Why people conduct different sharing about their travel is unclear. Understudied areas include the roles of tourism activity type, tourist well-being, and social context. Under the framework of construal level theory, three studies which combined secondary data and experiments revealed that: 1) challenging (relaxing) tourism activities lead to more desirability (feasibility) sharing; 2) eudaimonia (hedonia) occupy the dominant position and mediate the relationship between challenging (relaxing) tourism activity and desirability (feasibility) sharing; and 3) social context induces the transformation of the relationship between eudaimonia and hedonia, and has a significant moderating impact on the mechanism of travel experience sharing type. Theoretical and managerial implications of travel experience sharing type and mutual transformation between eudaimonia and hedonia are discussed.
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This qualitative research note reports two neglected themes in research on virtual reality tourism experiences, i.e. its potentially addictive nature and temporary sense of isolation. Existing work on virtual reality tourism experiences has applied existing knowledge and theories and has solely tested how VR applications can positively mediate or moderate the tourist experience. This study adopted an inductive approach, analyzing contents of reviews and blogs, and consequently uncovered a temporary sense of isolation and the addictive nature of virtual reality as hidden themes within virtual reality tourism experiences. We stress the importance of further work on addiction and a sense of isolation in terms of their nature, role, and effects
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We take holidays for pleasure, but how well do we actually feel during our holiday? This question was addressed in a study of 481 international tourists in the Netherlands, who answered questions about their mood of the day and about their satisfaction with life in general. Average mood appears to be high. Mood was somewhat lower among people who were in the first 'travel phase' of about 10% of the holiday duration. Mood was highest during the 'core phase', which covers about 70% of the holiday time. Mood then declines slightly, but increases during the last part of the holiday.
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Are tourists who take more photos happier? Our study investigates the relationship between tourists’ photographing and happiness based on two proposed theories: photographing as a behavior that society expects from tourists, and photographing as a mechanism for social interaction. Questionnaires measuring photographic behavior and components of happiness such as positive emotions and life satisfaction were collected from 417 tourists at three destinations in the Netherlands. Additionally, we carried out participant observation to explore the potential roles of fulfilling cultural expectations and social interactions. We found a positive relationship between photography and tourists’ levels of happiness. People who take more pictures on holiday and rate photographing to be important experience more positive emotions and a higher life satisfaction, respectively. The participant observation data reveal that this relationship is strengthened when photography is used to build relationships, but weakened when people photograph to fulfill cultural expectations.
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In deze rapportage worden de bevindingen gepresenteerd van een studie naar de huidige en toekomstige focus van de toeristisch-recreatieve beleidskaders en samenwerkingsmogelijkheden van Emsland-Drenthe.
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Cultural festivals can attract cultural tourists, extend the tourist season and add vibrancy to the cultural scene. However, there is relatively little research on how festivals affect tourist experience of the destination or outcomes such as satisfaction or repeat visitation. This study used the Event Experience Scale to measure tourist experiences at three cultural festivals in Hong Kong – the Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and the Cheung Chau Bun Festival. The findings show that tourist experiences of these festivals are distinct, and they positively affect destination image and behavioural outcomes. Relative to permanent attractions and tours, festival experiences elicit stronger affective, conative and novelty responses. Festivals also convey a stronger impression of Hong Kong as a destination exhibiting Chinese and traditional culture, but less as a global city. The festival experience is associated with positive outcomes, namely greater satisfaction, intention to recommend and intention to return.
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How happy are tourists during a day of their holiday and what makes them happy? These questions were addressed in a study of 466 international tourists in the Netherlands. While on vacation, tourists are generally high on hedonic level of affect, with positive affect exceeding negative affect almost fourfold. Affect balance is higher than generally observed in everyday life, whereas tourists’ life satisfaction is not significantly different compared with life satisfaction in their everyday life. Vacationers’ socioeconomic backgrounds and life satisfaction only partially explain their affective state of the day. Most of the variance is explained by factors associated with the holiday trip itself. During a holiday, holiday stress and attitude toward the travel party are the most important determinants of daily affect balance. These findings imply that on the whole, the tourism industry is doing a good job. The industry could probably do better with more research on experiences during the holiday.
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The COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic represented a significant break with previous patterns of cultural consumption, effectively halting the growth of “mass cultural tourism” driven by cheap flights and collaborative economy accommodation. Surveys conducted by the ATLAS Cultural Tourism Group in Portugal were used to develop a detailed picture of cultural tourism consumption during the pandemic. In 2020 and early 2021 surveys were conducted at different locations in the country, generating over 500 responses. The research shows that COVID-19 had significant impacts on the profile and activities of cultural tourists in Portugal, with much more domestic tourism at most sites, and fewer visitors staying away from home. Levels of satisfaction and intention to return remained high, as did perceived authenticity. There was a significant drop in touring holidays, with visitors more likely to stay in a single location. Those tourists visiting cultural attractions during the pandemic had a positive experience, despite the challenging conditions. Levels of satisfaction increased compared with previous surveys in Portugal in 2004, but there were also fluctuations in levels of satisfaction during the pandemic period, correlated with levels of COVID-19 infections. Some indications of emerging alternative forms of cultural tourism include an increased proclivity for rural locations and inland areas, away from destinations usually associated with mass (cultural) tourism. The article concludes by considering a number of implications for the development of cultural tourism in Portugal and other destinations in the postpandemic era.
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By presenting tourists with real-time information an increase in efficiency and satisfaction of their day planning can be achieved. At the same time, real-time information services can offer the municipality the opportunity to spread the tourists throughout the city centre. An important factor for success is if we can influence tourist day planning. Therefore we studied how tourists could be persuaded to change their planning with real-time information services. This was done by providing the tourists with real-time sensor data about the queue length at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. Two groups of tourists were interviewed about an application that was able to show the queue length at the museum. One group of tourists was interviewed while in the process of planning their day, and one group was interviewed while they were waiting in the queue. Results showed that the information about the queue length and information to visit alternative tourist attractions were trusted by both of the groups. Furthermore, the tourists were very inclined to change their route and plans for that day based on the queue length.
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