Academica Turistica
Tourism & Innovation Journal – Revija za turizem in inovativnost
Year 15, No. 3, December 2022, issn 2335-4194
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.15_3
291 Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management on Destination Image
and Intention to Visit
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi, Rahil Kordheydari, and Mohammad Aghaei
307 Revisiting Royal Tourism: Tourists’ Intention to Revisit the Yogyakarta Palace
in Indonesia
Usep Suhud, Merry Amelia Dewi, and Mamoon Allan
323 Slow Tourism as an Immersive Travel Experience: A Bibliometric Analysis
Damir Krešić and Matina Gjurašić
335 Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism: Cases of Drift Ice in Hokkaido
and ICEHOTEL in Lapland
Takafumi Fukuyama and Johan R. Edelheim
349 Unique Destination Attributes as a Basis of Tourism Experience
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre
363 Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic
Carolina Pasciaroni, Viviana Leonardi, and Silvina Elias
381 Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection among Silver Hair Tourists
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup
397 Abstracts in Slovene – Povzetki v slovenščini
401 Instructions for Authors
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290 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Original Scientific Article
Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
on Destination Image and Intention to Visit
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi
Tarbiat Modares University, Iran
alighasemiansahebi@modares.ac.ir
Rahil Kordheydari
Tarbiat Modares University, Iran
k.rahil@modares.ac.ir
Mohammad Aghaei
Tarbiat Modares University, Iran
m_aghaei@modares.ac.ir
Tourismhas been one of themost dynamically developing sectors of the world econ-
omy in recent years, yet the emergence of the covid-19 virus crisis has led to a reces-
sion in the industry, making managing this crisis essential. Thus, the study was con-
ducted to examine the effect of the perception of covid-19 crisis management on
destination brand image and, ultimately, the intention to select a tourist destination,
and carried out by explaining the role of brand personality and tourists’ attitudes to-
wards the destination. This research used the descriptive approach and quantitative
data collection with applied purpose. Tehran was the spatial domain of the study,
with all those (domestic and foreign) visiting Tehran as tourists from July 2020 to
April 2021 as the population of the study. The Available Sampling Method was used
and the data collection tool was a questionnaire. Finally, 768 complete question-
naires were collected and the hypotheses were analysed using structural equation
modelling (sem) in amos and spss. The results revealed that although cities and
tourist destinations are lifeless elements, tourists often consider them to have per-
sonality and human characteristics. The results showed that covid-19 crisis man-
agement positively and significantly affected the destination image and ultimately
the intention to visit the destination. Ultimately, some suggestions were made that
could be used as a route for tourism destinations to tackle the crisis of tourist attrac-
tion in the post-covid-19 period.
Keywords: perception of covid-19 crisis management, destination image,
destination brand personality, tourist attitude, intention to visit
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.15.291-305
Introduction
The outbreak of the covid-19 virus, a subgroup of the
coronavirus, beginning in December 2019 in Wuhan,
China, spread around theworld in less than twomonths,
endangering the health and lives of millions of people.
Moreover, it has led to global changes with a signifi-
cant effect on the daily lives of citizens as well as the
global economy (unwto, n.d.). For instance, tourism
in many countries has virtually ceased and travel has
stopped.
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 291
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
At the same time, after presenting discussions about
the covid-19 crisis, countries should not overlook
other critical elements for tourists. The construction
of a tourism destination image is primarily impor-
tant because ‘it is impossible for tourists to experience
the desired holiday prior to a visitation, leading the
way for imagery to become an essential element to
inspire and to influence them during the decision-
making process,’ stated Matos et al. (2015, p. 135). In
fact, the destination image positively influences the
intention to visit it (Marine-Roig, 2019). As ‘potential
tourists with limited knowledge of destinations de-
pend on their perceived image of a destination when
it comes to making choices’ (Blazquez-Resino et al.,
2016), the question that taxes the minds of destination
marketers is to know why people travel to a particular
destination andwhat comes tomindwhen a particular
destination name is mentioned (in terms of attributes)
(Tavares et al., 2020). Thus, creating a good image of
the destination for tourists could enhance the destina-
tion in many other factors. One of these new topics is
the destination’s personality, which raises many ques-
tions and ambiguities and has not yet been definitively
answered. The question that taxes researchers in this
regard is ‘What are the specific personality traits for
the destination?’ Although scholars argue that desti-
nation personality refers to human traits ascribed to
a destination, researchers exhibit many differences in
describing these traits. Additionally, it is tough to de-
scribe and measure the personality traits of the desti-
nation (Zhang et al., 2019, p. 391).
Intense competition between tourist destinations
requires the necessary resources to create a competi-
tive advantage. One of the key resources in this field
is the destination brand. Branding is the process by
which the adoption and use of a brand through differ-
ent marketing activities is created for customers and
businesses and by which the brand provides a compet-
itive advantage for tourist destinations (Frías-Jamilena
et al., 2018, p. 26; Aghaei et al., 2021a). In the covid-
19 crisis, one of the factors able to affect branding for
these purposes is crisis management, and the percep-
tion of covid-19 crisis management gives the cus-
tomer a sense of security. It can affect many of psycho-
logical and behavioural indicators. Customer knowl-
edge of and positive attitude towards a brand lead to
customer purchase behaviour. Positive brand percep-
tions make organizations stronger and have a consis-
tent advantage over competitors. Hence, many orga-
nizations look to shape and maintain a strong brand
name among their target audience (Dedeoğlu et al.,
2019, p. 221). For instance, 70of international tourists
visit just 10 countries. In other words, the other coun-
tries compete for 30 of the total international tourists
(Pike, 2009, p. 857; Clark, 2006, p. 15). Thus, the des-
tination must be unique to attract tourists (Murphy
et al., 2007, p. 8; Hosany et al., 2006, p. 640). Pos-
itive brand perceptions may make customers select
a destination they have not experienced previously
(Dedeoğlu et al., 2019, p. 218). Thus, the destinations
have to make significant efforts to develop effective
destination marketing strategies for their target mar-
kets (MansouriMoayyed et al., 2020).Destination per-
sonality is a significant element in creating a destina-
tion brand.Destination personality is derived from the
concept of brand name. In the marketing literature,
personality is a set of human characteristics ascribed
to a brand (Ghasemian Sahebi et al., 2018). An effective
brand increases its brand equity by having a consistent
set of traits that a specific consumer segment enjoys.
This personality is a qualitative value-add that a brand
gains in addition to its functional benefits. As such, a
brand personality is something to which the consumer
can relate (Zhang et al., 2019, p. 391).
As health is one of themain concerns ofmany pub-
lic and private sectors and a key element in selecting a
travel destination and the satisfaction of travellers and
tourists, so the spread of covid-19 has led to restric-
tions on travel and international trade. In other words,
this employment-generating industry has stopped and
many units and activities in the dependent chain are
affected (including accommodation, transportation,
food, entertainment complexes and other upstream
and downstream intermediaries) and their staff may
lose their jobs. This leads to a recession and regres-
sion of the developing industry and wider tourism in
the market (Agarwal and Helfat, 2009). The strategic
modernization of businesses operating in the indus-
try, along with the developments and changes result-
ing from this disease, is vital in the development and
292 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
revival of the tourism industry considering its vulner-
ability to the covid-19 crisis. Inattention to effective
strategies to tackle this crisis in the tourism industry
will end in huge issues for companies and lead to the
destruction of active companies and severe damage to
the economies of countries.
Some studies have been done in this regard; for in-
stance, the study by Perić et al. (2021). This study is
among the first to provide a timely discussion within
tourism discourse about the impact of the perceived
risk to travel intentions during the covid-19 pan-
demic and it deepens the understanding of the rela-
tionship between the perceived risk and travel inten-
tions during an epidemic outbreak. The pca identi-
fied five categories of perceived risk that affect travel
intentions during the covid-19 pandemic, specifi-
cally: health risk, psychological risk, financial risk,
destination risk, and travel risk. Also, the aim of re-
search by Ahmad et al. (2020) was to analyse the fac-
tors influencing intention to visit and destination im-
age in post-covid-19 crisis recovery. The findings
demonstrated that physical factors are the main fac-
tors that influence tourists’ intention to visit. Addi-
tionally, destination image significantly affects inten-
tion to visit and significantly mediates the relationship
between the factors and intention to visit.
Overall, previous studies in this regard have fo-
cused more on the destination brand image (Stylidis,
2020; Kislali et al., 2020; Afshardoost & Eshaghi, 2020;
Woosnam et al., 2020; Dubois et al., 2020; Lee & Xue,
2020; Sahebi et al., 2022) and the effects of covid-
19 prevalence in the tourism industry (Ahmad et al.,
2020; Sigala, 2020; Sánchez-Cañizares et al., 2020;
Kock et al., 2020; Bakar & Rosbi, 2020; Perić et al.,
2021; Fotiadis et al., 2021). However, there is a lack of
research on the effects of the perception of covid-
19 crisis management and a need for examining the
destination image, the destination personality and the
intention to visit in this process. Thus, the study was
conducted to examine the effect of the perception of
covid-19 crisismanagement on the destination image
and destination selection for the tourist, considering
the important role of destination image components,
destination personality and tourist attitudes toward
the destination. The important point in the relation-
ship between variables and the conceptual model of
research is that in this study, we are not talking about
causality, but the different dimensions and criteria of
the same concept (destination image). Identifying the
factors affecting the tourist relationship with the desti-
nation and the results will help destination marketing
management employees to differentiate the destina-
tion better and guide the destination branding process
in a direction that establishes a strong emotional con-
nection and stability between the destination and the
tourist. The study findings could be used as a way for
tourism officials to overcome the covid-19 crisis and
re-boost the industry.
The rest of the study will consist of the theoreti-
cal foundations of the study and the presentation of
the study model. Then the results are analysed by ex-
plaining the method, and ultimately, conclusions and
the discussion are presented, and practical suggestions
are given.
Theoretical Background
Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
The covid-19 crisis (declared as a pandemic by who,
12 March 2020) has significantly impacted the global
economic, political, and socio-cultural systems (Sán-
chez-Cañizares et al., 2020). The crisis management
practices supporting the industry’s needs are chang-
ing as the pandemic continues (Aghaei et al., 2021b).
In the literature, several definitions of crisis have been
proposed. For example, Beirman (2011) defined a crisis
as an event or a set of circumstances that can damage
the reputation andmarketability of tourismbusinesses
or the entire destination. The tourism industry is ex-
tremely sensitive to crisis situations, as even minor
negative events can seriously affect tourism demand
and deteriorate tourism firms’ financial performance
(Kukanja et al., 2020).
The pandemic has created a ‘fertile’ new context
whereby tourism researchers can conduct research
with valuable end-user benefits. What is still lack-
ing is knowledge about how crisis can foster industry
change, how companies can convert this crisis disrup-
tion into transformative innovation and how to con-
duct research that can enable, inform and shape the re-
thinking and resetting of a new normal (Sigala, 2020).
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 293
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
Therefore, researchers should examine and under-
stand the stakeholders’ lived and perceived covid-19
experiences as well as their consciousness, mindful-
ness, capabilities and willingness to understand and
act (pro-actively and re-actively) to the pandemic, as
all these can equally influence their image, attitudes,
behaviours and potential (Sigala, 2020; Aghaei et al.,
2021c). Therefore, due to the importance of perception
of the destination, in this study, the effect of percep-
tion of crisis management on the intention to choose
a destination has been investigated.
Destination Image
SinceKimet al.’s (2018) foundational research, the con-
cept of destination image has drawn wide attention in
the tourism marketing literature (Akgün et al., 2020).
Destination image can be defined as all the cognitive
frameworks, perceptions, prejudices, and emotional
beliefs that an individual or group expresses regarding
a place (Cossío-Silva et al., 2018, p. 3). However, the
congruence between the induced image projected by
the destination and the organic image held by prospec-
tive visitors may vary substantially depending on the
destination, previous experiences and the sources that
have influenced visitor and prospective visitor per-
ceptions, particularly the Internet (Schofield et al.,
2020).
Fazli (2012) argues that destination image is a criti-
cal element for the development of successful tourism
and destination marketing. Establishing a strong des-
tination image is away to attract tourists (Fazli, 2012, p.
17). Indeed, destination image has a significant role in
predicting the behaviour of tourists (Kim et al., 2018, p.
91). Positive image has a significant effect on tourists’
visit to the destination andword ofmouth recommen-
dation (Dedeoğlu et al., 2019, p. 217).
Regarding this, Kim et al. (2018) have studied the
personality of the destination, the destination image
and the purpose of the trip. Their results indicate the
essential role of destination personality in image for-
mation. Also, Afshardoost and Eshaghi (2020), in a
study on destination image and tourist behavioural
intentions, find that destination image plays a signifi-
cant role in predicting tourists’ intentional behaviour,
in differentmagnitudes. Also, overall and affective im-
ages significantly impact behavioural intention, fol-
lowed by the cognitive image. Of the different di-
mensions of behavioural intentions, destination im-
age significantly impacts the intention to recommend
(Séraphin & Butcher, 2018).
Destination (City) Personality
Today, as the key to end-product homogeneity, brand
personality has been of wide concern, and its conno-
tation and denotation have been constantly expanded.
In this regard, the concept of brand personality has
been introduced into destination brandmarketing, ex-
cavating and refining the core genes that distinguish it
from other destinations, as well as finding emotional
and cultural elements that meet the needs of tourists.
American scholar Aaker (1997) defined brand person-
ality as ‘a series of personality characteristics related to
a certain brand’ based on the theoreticalmodel of ‘Five
Personalities’ in psychology (Shi, 2020).
Tourists prefer to assign human personalities for
tourism purposes and attribute human characteris-
tics to cities (Zhang et al., 2019, p. 391). Tourist des-
tinations use a combination of destination image and
destination personality as a strategy to differentiate
themselves from competitors (Ekinci &Hosany, 2006,
p. 130). To Ekinci and Hosany, the destination person-
ality has a key role in shaping the destination brand,
identifying tourist perceptions about various destina-
tions and creating a unique brand for the destina-
tion. The increase in competition between tourism
markets and the destinations’ efforts to stand out has
led to increasing attention to the destination per-
sonality. Rajabi (2018) argues that Spain is known as
a friendly and family destination, London as open-
minded, lively, and creative, and Paris as a roman-
tic city. Cities with cultural brand personalities are
Budapest, Prague, Vienna, Ankara, Cairo, Bangkok,
Washington, dc, Delhi, Bucharest, Sydney, and Mad-
rid. Some cities have an artistic city brand; these her-
itage cities include Venice and Oxford.
Conceptual Framework and Hypotheses
In this section, the relationship between variables in
this study is explained, and finally the hypotheses are
presented.
294 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
The Relationship between the Destination Image
and the Destination Personality
Hosany et al. (2006) argue that there is a lot of am-
biguity in the relationship between brand image and
brand personality. According to them, modification
of brand image (destination) and brand personality
(for destination) has been used extensively in the lit-
erature (Ekinci & Hosany, 2006, p. 129). Ekinci and
Hosany also concluded that destination image is as-
sociated with the destination personality. Chen and
Phou’s (2013) results confirmed that destination im-
age affects the destination personality, corroborated by
Ekinci and Hosani (2006). Souiden et al. (2017) ex-
amined the effects of personality and destination im-
age on people’s attitudes and opinions. Their results
indicate that destination image affects the destination
personality. Nonetheless, Kim and Lee (2015) showed
that the city personalities (excitement, intimacy and
perfection) affect the three dimensions of the city im-
age (dynamic image, special image and stable image).
Apostolopoulou and Papadimitriou (2015) argue that
the destination personality (excitement and honesty)
has a significant effect on destination image. Kim and
Lee (2015) and Souiden et al. (2017) showed the effect
of destination image on destination personality.
The Attitude and the Effect of the Destination Image
and Destination Personality on the Tourists’ Attitude
In the tourism literature, the relationship between eco-
nomic profitability and regular tourists, enhancement
of positive tourist attitudes, and repeat visitation has
been discussed in many studies (Marinkovic et al.,
2014; Kim et al., 2013; Song et al., 2012). There are
some studies in the tourism literature (Choo et al.,
2016; Song et al., 2012) which have examined attitude
as one of the predictors of tourist intention to visit
(Hasan et al., 2019).
Tourists’ attitudes describe the psychological ten-
dencies expressed by their positive or negative assess-
ments. Indeed, tourist attitude is a predictor variable of
the tourist’s decision to travel to a specific destination
(Jalilvand & Samiei, 2012, p. 593). International trade
and marketing literature shows that people’s overall
perception of a destination image affects people’s eval-
uation of and visits to a tourist destination. The find-
ings of Usakli and Baloglu (2011), Kim and Lee (2015),
and Souiden et al. (2017) show the effect of tourism
destination personality on tourist attitudes. In other
words, destination image can have a significant role in
the decision-making process of international tourists
and their loyalty (Chaulagain et al., 2019, p. 2). Addi-
tionally, recent studies indicate a positive and signifi-
cant relationship between a positive image of the desti-
nation and tourists’ willingness to travel. Hence, a pos-
itive and valid understanding of the destination is es-
sential to attract tourists to that destination (Chaula-
gain et al., 2019, p. 1). Regarding this, Souiden et al.
(2017) studied the effects of personality and destina-
tion image on the attitudes and perspectives of indi-
viduals. Their findings indicate that destination image
is a precursor to the destination personality and affects
it, andhas a direct effect on attitudes towards a destina-
tion and an indirect effect on behavioural intentions.
Also, Sharifsamet et al. (2020), in a study on market-
ing destinations, researched the impact of destination
personality on consumer attitude, finding that destina-
tion personality and destination attitude are partially
related.
Intention to Visit and the Effect of the Image
and Destination Personality on the Intention
to Visit of Tourists
Consumers perceive satisfaction according to their
personal experiences of cognitive and effective assess-
ments of services/products (An et al., 2021). The be-
havioural component is usually inherent and commit-
ted, as the customer makes a decision and this deci-
sion ends in behaviour. Intention to visit is a percep-
tion felt by tourists to visit certain destinations in a
certain period (Ahn et al., 2013). Intention to visit is
also considered a mental process and a transforma-
tion from travel motivation into behaviour (Atmaja &
Lukito, 2021). Travel intention for tourists can be seen
by developing insights into issues such as attitudes or
perceptions of goals, with the primary key being to pay
attention to constraints and the perceived level of per-
sonal control over the resources needed to the achieve
targeted behaviour (Sparks & Pan, 2010).
From the consumption process perspective, tour-
ists’ behaviour is divided into three stages: before the
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 295
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
trip, during and after the trip. Tourist behaviour in-
cludes selecting a destination to visit, subsequent eval-
uations, and the intention to revisit. Overall, sub-
sequent evaluations are perceived travel experience
or value and visitor satisfaction, whereas future be-
havioural intentions go back to the visitor’s judgment
of the destination, and the tendency to revisit the same
destination and recommend it to others (Shahin et al.,
2014, p. 89). For success in the tourism industry, one
has to examine tourists and their behaviours (Maleki
et al., 2015, p. 12).
Tourism literature has acknowledged the model of
the relationship between destination brand personal-
ity, self-congruity, and tourist behavioural loyalty (e.g.
intention to visit) (Yang et al., 2020). To illustrate, sev-
eral studies confirmed that destination brand person-
ality had a direct influence on tourists’ intention to
visit (Yang et al., 2020; Apostolopoulou & Papadim-
itriou, 2015; Chen & Phou, 2013; Eisend & Stokburger-
Sauer, 2013; Usakli & Baloglu, 2011).
Several studies centred on the relationship between
city image and preference or intention to visit (Jalil-
vand & Samiei, 2012; Moon et al., 2011). The initial im-
age formation stage before the trip is the most impor-
tant phase in tourists’ city selection processes (Yang et
al., 2020).
Given the content expressed and significance of the
elements and relations examined in this study, the fol-
lowing hypotheses are proposed:
h1 Perception of covid-19 crisis management has
a positive and significant effect on the destina-
tion image.
h2 The destination image has a positive and signif-
icant effect on the personality of the destination.
h3 The destination personality has a positive and
significant effect on the attitude towards the des-
tination.
h4 Attitude towards the destination has a positive
and significant effect on the intention to choose
the destination.
h5 Perception of covid-19 crisis management has
a positive and significant effect on destination
selection.
The important point in the relationship between
Covid-19
crisis man-
agement
Intention
of choosing
destination
Destination
image
Destina-
tion brand
personality
Tourist
attitude
H5
H2 H3
H1 H4
Figure 1 The Study Conceptual Model
variables and the conceptual model of research is that
in this study we are not talking about causality, but
only about the different dimensions and criteria of the
same concept (destination image). In fact, we are talk-
ing here about the relationship between a whole and
its components and discussing it to determine the fac-
tors associatedwith the destination image that have re-
ceived less attention in previous research and to deter-
mine its impact on destination selection.
Methodology
The study was conducted to examine the effect of the
perception of covid-19 crisis management on des-
tination image and the intention to visit the tourist
destination by explaining the role of destination per-
sonality and tourists’ attitudes towards the destination.
This research used the descriptive approach and quan-
titative data collection with applied purpose. Tehran
was examined as the spatial territory of the study and
all people (domestic and foreign) visiting Tehran as
tourists from July 2020 to April 2021 were the popula-
tion of the study. The Available SamplingMethod was
used and the sample size was obtained usingCochran’s
formula for an infinite population. In this formula, the
most important parameter to be estimated is S2, which
is the variance of the prototype. To calculate S2, 30 pilot
questionnaires were distributed and then the variance
of the pilot was calculated and the value was 0.0248.
The data collection tool was a questionnaire with
closed questions using a Likert scale. The minimum
sample size of 381 was determined in the study, assum-
ing a 95 confidence level. Besides face-to-face dis-
tribution, the questionnaire was distributed in many
sites of natural, historical and man-made tourist at-
tractions in Tehran, such as Golestan Palace, Nature
296 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
Park, BotanicalMuseumGarden, EramPark,Museum
of Ancient Iran, and the National Jewelry Museum in
Tehran. To collect the data, the research questionnaire
was prepared both online and offline, and the link to
the online questionnairewas placed on the tourist des-
tinations sites for tourists to complete them. Also, the
printed questionnaires were distributed in person at
these destinations, and answers were collected. Ulti-
mately, 768 complete questionnaires were collected to
ensure the results, of which 632 were online and 136
sampleswere collected in person. The hypotheseswere
analysed using sem in amos and spss.
The questionnaire in this research consisted of 6
variables and 25 questions. For questions related to
the perception of covid-19 crisis management, the
research of Seyedin et al. (2016) was used with correc-
tions. Also, the destination image variable from Af-
shardoost and Eshaghi (2020), the destination brand
personality from Rutelione et al. (2018), the tourist at-
titude from Liu et al. (2018), and the intention to select
the destination from Hassan and Hemdi (2016) were
used.
In this study, 30 questionnaires were distributed
among themembers of the population. First, the valid-
ity of the questionnaires was confirmed with the opin-
ions of experts, and then it was distributed among the
population to confirm the validity and initial reliabil-
ity; they were also asked to express their opinions and
suggestions in the field of items. After review, correc-
tion and the final approval of experts, a questionnaire
was distributed among the sample members. Further-
more, confirmatory factor analysis was used for con-
struct validity. The reliability of the study was calcu-
lated by calculating Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and
combined reliability.
Results
In this section, Table 1 first summarizes the demo-
graphic information of the samples. Then the reliabil-
ity and validity of the tool and the results of model fit
analysis and testing of hypotheses are explained.
Based on Table 1, the highest percentage of sam-
ple members in each variable were males (62), age
25 to 45 years (67), with an undergraduate education
(39) and most people (55) were domestic tourists
Table 1 Demographic Information of Sample Members
Demographic variable/options () ()
Gender Male  
Female  
Age Under  years  
 to  years  
 to  years  
Over  years  
Education Less than bachelor’s  
Bachelor’s degree  
Master’s degree  
PhD and above  
Continent Asia (Iran)  
Asia (excluding Iran)  
Europe  
Africa  
America  
The most im-
portant factor
in choosing a
tourist desti-
nation (after
the corona
outbreak)
Destination health and
covid- control
 
Low cost  
Variety of tourist places  
Access and proximity to
the destination
 
Other factors  
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) frequency, (2)
percentage.
from Iran. The key element for selecting a tourist des-
tination in the period after the outbreak of covid-19
is the health of the destination and control of covid-
19 (50).
First, the factor loadings associated with the mea-
sured indices in each latent variable (visible variables)
is examined. As is seen, the factor loading of all items
is greater than 0.7. Two indices are used to evaluate
the model reliability: (a) Cronbach’s alpha coefficient,
and (b) Combined reliability (cr). As Tables 2 and 3
show, all the variables have Cronbach’s alpha and cr
greater than 0.7, implying the existence of reliability in
the main variables of the study.
Two criteria have been used to evaluate the valid-
ity of the measurement model. The first criterion is
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 297
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
Table 2 Cronbach’s Alpha Results (Prototype Stage)
Research variables () ()
covid- crisis management  .
Destination image  .
Destination personality  .
Attitude to the destination  .
Intention to visit (destination selection)  .
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) number of ques-
tions, (2) Cronbach’s alpha results.
convergent validity and the second is divergent valid-
ity. The results of estimating the average variance ex-
tracted (ave) show that all values are higher than 0.5
and the convergence validity of the study is confirmed.
The study of the relationship between the squared
variance squared with the mean correlation has been
used in the study to show the divergent validity, the
results of which are shown in Table 3.
After ensuring the acceptability of the measure-
ment model in the developed structural model, the
process of path analysis with the latent variables is
stated in this section to examine the structural re-
lationships between the variables. As Table 4 shows,
the fitting results of the model show that the model
has the desired fit. Furthermore, the R2 value of the
dependent variables ‘destination image,’ ‘destination
personality,’ ‘attitude’ and ‘intention to visit’ discussed
in this model, is more than 1.0 and desirable. In other
words, for the dependent variable ‘destination image,’
the effect of the independent variable (Perception of
covid-19CrisisManagement) is 0.272 (27.2) and the
effect of other latent variables not visible in this model
but affecting the results and ‘destination image’ is 0.728
(72.8). Furthermore, the R2 of ‘destination personal-
ity,’ ‘attitude’ and ‘intention to visit’ are 11.6, 10.2
and 29.6, respectively. In other words, the power of
the study in measuring the variables affecting the de-
pendent variable and the outcomes is desirable.
The results of the path coefficient of ‘Perception of
covid-19 crisis management on the destination im-
age’ show that the value of P is less than 0.01 and the
value of the critical ratio (12.091) for this path is more
than 1.96, by which one can state that the effect of per-
ception of covid-19 crisis management on the des-
tination image is significant at the 99 level. It has to
be stated that the standardized factor loading value for
this path is 0.509 and positive, showing the positive ef-
fect of the prevalence of covid-19 on the destination
image. Table 4 shows that the value of P for the path
‘destination image to destination personality’ is less
than 0.01 and the value of the critical ratio (6.418) con-
firms the significance of this path. The standardized
factor load value for this route is 0.343. Furthermore,
the value of P for the path coefficient ‘destination per-
sonality to the tourist attitude’ is less than 0.01 and the
value of the critical ratio (5.877) confirms the signifi-
cance of this path coefficient; The amount of standard-
ized factor load for this route is 0.322. Like the previous
three paths, the significance of the attitude path to the
destination intention to visit is confirmed by consid-
ering the value of P and the value of the critical ratio
(9.117). The value of factor loading in this path is 0.496
and, considering the positive standardized factor load-
ing, one can conclude that attitude has a positive ef-
fect on behavioural intention.Ultimately, the results of
the path coefficient of ‘Perception of covid-19 crisis
management on the intention to visit the destination’
show that the value of P is less than 0.01 and the value
of the critical ratio (14.825) for this path is more than
1.96. It can be said that the effect of the perception of
covid-19 crisis management on the intention to visit
is 99 significant. Considering these values, one can
state that the standardized factor loading value for this
path is 0.532 and positive, showing the positive effect
of the perception of covid-19 crisis management on
the intention to visit the destination. The test results
of the hypotheses testing and the path coefficient are
shown in Table 4 and Figure 2. The results of testing
the hypotheses in sem showed that all 5 hypotheses,
as stated in this study, has been confirmed with a 99
confidence level.
Discussion and Conclusions
Attention to the tourism industry as an important
source of income has increased in many countries in
recent years. Thus, as competition increases, the des-
tination outperforming the others in branding will be
more successful. Considering the changing tastes of
298 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
Table 3 Results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Main variables Items Standard operating load cr ave α
Perception
of covid-
crisis man-
agement
The covid- crisis makes me feel insecure. . . . .
I feel safe in Tehran against the covid- virus. .
I feel that the covid- virus has been tackled in Tehran. .
After this crisis, I only visit cities that are healthy in terms of the virus. .
covid- crisis control and management is effective in my visit to Tehran. .
Destination
personality
In Tehran, I feel like I belong to the upper social class. . . . .
I feel that Tehran is unique. .
Tehran has a friendly and intimate feeling for me. .
You can have a sense of warm relations with Tehran. .
Tehran is up to date (modern). .
Tehran is attractive to me. .
Tehran is desirable and lovable. .
Tehran is a leader in everything. .
Tehran is reliable. .
Destination
image
Tehran is a beautiful place. . . . .
Tehran has good infrastructure (roads, service communications, etc.). .
Tehran is a good place for business. .
Tehran has a developed industry. .
Tehran is a safe place to invest. .
Tehran has a high standard of living. .
Tehran offers enjoyable recreational activities. .
Tehran is socially and culturally diverse. .
Attitude I love Tehran. . . . .
I have a positive opinion about Tehran. .
Visiting Tehran is a good decision. .
Behavioural
intention
(intention
to visit)
I was waiting to see Tehran. . . . .
I was actively looking for information about Tehran. .
I had considered Tehran among my travel destinations. .
After visiting Tehran, I will probably visit Tehran again. .
I will definitely travel to Tehran. .
I will suggest a trip to Tehran to others. .
Model χ2 df p tli ifi cfi rmsea χ2/df
Measurement model .  . . . . . .
Acceptable values – – – >. >. >. <. –
tourists and the outbreak of the covid-19 virus, the
revival of the tourism industry has become an impor-
tant and critical issue for countries, so that the man-
agement of this crisis has become a current topic in
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Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
Table 4 Results of the Main Structural Equation Model
Path () () () () () ()
Crisis management of covid- in the destination image . . . . . .
Destination image on the destination personality . . . . . .
Destination personality on attitude towards the destination . . . . . .
Attitude to the destination on the intention to visit . . . . . .
Perception of covid- crisis management on intention to visit . . . . . .
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) standardized factor load, (2) not standardized factor load, (3) standard error,
(4) critical ratio, (5) p, (6) R2. Model fit values: rmse = 0.047, cfi = 0.937, ifi = 0.937, tli = 0.930, P = 0.001, df = 295,
χ2 = 856.8, χ2/df = 2.894.
Table 5 Test Results of Hypotheses in Structural Equation Model
Path Standardized factor loads results Result
() () () () ()
Crisis management of covid- in the destination image .** – .** – – Conf.
Destination image on the destination personality .** – – .** – Conf.
Destination personality on attitude towards the destination .** – .* .* .* Conf.
Attitude to the destination on the intention to visit .** .** .** .** .** Conf.
Perception of covid- crisis management on intention to visit .** .** .** .** .** Conf.
Notes Column headings are as follows: (0) the original model, (1) alternative model one, (2) alternative model two, (3)
alternative model three, (4) alternative model four.
Covid-19
crisis man-
agement
Intention
of choosing
destination
Destination
image
Destina-
tion brand
personality
Tourist
attitude
0.532
0.343 0.322
0.509 0.496
Figure 2 The Results of Hypothesis Testing
most countries. As a country with high tourism po-
tential, Iran has faced this crisis, too. The previous
studies in this regard have been carried out more on
the brand image of the destination and the effect of
the prevalence of covid-19 in the tourism industry,
and the lack of studies on the effects of perception of
covid-19 crisis management and destination image,
destination personality and intention to visit in this
process is felt. The study tried to fill the gaps expressed.
Thus, the study examines the effect of covid-19 crisis
management on the destination image and the inten-
tion of the tourist to select a destination within the
tourist destination of Iran (Tehran). The data was col-
lected from tourists using a questionnaire and anal-
ysed using amos and spss. The results can enhance
the awareness of tourism industry officials of the fac-
tors affecting the choice of destination, and the prac-
tical suggestions could be used as a way for travel des-
tinations to exit the crisis of tourist attraction in the
post-covid-19 era.
Overall, no previous studies have been carried out
that meticulously examine the effect of perception of
covid-19 crisis management on intention to visit by
considering the effect of the factors in this study. How-
ever, the results of the hypotheses of this study are
compared with the most relevant studies in the past.
The results revealed that although tourist destina-
tions and cities are lifeless elements, tourists usually
consider them to have personality and human char-
acteristics. According to the first hypothesis, crisis
management of covid-19 has a positive and signif-
icant effect on the destination image. In fact, with the
300 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
prevalence of covid-19 and the differences between
countries regarding their success rate in combating
the virus, the mental image of tourists has been neg-
ative towards the countries with more infections and
more positive towards the ones with fewer infections;
a country able to manage this crisis creates a better
image of itself. The results of the first hypothesis are in
line with those of Ahmad et al. (2020), Yu et al. (2020),
and Abbaspour et al. (2020). The results regarding the
second hypothesis showed that destination image has
a positive and significant effect on the personality of
the tourist destination. Tourism industry officials and
decision makers must pay special attention to brand-
ing for all cities with tourism potential. The results of
a study revealed that branding cost a city like Glas-
gow about 3 million pounds. It generated 42 million
pounds in revenue. In other words, for every dollar
spent on branding, the city generates $ 12.72 in revenue
in the city of Glasgow. This result is in line with those
of Kim and Lee (2015), Doosti et al. (2016), Souiden et
al. (2017), and Yang et al. (2020). Furthermore, the re-
sults on the third hypothesis of this study showed that
the personality of the tourist destination has a positive
and significant effect on attitudes towards the desti-
nation. These are in line with those of Kim and Lee
(2015), Souiden et al. (2017), Doosti et al. (2016), Yang
et al. (2020) and Sharifsamet et al. (2020). The fourth
hypothesis indicates that the attitude of tourists to-
wards the destination has a positive and significant ef-
fect on the intention to select and visit the tourist des-
tination. In other words, when the attitudes of tourists
towards a tourist destination improves, their intention
to visit the destination is strengthened, too. Destina-
tion personality attributes human personality traits to
a tourist destination. The results of this hypothesis are
in line with those of Chung et al. (2015), Doosti et al.
(2016), Yang et al. (2020), Afshardoost and Eshaghi
(2020), and Nechoud et al. (2021). Ultimately, the re-
sults of the fifth hypothesis showed that covid-19 cri-
sis management has a positive and significant effect on
the intention to select and visit a tourist destination.
Thus, in the era of covid-19, the health of the destina-
tion can have a key role in creating destination image.
A destination with less prevalence of covid-19 and
with crisis management of the virus will be more reli-
able than the destination with more prevalence of the
virus. The results of this hypothesis are in line with
those of Sánchez-Cañizares et al. (2020), Ioannides
and Gyimothy (2020), Han et al. (2020), Ahmad et al.
(2020), and Perić et al. (2021).
Considering the results, city officials should con-
trol and manage the covid-19 crisis and increase the
health of their city as the most important factor in
choosing tourist destinations in the covid-19 era, in
order to get out of the tourist decline crisis in this pe-
riod. As a tourism city can be considered as a brand
consisting of tangible and intangible characteristics,
tourism marketers must use this feature and focus
more on informing tourists about the health of the
destination and creating a positive mindset about the
health of the city and improving the image of the city,
to brand and expand their desired tourism destina-
tions. During the covid-19 crisis, they can capture
destination images by providing reliable statistics on
the number of cases and government efforts to con-
trol and manage the crisis of the virus and vaccinate
people, and by showing a healthy image of the city as
well as the physical characteristics of the destination
(beautiful scenery, beaches, parks, cultural events and
festivals, shopping facilities, friendly locals). The des-
tination personality can be characterized by character-
istics such as: attractive, modern, reliable, exciting, up
to date, friendly, cheerful. Marketers can use of these
characteristics to shape the attitude of tourists and,
by encouraging them, make their city a destination of
choice for tourists. Thus, the organizations in charge of
tourism (like Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, Tourism,
andMunicipality) can emphasize the historical, recre-
ational, business environment, and safe investment of
the city besides creating the city’s image in terms of
health as the key factor in this period.
The city personality has a significant role in the
success of tourism destinations. The studies showed
that a unique personality has been designed for all suc-
cessful tourism cities in the world today. For instance,
the city of Paris has a feminine brand, and the per-
sonality of this city is different from that of a city like
Berlin, which has a masculine personality. The brand
personality of cities like Tokyo, Beijing, Kuala Lumpur,
and Dubai is unique to them. Hence, it is essential
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 301
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi et al. Effect of Perception of COVID-19 Crisis Management
for all cities in a country to design a unique brand
personality. The brand personality of the city has to
encompass the history, architecture, climate, geogra-
phy and everything in the city. There is no doubt that
creating a brand personality for tourist cities is not a
choice but a necessity. The increase in the competition
between tourism markets and destinations trying to
stand out has led to more attention being paid to the
destination personality. The results revealed that the
concept of tourism city personality is used to describe
the characteristics of the city and differentiate tourist
destinations. Tourists are more likely to travel to cities
where they can identify themselves. Awareness of the
city brand is a key factor in visiting the destination and
increases interest in it.
The study identifies the efforts to control andman-
age the covid-19 crisis and show a safe and healthy
image of the city as the key element in attracting
tourists in this period, and encourages tourism mar-
keters to treat the image and destination personality
as a key predictor for tourists’ attitudes. Managers and
tourism marketing experts have to try to enhance the
subjective image of tourismdestinations for tourists by
increasing advertising and promotional activities. As
tourists’ attitudes have a direct effect on travel inten-
tions, it is recommended that tourism managers em-
phasize marketing activities and long-term strategies
rather than cross-sectional ones in creating a positive
tourist attitude. Additionally, it is suggested that the
experts andmanagers of tourism destinations try hard
to create a safe image of the city, and to show architec-
ture and tourist attractions in order for tourism cities
to improve and develop tourism. It also seems that
marketers and managers of recreational and tourism
destinationsmust focus on the key elements in attract-
ing tourists according to the target market segmenta-
tions and classify tourists based on characteristics like
novelty, diversity and other factors and, based on this,
formulate strategies to create a city brand to attract
tourists.
For future studies, it is suggested to study the eco-
nomic dimensions of the effect of covid-19 on the
tourist incomes of countries and identify the key fac-
tors for tourists in selecting a tourist destination in
the future and after control of the covid-19 virus. It
is suggested that the model and strategy of creating
a destination brand value be developed based on the
changing tastes of tourists after the covid-19 era. Ad-
ditionally, it is recommended that future studies ex-
amine the effect of other variables such as satisfac-
tion, loyalty, tourismbrand resonance, perceived qual-
ity of tourism, tourism destination identity, tourism
brand trust and sympathy and various other variables
on tourists’ attitudes and intention to visit.
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Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 305

