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Ethical Food as a Differentiation Factor for Tourist Destinations: The Case of “Slow Food”
Milena Viassone,
Martin Grimmer
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 1-1, February 2015
Pages:
1-9
Received:
27 November 2014
Accepted:
15 December 2014
Published:
27 December 2014
Abstract: In recent years, the topic of ethical food has assumed increasing importance in international academic debate. Despite there being some studies carried out on this topic, there is limited literature on the role ethical food plays in the tourism sector and, specifically, in tourist destination attractiveness. This paper explores how ethical food can be a driver of destination attractiveness and how it is possible to take advantage of this issue for particular tourist destinations. In this paper, ethical food as a destination attraction is explained through the case of Slow Food. Results show that ethical food has a very important role to play in the future of destination attractiveness thanks to special events and projects concerning ethical food, which also contribute to the sustainability of a destination. Finally, strategies to exploit the potential of this ethical food so as to develop tourist destination attractiveness are drawn.
Abstract: In recent years, the topic of ethical food has assumed increasing importance in international academic debate. Despite there being some studies carried out on this topic, there is limited literature on the role ethical food plays in the tourism sector and, specifically, in tourist destination attractiveness. This paper explores how ethical food can...
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Alpine Tourism as an Economic Development Factor. A Market Perspective
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 1-1, February 2015
Pages:
10-16
Received:
15 December 2014
Accepted:
16 December 2014
Published:
27 December 2014
Abstract: Tourism trends and policies is becoming an international reference and benchmark on how effectively countries are supporting competitiveness, innovation and growth, and shed light on policies and practices associated with this. Despite the topic of attractiveness of tourist destinations is at the center of the international economic debate, there are still many areas showing important gap among potentials and performances and in most cases literature doesn’t offer a suitable measure and strategic solutions for this problem. From a destination-based tourism model, the transition has been made to a model driven by motivation and the search of experience. The forces driving the change are: internet, low costs, tour operators, OTAs and the new demand for experiences from tourists, which have changed the rules of the game and, most importantly, altered the balance between supply and demand. The paper has three research goals. Firstly, a driven-based analysis will be presented, aimed at identifying the factors which condition and/or support the sector, briefly touching a legislation, governance, funding and infrastructure and cultural heritage. Subsequently the paper will focus some deficiencies of the tourist system in Italy, still organized according to an endogenous vision of the sector’s development, and based on a model turned to a production perspective in which the offer is placed at the center of the system, with no added value and limited activity in term of retails, marketing and innovation and low level of professional competence. Finally the research will aim to propose a change of the tourism policy in Italy. As well as a reorganization of offer in a more innovative and experienced-based key, to be more competitive Italy needs the role of local government to be extensively reviewed: local administrations will have to take leadership of the destinations, bringing a strategic vision to the territory and becoming the main actor in conceiving and designing the offer of tourism.
Abstract: Tourism trends and policies is becoming an international reference and benchmark on how effectively countries are supporting competitiveness, innovation and growth, and shed light on policies and practices associated with this. Despite the topic of attractiveness of tourist destinations is at the center of the international economic debate, there a...
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Evaluating Performance in the Hotel Industry: An Empirical Analysis of Piedmont
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 1-1, February 2015
Pages:
17-22
Received:
15 December 2014
Accepted:
16 December 2014
Published:
27 December 2014
Abstract: The hotel industry is a key sector in the tourism industry because it is essential for the supplying of all other tourism services and it is the first service demanded by tourists who reach the destination. To assess hotel’s performance appears a hard task, because of the presence of many factors to consider, economic but also less tangible. The aim of the research is to verify the correlation between performance and its determinants in the context of the Piedmont hotel industry, through valuating a sample of 112 hotels of Piedmont. More in particular, the study in vestigates whether variables as stars rating, dimension and added services provided are correlated to performance, measured by Rev Par (revenue per available room), a performance metric typical of the hotel industry. To reach these goals, the research starts with a literature review, on hotel industry in general and on performance evaluation methods more used in hotel industry. Subsequently, it will be explained the methodology and the assumptions. Finally, it will be provided results discussed on a managerial perspective, useless for management to improve quality and performance.
