Search Results (123)

Pet ownership and wildlife tourism are two prominent ways people interact with non-human animals in contemporary contexts. Despite this, there is a need for further exploration of the interconnections between pets, wildlife, and visitors. Utilizing an ecological-phenomenological framework, this study examines how these multispecies interactions contribute to experiences that extend beyond the human domain. This research is based on a quantitative survey of 1422 participants at the Panda Center that were analyzed using inferential statistical methods to assess differences in visitor experiences. The statistical results reveal that pet ownership and wildlife encounters mediate the environmental affordances and constraints encountered by visitors, creating a dynamic and intricate nexus among pets, wildlife, and tourists. Specifically, pet ownership is shown to enhance both the richness and frequency of wildlife encounters. Nonetheless, the study highlights that human dominance over non-human animals remains a central environmental constraint in multispecies interactions despite the adoption of a more humane approach to animal management through tourism activities. Full article

There is increasing recognition of the importance of human–animal interaction (HAI) research in the assessment of animal welfare. This is partly reflected by the appearance of increasing animal–visitor interaction (AVI) publications in zoos. Early AVI publications primarily focused on primates and the impact of visitors on animals (visitor effects), with most identifying negative welfare impacts. This review aims to identify trends and changes in the key factors of AVIs (e.g., types of interactions measured; taxa studied; welfare impact). Covidence online software and PRISMA were used to screen papers and extract data. A total of 157 papers comprising 314 studies were included. AVI publications have increased in the last two decades, with a large increase in publications since 2020. Most publications have focused on visitor effects, as opposed to the impact of animals on visitors (visitor experiences). Earlier visitor effect studies mostly focused on primates, while more recent studies have primarily focused on non-primate species. Excluding studies categorized as neutral, there were more visitor effect studies with measures focused on negative than positive welfare impacts. However, the last decade and a half has seen a substantial increase in visitor effect studies measuring positive welfare impacts. These results are discussed in reference to growing changes in the types of studies, species, and outcomes measured in AVIs. In addition, we consider the future of AVI research, including a growing need for and consideration of standardized welfare assessments, the increased use of experimental control, and AVIs that equally promote visitor education and positive animal welfare. Full article

Marine animals without faces (MAWFs), are some of the most important creatures maintaining the ecological balance in marine environments. How these animals are depicted across conservation organizations may impact public perceptions and conservation efforts. We assessed the online presentation of sea stars, jellies, and corals among all public websites of institutions accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) (N = 237). Among the organizations with an aquarium (n = 125), only 55 (44 percent) profiled at least one of the three animals, resulting in 89 total profiles. Five general approaches to characterizing these animals emerged: (1) scientific social distancing, (2) beautiful and eye-catching, (3) grotesque, otherworldly, and strange, (4) brainless beauties, and (5) objects of touch, entertainment, and experience. While some practices, like touch exhibits, can support empathy outcomes among visitors, online profile practices may contribute to the objectification of these animals among visitors, which could ultimately impact conservation attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Full article

Health and wellness tourism is a rapidly expanding segment of the global tourism industry, driven by increasing consumer awareness of well-being and lifestyle enhancement. As the demand for wellness travel grows, destinations are expected to offer high standards of safety, hygiene, rehabilitation, and holistic experiences. This study aims to identify and evaluate the key attributes and determinants for developing health and wellness tourism destinations by applying the 6As Tourism Development framework: Attractions, Accessibility, Amenities, Activities, Available Packages, and Ancillary Services. A multi-criteria decision-making approach, specifically the TOPSIS, was employed to assess destination potential through a case study of Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand. The results indicate that Attractions, Accessibility, and Amenities are the top three priorities for wellness tourists. Sub-criteria such as natural scenery, cultural significance, accessibility for all, safety, and accommodation quality are particularly influential. Three districts in Nakhon Ratchasima were found to exhibit distinct strengths—Pak Chong is best suited for rehabilitative tourism (e.g., aroma and water therapy), aligning with mind and nutrition wellness components; Wang Nam Khiao is ideal for ecotourism and cultural experiences, supporting environmental and nutritional dimensions; while Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima excels in sports tourism, supporting physical and nutritional well-being. The study offers practical insights for policymakers and tourism stakeholders to design sustainable, visitor-centered wellness destinations. The proposed framework supports strategic planning and resource allocation for health-focused tourism development. Full article

