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Publication Overcoming the Image of Colombia: A Study of Canadian Travel Agents(2016-06-10) Barley, Meghan; Dimanche, FredericIntroduction: The decision making process for individuals who are considering traveling to a particular destination can be influenced by several different factors. Among those factors is the influence that travel professionals such as tour operators and travel agents play in recommending, or not, a destination. This study was conducted to gain further insight into the role that travel intermediaries have in shaping and influencing their customer’s decision to visit a country. More specifically, the study investigates how Canadian travel agents perceive Colombia as a travel destination. Colombia as a country has developed a negative reputation, and has become associated with dangerous terms such as drugs, kidnapping, and cartels. ProColombia, the National Tourism Organization (NTO), has continuously worked towards changing the perception of potential tourists, and encouraging people to come visit their country. This study was conducted on behalf of the ProColombia office in Toronto. More specifically, this project investigated travel agencies across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), to determine their perceptions of Colombia as a travel destination. Literature Review: Destination image has been one of the most researched concepts (Gallarza, Saura, & Garcı́a, 2002; Pike, 2002). Image is important to attract travelers. Image management is also important in addressing negative publicity or in helping a destination recover from a crisis. NTOs use promotional and advertising materials to influence buyers and to positively improve tourists’ perceptions of a destination (Beerli & Martin, 2004). However, little research has been conducted on the role travel intermediaries play in destination image management (e.g., Dimanche, 1998). DMOs must capitalize on intermediaries, such as travel agents and tour operators, which have the ability to sway the opinion of individuals, and create an image that is “skewed towards a set of favorable experiences” (Govers et al., 2007, p.15). Intermediaries must ensure they are receiving adequate information from NTOs in order to create culturally appropriate, favorable material that is constructed to appeal to those who are considering visiting (Yuksel et al., 2014). Visitors typically have a pre-set image of a destination before discussing with an intermediary, thereby making the role of the tour operators and travel agents more important. Emotional feelings can be gathered after discussing a destination with an intermediary, and any negative connotations attached to a country can quickly deter some individuals from wanting to visit Methodology: This study analyzed how travel agents perceive and sell Colombia as a destination. The sample comprised 139 travel agencies that were identified by ProColombia. Students from a major urban university were trained to play the role of potential pleasure tourists to Colombia. Investigators visited in groups of two each of the agencies as mystery shoppers and followed a script to ask questions from the travel agents. After each visit, the investigators completed a short questionnaire to summarize the responses of the travel agents to the questions. Results: One hundred and thirty nine travel agencies were effectively studied for a 75% response rate. Non-respondents consisted of agencies that were closed or that met only with professional clients. The findings of the study suggest that a significant number of travel agents lack knowledge about the destination, have negative perceptions of Colombia, and as a result are underselling Colombia or recommending other South American destinations. Key findings include: Only 55% of travel agencies recommended visiting Colombia 38% of travel agencies consider Colombia as an unsafe destination 46% of travel agencies were unaware of tour operators selling Colombia 58% of travel agencies were unaware of the direct flight from Toronto to Bogota Discussion: As an NTO, ProColombia is creating valuable content that can be marketed to target markets. However, in order to change the negative and lasting perceptions of tourists, ProColombia needs the support of travel intermediaries to encourage visitation. This study demonstrates the importance of adequately educating travel intermediaries. Although they may be travel professionals, they, like travelers, may hold misconceptions about and negative images of destinations. Destinations that face crises (political unrest, terrorist attack, natural disaster) need to establish image recovery management strategies that are specifically dedicated to travel intermediaries. For example, familiarization tours for travel agents can be designed or destination information conferences for travel agents and tour operators can be planned in target markets. Destination image is a key factor in the traveler’s decision-making process and DMOs, particularly those that represent destinations recovering from crises, should develop image management plans. References Beerli, A., & Martín, J. D. (2004). Factors influencing destination image. Annals of Tourism Research, 31(3), 657–681. Dimanche, F., & Moody, M. (1998). Perceptions of destination image: A study of Latin American intermediary travel buyers. Tourism Analysis, 3, 173-180. Gallarza, M. G., Saura, I. G., & Garcı́a, H. C. (2002). Destination image: Towards a conceptual framework. Annals of tourism research, 29(1), 56-78. Govers, R., Go, F., & Kumar, K. (2007). Promoting tourism destination image. Journal of Travel Research, 46(1), 15-23. Pike, S. (2002). Destination image analysis—a review of 142 papers from 1973 to 2000. Tourism management, 23(5), 541-549. Yüksel, A., Kayacan, M., & Yılmaz, A. I. (2014). Appeals in destination promotion: A comparison between tour operators’e-catalogues and the official website of Turkish NTO. Journal of Travel & Tourism Research, 14(1).Publication Tell Me at What Time You Usually Wake Up, I’ll Tell You What Type of Traveler You Are: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Destination Canada “Explorer Quotient” Segmentation Method and Chronotype(2016-09-28) Côté-Hamel, MaryseWhile travelers diverge on their attitudes, beliefs, values, motivations and behaviours, they also vary in their chronotype (also called diurnal preference). The present