Search Results (314)

Aquatic recreation significantly enhances well-being; however, individuals experiencing functional limitations remain frequently marginalized from this form of tourism due to infrastructural and environmental barriers. This study investigates the perceived operational risks and apprehensions encountered by users with specific accessibility needs during yacht sailing, aiming to inform inclusive vessel design aligned with the social dimension of sustainable development. A survey of 277 participants with diverse, officially certified functional limitations was conducted to evaluate their maritime experiences and safety concerns. Participants identified a mean of 11 pre-voyage apprehensions out of 19 distinct risk categories. The most prevalent concerns included stumbling, slipping, or falling on board (79%), the risk of falling overboard (73%), and seasickness (70%), with an overall moderate severity ($\overline{X}$ = 2.2 on a 4-point scale). Crucially, severe safety concerns (e.g., vessel sinking or falling overboard) were significantly mitigated following practical sailing experience. Conversely, everyday functional and ergonomic challenges—such as moving between the deck and crew quarters ($\overline{X}$ = 2.6), operating rigging ($\overline{X}$ = 2.7), embarkation ($\overline{X}$ = 2.6), and utilizing sanitary facilities ($\overline{X}$ = 2.1)—persisted irrespective of experience level. Statistical analysis revealed that gender and age had negligible effects on concern levels. Extensive maritime experience reduced apprehensions regarding balance and swimming competencies, while concurrently increasing awareness of communication and comfort-related operational challenges. This study highlights a distinct divergence between initial psychological anxiety—which is largely mitigated by experience—and persistent architectural barriers inherent in standard yacht design. The results underscore that achieving meaningful inclusivity in water tourism requires prioritizing interior spatial layouts, accessible sanitary facilities, and barrier-free vertical circulation in naval architecture, rather than focusing exclusively on emergency safety systems. These insights directly support the advancement of Sustainable Development Goal 10 and the integration of universal and human-centered design principles within the maritime recreation sector. Full article

Protected areas (PAs) are increasingly challenged by the need to reconcile biodiversity conservation with sustainable human use, particularly in landscapes containing underutilized or resting area (RA). This study evaluated the potential of resting forest and agricultural lands to enhance biodiversity and support sustainable land use within protected areas of Cesme, Türkiye. A Geographic Information System (GIS)-based multi-criteria evaluation approach was employed, integrating land cover data, soil group maps, topographic parameters, and protected area classifications to generate Plant Suitability Maps (PSMs). Eight thematic layers were developed, incorporating soil depth, slope, erosion risk, and land capability classes to identify suitable plant species and land-use options. The results indicate that the strategic use of resting agricultural lands could contribute up to 35.5% to ecological enhancement, while resting forest lands could contribute an additional 18%. The proposed plant assemblages include medicinal and aromatic species, erosion-control plants, and economically valuable perennial species that support ecosystem services such as pollination, beekeeping, and agro-tourism. Overall, the findings demonstrate that integrating RA management into conservation planning can simultaneously strengthen biodiversity, improve ecosystem services, and generate socio-economic benefits for local communities. The proposed GIS-based framework offered a transferable and scalable methodology for sustainable land management in Mediterranean landscapes and other protected regions worldwide. Also, in this research, the aim was to determine plant species using GIS-based suitability analyses of multi-spatial datato guide vegetation decisions in multi-criteria PA. Full article