Original Scientific Article
Revisiting Royal Tourism: Tourists’ Intention
to Revisit the Yogyakarta Palace in Indonesia
Usep Suhud
Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia
usuhud@unj.ac.id
Merry Amelia Dewi
Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Indonesia
merrydewi65@gmail.com
Mamoon Allan
The University of Jordan, Jordan
m.allan@ju.edu.jo
It is well accepted that countries with a monarchy system have the capital to de-
velop royal tourism. Even though Indonesia is a republic, the country was formed
bymerging small kingdoms and sultanates and some of their palaces are now turned
into living museums and attractions for tourists. This study examines the factors in-
fluencing the intentions of tourists to return to the Yogyakarta Palace, a palace be-
longing to a sultanate that still survives and is recognized by the government. The
study cohort was 250 and was selected using the convenience samplingmethod, and
data were tested using an exploratory factor analysis and structural equation mod-
els. The main finding of the current study is that revisit intention was influenced by
service quality, perceived value, tourist satisfaction, and place attachment.
Keywords: royal tourism, palace tourism, royal heritage, place attachment, revisit
intention
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.15.307-321
Introduction
Currently, several countries have implemented amon-
archy system, such as Brunei Darussalam, the United
Kingdom, Japan, Jordan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mo-
rocco, Monaco, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland, and
Thailand. These countries have a great potential to de-
velop and offer royal tourism,which is a tourismprod-
uct that makes the monarchy an object and subject of
tourism. In general, tourists are interested in aspects
related to the monarchy, from its history, buildings,
and celebrations to its royal members.
Collectively, there are two types of studies that fo-
cus on different aspects of royal tourism. First, the
studies concerning tourism induced by the travels of
royalty, which means royal leaders visit places, which
in turn creates a crowd of tourists travelling to sites
visited by those royal leaders. According to Zuelow
(2006), the visit of King George iv to Scotland in 1822
visit attracted thousands of tourists to also visit this
country. Tourism historians noted this event as the be-
ginning of royal tourism in Scotland, and the tradition
still exists. In the early 1850s, Butler (2007) mentioned
that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert destroyed and
rebuilt a castle there, Balmoral, which they visited ev-
ery summer. The visit of British royalty to Scotland
makes this country attractive in the eyes of interna-
tional tourists and has even become an identity for the
country (Palmer, 2007). As depicted by Leiper (2008),
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 307
Usep Suhud, Merry Amelia Dewi, and Mamoon Allan Revisiting Royal Tourism
a similar incident occurredwhenKingChulalongkorn
of Siam (now Thailand) visited Europe in 1897. The
places visited by the King, both in Europe and in Siam
after the King’s return from Europe, became crowded
with tourists, which impacted the local community’s
economy.
The second type of royal tourism studies concerns
the activities carried out in the palaces of royal lead-
ers to attract tourists. Thus, Baxendale (2007) con-
sidered palace tourism as a type of heritage tourism.
Referring to the Tower of London, Windsor Castle,
and Hampton Court in England, she found that vis-
itors were motivated by nationalism and royalism to
visit those sites. Other studies with settings in Indone-
sia concerned how palaces can continue to survive as
cultural centres by holding royal dinners or overnight
stays (Cahyadi, 2015, 2019; Ruastiti, 2015). Indonesia
is a country with thousands of islands and consisted
of small kingdoms and sultanates before its indepen-
dence. At present, despite being a republic, in some
areas there are still several kingdoms, especially the
sultanates. However, they do not have the authority or
power of the kingdoms and empire of previous times
and the number of the remaining sultanates that have
opened their palaces to be tourist destinations is lim-
ited. This current study refers to this second type of
royal tourism.
It is axiomatic that different events involving royal
families – such as births, anniversaries, birthdays, and
funerals – attract remarkable public attention (Raad et
al., 2021). Accordingly, Palmer and Long (2019) shed
light on the impact of royal family life on travel and
tourism patterns through their tourism and leisure
activities and experiences. Elsewhere, Maddens and
Vanden Berghe (2008) have investigated the context
of royal tourism in Spain by focusing on the man-
agement of royal destinations as distinctive historical
contexts for tourists, whereas Lunchaprasith (2022)
has explored the potential of royal tourism in the con-
text of Thailand and found that royal tourism could be
a valuable addition to the country’s existing cultural
tourism attractions or utilized as a tool to enhance the
national heritage for local communities. Furthermore,
Porananond andKing (2016) postulate that to date, the
relevant literature on tourism and monarchies is ded-
icated to the history of the Western Europe, especially
the United Kingdom, and they state that there is an
urgent need to expand the literature to Asian royalty
to fill the gaps in the tourism literature and explore
this issue outside of Europe.
Thirumaran (2016) indicates that royal tourism
shapes a visible and experimental part of the tourism
landscapes in the southeast part of Asian countries
such as Nepal, Myanmar, and Vietnam. It is claimed
that the relationships between royalty and tourism
have received scant attention in the pertinent aca-
demic literature (Dowling, 2010). Only minimal re-
search has explored the linkage between monarchies
past and present in Asian,Middle Eastern and African
contexts (Spellman, 2001). According to Palmer and
Long (2019, p. 9), ‘The motivations, behaviours and
experiences of both casual anddedicated “royal tourist”
visitors to royal events and sites and in the presence of
royalty would also bear analysis in seeking to under-
stand how monarchy is consumed and interpreted by
both domestic and international visitors.’ In the same
vein, the authors found a lack of studies focusing on
tourist behaviour in the context of royal tourism, es-
pecially those using a quantitative approach. For this
reason, this study aims to examine the factors that in-
fluence the intention of tourists to revisit the imperial
palace and the authors chose service quality, tourist
satisfaction, place attachment, and perceived value as
predictors.
Literature Review
Service Quality
According to Park and Jeong (2019), service quality
is one of the most common variables used in tourism
studies between 2008 and 2019. In the pertinent litera-
ture, several methods of tourist service quality assess-
ment are employed, compromising servperf, Crit-
ical Incident Technique (cit), and the servqual
method (Kowalska & Ostrega, 2020). Most research
uses servqual, and the results are in line with the
arguments of Parasuraman et al.’s (1988) and Parasur-
aman et al.’s (1991) arguments. Arguably, several re-
searchers have proposed that a revised measurement
scale is required in the context of tourism services (Yu
et al., 2005). Liu and Lee (2016) examine an integrated
308 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Usep Suhud, Merry Amelia Dewi, and Mamoon Allan Revisiting Royal Tourism
model of service quality that demonstrates the affec-
tive mechanisms throughwhich service quality relates
to price perception of service, word of mouth (wom)
and intention to revisit; the context of their study was
the Asia Pacific region.
Accordingly, service quality is a balance between
customer perceptions and their expectations (Bhat,
2012). Dissatisfied tourists have no intention of re-
turning to visit or even have an intention to spread
lousy word-of-mouth reviews. Narayan et al. (2009)
employed two perspectives to measure service qual-
ity in the tourism industry – the customer perspec-
tive and the service provider perspective. Customers
seek the following ten aspects: ‘core-tourism experi-
ence, information, hospitality, fairness of price, hy-
giene, amenities, value for money, logistics, food, and
security’ (Narayan et al., 2009, p. 62). Liu and Lee
(2016) tested the potential relationship between ser-
vice quality, word of mouth, price perception, and
intention to revisit using structural equation mod-
els and other statistical methods and examined their
proposed method on a sample of 484 respondents.
From the perspective of the service providers, they
must be customer-oriented, flexible to different cus-
tomer needs, flexible to changing customer desires,
support and provide flexibility for front-liners to act
quickly and correctly, and focus on company perfor-
mance. Furthermore, service quality follows the type
of tourism products; for example, rural tourism em-
phasizes hardware (including equipment and atmo-
sphere), dish quality, catering price, safety and hy-
giene, service level, and characteristic service (Huang,
2017). On the other hand, culinary tourism consid-
ers reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and
tangibility (Mulyana & Ayuni, 2019).
Service quality is raised in hospitality, leisure, and
tourism studies such as culinary tourism, rural tour-
ism, eco-tourism, sports tourism, halal tourism, her-
itage tourism, urban tourism, and theme parks (Gu-
mussoy&Koseoglu, 2016;Huang, 2017; Irama&Abror,
2019; Mulyana & Ayuni, 2019; Nian et al., 2019; Shonk
& Chelladurai, 2008). However, there is still a dearth
of studies that research service quality in the context
of royal tourism. Based on reports fromprevious stud-
ies, service quality plays a significant role in shaping
tourists’ perceived value (Lai & Chen, 2011; Nguyen et
al., 2018; Rajic et al., 2013; Kuo et al., 2009), and service
quality is also one of the variables chosen by Donighi
and Yousefi (2016) to confirm post-purchase inten-
tion; they stated that service quality affects perceived
value.
Prior studies have documented the significant ef-
fect of service quality on tourist satisfaction (Kwenye,
2015; Lai & Chen, 2011; Mohamad et al., 2019; Kuo et
al., 2011; Rajic et al., 2013). For example, Kwenye (2015)
measured factors influencing destination loyalty in the
case of natural heritage tourism in a study that took
place at the Victoria Falls heritage site in Zambia and
involved domestic tourists. This scholar showed the
significant influence of service quality on satisfaction
and place attachment. Kwenye (2015) also documented
the significant impact of perceived value on satisfac-
tion and place attachment.
Previous studies have shown the influence of ser-
vice quality on revisit intention (Amalia & Hidayat,
2019; Dedeoğlu, 2019; Herstanti et al., 2014; Timur,
2018). For example, Herstanti et al. (2014) investigated
tourists who had visited Sydney in Australia, asking
which factors encouraged them to return, and one of
their findings is the influence of tour quality on the
intention of tourists to visit again.
Service quality is one of the components for build-
ing tourists’ attachment to the destinations they visit
(Cheng et al., 2018; Kwenye, 2015; Mohamad et al.,
2019; Nian et al., 2019). For example, Nian et al. (2019)
paid attention to heritage conservation intention and
recruited tourists who visited World Heritage Sites as
participants in their study, and they also mentioned
that service quality affects place attachment.
Guided by the previous studies, four hypotheses re-
lating to service quality were formulated as follows:
h1 Service quality will have a significant impact on
perceived value.
h2 Service quality will have a significant impact on
tourist satisfaction.
h3 Service quality will have a significant impact on
revisit intention.
h4 Service quality will have a significant impact on
place attachment.
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 309
Usep Suhud, Merry Amelia Dewi, and Mamoon Allan Revisiting Royal Tourism
Perceived Value
Tourists pay what they must, and this can be related
to tickets for flights, hotel rooms, or vehicle rentals, all
to reach a tourism destination and they therefore re-
ceive what they (should) receive from their payments.
Zeithaml (1988) defined perceived value as the overall
value of a product (goods and services) based on the
benefits and the sacrifices incurred to get these goods
and services, according to customer perceptions. Ac-
cording to Petrick (2002), the concept of perceived
value consists of behavioural prices, monetary prices,
emotional responses, quality, and reputation, whilst
consumers’ attainment of products (goods and ser-
vices) is not just a transfer of ownership, but also the
perception of benefits and value for the money in-
volved and the psychological response to the quality
and reputation of the products.
Researchers have used perceived value to predict
tourist satisfaction (Butler, 2016; Konuk, 2019; Lai &
Chen, 2011; Rajic et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2017). For ex-
ample, Wang et al. (2017) investigated influencing fac-
tors of tourist loyalty in the context of car tourism. Par-
ticipants in the study were visitors to a World Natural
Heritage site in Xinjiang, China. They employed desti-
nation image, perceived value, and satisfaction tomea-
sure loyalty, and one of their findings is that perceived
value has a significant impact on tourist satisfaction.
One of the key important factors to predict re-
visit intention is perceived value (Chen & Chen, 2010;
Pilelienė & Grigaliūnaitė, 2014; Suhud & Wibowo,
2016; Ting & Thurasamy, 2016). For instance, Suhud
and Wibowo (2016) examined the influencing factors
of revisit intention to vintage-concept restaurants, and
they postulate that perceived value has a significant
impact on revisit intention. Based upon the previous
studies, two hypotheses were formulated.
h5 Perceived value will have a significant impact on
tourist satisfaction.
h6 Perceived value will have a significant impact on
revisit intention.
Place Attachment
Inalhan and Finch (2004) introduced the concept that
place attachment is a form of a sense of belonging,
and they further suggested three elements that make
up this sense of belonging: attachment, familiarity, and
identity. Attachment refers to emotional bonding be-
tween an individual and a place, whereas familiarity is
‘the processes by which people develop detailed cog-
nitive knowledge of their environs’ (2004, p. 123) and
place identity is an individual’s self-representation of
the places they have lived in. On a different note, Scan-
nell and Gifford (2010) put forward the idea that place
attachment consists of persons, place, and process, and
thus, they further summarize those persons cannot
be separated from their religious and historical back-
grounds, including their experience, realization, and
milestones. In addition, the persons’ places cannot be
separated from social and physical elements, both nat-
ural and artificial and the process is cognitive, affec-
tive, and conative.
In their lives, tourists may travel to various desti-
nations, and it is not certain that all the destinations
they visit will have a particular meaning for them. The
creation of this meaning can tie tourists emotionally
to the destinations they are visiting (Low & Altman,
1992). Place attachment is often associatedwith a sense
of place, the meaning of a place, and the place’s iden-
tity, which is a form of interaction between humans
and a place and its impact on that person’s emotional
bond with that place (Hashemnezhad et al., 2013).
Prior studiesmeasure the effect of place attachment
on revisit intention (Kil et al., 2012; Neuvonen et al.,
2010; Prayag & Ryan, 2012; Su et al., 2018). For exam-
ple, Kil et al. (2012) conducted a study in the state of
Florida, in theUnited States, involving visitors to a for-
est for recreation and tourism. They tested the effect
of place attachment on future visit intention, and they
mention that place attachment influences visitors’ fu-
ture visit intentions.
Thus, this study tests the following hypothesis.
h7 Place attachment will have a significant impact
on revisit intention.
Tourist Satisfaction
Tourists are customers who buy and consume a prod-
uct, and they may be satisfied because the features or
attributes of the product match their expectations. It
could be argued that satisfaction plays a vital role in
310 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Usep Suhud, Merry Amelia Dewi, and Mamoon Allan Revisiting Royal Tourism
the decision-making process about goods and services
provided by tourismdestinations (Shavanddasht&Al-
lan, 2018). Suchánek et al. (2015, p. 329) defined cus-
tomer satisfaction as ‘satisfaction with a product and
business performance as the ability to generate profits,’
whilst Ozturk (2015, p. 2817) define it as ‘an emotional
response to the experiences provided by and associ-
ated with particular products or services purchased.’
In the context of the tourism industry, tourists buy a
tourism product or visit a destination and may be sat-
isfied because of the attributes possessed by a destina-
tion, which can be something tangible or intangible,
physical or non-physical.
Correia et al. (2013) developed a tourist satisfac-
tion scale based on tourist motivation when visit-
ing a destination. They further tested three concepts,
namely tourist motivation related to facilities, knowl-
edge, and novelty, and the level of tourist satisfaction
with the three concepts; they believed that tourist sat-
isfaction is a manifested tourist motivation. Further-
more, Ghose and Johann (2018) reported that tourist
satisfaction is formed because of the tourist experi-
ence related to destination attributes which include
climate, attractions, nature, shopping opportunities,
safety, opportunity tomeet people, and entertainment.
They also mentioned tour package features as an as-
pect that could provide satisfaction to tourists. This
feature includes ‘attractiveness of the program, orga-
nization, hotels, restaurants andmeals, standard of the
bus, tour escort, and price/quality relationship’ (2018,
p. 15). Several factors determine tourist satisfaction, in-
cluding accommodation services, local transport ser-
vices, hygiene (including cleanliness and sanitation),
hospitality and customer care, availability of facilities
and activities, levels of prices, language communica-
tion, and destination airport services (Kozak, 2010).
A number of studies have proven that there is a sig-
nificant effect of tourist satisfaction on place attach-
ment (Butler, 2016; Gan et al., 2017; Hosany et al., 2017;
Kwenye, 2015; Reitsamer & Brunner-Sperdin, 2021; Su
et al., 2018; Xu & Zhang, 2016; Zhou et al., 2020). For
example, Xu and Zhang (2016) conducted an urban
tourism study and compared the destination loyalty of
Chinese and Western tourists who visited Hangzhou,
China. They concluded that tourist satisfaction is an
Tourist
satisfaction
Revisit
intention
Place
attachment
Service
quality
Perceived
value
H8
H7
H9
H1
H2
H3
H4
H5
H6
Figure 1 The Proposed Research Model
important key to influence place attachment both for
Chinese and Western tourists. Furthermore, accord-
ing to Butler (2016), perceived value, satisfaction, and
place attachment can be employed to examine the loy-
alty of business club members in North America and
satisfaction significantly affects place attachment.
Several past studies provide clues about the influ-
ence of tourist satisfaction on revisit intention (Han et
al., 2009; He & Luo, 2020; Mannan et al., 2019; Rajput
& Gahfoor, 2020). For instance, Suid et al. (2017) con-
ducted a study to examine the effect of tourist satisfac-
tion on revisit intention involvingMuslim travellers in
Malaysia in which they claimed that tourist satisfac-
tion has a significant impact on revisit intention.
The following two final hypotheses relating to the
role of tourist satisfaction were formulated:
h8 Tourist satisfaction will have a significant im-
pact on place attachment.
h9 Tourist satisfaction will have a significant im-
pact on revisit intention.
Figure 1 shows the proposed researchmodel, based
upon the literature discussed above.
Methods
Measures
The researchers employed existing scales and mea-
sures and indicators from previous studies, adapted
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 311
Usep Suhud, Merry Amelia Dewi, and Mamoon Allan Revisiting Royal Tourism
for this current study, and it could be argued that
the utilization of existing scales offers better reliabil-
ity and validity for the survey. There were five vari-
ables used in this current study, including service
quality, perceived value, tourist satisfaction, place at-
tachment, and revisit intention. Thus, service qual-
ity was measured, adapting indicators taken from Liu
and Lee (2016), whilst perceived value, tourist satis-
faction, and revisit intention were examined, adapting
indicators from the study of Herstanti et al. (2014),
and place attachment was measured, adapting indica-
tors fromRamkissoon et al. (2013). All indicators were
adapted into Indonesian and measured on a six-point
Likert-type scale: from 1 for ‘strongly disagree’ to 6 for
‘strongly agree.’ We deliberately chose the six-point
scale to prevent participants from choosing ‘neutral’
answers.
Data analysis Methods
As a general protocol before testing the hypothesis,
the first phase that the authors completedwasmeasur-
ing the validity of the data using the exploratory fac-
tor analysis (efa) method which aims to see whether
each variable has dimensions and to filter which indi-
cators are considered valid. The lowest level of valid-
ity for each indicator is 0.4. According to Hair et al.
(2016), the minimum number of respondents is 200,
and the minimum loading factor required is 0.4, thus,
in this case, the study cohort is 250 participants. The
next phase after testing data validation was testing the
reliability of the data and the authors further calcu-
lated each available construct for observing the Cron-
bach’s alpha scores; the construct could be variables or
the dimensions of variables. The lowest alpha value we
adoptedwas 0.7 ormore significance for any construct
tested to be reliable; we did not include constructs with
an alpha value below 0.7 for the examination of the hy-
pothesis. We used spss version 27 software to calcu-
late the validity and reliability of the data.
The authors used a structural equationmodel (sem)
with amos version 27 software to test the hypothe-
sis and calculate data that will indicate if a model fits
with specific criteria. There are four criteria that the
authors chose, including probability, the Minimum
Sample Discrepancy Function per Degree of Freedom
Table 1 Rules of Thumb for a Fit Measure
Fit measure Good fit indices Sources
Probability 0.05 < p ≤ 1.00 Schermelleh-Engel
et al. ()
X2/df 0 ≤ X2/df ≤ 2.00 Tabachnick et al.
()
cfi 0.95 ≤ cfi ≤ 1.00 Hu and Bentler
()
rmsea 0 ≤ rmsea ≤ 0.05 Browne and Cudeck
()
(cmin/df), Comparative Fit Index (cfi), and Root
Mean Square Error of Approximation (rmsea). The
rule of thumb for each criterion is presented in Table 1.
Results
Data were collected at the Yogyakarta Palace which
is a particular province where the sultanate system is
still maintained. The palace complex is still active as
a tourist destination and a residence for the Sultan
and his family and currently, the Sultan is also serving
as a governor in the Special Province of Yogyakarta.
Participants were palace visitors, and they were se-
lected using the convenience sampling method: the
author distributed a printed questionnaire to the par-
ticipants, and the participants filled out the question-
naire by themselves. The number of participants in
this study was 250, consisting of 133 male participants
(53.2) and 117 female participants (46.8) who have
visited the Yogyakarta Palace at least once. The survey
results show that 159 participants (63.6) have vis-
ited once, 52 participants (20.8) have visited twice,
21 participants (8.4) have visited three times, and 18
participants (7.2) have visitedmore than three times.
Furthermore, 169 participants (67.6) were aged be-
tween 18 and 23 years old, and 171 participants (68.4)
completed high school level education. In addition,
this survey revealed that 205 participants (82.0) were
single, and 129 participants (61.6) were not working
(Table 2).
Data Validity and Reliability Tests
Table 3 presents the validity and reliability tests re-
sults, which consist of nine constructs from six vari-
312 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Usep Suhud, Merry Amelia Dewi, and Mamoon Allan Revisiting Royal Tourism
Table 2 Participants’ Profiles
Category Group f f%
Sex Male  .
Female  .
Total  .
Age <  .
–  .
–  .
–  .
–  .
Level of education
completed
Less than high school  .
High school  .
Diploma  .
Undergraduate  .
Marital status Unmarried  .
Married  .
Separated/divorced  .
Occupational status Unemployed  .
Employed  .
Self-employed  .
ables. First, place attachment consisted of six indica-
tors, with an alpha score of 0.954, whilst the second
variable is perceived value, which contained two di-
mensions. The first dimension had four indicators,
with an alpha value of 0.912, and the second dimen-
sion comprised five indicators, with an alpha value of
0.963. Third, tourist satisfaction shaped three dimen-
sions; the first dimension had two indicators, with an
alpha score of 0.118, the second dimension had an al-
pha score of 0.906, and the third dimension had two
indicators, with an alpha score of 0.774. Fourth, service
quality possessed seven indicators and an alpha score
of 0.919. The fifth variable was revisit intention, with
two dimensions: the first dimension consisted of two
indicators, with an alpha score of 0.827, and the second
dimension contained three indicators, with an alpha
score of 0.910. Of all the constructs, one of them was
considered unreliable because it had an alpha score of
0.118, thus, for this reason, this construct was excluded
from further analysis.
Tourist
satisfaction
Revisit
intention
Place
attachment
Service
quality
Perceived
value
0.19
0.21
0.350.29
0.46
0.24
0.53
0.11
0.09
Figure 2 Structural Model of the Hypotheses Testing
Hypotheses Tests
Figure 2 is a structural model of the hypotheses test-
ing model which achieved a fitness with probabil-
ity, cmin/df, cfi, and rmsea scores of 0.398, 1.048,
0.999, and 0.014, respectively.
Table 4 presents results of the hypotheses test-
ing which reveal that there were 9 hypotheses tested.
Based on the structural equation model calculation,
eight hypotheses (h1, h2, h3, h4, h6, h7, h8, and
h9) gained critical ratio (cr) scores of 2.031 and larger,
whereas one hypothesis (h5) obtained a cr score of
1.688.
Discussion
The current study examined nine hypotheses concern-
ing tourist visits to theYogyakarta Palace in the Special
Province of Yogyakarta which is considered unique
because it also operates under the sultanate system,
apart from being part of the Republic of Indonesia. Of
the nine hypotheses tested, eight were accepted, and
one hypothesis was rejected.
Nguyen et al. (2018) employed service quality to
measure perceived value and examined the effect of
service quality on perceived value. In our study, this
path obtained a cr score of 4.164, indicating that the
first hypothesis was accepted. Forms of palace man-
agement services include welcoming guests, providing
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Usep Suhud, Merry Amelia Dewi, and Mamoon Allan Revisiting Royal Tourism
Table 3 Results of Data Validity and Reliability Tests
Variables and indicators () ()
Place attachment .
pa The Yogyakarta Palace is significant to me. .
pa I am very familiar with the Yogyakarta Palace. .
pa My friends/family prefer the Yogyakarta Palace compared to other tourist destinations. .
pa I feel a strong sense of belonging to the Yogyakarta Palace, related to the arrang./facilities available. .
pa I am very attached to the Yogyakarta Palace. .
pa If I don’t visit the Yogyakarta Palace, my friends/family will be disappointed. .
Perceived value  .
pv I felt that I gained additional knowledge through visiting the Yogyakarta Palace. .
pv I gained valuable experience that I can share with others after visiting the Yogyakarta Palace. .
pv I felt the benefits of visiting the Yogyakarta Palace are in line with the price I paid. .
pv The ticket price for the Yogyakarta Palace meets my estimation. .
Perceived value  .
pv I got services from the Yogyakarta Palace worth what I spent. –.
pv I felt the new experience of an unforgettable trip by visiting the Yogyakarta Palace. –.
pv The art performance at the Yogyakarta Palace made a good impression on me. –.
pv I visited the Yogyakarta Palace because I wanted to. –.
pv I witnessed unique attrac. in the Yogyakarta Palace, which I did not find in other tourist attractions.–.
Tourist satisfaction  .
ts I am satisfied because access to the Yogyakarta Palace is easy. .
ts I am satisfied because transportation to the Yogyakarta Palace is easy. .
Tourist satisfaction  .
ts I enjoyed visiting the Yogyakarta Palace. –.
ts I am satisfied to see historical objects in the Yogyakarta Palace. –.
ts I am satisfied to see the paintings in the Yogyakarta Palace. –.
ts I am satisfied watching art performances at the Yogyakarta Palace. –.
Tourist satisfaction  .
ts I am satisfied visiting the Yogyakarta Palace. .
ts I am satisfied because it’s easy to find an atm. .
Continued on the next page
tour guides, and performances. Participants consider
these services positively, and they strengthened the
perceived value of tourist visits to this royal tourism
destination. In the same vein, Donighi and Yousefi
(2016) stated that service quality has a significant ef-
fect on perceived value.
The second hypothesis in the current study investi-
gated the effect of service quality on tourist satisfaction
and it obtains a cr score of 5.809, so it can be consid-
ered significant. This finding supports previous stud-
ies (Kwenye, 2015; Lai & Chen, 2011) which noted that
good service is the key element for tourist satisfaction.
In this case, the participants described the Yogyakarta
palace as visually appealing and the employees as po-
lite. Rajic et al. (2013) claimed that service quality has
a significant effect on tourist satisfaction.
314 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Usep Suhud, Merry Amelia Dewi, and Mamoon Allan Revisiting Royal Tourism
Table 3 Continued from the previous page
Service quality .
sq When I have a problem, the Yogyakarta Palace employees are responsive in solving it. .
sq The Yogyakarta Palace employees are willing to take the time to respond to visitor requests. .
sq The Yogyakarta Palace employees are consistently polite to me. .
sq The Yogyakarta Palace employees are always willing to help me. .
sq The facilities at the Yogyakarta Palace are visually appealing. .
sq The Yogyakarta Palace understood what I needed and tried to accommodate me. .
sq The Yogyakarta Palace has convenient operating hours for all visitors. .
Revisit intention () .
ri I prefer visiting the Yogyakarta Palace compared to other tourist attractions. –.
wom The Yogyakarta Palace is my choice of destination for a future vacation. –.
ri I will revisit the Yogyakarta Palace for a vacation. –.
Revisit intention () .
ri I will tell you positive things about my experience during a vacation at the Palace Yogyakarta. –.
ri I would recommend the Yogyakarta Palace to my relatives as a vacation destination. –.
ri I will recommend the Yogyakarta Palace to my friends. –.
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) factor loadings, (3) Cronbach’s alpha.
Table 4 Results of the Hypotheses Testing
Hypotheses Paths cr P Results
h Service quality ⇒ Perceived value . *** Accepted
h Service quality ⇒ Tourist satisfaction . *** Accepted
h Service quality ⇒ Revisit intention . . Accepted
h Service quality ⇒ Place attachment . *** Accepted
h Perceived value ⇒ Tourist satisfaction . . Rejected
h Perceived value ⇒ Revisit intention . . Accepted
h Tourist satisfaction ⇒ Place attachment . . Accepted
h Tourist satisfaction ⇒ Revisit intention . *** Accepted
h Place attachment ⇒ Revisit intention . *** Accepted
Service quality is often considered as a determining
factor for tourists’ intention to return in the future to a
tourism destination. In this case, the tourists thought
the services provided by the Yogyakarta Palace to be
good, and because of that, they wanted to return to
visit the destination. The third hypothesis examined
the effect of service quality on revisit intention and
its path had a cr score of 3.168, thus, this third hy-
pothesis was considered significant. Dedeoğlu (2019)
demonstrated the considerable impact of service qual-
ity on revisit intention.
Tourists’ perception of the service quality provided
by the Yogyakarta Palace created a bonding to the Yo-
gyakarta Palace, confirming, as was conveyed by pre-
vious studies, that service quality can boost place at-
tachment (Donighi & Yousefi, 2016; Lai & Chen, 2011;
Rajic et al., 2013). This path acquired a cr score of 5.97
and automatically indicated that the fourth hypothesis
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 315
Usep Suhud, Merry Amelia Dewi, and Mamoon Allan Revisiting Royal Tourism
was accepted. Kuo et al. (2009) reported that service
quality had a significant effect on place attachment.
The fifth hypothesis questions the effect of per-
ceived value on tourist satisfaction. In general, per-
ceived value had a significant effect on tourist satis-
faction (Butler, 2016; Konuk, 2019; Lai & Chen, 2011).
However, based on the result of sem calculations, this
path obtains a cr score of 1.668 and the calculation
results showed that this hypothesis was rejected and
that the value perceived by tourists from their visit to
Yogyakarta Palace was insufficient to achieve satisfac-
tion.
The sixth hypothesis examined the effect of per-
ceived value on revisit intention and this hypothesis
is accepted with a cr score of 2.031. The perceived
value of a tourist visit to the Yogyakarta Palace can
strengthen the intention of a tourist to visit again: the
participants assumed that they had gained additional
knowledge and valuable experiences to sharewith oth-
ers by visiting this palace. This finding is in line with
several previous studies (Pilelienė & Grigaliūnaitė,
2014; Suhud & Wibowo, 2016; Ting & Thurasamy,
2016), which revealed a significant effect of perceived
value on revisit intention.
Another hypothesis tested was the effect of tourist
satisfaction on place attachment, which generates a
cr score of 2.85, indicating that the seventh hypothe-
sis was accepted. Satisfied tourists will easily tie them-
selves to the destinations they visit and tourists who
visited Yogyakarta Palace achieved satisfaction be-
cause their expectations matched what they got. Xu
and Zhang (2016) said that there was a significant in-
fluence of tourist satisfaction on place attachment.
This finding corroborates the results of other stud-
ies (Butler, 2016; Hosany et al., 2017; Reitsamer &
Brunner-Sperdin, 2021; Zhou et al., 2020).
Tourist satisfaction is one of the significant stim-
uli to encourage tourists to revisit a destination and
tourists got what they had hoped for before they vis-
ited. The eighth hypothesis is accepted, with a cr
score of 3.303, and this finding supports the results
of previous studies (Chou, 2014; Mannan et al., 2019;
Rajput & Gahfoor, 2020). In this case, the participants
were satisfied because they could see the historical ob-
jects in the palace complex, including valuable paint-
ings. According to He and Luo (2020), tourist satis-
faction is an essential factor in encouraging tourists to
visit again.
When the attributes of the Yogyakarta Palace af-
fected the hearts of tourists, there was no other choice
for those tourists but to have the intention to visit in
the future. In this study, place attachment examined
revisit intention, and this path obtained a cr score of
4.919, which indicated that the ninth hypothesis was
accepted. This finding also reinforced previous stud-
ies (Kil et al., 2012; Neuvonen et al., 2010; Su et al.,
2018). In this case, the participants felt a strong sense of
belonging, and their friends and family also preferred
the Yogyakarta Palace to other destinations, which is
in agreement with Prayag and Ryan (2012), who stated
that there was a significant effect of place attachment
on revisit intention.
Conclusion
This study was conducted at the Ngayogyakarta Ha-
diningrat Sultanate Palace (for marketing purposes,
the palace managers have shortened the name of this
palace to Yogyakarta Palace, so it is easy for tourists
to remember). This study aimed to examine the fac-
tors that influence the intention of tourists to return to
the Yogyakarta Palace and there were nine hypotheses
proposed to be tested; however, only eight hypothe-
ses were accepted. In this study, service quality effec-
tively influences perceived value, tourist satisfaction,
revisit intention, and place attachment and also, per-
ceived value affected revisit intention. Another vari-
able that plays a significant role was tourist satisfac-
tion, which could affect place attachment and revisit
intention, and place attachment affected revisit inten-
tion construct.
The scope of this study was limited in terms of the
sample selection technique. Consequently, the authors
used the convenience sampling technique, so the find-
ings of this study cannot be generalized to the whole
population. Primarily, data collection was carried out
on weekdays, even though most tourist visits occur
on weekends. In addition, the scope of tourists was re-
stricted to the age category 18–23 years old, high school
graduates, single, and unemployed. The authors can-
not provide suggestions for the results if the sample
316 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Usep Suhud, Merry Amelia Dewi, and Mamoon Allan Revisiting Royal Tourism
groups had different profiles. Another limitation of
this research is from the observations of the second
author, who collected data on-site.Most of the tourists
who filled out the questionnaire seemed to spend lit-
tle time at the palace: they scanned some spots then
went to other spots as they were too busy doing selfies
and group selfies, possibly because most visitors are
young.
This study expands research on royal tourism,
which is still limited, especially on tourist behaviour
in Indonesian and Southeast Asian settings. So far,
Cahyadi (2015) has raised concerns about the authen-
ticity and commodification of culture at the Puri An-
yar Kerambitan, Bali. Cahyadi (2019) and Ruastiti
(2015) focused on the efforts made by the Gianyar
Palace management in Bali to make the palace a cul-
tural centre through tourism activities, for example,
from providing dinner packages with royal members
to displaying dances and typical royal wedding proces-
sions. Rahmawati (2013) conducted another study on
royal tourism and revealed that one of the events held
at the Surakarta Hadiningrat Palace was providing a
limited-quota package to stay in the palace, which is
located in the city of Surakarta (Solo), Central Java
Province. Furthermore, this study also expands the
scope of cultural tourism, as initiated by Dunbar-Hall
(2001), MacLeod (2006), and Schildkrout (1999); all
matters relating to the kingdom, for example, activ-
ities of the local royal family, treasury, and historic
houses, can be a part of cultural tourism.
The Yogyakarta Palace managers can benefit from
the findings of this study, particularly regarding the
factors that can influence tourists who have visited
the palace to have the intention of returning. Factors
that directly affect return visits are tourist satisfaction,
service quality, and place attachment, thus, tourism
sitesmanagers could apply such factors to attract royal
palace tourists.
The authors suggest that future studies, especially
regarding tourist behaviour in royal tourism, should
modify the researchmodel by considering using other
predictor variables such as travel motivation and des-
tination image and it is also worth trying variables re-
lated to psychographics, for example, lifestyle and per-
sonality (novelty-seeking, and sensation-seeking).
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Original Scientific Article
Slow Tourism as an Immersive Travel Experience:
A Bibliometric Analysis
Damir Krešić
Institute for Tourism, Croatia
damir.kresic@iztzg.hr
Matina Gjurašić
Institute for Tourism, Croatia
matina.gjurasic@iztzg.hr
‘Slow tourism’ is a holistic tourism concept that promotes sustainability in all as-
pects of a traveller’s journey. It is a promising alternative tomass tourismwith which
tourists, destination managers, and tourism service providers are willing to engage.
In academic research, there is little consensus on what ‘slow’ means and how it is
practiced or interpreted in relation to different tourism contexts, cultures, and mo-
bilities. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the concept of slow tourism, its evo-
lution and current scope. Moreover, the paper presents a new insight into scientific
production through bibliometric analysis, not previously fully clarified in hospitality
and tourism research. Data for the study is generated fromEnglish-language journal
articles that were produced from a Scopus database search of specific keywords as-
sociated with slow tourism. The findings indicate that the research interests on slow
tourism is growing remarkably and is related to slow travel and food, sustainability,
and an immersive travel experience.
Keywords: slow tourism, sustainability, local food, immersive travel experience,
bibliometric analysis
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.15.323-333
Introduction
Tourism behaviour has changed during the covid-
19 period, resulting in the bolstering of proximity
tourism. There has been an increase in ‘staycations’
or vacations close to home. Nature, rural tourism, and
road trips have emerged as popular travel choices due
to travel limitations and a quest for the open air. More
and more travellers want to make real connections
with local people, the place itself, and the local cul-
ture, and they are doing it by slowing down. They stay
longer in the destination and prioritize travel qual-
ity over quantity (Wen et al., 2020). Therefore, the
‘slow travel’ experience is gaining increasing interest
(unwto, 2021).
Slow tourism is perceived as a promising alterna-
tive to mass tourism which promotes sustainability,
and with which tourists, destination managers, and
tourism service providers are willing to engage (Ser-
dane et al., 2020). It respects local cultures, history, and
environments, while at the same time valuing social
responsibility by celebrating diversity and the connec-
tion that a tourist gets from sharing and engaging in
a space with other visitors and the host community
(Jung et al., 2014).
Despite the proliferation of the relevant literature,
research development on slow tourism is still in its
infancy (Serdane et al., 2020). There is no consis-
tent understanding of what constitutes slow tourism.
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 323
Damir Kreši and Matina Gjuraši Slow Tourism as an Immersive Travel Experience
It can be considered as a kind of attitude regarding
travel (Lumsdon & McGrath, 2011) which includes
use of local transportation to and from the destina-
tion and staying at one destination for a longer time
to explore local culture and food. These travellers are
environmentally friendly. Others see it as an alterna-
tive approach to mass tourism (Markwell et al., 2012
in Serdane et al., 2020) which brings social and eco-
nomic benefits to the destination (Timms & Con-
way, 2012). Additionally, there are different mean-
ings of slow tourism worldwide. In the usa, slow
tourism means taking time at the destination to be-
come familiar with it, to explore it up close. The mode
of transport to the destination is not so important,
whereas in Europe, slow tourism refers to travelling
to closer places and with an environmentally accept-
able mode of travel (Robbins & Cho, 2012 in Özdemir
& Çelebi, 2018). Therefore, there is no universally ac-
cepted global definition of slow tourism.
The aim of this research is to advance previous re-
views on slow tourismvia amore systematic, objective,
and integrated review. The paper uses a bibliometric
analytical tool to identify established and emergent re-
search clusters for the typological analysis. Such an ap-
proachwas undertaken to address threemain research
questions:
rq1 How has research on slow tourism evolved be-
tween 2011 and 2021?
rq2 What are the main themes of slow tourism re-
search?
rq3 What are the future directions of the research in
this field?
Therefore, the aim of bibliometric analysis is to:
• Provide bibliometric information on scientific
studies which were extracted from the Scopus
database.
• Use the software R with bibliometrix codes and
the biblioshiny online program to obtain and
record the quantitative data in the different ar-
ticles selected.
• Use the variable of authors per article to under-
stand the leading authors in this research area.
• Use citations analysis and a collaboration map to
understand the network of this research stream.
• Study countries to evaluate production, citations,
and the network within each country.
According to the aim of the research, this paper is
arranged as follows. The first part explores the litera-
ture review of slow tourism, following the methodol-
ogy phases used. The third section subsequently dis-
cusses results of the bibliometric analysis via a series
of visual and tabulated representations. Based on the
research findings the authors elucidated research gaps
and set areas for future research. The paper closes with
the contribution and implications of this study.
Literature Review
The term ‘slow’ in the context of sustainability origi-
nates from the Slow Food movement which began in
Italy in the late 1980s. Carlo Petrini, who is a father of
the Slow Food movement, was against the opening of
the first McDonald’s restaurant in the centre of Rome
in 1986 (Myhrvold et al., 2011 in Paul, 2014). He be-
lieved that everybody is entitled to tasty, healthy, and
local food. Such a philosophy later spread to all as-
pects of urban living as a Cittaslow (Slow City) move-
ment which aims to increase the quality of life and en-
sure sustainable development in cities (Nilsson et al.,
2011). Today,more than 100, 000 small cities are part of
the Cittaslow network. Those cities satisfymajor crite-
ria grouped into seven macro-areas ranging from en-
ergy and environmental policies, quality-of-urban-life
policies, policies for hospitality, awareness and train-
ing, and social cohesion. People in those cities respect
tradition through the joy of slow and quiet living (Cit-
taslow International n.d.).
Slowness is an effective concept of slow tourism
which offers an alternative to mass tourism with more
attention on destination sustainability and tourist ex-
perience (Heitmann et al., 2011; Meng & Choi, 2016).
In the literature several authors have acknowledged
the need to differentiate between slow travel and slow
tourism. The term ‘slow travel’ is more about slow-
ing down the speed (Gardner, 2009 in Caffyn, 2012),
taking time to explore the destination. The journey be-
comes a moment of relaxation, not a predetermined,
imposed goal to achieve. Those travellers are seeking
greater authenticity in their holidaying and require a
different experience while having a moral conscience
324 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Damir Kreši and Matina Gjuraši Slow Tourism as an Immersive Travel Experience
towards the impact they bring to the destination (Con-
way & Timms, 2012). They usually use clean modes of
transport such as biking (Dickinson et al., 2011) and
walking which gives them the possibility to explore
the destination slowly and immerse themselves in it
(Molz, 2009 in Rabbiosi, 2021; Kato & Progano, 2017).
Doing so, travellers make real and meaningful con-
nections with people, places, culture, food, heritage,
and environment (Caffyn, 2012; Moskwa et al., 2015;
Park & Lee, 2019;Walker & Lee, 2019). Therefore ‘slow
travel’ generally refers to the tourist journey while
‘slow tourism’ is concerned with all tourism activi-
ties at the destination (Conway & Timms, 2012). Such
tourism focuses on the full travel experience and en-
courages travellers to reduce their travel frequency and
stay longer in a destination to immerse themselves in a
destination, its culture, and people (Dickinson, 2015 in
Losado &Mota, 2019) which is a central point for cre-
ation and consumption of memorable tourism experi-
ences (Lindberg & Østergaard, 2015). When travellers
are encouraged to physically (e.g., touching, smelling,
walking) or mentally (i.e., thinking or watching) con-
nect with a given event or performance, they can im-
merse themselves in ameaningful experience of learn-
ing and discovering it. In this sense, Lumsdon, and
McGrath (2011) point out that slow tourism creates a
chance to slowly explore a destination and enrich the
travel experience.
Themajor reasons for participating in slow tourism
are ‘self-reflection’ and ‘discovery’ (Oh et al., 2016; Lin,
2018). For instance, self-reflection assists travellers
to become reinvigorated and recharged while dis-
covery encourages travellers to get inspired, discover
themselves, immerse themselves with their destina-
tion more deeply, and restore positive attitudes and
mindsets. Time is valuable for them. Such tourism en-
courages independent rather than group travel. They
choose destinations with the aim to stay longer in
places with a slower pace, which offers opportuni-
ties to walk, cycle and enjoy the countryside (Lums-
don & McGrath, 2011; Sompong et al., 2015; Serdane
et al., 2020). They use local trains, local buses, bicy-
cle or walk to explore destinations. Moreover, such
transportation represents low carbon means of travel
(Conway&Timms, 2012; Kato & Progano, 2017; Chi &
Han, 2020). They opt to stay in accommodation with
a host family so they can immerse themselves in the
local life and learn about the local culture first-hand
(Khan, 2015;Meng&Choi, 2016; Losada&Mota, 2019;
Ince et al., 2020; Walker et al., 2021). They are looking
for a quality over quantity experience, something to-
tally different from trips where travellers just follow
the list of all must-sees and after getting home realize
that they need a holiday to recover.
Oh et al. (2016) have undertaken very interesting
research on the motivation and goals of practicing
slow tourism. In their opinion, slow tourism is not a
counterbalance to developed mass tourism, but rather
a coexisting phenomenon. Both slow and fast ways of
travelling are constantly intertwined within the same
tourist. They suggest that the tourism industry should
not consider slow tourism as an independent, sepa-
rate, and opposite phenomenon to mass tourism, but
should treat it in parallel. The focus should be on a
tourist behavioural approach – their motivation to
travel, their value and the goals they would like to
achieve during the holiday.
According to the literature review, slow tourism
research has been mainly focused on the factors that
affect the choice of slow tourism destination such as
a traveller’s sociodemographic, attitudinal and moti-
vational characteristics (Meng & Choi, 2016; Oh et
al., 2016; Lin, 2017). This study tries to define major
themes, trends, authors, and countries of slow tourism
research during the last decade.
Methodology
The methodology of this study includes five main
phases involving (1) Study Design, (2) Data Collec-
tion, (3) Data Analysis, (4) Data Visualization, and (5)
Interpretation (Cobo et al., 2011; Zupic & Čater, 2015;
Aria & Cuccurullo, 2017; Campra et al., 2021).
Study Design
The first step was to define the research aim and ques-
tions. The second step included selection of a database
to develop a data set for bibliometric analysis. The Sco-
pus database was used to search all pertinent articles
for this research because it is one of the largest and
highest-quality abstract and online citation databases
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 325
Damir Kreši and Matina Gjuraši Slow Tourism as an Immersive Travel Experience
of peer-reviewed literature in the field of management
science in general (Aksnes & Sivertsen, 2019). The
search criteria were determined by the researchers to
extract the collection results. First, the term ‘slow’ was
combined with ‘tourism,’ and ‘travel’ and ‘sustainable’
to formulate keywords such as ‘slow tourism,’ and ‘slow
sustainable tourism,’ and ‘slow travel.’ Those keywords
were searched in three sections, including the title, ab-
stract, and keywords. In terms of document types, only
full-length journal articles in English were collected
(Ramos-Rodríguez & Ruiz-Navarro, 2004). Confer-
ence papers, reviews, and reports were excluded. The
timeline was selected (2011–2021), keeping in mind
that the concept was operationalized during the 2010s
(Walker et al., 2021). The second-round search was
conducted to refine the collection results and check
the selected articles.
Data Collection
In the first round, 743 relevant publications were iden-
tified. After applying the research criteria such as time
frame, publication type, and language, the data set
included 304 publications. The authors read the ti-
tle and the abstract of those publications displayed in
the search results. The database was then downloaded
in Bibtex format and uploaded in the Bibliometrix R
package which is an open-source tool for quantita-
tive research in bibliometrics. After the upload, the
R Studio software version 3.0 was used to eliminate
duplicates and create a unified file. After deleting all
duplicates and selecting relevant publications from the
tourism and hospitality field, the final dataset included
168 publications.
Data Analysis and Visualization
In this phase, the software R and biblioshiny web in-
terface for bibliometrix were used to create descriptive
bibliometric analysis and explore relationships within
the research, such as keywords’ co-occurrence and co-
citation networks. The results from the analysis are vi-
sually presented in the tables and graphs.
Interpretation
Finally, data has been interpreted. The analysis of the
results starts with the essential description of themain
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 1 Annual Scientific Production – ‘Slow Tourism’
bibliometrics statistics which present the following de-
tails: type of document, annual scientific production,
scientific sources, source growth, number of articles
per author, author’s keywords, articles’ citation, coun-
try’s production, country’s citation, country collabora-
tion map, and country collaboration network.
Findings
Screening of available research literature reveals that in
the field of slow tourism research, altogether, 368 au-
thors contributed 168 research publications to the lit-
erature corpus from 2011–2021. The most significant
increase in publication occurred in 2020, with a total
of 35 articles (21) while the lowest productivity was
in 2012 (3) (Figure 1).
Those articles have been published in 71 sources,
particularly in scientific journals. The number of ‘Key-
words Plus’ is 320 and represent words or phrases
that frequently appear in the titles of an article’s ref-
erences, but do not appear in the title of the article
itself. Out of these 168 research publications, single-
authored documents constitute about 23, while the
remaining 77 of the articles weremulti-authored, in-
dicating the popularity of the collaborative nature of
research among authors in the field of slow tourism.
Therefore, the collaboration index (ci), which is de-
signed as Total Authors of Multi-Authored Articles, is
2.56 authors per document. Table 1 presents a detailed
characterization of the database.
Regarding the journals’ productivity, the analysis is
based on a ranking of the top ten journals in the econ-
omy and business management field from the Scopus
326 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Damir Kreši and Matina Gjuraši Slow Tourism as an Immersive Travel Experience
Table 1 Initial Search Results on ‘Slow Tourism’ Topic for
the Period 2011–2021
Main information about data Search Result (Number)*
Documents (articles) 
Sources (journals) 
Period –
Average citations per documents .
Keywords Plus (id) 
Author’s Keywords (de) 
Authors 
Authors of single-authored documents 
Authors of multi-authored documents 
Collaboration Index (ci) .
Notes *Search results (number) are from the Scopus
database.
Table 2 Top 10 Journals on ‘Slow Tourism’ Topic in the
Scopus Database from 2011–2021
Sources Articles
Journal of Sustainable Tourism 
Tourism Geographies 
African Journal of Hospitality Tourism and Leisure 
Tourism Management 
Tourism Recreation Research 
Tourism Management Perspectives 
Tourism Planning and Development 
Current Issues in Tourism 
Journal of Destination Marketing and Management 
database. From Table 2 it is evident that one journal
stands out in terms of the number of articles: Journal
of Sustainable Tourism with 27 articles, with Tourism
Geographies following with 10 articles and others be-
low that number. Furthermore, the table makes visible
the fact that all journals deal with either tourism or
hospitality services.
The most prominently cited publication on slow
tourism is ‘Developing a Conceptual Framework for
Slow Travel: A Grounded Theory Approach’ authored
by Lumsdon and McGrath and published in 2011.
In their framework they identify four key features
Table 3 The Top 10 Most-Cited Papers in the Journals
between 2011 and 2021
Authors, Year Journal Total Citations*
Lumsdon and McGrath
()
Journal of Sustainable
Tourism