Abstract: The hotel industry is a key sector in the tourism industry because it is essential for the supplying of all other tourism services and it is the first service demanded by tourists who reach the destination. To assess hotel’s performance appears a hard task, because of the presence of many factors to consider, economic but also less tangible. The ai...
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“Total Attractiveness” for Consumer in advanced D.D.-B.B. Systemic Marketing in Tourism Management
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 1-1, February 2015
Pages:
23-29
Received:
17 December 2014
Accepted:
18 December 2014
Published:
30 December 2014
Abstract: Part of literature and practice in tourism destination (Management) often consider (in case of weak marketing point of view) a too restrictive interpretation and implementation of (destination) “attractiveness”. This is a paradox. Frequently attractiveness in tourist destination management only means natural and intrinsic appeal of a destination, site or locus or similar. In important btoc fields, management and systemic marketing enlarge significance/contents of (complete) “attractiveness” (for the consumer-final client ). Also tourist destination management, rarely completely oriented to consumer (person-consumer), must reduce gap in implementation of real comprehensive, entire attractiveness (for consumer in btoc tourism). This paper also indicates how to apply to tourist destination management “complete” and impacting attractiveness, with really systemic marketing proposed by the author and gradually activated by outstanding firms also in Italy. So, this paper that enlarges “attractiveness” (for consumers) word , like occurs in other btoc fields, focalizes new kind of systemic marketing concepts and approaches, to increase impact of really comprehensive destination attractiveness (for consumer-final client ) not only using web. Also, this paper with neologisms , emphasizes how enlarged “attractiveness”(for consumers) can ameliorate (in btoc tourism management) multiple systemic “differentiation” by a lot of important (systemic) marketing topics, now including neologisms like: bunch, blend, propositioning, and so on, referring to single or aggregate of single advanced systemic marketing. Looking to unrestricted attractiveness, this paper proposes a shift from “natural” limited attractiveness to a real whole attractiveness, involving so called “persumer” (person-consumer) and it presents a new related concepts and a (called D.D.-B.B.) multi polyhedric systemic marketing approach to ameliorate impact on consumer (in btoc Tourism Management). To catch other opportunities referring to so called “external valorization”, (multi-polyhedric) S.A.W.A or “Systemic Articulated Whole Attractiveness”, activates polyhedric, strong “mixtures” (including experiential marketing), bunch and blend and other concepts impacting on “Whole Multiple Systemic Differentiation” related to a complete attractiveness. This includes effects of propositioning to positioning not only brand or normal packages in tourism. This paper proposes various possible innovations in words and emphasizes how various new attractiveness (of a specific whole firm) for the consumer-customer depends also on aggregating single (multi-articulated ) advanced systemic marketing into D.D. (new articulated and consumer oriented D.O., part of a new DOM) , to get (through B.B.) more and really excellent results by comprehensive, whole differentiation (not only of intrinsic site-destination) also sprung from “new” complete Attractiveness (to the consumer- final client).
Abstract: Part of literature and practice in tourism destination (Management) often consider (in case of weak marketing point of view) a too restrictive interpretation and implementation of (destination) “attractiveness”. This is a paradox. Frequently attractiveness in tourist destination management only means natural and intrinsic appeal of a destination, s...
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Tourist Destinations Positioning: From Indexes to Managerial Implications
Jean Paul Lemaire,
Milena Viassone
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 1-1, February 2015
Pages:
30-38
Received:
27 November 2014
Accepted:
15 December 2014
Published:
31 December 2014
Abstract: Despite the numerous attempts to define Tourist Destination Attractiveness (TDA) and Governance (TDG), there are no identified contributions concerning the analysis of these elements in a systemic way. This paper creates a TDA-TDG matrix able to map destinations on the basis of these dimensions, in order to draw development strategies. Drivers of TDA and TDG are chosen by means of literature and validated by 15 tourism stakeholders. TDA index is got throughout Delphi method while TDG index throughout an adaptation of the SERVPERF questionnaire. The paper results in a mapping of tourist destinations that allows tourist managers to draw paths of development.
