http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54057 2026-04-03T20:33:46Z 2026-04-03T20:33:46Z Ceylan, Rahmiye Figen Govindasamy, Ramu Ozkan, Burhan Pandey, Sonal http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54075 2025-01-08T02:48:43Z 2024-11-29T00:00:00Z

Stimulating agritourism loyalty in the Mid-Atlantic states of the USA Ceylan, Rahmiye Figen; Govindasamy, Ramu; Ozkan, Burhan; Pandey, Sonal Agritourism as a niche tourism market has become an alternative income-generating sector for conventional farmers that focus on both production and marketing. Agritourist activities involve joining production and harvest, receiving education and on site-training. However, unless individuals endeavor and they consistently demand these activities, agritourism cannot be promoted among farm operators. In other words, agritourism is a demand-driven sector and requires the loyalty of participants which was measured with respect to more than a single take up of agritourism in the past two years. With this research, the loyalty of agritourists and the factors affecting their persistent participation were estimated based on a sample from the Mid-Atlantic states of the USA. The findings infer that agritourism loyalty is stimulated by the rising level of agritourist education and increasing income. Married people with children also prefer rural participation. Agritourists, who have the potential to become loyal, focus above all on buying fresh and high-value products. Following this, they demonstrate a rising tendency to learn about agricultural production, and to spend quality time with family/friends. These results suggest that with proper marketing strategies, supportive actions designed for farmers that seek alternative income, and the involvement of regional/local authorities in decision making and promotional processes, may contribute to the development of agritourism and expand its market through assuring customer loyalty.

2024-11-29T00:00:00Z Zhang, Ke Kler, Balvinder Kaur Wong, Siao Fui http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54074 2025-01-08T02:48:56Z 2024-11-28T00:00:00Z

Sunsets, seafood and sea gypsies: A qualitative content analysis on the alternative destination image of Malaysian Borneo among Chinese outbound tourists Zhang, Ke; Kler, Balvinder Kaur; Wong, Siao Fui The purpose of this work is to explore the online destination image perceived by Chinese tourists visiting Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Employing Leiper’s tourism system as a guiding framework, the research utilized qualitative content analysis (QCA) to scrutinize a purposefully selected sample of thirty-seven Douyin contents, which is known outside China as TikTok. Findings indicate an alternative destination image, with Chinese tourists highlighting sunsets, seafood and sea gypsies as prominent attributes, deviating from the conventional association of sun, sea and sand. This distinctive perception contrasts with the perceptions held by Western tourists of Sabah. Informed by Leiper’s tourism system, this study emphasizes the importance for coastal destination marketing organizations to convey a destination image that extends beyond the conventional sun-sea-sand concept. Effective communication requires a nuanced understanding of unique destination images tailored to specific market segments based on their respective tourist generating regions. This approach aligns with Leiper’s emphasis on the interconnected relationships between the tourist generating region and the tourist destination region, providing insights for strategic destination marketing that cater to diverse tourist perspectives. The findings interpret user-generated content (UGC) within Leiper’s tourism system, consolidating the importance of projected online destination images.

2024-11-28T00:00:00Z Stankova, Mariya Kaleychev, Svetoslav http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54073 2025-01-08T02:48:44Z 2024-11-28T00:00:00Z

The significance of the digitalization and online communication tools used by five-star restaurants in Bulgaria Stankova, Mariya; Kaleychev, Svetoslav The changes undergone by the tourism industry in the past four years have dramatically affected its way of doing business and communicating with customers. A trend in this process is the penetration of digital technologies and their use as a communication channel and tool of influence. A new way of interacting with tourists has arisen, accompanied by adaptive and innovative business strategies. Bearing in mind these structural and functional changes, the present study aims to analyse one of their aspects, namely the significance of the usage of various online communication tools in the restaurant sector in Bulgaria. The assumption that the interactivity of restaurant websites helps to increase interest and attract visitors, thereby stimulating development, is investigated.The study focuses on five-star restaurant websites and outlines specific insights and challenges related to digital experiences. Through the use of qualitative and quantitative methods, new knowledge is generated for the digitalization of the high-end restaurant sector in Bulgaria and its importance to business success. The results are indicative of the need to rethink the development policies of these restaurants, especially as regards the follow-up and integration of new approaches to operating.

2024-11-28T00:00:00Z Jyoti, Jyoti Kumar, Jitender http://hdl.handle.net/11089/54072 2025-01-08T02:48:54Z 2024-11-28T00:00:00Z

Mapping the landscape of virtual word of mouth (v-WOM) in the tourism sector: A bibliometric review Jyoti, Jyoti; Kumar, Jitender The increasing significance of virtual word of mouth (v-WOM) in the digital era has the potential to revolutionize consumer decision-making across a wide range of markets such as tourism. The objective is to review the literature on v-WOM published between 2013 and 2023 and the research employs bibliometric analysis to examine 718 documents from the Scopus database. For performance and science mapping analysis, Biblioshiny and VOSviewer were utilized. The growing trend in publication and citation numbers shows that v-WOM is a growing field and the prominent journals involving tourism research are Tourism Management and International Journal of Hospitality Management. Robert Law is a well-known author and China has the greatest number of publications. The conceptual themes of v-WOM literature were formed by the co-occurrence analysis of keywords and bibliographic coupling networks. In order to provide insights for the future, a word cloud analysis of 549 documents published in the previous four years was also carried out.

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