Journal of Tourism Management Research

Constructing a servicescape quality scale for amusement parks in Taiwan

2025-01-06T11:35:19-06:00

In response to the growing demand for enhanced visitor experiences in a more competitive environment, this study aims to develop a Servicescape Quality Scale specifically for Taiwanese amusement parks. Using a mixed-methods approach, the research begins by identifying key servicescape attributes through focus group discussions and expert interviews. We then validated these key servicescape attributes through surveys from 300 visitors across 24 leading amusement parks, ensuring the reliability and relevance of the scale. The result validates five critical dimensions that shape the servicescape: aesthetics, ambient conditions (or surrounding environment), space function, wayfinding, and cleanliness. These dimensions are crucial in influencing visitors' satisfaction and eliciting behavioral responses such as revisiting and recommending the park. These findings serve as a crucial framework for amusement parks to assess and enhance their service environments, potentially leading to significant improvements in the overall visitor experience. By focusing on these dimensions, park managers would attain focused improvements that are closer to the expectations of the visitors, thus securing significant gains within the respective service landscapes. In addition, park managers can use the scale as a diagnostic tool to pinpoint potential shortcomings. In addition, the scale allows benchmarking at a wider industry or competitive level. The hypothesized result, given the aforesaid Servicescape Quality Scale, should translate into visitors' satisfaction, repeat patronage, and long-term customer loyalty—all factors that sustain the profitability of the amusement parks within Taiwan.

Rural tourism and local authority satisfaction: Social, economic, and environmental effects

2025-02-15T00:36:07-06:00

The research examines rural tourism and local authority satisfaction and its social, economic, and environmental effects. The Republic of Serbia, with its scenic surroundings and historical sites, offers enormous potential for the growth of rural tourism. In many respects, local government is essential to the expansion of tourism. The purpose of his study is to examine how owners' opinions of the social, economic, and environmental effects in rural tourism regions are perceived. The key issue of the paper is the measurement of the effects of local authority in rural tourism and the perception of rural tourism household owners about the dimensions of sustainable development. The research was conducted using the methodology of partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The data for the SEM analysis were collected from a questionnaire among the owners of rural tourist households in the Republic of Serbia. The questions for analysis focused on three components of sustainable development: economic, environmental, and socio-cultural, as well as their impact on satisfaction with local authorities expressed by the owners of rural tourist households. The findings of the research suggest that local self-government units should pay more attention to the economic dimension of the sustainability of rural tourism. This study is one of the first to quantify the impact of local government on rural tourism from the viewpoint of rural tourist household owners using the SEM-PLS approach. For academics and stakeholders in rural tourism, the study's results and conclusions have significant implications and opportunities for the future.

The effects of energy consumption and economic growth on tourism: A path to economic diversification in GCC economies

2025-02-19T02:07:26-06:00

This research examines the effects of energy consumption and economic growth on tourism in GCC economies. Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) countries have encountered economic growth uncertainties owing to the fluctuations in oil prices and are working to diversify their economies. Reducing reliance on oil and promoting non-hydrocarbon sectors like tourism can achieve economic diversification. The tourism industry requires energy to match the demands of luxury-driven hospitality, and tourism growth contributes to GDP. Using panel data from the GCC countries, we investigate the impact of energy consumption and economic growth on tourism. We employed feasible generalized Least Squares (FGLS) for empirical analysis. We also used panel corrected standard errors (PCSEs) and Driscoll-Kraay standard errors (DKSEs) methods for further robustness checks. Tourism is linked to increased energy consumption and economic growth. Our empirical results revealed that the tourism industry is growing as energy consumption and economic growth rise. Our results hold true even when different tourism proxies and econometric techniques are used. The policy implication is that the governments of the GCC countries should develop appropriate energy policies to boost tourism that help these economies in economic diversification efforts.