Tourists are different. Tourists prefer different destinations, engage in different vacation activities and perceive different aspects of their vacation as important. Differences (heterogeneity) among tourists enable the tourism industry to identify interesting groups within the market who have similar and very distinct needs, target them, and gain competitive advantage through offering superio...

BACKGROUND Medical tourism describes the private purchase and arrangement of medical care by patients across international borders. Increasing numbers of medical facilities in countries around the world are marketing their services to a receptive audience of international patients, a phenomenon that has largely been made possible by the growth of the Internet. The growth of the medical tourism ...

Authentication and commodification of cultural events for the tourists has been practiced for a long time. These practices have had both positive and negative effects on the host community and its cultural heritage. Tourism deals with experiences sold to tourists which has had to be authentic. Therefore, this paper aims to look at the authenticity and commodification of cultural events presente...

An advanced mobile tourist information system delivers information about sights and events on a tourists travel route. The system should be personalized in its interaction with the tourist. Data that can be used for personalization are: the tourists interest profile, an analysis of their travel history, and the tourists feedback about sights. Existing mobile information systems for tourists do ...

In October and November 2012 residents and tourists in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Portugal, were affected by dengue fever. The outbreak waned during the unusually dry winter. Using a Monte Carlo test we investigated the hypothesis that rainy weather conveyed increased risk of dengue virus infection among tourists. Results confirmed the hypothesis. As it is unclear whether the outbreak is...

Arianna is a PDA based guide for tourists visiting cities. First goal of the project is to transform cities in open-air museums in which tourists can get reliable information, in the moment they prefer and in the best format technology can allow today at acceptable prices. Second goal is to reach the first via a commercially viable venture, in which requirements of paying tourists are systemati...

The common perception of food as a mere attraction in tourism is challenged by stressing the complications and impediments experienced by tourists in the local culinary sphere in unfamiliar destinations, even when attracted to the local cuisine. Hygiene standards, health considerations, communication gaps, and the limited knowledge of tourists concerning the local cuisine are discussed, while t...

Several studies have been conducted on tourists’ activities that are suitable for understanding the typologies of these activities as a whole in time and space using the sequence alignment method (SAM). In this study, we expanded this analysis using SAM to clarify the characteristics of tourists’ activities in detail. Corresponding data were acquired by conducting a survey among tourists visiti...

Travel cost and contingent valuation methods are applied to the problem of estimating the potential consumer surpltrs avai!abfe to international nature tourists from a rain forest conservation project in Madagascar. Data are derived from srrrveys of nature tourists in Madagascar and international, nature tolrrism professionals in the U.S. and Europe. Typical trip travel cost models are used to ...

Many research studies suggest that a substantial percentage of tourists seek cultural experiences, such as visiting cultural attractions and participating in diverse cultural activities that are not ‘sun, sand and sea’ related. The World Tourism Organization suggests that more than 40% of all international tourists are ‘cultural tourists’ (Richards, 1996). The Travel Industry Association of Ame...