Analysis and Implications
Appetites for Tourism Experiences: Developing a New Segmentation Schema View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session John Story, Ishani Banerji
This research provides new insights into segmenting prospects for tourism by focusing on consumption occasions rather than prospect attributes. Segmentation typically selects personal attributes which correlate with consumption behaviors, such as geographic location, psychographics – such as lifestyle or values, related behaviors, or benefits sought. While these attributes may predict probabilities of engaging in a particular behavior, such as visiting a destination, they only predict probabilities and often provide little insight into motivations. This study proposes and tests an alternative segmentation of tourist populations that focuses on the appetites for tourism and how those appetites are addressed by destinations and activities. Appetites for tourism are multidimensional - destinations, activities, experiences, outcomes, etc. This research explores the array of tourism appetites, creates segments based on those appetite dimensions, and compares these with segments built from demographics, geographics, and psychographics. The project began with a series of depth interviews, followed by a series of online surveys (currently in the field), targeting approximately 500 travelers. Based on pilot studies of automobile purchases and sports consumption, we anticipate a set of appetite segments that both contradict and reinforce personal-attribute-based segments. This provides deeper insights into tourism motives and effective segmentation. These appetite segments allow destinations to better target key prospects with specific offerings.
Mobility Injustice at Airport Borders: Stories of Implied 'Illegality' of Legitimate Travellers
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Isabella Ye
This paper focuses on unravelling the rituals, performances and recalled experiences of travellers' airport border encounters - interactions between travellers and the destination's immigration officials. Using the concept of assemblage, this study unpacks the emotions and discourses that underpin the multiplicity of airport border encounters, as well as seeks to understand how travel experiences are shaped and overshadowed by the intersections of passport, identity, race and border practices. Situated in a critical interpretivist paradigm, this study adopted a combined approach of memorywork (Small, 1999) and narrative inquiry (Pennegar & Daynes, 2007) to surface multiple meanings and understandings of travellers' border encounters, especially from those who hold weak passports. Preliminary findings revealed a multitude of negative emotions associated with border encounters, ranging from anxiety, uncertainty, trauma, humiliation, embarrassment and self-doubt/blame. For many, the excitement of arrival is replaced by stereotypical separation, isolation and public interrogation. Travellers often fell into a petrifying immobility and had to defend their identity and legitimacy of entry, despite carrying all correct documentation. This study adds to the ongoing debates on mobility injustice in travel, with narratives on the problematic, unethical and power-infused nature of airport border space. This calls for further attention to the various challenges that travellers face from both academia and industry.
An Agenda for Accessible Tourism: Priorities of Destination Management Organisations in New Zealand
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Brielle Gillovic, Alison Mc Intosh
Increasingly, tourism researchers are questioning how tourism, and its inquiry, might drive an agenda for a more inclusive, responsible, and sustainable future. In New Zealand, this too is the case; however, the nature of tourism considerations remains overwhelmingly environment-centric and largely devoid of a social imperative. Destination management organisations, with significant involvement in, and influence over, the management and marketing of New Zealand, need to prioritise accessibility to remain competitive, especially given the changing demography of domestic and major inbound visitor markets. Despite local accessibility champions calling for strategic leadership in this space, there remains no coherent or coordinated strategy relating to accessible tourism development in New Zealand. While we, as tourism researchers, seek to provide appropriate knowledge and direction, the New Zealand tourism industry does not always have awareness of, or access to, such research, and if they do, can raise conflicting views and concerns. Equally, ableist attitudes may prevail. This paper reveals findings of our study that sought to identify the perspectives and priorities identified by 16 destination management organisations in New Zealand to establish a research agenda for accessible tourism development. The study thus provides an important first step in guiding future research projects and industry initiatives that can further the aim to address the current inequality and inaccessibility of tourism. We critically discuss the tensions between academic research, its systems, and conventions, and how we as tourism researchers, may effect meaningful change to enable social transformation among the industry and society at large.
Push and Pull of Trust the Business City View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Enrique Marinao Artigas
This study has focused on understanding the role that trust plays in a business city as an antecedent to the satisfaction of the business manager and as a consequence of the image of the business city. Trust in the business city and the image of the business city have been measured as multidimensional constructs. The coefficients obtained show that trust in the city directly and positively affects the satisfaction of the business manager. Likewise, it is directly and positively affected by the image of the business city. This study has direct implications for stakeholders associated with the development and implementation of business cities.
