A demand-driven analysis of tourist accommodation price: A quantile regression of room bookings

Tourist accommodation expenditure is a widely investigated topic as it represents a major contribution to the total tourist expenditure. The identification of the determinant factors is commonly based on supply-driven applications while little research has been made on important travel characteristics. This paper proposes a demand-driven analysis of tourist accommodation price by focusing on data generated from room bookings. The investigation focuses on modeling the relationship between key travel characteristics and the price paid to book the accommodation. To accommodate the distributional characteristics of the expenditure variable, the analysis is based on the estimation of a quantile regression model. The findings support the econometric approach used and enable the elaboration of relevant managerial implications.

Sustainable tourism practices through the eyes of the tourist: a case study of a tour operator

This internship report aim was to find out the importance of sustainable tourism practices from a tourist point of view. The research study and internship took place at Back-Roads Touring - a tour operator (based in London) that specializes in small group touring for seniors travellers from Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada. Google Forms online questionnaire was used in order to answer the objectives of the study. In total 1322 clients received an online questionnaire out of which 182 filled in the survey. The study had four objectives, however the main focus was to find out which tourism practices ( out of 15 choices) were the most important to the respondents during a Back-Roads Tour and which tourism options (using the same 15 choices) the respondents identify as sustainable tourism options ( objective 2 and 3). The results showed that the respondents valued the most small group touring and having an experienced tour leader, which are the core practices of the company. Furthermore, the respondents were not seeking for more sustainable tourism practices neither willing to donate money to local charities/non- profit organizations. This finding shows that the clients are content with a current model of a tour, are willing to return, however price and quality will be play a key role in the decision. The respondents´ lack of wish to support or donate money to charities /non-profit organizations, could be due to the fact that most of the clients were from middle class thus they did not have enough disposable income. Moreover, one of the objectives of this study was to find out if the clients valued sustainable tourism certification. The results showed that the respondents’ were not aware of the sustainable tourism certification that the company obtained, however slightly over half of the respondents said that the knowledge of the certification has positively influenced them to travel again with a company.

SurfScholar an advising service to attract international students to get entire academic degrees in Portugal’s most dynamic Surf-City: Lisbon.

The following text is a business plan for SurfScholar - an advising service to attract international students to get entire academic degrees in Portugal’s most dynamic Surf-City: Lisbon. SurfScholar is presented as a viable business concept with environmental, economic and socio-cultural sustainability as guiding principles. For a variety of reasons, Lisbon is becoming an increasingly popular destination for international student mobility. Additionally, Lisbon and its surrounding coastal areas have been experiencing a recent boom in surf related tourism. The text goes into detail about how SurfScholar combines educational tourism and surf tourism by promoting Lisbon as the perfect destination to be both an international student and a surf tourist. To test the market interest in this concept, a simple website was created with a call-toaction. With minimal marketing, SurfScholar received a robust amount of interest from people around the world. SurfScholar’s mission to is to be at the forefront of linking educational tourism and surf tourism and to explore Portugal’s potential as the premier global destination for this new niche segment of tourism. SurfScholar’s business plan is formatted in accordance with the United States Agency for International Development’s, Sustainable Tourism Enterprise Development: A Business Planning Approach, (Humke & Hilbrunner, n.d).

Q certification and tourist satisfaction in the Spanish hotels

Spain has been working on improving the competitiveness of its tourist destinations, focusing on the quality of the service. This paper analyzes whether the efforts made by the tourism establishment to achieve the Q brand are perceived by their guests in a general way or in a particular dimension of the service. Statistical contrasts of mean differences are performed to evaluate if the score of a Q hotel is greater than that of a non-Q hotel. The results show that the Q brand is related to the satisfaction of the customer in a different way according the analyzed dimension.

Steady tourists’ relationship with a mature destination. The case of Portugal

This article assesses how the last-visit features and the socio-demographic profile of tourists moderate repeat-visit patterns to Portugal, a mature destination where the persistence of loyal visitors has made its mark on tourism development. The methodology used is a survival analysis to assess the tourists’ repeat patterns. To test the model, a database of 4612 observations was employed, which was obtained from a survey of international tourists. Only repeat visitors with more than two visits over the years were considered for the purpose of the research. The study finds that a combination of socio-demographic characteristics, expectation/satisfaction, trip purpose, pull motivations and regional destination has a positive effect on repeat patterns, confirming that tourists’ willingness to repeat visits to Portugal is far from ceasing. Based on those tourists to Portugal who declared when they started to visit the country, and the number of years of their repeat visits, the article contributes to the literature by introducing new methods of assessing tourists’ repeat patterns for destinations.

MOTIVATION AND SATISFACTION IN CONTEXT OF JOB TRAINING IN TOURIST ORGANIZATIONS

This research aims to determine the dimensions of motivation and satisfaction, acquired, through the perception in context of job training, by future technicians (students) in the hospitality and tourism industry, particularly by technical courses in the hotel and restaurant sector. The methodology comprises three distinct stages. First were recovered instruments (questionnaires), already validated by other authors of motivation and satisfaction, which had the intention to replicate studies conducted in other scientific knowledge fields, such as tourism. Those instruments were recovered from the reviewed literature conducted about other themes. On second place the measuring instruments were submitted to a pre-test, or rather, were subject of a pioneer study, in order to verify other assumptions such as semantic errors or see if there was the possibility of some prepared questions to be consider invalidated by poor formulation or interpretation. Finally, were applied in three educational institutions who agreed to cooperate on the research, with the reservation that the interviewed needed a mandatory pre-requirement that consisted in conducting a minimum training in work context (TWC). Then, proceed the statistical analysis to support all the empirical part. The results show that, in general, motivation and satisfaction were present during the period of training in work context. To some people it meant a very important period of personal and professional life, concerning the interactions, emotions and involvement with touristic organizations but also the personal and social relationships.