research investigates the mediating influence of the chronotype on the relationship between Destination Canada "Explorer Quotient" and the length of planning prior to the trip.Publication Social Media Use in Festival and Daily Life Contexts(2016-06-08) MacKay, Kelly; Van Winkle, Christine; Halpenny, Elizabeth; Barbe, DaniellePublication The Effect of Destination Image on Tourists’ Trust, Loyalty and Satisfaction with a Heritage Tourism Destination: A Case Study of Abyaneh, Iran(2016-01-01) Mirzaalian, Farshid; Halpenny, ElizabethTourists’ satisfaction and their loyalty to tourism destinations have been considered as a tool for increasing competitiveness. This study examined the association between destination image, attributes, trust felt for the destination, satisfaction, and destination loyalty. A sample of tourists visiting Abyaneh, an important cultural heritage place in Iran was collected periodically through 2015/16 (n = 521). A self-administrated paper-based questionnaire was used to collect data for this research. The questionnaire contained 21 items and was measured with a five-point Likert scale. Data collection is complete and analysis is ongoing. Principal component analysis and Cronbach’s alpha were used to confirm the factor structure of each study construct and the internal consistency of the factor scales.Publication Smartphone Use During Travel(2016-05-18) Pavelka, Joe PTechnology has impacted the way approach and experience travel in many ways but few elements of technology have had the impact of the smartphone. The smartphone affords travelers increased perception of stability and safety. This study further explores the relationship young travelers have with smartphones during travel. Results support that of other research that indicate the smartphone makes travel easier and safer. However this paper reports on tension that young travelers have with their phone during travel and a desire to be able to travel without it.Publication Spatio-Temporal Data in Tourism Research(2016-09-01) Shkolnik, DmitryThe work presented here highlights the efforts at Destination Canada to use user-generated online content to learn about tourist movement patterns, activity, and relationships among groups of connected destinations. Using a massive open-data source of photographic metadata from the Flickr photograph sharing platform, we extract time-stamps and geographic coordinates from photo metadata to analyze activity and movement patterns of international visitors to Canada. This analysis allows us to protect privacy while identifying rich and interesting patterns of tourist activity at both national and urban scales. The data further allows us to generate constructed tourist itineraries using extracted spatio-temporal data for anonymized individual users. In this presentation we highlight several use cases and applications that rely on this data that we believe may be useful for government organizations, destination marketing organizations, and the tourism industry in general: distribution of tourist activity across geographies, the differential spatial patterns of international tourists and locals, inter-provincial tourist movement, as well as intra-urban tourist movement networks and attraction clustering. We provide illustrative analysis and visualizations of our preliminary exploratory findings. One of the key findings of this research is the broad scope of the potential application of spatio-temporal data sources for tourism research. We outline a methodology for the use of spatio-temporal data in tourism research and on the potential application of other spatio-temporal data sources for tourism research, as well as Destination Canada’s most recent work in this area to study urban tourist activity patterns.Publication The Influence of Time of Day on Traveler Website Conversions(2016-09-28) Côté-Hamel, MaryseThrough the analysis of the Quebec City Tourism website, the effect of the time of day of the visits on visitor conversions, which represent the attainment of specific objectives, will be investigated.Publication Applying the Tourism Area Life Cycle and Small Tourism Enterprises’ Growth Cycle Models to Explain Communities’ Sustainability(2016-06-08) Acharya, Baikuntha PPublication Environics Analytics' New TSRC Dataset(2016-06-15) Dunkel, JasonPublication Sustainable Tourism Planning in Small Towns(2016-04-18) Cala, BibianaThe Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) and its Calgary Metropolitan Plan are strongly committed to strengthening local economies in the region. In the fall of 2014, the Town of Irricana expressed interest in being part of a pilot project proposed by CRP to strengthen sustainable tourism strategies and programs in small towns within the Calgary Region. The goal of sustainable tourism is to provide stable, ongoing economic and social benefits to the communities while protecting their natural resources. Since 2008, the Town of Irricana has pursued an economic growth strategy that honours the traditional values of a small town but also provides opportunities for development. The Town’s goals for growth are to (1) manage growth to maintain quality of life; (2) provide for economic growth and local business development, and (3) provide the necessary community services to area residents. Between May 2015 and April 2016, a Tourism Assessment Team (TAT) was engaged in a tourism assessment process in Irricana. The process was design to integrate the perspectives of local residents and businesses with the expert advice and support of resource individuals and organizations active in the regional and provincial tourism industry. Intended to assess the Town’s potential for tourism and its associated benefits, the assessment process included a variety of activities, including but not limited to community meetings, awareness campaigns, workshops, both resident and visitor surveys, as well as the creation of an attractions and facilities inventory list and a community asset map. Thanks to the work of the Tourism Assessment Team along with the CRP facilitator and members of the Resource Group (group of experts) the Town of Irricana is well positioned to execute tangible actions in support of a sustainable tourism plan that will have ongoing economic and social benefits to the community. “We are one step closer to achieving our Vision, to increase tourism that celebrates who we are and enhances our Town through community