Nilsson et al. () Current Issues in Tourism 
Ekinci () Tourism Management 
Timms and Conway
()
Tourism Geographies 
Moskwa et al. () Journal of Sustainable
Tourism

Ho et al. Chen () Journal of Sustainable
Tourism

Adeyinka-Ojo & Khoo-
Lattimore ()
Worldwide Hospitality
and Tourism Themes

Lin () Journal of Sustainable
Tourism

Presenza et al. () Tourism Planning and
Development

Kato and Progano () Tourism Management
Perspectives

Notes *Number of citations is based on Scopus database.
that together make up the core components of a slow
travel holiday: slowness and the value of time; local-
ity and activities at the destination; mode of trans-
port and travel experience; environmental conscious-
ness, with slowness having a pivotal role. Their con-
cept of slow tourism has received a total of 109 ci-
tations. The following most-cited study is ‘CittàSlow
Eco-gastronomic Heritage as a Tool for Destination
Development’ with 33 citations, published in Current
Issues inTourism (Nilsson et al., 2011). The authors em-
phasized that slow tourism could assist destinations in
quality offerings and that the CittàSlow concept has
an indirect potential for tourism development. Ad-
ditionally, Timms and Conway (2012), with 28 cita-
tions, point out that slow tourism is an alternative
model to mass tourism since it encompasses the envi-
ronmental sustainability concerns of ecotourism, ad-
dresses the social and cultural sustainability interests
of community-based tourism and advances the eco-
nomic sustainability of a destination. Table 3 presents
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 327
Damir Kreši and Matina Gjuraši Slow Tourism as an Immersive Travel Experience
Figure 2 World-Cloud Analysis of Research Literature
the top ten most-cited influential publications in the
journals from the Scopus database.
According to the analysis from biblioshiny, the
main keywords that are used frequently in the field
of slow tourism research are ‘sustainability,’ ‘tourism’
and ‘slow travel,’ following ‘slow food,’ ‘tourist expe-
rience’ and ‘slow adventure.’ This information is es-
sential to determine the research trends and fields
in slow tourism that can be interesting as research
areas. To confirm this, a world cloud analysis was
adopted (Figure 2). Such analysis visually represents
text data, where the size of a particular word can visu-
alize the frequency and its assigned importance by the
researchers. The larger the size of a word in the word
cloud the greater the number of times that word is
used in the corpus. Analysis of the text confirms that
‘slow travel’ is usually used with ‘sustainability’ and
‘tourist experience.’ Moreover, the analysis indicates
that ‘tourism development ’and ‘slow food’ are more
popular than the word ‘Covid-19.’
Furthermore, ‘slow tourism,’ ‘slow travel’ and ‘slow
food’ were central keywords in 2011 while the key-
words ‘sustainability’ and ‘alternative tourism’ have
evolved since 2015, which indicates their linkage. The
development trend of keywords from 2011 to 2021 is
visualized on the map (Table 4).
To present how frequently these keywords words
have been used together in the literature, a co-occur-
rence analysis of keywords is made. The larger the
size of the specific frame the greater the repetition
of that keyword in the literature. Figure 3 shows the
Table 4 Development Trend of Keywords between 2011
and 2021
Year Sl
ow
to
ur
ism
Su
st
ai
na
bl
et
ou
ri
sm
Sl
ow
fo
od
Su
st
ai
na
bi
lit
y
Sl
ow
tr
av
el
Su
st
ai
na
bl
ed
ev
.
To
ur
ism
A
lte
rn
at
iv
e
to
ur
is
m
C
ar
ib
be
an
Sl
ow
m
ov
em
en
t
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
result of the co-occurrence analysis of keywords. A
close look at the co-occurrencemap suggests that ‘slow
tourism,’ ‘sustainable tourism,’ and ‘slow food,’ ‘travel
experience,’ and ‘slowness’ are some of the keywords
of slow tourism literature which have been used most
frequently. The distance between two terms is an indi-
cation of how commonly they have been used together
in a journal article. It can be observed that closely sit-
uated terms have been usedmore regularly in a higher
number of research articles than two words which are
located relatively farther on the map. ‘Tourism mar-
keting’ is linked to ‘sustainable tourism’ and ‘small is-
land.’ The research findings also indicate that ‘travel
experience’ and ‘slowness’ are placed side by side, sug-
gesting that they are more frequently used in research
papers. On the other hand, ‘travel experience’ and ‘al-
ternative tourism’ are located at a relatively greater
distance on the map, which suggests that these words
have appeared in a research paper less frequently. The
appearance of the word ‘the Caribbean’ is suggestive
of the frequency of location of slow tourism research.
To detect relationships between articles, the au-
thors used co-citation network analysis. This type
328 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Damir Kreši and Matina Gjuraši Slow Tourism as an Immersive Travel Experience
Figure 3 Co-Occurrence of Keywords along with ‘Slow
Tourism’
of analysis studies the frequency of cases when two
(or more) sources have been cited in the third paper,
which has a similar timeline of publications. The size
of the frame of a node indicates the volume of research
work on slow tourism published by that author. Rel-
ative distance in the map is an indication of the fre-
quency with which a third common paper has cited
these two authors (or journals), so two closely situ-
ated authors (or periodicals) have been co-cited more
often.
The analysis of this study clusteredmain topics and
their authors in two different colours (red and blue).
The first cluster, the red one, emphasizes topics writ-
ten by Dickinson et al. (2011), Lumsdon, andMcGrath
(2011), and Fullagar et al. (2012). These authors are
focused on similar themes; therefore they are cited to-
gethermore frequently (Figure 4). Those topics are re-
lated to slowness, holiday duration, nearby locations,
quality tourism experience and conscious decision-
making. Slowness means spending more time at the
destination and gaining a quality tourism experience.
Special attention is given to people and place engage-
ment. They describe those travellers as environmen-
tally conscious tourists who prefer buses, coaches, and
trains as low carbon dioxide vehicles while travelling.
In their research they cited earlier research written by
Matos (2004) who pointed out that mountain regions
should develop slow tourism and offer a wider range
of tourist products to protect the natural environment.
The second cluster of this study is the blue one and
represents the concept of Slow Food and Slow City
movement described by Hall (2012) and Nilsson et
Figure 4 Co-Citation Network Analysis
Table 5 Distribution of Research Regions
Region f Region f
uk  Germany 
China  Poland 
Australia  Romania 
Italy  Thailand 
Turkey  usa 
Portugal  Malaysia 
South korea  Spain 
Japan  Sweden 
al. (2011) who co-cited Mayer and Knox from 2006.
Those authors recommend the concept of Slow Cities
(Cittaslow) as a perfect model for local sustainable
development in small towns. Such places are devel-
oped within the framework of a sustainable economic
model, provide solutions to infrastructure, pollution,
and traffic problems, mobilize the local dynamics of
the city, and offer visitors the unique historical con-
text of a town. Furthermore, those places provide an
opportunity to each visitor to enjoy local culture, food,
and hospitality.
The following section analyses the geographical
development of publishing about the ‘slow tourism’
topic. The bibliometric analysis indicates that the uk
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 329
Damir Kreši and Matina Gjuraši Slow Tourism as an Immersive Travel Experience
Figure 5 Collaboration of Countries/Regions
(74) and China (41) are some of the highest-contribut-
ing countries in slow tourism literature as the high-
est number of research articles originate from these
countries (Table 5). Furthermore, the map (Figure 5)
shows that intercountry collaboration exists and the
blue colour on the map represents the existence of re-
search networks with other nations. What can be no-
ticed from the map is that the countries with a major
number of publications on slow tourism are the ones
with higher partnership rates, meaning that they have
shared information and helped each other to find sci-
entific, relevant results. The highest intercountry col-
laboration exists between China and Australia.
Discussion and Conclusion
This research is the first of its kind to use a biblio-
metric method to analyse research trends on slow
tourism topics from the Scopus database. The main
contribution of this paper is threefold: to present re-
search trends on slow tourism during the last decade,
to identify the most productive journals and most
cited authors and, moreover, to emphasize major key
words and themes which are currently evolving on
slow tourism research. Those themes can be used as a
potential area for future research.
According to the analysis of annual scientific pro-
duction on slow tourism research during the last de-
cade, it is evident that the highest number of publi-
cations occurred during the covid-19 pandemic pe-
riod, 2020 – 2021 (Figure 1). Slow tourism is described
as a promising alternative to mass tourism which pro-
motes sustainability, while tourists, destination man-
agers, and tourism service providers are willing to en-
gage with it (Serdane et al., 2020). Such tourism re-
spects local cultures, history, and environments, while
at the same time valuing social responsibility by cel-
ebrating diversity and the connection that a tourist
gets from sharing and engaging in a space with other
visitors and the host community (Jung et al., 2014).
In this sense, the most-cited paper written by Lums-
don and McGrath (2011) points that slow tourism is
a way in which tourists approach their travel. Those
travellers want to enjoy and slowly explore a destina-
tion. They want to interact with local people and be
part of their daily tasks. Moreover, they wish to taste
their food and enjoy the local atmosphere in a typ-
ical restaurant. Time, as a slowness, is important for
them since they can immerse themselves in different
social and cultural aspects of the local lifestyle (Sun &
Lin, 2018) which leads to a more fulfilling and mem-
orable holiday (Almeida-Santana & Moreno-Gil, 2018
in Walker et al. 2021).
Furthermore, the research reveals thatmain themes
of slow tourism are related to slow travel and food,
sustainability, and the travel experience. Slow tourism
activities, such as food experience (local and tradi-
tional diet) or slow-mode experience (public trans-
port, walking or cycling) provides a more detailed
and in-depth experience. In such ways, tourists have
a chance to immerse themselves in a destination and
330 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Damir Kreši and Matina Gjuraši Slow Tourism as an Immersive Travel Experience
achieve an authentic experience. These results are im-
portant for destination managers, policymakers, and
other significant stakeholders to design strategies that
would create immersive travel experiences andmake a
positive impact on a destination.Moreover, analysis of
co-occurrence of keywords points out that travel expe-
rience and tourism marketing are very thinly studied
and therefore need the attention of researchers and
practitioners to further explore it.
The analysis finds that the journals most involved
in the research area are Journal of Sustainable Tourism,
Tourism Geographies, African Journal of Hospitality
Tourism and Leisure, Current Issues in Tourism, and
Tourism Management. These journals have the high-
est number of articles related to slow tourism research.
In addition, the Journal of Sustainable Tourism is the
journal which has the article with the most-cited pa-
per, the one written by Lumsdon and McGrath (2011).
Regarding the geographical development of slow
tourism research, most of the articles originate from
the uk, China, and Australia, and there is a country
collaboration between China and Australia. In Eu-
rope, Italy and Portugal have the highest number of
research papers on the slow tourism topic, while the
Third World countries lack in the number of research
papers. Future research should explore the concept
of slow tourism in South America, India, and New
Zealand and compare it with the European concept.
This research paper has several limitations. First,
this study attempted to provide a holistic view of slow
tourism research between 2011 and 2021; however, re-
search on slow tourism in hospitality and tourism
started in the early 2000s (Lumsdon&McGrath, 2011).
Thus, future research may compare the contribution
of regions and researchers over longitudinal studies;
one from 2000–2010 and the second from 2011–2021.
Second, the current research is limited to the Scopus
database and reviewed only articles in journals in En-
glish. Therefore, other databases may be included in
future research such as Emerald, ScienceDirect, eb-
scohost, and ProQuest as well as publications from
major conferences, books, book chapters, and disser-
tations to explore slow tourism and the link to sustain-
ability and a tourism immersive experience. Notewor-
thy is that a qualitative and mixed research method-
ology should contribute to the advancement of slow
tourism research, especially in the ThirdWorld coun-
tries where there is a lack of such studies. Such re-
search would provide guidelines for development of a
slow and sustainable tourism model in their destina-
tions. Third, while researchers usually cite their own
work to inform readers about their prior work, the
self-citations may affect the quality of the reported re-
sults in citation analysis. Hence, this creates an oppor-
tunity for future research to analyse self-citations as a
metric to evaluate the impact of leading researchers in
the field.
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Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 333

