Split - Part One

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The Role of Blue Flag in the Destination Communication: Empirical Evidence on Italian Awarded Beaches Pencarelli, T., Splendiani, S. and Fraboni, C.1

Introduction Sustainable tourism development is, today, a central issue for both academics and policy makers. The first ones are committed to verify the validity of models and approaches according to the recent cross-cutting issues of sustainability (Franch, 2010) as developed by the local destination managers; the others are asked to apply those models and to take political action to adequately meet the sustainability needs of both demand and destination sides. In other words, sustainable tourism is not just a new market segment directed to green (or reasonable) tourism consumption but is a real cross-sensitivity which involves multiple market segments and is more and more influencing the tourists’ choice of a destination (Pencarelli & Splendiani, 2010). Many Italian destinations, especially the classic ones, seem to feel the need to become more sustainable (managing their territories according to sustainable development principles) and/or to help consumers identify their area as a sound sustainable tourism destination (meeting or maintaining long-term environmental and social sustainability standards) (Presenza, 2008). Environmental certification programs can play a useful role in this context (Pencarelli & Gregori, 2009). If managed in conjunction with the spontaneous approaches taken by the local authorities in the field of environmental protection, certification schemes may serve to encourage managers to constantly enhance the environmental quality of their destination, to promote it as a brand and to enhance its competitiveness (Morgan & Pritchard, 2004; Cantone, Risitano & Testa, 2006; Hankinson, 2007). In fact, certification systems can bring two main benefits to both governments and tourism operators: on one hand they enhance the effects of the external communication policies, so destinations are enabled to market their offer more effectively and to improve their public image both among tourists and host communities; on the other hand, certification programs help generating increased environmental awareness and should result in more caring attitudes with respect to the natural and built environments (Blichefeldt, 2003). The main purpose of this work is to illustrate the role and potential of environmental certification programs in the communication 1

Tonino Pencarelli, Department of Economics, Social and Political Studies, University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”. E-mail:

[email protected] Simone

Splendiani,

Department

of

Legal

and

Business

Studies,

University

of

Perugia.

E-mail:

[email protected] Claudia Fraboni, Department of Economics, Social and Political Studies, University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”. E-mail: [email protected]

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policies of tourist-oriented territories (Cf. Iannario, 2008). After a first theoretical part, the study focuses on the analysis of one of the most known and widespread tourism-related environmental awards, the Blue Flag, with regard to Italy (Cf. Creo & Fraboni, 2011). The Blue Flag Programme is a voluntary certification scheme owned and run by the independent, non-profit organisation Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). The programme works towards sustainable development at beaches/marinas through strict criteria dealing with water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, and safety and other services. The main objectives of the Blue Flag scheme are to improve understanding of the coastal environment and to promote the incorporation of environmental issues in the decision-making processes of local authorities and their partners through awareness and education. The Award is given for only one season at a time and during the season the site is monitored to assure it is in compliance with the strict Blue Flag criteria. Methods and Materials The survey was based on two different questionnaires forwarded to the administrators and persons concerned with the Blue Flag issues of the 131 municipalities being awarded the 2012 certification in Italy. The objectives of the survey are: -

to investigate the awareness of the importance of the Blue Flag as perceived by the local authorities and employees concerned with the ecolabel issues;

-

to measure the degree to which the certification is effectively used in the communication strategies of the destination;

-

to examine the perceived benefits related to the Blue Flag Programme implementation.

Research and Results The research reveals positive and negative aspects regarding the effective enhancement of the Blue Flag in the tourism communication policies of the municipalities involved. The results suggest that the commitments towards the Blue Flag are not always supported by an incisive plan of action for the sustainable development of territories. Conclusion and Implications The research has focused on the supply side perspective, investigating both policy makers’ and employees’ (concerned with the Blue Flag issues) points of view. No attention has been paid to the relevant local stakeholders (tourist operators and residents) or to the demand side perspectives, since this would have required much more time and effort.

