Luke R. Potwarka

Why Tourists Choose Airbnb: A Motivation-Based Segmentation Study:

Airbnb has grown very rapidly over the past several years, with millions of tourists having used the service. The purpose of this study was to investigate tourists’ motivations for using Airbnb and to segment them accordingly. The study involved an online survey completed in 2015 by more than 800 tourists who had stayed in Airbnb accommodation during the previous 12 months. Aggregate results indicated that respondents were most strongly attracted to Airbnb by its practical attributes, and somewhat less so by its experiential attributes. An exploratory factor analysis identified five motivating factors—Interaction, Home Benefits, Novelty, Sharing Economy Ethos, and Local Authenticity. A subsequent cluster analysis divided the respondents into five segments—Money Savers, Home Seekers, Collaborative Consumers, Pragmatic Novelty Seekers, and Interactive Novelty Seekers. Profiling of the segments revealed numerous distinctive characteristics. Various practical and conceptual implications of the findings are discussed.

The Vancouver 2010 Olympics and leisure-time physical activity rates among youth in Canada: any evidence of a trickle-down effect?

Using nationally representative data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, we explored if the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics were associated with leisure-time physical activity rates among youth in Canada. No statistically significant changes were observed in the rate of moderately active/active youth in Canada or the province of British Columbia (BC) over the two-year time periods under investigation. At the regional level however, a significant increase in the rate of moderately active/active females from 2007–2008 (pre-event) to 2009–2010 (the year prior to the event and the year the event was staged) was observed in the Richmond, BC, health region (z = 2.05, p = .04). Previous conclusions that trickle-down effects do not occur are not supported by our data. Instead, we conclude that trickle-down effects may in fact occur, but may tend to be localised within certain communities (i.e. close to where Olympic events are staged) and among particular segments of a population.

Autonomous Agents and Destination Image Formation of an Olympic Host City: The Case of Sochi 2014

Scant attention has been given to the role autonomous agents (i.e., politically contentious news reports) might play in the formation of destination images about Olympic host cities. This study analyzed content of travel blogs related to trips to Sochi during the 2014 Olympics. Our purpose was to explore destination images held by travelers to Sochi in the wake of contentions news reports about Russia’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) legislation. Both thematic and CATPAC (content analysis software) content analysis were employed to derive themes representing impressions and perceptions of Sochi. Findings focus primarily on images related to Sochi as a tourist destination and an Olympic host city. Bloggers’ impressions and perceptions did not seem to reflect autonomous agents related to LGBT laws in particular. However, bloggers did reflect on misleading news stories more generally, and subsequent images from travel experiences that did not match expectations set by these stories. Implications for marketers are discussed.

Understanding Television Viewership of a Mega Event: The Case of the 2010 Winter Olympics

Media coverage and related viewership can be critical to the financial success of many sport and tourism events. It is not surprising, then, that many event organizers seek to improve the appeal and television viewership ratings associated with their respective properties. Moreover, insights into the nature of people’s decisions to watch the Olympics on television might be relevant to marketers hoping to simulate postevent tourism. This study focuses on understanding viewership decisions surrounding the Olympic Games using the theory of planned behavior as a conceptual framework. Consistent with the theory, it was hypothesized that attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control would explain respondents’ intention to watch the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games on television. Results suggest that watching the Games on television was associated with: (a) a belief that important others would perform the behavior (i.e., descriptive norms); (b) previous viewing of the Games’ televised coverage (i.e., past behavior); (c) a favorable evaluation of performing the behavior (i.e., attitude toward the behavior); and (d) a perceived ease of performing the behavior (i.e., perceived behavioral control). Respondents did not appear to perceive their viewership in ways that might be desirable to hospitality or tourism organizations. Implications for event stakeholders and hospitality/destination marketers are discussed.

Residents’ support for the Olympic Games: Single Host-City versus Multiple Host-City bid arrangements

ABSTRACT This study explored the efficacy of an extant resident support model developed by Gursoy and Kendall (2006) in a hypothetical Olympic Single Host-City (SHC) and Multiple Host-City (MHC) bid arrangements. Participants were undergraduate students enrolled in two Ontario universities and randomly assigned into one of two hypothetical 2028 Summer Olympic Games bid arrangements: (1) SHC – Toronto, and (2) MHC – Toronto and Montreal. Results revealed the extant model did not perform well in the MHC bid arrangement. Findings suggest the relative importance of perceived benefits (PB) and perceived costs (PC) in garnering support from residents may differ between SHC and MHC bid arrangements. Implications for the design and exploration of MHC resident support models for the Olympic Games are discussed. This is the first study to explore resident support in a MHC bid context. The study sets the scene for research following this new International Olympic Committee (IOC) development and informs future studies on this important topic.

