are available for DMO’s to spread tourists using the information channels tested, contingent on their effectiveness as measured by the previous experiment?Societal issueDestination Management Organisations (DMOs) are looking for interventions that effectively discourage tourists from visiting crowded hotspots and entice them to visit less crowded locations. Interventions like changing infrastructure, charging entrance fees and re-serving site access are either too expensive, too invasive or politically controversial. It is much easier to intervene on tourists' behaviour by informing them about alternatives.Collaborative partnersNHL Stenden, Travel with Zoey, Amsterdam and Partners, Wonderful Copenhagen, Mobidot.
Plastic litter on land, which eventually ends up in seas, known as The Plastic Soup, ruins beautiful tourist destinations. While the hospitality industry both suffers and contributes to plastic litter, it also provides a perfect opportunity to engage guests and make them aware of this environmental issue. This proposal contributes to the development of conscious destinations by addressing the plastic soup problem in two ways: by recycling plastic from the sea and using it to create circular solutions within the hospitality industry, and by using these solutions as behavioural interventions to raise the awareness of hosts, guests and tourists about the plastic soup and change their behaviour for the better.
