Serena Volo

Tourism statistics: methodological imperatives and difficulties: the case of residential tourism in island communities.

Tourism statistics are one of the key sources of information for economists, public officials and tourism decision-makers. The aim of the present paper is to describe and critique the methodological difficulties encountered when approaching statistical studies in tourism. The case of hidden tourism in island communities is used to illustrate that in tourism statistics there exists a lack of clarity and convention concerning definitions, procedures, measurement and analytic approaches. The conclusions and the study implications should help tourism authorities and tourism statisticians to better define and standardise methodological and measurement approaches and practices and to more effectively direct research activities towards new approaches to difficult research questions.

Research Note: Seasonality in Sicilian Tourism Demand – An Exploratory Study

This paper addresses the need for an understanding of the evolution of international and domestic tourism in Sicily, in particular, the relationship between seasonality patterns and the development of the tourism sector. Annual tourist arrivals and overnight stays data were studied using univariate methods. It is concluded that Italian and international tourism demand differ significantly and that seasonality has been changing somewhat over time, creating a challenge to economic planners and marketers.

Tourism innovation: when interdependencies matter

This research note highlights the relevance of tourism’s natural system of interdependencies in the context of innovation creation. The lack of studies on tourism inter and intra-sectoral interdependencies and on their role in innovation creation is emphasized. Then recent developments in the study of interdependencies and their role in generating creativity and innovation are presented. The discussion shows avenues for future research within the tourism realm.

Tourism statistics: Correcting data inadequacy

Tourism statistics are key sources of information for economic planners, tourism researchers, and operators. Still, several cases of data inadequacy and inaccuracy are reported in literature. The aim of this article is to propose a methodology useful to improve tourism statistics: a modified version of the Coarsened Exact Matching. The methodological steps herein proposed provide tourism statisticians and authorities with a tool to improve the reliability of available sample surveys. Data from a Chilean region are used to illustrate the method. This study contributes to the realm of tourism statistics literature in that it offers a new methodological approach to the creation of accurate and adequate tourism data.

Applying weights to correct distortions in a non-random sample: an application to Chilean tourism time series data.

Statistics that accurately represent the evolution of tourism activity are needed for tourism research and planning. Monthly accommodation statistics provided by the Chilean Statistical Institute show a negative trend despite considerable growth in the number of foreign visitors. This paper proposes a methodology to create sample weights to overcome statistics inaccuracy caused, as in the case of Chilean tourism statistics, by the use of a non-random sample with serious attrition bias. The benefits of the methodology are discussed, highlighting their relevance to a broader range of applications where tourism statistics are questionable or demonstrably inaccurate.

Emotions in Tourism: From Exploration to Design

In the era of value co-creation, meaningful tourists’ experiences are the result of individuals participating in the creative process. The emotions that tourists raise during their vacation have a pivotal role in their final cognitive evaluations and behavioral responses: only truly personalized and unique co-creation experiences are going to thrive in the competitive marketplace. This study reviews the literature on emotion focusing on its nature, breath, depth and intensity and discusses them within the tourism experiences framework to conclude by outlining the relevant connections to tourism experience design. Implications and suggestions for future theoretical and empirical studies are then discussed.

Consumer Behavior in Tourism Symposium 2011

This special section of the Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management collects a selection of articles presented at the Consumer Behavior in Tourism Symposium (CBTS) 2011. CBTS is an annual symposium organized by the Competence Centre in Tourism Management and Tourism Economics (TOMTE) of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy. TOMTE initiates and conducts research in the areas of tourism management and marketing, tourism economics, and related areas relevant for the tourism sector in an international and regional context. The work of TOMTE includes the analysis of the impact and effects of new economic, societal, and technological developments on the tourism industries and the influences and consequences of tourism activities on regional economies and societies. The fourth annual CBTS took place in December 2011 and was co-chaired by Serena Volo and Oswin Maurer. Altogether, TOMTE hosted more than 80 tourism management and tourism economics scholars from all over the world for 4 days, promoting international scientific exchange in the fields of tourism marketing, tourism management, and tourism economics. Of the more than 60 papers presented at the event, a selected collection of manuscripts focusing on tourism marketing and management issues were considered for inclusion into this special section of the journal, which is co-guest edited by Serena Volo and Oswin Maurer. Based on scientific quality, relevance, and rigor, enforced by a double-blind review process, three articles were selected to be published in this issue. The articles offer a representative collection of the large array of research presented at the event. The following provides a summary of the contributions. The first article, “Part of Me: National Parks Integration Into the Extended Self of Domestic Tourists,” by Ganglmair-Wooliscroft and Wooliscroft, explores the degree to which national parks are integrated into the extended self of domestic tourists. Since places, as national parks, provide value and meaning to tourists and help to define visitors’ identity, the article investigates the concept of extended self in a quantitative way, by adapting an Extended Self-Scale to measure place-extended self (PES), the degree to which place is integrated into the extended self. Since most research dealing with the concept of extended self is qualitative, the primary goal of the study is to