This study employed an intersectionality perspective to examine older Chinese female's perceived constraints to pleasure travel and how they negotiated through constraints while accounting for ...multiple intersected identities of age (older), gender (females), and race (Asian-Chinese). Results showed that eight types of constraints impact their travel behavior: “limited knowledge of tourism,” “health and safety concerns,” “culture shock,” “lack of travel partners,” “low quality service facilities,” “limited availability of information,” “negative reputation of tour guide,” and “few employer-paid vacations.” Study participants also discussed how they negotiated through constraints using strategies, i.e., “word-of-mouth advertising,” “group travel with friends,” “donkey travel,” “finding partners through square dancing,” “children's support,” and “being motivated to taste organic foods and breath fresh air.” The findings provided a glimpse into potential modifications to constraint theory and revealed how tourism marketers can target and serve older female tourists in China by providing opportunities for them to negotiate through constraints.
•The intersectionality framework enhances the study of perceived constraints.•Different intersections of social identities and culture affect constraints.•Older Chinese females encounter eight types of travel constraints.•The intersection of social identities and culture affects negotiation strategies.•This study uncovered six negotiation strategies, e.g., “donkey travel”.
Emotion regulation is a psychological intervention tourists use to maximize the positive outcomes of their travel experiences. Tourists either down-regulate negative emotions (e.g., from sad to ...happy) or up-regulate positive emotions (e.g., from happy to happier). The construct of emotion regulation was used as a guiding framework to uncover which emotion regulation strategies tourists used during their vacations. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Study findings revealed tourists used three phases of emotion regulation strategies—interpersonal, situational, and intrapersonal—during their vacations. These findings not only contribute to tourism research by documenting the transient, dynamic and variable nature of emotions, but also provide a glimpse into how tourism and hospitality professionals should modify programs/experiences in response to tourists' emotions.
Informed by the Core and Balance Model of Family Leisure Functioning, we investigated the contribution of one type of family leisure—couple vacations—in enhancing couples’ cohesion and flexibility ...(i.e., functioning). Studying dyadic data from 112 couples (224 individuals) from across the United States of America, results of multilevel models showed that the variable “shared experiences during vacations” was positively associated with couples’ day-to-day functioning at home. Couples who engaged in higher levels of shared experiences during their vacations, such as effective communication, showing affection, or experiencing new things together, reported higher levels of couple flexibility and cohesion following their vacations, regardless of the number of vacations. We discuss the implications of these results for couples who spend quality time together away from home, as well as future use of our study model when examining benefits of vacationing for families.
This study examines the role of cognitive and affective destination-image components in the formation of destination preferences from a multialternative/multiattribute perspective. In addition, the ...study examines the stability of those roles across three types of destinations. A total of 1,020 Taichung residents in Taiwan were administered an on-site questionnaire. The results indicated that cognitive and affective components of overall destination image influence tourists' destination preferences and that cognitive image impacts affective image. However, the importance of the two image components varied across natural, developed, and theme-park destinations. In addition, the findings confirmed that while some image attributes are universally important, other attributes are only important for specific types of destinations. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are provided.
This study examines the patterns of change in tourists’ use of emotion regulation strategies (ERSs) during a vacation, and their interactions with sociodemographic characteristics. Data were ...collected using an online survey and travel daily diaries. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed that 152 participants exhibited significant differences in their use of five ERSs with positive emotions and two ERSs with negative emotions during their travel experience, suggesting use of ERSs varies over different stages of a vacation. In addition, some sociodemographic characteristics were found to play a significant role in explaining patterns of change in tourists’ use of ERSs with positive and negative emotions. These findings, which extend current emotion-based research in tourism, must be acknowledged by and incorporated into future research. Further, tourism professionals should account for the change in tourists’ use of ERSs during a vacation when planning travel itineraries and programs.
Based on the theoretical foundation of emotion regulation, this exploratory study aimed to examine changes in tourists' perceived well-being and to determine whether these changes were due to use of ...emotion regulation strategies (ERSs) during their vacation. This study used travel diaries to record tourists' use of ERSs on a daily basis, and also measured tourists' perceived well-being one day before and after their vacation. Results indicated that tourists had significantly higher perceptions of well-being after vacation, and those who used ERSs were more likely to indicate a higher sense of well-being after vacation. The results provide new insight into which aspects of tourists' subjective and psychological well-being can be boosted by taking vacations and how these aspects may be enhanced by using different ERSs.
