Journal of Destination Marketing & Management最新文献

Autonomous vehicle-related services, such as Waymo, are now available for tourists, creating a new era of ground transportation in the tourism industry. However, research on autonomous vehicles in tourism literature remains in the beginning stage. To enrich understanding of autonomous vehicles in tourism and to contribute practical insights, this study examines potential users’ assessment, expectancy, and use intention toward autonomous vehicles in family tourism. A total of 439 complete survey responses were collected from car owners in Japan. Results confirmed perceived benefit, effort expectancy, and perceived risk as significant antecedents of both positive (i.e. family ties enhanced by autonomous vehicles) and negative expectancy (i.e. reduced social contact through autonomous vehicles), which influenced use intention toward autonomous vehicles. Additionally, females, those of higher age demographics (50s–60s), and those with larger family sizes (three or more) were more concerned with reduced social contact when evaluating their use intention toward autonomous vehicles.

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers digital tools that advertisers can use to create ads and automate various advertising processes. It has reorganized and upgraded traditional advertising and specifically improved advertising efficiency for tourist destinations. Adopting the computers-are-social-actors paradigm and spreading–activation theory, this study examined how the relationship between declared creator types (AI vs. human) and advertising appeals (rational vs. emotional) affects individuals' visit intentions. Three scenario-based experiments were conducted. They revealed that advertisements with rational appeals improved visit intention for AI-generated ads more effectively. In contrast, those with emotional appeals were more attractive when the declared creator was human. This effect was mediated by information processing fluency. The results also confirmed the moderating role of tourists’ involvement in these relationships. This research expands the range of applications of AI-generated content in advertising and can inform practical marketing strategies for tourist destinations.

Despite the military and political tensions surrounding the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), over 1.2 million individuals visit the destination each year. Considering various tourist motivations and the group-oriented tour setting at the DMZ and employing the Interaction Ritual Theory as a theoretical guide, this study examined how South Korean DMZ tourists' motivations and interaction led to emotional solidarity, thereby facilitating the co-creation of their DMZ experience. Study results (N = 409) revealed that politics and curiosity motivations significantly influenced their interaction, while knowledge and war motivations only impacted emotional solidarity. Emotional solidarity directly contributed to experience co-creation, whereas interaction only had an indirect impact mediated through emotional solidarity. The findings enrich the understanding of the distinctive roles of South Korean DMZ tourists' motivations and highlight interaction as a key in evaluating their experience co-creation. It especially offers new insights that emotional solidarity is a critical antecedent to experience co-creation. The findings provide government officials and destination managers with practical suggestions for further management and marketing of DMZ tourism. Future research can further consider group differences when testing the conceptual model—such as DMZ tourists' travel pattern (e.g., individuals or groups) or nationality (e.g., South Korean or foreigners)—and utilize qualitative research methods to complement the quantitative findings.

This study aimed to investigate the relationships among campsite attributes, tourists' experience quality, trip satisfaction, and intention to revisit campgrounds in the context of three typical mountain campgrounds (Raorao, Amanda, and Shanyu) in southwest China. Utilizing a combination of proportionate stratified and convenience sampling methods, 613 tourists visiting the three campgrounds were surveyed. The collected data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). The results revealed that campsite attributes either positively or negatively influence tourists' experience quality. Furthermore, experience quality plays a crucial role as a significant antecedent to trip satisfaction and as a mediator between campsite attributes and trip satisfaction. Additionally, tourists' trip satisfaction positively affects their revisit intentions. These findings contribute valuable insights into the formation process of camping tourists' behavioral intentions, considering their perceptions of campsite attributes, experience quality, and trip satisfaction. The paper concludes with a discussion of the research's theoretical and practical implications, as well as limitations, and provides suggestions for future research.

Our study explored the enabler role of perceived usefulness, enjoyment, and ease of use from metaverse tourism on Gen Z engagement and satisfaction. Furthermore, the enabler role of Gen Z's engagement and satisfaction with metaverse tourism on their word-of-mouth intentions are also explored. Lastly, the study examined the contingency effects of age, annual family income, and gender. Data were collected from young consumers in three prominent cities in the country, i.e., Delhi, Kolkata, and Visakhapatnam, and the Middle East, to support generalizability and cross-comparison. Subsequently, the study collected responses from the Middle East to facilitate cross-comparison. The completed responses were analysed in SmartPLS 3.3.9. Findings suggest perceived ease of use and enjoyment as major enablers of Gen Z's engagement and satisfaction, which primarily enhances their word-of-mouth intentions.