Original Scientific Article
Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism:
Cases of Drift Ice in Hokkaido and ICEHOTEL
in Lapland
Takafumi Fukuyama
Hokkaido University, Japan
fukuyama@cats.hokudai.ac.jp
Johan R. Edelheim
Hokkaido University, Japan
johan.edelheim@imc.hokudai.ac.jp
The characteristics of theNorth tend to be describednegatively, such as sparsely pop-
ulated, peripheral, and disadvantageous due to coldness, darkness, or heavy snow-
fall. This is true both for Japan and for the Nordic countries. In northern history,
the relationship between humans and nature, snow and ice, has gradually changed
as humans began to take advantage of their environment. Nature used to be a place
to live; however, it is now used for experiences, especially in snow and ice tourism.
This study examines the process of developing unused community resources in the
North by using theoretical ‘resource studies’ through a comparative case study be-
tween Drift Ice in Japan and icehotel in Sweden with the distinct aim of clari-
fying a mechanism of resource utilisation and its associated issues. Local endeav-
ours seen in both processes are chronologically divided into 4 phases: the periods
of Dawn, Establishment, Growth, and Maturity. Then, synchronically, the mecha-
nism of promoting these utilisations can be illustrated in four quadrants, namely
‘cultural branding,’ ‘cultural marketing,’ ‘scientific branding,’ and ‘scientific market-
ing.’ Furthermore, it can be considered that the role of snow and ice tourism de-
velopment is cultivating peoples’ awareness of nature preservation during climate
change, based on the integrated analysis of both Japanese and Northern European
approaches. Thus, this study shows the significance of enhancing the value of snow
and ice and the potential of them in the north.
Keywords: resource studies, unused community resources, process of utilisation,
snow and ice tourism innovations, Japan and Sweden
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.15.335-348
Introduction
The characteristics of an urban, modern, and heav-
ily populated ‘south,’ compared to a rural, traditional,
and sparsely populated ‘north,’ not only fits Northern
Europe or North America, but also, maybe somewhat
surprisingly for international audiences, Japan. Japan
is an island nation with four main islands and thou-
sands of smaller islands spread out over almost four
thousand kilometres from south to north. Being in the
middle of two major oceanic currents means that the
south of Japan enjoys warm, and even sub-tropical cli-
mates, whereas cool, almost arctic conditions prevail
in the north.
Since around the 2000s, tourism-based regional
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 335
Takafumi Fukuyama and Johan R. Edelheim Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism
Historical
context of
snow and
innovation
Theoretical
framework
Empirical data
and
methodology
Findings
(Mombetsu,
Jukkasjärvi)
Discussion
and
comparison
Conclusion
Figure 1 ‘Road-map’ of this article
innovations, which make use of community resources
for more than just locals, have been garnering atten-
tion (Nishimura, 2009; Shikida et al., 2009; Okoso,
2013; Morishige, 2014). The social background for this
is a declining and aging population in both the north
and the rural south of Japan. While these movements
were already being promoted in the 1990s (Shikida,
2009), regional revitalisation has been gaining mo-
mentum as a national policy since around the 2010s,
and thus, regional development has become a more
serious issue (Fukuyama & Shikida, 2019). However,
there are geographic conditions that make such de-
velopment difficult. Despite its reputation for densely
populated urban areas Japan has, for example, several
remote islands, mountain villages, and depopulated
areas which are classified as conditionally disadvan-
taged areas. Apart from geographical features, ‘heavy
snowfall areas’ are also designated as conditionally dis-
advantaged (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Commu-
nications, 2015).
On the other side of the world, similar character-
istics also describe disadvantageous areas in the north
of Europe, in Scandinavia. ‘Sparsity’ is the first char-
acteristic describing regions where low population
densities have been causing local challenges for the
economy (Gløersen et al., 2006). Then, ‘peripheral-
ity’ is also considered, denoting the distance to major
European markets (Gløersen et al., 2006). These re-
gions are so-called ‘low-amenity’ areas, characterised
by economic decline or outmigration (Carson et al.,
2018). Indeed, those rural areas in the far north are
regarded as being in socio-economic decline, having a
sparse population, and suffering froma lack of services
and infrastructure (Vuin et al., 2016). Furthermore, the
lack of diverse employment opportunities in many pe-
ripheral places tend to cause unemployment (Müller
& Jansson, 2007), and the cold climate brings an extra
challenge for these regions (Gløersen et al., 2006).
Regarding the similarity of the above situation in
Japan, there are also few employment opportunities
in disadvantageous areas due to problems stemming
from its rural past; the populations age or move away.
Especially in areas with heavy snowfall these problems
overlap, resulting in an increasing disadvantage (Ye et
al., 2007). According to the Ministry of Land, Infras-
tructure, Transport and Tourism in Japan, ‘industrial
development is stagnant, and the improvement of the
living standard of residents is hindered due to heavy
snowfall.’ Hence, in order to promote industry and im-
prove residents’ living, the Act on SpecialMeasures for
Heavy Snowfall Areas has been established (Ministry
of Internal Affairs and Communications, 2015).
In the near past, a disaster called the ‘38.1 heavy
snowfall’ struckmainly the Hokuriku region in north-
ern Japan in 1963. The National Police Agency re-
ported about 600 casualties and that more than 11,000
homes were destroyed (Fukui, 1963). Such devasta-
tion is called ‘snow and ice disasters’ in Japan and
much engineering research on disaster control has
since been undertaken (Takahashi, 1997). In addition,
snow and ice disasters are no longer restricted to indi-
vidual losses, but also encompass economic damages
on a societal scale, and even the hindrance of social
function (Numano, 2006). In this way, snow and ice
in heavy snowfall areas are considered to be negative
for communities in northern Japan.
With this geographical context as a base, we will
initially give a historic context of snow innovation,
followed by our theoretical framework, especially re-
source studies, and our methodology. This leads us
to our two empirical cases, Mombetsu in Japan, and
Jukkasjärvi in Sweden, which will be compared and
contrasted based on our framework (see Figure 1).
Historically, humans in the north have long been
(and are still) suffering from snow and ice disasters
caused by Mother Nature (Wakahama, 1995; Fukuya-
336 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Takafumi Fukuyama and Johan R. Edelheim Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism
Figure 2
Historical Change in Relationship
between Humans and Nature
(based upon Oshima, 1987;
Numano, 2006; Ranta &
Suopajärvi, 2019)
Traditional livelihoods Modern projects Postmodern services
Nature = space to live Nature = resource Nature = experience
Enduring
snow
Tai-setsu
Overcoming
snow
Koku-setsu
Utilizing
snow
Ri-setsu
Enjoying
snow
Shin-setsu
ma, 2015). Unlike other natural disasters, those caused
by snow and ice are remarkable because of their close-
ness to our everyday lives (Numano, 1984). From a hu-
man perspective, Numano (2006) describes the initial
relationship between humans and snow as ‘Tei-setsu
(Giving up with snow)’; Oshima (1987) alternatively
explains that humans have long been in a ‘Tai-setsu
(Enduring snow)’ relationship.
However, we recently observe many cases where
snow and ice are innovatively used for tourism both
in Europe and Japan, such as by locals in Hokkaido,
the northern main island of Japan (Fukuyama, 2015),
as well as snow constructions in Lapland (Edelheim,
2014). There is, for example, an outstanding case of
a ‘Jifubuki (Blizzard) tour’ creation in Aomori prefec-
ture, in northern Japan. Jifubuki is in relative terms a
negative weather phenomenon that threatens human
lives. However, the reversal idea generated by locals to
actively promote it, and endeavours performed by lo-
cal stakeholders, have eventually enhanced the posi-
tive value in the negative Jifubuki phenomenon. In ad-
dition, this has led to regional development (Narumi,
1997). Surprisingly to those who previously feared and
shunned the phenomenon, both domestic and inter-
national tourists consume an innovative service, sim-
ply by experiencing this Jifubuki.
Not only the Jifubuki tour in Japan, but many other
cases globally, show that winter tourism-based re-
gional development has gradually gained momen-
tum by utilising negative community resources, snow
and ice, in northern regions (Fukuyama & Shikida,
2019). In this regard, the historical changes in the re-
lationship between humans and snow in Japan has
certain phases, continuing from ‘Tei-setsu (Enduring
snow)’ mentioned above, to ‘Koku-setsu (Overcom-
ing snow),’ then ‘Ri-setsu (Utilising snow),’ and finally
‘Shin-setsu (Enjoying snow)’ (Wakahama, 1995; Nu-
mano, 2006).
Relatedly, in Northern European research, there is
a remarkable study that suggests the meaning of na-
ture for humans has changed in three phases. Ranta
and Suopajärvi (2019) indicate that the first phase, pre-
modern, used to mean a ‘Space to live.’ This meaning
was followed by understanding nature as ‘Resources’
in modern times and finally it comes to be understood
as an ‘Experience’ in post-modern times. Building on
these models, we considered the similar recognitions
in Japan andNorthern Europe in an integrated fashion
(Figure 2).
Although Figure 2 is drawn from a macro perspec-
tive, it includes many invisible micro movements back
and forth among each phase; humans have gradually
and eventually created experience-based tourism by
making positive use of something that was previously
perceived negatively: snow and ice. In this way, we
confirm here the historical changes of the human-
nature relationship based on the above integration of
both northern regions.
Theoretical Framework for Analysing the Process
of Snow and Ice Tourism Creation
In order to examine the actual conditions of promot-
ing snow and ice use, we need firstly to establish the
conceptions of snow and ice both at a time ‘before’
and ‘after’ tourist utilisation in the regions took place.
As for Jifubuki, snow and ice are ‘after’ having been
utilised for tourism, logically, a tourism resource. On
the other hand, there is significant research in which
snow and ice ‘before’ being utilised is regarded as
‘unused community resources.’ Mitsui Information
Development Research Institute (2003) classified the
characteristics of unused community resources into
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 337
Takafumi Fukuyama and Johan R. Edelheim Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism
three types from a market perspective, which are ‘or-
dinary,’ ‘abandoned,’ and ‘negative.’
Thus, this study notably adopts mainly a theory of
resources, including community resource and tourism
resource studies, which are common in Japan. Ya-
sumura et al. (2019) pointed out that those resource
studies are not well known in the world, therefore,
this Japanese analytical approach can contribute to
other global research by offering a different perspec-
tive. Of course, we recognise that there are several sig-
nificant Northern European research papers related
to this theme, such as about tourism product devel-
opment through a cultural approach (Garcia-Rosell
et al., 2007), creative connections between tourists,
entrepreneurs, and destination dynamics (Jóhannes-
son & Lund, 2017), the value creation in experience-
based tourism (Jensen & Prebensen, 2015), and recent
‘place-based resources’ linked to nature and culture
(Fredman & Haukeland, 2021). Hence, we are just fo-
cusing on the future possibility of developing more
multidimensional analytical methods for the sake of
value creation in tourism by exchanging plural ideas
in different ways.
While there are many previous studies on commu-
nity resources in Japan (e.g.Mese, 1990; Shikida, 2012),
the Mitsui Information Development Research Insti-
tute defines it as ‘all tangible and intangible elements
that exist in a region and can be used for human activi-
ties’ (2003, p.3). Regarding its utilisation,Nagata (1988)
began a pioneering study on national use of local re-
sources. Taniguchi (2014) also considered these uses
in the context of rural development; however, these
are only examinations at national policy level. In ad-
dition, there are several studies considering develop-
ment of disadvantageous areas (Yamaguchi et.al., 1996;
Sakamoto et al., 2009; Shoji, 2010). Nevertheless, most
focus only on analysing the effects and success factors
of each case, not attempting to theoretically generalise
the idea.
Considering tourism resource theory critically, sev-
eral researchers have discussed how to classify tourism
resources (e.g. Ashiba, 1997; Suda, 2003) and Taka-
hashi (2014) systematically summarises this theme
chronologically, but there is still no unified view for
tourism resources. Kagawa (2007) relatedly explains
that two different perspectives, business theory and
behaviour of tourists, complicate the interpretation
of the target tourism resources. Teramae (2017) also
extensively argues that the evaluation of tourism re-
sources is only a matter of tourist preference. In as-
sociation with snow and ice, Suda (2003) states that
snow and rain are quite intangible resources and have
not been direct tourism targets before. However, ‘the
phenomenon of snow or drift ice has recently created
tourism effects similar to tangible resources in cold
regions with their long-lasting period’ (Suda, 2003, p.
91). Regarding this evaluation change, snow is con-
sidered an indispensable regional resource in the era
of the above ‘Shin-setsu (Enjoying snow),’ and it has
changed from something troublesome to the region’s
identity (Numano, 2006).
Based on prior research, this study basically adopts
the above resource studies as its theoretical foundation
to analyse a dynamic process of utilising unused com-
munity resources. Sato (2008, p. 9) defines resources
as a ‘bundle of possibilities to be worked on’ and Zim-
mermann (1985, p. 13) defines them as a ‘function
which a thing or a substance may perform’ (p.13) and
indicates that the process of resources utilisation con-
tains ‘Cultural wants’ and ‘Scientific abilities’ (p. 25).
In addition, an underlying theory in marketing is also
adopted as a subsidiary in this study concerning value
creation. It is important for community-based tourism
development to combine both branding and market-
ing properly (Shikida et al., 2009). Furthermore, this
study invokes the usefulness of ‘brand building by
culture’ and ‘marketing by cultural idea’ suggested by
Aoki (2008), and we considered them in an integrated
manner with resource studies.
Simply expressed, this study examines the innova-
tion process of turning something valueless into valu-
able tourism resources that can contribute to regional
development. Therefore, the purpose here is to clarify
factors and issues that can be successfully promoted
to utilise ‘unused community resources’ for winter
tourism development. Moreover, this study discusses
the significance of snow and ice tourism development
with their value enhancement. This is done through
analysing endeavours conducted by locals in north-
ern regions. Here, these local activities are first anal-
338 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Takafumi Fukuyama and Johan R. Edelheim Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism
ysed chronologically, classifying different characteris-
tic phases. Then, the resource utilisation mechanism
will be discussed synchronically, using a framework of
integrating the above resources studies and underly-
ing theories in marketing. Lastly, this study derives a
new concept of humans’ recognition of snow and ice
based on the integrated analysis of both Japanese and
Northern European cases.
Research Sites andMethodological Approach
This study compares two cases of snow and ice tourism
creations, drift ice in Mombetsu city in Hokkaido,
Japan and icehotel in Jukkasjärvi in Kiruna city,
Sweden. Drift ice was previously called a ‘White Devil’
(Nakamura, 1992) due to its negative impact, especially
on the local fishing industry. Nevertheless, it has be-
come a major tourism resource and it can be observed
that local stakeholders now positively evaluate its con-
tribution to the regional economy through tourism
(Fukuyama& Shikida, 2019). On the other hand, ice-
hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Swedish Lapland, is the world’s
oldest ice hotel (Garcia-Rosell et al., 2019). Before that,
snow and ice structures tended to be for private use or
used for a limited duration. But icehotel now at-
tracts many international tourists, and its fame has re-
sulted in other ice or snow hotels being built in differ-
ent cool climates, including Hokkaido. In both cases,
the process of developing unused resources, snow and
ice, were intentional endeavours by locals. Therefore,
it should be possible to analyse factors and issues for
promoting these utilisations.
Mombetsu city is located in the centre of Okhotsk
Sea coast, which is a good fishing ground (Figure 3),
with the coordinates of 44°21’ north and 43°21’ east
and approximately 21,000 inhabitants. Most of Mom-
betsu’s economy is dedicated to fishing for cold-water
species such as crab, and the fishing industry has pro-
duced around 270million euros (2020), including pro-
cessed products. Regarding weather, the annual snow-
fall average is over 480 centimetres, and the lowest
recorded temperature was –24.7°.
On the other hand, Kiruna city is located at the
coordinates of 67°51’ north and 20°13’ east, which is
about 200 km north of the Arctic Circle (Figure 4).
Modern Kiruna was founded around 1900, and min-
Figure 3 Map of Sea of Japan with Mombetsu indicated
Figure 4 Map of Northern Europe with Jukkasjärvi
indicated
ing iron ore rapidly became its major industry; today
it is the largestmine in northern Europe. Over 2,100 of
Kiruna’s 18,200 inhabitants are employed by the min-
ing company lkab and related companies. As for the
weather, the annual precipitation is about 59 centime-
tres, and the lowest temperature recorded was –43.3°.
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 339
Takafumi Fukuyama and Johan R. Edelheim Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism
The icehotel is built each year in Jukkasjärvi (pop-
ulation approximately 600), located 16km away from
Kiruna’s town centre.
Concerning the methodology, we adopted multi-
ple research methods and triangulation in this study,
in order to clarify endogenous endeavours by locals
for both chronologically and synchronically sufficient
analysis. Our stated aim was to examine a resource-
utilising mechanism, and its associated issues, in two
empirical cases.
Firstly, we conducted semi-structured interviews
with stakeholders and key persons in the target com-
munities, 80 locals in Mombetsu (2013–2022) in a lon-
gitudinal survey, and 28 in Kiruna (2019) in a short
but concentrated period, including some preliminary
surveys in Rovaniemi about snow hotels in Finnish
Lapland (2018–2019). The different numbers of re-
spondents at the different locations were based on
convenience sampling, but also on achieving satura-
tion of new themes collected in our interviews. Sec-
ondly, participant observations were undertaken at
both case locations as guests, and as hosts at the back-
stage of attractions. This included at warehouses, of-
fices, and workshops or in discussions with some im-
portant stakeholders and international ice sculptors
while actually staying at icehotel in Jukkasjärvi
or boarding Garinko, a tourism icebreaker, in Mom-
betsu. Lastly, searches of local documents and liter-
ature at both Mombetsu and Kiruna libraries were
carried out, including local newspapers, to obtain in-
formation about local evaluations. Hence, this trian-
gulation made it possible to apprehend many deep
regional realities subjectively, in an objectively appro-
priate balance from micro-, meta-, and macro- per-
spectives. And thus, the diverse collected data from all
the above-mentioned methods was carefully analysed
both chronologically and synchronically to clarify a
resource utilisation mechanism and its issues.
Findings with Chronological Analysis
The Case of Drift Ice Tourism Creation
InMombetsu, Drift ice was once hated by locals to the
extent that it was called ‘White Devil’ as mentioned
above. Especially for fishermen, the long-term stay of
drift ice duringwinter hinders their livelihoods, which
directly leads to a decrease in income. Therefore, it had
been considered that drift ice was a negative natural
phenomenon that could close the region due to this
predicament and extreme cold. According to Aota,
who was involved in the research of drift ice for many
years at Hokkaido University, important reasons why
locals hated it weremainly: (a) fishing damage, (b)ma-
rine accidents, (c) winter unemployment, and (d) ex-
treme freezing (Aota, 1993). Regarding (a) and (b), for
instance, Chishima (1966) reported that the damage
to the Hokkaido fishery industry from drift ice in 1956
exceeded 23 million euros, about 80 fishing boats en-
countered marine accidents, and 14 people perished.
In addition, damage has also occurred in aquacul-
ture such as scallops, whelks, and kelp. Thus, drift
ice has caused serious damage to society, including
fishing and other related local industries (Chishima,
1966).
In consideration of those serious phenomena, there-
fore, the ‘Praying festival for drift ice to leave early’ had
been held, mainly by fishermen, at a local temple for
many years. The beginning of this praying festival, in-
dicating that the region was hostile toward drift ice,
is said to be the Ryujin (Dragon God) Festival held
at Houon Temple in 1887. This festival was held con-
tinuously in Mombetsu until around 1997 (pers. com.
Chiel priest, 2 October 2018).
However, drift ice has been dramatically trans-
formed to a positive tourism resource. For example, in
1996, the sound of drift ice was selected as one of the
‘100 Soundscapes of Japan,’ and drift ice was also certi-
fied as a Hokkaido heritage site together with Garinko
in 2004.Garinko is the world’s first tourism icebreaker,
launched in 1987. Passenger numbers of Garinko were
about 19,000 in 1997 and peaked at 53,300 in 2002.
Another form of tourism utilisation of drift ice is
the Mombetsu Drift Ice Festival. While the details of
this will be referred to below, the number of visitors
to this event reached a peak of about 500,000 in 1985,
from about 10,000 when it was first held in 1963. In
addition, the Okhotsk Sea Ice Museum of Hokkaido
opened in 1991, where visitors can experience and
watch exhibitions about the science of drift ice. Since
its opening, the annual number of visitors has been
about 60,000 (excluding the covid-19 pandemic pe-
340 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Takafumi Fukuyama and Johan R. Edelheim Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism
Table 1 Four Phases of Developing Drift Ice
Phase Period Characteristic
 Dawn s–
s
Attempts to improve negative
value started on an individual
basis
 Establishment s Focused on positive value with
collaborations among
individuals
 Growth s Promotion to share positive
value with continuation of local
endeavours
 Maturity s–
s
Involvement of local residents
and the public with socially
positive evaluation
Notes Based upon Fukuyama and Shikida (2019).
riod), and remarkably, it is not only used by general
tourists, but also by locals for various events, espe-
cially for local children and students. Hence, it can
be considered that drift ice is now a community re-
source closely related to this local area. Furthermore,
the Okhotsk Drift Ice Praying Festival even began in
1991, now to pray seriously for an ‘early arrival’ of drift
ice.
In the process of changing perceptions of drift ice
since the 1940s until the 1990s, there were many vol-
untary endeavours conducted by various local stake-
holders. We have analysed them and classified them
into 4 phases (Table 1).
A hallmark of phase 1 (Dawn: 1940s–1950s) was the
start of initial efforts to improve the negative reputa-
tion of drift ice, or of individual efforts to enhance its
value as a result, in a situation where the regional fo-
cus was only the actual damage to the community. At
this point, collaboration in the region had not yet oc-
curred, but individual attempts were made to utilise
the perceived negative drift ice as a resource.
For example, Murase, a painter who was appointed
as an art teacher at Mombetsu High School in 1949,
was fascinated by the beauty of drift ice, and has
been painting it as a motif throughout his whole life
since then.Murase also began a Sunday painting class,
where local children could learn how to paint. The
number of Murase’s drift ice paintings is said to be
in the thousands, although a local story claims that
Murase was at one stage beaten by residents who dis-
liked his painting the regional enemy.
In Phase 2 (Establishment: 1960s), a positive val-
uation was actively developed for the negatively per-
ceived drift ice in some parts of the region. In addi-
tion, the coordinators of individual resource utilisa-
tion activities had begun to collaborate within this re-
gion, and the effects of such movements strengthened
the transmission of the positive value of drift ice and
promoted resource utilisation. In 1961, an art enthu-
siast, Tanaka, who studied painting and Ainu indige-
nous culture near Lake Toya, returned to his native
Mombetsu. Tanaka became the president of a small
company and started voluntarily to arrange various
kinds of local festivals for children.He andother stake-
holders advocated for, and coordinated theMombetsu
Drift Ice Festival, despite some opposition against this
idea, and financial difficulties. Notwithstanding this,
the first festival in 1963 turned out to attract about
10,000 people. Tanaka also created a storytelling tra-
dition, ‘Tale of Drift Ice,’ on the theme of Ainu culture,
which was announced at the second Drift Ice Festival
in 1964.
Since then,Murase has tried to promote the beauty
of drift ice both inside and outside Hokkaido by hold-
ing the Okhotsk Drift Ice Exhibition, and he started
to collaborate with Tanaka, a fellow member of the
Mombetsu Cultural Federation. Hokkaido University
simultaneously established a research facility inMom-
betsu, and the world’s first radar observation station
operated by Aota and colleagues was founded. Thus,
the characteristics of this phase were that individual
activities using drift ice were linked together, and such
movements gradually led to cultural utilisation in the
community while scientific research had begun.
The characteristic of phase 3 (Growth: 1970s) is that
the endeavours of stakeholders to create and share the
value of drift ice were developed at a sustainable level.
These continuous resource utilisation activities have
facilitated the sharing of the positive features more
widely in region. For example, the data obtained from
the above-mentioned radar observation were firstly
provided to local fisheries, which consequently led to
an obvious decrease in casualties by drift ice. Addi-
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 341
Takafumi Fukuyama and Johan R. Edelheim Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism
tionally, Hoshiai, a natural science researcher, discov-
ered in 1977 that ‘ice algae,’ an occurrence confirmed
in the Antarctic before, also adhered under drift ice in
Mombetsu. Aota, who accompanied Hoshiai, proved
that the food chain originated from ice algae was the
very reason for the rich seafood resources in Okhotsk
Sea, and continued to explain this mechanism pa-
tiently to local fishermen with his own easily under-
standable words. Eventually, the positive ecological
roles of drift ice were elucidated from this natural sci-
ence field.
Concurrently, the socio-economic situation sur-
rounding Mombetsu changed. The local Kounomae
Mine, which once boasted the best coal output in East
Asia, closed in 1973. Furthermore, at sea, international
regulations restricting fisheries to 200 nautical miles
impacted negatively on Mombetsu’s fisheries econ-
omy, starting in 1977. Under these circumstances of
a deteriorating local economy, Mombetsu city started
a comprehensive plan to promote the development of
drift ice. Thus, it is considered that the use of drift ice
as tourism resources gradually began.
Then, in phase 4 (Maturity: 1980s–1990s),more cit-
izen participation was achieved, and positive evalua-
tions of drift icewerewidely shared in public. Aota and
his colleagues encouraged more locals to participate
in the development of resource utilisation, and Mom-
betsu city supported this movement. For instance, in
1986, Aota and local stakeholders started to host the
Northern International Symposiumwhere researchers
from other northern countries, jointly with domes-
tic researchers, presented their studies on drift ice or
sea ice. An executive committee of local volunteers
handled planning and operations. Aota also intention-
ally set special lectures on cultural themes in order to
connect scientists and local residents organically. Fur-
thermore, Aota launched and co-hosted the Children’s
Drift Ice Symposium,which included quiz events to let
children compete for the title of ‘Dr. Drift Ice.’
After that, the tourism-related use of drift ice ex-
panded with the launch of the above-mentioned ice-
breaker Garinko, and Mombetsu municipality even-
tually adopted the ‘Declaration of Drift Ice City’ in
1982. Finally, the Okhotsk Sea Ice Centre of Hokkaido
opened in 1991. In this way, the practice of enhanc-
ing the value of drift ice was systematically promoted
with the support of the society, including the transmis-
sion to the next generation, and this phase was also a
time when the significance of the contribution to the
regional economy from scientific research was recog-
nised.
The Case of the Creation of ICEHOTEL
According to Selberg, the mayor of Kiruna city, only a
few tourists visited Kiruna during the winter months
of the frigid polar nights in the past. The number of
guests in January 1988, for which statistics exist, was
only about 2,900. However, the predecessor of ice-
hotel was created in 1990, and by 2007, the figure in-
creased to 15,500; in other words, more than five times
higher. Tourist numbers in Kiruna have gradually in-
creased during the 1990s–2000s, which was a particu-
larly important period from the creation to the devel-
opment of icehotel in Jukkasjärvi.
More recently, according to Schilar and Keskitalo
(2017), the number of annual guests to icehotel
alone has reached about 50,000 to 60,000 every year
(excluding the term of the covid-19 pandemic). Fur-
thermore, icehotel has been contributing to the
tourism-based regional development of Kiruna in col-
laboration with local tour operators that offer a vari-
ety of activities such as northern light tours, cultural
tourism by Indigenous peoples, snowmobiles and dog
sledding experiences. Thus, the severe winter months
in Kiruna have dramatically transformed into win-
ter tourism which has made the region famous in the
world.
The latent beginning of this icehotel creation
can be seen back in the 1970s. Bergqvist, the rep-
resentative of the founding members of icehotel,
started a community-based company which provided
tourism services in Jukkasjärvi near Torne River, espe-
cially outdoor activities in summer. However, in 1986,
a serious accident occurred during rafting and the
company began to wonder if they could create a new
business in winter. From that point, this series of in-
cidents should be considered as a dawn of icehotel
creation, and we analysed the process of developing
icehotel chronologically in a similar manner to the
case of drift ice. The local endeavours to enhance the
342 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Takafumi Fukuyama and Johan R. Edelheim Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism
Table 2 Four Phases of Developing icehotel
Phase Period Characteristic
 Dawn s Trial to create new value in
unused community resources
individually
 Establishment –

Realisation of unused ice
utilisation and collaboration
system established
 Growth –