Travel distance classes for tourism destinations: a proposal from Ontario Provincial Park camping

This paper explores the potential of classifying tourist destinations according to the travel distance of tourists, portrayed within 11 distance classes. The analysis maps the usersheds for camping of five provincial parks in Ontario: Algonquin, Bon Echo, Earl Rowe, The Pinery, and Quetico. The research revealed that Earl Rowe Provincial Park is a Class 1 tourism destination; with the most frequent travel distance being from 1 to 100 km from home. Pinery and Bon Echo are Class 2 destinations, with the most frequent travel distance being between 101 and 200 km. Algonquin is a Class 3 destination, with the most frequent travel distanced being between 201 and 300 km. Significantly, Quetico is a Class 11 park, with the most frequent travel distance being between 1001 and 2000 km from home. The travel distance curves reveal modifications to the classic exponential decay curve. The mapping of the home locations of all registrations revealed insights in regard to distribution and travel distances, with implications for destination loyalty and marketing. This approach may have wider utility in destination classification.

Leveraging participation in Olympic sports: a call for experiential qualitative case study research

Abstract Through this research note, we intend to advocate the importance of investigating introductory sport programmes in connection with leveraging initiatives to understand: (1) the processes of, as well as the forces shaping, the development of introductory sport programmes, (2) the experiences of participants in these programmes and (3) how these programmes connect to broader leveraging structures and initiatives. Additionally, a qualitative case study methodology presents an effective research strategy to achieve these goals. We also outline the promise of a qualitative case study methodology by illustrating its potential for deepening our understanding of leveraging-related programme development. While past research has focused on the construction of these programmes, we argue for the need to explore what the leveraging experience is like for those engaging in introductory sport programmes. Through exploring the development and experiences of introductory sport programmes, scholars can develop new research directions and questions, as well as inform future leveraging initiatives.

Perspectives of event leveraging by restaurants and city officials

Hosting events can attract visitors to an area and provide an opportunity for local businesses in the host community to benefit economically. Restaurants, in particular, have an opportunity to benefit as food is a necessary expenditure. However, previous research suggests that the intentional attraction of event visitors by local businesses has been minimal. The purpose of this paper is to explore perspectives of event leveraging held by restaurant owners/managers and a destination marketing organization (DMO).,Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with owners/managers of 16 local restaurants and from three DMO executives in one medium-sized city in Ontario, Canada. Data were analyzed using initial and axial coding.,Findings indicate that restaurants did not engage in event leveraging. Three common reasons emerged to explain their lack of engagement in leveraging, including: a lack of a belief in benefits from leveraging, inconvenient proximity to event venue, and not being prepared for event leveraging opportunities. The DMO had a desire to assist local business in leveraging, but their ability to do so was negatively impacted by a lack of awareness of events being hosted, disengagement by local businesses, and limited resources.,Findings suggest that there is a need for DMOs and local businesses to create stronger and more supportive working relationships that address financial and human resources constraints preventing the adoption and success of event leveraging. As part of this approach there is a need for cities to make stronger financial investments in supportive agencies such as a DMO.

Relationships among producer exposure, producer bias, and citizenship orientations in the context of public recreation service delivery

This research was developed to answer two questions: (1) What is the relationship between producer bias and the way public recreation services are produced? (2) What is the relationship between people’s preferences for a particular model of service production (i.e., producer biases) and how people think of themselves as participants in their communities (i.e., citizenship orientations)? Data were gathered from 302 recreation participants at three community centers in Southwestern Ontario. The centers represented three distinct production models. Producer biases were universally related to the production mode experienced by respondents in this study (p < .05). As well, political and social citizenship were positively associated with both coproduction and direct provision producer biases. Civil citizenship was positively associated with contractual model producer biases. Method of recreation service production, bias in favor of production modes to which participants are exposed, and citizenship orientations appear inextricably linked.