International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=318&year=2011&vol=2&issue=4 Inderscience Publishers Ltd en-uk International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing 1757-5567 1757-5575 © 2011 Inderscience Publishers Ltd editor@inderscience.com https://www.inderscience.com/images/files/coverImgs/ijltm_scoverijltm.jpg http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=318&year=2011&vol=2&issue=4 http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=43786 The focus of this paper is on the evolving context of tourist marketing and its power to promote peripheral regions as tourist destinations. WEB-GIS and virtual reality applications are discussed in this respect, as tools enabling an immersive tourist marketing paradigm, based on their potential to provide experiential information on local tourist assets. Experience gained from the development of such a platform for the island of Zakynthos Greece, integrating geographical information systems to the WEB and supporting tools for handling spatially defined real-time tourist information, addresses certain key policy directions that need to be dealt with in the regional context to support peripheral tourist destinations in reaping the benefits of the new marketing perspectives. Experiential marketing and local tourist development: a policy perspective
Anastasia Stratigea; Thomas Hatzichristos
International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 4 (2011) pp. 274 - 294
The focus of this paper is on the evolving context of tourist marketing and its power to promote peripheral regions as tourist destinations. WEB-GIS and virtual reality applications are discussed in this respect, as tools enabling an immersive tourist marketing paradigm, based on their potential to provide experiential information on local tourist assets. Experience gained from the development of such a platform for the island of Zakynthos Greece, integrating geographical information systems to the WEB and supporting tools for handling spatially defined real-time tourist information, addresses certain key policy directions that need to be dealt with in the regional context to support peripheral tourist destinations in reaping the benefits of the new marketing perspectives.

]]> 10.1504/IJLTM.2011.043786 International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 4 (2011) pp. 274 - 294 Anastasia Stratigea; Thomas Hatzichristos Department of Geography and Regional Planning, School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Herroon Polytechniou str. 9, Zographou Campus, Athens 157 80, Greece ' Department of Geography and Regional Planning, School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Herroon Polytechniou str. 9, Zographou Campus, Athens 157 80, Greece WEB-GIS virtual reality experience marketing tourist marketing remote tourist destinations peripheral tourist destinations tourism marketing local tourist development local development Zakynthos Greece geographic information systems GIS tourist information. 2011-11-22T23:20:50-05:00 2 4 274 294 2011-11-22T23:20:50-05:00 http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=43787 New Orleans is both a tourist destination and a city with high mass media representation. In recent years, New Orleans has increasingly become the focus of numerous media events ranging from the acclaimed HBO series Treme to the unmistakable images of the city in ruins following Hurricane Katrina. This research explores what images of New Orleans visitors expect to see and how visitors use the media to form perceptions about New Orleans. Specific to this study, content analysis provides a technique to determine the dominant themes and images of New Orleans that are projected to tourists through selected unofficial visual media form (motion pictures). Although unofficial media are not created or intended to attract tourists, they can increase tourism and influence expectations of a destination. Investigations into how tourists use the media and how prior media exposure affects satisfaction with the destination could be an important resource for cities attempting to expand their tourism industry, target a new population or change their destination’s image. Unofficial images of a tourism destination: New Orleans behind the scenes
Bridget M. Bordelon; Frédéric Dimanche
International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 4 (2011) pp. 295 - 312
New Orleans is both a tourist destination and a city with high mass media representation. In recent years, New Orleans has increasingly become the focus of numerous media events ranging from the acclaimed HBO series Treme to the unmistakable images of the city in ruins following Hurricane Katrina. This research explores what images of New Orleans visitors expect to see and how visitors use the media to form perceptions about New Orleans. Specific to this study, content analysis provides a technique to determine the dominant themes and images of New Orleans that are projected to tourists through selected unofficial visual media form (motion pictures). Although unofficial media are not created or intended to attract tourists, they can increase tourism and influence expectations of a destination. Investigations into how tourists use the media and how prior media exposure affects satisfaction with the destination could be an important resource for cities attempting to expand their tourism industry, target a new population or change their destination’s image.

]]> 10.1504/IJLTM.2011.043787 International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 4 (2011) pp. 295 - 312 Bridget M. Bordelon; Frédéric Dimanche Lester E. Kabacoff School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Administration, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA ' Centre for Tourism Management, SKEMA Business School, Rue Dostoievski, 06902 Sophia Antipolis, France unofficial media destination images tourism destinations unofficial images tourist destinations New Orleans mass media content analysis visual media. 2011-11-22T23:20:50-05:00 2 4 295 312 2011-11-22T23:20:50-05:00 http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=43788 Despite the growing importance of the quality of life (QOL), research on QOL in the area of tourism is very limited. Additionally, the majority of this research focuses on the impact of tourism on QOL of destinations’ hosts. This paper analyses the impact of tourism on several dimensions of tourists’ QOL (physical health, psychological features, social relationships and environment). Additionally, a model of determinants of the tourism impact on QOL is proposed and tested. Multivariate regression analyses are undertaken to identify the factors that influence the impact of tourism on tourist’s QOL. Travel motivations, the travel group, type of destinations and activities are the factors with more influence on tourism impacts on QOL. However, results highlight that the influence of each factor on the tourism impact on QOL varies according to the dimension of the QOL. Important implications for improving the tourism impact on tourists’ QOL are discussed. Determinants of tourism impact on tourists’ quality of life
Celeste Eusébio; Maria João Carneiro
International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 4 (2011) pp. 313 - 336
Despite the growing importance of the quality of life (QOL), research on QOL in the area of tourism is very limited. Additionally, the majority of this research focuses on the impact of tourism on QOL of destinations’ hosts. This paper analyses the impact of tourism on several dimensions of tourists’ QOL (physical health, psychological features, social relationships and environment). Additionally, a model of determinants of the tourism impact on QOL is proposed and tested. Multivariate regression analyses are undertaken to identify the factors that influence the impact of tourism on tourist’s QOL. Travel motivations, the travel group, type of destinations and activities are the factors with more influence on tourism impacts on QOL. However, results highlight that the influence of each factor on the tourism impact on QOL varies according to the dimension of the QOL. Important implications for improving the tourism impact on tourists’ QOL are discussed.