Both creating more value and
increasing name recognition
effectively
 Maturity –
now
Stable management and
contribution to winter regional
development
Notes Based upon Fukuyama (2021).
value of snow and ice and develop icehotel can also
be classified into four phases (Table 2).
During phase 1 (Dawn: 1980s), the exploration of
using snow and ice from Torne River in severe win-
ters was actively started at an individual level, with the
pursuit of new business ideas. The connection with
Hokkaido showed that the time of realising this possi-
bility was sufficiently ripe.
As mentioned above, although Bergqvist and oth-
ers were contemplating a winter business creation,
it was common for locals to think that winter was
nothing but darkness, coldness, and snow. Neverthe-
less, in 1987 and 1988, Bergqvist made two important
journeys, choosing winter destinations like Alaska,
Canada, and Japan, to seek new business ideas. When
visiting Hokkaido in Japan, he had a chance to expe-
rience the 38th Sapporo Snow Festival. There, he was
impressed by seeing huge snow sculptures that fas-
cinated many tourists. Inspired by this, he began to
pursue the possibility of events that took advantage
of Jukkasjärvi’s individuality. In 1989, Bergqvist held
a symposium back in Kiruna, together with the Soci-
ety of Snow and Ice Sculptors, inviting two Japanese
ice sculptors from Asahikawa, Hokkaido. There, they
carved ice and made a beautiful bear and an eagle
which impressed the local audience.
In phase 2 (Establishment: 1990–1995), the mo-
mentum for the resource utilisation of snow and ice
were cultivated, leading to the idea conceiving of the
world’s first ice hotel. In 1990, a journalist, Granlund,
together with Bergqvist and a construction master,
Notström, built a big cylinder-shaped igloo called ‘Ar-
tic Hall,’ a wordplay on ‘Arctic’ and ‘art,’ as they ex-
hibited some art inside. One day, acquaintances of
the company owners attending a conference asked
to stay in Jukkasjärvi; however, the accommodations
were fully booked. Spontaneously, the company set
up a trial lodging at this art exhibition igloo with
thick sleeping bags and reindeer skin prepared on
the benches inside. All guests spent the night without
any problems and eventually, this incident became the
birth catalyst for the icehotel. In 1992, the first ice
church was built and in 1994, two key persons joined
the company: Bergh, in charge of art and design, and
Larsson, responsible for the construction. Soon, the
first absolut icebar was created in the hotel, and
since then, icehotel has been disseminating the
style of drinking colourful cocktails in transparent ice
glasses at this ice bar tomedia, aiming to build a brand
image.
Thus, in this phase, the new value of ‘a hotel where
guests can stay in ice rooms’ which no one had imag-
ined as commercial hospitality services before, was
created. In addition, a personnel system with collab-
orators was established to improve the value of ice-
hotel.
The characteristic of phase 3 (Growth: 1996–2015)
is that the value creation through expandedhotel func-
tions and tourism services, as well as a wide vari-
ety of snow and ice usage, were initiated. The added
value was disseminated globally through media and
the name recognition of icehotel was effectively
improved. Significant science and technology devel-
opments also took place.
Firstly, Bergh and Larsson made a huge glacier ice
cave for the movie Smilla’s Sense of Snow, by discov-
ering a mixed product called ‘Snice’ with an optimal
balance of snow and ice for building material. Then,
in 1998, they also invited professor Fransson, collo-
quially called ‘Ice Professor,’ from Luleå University of
Technology. He visited Jukkasjärvi and demonstrated
scientifically a structural strength and safety analysis
of icehotel. This university has a programme of
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 343
Takafumi Fukuyama and Johan R. Edelheim Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism
Creating Value Sharing Value
Approach
Drift Ice painting, Festival, etc.
Ice bar, church, theatre, etc.
Food chain from ice algae, etc.
Structural strength by professor
Sunday painting class, etc.
Fashion runways with global brands, etc.
Northern International Symposium, etc.
University program of engineering
Domain
Local Culture
Natural Science
& Technology
Drift Ice
ICEHOTEL
Drift Ice
ICEHOTEL
Scientific Branding
Cultural Branding
Scientific Marketing
Cultural Marketing
Figure 5 The Mechanism of Promoting Utilisation of Unused Resources
snow and ice architectural engineering, and there are
some research papers on icehotel such as the ex-
perimental measurements on compressive strength of
snow (e.g. Lintzen, 2012). Further, in 2002, an ice the-
atre was completed in icehotel, and a Sami version
of Shakespeare’s Hamlet was performed. icehotel
has, through the years, cooperated with several global
brands, for example, Absolut, Vogue, and Chanel. It
has extended its brand awareness through publicity
stunts, including ice being transported to Africa and
Parisian fashion runways, to give some examples. In
this way, icehotel has gradually increased its pop-
ularity, and thus, excellent ice sculptors from all over
the world began to gather in Jukkasjärvi to design ice
rooms.
In phase 4 (Maturity: 2016–current time), ‘iceho-
tel 365’ was finally completed in 2016. This new ho-
tel can provide year-round experience serviceswith ice
sculpture rooms and an ice bar, and a solar power gen-
eration system has also been installed to keep the in-
side always cold. In addition, in 2018, icehotel was
certified to meet the sustainable ecolabelling standard
called ‘Nordic Swan Ecolabel.’ Here, in the first place,
the basic idea of icehotel is built on the premise of
an environmental cycle, borrowing snow and ice from
Torne River in winter and returning them in spring as
they melt.
Thus, the growth of icehotel and its mainte-
nance of attracting tourists from all over the world
have led to the maturation of winter tourism-based
regional development in Kiruna.
Discussions with Synchronic Analysis
Commonalities and Differences of Promoting
Resource Utilisation between two Cases
This study firstly examined the process of resource
utilisation chronologically in a macro-perspective.
This was based on our collected research data: from
the analysis of the literature review, on media sources,
as well as from extensive fieldwork in both regions, in-
cluding the empirical analysis of semi-structured in-
terviews and participant observations. Furthermore,
from a micro- and meta- perspective, the collected
data, especially about local endeavours, can be anal-
ysed synchronically to highlight the different fields
and functional approaches, and to consider the utili-
sation process of unused resources. The local endeav-
ours in both regions aimed at enhancing the value of
snow and ice can be firstly divided into the domains of
‘Local culture’ and ‘Natural science and technology.’ In
addition, they can simultaneously be divided into two
different approaches, which are ‘Creating value’ and
‘Sharing value.’ In this regard, it was found that the
mechanism for promoting the utilisation of snow and
ice was represented by four quadrants (see Figure 5).
On the one hand, examining endeavours by local
stakeholders in each case, such as Murase’s paintings
and Tanaka’s activities on drift ice, or ice sculptures
and the ice theatre in icehotel by Bergh and Lars-
son, these belong to the domain of ‘Local culture’
which is unique to the north. The cultural activities
such as drawing drift ice, arranging festivals, build-
ing an ice church or an ice bar, and making ice glasses,
344 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Takafumi Fukuyama and Johan R. Edelheim Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism
are creating useful value from previously unused snow
and ice. Furthermore, the added value of snow and ice
was shared first inside communities, then outside the
region, by the activities such as painting classes, art
exhibitions, or dissemination through media, fashion
shows, and as a movie stage.
On the other hand, various research activities on
drift ice by Aota, or the structural integrity of ‘Snice’
developed by Bergh and Larsson, and demonstrated
by Fransson, are considered to create value in the do-
main of ‘Natural science and technology.’ Similarly, by
arranging the Northern International Symposium re-
lated to drift ice, or even the snow and ice architectural
engineering programme at university, the added use-
ful value of snow and ice has also been shared widely
in society through the scientific perspective.
In this way, creating value in the domain of local
culture is ‘Cultural Branding,’ and sharing its value
in this domain is ‘Cultural Marketing.’ Fukuyama and
Shikida (2019, p. 71) defined themas ‘the attempt to en-
hance value by creating various opportunities to enjoy
human pleasure or well-being through culture,’ and ‘to
share the function, which can satisfy the above cultural
desires, and their positive evaluations, widely with so-
ciety.’ Similarly, Aoki (2008) suggested the effective-
ness of brand building through culture and culturally
inspired marketing, mentioning culture as an ‘uncon-
scious forcible power.’ In Hirano’s (2000) words, the
‘ingenuity for people’s lives’ formed while adapting to
each regional condition can be called culture. Fur-
thermore, Zimmermann (1985, p. 241) comprehen-
sively suggested, ‘It is culture that permits man [sic]
to inhabit every continent, to exist in the tropics and
in the frigid zones.’ Thus, these ideas related to cul-
ture explain that even in disadvantageous regions in
the north, local people can make positive use of snow
and ice, and hence, they support the usefulness of cul-
tural approaches in the above mechanism of promot-
ing utilisation.
In the same way, creating and sharing value in the
domain of natural science and technology are ‘Scien-
tific Branding’ and ‘Scientific Marketing,’ which are
defined as ‘gaining the trust of society through science
and trying to justify value,’ and ‘sharing value justified
by scientific proof with society widely’ (Fukuyama &
Shikida, 2019, p. 71). Regarding these aspects, not only
is natural science and technology expected to provide
truth, but it is also required to have a role of provid-
ing ‘legitimacy’ in social decision-making (Fujigaki et
al., 2020). Zimmermann (1985) stated that scientific
methods and principles would realise a ‘safe and sta-
ble’ human society with their ‘continuous application.’
Hence, it can be indicated that the usefulness of sci-
entific approach involves, for instance, the function of
justifying negative objects against community percep-
tions. Thus, the above mechanism requires a scientific
approach, which proves principles that can dispel anx-
iety and uncertainty. Furthermore, together with the
earlier mentioned usefulness of the cultural approach
by Aoki (2008), this study suggests that the process of
this utilisation also requires the usefulness of scien-
tific approaches such as evaluating positive proof and
sharing its scientifically demonstrated value.
Thus, it was verified that the factors which pro-
moted the utilisation of unused snow and ice are the
coexistence of both cultural and scientific effects con-
tained in the approach function of value formation. In
other words, the two approaches of value creation and
value sharing were effective because they were prac-
ticed without fail in both domains of culture and sci-
ence. Consequently, it can be considered that these ap-
proaches in two domains have been interacting to cre-
ate the synergistic effect for promoting resource usage.
On the other hand, there are differences between
the two cases. In the mechanism of promoting snow
and ice utilisation for icehotel, it was confirmed
that the scientific approach was noticeably less than in
the case of drift ice. In Mombetsu, there have been
many approaches to create and share the scientific
value by local stakeholders, especially by Aota and
others. This is potentially because drift ice had more
negative properties which were harmful to the region
than the snow and ice on Torne River. Hence, it can
be hypothesised that ordinary unused resources such
as the snow and ice in Jukkasjärvi are promoted in the
process of utilisation with a less scientific approach
than negative unused resources.
In this way, it should be valid to indicate that the
usefulness of the scientific approach is greater where
negative properties occur. A scientific approach, con-
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 345
Takafumi Fukuyama and Johan R. Edelheim Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism
Traditional livelihoods Modern projects Postmodern services Future awarenesses
Nature = space to live Nature = resource Nature = experience Nature = symbiotic learning
Domain of ‘Humanities and Social Science’
Domain of ‘Natural Science and Technology’
Enduring
snow
Tai-setsu
Overcoming
snow
Koku-setsu
Utilizing
snow
Ri-setsu
Enjoying
snow
Shin-setsu
Preserving
snow
Go-setsu
Figure 6 Preferred Future Change in Relationship between Humans and Nature
taining the principles or truths that can dispel anxiety
and disadvantages, contributed to the demonstration
of something uncertain.
Integrated Considerations toward a New Derived
Concept
Our study has examined regional development with
resource utilisation at the meso (including micro)
level. Additionally, it ultimately considers the signifi-
cance of value enhancement at themacro level, namely
the significance related to global warming counter-
measures.We have been discussing the value enhance-
ment of snow and ice by tourism utilisation through
the synergistic effect of culture and science. Further-
more, we examine the possibility that the value-en-
hancing effect of snow and ice can help humans to
cultivate the consciousness to preserve snow and ice,
and thus contribute to the spread of this recognition.
One source of this expectation is the Okhotsk Drift
Ice Trust Movement, which aims environmentally at
preventing global warming with a concept of preserv-
ing drift ice, which is decreasing in Hokkaido. It cer-
tainly seems that such movements have been culti-
vated to become the regional practice by enhancing
the value of drift ice, which was once a negative un-
used resource, and turning it into a tourism resource.
Moreover, in the Arctic region including Kiruna, the
thawing and decrease of snow and ice due to climate
change are already in a remarkably serious situation in
the mid- to long term.
Under these circumstances, the continuous chal-
lenge of creating snow and ice tourism will enable
more tourists living on this earth to widely recognise
the attraction and value of them through their experi-
ences and learning. And it is possible to expect that hu-
manswho enjoy the value of snow and icemay develop
awareness of mitigation measures to preserve them
from climate change gradually and globally. Taking
this possibility as themacro level significance of devel-
oping unused snow and ice for tourism in the North,
this comparative study consequently shows a new con-
cept of ‘Go-setsu (preserving snow),’ a new step after
‘Shin-setsu (Enjoying snow),’ as a future phase based
on all the above considerations of relationship between
humans and nature (Figure 6).
In this regard, nature will be, or already is, a space
to learn about such serious influence of the climate
change in a northern context. Here, snow and ice in
nature could be new types of experiences such as ‘snow
and ice ecotourism’ or ‘study tourism,’ where tourists
can learn the serious situation that thaw means to the
north. Furthermore, it is considered that nature is no
longer a limited place where humans can face this type
of symbiotic learning opportunity, but rather, a much
wider area on northern Earth, including the Antarc-
tic, as the holistic matter of humans and snow and
ice. Thus, it can be considered that the role of snow
and ice tourism development is cultivating peoples’
awareness of nature preservation, and snow and ice,
in the future. In addition, this idea can be proposed
only through the value enhancement of snow and ice
by the synergistic effect of both regional culture and
natural science and technology based on the above re-
source theories adopted in this study. Hence, this is
346 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Takafumi Fukuyama and Johan R. Edelheim Developing ‘Unused Resources’ for Tourism
the derived significance from this study in the combi-
nation of both Japanese and Northern European aca-
demic approaches.
Conclusion
This study examined the process of utilising unused
community resources, snow and ice in northern re-
gions, through the comparative analysis of drift ice in
Hokkaido, Japan and icehotel in Swedish Lapland,
based on theoretical frameworks of resources, and un-
derlyingmarketing principles. For a start, endogenous
endeavours by locals in both cases are chronologically
divided into 4 phases: the periods of Dawn, Estab-
lishment, Growth, andMaturity. Then, synchronically,
these are classified into, firstly, two domains of ‘Local
culture’ and ‘Natural science & technology,’ and also
into two different approaches, creating value and shar-
ing its value. Thus, the mechanism of promoting the
utilisation of unused resources is shown as four quad-
rants, named ‘Cultural branding,’ ‘Cultural marketing,’
‘Scientific branding,’ and ‘Scientific marketing.’
In this process of utilising snow and ice, it can be
considered that the synergic effect from both useful-
ness of culture and science is working interactively.
And lastly, regarding the historical changes between
humans and nature enhancing the value of snow and
ice, the synergic effect of Japanese and Northern Eu-
ropean approaches derives a new concept of ‘Go-setsu
(preserving snow)’ with a new type of nature expe-
rience in global climate change. Thus, this compar-
ative study shows us the significance of considering
one’s present situation and future, which are focused
on positive possibilities of overcoming challenges in
the north.
Finally, as this study has attempted to clarify the
resource utilising mechanism and all its associated is-
sues, let us therefore now turn to some limitations and
future challenges in this field. Since resource studies
are not commonly discussed on a global scale yet, this
academic field requires more analytical case studies of
utilising snow and ice as tourism resources. Our case
studies lay a foundation, but naturally only function
as a symbol for other initiatives in different geograph-
ical locations, not acting in a generalisingway. It would
be beneficial if more empirical case studies would be
accumulated in both deductive and inductive ways in
the future, based on the critical discussions toward our
proposedmodel for the resource utilisingmechanism.
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348 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Original Scientific Article
Unique Destination Attributes as a Basis of Tourism
Experience
Petra Zabukovec Baruca
University of Primorska, Slovenia
petra.zabukovec@fts.upr.si
Žana Čivre
University of Primorska, Slovenia
zana.civre@fts.upr.si
In today’s highly competitive tourismmarket, tourists are not only interested in new,
unique tourism products and services, but also in unique tourism experiences, as ex-
periences represent an important competitive advantage for a destination. Therefore,
the aim of this paper is to explore the attributes of a destination’s identity that are de-
fined as unique, by analysing unique experiences in three main coastal destinations
in Slovenian Istria and defining communication strategies to promote the unique-
ness of their tourism experiences. The results of a qualitative research confirm that
the uniqueness of tourism experiences results from the attributes of the destination’s
identity. These attributes primarily relate to nature and natural resources, cultural
heritage, and culinary experiences. The unique tourism experiences are conveyed
through speciality, innovation, authenticity and various positive emotions such as
hedonism, excitement, curiosity, surprise, happiness, and pleasure to ensure memo-
rable value-added experiences and encourage tourists to visit year-round. The study
contributes to the knowledge of unique tourism experiences. Finally, theoretical im-
plications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are provided.
Keywords: uniqueness, destination, unique attributes, tourism experience
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.15.349-362
Introduction
Regardless of the destination’s competitiveness, the
tourism providers that constitute its offer must con-
stantly compete with each other to meet the increas-
ing needs of tourists. At the destination level, market-
ing practises contribute positively to the destination’s
competitiveness by providing an answer to the ques-
tion of how to attract tourists. As tourists’ behaviour
and travel motivation change due to the dynamic en-
vironment, tourists have become very demanding and
expect more than just a typical offer at the destina-
tion (Williams, 2006). Moreover, Ritchie and Crouch
(2003) state that the key to a destination’s competi-
tiveness lies in its ability to attract more tourists and
provide them with satisfying, memorable experiences
in a profitable way while improving the well-being of
the destination’s population and preserving its natural
capital for future generations. In the context of cre-
ating memorable experiences for tourists, Dwyer and
Kim (2003) have pointed out that a competitive des-
tination must be more successful than its competitors
in various aspects of the overall tourism experience.
Thus, to be competitive in the global tourism mar-
ket, destinations must be innovative, distinctive, and
constantly strive to improve the unique tourism expe-
rience. One of the most important sources of compet-
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 349
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
itive advantage in this respect is the uniqueness of a
destination.
Destinations need to discover and create their own
unique identity and to differentiate themselves from
the competition. Presenting the uniqueness of a desti-
nation in a competitive tourism industry is a complex
process. It requires a lot of ingenuity and creativity
to stand out in a saturated field. Generally, the des-
tination as a place has existed for generations and is
defined by its history, culture, topography, way of life,
built and natural environment, and its people. The
aspects that make a destination distinctive and mem-
orable are derived from a variety of attributes that are
considered the dna of a destination (Anholt, 2009),
consisting of a unique physical and cultural environ-
ment, the products associated with the destination,
and the people. However, these factors are no longer
a differentiator, but have the potential to reduce sub-
stitutability. To achieve this, destination marketers are
increasingly focusing on the tourism experience, and
creating unique products based on the destination’s
identity. In addition, success also depends on market-
ing messages based on unique attributes that appeal to
the emotions of potential tourists. As regards the his-
torical, cultural and physical attributes deeply rooted
in the development of unique products such as typi-
cal local food or souvenirs, these can have emotional
attributes or signals that allow tourists to be involved
in a personal experience when buying and consuming
them (Rachão et al., 2020; Spielmann et al., 2018). In
particular, unique products, thanks to their intrinsic
and symbolic value, contribute to the creation of the
local and cultural identity of destinations and allow
tourists to approach culture in a more emotional and
participative way (Spielmann et al., 2018).
Today, many tourists most likely perceive expe-
riences as memorable (Gilmore & Pine, 2002) and
therefore demand to go beyond the typical forms of
tourism (Kim et al., 2012). They are looking for some-
thing new, unique or different that will lead to a strong
memory of the travel experience (Kim et al., 2012).
They desire to have a unique experience at the des-
tination (Brown, 2005; Cetin & Bilgihan, 2016). The
unique attributes can be found among the physically
tangible attributes as well as among the intangible and
affective attributes. In many cases, these attributes are
related to the destination experiences (Kim, 2014). For
example, Tung and Ritchie (2011) concluded that pos-
itive emotions and feelings associated with tourism
experiences, such as happiness and excitement, are
a critical component of memorable tourism experi-
ences. Therefore, the tourism experience is considered
to be diverse and subjective and represented by vari-
ous symbolic aspects. It is important for destinations
to identify unique elements that offer unique travel
experiences. Unique experiences at the destination
lead tourists to develop a positive image of the des-
tination and thus they are more likely to have an en-
grossing experience. Experiences and their meanings
usually appeal to tourists’ overarching needs, such as
novelty, excitement, enjoyment, prestige, socialisation
and learning, and contribute to the enhancing of well-
being (Dimanche, 2018).
This study examines the uniqueness of tourism
destinations from an internal supply-side perspective.
Its main purpose is to explore a theoretical framework
for analysing the unique attributes of a destination that
derive from the destination’s identity. In particular, it
aims to identify the fundamental attributes that lead
to the creation of the unique destination products that
contribute to a memorable tourism experience at the
destination, and to apply the results of the study in the
context of the tourism destination Slovenian Istria. In
this context, the main aim of the paper is to identify
attributes of the destination identity that are defined as
unique through the analysis of unique experiences at
the destination and to discuss communication strate-
gies of the uniqueness of the destination Slovenian
Istria on an expressive level of marketing communi-
cation. In this context, the main research questions of
the paper are (1)What are the attributes of the unique
tourism experiences through the destination identity?
and (2)What are the communication strategies to pro-
mote the uniqueness of tourism experiences in Slovenian
Istria?
The paper is structured as follows. First, the litera-
ture on destination uniqueness and the role of unique
tourism experiences is reviewed. This is followed by
research methodology and interpretation of research
results using the Slovenian Istria region as an exam-
350 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
ple. Finally, theoretical implications and recommen-
dations for future research are given.
Literature Review
Destination Uniqueness
A destination is a place that attracts visitors for a tem-
porary stay and is an amalgam of all tourism services
and experiences offered to consumers (Buhalis, 2000).
Tourism organizations use the unique and distinctive
characteristics of a destination as attractors that in-
crease tourists’ attention to the destination. Unique-
ness is particularly important because it affects the dis-
tinction between similar destinations in the minds of
target customers (Qu et al., 2011). Destinations with
unique characteristics tend to be viewed as attractive,
and in fact, the assertion of uniqueness has become an
institutionalized practice that is reflected in the desti-
nation’s brand, tourism products, andmarketing com-
munications. Also, asserting the uniqueness of a des-
tination has also become an institutionalized practice
to highlight the identity of a place. Prayag (2007) de-
fines a destination identity that can help create a set of
unique and positive associations in the minds of con-
sumers. This uniqueness is communicated in brand
identity, which often emphasizes the historical, social,
and cultural values of places (Richards, 2014). In recent
years, it has been recognized that a successful destina-
tion brand must convey the expectations or promise
of a memorable travel experience that is distinctively
associated with that destination (Ritchie & Crouch,
2000; Blain et al., 2005). The uniqueness of the tourist
product results from the attributes of the destination’s
identity. These attributes include not only the tourism
product, such as quality accommodation, shopping fa-
cilities, or sporting activities, but also other environ-
mentally attractive elements that in many cases are the
main attraction associated with potential tourism de-
mand and a source of tourism competitiveness. These
primary attributes of the destination offer are climate,
natural beauty and cultural heritage, hospitality, safety
andmore (Dwyer&Kim, 2003).Goeldner et al. (2000)
emphasize that successful tourism is not just a matter
of better transport and hotels, but of giving a special
national flavour to the traditional way of life and pro-
viding tourists with a favourable image of the benefits
of these goods and services. Basic and general features
are not enough for a successful destination. Preference
is given to those destinations that recognize features
with various unique elements and incorporate them as
unique tourism experiences in the destination’s offer.
In their three-dimensional model for destination
image, Echtner and Ritchie (1993) consider the di-
mension of commonality versus uniqueness, i.e. the
characteristics that are common to many destinations
and the characteristics that distinguish one destina-
tion from another. Therefore, for effective destina-
tion positioning, the attributes that are closely asso-
ciated with the destination in customers’ perception
should be considered first, as well as the other at-
tributes that are objectively unique to a destination
and can distinguish it from its competitors (Ibrahim
& Gill, 2005). It is about identifying the destination’s
distinctive characteristics and its strongest and most
competitive assets in the eyes of its potential visitors
and consistently incorporating this into all marketing
communications. Accordingly, identifying the unique
and distinctive elements of a destination is a necessary
first step for a place marketing strategy that can en-
courage tourists to choose the destination (Qu et al.,
2011). In this context, the development of a destination
brand has become a powerful strategic tool due to the
ever-increasing competition among destinations. The
destination’s competitive advantages are recognized by
potential tourists through the highlighted differences
compared to other competing destinations, which
are consistently communicated throughout market-
ing communications. Kotler et al. (2006) emphasize
that brands have become one of the most important
determinants of a destination’s success because they
can be used as tools to convey a destination’s unique
identity. The main objective of this process is to create
a desirable and appealing destination product based
on distinctive, unique attributes of the destination and
to accurately convey this image to potential tourists.
The task of destination marketing organizations is to
identify the unique assets of their destination in order
to evoke certain feelings, values, cultures and general
attitudes that people experience when visiting a place.
Jorgensen and Stedman (2001) have found that when
the identity of a place is strong enough to be felt or ex-
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 351
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
perienced, we often speak of a ‘sense of place,’ which is
also often associated with the uniqueness of the desti-
nation. Similarly, Anhold (2009) uses the term ‘sense
of place’ to describe the personality of a place, which
results from a variety of factors that are considered the
‘dna of a place.’ The term ‘dna’ is used metaphor-
ically to express the unique characteristics of places:
the special attractions or attributes of a place that po-
sition it as unique compared to its main competitors.
Attributes can range from functional to psychological
(Echtner & Ritchie, 1993) or represent unique charac-
teristics of a place. The uniqueness of attributes refers
not only to physical tangible characteristics, but also
to intangible and affective characteristics such as emo-
tions, atmosphere, stories and legends.
It becomes clear that our understanding of sense
of place can help destinations to foster tourists’ at-
tachment to a place through unique attributes that are
either part of culture, history or nature. Culture, for
example, is one of the diverse and rich factors that de-
termine the overall attractiveness of a tourism region.
These include social norms and traditions, language,
style of dress, architecture, crafts, art, music, gastron-
omy, etc. In tourism, the exposed ormaterial culture of
a destination has the greatest affective power. Goeld-
ner et al. (2000) also point out that history can be one
of the most interesting dimensions of a destination
and is a rich tool to create a unique tourism experi-
ence. History is also what distinguishes a destination
from others and is one of the most important moti-
vations for visiting this or that destination. Local his-
torical sites, stories and legends create a romantic and
lasting experience for visitors to a destination. Na-
ture, landscape, natural resources and environment
are the most fundamental dimension of a destination.
In many cases, these attributes are linked to the des-
tination experience (Kim, 2014). Among the myriad
features of a destination, the uniqueness of the desti-
nation is usually an essential element of the tourist en-
counter, and destinationswith unique features are also
more likely to be perceived as beautiful and therefore
have a strong pull motivation (Kirillova et al., 2014).
Such features can help build a destination’s image as
unique (Echtner & Ritchie, 1993; Qu et al., 2011), ex-
plain tourists’ attachment and engagement with the
place, and contribute tomemorable experiences (Kim,
2014). Due to their uniqueness and distinctiveness,
typical attributes offer potential sources of differentia-
tion in positioning the destination brand.
Identifying the distinctive characteristics of a des-
tination is crucial for tourism development in terms
of product development, marketing issues and re-
source conservation. The ultimate goal is to commu-
nicate this difference as a potential competitive advan-
tage to visitors (Jarratt et al., 2019). A toolkit can in-
clude unique selling propositions, information-based
resources that can be shared with visitors, branding
guidelines and resources, visitor-based research, rec-
ommendations for improving the visitor experience,
and various other forms of information (Jarratt et al.,
2019).
In the academic sphere and in tourism practise,
destination uniqueness is associated and overlaps with
the aforementioned meanings of place identity and
sense of place, as well as with the notion of local dis-
tinctiveness and concepts such as authenticity (Casté-
ran & Roederer, 2013). Local distinctiveness is men-
tioned as one of the critical factors in developing a dis-
tinctive product, especially in the context of souvenirs,
local food and beverages, as it ensures that tourists’ vi-
sion of the destination is maintained through their
sensory engagement with the unique, distinctive and
original place-based values (Lin & Mao, 2015; Spiel-
mann et al., 2018). The marketing process to develop
a unique product for a destination is not always easy
and poses particular challenges to the art of market-
ing. These challenges are related to the complexity of
the tourism product and the number of stakeholders
involved in destination marketing. Although the facts
of a tourist’s experience are also not explicitly known,
one might assume that a good tailor-made trip must
focus on uniqueness.
Tourism Experience
Although tourism experiences have been extensively
researched in the field of tourism (Chirakranont &
Sakdiyakorn, 2022) and tourism marketing (Preben-
sen & Foss, 2011), there is still a relative lack of knowl-
edge and academic work addressing stakeholder per-
spectives on uniqueness in relation to tourism expe-
352 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
riences offered at destinations. Moreover, tourism ex-
periences are a serious concept in the field of tourism,
especially in the area of destination positioning (Oh et
al., 2007).
Due to the changing economy, society and con-
sumer needs, consumers will continue to prefer buy-
ing experiences rather than products (Kim et al., 2012).
Thus, the focus has shifted from a service-based (tour-
ismproduct) to an experience-based economy (tourism
experience), also referred to as the experience econ-
omy (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). As memorable experi-
ences have high value (Pine & Gilmore, 1998), devel-
oping and offering memorable experiences is a focus
of the service industry (Wang et al., 2020) and desti-
nation marketing (Cetin & Bilgihan, 2016).
Li et al. (2022) define tourism experience as ‘a pro-
cess of individual psychological activities, and its de-
gree of memorability depends on whether the tourism
experience meets the expectations and demands of
tourists, while high arousal often indicates that tour-
ists’ expectations are consistent with reality and that
satisfaction is high.’ Tourism experiences are particu-
larly appealing to target groups who have a desire to
experience and see different destinations and the lives
of local people at the destination (Ritchie et al., 2011).
Therefore, tourists are likely to experience pleasure
when consuming tourism experiences (Li et al., 2022).
Furthermore, experiences can be memorable in
a unique way (Pine & Gilmore, 1998). Since some
tourist segments have distinct experiences with prod-
ucts and services (Wong & Wan, 2013) and eagerly
seek unique tourism experiences (Tiberghien et al.,
2020), it is argued that the uniqueness of the expe-
rience is the main element that leads to memorable
experiences (Kim et al., 2012). Therefore, it is an im-
portant need for tourists to share their unique expe-
riences with different destinations, interaction with
locals and other travel memories. In this sense, desti-
nation managers should avoid over-commercializing
their offerings and focus on unique and authentic
tourism experiences (Yolal, 2016). In recent research,
destination-specific attributes are proved as an an-
tecedent of pro-environment tourist behaviour in the
context of tourism experience (Jia, 2015). Other re-
sults show that individuals who perceive the attributes
of the destination very positively also have a positive
memorable experience, which leads to a higher in-
tention to visit the destination again (Madhzar et al.,
2015).
Methodology
The overall objective of this article is to identify the
unique attributes of destination identity and commu-
nication strategies. Identifying such unique attributes
is very important for marketing planners in destina-
tions as they provide a competitive advantage over the
competition. To answer previously defined research
questions, a qualitative research was conducted us-
ing semi-structured interviews. Semi-structured in-
terviews are the preferred method for data collection
when the researcher’s goal is to understand the unique
perspective of the participant better than a general un-
derstanding of a phenomenon (Adeoye-Olatunde &
Olenik, 2021). Therefore, the supply side was analysed
first. The main advantage of semi-structured tech-
niques is their ability to capture the holistic compo-
nents andunique characteristics of a destination (Gov-
ers et al., 2007) and to allow respondents to freely de-
scribe in their own words their intentions in creating
and communicating products, feelings and percep-
tions about a destination.
As tourist boards in Slovenia are a central tourism
organization for each destination, semi-structured in-
terviews were conducted with representatives of the
main tourist boards responsible for marketing com-
munication in the destinations of Slovenian Istria,
who are competent for designing unique tourist ex-
periences.
Thus, three key local representatives and experts of
the tourist boards for the destinations of Piran/Porto-
rož, Izola and Koper form the sample for this research
(Table 1). The interviews were conducted between
March 9 and 18, 2022. At the beginning of each in-
terview, the researchers introduced the purpose of the
research. As each tourist board is responsible for the
development of new tourism products and their pro-
motion, its main objective lately has been the develop-
ment and promotion of unique tourism experiences.
The questionnaire referred to the Slovenia Unique
Experiences Guidebook published by the Slovenian
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 353
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
Table 1 List of Interviewees
Respondents Tourist Organization Destination
Respondent A Tourist board Portorož Portorož/Piran
Respondent B Izola Tourism
Association
Izola
Respondent C Koper Public Institute
for Youth, Culture and
Tourism
Koper
Tourist Organization (Slovenska turistična organi-
zacija, 2020). The interview consisted of two main
parts, namely unique experiences at the destination
and promotion of unique experiences at the destina-
tion. The first part of the questionnaire contained six
open-ended questions about the main unique experi-
ences, their unique elements/attributes and symbols of
destination identity. This part of the interview also in-
cludes the criteria for their development, aim, and rea-
sons for developing memorable, unique tourism ex-
periences. The second part of the interview also con-
sisted of three open-ended questions on the promo-
tional efforts of destinations to offer unique tourism
experiences. In this context, expressions/words and
feelings were identified. At the end, a short question
was asked about how to measure tourists’ impressions
of unique experiences at each destination.
Research Results
The results of the qualitative research are presented
and compared. In line with the research objectives, a
holistic view of destination uniqueness attributes is of
particular importance to this study. In order to ob-
tain a comprehensive view of destination uniqueness,
it was crucial to obtain in-depth information on the
attributes of destination uniqueness through unique
products and their promotion.
This section of the study presents the results of
the semi-structured interviews, which are divided into
two parts. The first part of the analysis focuses on the
importance of developing and offering unique experi-
ences at the destination for its tourists.
In this part, the first research question is answered
by proposing a method for identifying unique des-
tination attributes. To answer the first question, re-
spondents first listed the most unique tourism prod-
ucts/experiences at each destination. In this way, we
were able to identify several unique tourism experi-
ences offered at each destination.
In addition, respondents selected and listed a num-
ber of attributes for product uniqueness based on the
unique experiences offered by their destination. To
provide a comprehensive overview, the responses are
summarized in Table 2. For each destination, respon-
dents indicated unique tourism experiences for three
different areas, namely nature and natural resources,
cultural heritage and culinary experiences. The anal-
ysis of tourism experiences shows that the most ex-
periences can be found in the destination Portorož –
Piran, which is also the most developed tourist mu-
nicipality, followed by the destination Izola and then
Koper.
In all three destinations, it is evident that expe-
riences of all kinds are the predominant unique at-
tributes of nature and natural resources. These in-
clude natural landscapes and protected parks, and salt
pans with useful derivatives such as mud, salt, and salt
flower, which are an integral part of the experiences
that the representatives consider unique. Portorož –
Piran has the most unique experiences based on salt
and salt pans, such as the unique outdoor spa cen-
tre Thalasso Spa Lepa Vida, located on the salt pans.
Among the natural attributes, olive groves, vineyards
and truffles are often highlighted in all three destina-
tions, which are part of the unique outdoor experi-
ences related to the hinterland and typical Istrian vil-
lages. The cultural heritage is based on the unique at-
tributes of Venetian architecture, which can be found
in all three coastal towns (Koper, Izola and Piran).
Here it is all about arousing curiosity, discovering hid-
den treasures and learning stories about city life. In
the hinterland, cultural heritage is combined with the
architecture of Istrian villages, getting to know Istrian
life, nature and cuisine. An important source for learn-
ing more about the peculiarities of life in Istria are the
unique interpretations of virtual boutique museums
#butmuz, which allow visitors to experience the past
in a unique way and connect with the history of Istria.
When analysing the tourism experience, the local
and traditional cuisine of Slovenian Istria is of great
354 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
importance. The local cuisine is strongly represented
with various attributes, both in outdoor activities in
nature and cultural heritage. The interweaving of tra-
ditional cuisine with other activities and attractions is
part of the experience at this destination. In terms of
natural resources, there is a strong connection to the
sea, where the source of unique experiences is linked
to fishing and fish, which are part of the tradition, es-
pecially in the destination of Izola, which offers a mix
of Istrian and seafood cuisine due to its proximity to
the hinterland. Local attributes that create unique ex-
periences are often part of tourist gastronomic events
in Izola. Olive oil, wine and fish are typical attributes
of various culinary festivals, as well as sustainable
culinary campaigns such as Kilometre Zero (km0) in
preparing unique dishes with local ingredients from
the sea and the land. In addition, there are various
culinary events in all three destinations, outstanding
tourist culinary experiences in nature such as the ‘Vin-
tage culinary experience,’ ‘Wine experience with an
unforgettable sunset in the hinterland of Slovenian Is-
tria’ and ‘Truffle hunting and tasting.’
The culinary cultural heritage product in Izola is
also well designed. Even today, the Romans are known
for their hedonistic lifestyle and fondness for good
food, and this is part of the culinary experience when
discovering the Roman heritage in the Istrian region
as part of the tourist experience called ‘Roman tastes
under the stars in the archaeological park.’ In order to
increase tourist satisfaction, it is particularly impor-
tant to understand what attributes influence travellers’
experiences of local cuisine.
In addition, the uniqueness of tourism experiences
derives from the attributes of the destination’s identity.
Thus, Table 2 shows a unified experience of three des-
tinations in Slovenian Istria. The identity of Slovenian
Istria is primarily determined by the sea, which rep-
resents the first contact with the Mediterranean and
dominates the local history, natural environment, cli-
mate and landscape, and is probably the most distinc-
tive element for tourism experiences. The sea is not
only a point of attraction, but also offers specific ele-
ments such as beaches, wilderness, protected areas like
saltpans, fishing and local products, and allows for a
variety of outdoor activities on and by the sea. The ba-
sic symbols of identity also come from the sea, such as
the salt in the destination Portorož – Piran and the fish
in Izola. Another important element is the sun, which
is a symbol of Koper. The three destinations are very
different in terms of landscape and vitality. They dif-
fer in that Koper is a city centre with maritime, nauti-
cal, bathing and sports tourism, Izola offers cosiness
and authenticity and is based on fishing, and Piran
– Portorož is one of the most developed destinations
with salt pans and mediaeval Piran. Despite the differ-
ences, they have common unifying elements of shared
identity, such as the fact that all three cities, Koper,
Izola and Piran, were islands. All three representatives
pointed out that part of the identity of this region is
the meeting of three cultures: Slovenian, Italian and
Croatian, which is reflected in the architecture, bilin-
gualism, dialects, and customs, and translated into a
sense of place. The attribute of uniqueness also refers
to intangible and affective qualities such as emotions,
atmosphere, stories, and legends.
Next, respondents were asked to provide reasons,
goals and criteria for developing memorable, unique
tourism experiences. As far the reasons for developing
memorable experiences, the expert from the Tourist
Organization Board Portorož & Piran highlighted the
following in particular:
Each experience is characterized by its offer,
which is aimed at a specific audience, by in-
dividual elements on which the identity of the
destination is based (e.g. local artisanal prod-
ucts such as salt and salt flower, thalassother-
apy, olive oil, garlic, Piran sea bass,Malvasia and
Refošk wine, tradition, landscape, cultural and
natural heritage, sustainable elements). So they
cannot be transferred to another environment
because they would lose their added value.
The representative of Izola gave reasons for creat-
ing memorable experiences, mostly related to cultural
heritage, such as place, culture, history, the area in-
habited since 4000 bc, and the Romans. For the des-
tination of Koper, the expert emphasized that: ‘Since
unique tourism experiences are designed for small
groups, they offer a memorable and unusual experi-
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 355
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
Table 2 Unique Attributes of Destination and Examples of Unique Tourism Experiences at Destination
Attributes/Destination Portorož/Piran Izola Koper
Nature and natural
resources
Landscape and protected parks,
footpath, climate, fish, truffles,
olives, panoramas, salt pans with
useful derivates (e.g. mud, salt, salt
flower)
Sea, fish, hinterland, cliffs, nature
park, salt pans
Sea
Examples of unique
outdoor experiences
• An unforgettable day at the Fonda
Fish Farm
• Vintage Gourmet Tour
• Truffle hunting with cooking work-
shop and other active cultural and
culinary experiences with a touch
of Istria
• The unique outdoor spa centre
Lepa Vida Thalasso Spa on salt pan
• Roman tastes under the stars
• The Forgotten Secret of Izola
• Candlelit Dinner
Date
• Vintage Gourmet
Tour
• Truffle hunting
Cultural heritage Saltworks, fishing, the medieval
town of Piran, traditional events,
Venetian architecture, Istrian cus-
toms and traditions, Šavrini, leg-
ends and stories of Piran
Paranzana, shipbuilding, fishing,
boutique museums, traditional
events, Roman culture
Venetian architec-
ture, typical Istrian
villages
Examples of unique
cultural heritage
experiences
• Saltpans Feast
• Saltharvester for a day
• Discovering the secrets of Piran
• Network of boutique museums
butmuz
• The Forgotten Secret of Izola
• Roman tastes under the stars
Culinary Traditional cuisine – truffle, olive
oil, salt, fish, wine
Wine, fish, garlic Olive, wine, salt,
truffle
Examples of unique
culinary experi-
ences
• Wine experience with an unfor-
gettable sunset in the hinterland of
Slovenian Istria
• Truffle hunting and tasting
• Persimmon Festival
• Wine experience with an unfor-
gettable sunset in the hinterland of
Slovenian Istria
• Truffle hunting and tasting
• Persimmon Festival
• Vintage Gourmet
Tour
• Sweet Istria
Attributes of the
identity of Slovenian
Istria
• Sea
• Salt and salt products
• Hinterland, customs, Istrians
• Sea
• Fish
• First contact with the Mediter-
ranean – way of life, climate, con-
tact of cultures
• Sea
• Climate, Venetian
architecture, green
hinterland, delicious
local food and drink
ence. To some extent, they allow personalization and
meet the high expectations of demanding guests.’
In terms of the goals of a memorable experience,
respondents agreed that it is critical that tourists ex-
perience the uniqueness of a particular place that they
cannot experience anywhere else. In addition, they
want to highlight new, unique experiences outside of
the peak season. In this way, they want to increase
the added value of the destination and encourage off-
season consumption, as well as extend the average
length of stay per destination. In summary, an impor-
tant common goal of all three destination marketing
representatives is to encourage tourists to visit year-
round and offer them something new and memorable
with added value. Finally, respondents highlighted the
criteria for developing a memorable, unique tourism
356 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
experience, which are presented. From the responses,
we can conclude that the most prominent criteria are
boutique, innovation, authenticity, sustainable focus,
individual approach and exclusivity when it comes to
designing new, unique,memorable experiences in des-
tinations in Slovenian Istria. Examples of new, unique
tourism experiences include, for example, ‘Discover-
ing the Secrets of Piran,’ the outdoor adventure game
‘The Forgotten Secret of Izola,’ the #butmuz bou-
tique museums network and ‘Romantic Candlelight
Dinner Date.’
In the second part of the research, in order to an-
swer the second research question, respondents were
also asked about the communication terms they use to
describe unique experiences and what emotions they
appeal to when communicating unique experiences.
The experts describe the uniqueness of the experi-
ences with the following communication terms: plea-
sure, hedonism, excitement, relaxation, curiosity, sur-
prise, happiness, and joy. Also, when asked what emo-
tions are addressed when communicating unique ex-
periences, the experts mentioned the following emo-
tions: happiness, joy, excitement, pleasure, relaxation,
mystery, curiosity and surprise.
It is also interesting to note that impressions about
the attractiveness of a unique tourism experience from
the tourists’ perspective are observed primarily on the
basis of comments in social networks and personal
contacts with tourists directly on site.
Discussion
Understanding what are unique experiences at a des-
tination is a challenge for destination marketers. This
article contributes to the research questions of identi-
fying unique attributes of tourismexperiences through
the destination identity and their symbolic and expres-
sive level of marketing communication using Slove-
nian Istria as an example. In order to better under-
stand the essence of unique tourism experiences, it
is necessary to analyse their multidimensional struc-
ture for different travel experience contexts. The study
follows a qualitative approach based on open-ended
interviews with professionals from the tourist offices
of the threemain destinations in Slovenian Istria. This
allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the con-
cept of uniqueness of tourism experiences in destin-
ations.
Based on the research results from the qualitative
research, we identified important attributes of unique-
ness and its symbolic and expressive character in rela-
tion to the communication aspect.
To answer the first research question, respondents
were asked about the destination attributes of unique
tourism experiences through destination identity, fol-
lowed by goals, reasons and criteria for developing
new unique tourism experiences. It turns out that the
most frequently represented attributes are those that
are associated with nature and natural resources in
tourism experiences and which give them uniqueness.
This includes a number of unique attributes such as
sea, salt, fish, hinterland, olive trees, vines, truffles,
views, and natural parks, which are most often as-
sociated with outdoor experiences. It should be em-
phasized that cultural heritage is often highlighted in
experiences with unique attributes such as the archi-
tecture of towns and villages, Venetian history and the
Istrian people or Šavrini, which are associated with
the region of Istria and its authentic culture and cus-
toms. Unique tourism experiences based on both nat-
ural resources and cultural heritage are often comple-
mented by local taste experiences. Cuisine enhances
the touch of uniqueness of the experience based on
local culinary ingredients such as truffles, salt flower,
olive oil, wine, persimmons, asparagus, garlic, and
fish, which form the basis of traditional cuisine with
a Mediterranean touch. According to Tiberghien et
al. (2020), offering unique products, such as the ex-
ploration of culinary traditions, has a positive impact
on strengthening the tourism experience and creating
a usp (unique selling proposition). This is also con-
sistent with Stone et al.’s (2021) view that experiences
related to the culinary are associated with memories
in terms of various connections (interpersonal, social,
emotional, sensory, experimental, novel, etc.). Thus,
the authors argue that culinary experiences can have
a major impact on creating memories while travelling
to create memorable experiences.
The research results in this part confirm that the
uniqueness of tourism experiences comes from the
identity of the place. The elements that belong to the
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 357
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
unique experiences derive from the particular char-
acter of the places. The character of the place, which
includes special, attractive and recognizable attributes
of the destination, is different from others and is re-
flected in nature and culture, outdoor activities, local
products and landscapes and buildings.
Regarding the reasons for creating new unique
tourism experiences, practitioners expressed that they
associate uniqueness with a memorable and outstand-
ing experience that allows a certain level of personal-
ization andmeets the high expectations of demanding
guests. They also seek to create unique tourism expe-
riences based on the elements/attributes of the desti-
nation identity of Slovenian Istria (e.g. local products
such as salt, olive oil, wine, etc.) that are not transfer-
able to another environment because as such they lose
their added value. In addition, the goal of the three
main destinations in Slovenian Istria is to offer and
promote unique tourism experiences to visitors in or-
der to encourage them to visit outside the peak season.
According to the research findings, the most com-
mon criteria for developing new, unique, memorable
tourism experiences in destinations in Slovenian Is-
tria are boutique, innovation, authenticity, sustainable
focus, individual approach and exclusivity. This is in
line with the view of Li et al. (2022), for example, who
claim that innovation can stimulate tourists’ emotions
such as novelty, pleasure, and freshness, which leads to
a better tourism experience. Moreover, tourists look-
ing for unique and authentic tourism experiences are
more likely to look for something different from stan-
dard tourism products and services (Tiberghien et al.,
2020). Criteria for creating uniqueness include enrich-
ing the visitor’s experience at the destination, which is
often enhanced with intangible attributes such as ro-
mance, exploration, discovery, and boutique, which
aim to provide tourists with exceptional value and re-
markable experiences. These sensory experiences, de-
rived from stimuli from nature and culture, stand out
and trigger emotion and engagement. In this vein, the
first research question has been answered.
In the second part of our findings, we focused on
the symbolic and expressive levels of uniqueness as-
sociated with tourism experiences at a destination.
This is particularly important because they enhance
the quality of the experience and contribute to mem-
orable tourism experiences (Kim, 2014). Thus, this
paper also addresses the challenges from a market-
ing communications perspective in order to answer
the second research question. Following the research
findings, the uniqueness of the experiences at themain
tourist destinations in Slovenian Istria is described in
terms such as hedonism, pleasure, excitement, relax-
ation, curiosity, surprise, happiness, and joy. Similarly,
the emotions they want to evoke in their communi-
cation strategies are: happiness, joy, enthusiasm, plea-
sure, relaxation, mystery, curiosity, and surprise. Fo-
cusing on how specific uniqueness attributes help con-
sumers fulfil their hedonistic travel desires requires
a more pragmatic approach that links the notion of
uniqueness of tourism experiences to the significant
contribution that destination attributes can make to
enabling unique experiences. Involvement, hedonism,
refreshment, local culture, meaningfulness, knowl-
edge, and novelty are attributes that have the poten-
tial to connect with tourists’ emotions, leading to in-
creased attention, learning ability and happiness, ul-
timately resulting in memorability (Larsen & Jenssen,
2004; Tung & Ritchie, 2011). Moreover, this may be
consistent with the research findings of Li et al. (2022),
who argue that pleasure and excitement moderate the
relationship between night tourism atmosphere and
memorable tourism experience.
Similarly, research findings point to the following
emotions as appealing in the delivery of unique experi-
ences: happiness, joy, enthusiasm, pleasure, relaxation,
mystery, curiosity and surprise. In this vein, unique
and meaningful travel experiences are often designed
to include intangible unique attributes in addition
to tangible attributes. Emotions are therefore consid-
ered central to memorable tourism experiences (Tung
& Ritchie, 2011). We argue that uniqueness through
communication begins by focusing on methods by
which experiences are advertised, communicated, and
remembered through these domains. According to
Agapito et al. (2014), most sensory tourism experi-
ences relate to nature, from beach vacations to rural
retreats, engaging multiple senses simultaneously. It
was found that tasting local food (Stone et al., 2021;
Agapito et al., 2014) and smelling fresh air are two of
358 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
the most important sensory experiences for tourists,
suggesting that developing unique experiences goes
hand in hand with creating meaningful and memo-
rable sensory experiences (Agapito et al., 2014). This
finding is also consistent with the results of our re-
search.
Conclusion
With this in mind, the paper offers some observations
that can be considered as recommendations for the fu-
ture development of unique tourism experiences. This
research contributes to a better understanding of the
importance of the concept of uniqueness in tourism
experiences at the destination, with clear implications
for marketing communications that give tourism ex-
periences a unique touch and greater appeal in the
tourism market.
The research included holiday experiences related
to relaxation and fun at the destination with a more
idyllic and unique escape experience, where social
and special aesthetic dimensions stand out and trig-
ger emotions and engagement: tourism experiences
with a romantic atmosphere, fantasy, dreams, nos-
talgic moments of interaction and multisensory ele-
ments. It would be interesting to associate uniqueness
with unconventional tourism experiences, such as ad-
venture or volunteer tourism, where people seek an
unusual and attractive experience.
Finally, this study also shows that the unique at-
tributes exhibited reinforce the interest and experi-
ence, and to some extent correspond to the identity
of the place, which is important for the image of the
destination in which they are located, and therefore
are important for the destination brand. For example,