Engaging patients in medication safety is essential but remains under-addressed in hospital settings. This pilot study aimed to assess the impact of an educational intervention—the Medication Safety Adventure Trail—on medication safety knowledge and satisfaction among hospital visitors. A quasi-experimental pre-post intervention using this educational tool was conducted over five days. A booth was set up in a hospital lobby inviting all passers-by to follow a six-step trail involving riddles to solve. The experiment comprised three phases: 1. Briefing plus pre-test; 2. The trail; 3. Debriefing plus post-test. A logistic mixed-effects model was employed to assess changes in the odds of correct responses to eight items between the pre-test and post-test. A five-point scale assessed participants’ degrees of certainty (DC) in their answers, and a comparison pre- and post-test was performed with a linear mixed-effects model. Satisfaction was based on Kirkpatrick’s levels 1 and 2 (reaction and learning) and was assessed using categorical scales and open-ended questions. A total of 93 participants completed the trail (60% non-healthcare professionals, 36% healthcare professionals, and 4% unspecified). The odds of a correct answer were higher at post-test than at pre-test (72% vs. 51%, p < 0.001), and the odds of providing a correct answer were nearly five times higher following the activity compared to before (OR = 4.8 [95%CI 3.5 to 6.4], p < 0.001). The mean DC was also improved from pre-test to post-test (4.43, 95%CI [4.36–4.49] vs. 4.83, 95%CI [4.80–4.86]; p < 0.001). All 93 participants reported being either very satisfied (89%) or satisfied (11%) with the educational tool. The tool significantly improved participants’ knowledge about medication safety issues and was appreciated. Full article

Art exhibition spaces increasingly emphasize visitor experience, yet the relationships among spatial structure, visitor behavior, and emotional response remain unclear. Traditional space syntax analyses typically focus on physical spatial structures, insufficiently capturing visitors’ emotional and cognitive experiences. To address these gaps, this study presents an integrative evaluation framework that combines space syntax theory with multimodal physiological measurements to systematically assess spatial design performance in art exhibition environments. Eye-tracking and heart rate variability (HRV) experiments were conducted to investigate how spatial configuration affects visual attention and emotional responses. Visibility graph analysis, spatial integration metrics, and regression modeling were applied using the third-floor temporary exhibition hall of the Pudong Art Museum in Shanghai as a case study. The results revealed that HRV levels (β = −7.92) were significantly predicted via spatial integration, and the relationship between spatial integration and the number of fixations was partially mediated by HRV (indirect effect: β = −0.36; direct effect: β = 8.23). Additionally, zones with higher occlusivity were associated with more complex scanpaths (mean complexity: 0.14), whereas highly integrated regions triggered more fixations (mean = 10.54) and longer total fixation durations (mean = 2946.98 ms). Therefore, spatial syntax, when coupled with physiological indicators, provides a robust and actionable method for evaluating and optimizing exhibition space design. Full article

This paper examines the various functions of urban parks in the city of Novi Sad (Serbia). This study’s respondents were landscape architecture students, and the methodology employed was a survey, which was subsequently analyzed using multiple statistical tests. This paper explores the different roles that urban parks in Novi Sad play, such as aesthetic, ecological, recreational, psychological, economic, and educational functions. The analysis also includes an assessment of the correlation between the scores for each function and visitors’ habits and behaviors (e.g., frequency and duration of visits). Together, these findings provide detailed insight into the current state of urban park functions in Novi Sad and highlight how these functions relate to visitors’ experiences. The results obtained are valuable for enhancing both the quality of park visits and the overall functionality of urban parks. This paper also provides recommendations for future research, including potential methodologies to be applied and directions for a more detailed assessment of ecological functions. Full article