Sense of place primarily reflects the relationship between people and places. Dark tourism is an activity that establishes an emotional interaction between tourists and the destination. However, research on tourists' sense of place in dark tourism is scarce. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between tourists' sense of place and heritage protection in dark tourism. The results show that destination attractiveness and tourism function's contribution to the sense of place is positive and significant. Additionally, sense of place affects heritage protection positively. Furthermore, sense of place mediates the positive relationship between heritage protection and tourist involvement, destination attractiveness, as well as tourism function.

Destination choice is an important component of measuring tourism competitiveness. Although various studies have been conducted to analyze factors influencing destination choice, exploration during a health crisis (i.e. pandemic) has not been widely carried out. Besides, understanding the behavior of domestic tourists in choosing destinations during a pandemic can help tourism/destination managers prepare marketing plans to maintain destination resilience in facing a pandemic. This research was conducted to analyze the factors that influence domestic tourists in choosing tourist destinations during a pandemic. Five priority destinations in Indonesia with different characteristics were used as sample locations, while 609 domestic tourists from large cities in Indonesia were selected as respondents in this research. The results show that health and hygiene are the main factors in destination choice, while destination image and experience have no effect on tourist choices during a pandemic. Therefore, a perception of a safe destination with minimal risk of transmission needs to be built during a pandemic to increase the chances of tourists choosing a destination. This research is useful in building a tourism management strategy towards a destination that is resilient to pandemics.

This study investigates the impact of online disinformation and hate speech on a country's image, considering its implications for the destination's image and tourism prospects. Utilizing the theoretical lens of soft power, the study performs a macro-level empirical analysis across 56 countries on the influence of a diverse array of online disinformation variants and hate speech on the nation's brand image. The results from the configurational analysis demonstrate the increasing dominance of state and partisan factions-led disinformation, which collectively impact the nation's image. The findings also shed light on the diminishing role of foreign disinformation, while the ancillary function of online hate emphasizes the significance of disinformation amplified hate speech, which has become increasingly commonplace in global political discourse, with such disinformation campaigns using hate speech as an amplification strategy. The study contributes to contemporary tourism research, which underscores the vitality of the country's image to tourism and offers recommendations to destination marketing organizations towards intensifying efforts to preserve the country's image.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, ‘regenerative tourism’ has emerged as a promising alternative to the unsustainable growth paradigm underpinning traditional tourism practices. While this topic is increasingly explored in conceptual terms, what this approach means conceptually and in practice for a range of destination management stakeholders remains unclear. The present study analysed the meanings, conceptualisations and practices associated with regenerative tourism for destination planners in Aotearoa New Zealand. Eighteen interviews were conducted with a diverse range of destination planners at regional and national levels. The findings indicate that regenerative tourism involves improving places, which comprises giving back to communities economically, socially and culturally, and enhancing local environments; as well as fostering a connection with place for both visitors and local residents, and focusing on how tourism can improve quality of life (human and nonhuman) for future generations. Other prominent themes include the holistic and interconnected nature of regenerative tourism practices; and the importance of shifting mindsets and tourism practices from mechanistic and siloed, to those aligned with living systems approaches. Another key finding was destination planners' ambivalence towards the regenerative tourism concept, which ranged from a sense of uncertainty and vagueness about this approach to strong sentiments of resistance. Further studies, particularly those that integrate indigenous worldviews, are needed to consolidate our understanding of regenerative tourism approaches in practice.

The use of blockchain technology (BT) is transforming consumer behavior and enhancing business values, but its role in the context of mobile food delivery applications (MFDAs) is underexplored. Therefore, this study utilizes stimulus–organism–response theory to determine consumers' willingness to pay more (WPM) and behavioral intention to use BT-enabled MFDAs. The empirical analysis was conducted using the structural equation modeling approach. The findings establish that traceability, transparency, and privacy assurance positively influence consumers' perceived values. Furthermore, IT knowledge positively moderates the relationships between privacy assurance, traceability, and perceived value. Further, perceived value positively impacts WPM and behavioral intention. Finally, consumers' trust in BT moderates the relationships between perceived value, WPM, and behavioral intention to use BT-enabled MFDAs. MFDA platforms should ensure the applicability of BT on a priority basis and operationalize it to meet consumers’ needs and demands.