High Speed Rail Passenger Profile in Sun and Beach Tourism Destinations: The Case of Alicante (Spain)

This paper aims to study and highlight the profile of the high speed rail (HSR) passenger in the case of the well-known sun and beach destination of Alicante, located in the Southeast of Spain. This region, which is directly connected with Madrid, differs from others because of its warm and sunny weather. The province is a tourist destination for both Spanish citizens and foreigners. However, the studies on the dynamics of the corridor towards Madrid and Alicante regarding HSR are quite recent and it is not possible to draw final conclusions about its impact on tourist mobility.

Effects of whole body vibration on strength and jumping performance in volleyball and beach volleyball players

The primary aim of this study was to examine the effects of 6-week strength training with whole body vibration (WBV) on leg strength and jumping performance in volleyball and beach volleyball players. Twenty-three sub-elite male volleyball (VB; n=12) and beach volleyball players (BVB; n=11) aged 21.2±3.0 years were divided into two groups and subjected to 6 weeks of strength training (three one-hour sessions per week): (I) 12 players (6 VB and 6 BVB players) underwent training with WBV (30-40 Hz, 1.7-2.5 mm, 3.0-5.7 g), and (II) 11 players (6 VB and 5 BVB players) underwent traditional strength training. Squat jump (SJ) and countermovement squat jump (CMJ) measurements by the Ergo Tester contact platform and maximum leg press test (1RM) were conducted. Three-factor (2 time x 2 WBV use x 2 discipline) analysis of variance for SJ, CMJ and 1RM revealed a significant time main effect (p<0.001), a WBV use effect (p<0.001) and a discipline effect (p<0.001). Significantly greater improvements in the SJ (p<0.001) and CMJ (p<0.001) and in 1RM (p<0.001) were found in the WBV training groups than in traditional training groups. Significant 3-way interaction effects (training, WBV use, discipline kind) were also found for SJ, CMJ and 1RM (p=0.001, p<0.001, p=0.001, respectively). It can be concluded that implementation of 6-week WBV training in routine practice in volleyball and beach volleyball players increases leg strength more and leads to greater improvement in jump performance than traditional strength training, but greater improvements can be expected in beach volleyball players than in volleyball players.

Tourism potential analysis of the castles of Vinalopó, Spain: an opportunity for social and tourist development of cultural heritage

Within the overall framework of the renewal process of coastal tourist destinations, cultural heritage has frequently been used as a key argument for the introduction and development of strategies for the diversification and differentiation of the traditional tourist product based on sun and sand. This is the situation of the province of Alicante, identified with the Costa Blanca geotourism brand, where there are important economic issues that could contribute to the renewal of this coastal tourist destination. One of the most significant heritage values of this space consists of a series of medieval fortresses located along the axis of the Vinalopó River, which has acted since prehistoric times as a natural route from within the provincial mainland to the coast. It is precisely the argument of this historical, territorial and landscape content that has been used repeatedly in recent years to develop initiatives aimed at the creation of a tourist product, currently inexistent, based on the route of the castles of Vinalopó. This communication aims to analyse the degree of tourism potential of the fortresses located in the towns of Biar, Banyeres de Mariola, Sax, Villena, Novelda, Elda, Petrer and Elche, which constitute the core of municipalities where these medieval fortresses are located, finally pointing out some proposals for the creation of a heritage tourism product.

Innovative Tourism Clusters: Myth or Reality? Empirical Evidence from Benidorm

Paper submitted to TCVT3 Bozen/Bolzano, 10-12 April 2014, International workshop on Tourists as Consumers, Visitors, Travellers

Direct versus indirect channels: Differentiated loss aversion in a high‐involvement, non‐frequently purchased hedonic product

Purpose – This article aims to investigate whether intermediaries reduce loss aversion in the context of a high-involvement non-frequently purchased hedonic product (tourism packages). Design/methodology/approach – The study incorporates the reference-dependent model into a multinomial logit model with random parameters, which controls for heterogeneity and allows representation of different correlation patterns between non-independent alternatives. Findings – Differentiated loss aversion is found: consumers buying high-involvement non-frequently purchased hedonic products are less loss averse when using an intermediary than when dealing with each provider separately and booking their services independently. This result can be taken as identifying consumer-based added value provided by the intermediaries. Practical implications – Knowing the effect of an increase in their prices is crucial for tourism collective brands (e.g. “sun and sea”, “inland”, “green destinations”, “World Heritage destinations”). This is especially applicable nowadays on account of the fact that many destinations have lowered prices to attract tourists (although, in the future, they will have to put prices back up to their normal levels). The negative effect of raising prices can be absorbed more easily via indirect channels when compared to individual providers, as the influence of loss aversion is lower for the former than the latter. The key implication is that intermediaries can – and should – add value in competition with direct e-tailing. Originality/value – Research on loss aversion in retailing has been prolific, exclusively focused on low-involvement and frequently purchased products without distinguishing the direct or indirect character of the distribution channel. However, less is known about other types of products such as high-involvement non-frequently purchased hedonic products. This article focuses on the latter and analyzes different patterns of loss aversion in direct and indirect channels.