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Anyway, further research would be desirable to verify whether the environmental certification could reach the threshold for triggering real cultural change in terms of sustainability, which would give much bigger results than just a satisfactory environmental performance. The findings raised in this paper could provide tourism marketing scholars and local policy makers with the basis for further discussion, encouraging a more efficient use of environmental certification in destination communication and branding. The originality in this work lies in the double research approach applied to get both the political and technical overview about the local authorities’ environmental engagement. Furthermore, the research provides a complete overview of the state of the art in Italy, including all the municipalities awarded with the Blue Flag in 2012. Acknowledgement The authors would like to thank the administrators and persons concerned with the Blue Flag issues of the 131 municipalities being awarded the 2012 certification, to whom the invitation to complete the online survey was sent on February 2013.

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References Blichefeldt, S.B. (2003). Unmanageable Tourism destination Brands?, Departement of Environmental and business Economics, Working Paper, n. 47, November. Cantone, L., Risitano M. & Testa P. (2006), Strategie di sviluppo delle destinazioni turistiche e ruolo della marca territoriale. 3rd conference of the Italian Society of Marketing, Le medie imprese leader di mercato, Parma, Italy, November. Creo, C. & Fraboni C. (2011). Awards for the sustainable management of coastal tourism destinations: the example of the Blue Flag. Journal of Coastal Research SI61 MCRR3-2010 Conference Proceedings, October, Malta. Franch, M. (2010). Marketing delle destinazioni turistiche. McGraw Hill, Milano. Hankinson, G. (2007). The management of destination brands: Five guiding principles based on recent developments in corporate branding theory. Journal of Brand Management, n. 14. Iannario, M. (2008). Marchi di qualità e turismo: verso una maggiore sostenibilità del mercato. XV Rapporto sul turismo italiano, Mercury, Firenze, Italy. Morgan, N. & Pritchard A. (2004). Destination Branding, Creating the Unique Destination Proposition, 2nd Edition. Butterworth-Heinemann Eds, Oxford. Pencarelli, T. & Gregori G. (2009). Comunicazione e branding delle destinazioni turistiche. Una prospettiva manageriale, Franco Angeli, Milano, Italy. Pencarelli, T. & Splendiani S. (2010). Il governo “sostenibile” delle Destinazioni Turistiche in Pencarelli T. (ed.) Marketing e Management del Turismo, Edizioni Goliardiche, Urbino, Italy. Presenza, A. (2008). Destination Management Organization. Ruolo, organizzazione ed indicatori di performance. Franco Angeli, Milano, Italy.

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Scientific Committee Conference Co-Chairs Antónia CORREIA

University of Algarve, Portugal

Luisa ANDREU

University of Valencia, Spain

Alan FYALL

University of Central Florida, USA

Juergen GNOTH

University of Otago, New Zealand

Metin KOZAK

Dokuz Eylül University, Turkey

Sonja Sibila LEBE

University of Maribor, Slovenia

Local Organizing Committee Antónia CORREIA


Adriano PIMPÃO


Carlos Ferreira da COSTA

ESHTE, Portugal

Emília MADEIRA


João FERRADEIRA


Pedro PIMPÃO


Scientific Committee Adão FLORES Alain DECROP Alan FYALL Ana FERREIRA Andreas PAPATHEODOROU Andreas ZINS Andrés ARTAL António ALMEIDA Basak Denizci GUILLET Carl MARCUSSEN Carlos BARROS Cláudia ALMEIDA Cody PARIS David AIREY Drew MARTIN Efigénio REBELO Elisabeth KASTENHOLZ

University of Algarve, Portugal University of Namur, Belgium University of Central Florida, USA Evora University, Portugal Aegean University, Greece MODUL University, Vienna, Austria Cartagena University, Spain Madeira University, Portugal Hong Kong Polytechnic University, SAR, China Centre for Regional and Tourism Research, Denmark Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal University of Algarve, Portugal Middlesex University, Dubai Surrey University, UK University of Hawaii at Hilo, U.S. University of Algarve, Portugal University of Aveiro, Portugal iii

Francisco SILVA Giacomo del CHIAPPA João DUQUE Joaquim RAMALHO Júlio MENDES Juergen GNOTH Justyna MAJEWSKa Ken HYDE Luisa ANDREU Manuel TÃO Maria ALVAREZ Metin KOZAK Miguel MOITAL Mukesh RANGA Noel SCOTT Patricia VALLE Paulo ÁGUAS Paulo RODRIGUES Pedro BRITO Peter NIJKAMP Richard PERDUE Simon HUDSON Szilvia GYIMÓTHY Tamara RATZ Tzung-Cheng HUAN Vitor AMBRÓSIO Gilberto JORDAN