Digital platforms are increasingly presented as instruments for sustainable tourism governance, yet destinations often remain data-rich and governance-poor: digital traces are dispersed across actors, indicators are weakly standardised and communities frequently lack meaningful access to the information that shapes destination decisions. This article addresses this problem through the conceptual design and preliminary formative evaluation of ORVE (Optimisation of Resources and Valorisation of Experiences), a destination-level platform designed to connect tourists and residents, companies and institutions and Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) through a circular data ecosystem, understood as feedback loops across stakeholder levels. Methodologically, the study adopts Design Science Research (DSR). It operationalises problem identification, definition of solution objectives, artefact design and development, preliminary demonstration and formative evaluation, while recognising that full-scale causal evaluation remains a future research stage. The empirical component draws on a real-world pre-test with 12 tourism companies mediated by Biosphere Portugal, two Biosphere-administered pilot-company surveys involving 58 and 52 companies and scenario-based testing by 14 student groups involving more than 60 final-year students from Tourism and Tourism and Hospitality Management programmes. These sources are interpreted as exploratory and formative evidence rather than as a representative adoption study or a causal impact evaluation. The results suggest perceived usefulness for structuring sustainability information, supporting indicator monitoring and informing decision making, while also revealing operational constraints related to usability, data-entry flexibility, privacy communication, validation mechanisms, data availability in micro and small enterprises and the need for close onboarding support. The article contributes a refined platform architecture, a governance requirements matrix, design principles, an operationalisation roadmap and an evaluation protocol for sustainable tourism platform governance. Full article

Glamping tourism has expanded rapidly as travelers increasingly seek nature-based experiences combined with comfort and privacy, particularly in the post-COVID-19 period. Online reviews provide a valuable source of insight into how guests perceive such experiential accommodation, yet large-scale, data-driven analyses of glamping sentiment remain limited. This study applies machine-learning techniques to classify customer sentiment expressed in online reviews of glamping sites in South Korea. A total of 3233 reviews were collected from ten leading glamping locations on Naver Map, cleaned, and translated from Korean to English. Sentiment labels (negative, neutral, and positive) were generated using VADER (Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner), a lexicon-based sentiment scoring tool validated for short informal texts and the labeled corpus was subsequently used to train and evaluate six supervised classifiers. Six supervised classifiers—Naïve Bayes, k-Nearest Neighbors, Random Forest, Logistic Regression, Gradient Boosting, and Support Vector Machine (SVM)—were trained and evaluated through stratified ten-fold cross-validation using accuracy, AUC, F1-score, and Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC). Results indicate that SVM achieved the strongest overall discriminatory performance, particularly in identifying minority sentiment classes under substantial class imbalance. These findings suggest that automated sentiment classification holds practical potential for supporting evidence-based service monitoring and reputation management in glamping tourism, although further validation in operational settings is needed before deployment can be recommended. Full article

This paper presents a dataset collected through a visitor questionnaire survey conducted at the Archaeological Site of Ancient Dodona, Greece, a large-scale, spatially complex open-air archaeological site. The dataset documents visitors’ experiences, perceptions, and information needs, as well as their attitudes toward the use of digital technologies for heritage interpretation and engagement. The questionnaire was administered in printed form to adult visitors at the entrance and exit of the archaeological site. A total of 99 valid responses were collected. The dataset includes information on visitor demographics, visit characteristics, perceptions of existing interpretive material, spatial behavior within the site, and attitudes toward digital applications such as augmented reality, digital storytelling, and interactive tools. All data are fully anonymized and contain no personally identifiable or sensitive information. The dataset supports research in the fields of visitor studies, cultural heritage interpretation, digital heritage, and cultural tourism, and may be reused for comparative studies or for the design and evaluation of digital mediation applications in archaeological contexts. The dataset enables cross-tabulation analyses exploring associations between visitor characteristics and attitudes toward digital mediation, thereby supporting visitor segmentation and the evidence-based development of digital interpretation strategies in archaeological contexts. Full article