Touristic water demand: analysis and validation of drinking water consumption data and hotel characterization in Benidorm (Spain)

The work analyses the tourist water demand in Benidorm, a sun-and-sand destination ranked fourth in Spain by number of visitors, where tourism competes with local residents, nature, agriculture and industrial sectors for scarce water resources. In particular, we have studied the correlation between the water consumption of 83 hotels in Benidorm and their characteristics and services which can impact water use. For this purpose, we have examined the water consumption billed, by the water utility company HIDRAQUA in the period January 2010 - October 2022, to the tourist structures in the municipality of Benidorm, and we have explored the hotels’ features, thanks to the collaboration of the tourism and hotels association HOSBEC. To give a better understanding and contextualization of our analysis we first described explained the of the complex water supply system and the efforts that have been made to reduce the threat posed by the peculiar climate conditions of the region. We saw that the water consumption per guest has slightly decreased in the recent years and that the tourist flux has increased: the global pandemic posed a stop to travels for more than one year, but now both the tourist flux and the tourist water consumption are reaching pre-pandemic level. We found that larger hotels, and in particular the ones opened all the year, that probably tend to offer more water-demanding service with respect to the seasonal ones, have higher water consumption per bed. From the analysis of the role of the different hotel characteristics over the water demand patterns, we found that water use increases with the increase in the hotel category and in the ratio between the surface area of the swimming pool and hotel size (number of beds). Other factors impacting the consumption are the presence of an on-site laundry for washing the hotel linen, the garden, and the implementation of environmental policies for water-saving.

Wildlife Trade In Brazil: A Closer Look At Wild Pets Welfare Issues.

Wild animals have been kept as pets for centuries, in Brazil companionship is one of the main reasons why wild species are legally bred and traded. This paper is an attempt to call the attention for problems concerning the welfare of wild pets involved in the trading system in Brazil. Some issues presented are: a) the significant increase in the number of wildlife breeders and traders and the difficulties faced by of the Brazilian government in controlling this activity; b) the main welfare issues faced by breeders and owners of wild pets; and c) the destination of wild pets no longer wanted. Finally, some recommendations are made having the welfare of the animals as a priority.

Estimativa de bem-estar de frango de corte em função da concentração de amônia e grau de luminosidade no galpão de produção

Brazil is an important poultry meat export country, and large parts of its destination are countries with specific rearing restrictions related to broiler s welfare. One of the aerial pollutants mostly found in high concentrations in closed poultry housing environment is ammonia. There are evidences that broilers welfare may be compromised by the continuous exposition to this pollutant in rearing housing. This research aimed to estimate broilers welfare reared under specific thermal environmental attributes and bird s density, as function of the ammonia concentration and light intensity inside the housing environment using the Fuzzy Theory. Results showed that the best welfare value (0.89 in the scale: 0-1) approximately 90% of the ideal was found in the conditions that associated the ideal thermal environment, with bird s density between 13-15 birds m-2, with values of the ammonia concentration in the environment below 5 ppm, and light intensity near 1 lx. Using the predictive method it was possible to estimate broilers welfare with relation to the ammonia concentration and light intensity in the housing.

Lazer como pratica educativa : as possibilidades para o desenvolvimento humano

Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Faculdade de Educação Física

A configuração do lazer no espaço das Universidades da Terceira Idade

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Lazer e aposentadoria : relações e significados

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Lazer e meio ambiente : percorrendo as trilhas de Ouro Preto (um estudo a partir das trilhas do Pico do Itacolomi)

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Manejando o lazer em areas de potencial ecoturistico : o caso do Colegio Agricola de Jundiai/RN

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Effects of human trampling on a rocky shore fauna on the Sao Paulo coast, southeastern Brazil

Increased tourist activity in coastal regions demands management strategies to reduce impacts on rocky shores. The highly populated coastal areas in southeastern Brazil are an example of degradation caused by development of industry and tourism. Among different shore impacts, trampling has been intensively studied, and may represent a significant source of stress for intertidal fauna. A randomised blocks design was applied to experimentally study the effects of two different trampling intensities on richness, diversity, density and biomass of the rocky shore fauna of Obuseiro beach, Guarujá, southeastern Brazil. Blocks were distributed in two portions of the intertidal zone, dominated respectively by Chthamalus bisinuatus (Cirripedia) and Isognomon bicolor (Bivalvia). Blocks were trampled over three months, simulating the vacation period in Brazil and were monitored for the following nine months. Results indicate that Chthamalus bisinuatus is vulnerable to trampling impacts. Richness, diversity and turn-over index tended to be higher in trampled plots four months after trampling ceased. In general, results agree with previous trampling studies, suggesting that even low intensities of trampling may cause some impact on intertidal communities. Management strategies should include isolation of sensitive areas, construction of boardwalks, visitor education and monitoring programmes. In Brazil, additional data obtained from experimental studies are necessary in order to achieve a better understanding of trampling impacts on rocky shore communities.