Abstract: Despite the numerous attempts to define Tourist Destination Attractiveness (TDA) and Governance (TDG), there are no identified contributions concerning the analysis of these elements in a systemic way. This paper creates a TDA-TDG matrix able to map destinations on the basis of these dimensions, in order to draw development strategies. Drivers of T...
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Customer Satisfaction in Tourist Destination: The Case of Tourism Offer in the City of Naples
Valentina Della Corte,
Mauro Sciarelli,
Clelia Cascella,
Giovanna Del Gaudio
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 1-1, February 2015
Pages:
39-50
Received:
19 December 2014
Accepted:
23 December 2014
Published:
3 January 2015
Abstract: This paper investigates the main elements that can influence customer satisfaction in tourist services, with specific reference to tourism industry. The importance of this topic resides in the fact that tourists’ positive experiences of service, products, and other resources provided by tourism destinations can produce customer retention as well as positive word-of-mouth. Indeed, satisfaction with travel experiences contributes to destination loyalty. The degree of tourists’ loyalty to a destination is reflected in their intentions to revisit the destination and in their recommendations to others. Thus, information about tourists’ loyalty is important to destination marketers and managers in order to sustain destination attractiveness. Although predominant literature has adopted a demand-side perspective, this paper analyses tourist satisfaction according to an overlapping perspective that contemplates both the demand and the offer side where this latter, in the wider meaning, also includes the systemic perspective. More precisely, this paper aims to identify the principle competitive strategies that the variety of stakeholders, cooperating together in a destination, has to implement in order to increase tourist satisfaction and loyalty. Indeed, the point of view of this paper is to understand how destination attributes and services affect the tourist satisfaction. In order to study the link between destination attributes and tourist satisfaction, the paper collects cross-sectional data via questionnaire, from May 2012 to May 2013. The adopted approach allows to individuate the factors that can influence tourist satisfaction, their (positive or negative) direction and their magnitude. This paper uses 14 tourist satisfaction indicators in order to measure the global satisfaction. Furthermore, this study allows to identify the current strengths and weaknesses of the tourist offer. In particular, the study paid attention to the phase of service delivery since it is the time when customer satisfaction is generated. From this study, it comes out that tourist satisfaction depends on a complex process where the role of each actor is fundamental and it must be in tune with all the other ones. Findings show that tourists visiting Naples are not completely satisfied, supporting that Naples has not a clear destination image.
Abstract: This paper investigates the main elements that can influence customer satisfaction in tourist services, with specific reference to tourism industry. The importance of this topic resides in the fact that tourists’ positive experiences of service, products, and other resources provided by tourism destinations can produce customer retention as well as...
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Culinary Tourism: Made in Italy Food and Real Estate Finance for the Creation of a Culinary Theme Park
Carlo Felice Maggi,
Michela Avataneo
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 1-1, February 2015
Pages:
51-57
Received:
18 December 2014
Accepted:
25 December 2014
Published:
23 January 2015
Abstract: There are numerous studies and research on tourism as well as specifically on culinary tourism, all aimed at understanding their characteristics and how to develop them into a source of growth for the country. The special features of the new culinary theme park (F.I.C.O.) render it innovative. It is not only a project that has never been seen before, but one that was able to profit by the many competitive advantages offered by the country, such as general tourism, Made in Italy food, and the driving force of a prosperous agribusiness sector. Managed by Eataly, a globally established enterprise, F.I.C.O., aims to become the largest centre in the world for the celebration of Italian agribusiness. Innovation is even found in the way that the project is organised and how it obtains its necessary funds, which are collected through a Real Estate Finance project. Its attractiveness is lastly tested through a random sample of interviews that allowed for feedback by the use of a statistical method, a practical and concrete result of a previous general analysis as well as a statistical summary of the typical behaviour of consumers and travellers.
Abstract: There are numerous studies and research on tourism as well as specifically on culinary tourism, all aimed at understanding their characteristics and how to develop them into a source of growth for the country. The special features of the new culinary theme park (F.I.C.O.) render it innovative. It is not only a project that has never been seen befor...