Azores University, Portugal University of Sassari, Italy Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal University of Évora, Portugal University of Algarve, Portugal University of Otago, New Zealand Poznan University of Economics, Poland AUT University, New Zealand Valencia University, Spain University of Algarve, Portugal Bogazici University, Turkey Dokuz Eylül University, Turkey Bournemouth University, UK CSJM University, India University of Queensland, Australia University of Algarve, Portugal University of Algarve, Portugal Nova University, Portugal University of Porto, Portugal Free University, Netherlands Virginia Tech University, USA University of South Carolina, USA Aalborg University, Denmark Kodolanyi Janos University College, Hungary National Chiayi University, Taiwan ESHTE, Portugal CEO, André Jordan Group

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Preface

This copy of conference proceedings materializes the contributions to the fifth ATMC by a group of outstanding researchers from across the world. Bi-annually, they discuss the most critiqued and up to date topics in tourism marketing. The series started in Mugla, Turkey, in 2005. Since then, over 500 presentations have been open to the public. The conferences also produced four books, three special journal issues and many more individual articles that have found their way into topranking tourism journals after first presentations, collegial critique and discussions at the ATMC. This fifth conference is no exception of this proud tradition. It is held by the Faculty of Economics, University of Algarve, Portugal and aims to bridge the gap between tourism space and place. Space expresses fluidity or contingency, whereas place implies interaction between individuals and the physical location. As space is transformed into place, tourism is all about the reality of experiences that generate flows and impacts. This conference therefore seeks to analyze tourism as a subjective, performative action contextualized by the geographical and socio-cultural characteristics of destinations. Boldly questioning the scope and truth of Urry's gaze (1990) or Boorstin’s (1961) critique who see tourists' postmodern condition as a “trivial, superficial, frivolous pursuit of vicarious, contrived experiences, [and as] a 'pseudo-event”, the conference looked for contributions that deconstruct how space takes form in different physical, cognitive, social, and emotional dimensions resulting from interactions between tourists and hosts' places. Given that spatial behaviour is intertwined with tourists' own emotional connection to a given place, is place attachment truly just a contrived and commercially generated notion of feelings of attachment or embeddedness in a place? To what extent do tourists create this attachment by way of routes and itineraries (Clifford, 1992)? How does this spatial activity coalesce with their search for authenticity in new places (MacCanell, 1973; Cresswell, 1997; Löfgren, 1999). Boldly questioning the contrived nature of tourism, this conference is expected to contribute to our understanding of how tourism experiences scale spaces to co-create places and the extent to which hosts and guests perceive the same place.

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At this ATMC 2013, 90 papers contribute to deconstruct how space takes form in different physical, cognitive, social, and emotional dimensions resulting from interactions between tourists and host environments. These contributions combine into a lens that furthers our understanding of tourism flows. The conference proceedings include tourists’ and marketers' perspectives and are structured into three themes: Places and Spaces, Marketing Tourism Places, and Spaces and Tourism Behaviour. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, this particular conference launches the André Jordan best paper award, in recognition of an internationally respected entrepreneur who has made a lifelong contribution to the development of Algarve as a tourism and golf destination. In this volume of the proceedings, the reader will find the extended abstracts of the papers accepted for both oral and poster presentations. We are proud to emphasize that the methodologies of the contributing authors include both qualitative and quantitative methods ranging from survey methods to case studies. As is traditional for the collegial atmosphere at the ATMC, academically young scholars are able to meet their mature counterparts to share experiences and to advance their research knowledge so that they, too, may further contribute to the dissemination of tourism marketing knowledge. We hope that the conference attendants will return to their academic institutions and home countries feeling intellectually enriched and further progress in opening new horizons for future generations of academia and industry. Finally, we are grateful for the contribution by colleagues, speakers, track chairs, authors, reviewers, attendants and other staff and institutions who have given generously to this conference in different ways. We acknowledge the significant contribution of our keynote speakers (namely Carminda Cavaco, Chris Ryan, Juergen Gnoth and Alan Lew), and all those who have submitted their papers, including those who participated in the conference by sharing their knowledge with others.

