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- Designing tourist experiences in the countrysidePublication . Agapito, Dora; Pinto, Patrícia; Mendes, JúlioThe rise of the experiential paradigm in conceptualizing tourism has directed special attention to the five senses - sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch - in designing tourist experiences. Additionally, a multidisciplinary literature approach shows the importance of all the senses in human perception, suggesting multiple sensory experiences in geographical encounters, such as in tourism destinations. In the countryside, tourist experiences are highly based on a diversified collection of undeveloped resources, offering multiple sensory stimuli that can be managed in order to design and enhance tourist experiences and bolster natural resources, in a view to a sustainable local development. This study aims to understand the role of human senses in designing tourist experiences in the countryside. A survey was presented to tourists in rural lodgings. Sensory experiences emerged from a content analysis followed by a multiple correspondence analysis, suggesting that sensory information is suitable for theming tourist experiences in rural areas. Practical implications are discussed.
- Destination image: perspectives of tourists vs. residentsPublication . Agapito, Dora; Mendes, Júlio; Pinto, PatríciaThis study aims to measure the image of Lagos in the Algarve region, the most important Portuguese destination, using a cognitive, affective and behavioral approach. Given the lack of studies which compare the perspectives of tourists and residents, the empirical investigation includes a mixed methodology enabling a holistic approach followed by a quantitative methodology with the use of questionnaires for both tourists and residents. The attributes that are more consensually associated with Lagos are the good weather and good beaches, although these variables do not have significant discriminatory power for "recommendation of the destination to friends and family" as the dependent variable.
- Destination Image: Tourists' perspective versus residents' perspectivePublication . Agapito, Dora; Mendes, Júlio; Patrícia, Patrícia Oom doThe study of destination image has been asserting itself as an instrument of differentiation, helping to increase the destinations competitiveness. Despite being a well-documented topic in the literature, there had been a lack of studies to compare the perspectives of tourists with the residents. The main objective of this study is to measure the image of Lagos in the Algarve region, the most important Portuguese destination, comparing the perspectives of tourists and residents in a cognitive, affective and behavioral approach. The empirical investigation included a mixed methodology. First, in an exploratory phase, the analysis of open-ended questions allowed to detect the attributes for the analysis of the cognitive component, enabling a holistic approach. Then, the use of questionnaires to a sample of 379 tourists and 378 residents provided a quantitative methodology, using descriptive indicators, hypotheses tests and the multivariate CHAID technique. Results indicate a positive global destination image in the perspective of both stakeholders. The attributes more consensually associated with Lagos are the „good weather‟ and „good beaches‟, although these variables have not significant discriminatory power for the dependent variable „recommendation of the destination to friends and family‟, in the CHAID analysis. Thus, in the tourists‟ perspective, the „interesting cultural heritage‟ is the most significant explanatory variable, while for the residents this is translated into „good value for money‟. In the emotional approach, both stakeholders associate the destination to the adjectives “arousing/exciting/pleasant”.
- Sensory marketing and tourist experiencesPublication . Agapito, Dora; Pinto, Patrícia; Mendes, JúlioMarketing has been increasing its focus on the role of the five human senses in consumer behaviour, since research under the experiential paradigm has pointed to multisensory stimuli as intensifiers of consumers’ experiences, such as tourist experiences. Whereas previous studies in tourism touted vision, current research claims a holistic approach to sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch in order to develop effective communication and branding strategies, as well to boost the performance of destinations and tourist organizations by designing and creating conditions to enhance tourist experiences. This study aims to present the main contributions of the literature on a sensory marketing approach to the tourist experience, and to discuss some preliminary results of an empirical study on the role of human senses in tourist experiences in rural areas. Data analysis from a questionnaire presented to tourists supports the multisensory nature of tourist experiences and the importance of the five senses to the intensity of the experience.
- Understanding tourist recommendation through destination image: A CHAID analysisPublication . Agapito, Dora; Pinto, Patrícia; Mendes, JúlioIn spite of the efforts of marketers and managers to boost a favourable destination image, with a focus on encouraging tourists‟ revisit, other factors contribute to tourists‟ decision-making processes with regard to revisiting destinations. Moreover, recommendation from family and friends are considered to be the most credible source of information in the process of choosing a holiday destination, becoming relevant that studies on destination loyalty focus on this variable. Therefore, this research aims to identify the attributes which contribute to tourists‟ willingness to recommend a destination. The first stage of this study involved identifying the attributes to measure the image of Lagos in the Algarve region, an important Portuguese destination, through open-ended questions. In the second phase, the application of the Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID) to survey responses from a sample of 379 tourists allowed to identify the features that explain the intention to recommend the destination. The results show that culture is the attribute with the strongest power to explain recommendation, highlighting the need for sun and sand tourism destinations to diversify their offer. Of the seven terminal nodes produced by CHAID, two segments with opposite trends were found, for which profiles were drawn.