► Cruisers and potential cruisers perceive seven dimensions of onboard attributes. ► Potential cruisers attach more importance than cruisers to “Recreation and Sport Attributes,” “Fitness and Health ...Attributes,” and “Supplementary Attributes.” ► Cruisers and potential cruisers attach similar importance to “Entertainment Attributes,” “Core Attributes,” “Children Attributes,” and “Crew Attributes.” ► Cruise marketers need to utilize different strategies to attract the attention of cruisers and potential cruisers.
A never ending challenge for the cruise industry is to convert potential cruisers to cruisers. Grounded in Attribute Knowledge Theory and studies on novelty seeking, this study addressed this challenge by examining the different attributes of a cruise ship that influence the decision making of cruisers and potential cruisers. Using a sample of cruisers and potential cruisers with similar socio-demographics, this study found that they perceive seven dimensions of onboard attributes, but attach different importance to some of them. These results, consistent with the theoretical prediction, provide evidence that the cruise industry should develop different marketing strategies for cruisers and potential cruisers.
The purpose of this study was to test a model of the leisure constraint negotiation process proposed by Hubbard and Mannell. A multidimensional measure of physically active leisure was used to extend ...their findings to a sample of middle-aged and older adults in a metropolitan park setting. Volunteers and visitors (aged 50-87 years) of a Midwestern metropolitan park agency completed a self-administered questionnaire. Results of a two-step structural equation modeling procedure suggested a constraint-negotiation dual channel model. In this model, the negative influence of constraints on participation was almost entirely offset by the positive effect of negotiation strategies. The effect of motivation on participation was fully mediated by negotiation. The implications of these findings for studying constraint negotiation and active leisure in mid- to late-life are discussed.
How older women cope with challenges and losses in later life influences not only their physical health but also their psychological wellbeing and quality of life. The purpose of the analysis ...reported in this paper was to understand how participation in a women's leisure-based social group – the Red Hat Society® – serves as a coping resource for older women. The Society is an international organisation of women aged 50 or more years and has the mission to ‘celebrate the silliness of life’. The Society currently has an estimated one million members in 30 countries. To understand the ways that social group participation may contribute to older women's health and wellbeing, this paper examines the dynamics of leisure-based coping with positive emotions as the focus. Based on an analysis of responses to an open-ended question about meaningful experiences associated with being involved in the Red Hat Society, the sample of 272 members identified the main reasons for their involvement as chronic and acute stressors, challenging life transitions and daily hassles. In addition, they described four ways that participation helped them to manage these stressors: as a context for social support, emotional regulation, sustaining coping efforts, and meaning-focused coping. The results are discussed in relation to theory and previous evidence on the role of positive emotions and leisure in coping.
In North America, many rural communities with rich amenities have experienced increased population, often referred to as "amenity migration." This type of change theoretically impacts residents' ...attitudes toward tourism development but has not been studied in this community context. Thus, the purpose of this study was to use the interaction approach to uncover residents' attitudes toward tourism development in one rural community experiencing amenity migration. The interaction approach has been commonly used to address residents' response to "...place relevant matters" (Bridger et al., 2010, p. 2). However, it has rarely been used to address tourism development in rural communities within North America, and never with residents experiencing amenity migration as well as ongoing tourism development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 residents of three communities in Tucker County, West Virginia. Participant observation and secondary data collection were also employed. Results indicated residents had positive (i.e., an increase in economic development, more recreation opportunities, and positive social interactions); negative (i.e., exploitation and type of job growth, and housing issues); and ambivalent attitudes toward tourism development in Tucker County. Residents' ambivalence focused on the future of tourism development and what impacts it will have on their communities. The impacts they addressed ranged from increased prices for housing, to changes in community dynamics, to protection of the culture and character of the County. The results associated with positive and negative attitudes toward tourism development were generally in line with the literature. The introduction of ambivalent attitudes, however, was unexpected and a contribution to the literature. Further, most residents recognized amenity migration as having a positive effect on the area; this may change as tourism development and the influx of new residents continues. Using an interactional approach to uncover residents' attitudes toward tourism development proved successful as residents' ambivalence, focus on the need for collaboration and controlled growth in the future, and more would not have been uncovered using traditional quantitative measures. Scholars should continue to use this approach to study residents' attitudes toward tourism development and use their results to inform community officials, lawmakers, and advocacy groups who are advocating for sustainable tourism development in rural communities throughout North America. Keywords Ambivalence; amenity migration; development; interaction approach; West Virginia
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