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Last but not least, any attempt at organizing academic events would never come to fruition without logistical support. As such, we are profoundly grateful to the following volunteers for their enthusiastic help, patience and hard work throughout the journey of this conference from its beginning to the end: João Ferradeira, Vasco Guerreiro, Vânia Correia, Pedro Pimpão, Rita Peres, Carlos Ferreira da Costa, Jéssica Correia, Miguel Melo. Without their unlimited support we would not have been able to achieve our mission. In addition, we would like to express our gratitude to our main sponsors for their generous support. We wish you a very successful conference and enjoyable stay in Algarve and hope to see you once again in Joensuu, Finland, in 2015.

Antónia Correia, Ph.D. Metin Kozak, Ph.D. Juergen Gnoth, Ph.D. Alan Fyall, Ph.D. Sonja Lebe, Ph.D. Luisa Andreu, Ph.D. Co-chairs

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Contents

CHAPTER 1 PLACES AND SPACES..................................................................................................................................................... 15 Tourist Spaces and Tourism Policy in Spain and Portugal Almeida, F., Cortés, R. and Balbuena, A. ......................................................................................................... 16 New Possibilities of GIS for Mapping a Mature Destination: A Case in Benlamádena, Spain Jiménez, C. J. R., Bernárdez, B. N. and Corredera, S. J. R. ........................................................................... 24 The Sustainable Management of Museums: Theoretical Considerations and Empirical Evidence from Marche Region Pencarelli, T., Cerquetti, M. and Splendiani, S. ............................................................................................. 31 Residents’ Attitude towards Sustainable Tourism Development in Timor-Leste Vong, M., Valle, P. O. and Silva, J. A. .................................................................................................................. 37 From Motivations to Yield Paths of Tourism Development: The Case of the Algarve Serra, J., Correia, A. And Rodrigues, P. M. M. ................................................................................................. 43 Marketing of Islamic Tourism: Transformation and Discovery of Values in Tourism & Hospitality from Islamic Perspectives Othman, N., Taha, R. M. and Tarmudi, S. ........................................................................................................ 50 Between Authenticity and Creation: Former Brownfield Places as Tourist Attractions in Polish Cities Derek, M. .................................................................................................................................................................... 55 Construction of a Web-Based Geographical Information System: The Case of “Ria De Aveiro” Region Albuquerque, H., Martins, F., Raposo, R., Galiza, L., Beça, P. and Dias, P. ........................................... 59 Re-Discovery of Place Major, B. And McLeay, F. ...................................................................................................................................... 65 Singapore in Venice: Touring Spaces at Home Wee, D. ........................................................................................................................................................................ 74 Spatial Conditions of Nautical Tourism Development: A Case Study of Croatia Kovačić, M., Jurić, M. and Dundović, Č. ............................................................................................................ 81 Local Students’ Perception of Spaces for Tourists and Locals in a Shopping District: PhotoBased Research Naoi, T., Ijima, S., Soshiroda, A. and Shimizu, T. .......................................................................................... 87 Behind the “Tourist Gaze”: Places and Non-Places Thomson, A. .............................................................................................................................................................. 92 CHAPTER 2 MARKETING TOURISM PLACES AND SPACES .................................................................................................... 97 viii