Managers of protected areas (PAs) face growing challenges to conserve biodiversity while responding to multiple land uses such as recreation, tourism, and resource extraction. These pressures are intensified by the impacts of climate change on ecosystems. This highlights the need for planning approaches that support decision-making in the short, medium, and long term. This article profiles Wells Gray Provincial Park as a case study to demonstrate how an ecosystem-based planning approach can be incorporated into PAs planning. Wells Gray is situated in a unique ecosystem in the interior of British Columbia (Canada). We present an innovative model that integrates land cover types, ecosystem mapping, and Biogeoclimatic (BGC) zones derived from the Biogeoclimatic Ecosystem Classification (BEC) system using GIS tools to identify ecosystems and their associated services as Critical Decision Factors (CDFs). By explicitly linking ecosystems, land cover, and spatial patterns, this approach supports the systemic inclusion of ecosystems in management decisions. To account for future uncertainty, BGC zones were projected under climate change scenarios to inform interpretations of potential ecosystem impacts. The results indicate that this integrated analysis can initiate strategic thinking and facilitate dialogue to collaboratively plan with stakeholders. This approach can improve ecosystem-based planning processes in PAs across Canada. Full article

The rapid expansion of the tourism industry underscores the necessity for sustainable hotel recommendation systems that guide user choices while safeguarding the long-term viability of the tourism ecosystem. However, existing methods often struggle to reconcile individual user preferences with sustainable consumption objectives, frequently encountering the “information cocoon” effect and lacking interpretability in their decision-making processes. To address these issues, this study proposes a multi-objective, context-aware hotel recommendation framework that integrates text mining, sequential behavior modeling, and reinforcement learning. The framework begins by employing unsupervised learning to extract multidimensional hotel features from online reviews, with an explicit emphasis on comprehensive sustainability metrics. It subsequently applies a dynamic state representation approach that merges long-term and short-term interests with real-time contextual information to accurately reflect evolving consumer needs. Furthermore, a dynamic feature weighting module is incorporated to enhance interpretability and enable context-adaptive evaluation of both commercial and sustainable attributes. The recommendation process is structured as a Markov Decision Process, leveraging a composite reward function comprising diversity penalties and sustainability incentives. Empirical analysis using real-world data validates the framework, demonstrating its contribution to sustainable tourism and achieving recommendation accuracy that surpasses existing benchmark models. Full article

The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) represents a transformative transport infrastructure initiative with the potential to reshape tourism in South Asia. However, the behavioral mechanisms through which corridor development translate into travel willingness remain insufficiently understood, particularly between domestic and cross-border tourism. This study investigated the determinants of domestic tourism willingness within Pakistan and cross-border tourism willingness toward China using a stated preference survey of 441 Pakistani respondents collected through an online questionnaire. To balance behavioral interpretation and predictive performance, this study integrated ordinal logistic regression (OLR) with multiple machine learning classifiers. The results revealed clear behavioral asymmetries between domestic and cross-border tourism decisions. Domestic tourism willingness was primarily driven by attitudinal evaluations, particularly perceived desirability, pleasantness, and comfort of travel along the CPEC. In contrast, cross-border tourism willingness was more strongly constrained by knowledge-related and institutional factors, including awareness of visa procedures, accommodation arrangements, and destination information. Comparative performance analysis indicated that machine learning models outperformed ordinal logistic regression, improving predictive accuracy by approximately 12.6 percentage points for domestic tourism (93.6% vs. 81.0%) and 1.7 percentage points for cross-border tourism (81.1% vs. 79.4%). These findings demonstrate that corridor-induced tourism demand is governed by distinct behavioral mechanisms across domestic and international contexts, highlighting the need for differentiated tourism development strategies. From a policy perspective, the results suggest that domestic tourism development along the CPEC should prioritize experiential quality and travel comfort, whereas cross-border tourism promotion should focus on reducing informational and procedural barriers such as visa knowledge, accommodation awareness, and travel facilitation. Full article