truffles are very representative of Istria, just as the salt
flower is a sign of salt pans in this area of Istria, and in
this sense helps to consolidate the image and identity
of the destination, which affects the destination brand
and loyalty and attachment to the place.
Today’s tourists are no longer satisfied with the
superficial, all-inclusive, generic, standardized offer,
but are looking for a deeper contact with the desti-
nation they are visiting (culture, landscape, people).
They want a real, original, normal, not artificial, not
made-up, not tourist experience. An experience that
has been around since time immemorial and is unique.
Therefore, practitioners and marketers in tourist des-
tinations look for the fundamental and authentic at-
tributes of the destination, which may be contained
in unique points, attractions, places or experiences.
In this regard, this study contributes to identifying a
set of unique attributes per destination that can serve
as a guide for destination managers. Identifying the
distinctive, unique characteristics of a destination is
necessary for tourism development and management
and has important implications for tourism market-
ing planners and travel suppliers. Our findings can
help marketing planners select the target constellation
of attributes and develop more efficient unique ex-
perience products for destinations and their market-
ing communication strategies for campaigns. Tourism
managers could use them to identify their own local
particularities.
The robust results suggest that combining themost
distinctive attributes with a strong emotional com-
ponent is important for a destination’s positioning
strategy. This paper clearly identifies the natural set-
ting and roles of unique and distinctive attributes, in-
tegrating them into the tourism product or experi-
ence. Therefore, it is essential that destination man-
agement and marketers focus on an image campaign
that can further promote destination uniqueness and
differentiation from other destinations and sustain
effective marketing strategies in this respect. Hence,
marketing and advertising campaigns can underline
the unique attributes of natural and cultural heritage,
which will provoke an emotional experience during
tourist visits.
As a research study, some limitations of the current
approach are obvious. First, this study investigates the
uniqueness of the tourism experience on the supplier
side using qualitative research. However, this research
method is inherently less objective than quantitative
research and therefore more limited in terms of sta-
tistical and comparative analyses. It would therefore
make sense to further investigate the tourist side and
the perception of the uniqueness of the tourism ex-
perience with quantitative research, to find out if the
attributes belonging to the tourism experience provide
the tourist with a unique experience or if there is a gap
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 359
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
between the promises of the offer and the actual ex-
perience. The aspect of the tourist’s satisfaction with
the tourism experience is also important, as they have
a greater potential to share the experience and mem-
ories of the experience with a unique touch. Second,
in examining unique tourism experiences, the study
rely on interviews with representatives of tourism or-
ganizations in destinations that are involved in mar-
keting of tourism experiences. In this sense, some of
the criteria used for data collection may not provide
a comprehensive basis and those who conduct these
experiences may not reflect all possible unique ex-
periences. Third, this study assessed the attributes of
tourism experiences’ uniqueness for selected tourism
experiences in three destinations highlighted by re-
spondents as the most important, and not all that are
offered, or even smaller destinations in Slovenian Is-
tria such as Ankaran, which could mean that not all
attributes of destination uniqueness are covered in this
area. Fourth, the range of unique experiences does
not include a comparison between unique and non-
unique experiences, which could contribute to a more
comprehensive understanding of the unique experi-
ence. Fifth, other marketing constructs related to des-
tination uniqueness could be explored, such as dif-
ferent market segments (families, young couples, se-
niors) or destination positioning through usp, brand,
and the like. Finally, criteria at the level of symbolic
and expressive communication are important to at-
tract and effectively market unique experiences, so
the most market-effective communication approaches
and web-based marketing channels should be tested
in the market. Uniqueness as a distinctive element in
tourism experience has recently gained importance
and is used increasingly.
Therefore, future studies could explore the above
comments from each category over time. Future stud-
ies should also consider exploring the relation between
tourists’ need for uniqueness as a representation of
differentiated identity based on several target markets
and destination settings.
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362 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Original Scientific Article
Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic
Carolina Pasciaroni
National University of the South, Argentina
carolina.pasciaroni@uns.edu.ar
Viviana Leonardi
National University of the South, Argentina
viviana.leonardi@uns.edu.ar
Silvina Elias
National University of the South, Argentina
selias@uns.edu.ar
The study aims to explore the pre-covid-19 innovative behaviour of smaller hotels
located in an urban centre of Argentina and to recognize whether the current pan-
demic operates as an innovation-inducing factor in these hotels. The contribution
andmainmotivation lies in the lower number of studies on hotel innovation in South
American destinations and the need to identify the strategies adopted by smaller ho-
tels in the face of the covid-19 crisis. The methodology followed is a multiple case
study composed of six small and medium-sized hotels located in Bahía Blanca city
(Argentina). The primary information was collected by surveys sent to hotel man-
agers. The study shows a pre-covid-19 innovative profile oriented to the acquisition
of embedded technology, staff training and obtaining incremental innovations. In-
ternal factors and external factors influence the innovative profile described. The
covid-19 pandemic is not an inducing factor, but rather an obstacle to innovation.
Keywords: innovation, hotels, small and medium-sized hotel, Argentina, covid-19
pandemic
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.15.363-379
Introduction
Service innovation is a source of competitive advan-
tage for hotels in dealing with the competitive envi-
ronment that illustrates the tourism industry world-
wide (Gomezelj, 2016; Backman et al., 2017; Ambrož&
Omerzel, 2018). In addition, innovation emerges as an
alternative for the recovery and transformation of the
tourism sector given the unprecedented repercussions
of the covid-19 pandemic (United Nations, 2020, p.
2; oecd, 2020; unwto, 2020; Le & Phi, 2021; Breier
et al., 2021).
In the current pandemic scenario, the use of tech-
nology is a key element in reducing the real and per-
ceived risk of contagion (Shin & Kang, 2020; Sharma
et al., 2021) and in designing new marketing strategies
and using digital platforms to improve the competi-
tiveness of small and medium-sized firms (smes) in
the sector (United Nations, 2020).
The international chains Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt
and Best Western adopted fully automated check-
in systems to ensure social distancing, and cleaning
robots, uv technology and electrostatic sprayers to
improve cleaning anddisinfection (Shin&Kang, 2020;
Le & Phi, 2021). Following Lau (2020), 5g and Wi-Fi
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 363
Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
6 technology, facial recognition, artificial intelligence
and robots are some of the new technologies that are
aiding the survival of the sector. It should be noted that
the adoption of technological advances in the field of
ict is a specific feature of innovation in the tourism
and hospitality sector (see, for example, Fernández et
al., 2011; Nieves &Osorio, 2019). Additionally, innova-
tions can be implemented in the hotel business model
to confront the covid-19 crisis through changes in
reservation and cancellation policies, adjustments in
restaurant services to the take-away modality, and
adoption of an annual membership system (Breier et
al.; 2021; Le & Phi, 2021).
Given the traditional conception of innovation as
a source of competitiveness and its current relevance
as an alternative for the recovery of tourism in face of
the covid-19 crisis, this study aims to explore the in-
novative behaviour of small and medium-sized hotel
firms located in an urban centre of Argentina in the
pre-covid-19 stage and examinewhether the covid-
19 crisis signifies an opportunity to innovate for these
firms.
The research on tourism and hospitality innova-
tion in small andmedium-sized firms (smes) is a topic
of particular importance due to the number of these
enterprises in the global tourism sector (Pikkemaat,
2008; Thomas et al., 2011; Motta & Sharma, 2020) and
the specificities of their innovation process. In Ar-
gentina, the tourism sector has a high proportion of
smes compared to other economic sectors. Specifi-
cally, the hotel sector comprises 57 of private em-
ployees (aht & ieral, 2020). Adding to the numeri-
cal importance, innovation in tourism and hospitality
smes has particular features such as low economies
of scale and scope; low level of qualification of its
employees; a propensity to invest in acquisition of
hardware and software; difficulties in accessing financ-
ing; and little propensity to cooperate with customers,
competitors, suppliers, and universities (Pikkemaat &
Peters, 2006; Pikkemaat, 2008).
The paper aims to contribute in diverse directions
to the empirical knowledge about innovation in the
hospitality sector. First, the study addresses the gap
related to the lower number of empirical studies on
tourism and hospitality innovation in South America
compared to other regions. In his review of the state
of academic research in the area of hospitality and
tourism innovation, Gomezelj (2016) found that most
of the studies refer to European and Asian tourist des-
tinations. Thus, for the pre-covid-19 stage, the study
offers empirical evidence on the innovative behaviour
of hospitality smes located in destinations little ex-
plored in the literature. Second, this paper aims to
contribute to the knowledge about innovation in hos-
pitality smes in response to the covid-19 crisis. The
crises in the tourism sector have an amplified impact
on smes given their limited business volume and low
marginal profitability and, therefore, a low level of sav-
ings or own reserves; their restricted access to cap-
ital markets; and their internal constraints, such as
scant management experience (Kukanja et al., 2022;
Dias et al., 2022; United Nations, 2022). Nevertheless,
the smaller firms tend to be more flexible and inno-
vative (Kukanja et al., 2022; Tejada & Moreno, 2013;
Pikkemaat, 2008). Recent studies on the covid-19
pandemic suggest the need to deepen the knowledge
of the creative strategies implemented by hospitality
smes that are not affiliated with a large international
chain (Shin & Kang, 2020; Le & Phi, 2021).
The proposed analysis uses the multiple case study
methodology (Yin, 2009, 2018). Six small andmedium-
sized hotels located in Bahía Blanca city (Argentina)
constitute the selected case studies. Based on the dis-
tinction between survival strategies and innovation
strategies for facing the covid-19 crisis (Le & Phi,
2021), reports for the national tourism sector reveal
that hotels in Argentina adopted savings measures
and requested government aid more than innovation
strategies. This paper tries to deepen knowledge of this
last type of strategies.
From the literature on innovation in tourism and
hospitality, some questions raised regarding the stage
prior to the covid-19 crisis are: What type of inno-
vation activities did the hotel firms under study invest
in? What type of external sources of information did
these hotels use to update themselves on new market
trends, new technologies, new management and/or
organization models during their innovation process?
What kind of innovative results did they obtain?What
internal factors, such as size, chain affiliation, and con-
364 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
servative attitude influenced their innovative profile?
What external influences on the innovation process
emerged in the proposed analysis? Concerning the
covid-19 crisis, the research questions are: How did
hotels perceive the covid-19 crisis? What innovation
strategies did hoteliers adopt to face the crisis?
After this introduction, the paper is structured as
follows. The next section offers a review of theoreti-
cal and empirical aspects of innovation in hospitality.
The third section introduces methodological consid-
erations related to the case study, the data collection
instrument used in this paper and the type of infor-
mation collected. The fourth section analyses this in-
formation, dividing the analysis into two stages: pre-
covid-19 and the pandemic context. Section five dis-
plays a discussion of the results, and section 6 offers a
conclusion, indicating limitations and future research
guidelines.
Innovation in Hospitality: Review of the Literature
Hospitality is considered a lower innovative perfor-
mance sector compared to industry and knowledge-
intensive services (Gomezelj, 2016; Martín-Rios &
Ciobanu, 2019), even though the study of innova-
tion in hospitality generates a growing interest derived
from the diversity and specificities of its processes and
activities (Gomezelj, 2016; Martín-Rios & Ciobanu,
2019).
Most empirical studies on innovation in hospital-
ity and tourism are based on definitions and categories
from the Schumpeterian approach (Hjalager, 2010; de
Larrea et al., 2021). Based on the taxonomy proposed
by Schumpeter, innovation is defined as the imple-
mentation of a new or significantly improved prod-
uct (good or service), or process, a new marketing
method, or a new organizational method in business
practices, workplace organization or external relations
(oecd, 2018).
Alternative innovation classifications have been
suggested in order to capture the particularities of
the sector (Orfila-Sintes & Mattsson, 2009; Hjalager,
2010; de Larrea et al., 2021). Following Martín-Rios
and Ciobanu (2019), hospitality integrates the taxon-
omy called supplier-dominated services (sds). The sds
firms are characterized by low levels of formal in-
novation, and their innovation process relies on the
purchase of goods and the interaction with suppliers
and users. Unlike other sds sectors, the hospitality
industry is further characterized as a labour-intensive,
largely seasonal, cost-driven industry, with less incli-
nation towards R&D and large investments in techno-
logical innovation.
Orfila-Sintes and Mattsson (2009) point out that
hotel firms show a greater propensity to innovate
through the introduction of R&D incorporated in
technology (new equipment and/or software) and a
lower predisposition to carry out internal activities of
R&D. Among hotel firms in Spain, Guisado-González
et al. (2013) find that the most common innovation
strategy is the acquisition of new technology through
the purchase of machinery and equipment, followed
by the training of personnel involved in innovation
activities, the purchase of intangible technology and
marketing activities related to the introduction of new
services. Firms are little oriented towards internal gen-
eration of knowledge, external R&D and cooperation
with other firms and agents.
In summary, innovation in the hospitality sector
is illustrated in the adoption of new technologies and
translates into competitive advantages, either due to
productive efficiency, understood as a reduction in
costs, or to the greater capacity for differentiation
through improvements in the service and its greater
adaptation to the client (Orfila-Sintes & Mattsson,
2009; Nieves et al., 2014). Specifically, innovation in
this sector is widely associated with advances in ict
(Orfila-Sintes&Mattsson, 2009; Fernández et al., 2011;
Nieves et al., 2014; Nieves & Osorio, 2019).
It should be noted that firms do not innovate alone.
Innovation is a process that depends on the acquisi-
tion of knowledge and information from outside the
firm (see, for example, oecd, 2018; Lundvall, 2010).
Nieves et al. (2014), Nieves and Segarra-Ciprés (2015),
and Backman et al. (2017) offer empirical evidence in
favour of the positive impact that the interactions with
external actors (customers, suppliers, competitors,
firms of the same group and industry) have on hotel
innovation regardless of their location. Kallmuenzer
(2018) finds that employees, guests, and competitors
are key drivers of innovation.
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 365
Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
Firm-level innovation process
Innovation inputs
(internal R&D, external
R&D, ICT acquisition,
design, consultancy,
training)
Hotel features (size, age, affiliation
with a chain, management modality,
additional services)
Characteristics of demand and mar-
keting strategies (seasonality, reason
for travel, channels used to book)
Product innovation
Process innovation
Marketing innovation
Organizational innovation
Policies to promote innovation in tourism
and hospitality
Crises and economic cycles
New technologies available in the market
Environmental factors
Changes in the tourist infrastructure
and new communication infrastructures
External
knowledge flows
Figure 1 Firm-Level Innovation Process and Its Conditioning Factors Source (based on López-Fernández et al., 2011;
Orfila-Sintes & Mattsson, 2009; Fernández et al., 2011)
Several factors condition the innovation process
in the hotel industry. These factors can be classified
into: (1) internal ones, such as size, belonging to a
group of firms, organizational rigidity and lack of
qualified personnel, and (2) external ones, such as
the availability of financing sources, the lack of infor-
mation or the scant interest of consumers regarding
innovation (Orfila-Sintes & Mattsson, 2009; López-
Fernández et al., 2011). Among the internal factors,
the knowledge, skills and creativity of employees con-
stitute key sources of innovation for hotels (Nieves et
al., 2014; Nieves & Segarra-Ciprés, 2015; Dhar, 2015;
Backman et al., 2017) as well as the behaviour of em-
ployees and their actions towards innovation (Zopi-
atis & Theocharous, 2018). Following Backman et al.
(2017), innovation is not mainly a function of the in-
tensity of R&D but of the knowledge acquired through
the processes of learning by doing, learning by using
and learning by interacting. Thus, specific knowledge
of the firm derives from the human capital of the em-
ployees (education, experience, ability to solve prob-
lems, etc.).
Regarding external factors that influence hotel in-
novation, Fernández et al. (2011) include (1) policies
to promote innovation in tourism and hospitality; (2)
economic crises and business cycles; (3) sociodemo-
graphic conditions such as changes in consumption
habits and the rise of new market segments; (4) new
technologies translated into product, process, orga-
nizational or marketing innovations in the tourism
sector; (5) environmental factors exemplified in legis-
lation to regulate pollution and preserve the environ-
ment; and (6) changes in tourist infrastructure and
new communication infrastructures. Figure 1 illus-
trates the innovation process at the firm level and the
internal and external factors that affect this process.
The academic literature as well as the reports com-
piled by international organizations suggest that the
covid-19 crisis may be a potential external factor that
induces innovation. Hotels, particularly those belong-
ing to large chains, have already implemented inno-
vations in response to the pandemic (Shin & Kang,
2020; Sharma et al., 2021), ranging from procedures
that guarantee higher standards of hygiene and social
distancing to adjustments in reservation and cancella-
tion policies (Shin & Kang, 2020; Sharma et al., 2021;
Breier et al., 2021; Hao et al., 2020).
Le and Phi (2021) identify strategic responses
adopted by the hotel sector to deal with the covid-19
pandemic. In an early phase of the pandemic, hotels
chains suspended their investments in new projects
or implemented an ‘asset-light’ policy, while small and
medium-sized hotels implemented a savings strategy
by freeing up working capital, improving business ef-
ficiency and postponing non-essential renovations.
In the next phases of emergency and crisis, hoteliers
adopted defensive or survival strategies focused on
cost reduction, the adoption of health and safety pro-
cedures, sales promotions through coupons and dis-
count offers and free accommodation for health work-
ers. For the recovery phase, the authors argue that the
pandemic accelerated business innovation through
service automation and revenue diversification. In
particular, new automated service processes such as
366 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
contactless check-in/check-out, digital menus, online
service ordering, mobile concierge apps, and smart
room control have been adopted at a rapid pace.
Breier et al. (2021) show that the incremental inno-
vations carried out by hotels in the context of a pan-
demic are explained by the time available, the gen-
eral pressure to change due to the crisis, financial re-
strictions and the role of frequent guests as imple-
menting partners and early adopters. Hotel size, hotel
resources, and government regulations and support
policies are additional factors that have a strong in-
fluence on hotel sector responses to crises (Hao et al.,
2020; Le & Phi, 2021). Large hotel chains are generally
better equipped than small and medium-sized hotels
in pandemic crisis management (Shin & Kang, 2020;
Le & Phi, 2021).
Innovation in Small and Medium-Sized Firms
in the Tourism and Hospitality Sector
Several authors agree that innovation in small and
medium-sized firms (smes) in the tourism sector
is a relevant research topic (Tejada & Moreno, 2013;
Hjalager, 2010; Pikkemaat & Peters, 2006; Thomas et
al., 2011). This relevance is based on the numerical
importance of smes in the tourism industry and the
specific features assumed by innovation among these
firms. Data and studies in several countries show that
the tourism industry is dominated by micro and small
businesses, and most of them are owned and man-
aged by a single person or family (Pikkemaat, 2008;
Thomas et al., 2011; Pikkemaat & Zehrer, 2016).
Although, starting with the seminal work of Sch-
umpeter (1942), there is extensive literature on the in-
fluence of firm size on innovation, there is no con-
sensus on such influence (Pikkemaat, 2008; Tejada &
Moreno, 2013). Some studies reveal that larger firms
have the advantage over economies of scale in inno-
vation activities, while other research indicates that
smaller firms have greater flexibility to innovate and
adapt to changing environments (see the review of Te-
jada & Moreno, 2013). In any case, the literature refers
to specific features shared by the tourism and hos-
pitality smes (Pikkemaat & Peters, 2006; Pikkemaat,
2008; Tejada&Moreno, 2013; Thomas et al., 2011; Kall-
muenzer, 2018):
• Low economies of scale and scope, and difficul-
ties in increasing profit margins that allow rein-
vestment in research and development, market
research, product development, upskilling or cre-
ativity. A lack of time, money and knowledge for
a strategic innovation process is identified among
smes.
• Unlike large firms, smes do not have research
and development departments.
• Low professionalism; smes employ numerous
low-cost and semi-skilled labour.
• Lack of cooperation and networking; smes in
the tourism and hospitality industry are reluctant
to cooperate or form strategic allianceswith other
partners (competitors, suppliers, customers and/
or universities).
• smes predominantly focus on acquisition ofma-
chinery as well as upgrading of the facilities in
general, rather than creating service or manage-
ment innovations. The most common type of in-
novation is associated with the adoption of in-
novations in the field of information technology.
Most innovations are adoptions that originate as
new technologies suggested by suppliers.
• smes are risk averse, and, therefore, tend to fol-
low and imitate only after making sure invest-
ments are feasible.
• Innovations in smes are often reactive in nature
rather than proactive innovations. The former
are changes undertaken to solve an existing prob-
lem, while the latter introduce a new capability or
experience for tourists.
The stated features limit the innovation capacity of
tourism smes. The reluctance to cooperate with com-
petitors, suppliers, customers and/or universities is a
significant limitation. It should be noted that coopera-
tion allows smes to access the material and cognitive
resources necessary to innovate (Kim & Shim, 2018;
Kallmuenzer, 2018); at the same time, the cooperation
allows for obtaining the necessary economies of scope
to increase the variety of products and services offered.
In addition, the lowqualifications of theworkforce and
the low cost of labour not only does not allow boosting
labour productivity in the sector, but also does not of-
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 367
Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
fer the necessary incentives to carry out labour-saving
process innovations (Pikkemaat & Peters, 2006).
Moreover, difficulties in access to financing consti-
tute an additional factor that undermines the innova-
tive capacity of tourism smes (Dias et al., 2022;Motta
& Sharma, 2020). smes find it difficult to obtain fi-
nancing from commercial banks due to the lack of col-
lateral, small cash flow, high-risk premiums or under-
developed banking relationships, as well as experienc-
ing difficulties in obtaining credit from suppliers and
financial institutions (see review of Dias et al., 2022).
As a consequence, the smes of the sector are financed
with their own profits.
Regarding innovation in tourism smes during the
covid-19 pandemic, these firms experienced lower
levels of training, less digitization of their processes,
greater vulnerability to external shocks, and greater
dependence on government aid compared to large
firms (Dias et al., 2022; Iancu et al., 2022). In any
case, recent studies show that the adoption of new
technologies, new business models, and employee
training were part of the main strategies followed by
tourism smes in the face of the crisis (Breier et al.,
2021; Haqbin et al., 2022; Estiri et al., 2022). Dias et al.
(2022) find that the risk-taking attitude of managers
and the existence of a cooperation network are factors
that positively affected innovation during the covid-
19 crisis. The authors indicate that state financial aid
had no impact on innovation during the pandemic,
although this may be due to a high degree of correla-
tion with the variable risk. However, Estiri et al. (2022)
argue that the development of digitalmarketing is con-
firmed as an applicable strategy for tourism smes to
access new markets. Government support in the pro-
vision of infrastructure to implement these strategies
leads to the strengthening of organizational innova-
tions that provide a competitive advantage for smes.
Methodology and Source of Information
Method
This paper adopts the case study methodology (Yin,
2018). This methodology should be used: (a) to an-
swer the ‘how’ and ‘why’ research questions; (b) when
the researcher has little or no control over behavioural
events; and (c) the focus of the study is contemporary
as opposed to an entirely historical event (Yin, 2018).
Additionally, a case study would be appropriate when
the researcher needs to describe a social phenomenon
in depth.
This technique was recently used to understand
how hotel firms innovate in their business models in
reaction to the covid-19 crisis (Breier et al., 2021).
Following Yin (2009), the case study technique is
suitable for analysing complex real-life phenomena
for which theory knowledge is scarce. In this way,
the technique is appropriate to address the questions
raised for smaller hotels, which are little explored
given the recent and disruptive nature of the covid-
19 pandemic (Le & Phi, 2021; Shin & Kang, 2020). As
a limitation, the case study does not allow generaliza-
tion in probabilistic or statistical terms. According to
Yin (2009 and 2018), the case study admits an analyt-
ical generalization, in which a previously developed
theory is used as a template to compare the empiri-
cal results of the case study. In analytic generalization,
the researcher attempts to generalize a particular set
of results to a theory.
The proposed qualitative research, with an ex-
ploratory and descriptive scope, uses the holistic mul-
tiple case research design (Yin, 2009, 2018). The six 3-
and 4-star hotels belonging to the small and medium-
sized category and located in Bahía Blanca city (Ar-
gentina) constitute the selected case studies. The unit
of analysis is the hotel.
Bahía Blanca is a medium-sized centre of regional
gravitation based on its geographic location, produc-
tion structure, supply of health services and university
education, and transportation and communications
infrastructure. Public universities and several science
and technology institutes are located in the city. In
particular, one of the local universities offers under-
graduate courses in the discipline of tourism, as well
as in ict-related areas. From the tourism perspective,
Bahía Blanca is a stopover and distribution centre for
tourists and visitors to nearby beach and mountain
destinations (Pinassi & Ercolani, 2012). Only 33.69
of visitors come to the city for vacations (Informe an-
ual perfil del visitante 2019, n.d.).
The hotel business sector in Bahía Blanca is made
up of nine small and medium-sized firms (smes). Ac-
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Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
Table 1 Structure of the Survey
Hotel features Affiliation to a chain. Business start year. Number of employees, number of employees with tech-
nical or university training. Number of rooms. Location in the urban space
Demand and market-
ing strategies
Main reason for travelling to the city. If the guests are frequent customers. Place of residence of
the guests. Reservation channels – promotion policies/rate setting policies
Innovative behaviour
and performance pre-
covid- pandemic
Investment in innovation activities (internal R&D, external R&D, acquisition of hardware, soft-
ware, machinery and equipment, consulting, design and marketing, training). Obtaining inno-
vative results (introduction of a new or improved product, processes, marketing method, orga-
nizational method). Use of external sources of information to innovate (guests, suppliers, com-
petitors, hotels of the chain, universities). Access to funding sources for innovation. Obstacles to
innovate, motives to innovate.
Perceptions and in-
novation during the
covid- pandemic
Opinion of hotel managers on duration and effect of the health control policies. Expectations
of hotel managers regarding the recovery period of activity to pre-pandemic levels. Innovations
implemented and/or planned by the hotels.
cording to the Ministry of Production and Labour of
Argentina (Resolution 19/2021) and following the cri-
terion of the number of employees, micro to medium-
sized firms are service companies with more than (or
equal to) 7 employees and less than (or equal to) 535
employees. As previously stated, this paper focuses on
six selected 3- and 4-star hotels. Among the hotels not
selected, two of these firms belong to the 2-star cat-
egory and the remaining one does not have a catego-
rization. This last hotel, although it had a building, be-
gan its activities after the conclusion of this study.
The six highest category hotels are selected con-
sidering convenience. Based on contacts prior to this
study, the lower category hotels of the city did not show
innovative behaviour before the covid-19 crisis, fo-
cusing their attention on daily or current operations.
Therefore, the analysis of the six selected hotels makes
it possible to compare the pre-pandemic innovative
profile with innovative behaviour during the covid-
19 crisis. This allows identification of the effects of the
crisis on innovative behaviour when comparing both
stages.
It is highlighted that the six hotels under study
show differences regarding their size, age and affil-
iation to a hotel chain. There are two chains of local
originwith regional projection. These differences con-
tribute to the robustness of the finding (Guest et al.,
2006 in Breier et al., 2021). Conversely, all hotels face a
similar demand: frequent national guests who mainly
travel for work and use the same booking channels
(Online Travel Agencies, website, telephone, Airbnb).
Data Collection and Analysis
The proposed study examines the use of primary and
secondary sources of information. The primary infor-
mation was collected by sending a form to the email
address of the managers of the 3- and 4-star hotels of
Bahía Blanca city. The form focused on the pre-covid
19 stage, and on the recovery expectations and innova-
tion strategies adopted by local hotels in the face of the
covid-19 crisis. The process of sending the form and
receiving the responses lasted between the months of
July and October 2020. The questions that compose
the questionnaire (Table 1) followed the guidelines of
the OsloManual (oecd, 2018). Based on Sharma et al.
(2021), the categories of the Oslo Manual are still ap-
plicable to many of the measures that hotels have im-
plemented in response to the pandemic, although the
unprecedented nature of the crisis forced hotels to in-
novate without the benefit of the experience.
For the analysis of the primary information col-
lected, this paper follows the scheme proposed by
Breier et al. (2021), using a cross-case analysis or com-
parative analysis between local hotels for the pre-
covid-19 stage and a within-case analysis for each
local hotel for the covid-19 stage. The analysis of the
primary information is combined with secondary in-
formation from official statistics and reports compiled
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 369
Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
by national business chambers. Secondary informa-
tion refers to the strategies or responses adopted by
hotels at the national level in the face of the covid-
19 crisis, with the aim of identifying whether innova-
tion is part of this set of strategies. After providing a
summary of the strategies adopted by hotels at the na-
tional level, the information on innovation in times
of pandemic is analysed for the hotels under study in
particular.
Results
Pre-Pandemic Innovative Behaviour and Performance
As indicated in the previous section, the comparative
analysis on innovative behaviour prior to the covid-
19 crisis requires local hotels to show some variability
in their features in order to draw conclusions. Accord-
ing to Table 2, the six hotels under study show differ-
ential characteristics. In this sense, the hotels A, B and
E belong to a national chain while the three remaining
hotels are independent. Similarly, half of the six local
hotels are more than 25 years old (Hotels A, C and D)
or have a number of rooms equal to or greater than
100 (Hotels A, B andC). The hotels E and F are smaller
in age and size. A relevant aspect to highlight for the
purposes of analysing the innovative behaviour of ho-
tels refers to the training of their employees. In the six
hotels under study, the percentage of professional em-
ployees is low, and this attribute is more pronounced
in the larger hotels.
Beyond the aforementioned distinctive features,
the six hotels under study face a similar demand. In
all cases, the demand is seasonal, concentrated in the
months of March to November. Guests travel mainly
for work and come from nearby towns and other re-
gions of the country. The managers of the six ho-
tels reported using the website, telephone and Book-
ing.com as reservation channels before the covid-19
pandemic. Some hotels also used Despegar, Facebook,
emails and Airbnb. Except for Hotel A, none of the
local hotels had a policy of overbooking rooms. Re-
garding the rate-setting policies, the hotels segmented
the market according to the type of clients (individ-
uals/group); sales channel (travel agency, direct sales,
online travel agencies); and previous agreements with
companies and/or sports clubs. Hotels D and E also
discriminated rates according to the type of reserva-
tion (refundable, non-refundable, early booking).
Despite the differential characteristics in terms of
age, size and belonging to a chain, the comparative
analysis shows similarities in behaviour and innova-
tive performance (Table 3). In line with previous stud-
ies for destinations in developed countries, all local
hoteliers invested in the acquisition of technology em-
bedded in software, hardware or equipment. Hotels A
and E, belonging to the same hotel chain, adopted the
software Property Management System (pms). This
software addresses reservation management, guest
check-in and check-out, room assignment, room rate
management, and billing. In addition, Hotel C incor-
porated an accounting administration software devel-
oped by a national firm and used especially by smes
from different productive sectors. The software pur-
chased byHotel C allows the firm tomanage purchases
and stock, create price lists, issue invoices and compile
management reports.
Except for Hotel B and the recently founded Hotel
F, the local hotels also opted to train their employees.
The hotel business chamber of the city (fehgra) pro-
vided such trainings, which focused onmarketing and
sales and guest service. Only Hotel C implemented an
incentive programme for its staff based on the achieve-
ment of objectives. None of the local hotels carried out
regular evaluations of their staff. Although human re-
sources constitute a key innovation factor in the hotel
sector (Nieves et al., 2014; Nieves & Segarra-Ciprés,
2015; Dhar, 2015), the local large hotels showed a low
percentage of professional employees such as accoun-
tants, graduates in administration and graduates in
tourism (Table 2).
The six hotels under study financed their innova-
tion activities with their own funds. The hotels did
not finance their innovation process from external
sources, even when they mentioned the high costs of
innovation as obstacles to innovate. Hotels A and D,
which have been in operation for more than 25 years,
indicated that the main obstacles correspond to the
conservative organizational culture, the lack of quali-
fied personnel and the high costs of innovation. Hotel
F, recently opened and smaller, pointed to the costs
of innovation together with the limited availability of
370 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
Table 2 Description of Local Hotels
Item Hotel
A B C D E F
Category  stars  stars  stars  stars  stars  stars
Chain affiliation Yes Yes No No Yes No
Age > years < years > years > years < years < years
N° of rooms      
N° of employees      
N° of professional employees  no data    
Main reason for travel Work Work Work Work Work Work
Place of residence of the guests Regional Regional
Foreigner
Regional Regional Regional Regional
Frequent guests Yes No Yes No No Yes
Seasonality of demand Yes No Yes Yes No Yes
Notes Elaboration based on primary information provided by the hotels, web pages of each hotel and the web page of the
Municipality of Bahía Blanca.
Table 3 Innovation Behaviour before covid-19 Crisis by Local Hotel Features
Hotel Hotel description Innovation process
() () () Innovation activities Source information Innovation results
A Yes >
years
 Acquisition of embodied
technology. Training.
Chain. Generally available
sources. Market sources.
Academic sources.
Product/Service innovations.
Process innovations. Market-
ing innovation.
B Yes <
years
 Acquisition of embodied
technology.
Chain. Market sources. –
C No >
years
 Acquisition of embodied
technology. Training.
Generally available sources.
Market sources.
Product/Service innovations.
Process innovations. Market-
ing innovation
D No >
years
 Acquisition of embodied
technology. Training. Cre-
ation new image.
Generally available sources.
Market sources.
Product/Service innovations.
Marketing innovation
E Yes <
years
 Acquisition of embodied
technology. Training.
Chain. Generally available
sources. Market sources.
Process innovations Market-
ing innovation.
F No <
years
 Acquisition of embodied
technology. Creation new im-
age. Adoption quality man-
agement system.
Generally available sources.
Market sources.
Marketing innovation.
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) chain affiliation, (2) age, (3) number of rooms. Elaboration based on primary
information provided by the hotels.
financing. It should be noted that investment in inno-
vation activities is not the only input in the innovation
process of firms. Since the 1980s, different theoretical
approaches have pointed out the relevance of external
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 371
Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
knowledge as a source of innovation. As in previous
studies, employees are the internal source of informa-
tion used by local hotels. Within each hotel, the infor-
mation is conducted through regular meetings, emails
and use of WhatsApp.
Respondents indicated that they usemore than one
external source of information to update on innova-
tion and new trends in the sector.Most of the local ho-
tels used generally available information sources (spe-
cialized magazines, internet and fairs). Similarly, all
the hotels used market sources represented by clients
and/or competitors. Only Hotel B indicated that they
also used suppliers as a source of information. Except
for Hotel A, which is larger and belongs to a chain,
none of the establishments used the university as a
source of information. The three hotels that belong to
a chain (Hotels A, B and E) indicated that they use this
organization as a source of information. Nevertheless,
the hotel chain can be considered an internal source of
information.
It is highlighted that the hotels are located in a city
that has a university that offers a degree in tourism,
and training in disciplines in the field of economic sci-
ences, and in engineering associated with ict. These
last scientific fields of interest for the promotion of in-
novation in the sector are aimed at the digitization of
firms.
Regarding the innovative results, the local hotels
obtained product, process and/or marketing innova-
tions, but not organizational ones:
• Product/Service innovations. Hotels A, C and D
obtained incremental innovations represented
by improvements in Wi-Fi network connectiv-
ity (Hotels A and D), incorporation of electronic
locks by approach (Hotels A and C) and im-
provements in heating equipment (Hotel D). The
younger hotels B, E and F did not obtain innova-
tions.
• Process innovations.Hotels A and E, belonging to
the same chain, adopted the Yield Management
philosophy (see, for example, Kimes, 1989; Talón
Ballestero et al., 2008), an aspect that suggests a
greater complexity of management processes and
decision-making regarding rate setting and in-
ventory policies. The independent Hotel C also
digitized its administrative processes. From the
perspective of front-office innovations, Hotel C
added the practice of late check-out.
• Marketing innovation. Except for Hotel B, the lo-
cal hotels indicated that they modified their rate
setting policies, offering discounts for long stays
and through a booking channel (Hotel A andHo-
tel D), special weekend rates (Hotel C), and dis-
counts for groups of guests who come to the city
to participate in specific events and conventions
(Hotel E and F). Only Hotels A and F incorpo-
rated new sales and promotion channels: online
travel agencies and direct web bookings. Hotels
A and C have made changes to their website.
Regarding the factors underlying the innovation
process described, the study suggests that the affilia-
tion to a chain, the size and the age of the hotel do
not seem to influence the innovation process of local
hotels. While Hotels A and B, affiliated to the same
chain, stand out for the adoption of the ym philos-
ophy, Hotel B, belonging to another chain, did not
attain innovations in the pre-covid-19 period. The
internal factors outlined by the hotels surveyed refer
to the conservative attitude and the lack of qualified
personnel. Among external factors, the high costs of
innovation and the lack of financing lines emerge as
obstacles to innovation. For the cases studied, the fea-
tures assumed by demand can serve to explain the
similarity in the innovative behaviour evidenced. Lo-
cal hoteliers indicated that their guests travel for work
and stay in the city for a few days, suggesting that the
accommodation and additional services offered by lo-
cal hotels meet their expectations. Figure 2 summa-
rizes the relatively homogeneous innovative profile of
local hotels.
Innovation as a Response to the COVID-19 Crisis
Based on Le and Phi (2021), innovation is one of
the strategies that hotels can adopt in the face of the
covid-19 pandemic. Although the present paper fo-
cuses only on innovation, the strategies adopted by
hotels at the national level are shown below with the
purpose of providing a general framework of the re-
372 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
Financing sources: own resources
Innovation
activities:
acquisition of incor-
porated technology
(equipment and
ICTs) and training
Product innovation
Process innovation
Marketing innovation
Wi-Fi network improvements, electronic
locks by approach, improvements in
heating/cooling of environments
Back-office: Yield Management front-office:
late check-out
Changes in rate setting policy new sales
and promotion channels
Information sources:
generally available
information
(specializedmagazines,
internet), market,
own chain
Figure 2 Pre-Pandemic Innovative Profile of Local Hotels Source (based on primary information provided by the hotels)
sponses implemented at the national level and identi-
fying if innovation is part of such strategies. Innova-
tion is analysed for the particular hotels selected after
providing this general framework.
Strategies against the COVID-19 Crisis Implemented by
Hotels Nationwide
In March 2020, after the recognition by the World
Health Organization of the covid-19 outbreak as a
pandemic, Argentina declared a public emergency
(Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia 260/2020, 2020;
Ley de solidaridad social y reactivación productiva en
el marco de la emergencia pública, 2019) and adopted
policies aimed at restricting the arrival of international
passenger flights and limiting the internal movement
of people (see summary of government measures in
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (2021)).
Thus, international tourist arrivals showed a negative
year-on-year variation of 97.7 compared with De-
cember 2020. In this scenario, Argentina adopted fis-
cal and monetary policies to mitigate the effects of the
crisis and accelerate recovery and measures to protect
jobs and promote training and skills.
Before the gradual resumption of tourist activity
recorded at the end of 2020, hotels reported difficulties
in operation (Asociación de Hoteles de Turismo de la
República Argentina, 2020; Asociación de Hoteles de
Turismo de la República Argentina & Instituto de Es-
tudios sobre la Realidad Argentina y Latinoamericana
2020; Observatorio Económico Hotelero, 2020):
• 94 of the hotels surveyed requested state aid for
the payment of salaries, 53 carried out person-
nel suspensions, 52 suspended programmed in-
vestments, 47 reduced personnel salaries and
took bank loans;
• More than 80 of the surveyed establishments
indicated that they have infrastructure and equip-
ment and protocols to operate safely;
• 21 of the hotels indicated that they can convert
their establishment to another type of activity. At
this point, it stands out that 20 of the hotels
continued to offer their restaurant service and 5
of the hotels offered this service under the take-
away modality.
Innovation among Local Hotels During the COVID-19
Crisis
At the local level and prior to the reopening of tourism
activities, the 3- and 4-star hotels in the city of Bahía
Blanca made adjustments to adapt their service to the
‘covid-19 Protocol for Tourist Accommodation’ of
the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Argentina. Re-
garding the possibilities for innovation offered by the
covid-19 crisis, Table 4 summarizes the behaviour
and perceptions of the hotel respondents that are de-
tailed below.
Hotel A. The hotel established a maximum capacity
in the breakfast room, signalled physical distancing in
common spaces, and adopted physical barriers at the
reception. Even when the respondent indicated that
the pandemic context demands innovative behaviour,
he considered that the hotel does not have the capacity
to introduce changes. In addition, the respondent ex-
pressed that the government policies taken to mitigate
the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic were not suf-
ficient in a highly affected sector, stating that: ‘Costs
are increasing and accumulate with a very poor de-
mand, the hotel that remains open does nothing more
than borrow in an abysmal way that will undoubtedly
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Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
Table 4 Innovation Behaviour of Local Hotels during covid-19 Crisis
Hotel Hotel description Innovation during covid-
() () ()
A Yes > years 
Innovation strategies are not verified.
Hoteliers do not perceive the crisis as an opportunity to innovate.
Minor organizational changes and service changes for compliance with health
protocols that are not considered innovative results.
B Yes < years 
C No > years 
D No > years 
E Yes < years 
F No < years 
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) chain affiliation, (2) age, (3) number of rooms. Elaboration based on primary
information provided by the hotels.
affect its future performance, seriously compromising
the ability to respond to innovative changes that adapt
to the new visitor or tourist.’
Hotel B. Hotel B modified its organization, internaliz-
ing the laundry service through the incorporation of
its own laundry room. The respondent indicated that
‘the current situation for the entire industry is critical,
hotels are literally struggling to survive. Many will not
be able to do it and will close their doors permanently.
The recovery is going to be slow and hard, the costs to
maintain the protocols are higher than in the normal
situation. All renovation and technological advance-
ment activity is going to be relegated for quite some
time. The investments are going to be minimal, just to
be able to operate and provide the appropriate quality
to each hotel.’
Hotel C. Beyondminor renovations to common spaces
to contribute to physical distancing, Hotel C indicated
that it does not plan to make any changes. The re-
spondent explicitly pointed to the covid-19 crisis as
a limitation to innovation and revealed that ‘The im-
pact of covid-19 was great in the hotel sector in the
city. The hotel had to adapt to the new municipal and
provincial protocols. The government policies were
correct at the beginning of the pandemic, but later it
seems to me that they were contradictory or unclear.’
Hotel D. Like previous accommodations, Hotel D im-
plemented minor renovations in common spaces to
contribute to physical distancing between people. The
hotel indicated that it plans to adopt off-line card pay-
ment, web check-in and express check-out and inten-
sify the use of social networks as an advertising and
loyalty strategy for its guests. The respondent stated
that the primary strategy is to survive: ‘it is working
with aminimum staffing,with limited service, the staff
is receiving less salary [. . .]. The government policies
were not successful in my opinion. I see everything
[as] very improvised.’
Hotel E. Beyond the adaptations of the service to the
requirements imposed by the protocol, Hotel E did not
consider adopting innovative strategies. The respon-
dent explicitly indicated that the pandemic constitutes
a limitation to the development of an innovation strat-
egy and stressed that the implementation of changes ‘is
going to depend on the region in which we find our-
selves and the evolution of the situation.’
Hotel F. The hotel carried out renovations in com-
mon spaces to contribute to physical distancing be-
tween people. As in the previous accommodation, the
respondent explicitly pointed out that the pandemic
constitutes a limiting factor for innovation. Likewise,
he indicated that the new hygiene protocols meant an
increase in his costs and pointed out that ‘all the eco-
nomic measures that are implemented to provide sup-
port at this juncture are very useful. The prospects de-
pend a lot on the evolution of the pandemic in the
short term, and its effects on the flowof passengers and
means of transport.’
Figure 3 sums up the strategies adopted by local and
national hoteliers in the face of the pandemic. Un-
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Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
COVID-19 crisis
Survival strategies
Innovation strategies
Minor organizational changes and service changes
for compliance with health protocols
Suspension of programmed investments
Application for state aid for the payment of wages
Personal suspension
Limitations: lack of own financing funds, cost increase, closure risk,
personal suspension. The hotels declared they had the necessary
equipment and infrastructure to operate in the new normality
Strategies verified
Strategies not verified
Figure 3 Hotels’ Response during the covid-19 Crisis (based on Asociación de Hoteles de Turismo de la República
Argentina, 2020; Asociación de Hoteles de Turismo de la República Argentina & Instituto de Estudios sobre
la Realidad Argentina y Latinoamericana, 2020; Observatorio Económico Hotelero, 2020; Breier et al., 2021;
Le & Phi, 2021)
like previous empirical studies and reports from in-
ternational organizations (Sigala, 2020; Breier et al.,
2021; unwto, 2020; oecd, 2020; Le & Phi, 2021), the
covid-19 crisis is not a triggering event to innovate
for the local hotels. Although one of the hotel firms
surveyed considers that the covid-19 crisis demands
innovation, enhancing factors such as staff time off,
financial pressure due to loss of income and support
from frequent guests are not verified among the pri-
mary information collected.
Discussion
The information collected for the pre-covid-19 stage
shows an innovative behaviour of local hoteliers ori-
ented to the following innovation activities: acqui-
sition of ict and staff training. This innovative be-
haviour is representative of the tourism and hospital-
ity sector, and is more pronounced among small and
medium-sized firms (smes) in the sector (Pikkemaat
& Peters, 2006; Pikkemaat, 2008; Tejada & Moreno,
2013; Kallmuenzer, 2018).
In addition to these innovation activities, the pre-
covid-19 crisis innovation process was based on sev-
eral external sources of information, except for Ho-
tel B, which stands out for not having obtained in-
novative results in this stage. Therefore, a relationship
could be drawn between obtaining innovative results
and openness to information and external knowledge.
Although this relationship is in line with previous em-
pirical literature (Nieves et al., 2014; Nieves & Segarra-
Ciprés, 2015; Backman et al., 2017; Kim & Shim, 2018;
Kallmuenzer, 2018), it is not a conclusive result given
the qualitative nature of this study. It should be noted
that the university was not an external source of infor-
mation widely disseminated among local hotels. How-
ever, the local university can provide relevant knowl-
edge for the hotel innovative process since this aca-
demic unit has degree programmes in fields related to
the hotel and tourism sector. Hoteliers turn in the op-
posite direction, to the local business association, to
train their employees.
The results derived from this pre-covid-19 in-
novative behaviour were incremental. The applica-
tion of the Yield Management philosophy stands out.
Although it is a technique applied in the hotel sec-
tor since the 1980s, it is not very widespread among
smaller hotels (Talón Ballestero et al., 2008) and im-
plies a higher degree of digitization. From the differ-
entiation between internal and external factors, the
conservative-type attitude and the lack of qualified
personnel emerged as internal conditioning factors of
the pre-covid-19 innovative process. The high costs
of innovation and the lack of financing lines appeared
as external factors. According to previous studies on
tourism (Dias et al., 2022; Motta & Sharma, 2020),
small and medium-sized local hotels finance their in-
novation activities with their own resources. In addi-
tion, the characteristics of the demand is a key ele-
ment to inducing innovation in the tourism and hos-
pitality sector (Orfila-Sintes &Mattsson, 2009; López-
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 375
Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
Fernández et al., 2011). Before the covid-19 crisis and
today, local hotels face little dynamic demand that
does not require the introduction of innovations. This
feature of the local demand explains the similarity evi-
denced in the innovative profile of hotels with dissim-
ilar features.
The covid-19 pandemic may be an external fac-
tor that induces innovation, according to reports from
international organizations and recent studies (United
Nations, 2020, p. 2; oecd, 2020; unwto, 2020; Le &
Phi, 2021; Breier et al., 2021; Haqbin et al., 2022; Es-
tiri et al., 2022). However, the primary data collected
shows that local hoteliers did not report perceiving the
pandemic as an obstacle to innovation rather than an
inducing factor. During the lockdown, local hoteliers
did not innovate, nor did they plan investments in that
direction. The main concern of the hoteliers was fo-
cused on surviving, on continuing to operate, rather
than on innovating.
Conclusions, Limitations and Future Guidelines
Innovation is a source of competitiveness and growth
for hotel firms, and it is recognized as a strategy for
survival and adaptation to the current covid-19 cri-
sis. Following the multiple case study methodology
and the analysis scheme used by Breier et al. (2021),
the proposed exploratory and descriptive analysis fo-
cuses on innovation in small and medium-sized ho-
tels, not belonging to large international chains, lo-
cated in a medium-sized city of Argentina oriented to
business tourism. In this way, the paper aims to con-
tribute to the empirical knowledge about innovation
in small and medium-sized firms (smes) in tourism
and hospitality, addressing the research gap in tourism
innovation in SouthAmerica and adding empirical ev-
idence on the innovative behaviour of tourism smes
in times of crisis.
As previously indicated for the pre-covid-19 stage,
the study reveals an innovative behaviour similar to
that reported by the literature for the tourism and hos-
pitality sector (Orfila-Sintes &Mattsson, 2009; Nieves
et al., 2014; Kallmuenzer, 2018), and, in particular, to
that evidenced in the studies for the smes of the sec-
tor (Pikkemaat & Peters, 2006; Pikkemaat, 2008; Te-
jada &Moreno, 2013; Kallmuenzer, 2018). The need to
mitigate the influence of some internal and external
factors mentioned by local hoteliers emerges from the
findings. In this way, policy recommendations arise
aimed at favouring access to financing lines, and train-
ing the workforce employed, which is a key innovative
factor for the tourism innovative process. In the lat-
ter case, a policy recommendation derived from this
study involves promoting a more active role for the
university both as a training centre and as a potential
assistance and innovation centre for local hotels.
After the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic and
its conception as a window of opportunity to innovate
in the tourism and hospitality sector (see, for example,
United Nations, 2020; oecd, 2020; unwto, 2020; Le
& Phi, 2021; Breier et al., 2021), local hoteliers not only
did not deploy change and innovation strategies but
also contemplated the covid-19 crisis as an obstacle
to innovate. It should be noted that the impact of the
covid-19 crisis on innovative behaviour of the hotels
under study must be interpreted with caution, given
that the information collected does not account for
an outstanding innovative behaviour prior to the pan-
demic.
Secondary information at the national level con-
sulted shows that, although national support policies
were arranged for the sector, the extension of restric-
tions on the operation of tourist activities, with the
consequent loss of income, added to the costs associ-
atedwith compliancewith health protocols, are factors
that hinder innovation in times of pandemic. Like-
wise, the partial or total suspension of employees is
an additional factor that undermines the possibilities
of innovating due to greater staff time off during a re-
duction in operational activities (Breier et al., 2021).
As indicated by Le & Phi (2021), the study suggests
that small and medium-sized hotels opt for a strat-
egy of freeing upworking capital and postponing non-
essential renovations.
This paper is not exempt from limitations. A first
limitation of the proposed analysis is associated with
the scope of the case study methodology. This tech-
nique does not allow statistical generalization from a
single or multiple case studies (Yin, 2009 and 2018).
Therefore, deepening of the knowledge of the internal
and external factors that influence the behaviour and
376 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Carolina Pasciaroni et al. Innovation in Smaller Hotels in Argentina
innovative performance of hotel firms requires the ap-
plication of an extensive quantitative-type methodol-
ogy to a greater number of hotels. A second limitation
comes from the temporal extension of this paper. It is
limited to the first phases of the covid-19 crisis (Le
& Phi, 2021), therefore, it is necessary to collect infor-
mation on the current recovery phase to obtain a com-
plete understanding of the crisis as a potential window
of opportunity to innovate.
A future research line involves examining the im-
pact of the covid-19 pandemic on the innovative be-
haviour of hotels taking into account different sizes,
categories, and localities, aswell as exploring the strate-
gies carried out by them in the four stages of the cri-
sis indicated by Le and Phi (2021). A complementary
study suggests recognizing whether the influence of
the obstacles to innovation prior to the covid-19 cri-
sis becomes more pronounced during the pandemic
or, in contrast, their impact is attenuated by state aid
or the need to adopt less conservative behaviour facing
a disruptive event. Given that knowledge external to
the firm is a key factor in its innovation process during
the covid-19 pandemic (Breier et al., 2021; Dias et al.,
2022), alternative future research could be oriented to
explore the influence of external knowledge from di-
verse sources (customers, suppliers, competitors, uni-
versities) on the sme hotels’ innovative performance
during the different phases of the covid-19 crisis.
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Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 379