2.1 – BRANDING IMAGE MARKETING.................................................................................................................... 97 Golf Destination’s Brand Personality: The Case of the Algarve Pereira, R., Correia, A. and Schutz, R. .............................................................................................................. 98 Lake-Destination Image Attributes: Website Content Analysis of Pictures and Text Rodrigues, A. I., Correia, A., Kozak, M. and Tuohino, A. .......................................................................... 105 How Hotel Management Perceive the Relationship Between Branding and Hotel Performance? Magablih, K. and Muheisen, F. ........................................................................................................................ 112 Nation-Branding Opportunities Created by Sport Mega-Events: The Case of South Africa and the 2010 Fifa World Cup Knott, B., Fyall, A. and Jones, I. ........................................................................................................................ 118 MARKETING TOURISM PLACES AND SPACES 2.2 – COMPETITIVENESS MARKETING .............................................................................................................. 123 From Tourism Space to Unique Tourism Place through Conceptual Approach to Building Competitive Advantage Borseková, K., Vaňová, A. and Petríkova, K. ............................................................................................... 124 Determinants of Tourism Destination Competitiveness: A Sem Approach Estevão, C., Ferreira, J. and Nunes, S. ............................................................................................................ 131 Elaboration of the Methodology of Evaluation the Restaurant Concept, as its Competitive Advantage Dmitrieva, A. I. ...................................................................................................................................................... 138 The Ecotourists’ Willingness-To-Pay: An Econometric Analysis in the Context of Italy Del Chiappa, G., Meleddu, M. and Pulina, M. .............................................................................................. 145 Are We Marketing Our Own Tourism Higher Education Programs? : The Relationship with the Industry Collins, A.................................................................................................................................................................. 152 Events as a Differentiation Strategy for Tourist Destinations: The Case of Allgarve Miranda, I., Gustavo, N. and Castela, E. ....................................................................................................... 159 Budget Hotels in Madeira: Prospects and Market Trends Almeida, A. and Machado, L. P. ....................................................................................................................... 165 MARKETING TOURISM PLACES AND SPACES 2.3 – DESTINATION MARKETING ......................................................................................................................... 170 Attitudes of Sucessors in Dairy Farms toward Educational Tourism in Japan Ohe, Y. ...................................................................................................................................................................... 171 Segmentation of Restaurants for Tourists and Locals in a Tourist-Historic City: the Case of Amsterdam Terhorst, P. and Erkuş-Öztürk, H. .................................................................................................................. 178 Postmodern Tourism Dujmović, M. and Vitasović, A. ........................................................................................................................ 183 ix

Reconfiguring the Role of Local Cultural Intermediaries in the Tourist Encounter Azara, I. ................................................................................................................................................................... 187 “Nice Place to Live and Nice Place to Visit”: Wellbeing Opportunities for Destination Development Fyall, A., Hartwell, H. and Hemingway, A.................................................................................................... 194 Cross-Border Co-Operation in Tourism and Its Role in Marketing of Places Mazurek, M. ........................................................................................................................................................... 200 The Emotional Attachment Built Through the Attitudes and Managerial Approach to Place Marketing and Branding: “A Golden City” of Kremnica, Slovakia Mazurek, M. ........................................................................................................................................................... 204 Analyzing Seasonal Differences in a Destination’s Tourist Market: The Case of Minho Kastenholz, E. and Almeida, A. L. ................................................................................................................... 212 Conceptualising the Value Co-Creation Challenge for Tourist Destinations Melis, G., McCabe, S. and Del Chiappa, G...................................................................................................... 220 The Influence of Slow City in the Context of Sustainable Destination Marketing Cosar, Y., Timur, A. and Kozak, M. ................................................................................................................. 227 Tourism Second Homes Market: A Review of Owners’ Perspectives Dias, J. A., Correia, A. and López, F. J. M. ...................................................................................................... 233 MARKETING TOURISM PLACES AND SPACES 2.4 – MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION MARKETING STRATEGIES ........................................................... 240 Marketing to Children in Tourism Industry: Descriptive Analysis of Kid-Friendly Hotels’ Practices in Turkey ÖZEL, Ç. H. .............................................................................................................................................................. 241 Social Media as a Communication and Marketing Tool: An Analysis of Online Activities from International Key Player DMO Roque, V. and Raposo, R. ................................................................................................................................... 247 The Role of Blue Flag in the Destination Communication: Empirical Evidence on Italian Awarded Beaches Pencarelli, T., Splendiani, S. and Fraboni, C. .............................................................................................. 254 The Use of Targeted Marketing Tools to Promote Education in the Field of Tourism and Hospitality: Case Study of Ural Federal University, Russia Pyankova, J. ............................................................................................................................................................ 258 ‘Welcome to the Home of Auschwitz tours’: The Online Marketing of Genocide Tourism Johnston, T., Moura, F. T. and Mandelartz, P. ............................................................................................ 266 Choosing Online Content for Tourism Destination Marketing: Current Creative Strategies and Positioning Brito, P. Q. and Pratas, J. M............................................................................................................................... 273 How Is the Evolution of CSR’s Research in Tourism Context? : A Review from 1992 to 2012 Zanfardini, M., Aguirre, P. and Tamagni, L. ............................................................................................... 283 x