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Perceptioning as a Tool for Destination Branding: The case of Liguria as Wikidestination
Kamel Ben Youssef,
Martha Friel,
Thomas Leicht,
Lidia Marongiu
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 1-1, February 2015
Pages:
58-68
Received:
23 January 2015
Accepted:
23 January 2015
Published:
29 January 2015
Abstract: The perceptioning model developed by Bassani et al. (2002, 2007, and 2011) permits to design, launch and develop a strong brand in B2B and B2C markets. In recent years, it has also been used to build wikibrands (Moffit and Dover, 2010) and successful products relying on the high involvement of consumers’ communities in value creation processes. The paper explores how the perceptioning model as a tool for destination branding could also find successful application in other fields such as the tourism sector. After a literature review on place branding and perceptioning, the paper applies this model at a territorial scale by analyzing the case of the region of Liguria in Northwest Italy as a prototype of wikidestination. By relying on a qualitative research design based on interviews and discourse analysis, this paper provides evidence that perceptioning is also a suitable approach for territorial marketing, especially in the case of wikidestinations that are constructed collectively.
Abstract: The perceptioning model developed by Bassani et al. (2002, 2007, and 2011) permits to design, launch and develop a strong brand in B2B and B2C markets. In recent years, it has also been used to build wikibrands (Moffit and Dover, 2010) and successful products relying on the high involvement of consumers’ communities in value creation processes. The...
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The Widespread Hotel: New Hotel Model for Business Tourist
Filippo Monge,
Daniele Cattaneo,
Angela Scilla
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 1-1, February 2015
Pages:
69-76
Received:
19 December 2014
Accepted:
19 January 2015
Published:
11 February 2015
Abstract: The territories are in competition among them for attract human, economic and financial resources. The attractiveness has become the target of recent urban policies. In fact, the constant appeals to events, be they even simple events or events lasting more days, or real places built for the occasion and adaptable to multiple uses, all linked to recreational activities, are a proof. In the tourism field this situation is particularly intense. The local areas can lose the competitive play against the great areas. They must think of diversification of their supply. Therefore, in the dynamic environment of business tourism, the requirements of customers about service quality and location landscape are getting harder than in the past. The widespread hotel model represents one of the possible solution to that needs and recently it is increasing its importance. The model is able to stimulate economic and social value development through the management of several critical success factors. The analysis of a case study “Hotel Chateau Le Cagnard” permits to underline the key factors of success of the widespread hotel for business tourism.
Abstract: The territories are in competition among them for attract human, economic and financial resources. The attractiveness has become the target of recent urban policies. In fact, the constant appeals to events, be they even simple events or events lasting more days, or real places built for the occasion and adaptable to multiple uses, all linked to rec...
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Creative Resources for Attractive Seaside Resorts: The French Turn
Anne Gombault,
Ludovic Falaix,
Emeline Hatt,
Jérôme Piriou
Issue:
Volume 4, Issue 1-1, February 2015
Pages:
77-85
Received:
20 December 2014
Accepted:
12 January 2015
Published:
11 February 2015
Abstract: This article presents a qualitative analysis of the specific strategies used by coastal resorts in the South of France to valorise their creative regional resources. These strategies emerge from factors of change in the trajectories of the resorts: change in the relationship between man and nature, environmental turning point and the need for sustainability, emergence of creative tourism centred on recreation, sport and culture. The research is supported by three case studies, Biarritz, Lacanau and Martigues, and assesses the constraints that arise in terms of design and management of coastal resorts and tourist areas, against a background of numerous conflicting requirements, including attractiveness and sustainability. The effects of these strategies can call into question the choice of resources selected, associated forms of governance, as well as conflicts in use that may emerge.
Abstract: This article presents a qualitative analysis of the specific strategies used by coastal resorts in the South of France to valorise their creative regional resources. These strategies emerge from factors of change in the trajectories of the resorts: change in the relationship between man and nature, environmental turning point and the need for susta...
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