Marketing Places and Spaces: Volume 10

This study aims to identify the elements that characterise spaces for tourists and those that characterise spaces for locals in a shopping district based on the perspectives of local students. Forty-five local undergraduates took photographs of settings that impressed them in the shopping district in Naha-shi, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, and the reasons given by each respondent for photographing a particular setting were recorded. Frequently used nouns and adjectives were extracted for each category. The results suggest the importance of the types of commercial facilities and people on the perspectives of locals. Affordable and mundane products are associated with local spaces, while souvenirs may be regarded as symbols of touristic spaces. The absence of locals and the presence of tourists may be characteristics of touristic spaces whereas the potential attractiveness of encounters with locals for tourists is also implied.

This chapter analyses residents’ perceptions of mountain destinations. The aim is to develop a scale for assessing residents’ mountain images. An extensive literature review and insights from an empirical study of 315 residents of the Serra da Estrela in Portugal, the Alps in France, Austria and Switzerland, and the Peaks of Europe in Spain show that mountain images held by local people refer to the dimensions: mystic/sacred, historic-cultural life; health and affective image. Results were obtained by both content analysis of open-ended questions and by a quantitative approach based on scale items identified as belonging to specific dimensions in the literature review, whose relevance was confirmed through a confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL. Discussion is focused on theoretical and practical implications of findings and limitations are also presented.

Educational tourism in agriculture is attracting growing attention. It is expected that educational activities can create a new social role for agriculture. However, farmers need to refine their identity to embark on this emerging activity. On the basis of a questionnaire survey, the present study has statistically clarified how a farmer’s identity determines their attitude toward educational tourism by focusing on mainly family-run Educational Dairy Farms in Japan. The results show that those farmers who have a wider perspective on the activity domain conduct educational tourism more positively than those who do not. The findings also indicate how the next-generation farm successors view the educational activity; that is, whether they consider themselves to be simply conventional milk producers or rather farm resource managers with a wider scope of new social demand that is connected to farmers’ identity. The latter redefinition will be increasingly necessary when farm successors conduct tourism-related activity.

This study aims to investigate how residents in Cagliari (a port of call in the island of Sardinia, Italy) perceive the economic, environmental and socio-cultural impacts (both positive and negative) of cruise tourism and to what extent they would like to support the idea of further cruise tourism development within the destination, also making a comparison with other types of tourism. Findings show that residents have overall a positive attitude towards cruise tourism development, and also very little concern when negative impacts are considered. However, cruise tourism is not the most preferred when compared with other types of tourism. Further, they highlight that significant differences based on socio-economic and demographic characteristics exist in residents’ perceptions and attitudes towards cruise tourism development and in their preferences for different types of tourism development. Implications for policymakers are discussed and suggestions for further research are given.

Over the past two decades, wedding tourism has been booming. Despite this, very little research has investigated this phenomenon. This chapter discusses the findings of 15 in-depth interviews with Italian wedding planners, which were carried out to analyse their views on what a destination wedding is, and how frequently they are able to influence the final choice of a site. Further, it discusses four case studies of the most important Italian wedding destinations in order to analyse their offer and related marketing strategy. Findings revealed that wedding destinations can be considered as a complex cluster of interrelated stakeholders; hence, a high degree of coordination and cooperation is needed for destination competitiveness. Further, results suggest that wedding destinations are currently opting for a product/service-oriented strategy with very little attention to a more appropriate experiential and emotional approach.

To date, most studies on value co-creation processes in tourism have thus far focused on the company–customer relationship. Tourism experiences are produced by a number of firms and organizations collaboratively. Hence, there is a need to further develop knowledge about co-creation issues also adopting the perspective of the network of relationships between local stakeholders (both public and private) which are involved in tourism development within a certain tourist destination. This conceptual study applies the theoretical approaches of Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004a) and Ramaswamy and Gouillart (2010) in an attempt to identify a set of constructs that could influence the way local stakeholders can co-create the tourism offer. Specifically, the contribution of this chapter is placed on the development of a possible empirical application of the DART model to analyse the co-creation paradigm by adopting a supply-side perspective, which is still a quite non-common approach in tourism literature.

A singular place (a destination) is a product with multiple characteristics and multifunctional utility for different customers; however, some places offer the same type of utility and compete for the same customers. For this reason, the competitiveness of a place as a livable space, a space for investments, tourism, etc. has caused the emergence of the innovative managerial approaches to place governance. One such approach, which has been primarily used in production and which could be applied also in destination management, is the concept of branding.

The chapter summarizes the impact of place branding (our main focus) and place marketing (in more broad concept) on destinations, underlines the importance of culture and history in a place branding concept and highlights the importance of creation of partnerships in destinations by envisioning some useful concepts of co-operation in tourism destinations with a goal to create a positive image.