]]> 10.1504/IJLTM.2011.043788 International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 4 (2011) pp. 313 - 336 Celeste Eusébio; Maria João Carneiro Department of Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Aveiro 3810-193, Portugal ' Department of Economics, Management and Industrial Engineering, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, Aveiro 3810-193, Portugal tourism impact tourist QoL quality of life WHOQOL World Health Organization regression modelling determinants physical health psychological features social relationships environment. 2011-11-22T23:20:50-05:00 2 4 313 336 2011-11-22T23:20:50-05:00 http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=43789 Tourists’ satisfaction and service quality has each been the subject of extensive, but separate, research, although a great deal of interest on tourists’ satisfaction has been conducted in tourism setting. Little research has empirically examined the distinctions and the perceived satisfaction and actual satisfaction of tourists particularly in rural destination. This study was conducted, firstly, to assess the service quality gap by measuring tourists’ perceived and actual service performance and secondly, to identify the service quality dimensions on tourists’ satisfaction. The results revealed that there are significant differences between tourists’ expectation and their perceptions. All four dimensions showed that tourists’ expectation exceeded their perception with places having the smallest gap and outdoor activities having the largest gap. The analysis had shown that different service quality components had various impacts on tourists’ satisfaction. Implications of the findings, potential limitations of the study and directions for future research were discussed further. Service quality gap and tourists’ satisfaction at rural destination: an empirical examination
May-Chiun Lo; Abang Azlan Mohamad; Peter Songan; Alvin W. Yeo
International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 4 (2011) pp. 337 - 352
Tourists’ satisfaction and service quality has each been the subject of extensive, but separate, research, although a great deal of interest on tourists’ satisfaction has been conducted in tourism setting. Little research has empirically examined the distinctions and the perceived satisfaction and actual satisfaction of tourists particularly in rural destination. This study was conducted, firstly, to assess the service quality gap by measuring tourists’ perceived and actual service performance and secondly, to identify the service quality dimensions on tourists’ satisfaction. The results revealed that there are significant differences between tourists’ expectation and their perceptions. All four dimensions showed that tourists’ expectation exceeded their perception with places having the smallest gap and outdoor activities having the largest gap. The analysis had shown that different service quality components had various impacts on tourists’ satisfaction. Implications of the findings, potential limitations of the study and directions for future research were discussed further.

]]> 10.1504/IJLTM.2011.043789 International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 4 (2011) pp. 337 - 352 May-Chiun Lo; Abang Azlan Mohamad; Peter Songan; Alvin W. Yeo Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Sarawak, Malaysia ' Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Sarawak, Malaysia ' Faculty of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Sarawak, Malaysia ' Institute of Social Informatics and Technological Innovations, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Sarawak, Malaysia ecotourism service quality tourist perceptions tourist satisfaction rural destinations Malaysia customer satisfaction tourist destinations service performance perceived satisfaction actual satisfaction tourist expectations tourists tourism. 2011-11-22T23:20:50-05:00 2 4 337 352 2011-11-22T23:20:50-05:00 http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=43790 The issue of perceptions of buyers and browsers on quality of online travel websites and its relationship with behavioural intentions have rarely been investigated by tourism and hospitality researchers. This paper aims to examine the consumer consequences of these users’ perceived service quality of online travel companies and its relationship with their level of satisfaction, value perceptions and behavioural intention. Empirical findings indicated that online travel companies users viewed two dimensions of e-service quality factors as important, i.e. customer service quality and website quality, and they were generally satisfied with travel websites. These two e-service quality dimensions had significant direct and indirect effect on loyalty-related behavioural intentions. This paper should be of interest to tourism and hospitality practitioners as well as academic researchers to better understand e-consumers’ behaviour. Determinants of e-loyalty-related behavioural intentions of online travel companies in India: an SEM study with Indian consumers
Rajat Gera; S.R. Singhvi
International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 4 (2011) pp. 353 - 377
The issue of perceptions of buyers and browsers on quality of online travel websites and its relationship with behavioural intentions have rarely been investigated by tourism and hospitality researchers. This paper aims to examine the consumer consequences of these users’ perceived service quality of online travel companies and its relationship with their level of satisfaction, value perceptions and behavioural intention. Empirical findings indicated that online travel companies users viewed two dimensions of e-service quality factors as important, i.e. customer service quality and website quality, and they were generally satisfied with travel websites. These two e-service quality dimensions had significant direct and indirect effect on loyalty-related behavioural intentions. This paper should be of interest to tourism and hospitality practitioners as well as academic researchers to better understand e-consumers’ behaviour.

]]> 10.1504/IJLTM.2011.043790 International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 4 (2011) pp. 353 - 377 Rajat Gera; S.R. Singhvi Institute of Management Technology, Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad 201001, Uttar Pradesh, India ' International Management Institute, B-10, Qutab Institutonal Area, Tara Crescent Road, New Delhi 110 016, India online travel companies World Wide Web internet customer satisfaction e-service quality value perceptions behavioural intentions electronic services online travel websites tourism hospitality industry customer service quality website quality. 2011-11-22T23:20:50-05:00 2 4 353 377 2011-11-22T23:20:50-05:00