2010 TTRA International Conference
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Publication Seeking to Extend Well-being Benefits of Leisure Travel: A Character-strength-based Exploration(2010) Zhang, Ye; Gao, Jie; Ricci, Peter; Bilgihan, AnilWhile empirical evidence primarily establishes leisure travel activities as largely producing short-living rather than long-lasting benefits on well-being, this study explores a promising angle of character strengths, that can potentially guide tourism experience/service design toward greater and more long-lasting well-being benefits. Focusing on a sample of millennials, it aims to reveal 1) what are the weaknesses and unique advantages in current leisure travel offerings with regards to strength deployment, in hope of guiding the future direction of offerings to facilitate strength deployment in leisure travel and augment long-lasting well-being; and 2) the potential influential factors to strength deployment in leisure travel, to inform customized marketing/experience design to fully capitalize on the well-being-boosting power of character strengths. This study also justifies besides the special tourism types, leisure travel in general also has potential unique advantages in benefiting long-term individual well-being.Publication Education in Ecolodges in Panama and Costa Rica(2010) Osland, Gregory E.; Mackoy, RobertEducation of tourists at nature-based lodges can significantly affect their awareness, understanding, appreciation, and appropriate values and behaviors regarding the natural environment and the local community. This research seeks to explicate and synthesize theories and best practices in environmental education in the context of ecotourism. Using data from interviews and participant observation, it describes, classifies and compares the educational efforts directed toward guests of 14 leading ecolodges in Costa Rica and Panama. Relationships among educational goals and tourists’ satisfaction and views of the educational performance of nature guides are uncovered. Managerial recommendations are provided, including ways to improve the effectiveness of guides in educating lodge guests.Publication Differentiation of Tourism Online Information Channels through Information Search Activities(2010) Wang, Daniel; Park, Sangwon; Fesenmaier, Daniel R.This study argues that since information search activities of online travel planners are outcome oriented, the selection of tourism online information channels is highly predictable. Building upon this assumption, this study examined the extent to which one could differentiate tourism online information channels through the online information search activities of online travel. The results of a series of logistic regression analyses of online American travelers confirm that there are significant and meaningful differences in the core functions of the various online information channels. The online travelers select different information channels based on different needs such as booking, generating ideas. Thus, the results of this study clearly suggest that tourism marketers can develop their competitive advantage by structuring their advertising program to match the information needs of those travelers based upon information channel.Publication Visitors’ Gaze on the Local Living Culture of a Historical District: its Perceptual and Behavioral Aspects(2010) Naoi, Taketo; Soshiroda, Akira; Iijima, ShojiA historical district as a tourism destination encompasses various aspects, including ones as heritage, as an attraction for visitors, and as a living place for the locals. For investigations of visitors’ gaze on aspects that depict lives of the locals in such a district, this study aims to present some of the theoretical backgrounds and the outlines of the potential methods. This study, which is the first step of a long-term investigation, discusses the nature of the local living culture of a historical district and proposes the use of techniques to obtain verbal responses related to visitors’ perceptions, to capture objects of their focus as projected in photographs, and to record the traits of their behaviors. The difference in visitors’ levels of previous visits is also considered as a variable that may affect their perceptions of the local living culture and the manners in which they interact with it.Publication Peircean Semiotics and Tourism Promotion: Some Advice We’d Give VisitDenmark if They Asked(2010) Knudsen, Daniel C.; Gray, Amy M.