Jake Jorgenson

Geotourism and Sustainability as a Business Mindset

Geotourism sustains and/or enhances the geographical character of a place, embracing the environment, heritage, aesthetics, culture, and well-being of its residents. Geotourism promotes behaviors such as buying local products, improving employee well-being, and donating to local causes. Visitors to Montana have been previously identified as geotravelers, which influenced the Montana Office of Tourism to target this segment. While previous studies confirmed the demand for geotourism in Montana, little research had examined the supply-side perspective on practicing the sustainable initiative tourists/geotravelers expect. By using geotourism’s constructs, this study assessed the extent to which Montana’s tourism and hospitality businesses have adopted geotourism’s principles in their business mindset. Results of a web-based survey indicate moderate to low participation by Montana businesses. Further analysis reveals incongruity in behavior by business sector. Smaller businesses appear less sustainable and geo-savvy. Findings have implications for understanding the demand side of geotourism and strengthen previous research implementing sustainable practices.

Measuring Visitor Experiences: Creating and Testing the Tourism Autobiographical Memory Scale:

The purpose of this study was to test the validity of the new Tourism Autobiographical Memory Scale (TAMS) that measures visitor experience through personal memory. The TAMS uses the autobiographical memory framework to represent the degree to which a travel experience was impactful to a traveler’s life. Visitors were asked to recall a memory from their visit to a national park and rate the memory of the experience based on its impact and frequency of rehearsal on a 7-point scale. Using exploratory factor analysis and reliability testing, two distinct factors emerged. Results identified a reliable measure of a memory’s impact and frequency of rehearsal of tourists. The TAMS provides researchers a new scale to gather information about the impact of a visitor experience from the direct source—personal memories. Destination managers who understand the impact they can have on a traveler will be able to manage and market to those types of experiences.