Jesús Manuel López-Bonilla

Holistic competence approach in tourism higher education: an exploratory study in Spain

The present study aims to propose and empirically contrast a structural model of relationships between academic–professional competences in tourism higher education. Currently, much attention is being paid to the concept of competence. However, in the literature review, we did not find any proposal for a holistic approach that tends to understand the relationships between the generic and specific competences in higher education. This study is focused on a subject of the tourism degree in the University of Seville (Spain). It is based on a sample of 154 students. The results confirm that there are relationships between the generic and specific competences.

Sensation Seeking and the Use of the Internet

Sensation seeking is a personality trait, which has been studied mainly from the perspective of behavior problems. The current study extends that research to consider the use of the Internet. The Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS), created by Hoyle, Stephenson, Palmgreen, Lorch, and Donohew, was used. This article examined the relationship between sensation seeking and the use of the Internet from the gender perspective. The BSSS is invariant when the population studied is separated between non-Internet users, Internet users, and online buyers. However, some significant differences between the four dimensions of the scale appear when the authors introduce the gender variable.

Postmodernism and Heterogeneity of Leisure Tourist Behavior Patterns

The concept of postmodernism can be applied to the tourist sector in the search for profiles of visitors at a tourist destination. The purpose of this study is to determine the similarities between tourist characteristics and postmodern behavior. An analysis of latent class methodology is used to help explain the heterogeneity of tourist behavior. This diversity is demonstrated in five groups with some behavior patterns closer to modernism and others closer to postmodernism. Further, different tendencies such as strictly and incipient post-modernism were detected within the post-modern tourists.

The multidimensional structure of university absenteeism: an exploratory study

Absenteeism has been a common and very extended problem in university spheres for several years. This problem has become a permanent feature in academic studies in general, yet it has received scarce empirical research attention. This work is focused on the analysis of the factors that determine university absenteeism. It evaluates a series of reasons or causes that prevent students from attending lessons regularly both if they are reasoned (involuntary absenteeism) or not (voluntary absenteeism). This study is based on a sample of 139 students in the third year of the Degree in Tourism. Our analysis shows up that absenteeism is a complex and multifactorial phenomenon. Seven determining factors of absenteeism were obtained: efficiency, teaching style, academic interest, teaching contents and format, classmates influence and fears, imponderables and convenience. The dimension ‘Teaching Style’ is given the highest average score.

Reasons which Influence on the Students' Decision to Take a University Course: Differences by Gender and Degree.

After compulsory secondary education; many teenagers face the process of choosing a university degree. This process involves uncertainties referred to their personal abilities, interests, social expectations and professional future. The present work is aimed at determining whether the reasons behind the selection of a particular university degree differ depending on the chosen degree. Another objective is determining whether these reasons differ significantly according to gender. The sample comprises 983 students belonging to the area of social and legal sciences at the University of Seville. The obtained results reveal the existence of four main reasons behind the selection of university degrees for which significant gender-related differences were observed: easy degree, job opportunities, high wages and provision of social services. Besides, these seven reasons are observed to differ widely in six of the considered degrees.

Environmental orientation in tourism: the RTEO scale

This paper analysed the validity and reliability of the revised tourist ecological orientation (RTEO) scale. There are relatively few studies in the area of the ecological behaviour of tourists and, therefore, RTEO and other scales should be taken into account in future tourism research. This study is based on a sample of 461 golf tourists. A double analysis was carried out: (1) a qualitative analysis through expert opinion and (2) a quantitative analysis through the partial least squares approach. The results suggest that the RTEO scale is a brief, simple and reliable scale of environmental actions.

Research Note: Positioning Strategies of Global Airline Alliances from the Consumer's Perspective:

This paper investigates the differentiation strategy in global airline alliances from the consumers perspective. The study compares the three major airline alliances (Oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance) and examines their positioning strategies compared to their low-cost competitors. The authors analyse the service attributes provided to customers by 20 international airlines. The results show differences between the three global airline alliances from the perspective of the passengers. Oneworld and SkyTeam have similar positioning strategies as seen by consumers; however, Star Alliance is closely competitive with the low-cost model.

Sensation-Seeking Profiles and Personal Innovativeness in Information Technology

Sensation seeking has been studied extensively. However, the study of sensation-seeking profiles is still very limited in the literature and even more so in the area of information and communication technology (ICT). The present study analyzes sensation seeking and the innovative behavior of individuals in the use of information technologies. This work explores the connection between two individual personality traits: sensation seeking (from a social psychology perspective) and personal innovativeness in ICT (from marketing and information systems perspectives). An empirical study was carried out on a sample of 819 university students. The authors have analyzed 12 profiles, which were obtained from the combination of the four traits of the Sensation-Seeking scale. The results confirmed the relationship between both constructs in three sensation-seeking profiles.

From the new environmental paradigm to the brief ecological paradigm: a revised scale in golf tourism

Abstract The new environmental paradigm (NEP) is probably the most widely used measure of environmental attitude in the world. However, according to the literature review, the dimensionality of the NEP scale has occasioned disagreement. The main objective of this paper was to provide a solution to this dilemma, proposing an examination of the NEP scale. Hence, this paper proposes a short form measure called brief ecological paradigm (BEP) scale. The present study is based on a sample of 509 golf tourists from several European countries. Findings suggest that is advisable to remove bipolarity between paradigms (ecocentrism and anthropocentrism) within the same scale. Moreover, the results suggest that the BEP is a reliable and fast form approach to measuring environmental attitudes.

Designated public festivals of interest to tourists.

Event tourism is part of the appeal of a destination and an important contributor to the well-being of communities. This paper examines the festivals classified of interest to tourists by the Spanish Tourist Board. The declaration of Festivals of Interest to Tourists (FITs) is granted to those festivals which demonstrate cultural values and popular traditions, with special consideration to their ethnological characteristics and to their particular importance as a tourist attraction. These festivals provide new opportunities to attract visitors to the places where they are held. Local and regional policies can take advantage of the FITs in order to increase the appeal of a tourist destination. This paper details an exploratory analysis of FITs in Spanish provinces. This study aims to group the provinces according to the characteristics of their FITs. To this end, a cluster analysis is performed and the validity is established using the unbiased estimator out-of-bag.