Original Scientific Article
Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
among Silver Hair Tourists
Mihaela Kežman
Alma Mater Europaea
mihaela.kezman@gmail.com
Jana Goriup
Alma Mater Europaea
jana.goriup@almamater.si
Demographic changes are visible in many areas of life, including tourism. Silver
hair tourism is on the rise and this target group is becoming an increasingly impor-
tant segment of the tourism market. The market for silver hair tourists is growing.
They have high purchasing power, relatively higher than younger groups. Therefore,
tourism needs to respond to new demographic challenges in society, such as popu-
lation aging and active longevity, with new types and forms of tourism. The travel
experience of silver hair tourists also has a significant impact on the quality and sat-
isfaction of life in general. In many ways it adds value in the life of elderly adults,
in the field of well-being, gaining new experiences, learning, expanding the social
network, improving health and much more. Therefore, knowing the demographic
characteristics of silver hair tourists is all the more important and necessary for the
creation of good tourist offers.Within this paper we have conducted a survey among
silver hair tourists aged between 65 and 75 years inclusive. Data was collected in
Multigenerational Centres across Slovenia with a paper-pencil survey. We obtained
405 valid questionnaires. In the analysis of empirical data, we looked for statisti-
cally significant differences in five socio-demographic and economic variables. We
found statistically significant differences between men and women and between the
age groups of silver hair tourists regarding the choice of tourism activities. In terms
of demographic factors such as education, income and assessment of health status,
we find a connection between tourism activities and demography. Travel raises the
quality of life of ‘silver hair tourists,’ so it is important to offer them programs that
will be more tailored to them. This article provides some answers that can help us
create programmes like that.
Keywords: silver hair tourists, tourist activities, elderly tourism, demography
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.15.381-395
Introduction
Demographic changes that have become our constant
(Webster & Ivanov, 2020) are an important social and
economic challenge. Active age encompasses the in-
clusion of elderly adults in tourism, which, among
other important factors, affects the health and well-
being of elderly adults. On the other hand, the mod-
ern phenomenon of tourism for elderly adults rep-
resents a new challenge, new opportunities and new
products for the tourism industry. The modern world
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 381
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
has also brought a new, modern term to the world of
tourism for elderly adults – ‘silver hair tourists.’ This is
both the naming of elderly tourists over 65 (Patterson,
2017), as well as a trend that has been strongly per-
ceived in tourism over the last decade, especially due
to its many positive effects: sociability and social in-
clusion, well-being, higher self-confidence, new expe-
riences, health, education and many others (Medarić
et al., 2017).
Demographic changes are very pronounced in Eu-
rope. The European Commission (Evropska komisija,
2021) estimated that the proportion of people aged 65
and over in Europe will increase from around 20 to
30 by 2070. Thus, European countries are facing the
challenges of demographic change in many areas, in-
cluding tourism. Little attention has been paid to silver
hair tourism in the past, as it is a relatively new phe-
nomenon in tourism, but it is increasing from year to
year (Bai et al., 2001; Peceny Starc et al., 2019; Schröder
& Widmann, 2007). At the same time, we found out
that this is an area that has not been significantly re-
searched. Therefore, knowing the characteristics and
demographics of silver hair tourists is very important.
Especially if we consider that, despite the aging soci-
ety and silver hair tourists as an increasingly important
segment in tourism, in some European countries there
is no travel agency dedicated exclusively to silver hair
tourists, this is an even more current topic.
However, this opens up new demands in the future
for tourism actors regarding to tourism innovation for
silver hair tourists. As Hjalager (2002) pointed out, in-
novation in tourism for silver hair tourists depends
not only on research and political aspirations but also
on silver hair tourists themselves as customers, on lo-
cal people and local communities, to which tourism
must respond with new solutions – a different innova-
tion in two directions: an attempt to reduce costs and
an attempt to create demand for the silver hair tourists
through innovation. Therefore, it is necessary to cre-
ate a unique approach that offers silver hair tourists all
the positive points of a particular destination, which
requires optimal (pre)research of the destination and
preparation and an appropriate methodological ap-
proach. In any case, innovation in tourism for sil-
ver hair tourists is conditioned by professional and
promotional support, financial resources and innova-
tion of all stakeholders who are in any way related to
tourism for silver hair tourists. According to Hjalager
(2002), there are four types of innovation in tourism
for silver hair tourists: (1) innovation at the product
level for silver hair tourists, (2) innovation at the pro-
cess level, (3) innovation on themanagement side, and
(4) logistics innovation with special regard to silver
hair tourists, who are a rather heterogeneous group
(Schänzel & Yeoman, 2015), with needs and expecta-
tions that differ according to age, health status, social
and family differences and economic status (Vujović
et al. 2015). The travel market for silver hair tourists
has now become a global phenomenon (Jang & Wu,
2006).
Demographic Change
The World and European population is growing and
aging faster than ever. Due to a long-standing trend of
low birth rates and ever-increasing life expectancy, we
are facing an accelerated aging process, and associated
challenges and opportunities in the developed world
(Coale & Hoover, 2015; Samir & Lutz, 2017). In 2001,
16 of people in the EuropeanUnionwere over the age
of 65, in 2018 it was 19.7, of which 5.6 were over the
age of 80 (Eurostat, n.d.). The share of adults aged 65
and over in 2019 was already 20.4 of the total pop-
ulation. Population projections show that this share
will continue to increase, reaching 24.4 in 2030 and
29.6 in 2050 (Eurostat, 2020). In 2018, young people
(under 14) accounted for 15.6 of the eu-28 average,
while able-bodied people (aged 15–64) accounted for
64.7 of the population (Eurostat, n.d.). This brings
new challenges for silver hair tourists and their fami-
lies, as well as for tourism for the elderly. However, we
must also emphasize that the elderly are a rather het-
erogeneous group (Zsarnoczky, 2016).
The current aging of the population is already hav-
ing visible consequences for demographic dynamics
(Reynaud & Miccoli, 2019), as the growing number
and share of the elderly in society poses a number
of economic challenges. Life expectancy began to in-
crease around 1840 at a rate of almost 2.5 years per
decade (Vaupel et al., 2021). The main reasons for
the extension are the improvement of socio-economic
382 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
living conditions, higher education, better healthcare
and lifestyle (umar, 2021). Higo and Khan (2015), on
the other hand, presented aging population trends as
a cause that is likely to lead to inequality between re-
gions of the world in the coming decades. Such a de-
mographic shift will either create or increase risks in
tourism, especially for vulnerable populations such as
silver hair tourists.
Aging and an aging population also require soci-
eties to adapt their systems and attitudes towards ag-
ing and old age (Dimovski, 2011) in the field of tourism
(Bai et al., 2001). In recent decades, there has been a
revolution in human reproduction that consists of sev-
eral components, with implications for travel, tourism,
and hospitality (Webster, 2019).
Seniors in Tourism
Tourism is the movement and interaction of peo-
ple outside their everyday environment (Juvan et al.,
2021). Tourism shapes the lifestyle of hosts and visitors
(Sharpley, 2014). The number of tourists has increased
over the years (Peceny Starc et al., 2019), partly because
of silver hair tourists, so tourismmust respond to new
demographic challenges in society, such as aging and
active longevity, with new types and forms of tourism
and new service technologies (Nikitina & Vorontsova,
2015). We need to understand that this needs to hap-
pen although the travel habits of silver hair tourists are
quite rigid (Lohmann & Danielsson, 2001). We also
need to know the heterogeneity of silver hair tourists
(Zsarnoczky, 2016), because the category of older peo-
ple within themselves is becoming increasingly het-
erogeneous in their abilities and interests (Goriup &
Lahe 2018, 25). Bai et al. (2001) therefore predict that as
the proportion of elderly adults increases, so will the
proportion of silver hair tourists, which has already
reached record numbers in the United States. Silver
hair tourists also represent a large market, as they
have high purchasing power, relatively higher than
younger groups (Alén et al., 2016). Societal change
will also affect tourism and travel patterns, so it is
crucial that tourism providers have a thorough un-
derstanding of this market segment and how it will
change consumption patterns in the future (Patterson
& Balderas, 2020). Therefore, tourism for silver hair
tourists must take into account the characteristics of
silver hair tourists, product design, marketing, desti-
nations and agingmanagement, and intergenerational
cooperation.
Hsu et al. (2007) found that themainmotivation of
older people to engage in tourism consists of:
• external conditions,which include social progress,
personal finances, time and health, of which per-
sonal finances and time are shaped according to
family obligations and responsibilities; and
• inner desires,which include better well-being, es-
caping routines, socializing, seeking knowledge,
pride and patriotism, personal reward, and nos-
talgia.
Alén et al. (2016) reveal that tourism for the silver
hair tourists is particularly, and even more, leisure-
oriented than for other generations. Silver hair tourists
therefore want and expect quality, suitable and safe
offers, with comfortable transport, relaxing activi-
ties and the highest possible level of comfort. On
the other hand, a smaller number of family mem-
bers means a higher level of consumption per per-
son. Silver hair tourists today are healthier than in the
past, have higher incomes, more time to travel, and a
high tendency to travel long distances (Litrell et al.,
2004). Silver hair tourism therefore has great poten-
tial (Macuh & Raspor, 2020) and at the same time
travel is a way for all people to spend their free time.
Leisure tourism is an important industry that has been
greatly changed by the growing presence of older peo-
ple around the world (Stončikaitė 2021, 2). After re-
tirement, therefore, most elderly adults devote their
free time to various interests and tourism is one of the
priorities (Oliveira et al., 2018). For a group of silver
hair tourists aged 65 to 79, Möller et al. (2007) argue
that they are characterized by many who have recently
retired and joined a time-rich group. They used their
past savings to cover running costs. The health aware-
ness of this group is high and if they do not have seri-
ous health problems, they decide to travel and spend
more on quality goods and services. That is why silver
hair tourists represent a growing potential, not only in
the elderly in good mental and physical condition, but
also thosewho are already in an Elderly home (Macuh,
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 383
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
2020). Silver hair tourists can also be actively involved
in tourism with a lower financial base, as there are
many activities that are affordable and otherwise very
accessible to the elderly, and also through various re-
tirement societies (Macuh & Raspor, 2020).
Demographic Characteristics of Silver Hair Tourists
The number of silver hair tourists is increasing, but at
the same time this category is becoming increasingly
heterogeneous (Goriup & Lahe, 2018), with needs and
expectations differing in age, health, social and fam-
ily differences and economic status (Birsa et al., 2015).
Many travel companies do not consider the charac-
teristics and concerns of silver hair tourists and the
different ways in which they enjoy tourism (Patterson
&Balderas, 2020). The health of silver hair tourists has
a significant impact on the decision to buy a tourism
product, but the impact of gender is not negligible.
Lehto et al. (2001) found that women focus more
on opportunities to socialize and interact with peo-
ple and their families than men while travelling. In
2018, the share of older men (aged 65+) in the eu-
28 who rated their health as good or very good, was
43.1, which was 6.6 percentage points higher than
the corresponding share of older women 36.5 (Eu-
rostat, 2020). This is also why the wto estimates that
by 2050 there will be more than 2 billion international
passengers aged 60 +, compared to 593 million in 1999
(World Tourism Organization, 2007). According to
Shavanddasht (2018), ‘young grandparents’ weremore
eager for novelty and enjoyable vacations,while ‘safety’
and ‘improving knowledge’ were the main intentions
of older grandparents vacationing with their grand-
children.
Silver hair tourists want to enjoy and are willing to
pay a high price for high quality services (Möller et al.,
2007). Raspor (2018) argues that elderly adults today
generally have higher incomes than previous genera-
tions, so they will invest more money in leisure activ-
ities, which will only increase the share of silver hair
tourists. Fitzpatrick Associates (1998) says that mainly
because they often inherit from parents or relatives;
their children leave home, which alleviates the finan-
cial burden; they have relatively little or nomortgages;
their capital can be released and they may have sav-
ings, pensions, and may have pension or savings ‘pil-
lars’ in addition to state pensions.
Špindler (2018) found that the generation of sil-
ver hair tourists also differs from other generations in
terms of the scale of values, and that they also respond
differently in tourism because they live and practice
their own values. The change in the values of gen-
erations of silver hair tourists is also reflected in the
field of tourism, in the direction of regaining the im-
portance of intangible values, which in the past we
thought were lost: authenticity, which we perceived as
a trend, and regional and quality expectations at all
levels, as also noted by Petavs (2011).
Senior tourism is, however, nevertheless included
in social tourism, and the term also covers all con-
cepts and phenomena related to the participation of
low-income social groups in tourism (Markiewicz-
Patkowska et al., 2019). In the study of social tourism
for the silver hair tourists, the silver hair tourists were
divided into four groups: (1) the silver hair tourists,
who have a low socio-economic status and who can-
not afford a holiday. These are often involved in some
humanitarian programme such as the Red Cross, etc.;
(2) the silver hair tourists who need special infrastruc-
ture adaptations; (3) the silver hair tourists for whom
special programmes have been designed and adapted;
and (4) the silver hair tourists who do not need special
adaptations or conditions (Medarić et al., 2017).
Tourism Products for Silver Hair Tourists
Tourism for silver hair tourists in many ways adds
value in the life of elderly adults. It broadens hori-
zons and offers experimental learning (Minnaert et
al., 2009), as tourism activities for silver hair tourists
are opportunities to explore new environments and
integrate into new activities, meet new people and
face unexpected problems that affect their views, at-
titudes and behaviour (example of self-confidence).
Offering silver hair tourists opportunities for social in-
teraction (McCabe et al., 2010; Minnaert et al., 2009)
has an impact on their sociability and social inclusion,
health and education (Medarić et al., 2017). Through
tourism, silver hair tourists travel to explore their
identity, learn, socialize and have fun (Osvaldo et al.,
2020), they experience new people and new places,
384 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
change perspectives and broaden mental and psy-
chological horizons (Minnaert & Schapmans, 2009).
This is one of the reasons whyWeiermair andMathies
(2004) stated that more active leisure activities, more
frequent travel and the changing needs of silver hair
tourists encourage the development of new products.
The offer of tourist activities for silver hair tourists is
not optimal given the demographic changes we have
detected. Current (social, health and political) prob-
lems and problems of tourism for silver hair tourists,
given their socio-economic status and general pop-
ulation, can be overcome by increasing motivation
and creating formal solutions in the field of access to
tourism services for them with the participation of
the general population and research experts. In order
to play a leading role in the competitive travel indus-
try, tourism activity providers need to monitor mo-
tivational changes and trends and improve their un-
derstanding and consideration of silver hair tourists.
The greater the knowledge of these trends in tourism
development in general and the higher market seg-
ment of silver hair tourists in particular, the greater the
ability of these stakeholders to formulate clear strate-
gies, contribute to new and innovative services and
gain a competitive advantage for their organizations
and regions (Patterson & Balderas, 2020). Therefore,
through this article we wanted to investigate how the
selection of tourist activities of silver hair tourists with
their grandchildren is influenced by some selected
socio-demographic and economic data.
Methodology
Research Question and Hypotheses
Silver tourists differ greatly in lifestyle, income, prefer-
ences, health, and age segmentation, which are impor-
tant in the design of tourism services and the design of
marketing plans. As it is important that we know the
target group of silver hair tourists well, we were inter-
ested in the socio-demographic and economic charac-
teristics of silver hair tourists who are engaged in given
tourist activities. Based on this, we set the following re-
search hypotheses, as follows:
h1 Among tourism activities, elderly women are
statistically significantly more likely to choose
those activities that involve less dynamics, than
elderly men.
h2 Older silver hair tourists are more likely to opt
for leisurely tourist activities, compared to youn-
ger silver hair tourists.
h3 Those silver hair tourists with a higher level of
education are more likely to choose tourism ac-
tivities that develop cultural capital compared to
those silver tourists who have a lower level of ed-
ucation.
h4 Those silver hair tourists with a lower personal
monthly income aremore likely to choose afford-
able tourism activities compared to silver haired
tourists with higher levels of monthly personal
income.
h5 Silver hair tourists with a higher assessment of
their health condition more often choose dy-
namic tourist activities compared to those that
evaluated their own health condition as not so
good.
Sample
According to the Statistical Office of the Republic of
Slovenia (Statistični urad Republike Slovenije, n.d.), as
of 31 December 2020 there were 250,631 people aged
between 65 and 75 living in Slovenia. To ensure the
representativeness of the sample of the entire popula-
tion, we calculated theminimum number of question-
naires needed to achieve representativeness per 384 re-
spondents, opting for a 95 level of confidence and
5 confidence interval. Sampling was occasional and
we ensured representativeness in at least three indica-
tors based among socio-demographic and economic
indicators. Thus, the characteristics from the sample
can be transferred or inferred to the entire population
(Hannan & Freeman, 1977).
In the empirical part of the research, in order to
control the amount of data and ensure the represen-
tativeness of the sample to the entire population, we
included silver hair tourists in the age group 65 and up
to 75 years, whichwas divided into two groups: 65 to 69
years and from 70 to 75 years of all statistical regions.
The obtained empirical data, which were collected
in Multigenerational Centres in Slovenia, in activi-
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 385
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
ties attended by silver hair tourists, were entered into
appropriate computer databases and processed using
Excel and spss for Windows. Respondents voluntar-
ily filled out printed questionnaires, for which they
received instructions, as well as any additional ex-
planations. Data collection took place from April to
September 2021. During this time, 435 questionnaires
were collected, but 30 incompletely completed ques-
tionnaires were excluded from further processing.
Validity and Reliability of the Sample
Upon obtaining 405 valid questionnaires, we wanted
to check the representativeness of the sample. We first
checked this with the kurtosis and skewness. For gen-
der, the skewness is –0.250 and the kurtosis is –1.947.
For the age variable, the skewness is 0.122 and the kur-
tosis is 1.202. For the urbanization variable ‘Living en-
vironment,’ the skewness is 0.791 and the kurtosis is
–0.921.
The representativeness of the sample was then cal-
culated in comparison with the population using the
chi-square goodness of fit test (χ2), which showed a
value of 2.324 for the variable sex (at the degree of free-
dom df = 1) and a significance of p = 0.127. For the age
level, the chi-square goodness of fit test showed a value
of 17.331 (at freedom level df = 10) and a significance
of p = 0.067. In urbanization, the chi-square goodness
of fit test showed a value of 0.892 (at a degree of free-
dom df = 1) and a significance of p = 0.345. The value
of the chi-square goodness of fit test of the distribution
at the significance of 0.05 or 5 is 3.8415 for variables
with one (1) degree of freedom (variable gender and
urbanization) and for variables with ten (10) degrees
of freedom (variable age) 18.307 (Košmelj & Rovan,
1997). Thus, based on the obtained results, we can con-
firm that the sample obtained during the research is
valid and also representative of the entire population.
Socio-Demographic and Economic Characteristics
of the Sample
The data in Table 1 shows that 405 (100) surveyed sil-
ver hair tourists were included in the sample, of which
177 (43.7) were men and 227 (56.0) were women; 1
(0.3) respondent did not provide an answer to this
question. Regarding age, in the age group from 65 to
Table 1 Socio-Demographic and Economic
Characteristics of the Sample
Variable n 
Gender of the respondent
Male  .
Female  .
No answer  .
Age of the respondent
From  to  years inclusive  .
From  to  years inclusive  .
No answer  .
Living environment
Urban environment  .
Rural environment  .
No answer  .
Level of education
Primary school or less  .
Vocational high school  .
High school  .
Higher professional degree  .
University degree  .
Master’s degree or doctorate  .
No answer  .
Personal monthly net income
Up to    .
From   to    .
From   to    .
Over    .
No answer  .
Assessment of health status
Pretty bad  .
Good  .
Pretty good  .
Very good  .
No answer  .
69 years 201 (49.6) respondents were included, and
in the age group from 70 to 75 years 203 (50.1) re-
spondents were included. 1 (0.3) respondent did not
give an answer to this question. Regarding the level of
386 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
Table 2 Descriptive Statistics of Tourist Activities of Silver
Hair Tourists
Tourist activity () () () ()
Spending time by shores, lakes
or pools
 . . .
Visiting national parks  . . .
Visiting amusement and theme
parks
 . . .
Visiting small towns and vil-
lages
 . . .
Tours of big cities  . . .
Getting to know the locals  . . .
Visiting friends and relatives  . . .
Spiritual and religious activities  . . .
Visiting historical sights  . . .
Visiting galleries and museums  . . .
Visiting cultural events  . . .
Participation in local festivals  . . .
Photography and recording  . . .
Sitting in cafes  . . .
Exploring local cuisine  . . .
Shopping  . . .
Experiencing nightlife  . . .
Casinos  . . .
Watch selected content on tv  . . .
Reading books and magazines  . . .
Playing board games  . . .
Group sports activities  . . .
Individual sports activities  . . .
Attending matches  . . .
Visiting health resorts  . . .
Cruises  . . .
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) sample, (2)
mean value, (3) standard deviation, (4) median.
education, 122 (30.1) respondents with a high school
education predominate. The most common personal
monthly income of respondents was between 601 €
and 900 €, 172 (42.5) respondents. When assessing
one’s own health condition, respondents most often
assessed it as good, 207 (51.1).
Table 3 Statistically Significant Differences of Silver Hair
Tourists in the Choice of Tourist Activities
According to Gender
Tourist activity U p Mean rank
() ()
Tours of big cities . . . .
Reading books
and magazines
. . . .
Playing board
games
. . . .
Individual sports
activities
. . . .
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1)male, (2) female.
Descriptive Statistics of Variables
From Table 2 we can see that according to the 26
selected tourist activities of the surveyed silver hair
tourists, the highest mean value was reached by the
variable ‘Visiting friends and relatives’ (3.88), followed
by the tourist activity ‘Reading books and magazines’
with the mean value of 3.54 and ‘Playing board games
(cards, chess . . .),’ with the mean value of 3.38. The
lowest mean values were achieved by the tourist ac-
tivities ‘Experiencing nightlife’ with the mean value of
1.55, ‘Cruise,’ with a mean value of 1.38 and ‘Casinos,’
with the mean value of 1.33.
Statistically Significant Differences in Activities
According to Demographic Parameters
We were first interested in statistically significant dif-
ferences between the selected tourist activities of the
surveyed silver hair tourists according to gender. Due
to the uneven distribution of variables, we performed
an analysis using theMann-Whitney test, which found
statistically significant differences between respon-
dents by gender according to selected tourism activi-
ties of silver hair tourists.
From Table 3 we can see that there are statistically
significant differences by gender in four tourist ac-
tivities, where p < 0.05. In ‘Tours of big cities,’ men
rated this tourist activity lower (mean rank = 170.34)
than women (mean rank = 196.13). In ‘Reading books
and magazines,’ men also rated this tourist activity
lower (mean rank = 180.21) thanwomen (mean rank =
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 387
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
Table 4 Statistically Significant Differences of Silver Hair
Tourists in the Choice of Tourist Activities
According to Age
Tourist activity U p Mean rank
() ()
Spending time by
shores, lakes or
pools
. . . .
Photography and
recording
. . . .
Playing board
games
. . . .
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) 65–69 years, (2)
70–75 years.
205.39). Also in ‘Playing board games (cards, chess . . .),’
men rated this tourist activity lower (mean rank =
178.62) than women (mean rank = 200.98). In the last
tourist activity ‘Individual sports activities,’ men rated
this tourist activity lower (mean rank = 171.31) than
women (mean rank = 193.18).
We found that out of 26 tourist activities, statis-
tically significant differences were detected in only
four tourist activities. In all four, men rated the given
tourist activities lower than women. Next, we were in-
terested in statistically significant differences of silver
hair tourists according to age groups. Here, too, we
used the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test due to
the uneven distribution of variables.
FromTable 4 we can understand that by age groups
there are statistically significant differences in the three
tourist activities, where p < 0.05. Thus, we found that
respondents from the first age group (65–69 years)
rate all tourist activities higher than respondents from
the second age group (70–75 years): ‘Spending time
by shores, lakes or pools,’ ‘Photography and recording’
and ‘Playing board games (cards, chess . . .).’
We were also interested in statistically significant
differences of the surveyed silver hair tourists accord-
ing to education.With theKruskalWallis test, we anal-
ysed the differences between the level of education and
the selection of certain tourist activities.
Based on the obtained empirical data from Ta-
ble 5, we found statistically significant differences in
the level of education of the respondents and selected
tourist activities in nine tourist activities (p < 0.05). In
the tourist activity ‘Visiting national parks’ we found
the highest score among surveyed silver hair tourists
with a master’s degree and doctorate (mean rank =
297.72), and the lowest score among respondents with
completed vocational high school (mean rank =
158.52). In the case of ‘Spiritual and religious activi-
ties,’ we found the highest score among the surveyed
silver hair tourists with completed vocational high
school (mean rank = 197.95) and the lowest among
those with university (mean rank = 150.04) educa-
tion. In ‘Visiting historical sights,’ the lowest grade was
noted among respondents with primary school edu-
cation or less (mean rank = 114.57), while the highest
grade was found among respondents with university
education (mean rank = 212.46). Also, ‘Visits to gal-
leries and museums’ stands out as the lowest rated
activity among respondents with primary education
or less (mean rank = 131.62), while the highest score
was found among respondents with university edu-
cation (mean rank = 218.22). ‘Visits to cultural events
(concerts, theatres)’ were rated the lowest among re-
spondents with primary education or less (mean rank
= 130.23) and the highest among respondents with uni-
versity education (mean rank = 208.80). In the tourist
activity ‘Photography and recording,’ we found the
lowest score among respondents with primary school
or less (mean rank = 124.86) and then the score in-
creased until the highest education of master’s degree
and doctorate (mean rank = 218.31). In ‘Shopping’ we
found the lowest score among respondents with a uni-
versity degree (mean rank = 142.81) and the highest
score among respondentswith a high school education
(mean rank = 209.82). ‘Reading books and magazines’
was rated the lowest by respondents with primary
school education or less (mean rank = 139.36) and the
highest by those with university education (mean rank
= 240.32). ‘Individual sports activities’ were rated the
lowest by respondents with primary school education
or less (mean rank = 112.54) and the highest by respon-
dents with a master’s degree or doctorate (mean rank
= 251.44).
We found that with the increase in the education
of the respondents, the assessment of tourist activities
388 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
Table 5 Relationship between the Level of Education of Silver Hair Tourists and the Selection of Tourist Activities
Tourist activity H p Mean rank
() () () () () ()
Visiting national parks . . . . . . . .
Spiritual and religious activities . . . . . . . .
Visiting historical sights . . . . . . . .
Visiting galleries and museums . . . . . . . .
Visiting cultural events (concerts, theatres) . . . . . . . .
Photography and recording . . . . . . . .
Shopping . . . . . . . .
Reading books and magazines . . . . . . . .
Individual sports activities . . . . . . . .
Notes Column heading are as follows: (1) primary school or less, (2) vocational high school, (3) high school, (4) higher
professional degree, (5) university, (6) master’s degree or doctorate.
Table 6 Relationship between the Monthly Income of Silver Hair Tourists and Tourist Activities
Tourist activity H p Mean rank
() () () ()
Spiritual and religious activities . . . . . .
Visiting historical sights . . . . . .
Visiting galleries and museums . . . . . .
Photography and recording . . . . . .
Individual sports activities . . . . . .
Visiting health resorts . . . . . .
Notes Column heading are as follows: (1) up to 600 €, (2) from 601 € to 900 €, (3) from 901 € to 1200 €, (4) over 1201 €.
also increased. Exceptions are ‘Spiritual and religious
activities,’ where the grade decreased with education,
and ‘Shopping,’ with a non-linear distribution of the
grade.
We were also interested in statistically significant
differences of the surveyed silver hair tourists accord-
ing to income. With the Kruskal Wallis test, we anal-
ysed the differences based on income and the selection
of certain tourist activities.
Table 6 shows that between the monthly income of
surveyed silver hair tourists and selected tourist activi-
ties, there are statistically significant differenceswithin
six tourist activities (p < 0.05). In the case of ‘Spiritual
and religious activities,’ the increase in monthly in-
come decreased the tourist activity of respondents,
with the highest score for silver hair tourists with
a monthly income from 601 € to 900 € (mean rank
= 184.64) and the lowest score for respondents with
a monthly income above 1201 €. ‘Visiting historical
sights’ was rated the lowest by respondents with a
monthly income of up to 600 € (mean rank = 138.26)
and the highest by respondents with a monthly in-
come above 1201 €. Also, ‘Visits to galleries and mu-
seums’ were rated the lowest by respondents with a
monthly income of up to 600 € (mean rank = 142.01)
and the highest by those with a monthly income of
over 1201 €. ‘Photography and recording’ was rated the
lowest by respondents with a monthly income from
601 € to 900 € (mean rank = 163.24) and the highest
by those with a monthly income from 901 € to 1200 €
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 389
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
Table 7 Statistically Significant Differences of Silver Hair Tourists According to Health Status Assessment
Tourist activity H p Mean rank
() () () ()
Spending time by shores, lakes or pools . . . . . .
Visiting national parks . . . . . .
Visiting amusement and theme parks . . . . . .
Tours of big cities . . . . . .
Visiting historical sights . . . . . .
Exploring local cuisine . . . . . .
Casinos . . . . . .
Reading books and magazines . . . . . .
Group sports activities . . . . . .
Individual sports activities . . . . . .
Notes Column heading are as follows: (1) pretty bad, (2) good, (3) pretty good, (4) very good.
(mean rank = 205.52). Also, ‘Individual sports activi-
ties’ were rated the lowest by respondentswith the low-
est monthly income, up to 600 € (mean rank = 139.21)
and the highest by those with the highest monthly
income, over 1201 € (mean rank = 194.17). ‘Visits to
health resorts’ were rated the lowest by respondents
with the lowest monthly income, of up to 600 € (mean
rank = 143.17) and the highest by respondents with the
highest monthly income, above 1201 € (mean rank =
205.21).
We can conclude that with tourist activities, as the
income of the respondents increases, their assessment
of an individual tourist activity also increases. The
only exceptions were ‘Spiritual and religious activi-
ties,’ where the ratings moved in the opposite direc-
tion (lower), and ‘Photography and recording,’ where
we observe a non-linear distribution.
We were also interested in statistically significant
differences of the surveyed silver hair tourists accord-
ing to their health status. With the Kruskal Wallis test,
we analysed the differences based on health status and
the selection of certain tourist activities.
Based on Table 7, we found that there was a sta-
tistical significance between (own) assessment of the
health status of respondents and selected tourist ac-
tivities in ten tourist activities (p < 0.05). ‘Spending
time by shores, lakes or pools’ was rated highest by
respondents with a pretty good assessment of their
own health (mean rank = 215.38) and lowest by those
giving a grade of good (mean rank = 171.82). ‘Visiting
national parks’ as a tourist activity was rated the high-
est by respondents who rated their health as very good
(mean rank = 212.85), and the lowest by those respon-
dents who rated it as pretty bad (mean rank = 128.03).
Also, ‘Visiting amusement and theme parks’ was rated
the highest by respondents with a rating of their own
health as pretty good (mean rank = 205.96), and the
lowest by those giving a score of pretty bad (mean
rank = 143.03 ). ‘Tours of big cities’ were rated high-
est by respondents with a rating of very good (mean
rank = 213.50) and lowest by respondents with a rat-
ing of good (mean rank = 169.00). ‘Visiting histori-
cal sites’ was also rated highest by respondents with
a very good rating of their own health (mean rank
= 244.29) and lowest by those who rated their health
as pretty bad (mean rank = 154.18). ‘Exploring local
cuisine’ was rated highest by respondents with a very
good self-assessment of their health (mean rank =
208.84) and lowest by those who rated their health as
pretty bad (mean rank = 146.69). ‘Casinos’ was rated
as highest by respondents with a good health status
(mean rank = 94.97) and lowest by respondents with
pretty bad health (mean rank = 73.00). Respondents
also rated ‘Reading books and magazines’ as highest
among those with a high rating of their health sta-
tus – very good (mean rank = 222.27), and the lowest
390 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
rating was attributed to respondents with a health-
condition rating as good (mean rank = 177.32). ‘Group
sports activities’ as a tourist activity were rated the
highest by respondents with a very good assessment
of their health status (mean rank = 232.45), and the
lowest by respondents with a good self-assessment of
health status (mean rank = 163.62). As expected, ‘Indi-
vidual sports activities’ as a tourist activity were rated
the highest by the surveyed silver hair tourists with
a very good (own) assessment of their health status
(mean rank = 253.19) and the lowest by those who as-
sess their health condition as pretty bad (mean rank =
150.92).
We can conclude that the analysis of five socio-
demographic and economic factors of the researched
tourist activities showed that they increase along with
a better assessment of the health status of the respon-
dents, which is expected and logical.
Discussion
In the field of social tourism, Medarić et al. (2017)
found that most research focuses solely on young peo-
ple, whilemuch less focuses on silver hair tourists. The
research of Pesonen et al. (2015) also showed that sil-
ver hair tourists value comfort, functionality or qual-
ity and reliability of online travel services. Alén et al.
(2016) summarized various authors who researched
the motivational factors of silver hair tourists and
found that safety, accessibility, orderliness, economy,
and appropriate health facilities in the area are impor-
tant factors on the basis of which silver hair tourists
decide on tourism activities. At the same time, these
findings coincide with our results.
We reject the statistically significant differences
that we predicted in the research hypotheses based
on the obtained results In h1, we assumed that in the
set of tourist activities, elderly women are statistically
significantly more likely to choose those activities that
involve less dynamics. The obtained results show sta-
tistically significant differences in the four variables.
If we look at less dynamic activities, such as ‘Play-
ing board games’ and ‘Reading books and magazines,’
we see that both go in the direction of higher ratings
of tourist activities for women. We expected that es-
timates for less dynamic activities would be higher
in women than in men, as also found by Lehto et al.
(2001), arguing that women focus more on opportu-
nities to socialize and interact with people and their
families than men while travelling. This confirms the
hypothesis.
In h2, we hypothesized that older silver hair tour-
ists will be more likely to opt for moderate tourist ac-
tivities. Statistically significant differences were found
in three activities, all in the direction of a higher score
in the age group 65–69 years, perhaps a little surpris-
ing, as we expected a higher score in the 65–69 age
group with more dynamic activities. Shavanddasht
(2018) found that silver hair tourists from the first age
group are more eager for novelty and pleasant hol-
idays, while silver hair tourists from the second age
group place more emphasis on safety and knowledge
fulfilment in tourism activities, andMrčela et al. (2015)
argued that silver hair tourists (aged 65+) have special
characteristics that affect the distribution of the health
tourism market. We thus reject the research hypothe-
sis.
In h3, we predicted that those silver hair tourists
with a higher level of education will be more likely to
choose tourism activities that develop cultural capi-
tal, compared to those with a lower level of education.
Statistically significant differences among silver hair
tourists were found in nine tourist activities. In seven
tourists activities, we recorded more frequent partici-
pation in activities that develop cultural capital among
silver hair tourists with higher education than among
those with a lower education. In the case of ‘Spiritual
and religious activities,’ the frequency of participation
decreased with the increase of education, while in the
activity ‘Shopping’ the frequency is nonlinearly dis-
tributed according to the level of education. And it
is these two activities that would be harder to place
than activities that develop cultural capital. Richards
(2016) argued that silver hair tourists with higher edu-
cation and higher social status aremore likely to attend
cultural tourism activities. The research hypothesis is
thus confirmed, as we found a statistically significant
difference in tourism activities which can be assumed
to raise cultural capital.
In h4, we assumed that those silver hair tourists
who had a lower personal monthly income will be
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 391
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
more likely to choose affordable tourism activities.
Statistically significant differences among silver hair
tourists were detected in six activities. Thus, we found
that higher rated activities for silver hair tourists who
had a lower personal monthly income were only
among ‘Spiritual and religious activities.’ Although
Hsu et al. (2007) found that one of the main motiva-
tions of elderly adults to become involved in tourism
were personal finances, we reject our research hypoth-
esis, as we confirmed it in only one activity.
In the last research hypothesis we hypothesized
that silver hair tourists with a higher assessment of
their health status will be more likely to choose dy-
namic tourism activities. Statistically significant dif-
ferences among silver hair tourists were found in ten
tourist activities. In all ten tourist activities, we recor-
ded that silver hair tourists with better health rate the
activities higher. Thus, we can conclude that health is
an important aspect of tourism. Jang and Wu (2006),
stated that healthy silver hair tourists are more intrin-
sically motivated to travel. However, we cannot con-
firm the distinction in the direction of dynamic and
calm tourist activities. We thus reject the research hy-
pothesis.
Tourism, which is on a steep rise, i.e. tourism for
silver hair tourists, is therefore even more impor-
tant today. Webster (2019) illustrated this with figures
when he said that in 1995 there were about 630 mil-
lion tourist flights of silver hair tourists worldwide,
while the same number was almost 1.46 billion in 2016.
Medarić et al. (2017), however, add that the fact that
the silver hair tourists are engaged in tourism, go on
vacation, and experience new things, certainly repre-
sents added value in their lives.
Conclusion
In the tourism industry, due to the rapid aging of the
population and current demographic changes, it is
necessary to include tourism for silver hair tourists
in the process of formulating a strategy and model of
optimal solutions in the field of tourism activities. This
is a fairly new travel trend, and at the same time, the
silver hair tourists are becoming an increasingly im-
portant and growing market in the tourism industry.
Today, the silver hair tourists are entering the third pe-
riod of life relatively healthy, financially independent
and eager for new experiences. They want active and
productive aging, as tourism has many positive effects
on them (better self-image, greater satisfaction with
life, gaining new knowledge, broadening their hori-
zons, less anxiety and health problems, etc.). Older
people are a very heterogeneous group, so knowing
their characteristics is essential when designing the
most optimal or innovative programmes and offers
for silver hair tourists.
In this article, we see that silver hair tourists most
often visit friends and relatives, as Möller et al. (2007)
also establish. Casinos and cruises are the least used by
silver hair tourists, which can also be accounted for in
the financial situation of most retirees. Elderly women
are statistically significantly higher than men in par-
ticipating in moderate tourism activities, as according
to Lehto et al. (2001), during travel, they focusmore on
opportunities to socialize and interact with people and
their families compared to elderly men. Younger sil-
ver hair tourists have a statistically significantly higher
rating of participation in given tourist activities. From
this we conclude that silver hair tourists do not choose
more or less dynamic activities depending on their age,
but all activities are more attractive to younger silver
hair tourists. The level of education plays an impor-
tant role in the tendency to extend cultural capital, as
well as the amount of monthly income in the choice of
tourist activities. The only exceptions are spiritual and
religious activities, which are more often attended by
silver hair tourists with a lowermonthly income.How-
ever, we stated that the state of health does not affect
the choice of more or less dynamic tourist activities,
but affects the frequency of the general choice of all
tourist activities. Research on the socio-demographic
and economic factors of silver hair tourists should help
the tourism industry develop effective programmes to
attract elderly travellers (Jang &Wu, 2006).
The findings can help us create innovative ap-
proaches thatwill help tourismproviders address some
of the future trends identified in the article. They may
also be an incentive for a travel agency intended ex-
clusively for silver hair tourists, which we do not cur-
rently have in Slovenia. Patterson and Balderas (2020)
stated the importance of understanding what kinds of
392 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Mihaela Kežman and Jana Goriup Factors Affecting Tourism Activity Selection
choices silver hair tourists want in the future, as well as
to match their changing needs and take these changes
into account proactively. This will not only provide ex-
citing opportunities for further research with elderly
generations, but also identify practical implications
for policy makers, industry practitioners and travel
marketers, as a whole.
We believe that we need to put our knowledge into
practice and start reorganizing tourism; it would also
make sense to expand the research and, based on the
findings, conduct a new survey in the wider social
space on the population of all silver hair tourists. Af-
ter all, the complexity of the topic, as we see, is very
great. Due to the limited scope, we performed an anal-
ysis of only individual statistical variables. Certainly it
would be interesting to analyse combinations of the
demographic variables, so factor-analysis or grouping
would give deeper analysis and understanding of the
results. At the same time, an open field of research is
being offered in other countries.
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Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 395

