Gabby Walters

Towards a research agenda for post-disaster and post-crisis recovery strategies for tourist destinations: a narrative review

This paper presents the results of a review of the literature concerning post-disaster and post-crisis recovery for tourist destinations. A total of 64 articles on this topic published in peer-reviewed tourism journals between January 2000 and June 2012 were included in the review. These articles were written on a number of different disaster contexts, including weather-related events (floods and hurricanes), natural disasters (earthquakes and tsunami) and other events (such as pandemics and terrorist attacks). The key themes that emerged included a lack of communication between stakeholders, media sensationalism, the importance of selecting the most effective marketing messages, lack of disaster-management plans, damage to destination image and reputation, and the changes in tourist behaviour following crises and disasters. The review identifies ways to improve the speed and effectiveness of response to disaster, the importance of relationship marketing with loyal customers and the need to quickly repair destination image. Suggestions for future research arising from this review include the urgent need to encourage tourism operators to engage with crisis preparedness and disaster-management strategies and the importance of gaining a better understanding of the consumer response to disastrous events.

Using skin conductance and facial electromyography to measure emotional responses to tourism advertising

Although an objective and increasingly common technique in marketing, media and psychology, psychophysiological measures are rarely used in tourism research to detect tourism consumers’ spontaneous emotional responses. This study examines the use of psychophysiological measures in tourism and in particular explores the usefulness of skin conductance (SC) and facial electromyography (EMG) methods in tracking emotional responses to destination advertisements. Thirty-three participants were exposed to three destination advertisements while their self-report ratings, real-time SC and facial EMG data as well as post hoc interview data were obtained. The results demonstrate that, compared with self-report measures, psychophysiological measures are able to better distinguish between different destination advertisements, and between different dimensions of emotion. Participants’ affective experience reported in post hoc interviews was found to be consistent with emotional peaks identified from continuous facial EMG and SC monitoring. These results validate the ability of psychophysiological techniques to capture moment-to-moment emotional responses and it is concluded that psychophysiological methods are useful in measuring emotional responses to tourism advertising. Methodological insights regarding the constraints associated with the use and application of psychophysiological methods are discussed.

Back to nature: Festivalgoer environmental beliefs and camping experience at non-urban festivals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore festivalgoer/camper perceptions of and responses to the non-urban festival service environment (blended festivalscape). Design/methodology/approach – For this exploratory study a quantitative approach was adopted. A self-administered online survey was administered to recipient members of an Australian non-urban festival e-newsletter database resulting in 398 usable responses from festival campers. Findings – Environmental beliefs held by festival campers’ influenced their perceptions of naturescape, socialscape and overall satisfaction. Festival campers’ who attended more than once were found to have stronger pro-environmental beliefs than those who attended once. Festival camper perception of naturescape has a positive moderating influence leading to greater overall satisfaction and the likelihood of repeat attendance and positive word-of-mouth. Research limitations/implications – It is very important to know how festivalgoers perceive and relate to their festival service environment. Critical to the appeal and success of the non-urban festival is the alignment of festivalgoer environmental beliefs to the natural setting in which they are held. Limitations include use of a single case study context. Originality/value – This paper responds to lack of research on non-urban festivals when compared to urban festivals and the surprisingly little interest shown in the central role of natural settings and the camping experience. A closer understanding of the environmental beliefs of campers at non-urban festivals has the potential to provide beneficial outcomes for people, profit and planet.

A Comparative Analysis of Self-Report and Psychophysiological Measures of Emotion in the Context of Tourism Advertising:

This study investigates the influence of emotional responses evoked by destination television advertisements on three common variables of interest when assessing tourism advertising effectiveness: attitude toward the advertisement, postexposure destination attitude and visit intention. In particular, this study used a combination of self-report and psychophysiological measures of emotion and explored the consistency between these two measurement techniques. A total of 101 participants were exposed to 18 existing destination commercials while their real-time psychophysiological responses and self-report data were collected. The results show that the influence of ad-evoked emotions on tourism advertising effectiveness varied according to the way emotion was measured. The effects of pleasure on tourism advertising effectiveness were much weaker when pleasure was measured physiologically than when self-report measures were used. Physiological arousal, however, was not found to be a significant indicator of advertising effectiveness. The results highlight the importance of valid and reliable measurement of emotion and raise concern over the possible overestimation of the relationship between self-reported emotional responses and advertising effectiveness.

Fostering Collaboration between Academia and the Tourism Sector

This report shares the results of a significant meeting on the relationship between the tourism research and education community and the tourism sector. The World Tourism Forum Lucerne (WTFL) is a university-based think tank that brings together industry, governments, academia, and third sector organisations to generate ideas, in the broadest sense, about the future of tourism. Meetings are held bi-annually in Lucerne. The “academia meets industry” meeting was introduced as an official side-event of the 2015 WTFL. Its purpose was to provide a platform for invited academic and industry representatives to identify and analyse the barriers that constrain successful collaborative working relationships. The discussion was framed by two foci: meeting the expectations of young talent (a key component of WTFL) and the sharing of knowledge and experiences. Professor Peter Burns, University of Bedfordshire, moderated the event. Fourteen attendees represented a number of emerging and established tourism destinations (Switzerland, Germany, Vienna, Hong Kong, Australia, Mongolia, Canada, the USA, the UK, and South Africa) allowing for a global perspective of the key issues.