Acceptance and Use of Social Media in Tourism Companies in Eastern Finland Mikkonen, J., Tahvanainen, N. and Honkanen, A. ..................................................................................... 288 Significance of Internal Marketing Communications in Destinations Bayrak, G. Ö. and Adan, Ö. ................................................................................................................................ 293 Communication Platforms in Producing Facilities: A Comparison between German and Japanese Car Manufacturers Endo, Y. and Kurata, Y. ...................................................................................................................................... 298 CHAPTER 3 TOURISM BEHAVIOUR............................................................................................................................................... 304 3.1 – TOURISM GEOGRAPHICAL BEHAVIOURAL PATTERNS ................................................................... 305 Authenticity in World Heritage Historic Centers Paiva, O., Abrantes, J. L., Seabra, C. and Cravidão, F. .............................................................................. 306 Retirees’ Tourism Behaviour in Andalusia: Stability and Change in the First Decade of the 21st Century Nielsen, K. N. .......................................................................................................................................................... 314 The Role of Negotiation for Long-Haul Markets in the Intention of Revisit Rural Europe Rodrigues, Á. and Marques, C. ......................................................................................................................... 319 Place and Proximity: A Spatial Analysis of Visitors’ Place Attachment at Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska Mullen, K. C. and Davis, S. K. ............................................................................................................................ 324 Tourist Behavior in Two Continents: Analysis of Tourist’ Loyalty in Lloret de Mar and Cancun Amaya-Molinar, C., Palau-Saumell, R., Forgas-Coll, S. and Sánchez-García, J. .............................. 331 Shifting Tourist Flows to Less Frequented Destinations: Opportunities and Challenges for Rural Tourism Murphy, P. and Chow, I. ..................................................................................................................................... 337 Who’s This Space? : Clichés, Identities and Places Tomka, G. ................................................................................................................................................................ 343 Relation between Features of Agglomeration and Tourism Flows: Example of European Countries Majewska, J. ........................................................................................................................................................... 348 Questioning the Role of Traveling for Quality-of-Life Ponocny, I. and Zins, A. H. ................................................................................................................................. 354 Creative Tourism: A Preliminary Examination of Creative Tourists’ Motivation, Experience, Perceived Value and Their Revisit Intention Chang, L-L., Backman, K. F. and Huang, Y-C. ............................................................................................. 359 Understanding the Value in Use of Multi-Segment Destinations: A Summer Season Case of the Swedish Mountain Resort Åre Chekalina, T., Lexhagen, M. and Fuchs, M. .................................................................................................. 365

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Offline and Online Disintermediation: An Investigation of National and International Tourist Flows to Sardinia Del Chiappa, G. and Zara, A.............................................................................................................................. 372 TOURISM BEHAVIOUR 3.2 – TOURISM EXPERIENCES ................................................................................................................................ 378 Adventure Tourist: Are They Really Looking for Risky Experiences?: The Case of Scuba Divers* Fuchs, G., Reichel, A. and Shani, A. ................................................................................................................. 379 Interpretations of the “Feelgood in Lapland” Holiday Experience Komppula, R. and Tapio, E. .............................................................................................................................. 384 Shopping Tourism Vizjak, A., Komadina, S. and Vizjak, M. ........................................................................................................ 389 Tequila Tourism as a Development Factor: A Strategic Vision in Mexico de la Torre, G. M. V., Ocerín, J. M. C., Fuentes, J. M. A. and Hidalgo, L. A............................................ 395 Women’s Strategies to Succeed in Golf: Portuguese Golf Professionals Reis, H., Correia, A. and McGinnis, L. P. ........................................................................................................ 401 Objectivism or Emotionalism? Shaping Visitors’ Satisfaction at a Museum Del Chiappa, G. and Gallarza, M. G. ............................................................................................................... 406 Wedding-Based Tourism Development: An Exploratory Analysis in the Context of Italy Del Chiappa, G. and Fortezza, F. ..................................................................................................................... 412 The Pere-Lachaise Cemetery: Between Touristic Experience and Heterotopic Consumption Toussaint, S. and Decrop, A. ............................................................................................................................. 417 Experience Tourism Destination in a 3D Virtual World and Its Impacts on Travel Intentions: An Exploratory Study Huang, Y-C., Backman, S. J. and Chang, L-L. ............................................................................................... 421 Experientization: Broadening the Concept of Experience in Tourism Marketing Sfandla, C. ............................................................................................................................................................... 427 TOURISM BEHAVIOUR 3.3 – SATISFACTION AND LOYALTY .................................................................................................................... 433 Revisiting Satisfaction and Loyalty of Tourists Artal-Tur, A. and García-Sánchez, A. ............................................................................................................ 434 Tourist Destination Loyalty: A Multidimensional Perspective Peres, R. and Correia, A. .................................................................................................................................... 440 Tourists’ Consumption of Food and Beverage at the Airport Del Chiappa, G. and Pinna, M. ......................................................................................................................... 448 Does Perceived CSR Prompt Quality, Satisfaction and Loyalty to Tourism Destination? Zanfardini, M., Simó, L. A. and Alcañiz, E. B. .............................................................................................. 457 Gastronomy Tourist’s Proneness to Nostalgia: A Logistic Regression Analysis xii