Abstracts in Slovene Povzetki v slovenšini
Vpliv percepcije kriznega upravljanja s covid-19 na podobo destinacije
in namero obiska
Ali Ghasemian Sahebi, Rahil Kordheydari in Mohammad Aghaei
Turizem je bil v zadnjih letih eden najdinamičneje razvijajočih se sektorjev svetov-
nega gospodarstva, vendar je pojav krize zaradi pandemije virusa covid-19 v indu-
striji povzročil recesijo, zaradi česar je obvladovanje te krize postalo bistveno.Namen
raziskave je preučiti učinek percepcije kriznega upravljanja pandemije covida-19 na
podobo blagovne znamke destinacije in končno namero izbire turistične destina-
cije, kar smo izvedli z razlago vloge osebnosti blagovne znamke in odnosa turistov
do destinacije. Izvedli smo deskriptivno-raziskovalno raziskavo v smislu metode in
zbiranja podatkov s kvantitativnim pristopom. Raziskovalno okolje, ki smo ga iz-
brali, je mesto Teheran, pri čemer smo vključil tako domače kot tuje turiste, ki so
obiskali Teheran med julijem 2020 do aprilom 2021. Raziskavo smo opravili na na-
ključnem vzorcu s pomočjo anketnega vprašalnika. V raziskavi smo obravnavali 768
vprašalnikov, ki so bili celovito izpolnjeni. Hipoteze smo analizirali s pomočjo mo-
deliranja strukturnih enačb (sem) v amos in spss. Rezultati so pokazali, da čeprav
so mesta in turistične destinacije neživi elementi, turisti pogosto menijo, da imajo
osebnostne in človeške lastnosti. Dodatno je bilo ugotovljeno, da krizno upravljanje
pandemije covida-19 pozitivno in pomembno vpliva na podobo destinacije ter na
koncu tudi na namero obiska destinacije. V zaključku podajamo nekaj predlogov, ki
bi jih lahko uporabili kot smernice turističnim destinacijam za spopadanje s krizo
turistične privlačnosti v obdobju po pandemiji covida-19.
Ključne besede: percepcija kriznega upravljanja, covid-19, podoba destinacije,
osebnost blagovne znamke destinacije, turistični odnosi, namera obiska
Academica Turistica, 15(3), 291–305
Kraljevski turizem: namera turistov, da ponovno obiščejo palačo Yogyakarta
v Indoneziji
Usep Suhud, Merry Amelia Dewi in Mamoon Allan
Znano je, da imajo države z monarhičnim sistemom kapital za razvoj kraljevskega
turizma. Čeprav je Indonezija republika, je država nastala z združitvijomajhnih kra-
ljestev in sultanatov, nekatere tamkajšnje palače pa so zdaj spremenjene v živemuzeje
in znamenitosti za turiste. Ta raziskava preučuje dejavnike, ki vplivajo na namere
turistov, da se vrnejo v palačo Yogyakarta, pripadajočo sultanatu, ki je ostal pod sul-
tanom in je priznan s strani vlade. Študijska kohorta je štela 250 udeležencev in bila
izbrana z uporabo priročne metode vzorčenja, podatki pa so bili testirani z uporabo
raziskovalne faktorske analize in modelov strukturnih enačb. Osrednja ugotovitev
trenutne študije je, da so na namero ponovnega obiska vplivali kakovost storitev,
prepoznana vrednost, zadovoljstvo turistov in navezanost na kraj.
Ključne besede: kraljevski turizem, palačni turizem, kraljeva dediščina, navezanost
na kraj, namera ponovnega obiska
Academica Turistica, 15(3), 307–321
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 397
Abstracts in Slovene Povzetki v slovenšini
Počasni turizem kot poglobljena potovalna izkušnja: bibliometrična analiza
Damir Krešić in Matina Gjurašić
»Počasni turizem« je celovit koncept turizma, ki spodbuja trajnost v vseh vidikih po-
potnikovega potovanja. Je obetavna alternativamnožičnemu turizmu, za katero so se
pripravljeni angažirati turisti, upravljavci destinacij in ponudniki turističnih storitev.
V akademskih raziskavah ni soglasja o tem, kaj pomeni »počasen« in kako se izvaja
ali razlaga v povezavi z različnimi turističnimi konteksti, kulturami in mobilnostmi.
Namen tega prispevka je raziskati koncept »počasnega turizma«, njegov razvoj in
trenutni obseg. Poleg tega prispevek predstavlja nov vpogled v znanstveno produk-
cijo z bibliometrično analizo, ki doslej ni bila povsem razjasnjena v raziskavah go-
stinstva in turizma. Podatki za študijo so pridobljeni iz člankov v revijah, napisanih
v angleškem jeziku in v podatkovni bazi Scopus, po specifičnih ključnih besedah,
povezanih s počasnim turizmom. Ugotovitve kažejo, da zanimanje za raziskave po-
časnega turizma izjemno narašča in je povezano s počasnim potovanjem ter hrano,
trajnostjo in poglobljeno potovalno izkušnjo.
Ključne besede: počasni turizem, trajnost, lokalna hrana, poglobljena potovalna
izkušnja, bibliometrična analiza
Academica Turistica, 15(3), 323–333
Razvijanje »nevaloriziranih virov« za turizem: Primera Drift Ice na otoku
Hokaido in ICEHOTEL na Laponskem
Takafumi Fukuyama in Johan R. Edelheim
Značilnosti severa se običajno opisujejo z negativnimi pridevniki, npr. redko pose-
ljen, obroben in neugoden zaradi mraza, teme ali močnih snežnih padavin. To velja
tako za Japonsko kot za nordijske države. V zgodovini severa se je odnosmed ljudmi
in naravo, snegom in ledom postopoma spreminjal, ko so ljudje začeli izkoriščati
svoje okolje. Nekoč je bila narava prostor za življenje, danes pa se uporablja tudi
za doživetja, predvsem v snežnem in ledenem turizmu. Pričujoča študija preučuje
proces razvoja neizkoriščenih virov, ki jih ima skupnost na voljo na severu, v turi-
stične privlačnosti. Pri tem sta bili uporabljena študij teoretičnih virov in primerjalna
študija primera Drift Ice na Japonskem in icehotel na Švedskem, s ciljem razja-
snitve mehanizma uporabe virov in s tem povezanih vprašanj. Prizadevanja lokalne
skupnosti, ki jih vidimo v obeh procesih, so kronološko razdeljena v štiri faze, ki so
obdobje prebujanja, vzpostavitve, rasti in zrelosti. Mehanizem spodbujanja valoriza-
cije v posamezni fazi lahko ponazorimo s štirimi kvadranti, ki smo jih poimenovali:
»kulturna blagovna znamka«, »kulturno trženje«, »znanstvena blagovna znamka« in
»znanstveni marketing«. Iz ugotovitev, ki temeljijo na celostni analizi japonskih in
severnoevropskih pristopov, lahko rečemo, da je vloga razvoja snežnega in ledenega
turizma predvsemv gojenju zavesti ljudi o ohranjanju narave v času podnebnih spre-
memb. Študija tako kaže na pomen valorizacije snega in ledu ter potenciala le-teh
na severu.
Ključne besede: študija virov, nevalorizirani viri, process valorizacije, inovacije v
snežnem in ledenem turizmu, Japonska in Švedska
Academica Turistica, 15(3), 335–348
398 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Abstracts in Slovene Povzetki v slovenšini
Edinstveni atributi destinacije kot podlaga turističnih doživetij
Petra Zabukovec Baruca in Žana Čivre
Na turističnem trgudanes turistov ne zanimajo le novi, edinstveni turistični produkti
in storitve, temveč tudi edinstvena turistična doživetja, saj izkušnje predstavljajo po-
membno konkurenčno prednost destinacije. Zato je namen tega prispevka raziskati
lastnosti identitete destinacije, ki so opredeljene kot edinstvene, in sicer z analizo
edinstvenih doživetij treh glavnih obalnih destinacij v Slovenski Istri. Rezultati kva-
litativne raziskave potrjujejo, da edinstvenost turističnih izkušenj izhaja iz atributov
identitete destinacije. Ti atributi so povezani predvsem z naravo in naravnimi viri,
s kulturno dediščino in kulinaričnimi doživetji. Edinstvena turistična doživetja ko-
municirajo predvsem skozi butičnost, inovativnost, pristnost in različna pozitivna
čustva, kot so npr. hedonizem, navdušenje, radovednost, presenečenje, sreča in uži-
tek, da zagotovijo nepozabno izkušnjo z dodano vrednostjo in spodbudijo turiste k
obisku skozi vse leto. Prispevek prispeva k poznavanju edinstvenih turističnih izku-
šenj, poleg tega pa so podani tudi teoretični prispevki, omejitve raziskave in pripo-
ročila za prihodnje raziskave.
Ključne besede: edinstvenost, destinacija, edinstveni atributi, turistična doživetja
Academica Turistica, 15(3), 349–362
Inovacije vmanjših hotelih v Argentini pred inmed pandemijo covida-19
Carolina Pasciaroni, Viviana Leonardi in Silvina Elias
Namen študije je raziskati inovativno vedenje manjših hotelov v urbanih središčih
Argentine pred epidemijo covida-19 in ugotoviti, ali trenutna pandemija deluje kot
dejavnik, ki spodbuja inovacije v teh hotelih. Ključni prispevek raziskave in glavna
motivacija za izvedbo le-te je v manjšem številu študij o hotelskih inovacijah v juž-
noameriških destinacijah ter potrebi po prepoznavanju strategij, ki so jih sprejeli
manjši hoteli pred krizo covida-19. Uporabljena metodologija je študija več prime-
rov, sestavljena iz šestih majhnih in srednje velikih hotelov v mestu Bahía Blanca v
Argentini. Primarne informacije smo zbirali z anketami, ki smo jih poslali hotelskim
menedžerjem. Študija prikazuje inovativni profil pred covidom-19, usmerjen v pri-
dobivanje vgrajene tehnologije, usposabljanje osebja in pridobivanje serije manjših
inovacij. Na opisani inovativni profil vplivajo notranji in zunanji dejavniki. Ključna
ugotovitev raziskave je, da pandemija covida-19 ni spodbujevalni dejavnik, temveč
ovira za inovacije.
Ključne besede: inovacije, hoteli, majhni in srednje veliki hoteli, Argentina,
pandemija covida-19
Academica Turistica, 15(3), 363–379
Dejavniki, ki vplivajo na izbiro turistične dejavnosti med srebrnolasimi turisti
Mihaela Kežman in Jana Goriup
Demografske spremembe so vidne na številnih področjih življenja, tudi v turizmu.
Turizem srebrnolasih turistov je v porastu in ta ciljna skupina postaja vse pomemb-
nejši segment turističnega trga. Imajo visoko kupno moč, relativno višjo kot mlajše
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 399
Abstracts in Slovene Povzetki v slovenšini
skupine. Zato se mora turizem z novimi vrstami in oblikami turizma odzvati na
nove demografske izzive v družbi, kot sta staranje prebivalstva in aktivna dolgoži-
vost. Potovalne izkušnje srebrnolasih turistov pomembno vplivajo tudi na kakovost
in zadovoljstvo z življenjem nasploh. Zato je poznavanje demografskih značilnosti
srebrnolasih turistov še toliko pomembnejše in potrebno za ustvarjanje dobre turi-
stične ponudbe. V okviru tega prispevka smo izvedli raziskavo med srebrnolasimi
turisti, starimi od 65 do vključno 75 let. Podatke smo zbirali v večgeneracijskih cen-
trih po Sloveniji z anketo v tiskani obliki. Pridobili smo 405 veljavnih vprašalnikov.
Pri analizi empiričnih podatkov smo iskali statistično značilne razlike pri petih so-
ciodemografskih in ekonomskih dejavnikih. Glede izbire turističnih dejavnosti smo
ugotovili statistično pomembne razlike med moškimi in ženskami ter med staro-
stnimi skupinami srebrnolasih turistov. Z vidika demografskih dejavnikov, kot so
izobrazba, dohodek in ocena zdravstvenega stanja, najdemo povezavo med turistič-
nimi dejavnostmi in demografijo. Potovanja dvignejo kakovost življenja srebrnolasih
turistov, zato je pomembno, da jim ponudimo programe, ki so čim bolj prilagojeni
njim samim. Ta članek ponuja nekaj odgovorov, ki nam lahko pomagajo ustvariti
takšne programe.
Ključne besede: srebrnolasi turisti, turistične dejavnosti, turizem starejših,
demografija
Academica Turistica, 15(3), 381–395
400 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
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Academica Turistica Instructions for Authors
Citing References in Text
One author. Tourism innovation specific is mentioned
(Brooks, 2010). Thomas (1992) had concluded . . .
Two authors. This result was later contradicted (Swar-
brooke &Horner, 2007). Price andMurphy (2000)
pointed out . . .
Three or more authors. Wolchik et al. (1999) or (Wol-
chik et al., 1999).
If two references with three or more authors shor-
ten to the same form, cite the surnames of the first
author and of as many of the subsequent authors as
necessary to distinguish the two references, followed
by a coma and et al.
List several authors for the same thought or idea
with separation by using a semicolon: (Kalthof et al.,
1999; Biegern & Roberts, 2005).
Examples of Reference List
Books
American Psychological Association. (2019). Publica-
tion manual of the American Psychological Associ-
ation (7th ed.).
Swarbrooke, J., &Horner, S. (2007).Consumer behavi-
our in tourism. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Journals
Laroche,M., Bergeron, J., & Barbaro-Forleo, G. (2001).
Targeting consumers who are willing to pay more
for environmentally friendly products. Journal of
Consumer Marketing, 18(6), 503–520.
Wolchik, S. A., West, S. G., Sandler, I. N., Tein, J.–
Y., Coatsworth, D., Lengua, L., . . . Griffin, W. A.
(2000). An experimental evaluation of theory-
basedmother andmother-child programs for chil-
dren of divorce. Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology, 68, 843–856.
Newspapers
Brooks, A. (2010, 7 July). Building craze threatens
to end Lanzarote’s biosphere status. Independent.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/
nature/building-craze-threatens-to-end
-lanzarotes-biosphere-status-2020064.html
Chapters in Books
Poirier, R. A. (2001). A dynamic tourism develop-
ment model in Tunisia: Policies and prospects. In
Y. Aposotolopoulos, P. Loukissas, & L. Leontidou
(Eds.),Mediterranean tourism (pp. 197–210). Rou-
tledge.
Conference Proceedings
Price, G., & Murphy, P. (2000). The relationship be-
tween ecotourism and sustainable development: A
critical examination. In M. Ewen (Ed.), cauthe
2000: Peak performance in tourism and hospitality
research; Proceedings of the Tenth Australian Tou-
rism and Hospitality Research Conference (pp. 189–
202). La Trobe University.
Paper Presentation
Thomas, J. (1992, July). Tourism and the environment:
An exploration of the willingness to pay of the ave-
rage visitor [Paper presentation.] Tourism in Eu-
rope, Durham, England.
Theses andDissertations
Sedmak, G. (2006). Pomen avtentičnosti turističnega
proizvoda: primer destinacije Piran [Unpublished
doctoral dissertation]. University of Ljubljana.
Working Papers
Salamon, L. M., Sokolowski, S. W., Haddock, M. A., &
Tice, H. S. (2013). The state of global civil society vo-
lunteering: Latest findings from the implementation
of the un nonprofitt handbook (ComparativeNon-
profit Sector Working Paper No. 49). Johns Hop-
kins University.
Web Pages
Croatian Bureau of Statistics. (2001). Census of popu-
lation, households and dwellings. http://www.dzs
.hr/Eng/censuses/Census2001/census.htm
Manuscript Submission
The main manuscript document should be in Micro-
soft Word document format and the article should be
submitted to http://academica.turistica.si/index.php/
AT-TIJ/about/submissions
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