engagement, increased economic opportunities and promotion.”Publication Making Destinations Come Alive: student created stories of place(2016-06-15) Reid, RobinPublication WinterCity Shake-Up(2016-01-01) Holdsworth, SusanI have reviewed this presentation, am uploading for recording purposes/AngelaPublication Animating Japan through Sport Tourism: An International Research Collaboration(2016-06-15) Hinch, TomPublication Measuring economic value using administrative data(2016-10-01) Penner, KaileeSubmission Type Presentation (concurrent session preferred) 30 minute PowerPoint presentation Relevance to the conference theme: Performance measurement: ROI – implementating a new approach to measure the economic impact of BC’s nature-based sector. Measuring economic value using administrative data The need for credible estimates of the economic impacts of commercial nature-based tourism (CNBT) is important for Crown land decision making and nature-based tourism product development. Measuring the economic value of any sector can be cumbersome. In 2001, to measure the overall value of CNBT involved using traditional methodologies took a significant amount of time and effort of conducting phone calls to encourage businesses to provide survey responses and/or financial records. In fact, due to poor responses to surveys, it took almost three years to complete the study. Over the past decade there is a greater ability to use existing administrative data. Currently, Destination BC is working with Align Research and BC Statistics to use existing data sources (WorkSafe BC, GST and BC Registrar) to develop economic value indicators (from supply side of information) for the purpose of measuring the value of CNBT. If successful, this process would serve as a way to measure and track sector trends year-over-year and at more granular level. The presentation will focus on key learnings and outcomes of the study and any results that are available by September. Presenter Biography Kailee Penner is a Senior Researcher at Destination BC on the Research, Planning and Evaluation team. She graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts and has since obtained 9 years of research experience. Kailee has obtained 5 years of research experience in mental health, followed by 4 years in the tourism field. Her current research responsibilities include EQ integration, brand revitalization, program performance evaluations and tracking, indicator publications, and satisfaction surveys.Publication Antecedents of Heritage Tourists’ Satisfaction: The Role of Motivation, Discrete Emotions and Place Attachment(2016-09-28) Prayag, Girish; Del Chiappa, GiacomoWhile the literature on heritage tourism recognizes the importance of emotions in predicting satisfaction and other post consumption behaviours, few studies examine the discrete emotions that determine tourists’ attachment to heritage sites. Accordingly, this study evaluates the relationships between three important antecedents of tourist satisfaction namely, motivation, discrete emotions and place attachment. Visitors at the Su Nuraxi UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sardinia, Italy were surveyed at the end of their visit. From the 497 useable surveys, the findings indicated that not all positive and negative discrete emotions predict satisfaction and attachment. The emotions of pride, love, gratitude, positive surprise and sadness predict different dimensions of attachment. Only two discrete emotions (positive surprise and regret) predict overall satisfaction. Implications for theory and managerial practice are suggested.Publication Teaching an Old Dataset New Tricks(2016-09-29) Dunkel, JasonPublication Why tourists choose Airbnb: A motivation-based segmentation study underpinned by innovation concepts(2016-05-20) Guttentag, Daniel(Uploaded file)Publication Examining the Role of Satisfaction and Brand Love in Generating Behavioral Intention(2016-09-28) Shen, Ye (Sandy); Huang, Shuyue; Choi, Hwan-Suk Chris; Joppe, MarionBehavioral intention has attracted much attention from both the industry and academia. As it is equated with customers' conative loyalty, investigating behavioral intention can give implications for tourism businesses on how to raise consumers’ loyalty and thus lead to profitable development. To have a better understanding of the antecedents of behavioral intention, this study conducted 350 surveys and used structural equation modeling to test the relationships among perceived value, satisfaction, brand love, and behavioral intention. This study found that satisfaction and brand love have similar effects on intention to recommend while the effects of brand love on intention to revisit are much greater than that of satisfaction. Additionally, this study confirmed that perceived value can be used as a predictor of satisfaction and brand love.Publication International Collaboration in Destination Marketing: a Case Study of the Vanilla Islands(2016-09-28) Bourdages, Émilie; Vachon, Marc-AntoinePublication The Cognitive-Affective Relationship of Tourists to a Heritage Site: The Case of Petra(2016-09-28) Prayag, Girish; Chen, Ning (Chris); Hosany, Sameer; Odeh, KhaledThe study evaluates a theoretical model that postulates the cognitive-affective relationships that tourists develop with a heritage site have an impact on intended behavior. Using the case of the UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) of Petra, the relationships between tourist motivation, positive and negative emotions, place attachment, overall satisfaction and intention to recommend the site are assessed. A survey of international tourists at the visitor centre in Petra resulted in 297 usable questionnaires. The two-step procedure for structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. All of the hypothesized paths are statistically significant, except the one from positive emotion to satisfaction and the one from place attachment to intention to recommend. The results support the theoretical model emphasizing the paths from cognition (motivation) to affect (positive and negative emotions) and intended behavior via place attachment and satisfaction. The findings have several theoretical and managerial implications. For example, managers and employees at Petra should improve on-site experiences to generate both positive emotions and place attachment that will encourage tourists to recommend Petra for future visits.