Saudi Arabia is experiencing interactions between ongoing urbanization, tourism growth, infrastructure projects in western regions along the Red Sea, and volcanic hazards. The area contains extensive monogenetic volcanic fields with hundreds of volcanoes formed during the Quaternary period. The large scale of the region often limits and fragments volcanological research, resulting in insufficient age and chemical data to understand the spatial and temporal development of many volcanic fields. Increased tourism has created a need for volcanic hazard assessments, particularly since some volcanic fields are considered possible tourist destinations. Harrat Lunayyir, in northwestern Saudi Arabia, is an example where such assessments have been conducted. Hazard assessments seek to provide information about potential future eruption types, locations, and impacts over timeframes relevant to urban planning and risk management. Due to rapid local development, these assessments may be required on short notice for specific small areas within larger volcanic fields, even when geological data are limited. This report presents a deterministic, scenario-based method for addressing such requests in the Lunayyir Volcanic Field. Results indicate a young Holocene eruption site characterized by a complex scoria cone associated with lava spattering, Strombolian, violent Strombolian activity and extensive transitional-type lava effusion. Full article

The enclave villages of Lake Malawi National Park (LMNP) are human settlements within a World Natural Heritage landscape. While social heterogeneity has been widely discussed in social–ecological systems (SES) scholarship, ethnic diversity has often remained analytically implicit. This study makes ethnic diversity central to analysis by examining how it shapes livelihoods, resource use, and governance across enclave villages. Drawing on an integrated household survey, key informant interviews, and extended field observations, and informed by collaboration theory, the SES framework, and scholarship on social differentiation, the analysis shows that ethnic diversity facilitates exchanges of fishing techniques, farming skills, ecological knowledge, and market linkages, producing plural and seasonally adaptive livelihood portfolios. Households routinely combine fishing, agriculture, tourism, petty trade, and forest use, contributing to diversified resource use. However, pressures on fish stocks, forest resources, and agricultural land highlight the need for more inclusive co-management. Emerging community-based institutions and collaborative initiatives increasingly facilitate coordination, rule-making, and shared stewardship. Overall, the findings identify practical and conceptual entry points through which ethnic diversity, ecological knowledge, and adaptive livelihoods can jointly support more resilient and inclusive pathways for sustainability at the crossroads of resource-dependent livelihoods and conservation, offering insights for socially diverse human–nature landscapes. Full article

This article examines the everyday dynamics of informal activities in touristified urban environments through a qualitative case study of Porto, Portugal. Drawing on an urban ethnography combining observation and semi-structured interviews, we analyse how individuals providing tourism-related services perceive their role within informality, how they articulate their agency, and how their practices contribute to the everyday production of the tourist experience. The study shows that engagement in informal tourism work is structured by intersecting legal, economic and institutional constraints that channel professional trajectories into unregulated or semi-recognised forms of labor. Individuals display significant agency through adaptive strategies, craft-based skills and relational networks that enable them to navigate surveillance, seasonality and spatial exclusion. We argue that these practices operate as a form of urban tourism scaffolding, to conceptualise informal tourism practices as a contingent support structure that sustains tourist experiences beyond formal planning and infrastructure. Although situated in precarity and vulnerability, these practices produce structural effects on the urban tourism offer by filling gaps, organizing encounters and animating public space. By conceptualising informal tourism work as a processual and relational support structure rather than as marginal spontaneity or residual activity, the article highlights the need to reconsider informal labour as a constitutive dimension of tourist cities. Full article

In the digital tourism marketplace, online reviews have become a decisive source of information for travelers who cannot directly assess the quality of hospitality services before purchase. However, it remains unclear how service-related and sustainability-related cues interact to shape guest perceptions in sustainable hotel contexts. This study investigates how intrinsic and extrinsic cues are reflected in online user reviews of sustainable hotels. Drawing on Cue Utilization Theory, a longitudinal content analysis was conducted on a worldwide online travel platform’s (OTP) reviews of hotels certified for their sustainability practices (2004–2024) by user selection. A coding framework was developed deductively based on prior studies on hotel service quality and sustainability practices, and data were analyzed using MAXQDA, Leximancer, and VADER sentiment analysis. Findings indicated that reviews primarily emphasize service quality attributes—particularly staff efficiency, food quality, and accommodation facilities—while sustainability themes appear less frequently, often in nature-related contexts. Sentiment analysis revealed a predominantly positive emotional tone shaped by service quality experiences. Overall, intrinsic cues play a central role in forming guest perceptions, highlighting the need for emotionally engaging sustainability communication strategies. Full article

