Ercan Sirakaya-Turk

Measuring Web Site Quality for Online Travel Agencies

Abstract Online travel agencies face increasing levels of competition and, thus, experience an ever greater need to evaluate the effectiveness of their Web sites. This study examines the influence of perceived Web site quality on willingness to use online travel agencies. Six core dimensions were identified and empirically tested regarding their impact on behavioral intentions using a survey of 311 local residents in the United States. Ease of Use was found to be the most important dimension in determining Willingness to Use, followed by Information/Content, Responsiveness, Fulfillment, and Security/Privacy. No significant relationship was found for Visual Appeal. Implications of the results for online travel agency Web sites and future research are discussed.

Testing the Efficacy of an Integrative Model for Community Participation

The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of an integrative model for community participation in tourism development. Termed as motivation—opportunity—ability (MOA), the model integrated two streams of research, “means” and “ends” oriented studies, with the intent of providing a holistic view of community participation research. To test the hypothesized relationships, data were collected from a stratified random sample of households in Charleston, South Carolina. The data provided some support for the model; the findings suggest that the extent to which community members participate in the tourism development process depends on motivation, opportunity, and ability to participate. Practical and theoretical implications have been discussed within the general framework of community participation.

The Efficacy of Sustainability Values in Predicting Travelers’ Choices for Sustainable Hospitality Businesses

Sustainability studies suggest that travelers’ decisions to support sustainable production and to consume sustainable hospitality and tourism services are functions of those travelers’ values. This study examined the efficacy of the sustainability value (SV) scale in predicting potential travelers’ choices for sustainable hospitality businesses using a partially mediated structural equation model. Data from a panel of 1,202 recent travelers in North America suggest that SVs predict an individual’s choice for sustainable hospitality businesses. The effect of those values, however, is partially mediated by the travelers’ environmental behaviors. Based on the respondents’ attitudes and behavior, they were grouped into an environment-supporting group called “strong-sustainers” and an environment-neutral group termed “centrists-sustainers.” Extending these findings to the market, hoteliers could offer targeted sustainability messages for the proposed “strong-sustainer” traveler, who would be more likely to purchase a “green” room, and likewise customize communications to the “centrist-sustainer” travelers, for whom an environmental message carries no weight.

Predictive Validity of SUSTAS.

Address correspondence to Ercan Sirakaya-Turk, Ph.D., Professor of Tourism and the Associate Dean for Research, Grants and Graduate Programs, Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management, University of South Carolina, Carolina Coliseum 109-A, Columbia, SC 29210, USA. Tel: +1 803 777-3327; E-mail: ercan@gwm.sc.edu Tourism Analysis, Vol. 18, pp. 601–605 1083-5423/13

Guests and Hosts Revisited Prejudicial Attitudes of Guests toward the Host Population

60.00 + .00 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3727/108354213X13782245307957 Copyright

Evaluating communication competency of tour guides using a modified importance-performance analysis (MIPA)

This study evaluates the impact of all-inclusive trip experiences of tourists on their prejudicial attitudes toward their host. All-inclusive German travelers were probed for their attitudes toward their host at the time of arrival and before departure. Reasons for the differences between arrival and departure attitude scores were explored via multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and regression analyses. As opposed to the intergroup contact hypothesis that tourism would reduce prejudice and increase cross-cultural understanding, the findings indicate that structured, all-inclusive tour experiences of this sample of tourists increase prejudicial attitudes toward their host. Exploring potential reasons for such differences in pre- and post-arrival scores, the study reports that overall satisfaction with the vacation, service quality factors and the nature of all-inclusive tour might be responsible for such results. Enhanced with qualitative data from key informants, likely reasons are cautiously speculated using contact hypothesis and the notion of “cultural bubble.”

Theory of Vulnerability and Remarkable Resilience of Tourism Demand to Climate Change: Evidence from the Mediterranean Basin

Purpose The purpose of this research is to evaluate the communication competency of tour guides using a modified importance–performance analysis (MIPA). Tour guides are cultural ambassadors of a country; their communication skills can make or break tourists’ experiences with guided tours and memories of a destination. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 387 professional tour guides representing 38 per cent of all tour guides in Antalya, Turkey. The study further performs factor analysis using 32 communication competency items to determine underlying performance dimensions. This is followed by an MIPA to statistically identify the gap between factors that tour guides consider important and their perceptions of how they perform on these factors. Findings The study reveals that tour guides need improvement in verbal skills such as grammar, manner of speech and choice of words, as well as non-verbal behaviors such as approachability and the ability to remain friendly while maintaining a certain personal space. Research limitations/implications Due to the nature of this study and certain time limitations, the most effective method proved to be collecting data from a convenient sample of tour guides during their annual workshop. The theory of behavioral communication competency details theoretical and practical implications. Practical implications The study findings provide tour operators and the Association of Professional Tour Guides with a platform from which they can launch educational seminars and workshops to enhance tour guides’ communication competency. Originality/value The study contributes two main findings: This research provides a first-of-its-kind examination of professional tour guides’ communication competency using MIPA. The study improves the efficacy of traditional importance–performance analysis (IPA) models by enhancing them with a gap analysis through a t-test and effect size analysis including a gap analysis takes the arbitrariness out of the process of determining the location of items within the IPA grid. Tourism service providers can use these findings to offer educational seminars that can increase the skill sets of tour guides.

Investment and Firm Value: Is There an Optimal Investment Level in Hotel Firms?

Climate change has become one of the most important challenges for societies around the world. However, the tourism industrys vulnerability and readiness to cope with climate change are unclear. This study advances the current body of knowledge by conceptualizing and empirically analyzing the effects of climate change on tourism demand using a vulnerability theoretical framework. Specifically, the effects of exposure; sensitivity; human well-being; and economic, social, and political development are tested on 17 countries located in the Mediterranean Basin during the period of 1995–2012. The findings of the study demonstrate the remarkable resilience and adaptive capacity of the tourism industry. Contrary to the notion that climate change will result in disastrous outcomes for the tourism industry in the Mediterranean Basin, improvements in overall well-being and progress in economic, social, and political developments seem to more than offset the decline in tourism demand due to climate change. The findings point to new theoretical and practical implications for coping with negative climatic changes and advance future academic research in the area.

Modeling Turkish outbound tourism demand using a dynamic panel data approach

ABSTRACT This study aimed to examine whether an optimal investment level exists in hotel firms. The authors examined the quadratic relation between investments and hotel firm value. The results show that there is an optimal investment level that maximizes firm value. However, the optimal investment level varies across firms on the basis of the quality of investment opportunities or under- and overinvestment problems. The optimal investment level is higher for hotel firms with underinvestment problems, which suggests that these firms have valuable investment opportunities. However, the optimal investment level is lower for hotel firms with overinvestment problems, which implies that shareholders of these firms perceive additional investments to be value destroying. These results support the postulations of the Q theory of investment, pecking order theory, and free cash flow theory. Practical implications are discussed in the realm of financing, investment, and dividend policies.

An analysis of destination image for emerging markets of Turkey

The purpose of this study is to model and empirically test outbound tourism demand of Turkish travel market. For this purpose, panel cointegration tests and panel fully modified ordinary least squares method, which produces asymptotically unbiased and normally distributed coefficient estimates, are employed for 12 Turkish travel markets. The results indicate that there is a cointegration relation in the model, and income, relative price, and word of mouth are significant determinants affecting outbound tourism demand of Turkey for the 12 destinations. Managerial implications are discussed.