- The cognitive-affective-conative model of destination image: A confirmatory analysisPublication . Agapito, Dora; Pinto, Patrícia; Mendes, JúlioDestination image influences tourist behaviour before, during and after travel, as it is an important instrument which contributes to tourists’ loyalty. Although Gartner (1993) advocates that the cognitive, affective and conative dimensions of destination image are hierarchically interrelated, there is no empirical evidence to support the complete model. This study aims to test the hierarchical nature of the relationship between the dimensions of destination image. The results of structural equation modelling confirm Gartner’s theoretical model, validating the theory that the influence of the cognitive component on the conative dimension is higher when mediated by the affective component, raising managerial implications.
- The cognitive-affective-conative model of destination image: A confirmatory analysisPublication . Agapito, Dora; Pinto, Patrícia; Mendes, JúlioDestination image influences tourist behaviour before, during and after travel, as it is an important instrument which contributes to tourists’ loyalty. In this context, although Gartner (1993) advocates that the cognitive, affective and conative dimensions of destination image are hierarchically interrelated, there is no empirical evidence to support the complete model. This study aims to test the hierarchical nature of the relationship between the dimensions of destination image. The results of structural equation modelling (SEM) confirm Gartner’s (1993) theoretical model, validating the theory that the influence of the cognitive component on the conative dimension is stronger when mediated by the affective component. This conclusion raises important considerations regarding affect as a crucial aspect linking destinations and people.
- Destination image: perspectives of tourists vs. residentsPublication . Agapito, Dora; Mendes, Júlio; Pinto, PatríciaThis study aims to measure the image of Lagos in the Algarve region, the most important Portuguese destination, in a cognitive, affective and behavioral approach. Given the lack of studies which compare the perspectives of tourists and residents, the empirical investigation includes a mixed methodology enabling a holistic approach followed by a quantitative methodology with the use of questionnaires. The attributes that are more consensually associated with Lagos are the good weather and good beaches, although these variables do not have significant discriminatory power for “recommendation of the destination to friends and family” as the dependent variable, in a CHAID analysis.
- Tourists' memories, sensory impressions and loyalty: In loco and post-visit study in Southwest PortugalPublication . Agapito, Dora; Patrícia Pinto; Mendes, JúlioThis study aims to offer some insights on the contribution of sensory diversity as perceived by tourists to memorable destination experiences and to explore the connection between long-term memory of sensory impressions and destination loyalty. The vital role of the sensory dimension of tourist experiences is stressed by current tourism research and supported by a multidisciplinary view on the role of the five external senses in human perception, memory, and behavior. While the marketing management approach highlights the importance of considering multisensory information in the process of facilitating positive and memorable destination experiences, there is a lack of empirical research to validate the theoretical literature. A two-step exploratory study was conducted in loco and six months after tourists' visits to Southwest Portugal. The findings suggest that perceived richer sensory tourist experiences may have a significant role in the long-term memory of individuals' experiences, encouraging favorable tourist behavior towards destinations. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- The sensory dimension of tourist experiences: capturing meaningful sensory-based themes in Southwest PortugalPublication . Agapito, Dora; Pinto, Patrícia; Mendes, JúlioSensory aspects of destinations have recently been in focus as an important dimension in the process of facilitating positive tourist experiences. The countryside embraces local resources rich in multi-sensory stimuli that could be utilized in the planning and marketing of appealing tourist experiences addressed to segments of tourists, while fitting sustainable local development. This study follows a holistic approach to the five external human senses, aiming to capture meaningful sensory-informed themes adequate for segmenting rural tourists. A self-administered survey in four languages was collected from 181 tourists in Southwest Portugal. A multiple correspondence analysis suggests four sensory-informed themes, tentatively named generic beach-related experience, nature-based experience, balanced experience, and rural experience. The proposed themes correspond to a four-solution cluster of tourists presenting different profiles. The largest segment (73 tourists) corresponds to the rural experience, regarding which tourists mainly refer to the taste of local food and the smell of fresh air.