Tourism and servicescape are usually figuring in the literature as mobile and seeing as a template for all guests. However, mass-customized servicescapes tend to restrict moves and acts of some groups of customers. The purpose of this research is to understand why manmade servicescapes may create barriers and how restricted customers behave. The research gap is addressed through the specific case of how visually impaired persons (VIPs) act and move in hospitality servicescapes. The study emphasizes the importance of spatial approach in service research.

By utilizing a qualitative approach the research employed go-along observation, individual and focus group interviews to elaborate more on how this thesis relates to mainstream tourism. The empirical data were collected during three years in Sweden and Kazakhstan. Fifty-six visually impaired and blind travelers were interviewed and/or observed. Research results demonstrate that hospitality servicescapes restrict acts and moves of visually impaired guests. But VIPs resist constraints by developing different tactics to get expected services.

The competitiveness of tourist destinations has been the subject of great research interest in recent decades. Nevertheless, and despite the diversity in the literature, studies focusing on the empirical validation of tourism destination models of competitiveness have still to be completed. Hence, this research project seeks to contribute to filling this shortcoming through the identification and evaluation of the factors underlying tourism destination competitiveness in Portugal. The study methodology adopted requires primary data that were sourced from a questionnaire deployed as a structured research instrument based upon the variables put forward by the Dwyer and Kim model (2003). Through recourse to structural equation models, the results report the existence of significant relationships between resources, supply and tourism destination management as the core and essential factors to the competitiveness of a particular tourist destination.

The Algarve is a region located in the South of Portugal and is mostly known for its sun and sea product. In order to strengthen the Algarve’s competitiveness, the Allgarve program was launched in 2007. We intend to analyze the importance of events as a differentiation factor of tourist destinations. Questions like loyalty, satisfaction, and perception about the event’s program are the main subjects analyzed. This study uses data from a questionnaire applied to 224 individuals who attended “street artist events” and pop music concerts in the 2011 edition of the Allgarve program. Two main techniques were applied: OVERALS and k-means. Despite its flaws, positive conclusions were reached, and after its five editions, the program was finally able to be linked to the region’s image, distinguishing it in a wide range of cultural events and entertainment.

The main aim of the chapter is to propose a conceptual approach for the creation, exploitation and building of a competitive advantage through which it would be possible to create a unique place from tourism space. In the chapter we present theoretical basement for the issue of competitive advantage at the level of places, its types, factors and approaches for its creating, building and exploiting. In the chapter we specify one main hypothesis and one research question. They are verified through several scientific, statistical and mathematical methods. These methods are used for the evaluation of primary and secondary research results. In the final part of the chapter, a conceptual approach for identification and exploitation of competitive advantage aimed at building unique and competitive places was proposed.

Destination brand personality has been considered as an emotional relationship between a branded destination and its visitors (Ekinci, 2003). Previous studies exclusively focused on the match between visitor’s personality and destination personality (Sirgy & Su, 2000; Usakli & Baloglu, 2011). However, there is a lack of investigation centered on tourism industry professionals (TIPs). This chapter is to assess the congruity between TIPs’ self-assessed personality, their perceived brand personality of Macau as a destination as well as the brand personality of their tourism/hospitality-related organizations. Findings of this study reveal that TIPs’ perceived Big Five dimensions of self, Macau, and organization tend to match with each other in certain dimensions. Neither their own nor their organizations’ Big Five dimensions “Openness” and “Conscientiousness” matches their perceived brand personality of Macau. This chapter provides empirical evidence which may suggest to Macau policy makers to further develop branding strategies through strengthening its brand personalities.

This chapter aims to determine the marketing practices of kid-friendly hotels in Turkey by utilizing descriptive analysis. A total of 77 kid-friendly hotels operating in Turkey were surveyed through the examination of their websites. This chapter adopts a descriptive approach in defining marketing practices of kid-friendly hotels. The findings showed that various facilities and services are offered in kid-friendly hotels under the categories of “room options for children,” “food and beverage options for children,” “activities for children,” “price options,” and “children’s health and safety.” Although the results cannot be generalized beyond the scope of the study, this chapter revealed the current status of marketing to children in kid-friendly hotels operating in Turkey. Marketing implications are provided for practitioners and recommendations for future research are also discussed.

There appears to be a close relationship between the concept of slow city and the tourism industry, in respect of sustainable life and sustainable destination marketing. Due to the lack of empirical studies focusing upon this relationship, the present chapter aims to analyze the probable effects of the trend toward slow city on tourist destinations, in terms of sustainable marketing. To accomplish these objectives, the study uses qualitative research methods, conducting interviews with domestic tourists and local residents, as well as owners and managers of tourism establishments. The results are represented as a sample across three different categories. In light of the data assessment, the chapter revisits the list of the above-mentioned objectives and provides empirical evidence emphasizing the value of slow city in maintaining sustainability in terms of destination marketing, although some objections suggest that sustainability remains at risk.