Vale, V. T. and Brito, P. Q. .................................................................................................................................. 464 Exploring Loyalty Hotel Chain Program Effects Pimpão, P., Correia, A., Duque, J. and Zorrinho, C. ................................................................................... 472 FIA World Rally Championship - Sardegna: Driving Repeat Tourists Del Chiappa, G., Tinaz, C. and Turco, D. M. ................................................................................................. 478 E-Satisfaction and E-WOM in the Context of Online Hotel Reservations Lopes, R., Abrantes, J. L. and Kastenholz, E................................................................................................. 484 TOURISM BEHAVIOUR 3.4 – MOTIVATIONS, PERCEPTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS ....................................................................... 491 Motivation and Involvement in International Tourism Seabra, C., Silva, C., Abrantes, J. L. and Vicente, M. .................................................................................. 492 International Tourists and Terrorism Risk Seabra, C., Abrantes, J. L. and Kastenholz, E. ............................................................................................. 500 Residents’ Perceptions of Mountain Destinations Silva, C., Kastenholz, E. and Abrantes, J. L................................................................................................... 507 The Moderator Effect of Expectations on the Formation of Behavioral Intentions in the Cross-Border Area of Nicosia Díaz-Sauceda, J., Palau-Saumell, R., Forgas-Coll, S. and Sánchez-García, J. ................................... 512 Resident’s Perceptions of Impacts of Ship Tourism and Their Preferences toward Different Types of Tourism Del Chiappa, G. and Melis, G............................................................................................................................. 519 Hospitality Servicescapes Seen By Visually Impaired Travelers Raissova, A. ............................................................................................................................................................ 527 Motivations to Visit Sacred Places as Tourism Destinations Silva, C., Abrantes, J. L. and Herstein, R. ....................................................................................................... 532 Characterization of the Decision Making Process of the Purchase of an Air Travel Ticket Almeida, C. R., Costa, C. and Ferreira, J. M. ................................................................................................. 536 Achieving Consistency in Destination Personalities: A Tripartite Personality Congruity Theory Focused on Industry Professionals Lam, V. and Dioko, L. .......................................................................................................................................... 543 TOURISM BEHAVIOUR 3.5 – SEGMENTATION ................................................................................................................................................ 547 Towards a Convergence of Business and Leisure Traveler Behavior Díaz-Bernardo, R. ................................................................................................................................................ 548 Segmenting International Resident Tourists According to Their Shopping Styles Garau, J. B. and Juan-Vigaray, M. D. .............................................................................................................. 555 Segmentation by Motivation in Hunting Tourism: A Case of Finnish Hunters Suni, J........................................................................................................................................................................ 561 xiii

Diversity in Socializing Patterns: Segmenting the Rural Tourist Market Based on Social Interaction Kastenholz, E., Carneiro, M. J. and Eusébio, C. ........................................................................................... 567 Modelling Ferry Passenger Numbers and Tourist Overnights Marcussen, C. ......................................................................................................................................................... 572 Problems in Assessing the Economic Impacts of Rural Cycle Ways: A Case Study of the Hauraki Cycle Trail Ryan, C., Minghui, S., Li, P. and Trinh, T. ...................................................................................................... 579

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The Role of Blue Flag in the Destination Communication: Empirical Evidence on Italian Awarded Beaches Pencarelli, T., Splendiani, S. and Fraboni, C.1