Grounded in the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework, this study examines how tourists’ in-trip use of ChatGPT shapes satisfaction during leisure travel. Survey data from 502 Indonesian travellers were analysed using PLS-SEM. Information diagnosticity, task efficiency, and perceived social support significantly strengthen travellers’ confidence in on-site choices, with social support emerging as the strongest predictor. Greater confidence elevates positive destination emotion, which in turn enhances tourist satisfaction, supporting a sequential cognition–affect mechanism. The study extends SOR to the during-trip stage by conceptualising ChatGPT as a real-time, dialogic stimulus that influences experience formation. Practically, destination and tourism firms can deploy ChatGPT at key on-site touchpoints and prioritise reassuring, effort-reducing guidance, supported by reliable local information and clear escalation to human assistance for higher-stakes needs. Full article

Objectives/Background: In this study, we aimed to examine the associations of participation in leisure dance activity with perceived health status, happiness level, and perceptions of leisure, and the relevance of demographic characteristics to these associations. Moreover, we sought to explore ways of revitalizing leisure dance activity. Methods: We used data from the 2022 Korea National Leisure Activity Survey organized by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. The 2022 Korea National Leisure Activity Survey was conducted from September to November 2022. The survey was conducted among 10,046 Koreans aged ≥15 who lived in 17 cities and provinces across the country. The participants were informed about the survey schedule in advance, and interviews were conducted at the participants’ homes using tablet PCs. Random telephone verification was performed on the recovered questionnaires to ensure the accuracy of responses. Questionnaires that passed the first verification were subjected to secondary verification by a computerized program, and questionnaires that did not pass the verification were supplemented and re-examined. The collected data were entered electronically through an encoding process, and only the data that passed the final test were compiled in the multi-stage verification process. The data were analyzed using frequency analysis, chi-squared tests, and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: Of the 1004 participants, 655 (6.5%) participated in leisure dance activity. Women, individuals in their twenties and thirties, college graduates or those with lower-level educational qualifications, and unmarried individuals were more likely to participate in leisure dance activities. In addition, leisure dance activities were found to be likely to increase happiness levels and leisure life satisfaction, and leisure expenses were likely to be low. Conclusions: Schools should provide high-quality dance education and enhance the professionalism of physical education teachers in the management of dance classes. This is because dance-related experiences in childhood can increase the likelihood of engaging in dancing in adulthood. Efforts are also needed to increase men’s awareness of and participation in leisure dance activities and to lower barriers to entry. The convergence of dance, games, and technology can make this possible. Full article

Sustainable management of ecosystem services (ESs) is critical for balancing human well-being with conservation goals in biosphere reserves. This study examined the spatial and socio-demographic variation in the use and perceived importance of provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural ESs across different vegetation types and land use zones in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve (VBR), South Africa. Household surveys were administered to 447 randomly selected households in six rural communities. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, Kruskal–Wallis tests, and Friedman mean ranking analysis were employed. Results revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) in ES distribution and value across vegetation types, land use categories, and household characteristics, including income, education, age, and gender. Provisioning services, particularly fuelwood, wild fruits, and wild vegetables, were most intensively utilized in Mountain Woodland Moist and Ironwood Forest areas due to accessibility and limited livelihood alternatives. Regulating and supporting services, including water purification, erosion control, and habitat provision, were associated with forested and traditionally protected areas. Cultural services reflected strong socio-cultural ties, especially in sacred and tourism-associated landscapes. Overall, the study highlights the multifunctional importance of forested and agroforestry systems in rural livelihoods, emphasizing the need for integrated, culturally informed, and ecologically sound land use planning to support sustainable development in the VBR. Full article