This chapter investigates a corporate branding method that is based on direct customer communication. Consumer goods companies often arrange communication platforms that are designed to attract visitors and advertise their products and corporate philosophy. Such platforms include corporate showrooms, corporate museums, and factory tours. This chapter focuses on automobile companies and their customer communication corporate activities. The chapter compares the current customer communication strategies of leading German and Japanese car manufacturers. Certain car manufacturers maintain customer communication facility arrangements. The chapter finds certain differences concerning facility utilization and the corporate policies of each company. We discuss the results of our study and consider a company’s suitability and potential with respect to branding methods that incorporate tourism.

This study analyzes the relationship between the development of tourism policy of Spain and Portugal and their effects on regional imbalances. Despite the proximity of the two countries and their specialization in tourism, there are few comparative studies on tourism of the two Iberian countries. The study focuses on the two major phases of tourism policy: the period of mass tourism and post-Fordist stage. In the conclusions we refer the debate on the existence of a model of development based on tourism to the Latin countries of Southern Europe and we note the export process of Spanish low cost tourism model to other countries.

The present study analyses patterns of seasonal tourist consumption, based on data collected in the Minho, a rural region situated in the Northeast of Portugal. The study aims at identifying and discussing main differences regarding socio-demographic profile and tourist behavior between tourists visiting the destination in the high, medium, and low season. Results permit a discussion of implications on destination management and marketing. More specifically, the understanding of these differences, considering the existing resources, constraints, and potentialities of the destination, shall help develop strategies yielding the diversification of demand, creating conditions for attracting, satisfying, and possibly ensuring loyalty of different tourist types in different seasons of the year (Jeffrey, D., & Barden, R. (2001). An analysis of the nature, causes and marketing implications of seasonality in the occupancy performance of English hotels. In T. Baum & S. Lundtorp (Eds.), Seasonality in tourism (pp. 119–140). Amsterdam: Pergamon). That is, the here discussed results should help strategically manage demand yielding sustainable destination development (Kastenholz, 2004).

This chapter models the number of ferry round trips per day in order to make suggestions for future ferry schedules for an island – in this case Bornholm. Calendar effects, including the effect of moving religious holidays, as well as the overall annual level of economic activity, are taken into account. The model for the number of round trips per day is also applicable to the number of passengers per day. If the number of passengers (and arrivals) per day is forecast, this may be used as a basis for forecasting daily, weekly and monthly activity levels for service providers at the destination, including service providers in the accommodations sector. For islands, data for all passengers to/from the destination may be available (ferries and airlines). Based on these daily, weekly or monthly passenger numbers, both domestic and international numbers may be modelled and forecast. Other destinations may model and forecast daily, weekly and monthly international arrivals by air in order to support decisions at the destination site.

This chapter uses stated tourist preferences as a proxy of visitor yield measures, in order to analyse and understand the yield potential of different markets’ preferences. A literature review revealed that there is much progress to be made in terms of discussion, consensus and stability of methodology for the measurement of visitor yield. The aim of the visitor yield analysis, in the current chapter, is also to bring another dimension into yield analysis and discussion, contributing with a new form of measuring yield potential. Since the objective is to identify yield patterns based on tourist preferences over a period of time, dynamics may be captured from the fluctuation patterns, or expressed as volatility of visitor yield and length of stay throughout the years. Destination management organisations and tourist companies may potentially adopt this visitor yield matrix in order to support future strategic decisions.

Lake tourism is a growing academic sub-field of tourism studies with an emerging body of literature. However, little research attention has been given to lake-destinations’ projected or perceived tourism images. Specifically, there has been a scarcity of literature investigating the variables involved in the formation of a lake-destination image. Therefore, this study aims to explore the main attributes that might potentially influence this type of destination, and simultaneously, contribute to conceptualizing and defining lake tourism as recent research area. An explorative study was then conducted in order to generate a set of image variables through the use of textual and photographic data. The results will contribute to characterize potential lake-destinations and to develop a final list of variables specifically related to this type of destination.

Gnoth and Mateucci (2014) develop a phenomenological point of view and explain how tourists’ consciousness of their own activity determines how they experience a destination. This model is applied here to see how golf tourists might experience their destination and turn it into a meaningful place. This chapter exemplifies how destinations may develop their own uniqueness as a competitive advantage by understanding how tourists create meanings of a destination (here a golf resort). They argue that it is the tourist’s individual propensity to react to a destination that shapes not only motivations, but also perception and evaluation of the experience.