Introduction Sustainable tourism development is, today, a central issue for both academics and policy makers. The first ones are committed to verify the validity of models and approaches according to the recent cross-cutting issues of sustainability (Franch, 2010) as developed by the local destination managers; the others are asked to apply those models and to take political action to adequately meet the sustainability needs of both demand and destination sides. In other words, sustainable tourism is not just a new market segment directed to green (or reasonable) tourism consumption but is a real cross-sensitivity which involves multiple market segments and is more and more influencing the tourists’ choice of a destination (Pencarelli & Splendiani, 2010). Many Italian destinations, especially the classic ones, seem to feel the need to become more sustainable (managing their territories according to sustainable development principles) and/or to help consumers identify their area as a sound sustainable tourism destination (meeting or maintaining long-term environmental and social sustainability standards) (Presenza, 2008). Environmental certification programs can play a useful role in this context (Pencarelli & Gregori, 2009). If managed in conjunction with the spontaneous approaches taken by the local authorities in the field of environmental protection, certification schemes may serve to encourage managers to constantly enhance the environmental quality of their destination, to promote it as a brand and to enhance its competitiveness (Morgan & Pritchard, 2004; Cantone, Risitano & Testa, 2006; Hankinson, 2007). In fact, certification systems can bring two main benefits to both governments and tourism operators: on one hand they enhance the effects of the external communication policies, so destinations are enabled to market their offer more effectively and to improve their public image both among tourists and host communities; on the other hand, certification programs help generating increased environmental awareness and should result in more caring attitudes with respect to the natural and built environments (Blichefeldt, 2003). The main purpose of this work is to illustrate the role and potential of environmental certification programs in the communication 1

Tonino Pencarelli, Department of Economics, Social and Political Studies, University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”. E-mail:

[email protected] Simone

Splendiani,

Department

of

Legal

and

Business

Studies,

University

of

Perugia.

E-mail:

[email protected] Claudia Fraboni, Department of Economics, Social and Political Studies, University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”. E-mail: [email protected]

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policies of tourist-oriented territories (Cf. Iannario, 2008). After a first theoretical part, the study focuses on the analysis of one of the most known and widespread tourism-related environmental awards, the Blue Flag, with regard to Italy (Cf. Creo & Fraboni, 2011). The Blue Flag Programme is a voluntary certification scheme owned and run by the independent, non-profit organisation Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). The programme works towards sustainable development at beaches/marinas through strict criteria dealing with water quality, environmental education and information, environmental management, and safety and other services. The main objectives of the Blue Flag scheme are to improve understanding of the coastal environment and to promote the incorporation of environmental issues in the decision-making processes of local authorities and their partners through awareness and education. The Award is given for only one season at a time and during the season the site is monitored to assure it is in compliance with the strict Blue Flag criteria. Methods and Materials The survey was based on two different questionnaires forwarded to the administrators and persons concerned with the Blue Flag issues of the 131 municipalities being awarded the 2012 certification in Italy. The objectives of the survey are: -

to investigate the awareness of the importance of the Blue Flag as perceived by the local authorities and employees concerned with the ecolabel issues;

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to measure the degree to which the certification is effectively used in the communication strategies of the destination;

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to examine the perceived benefits related to the Blue Flag Programme implementation.

Research and Results The research reveals positive and negative aspects regarding the effective enhancement of the Blue Flag in the tourism communication policies of the municipalities involved. The results suggest that the commitments towards the Blue Flag are not always supported by an incisive plan of action for the sustainable development of territories. Conclusion and Implications The research has focused on the supply side perspective, investigating both policy makers’ and employees’ (concerned with the Blue Flag issues) points of view. No attention has been paid to the relevant local stakeholders (tourist operators and residents) or to the demand side perspectives, since this would have required much more time and effort.

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Anyway, further research would be desirable to verify whether the environmental certification could reach the threshold for triggering real cultural change in terms of sustainability, which would give much bigger results than just a satisfactory environmental performance. The findings raised in this paper could provide tourism marketing scholars and local policy makers with the basis for further discussion, encouraging a more efficient use of environmental certification in destination communication and branding. The originality in this work lies in the double research approach applied to get both the political and technical overview about the local authorities’ environmental engagement. Furthermore, the research provides a complete overview of the state of the art in Italy, including all the municipalities awarded with the Blue Flag in 2012. Acknowledgement The authors would like to thank the administrators and persons concerned with the Blue Flag issues of the 131 municipalities being awarded the 2012 certification, to whom the invitation to complete the online survey was sent on February 2013.

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