Rapid population aging worldwide has created pressing demands for transformative changes in tourism management and service provision, necessitating urgent age-friendly modifications to destination infrastructure and facilities. However, the existing research on age-friendly facility assessments has often relied on methods such as surveys and field observations, which are inefficient and highly subjective, significantly limiting their applicability. This paper proposes a novel age-friendly assessment method that integrates multiple computer-vision-based object detection and recognition models. By calculating the spatiotemporal occupancy rates of resting facilities and the proportion of elderly usage, this method enables an efficient quantification of the age-friendly adequacy of rest areas. Using field data collected from the Xuanwu Lake Scenic Area, we designed accuracy analysis and validation experiments, demonstrating that this method surpasses traditional approaches in both evaluation efficiency and accuracy. The results indicate that the service facility adequacy in the FangQiao and LingQiao rest areas is insufficient, with resting facility density below four per 100 m, making it difficult to meet the resting needs of elderly visitors. This method can effectively supplement current age-friendly facility assessment practices in tourist destinations, offering a scientific and efficient basis for infrastructure upgrades tailored to elderly needs. Full article

Urban green spaces play a critical role in sustaining the urban park biodiversity. The relationship between biodiversity and city residents is complex. Understanding the cognitive preferences of residents toward biodiversity is vital for effective conservation. This study investigated the public willingness to protect the biodiversity in urban parks using questionnaire-based assessments and explored the underlying drivers. The study focused on the residents of Hangzhou, China, and analyzed the effects of respondent and visit characteristics as well as their interactions using ANOVA, PERMANOVA, GLM, and NMDS. The visitor age, education level, satisfaction with plant landscapes, and visit frequency significantly influenced their willingness to conserve. Based on a “cognitive-experience-investment” framework, we uncovered (1) positive synergistic effects between urban park biodiversity and the abundance of urban green space fauna; (2) threshold constraints linking volunteer time for biodiversity conservation and economic expenditures on biodiversity-friendly products; and (3) the complex interactions among these factors. The findings not only elucidate the driving mechanisms and model optimization pathways associated with public willingness for conserving urban biodiversity but also provide actionable strategies to promote both ecological conservation and societal wellbeing. Full article

Parks are an important component of urban ecosystems, yet traditional research often relies on single-modal data, such as text or images alone, making it difficult to comprehensively and accurately capture the complex emotional experiences of visitors and their relationships with the environment. This study proposes a park perception and understanding model based on multimodal text–image data and a bidirectional attention mechanism. By integrating text and image data, the model incorporates a bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT)-based text feature extraction module, a Swin Transformer-based image feature extraction module, and a bidirectional cross-attention fusion module, enabling a more precise assessment of visitors’ emotional experiences in parks. Experimental results show that compared to traditional methods such as residual network (ResNet), recurrent neural network (RNN), and long short-term memory (LSTM), the proposed model achieves significant advantages across multiple evaluation metrics, including mean squared error (MSE), mean absolute error (MAE), root mean squared error (RMSE), and the coefficient of determination (R²). Furthermore, using the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) method, this study identified the key factors influencing visitors’ emotional experiences, such as “water”, “green”, and “sky”, providing a scientific basis for park management and optimization. Full article

This paper investigates wine tourists’ preferences for the attributes of the wine tourism experience (WTEXP) in Italy and Turkey, exploring cross-cultural differences and similarities in two countries with diverse wine tourism development. Data were collected through an online survey of 253 wine consumers, and the Best–Worst Scaling method was employed in both countries to assess the perceived importance of selected WTEXP attributes that influence tourists’ choices. The samples were then segmented using cluster analysis based on key attitudinal scales (e.g., wine involvement), with BWS applied to each segment to further examine visitor preferences. The results show that both Italian and Turkish wine tourists prioritized expert-led tours but differed in other preferences. Italian tourists valued the winery’s aesthetic appeal, while Turkish tourists favored pre-visit informative sessions. Additionally, Italians placed less importance on accompanying events, while Turks considered the reputation of the wine, winery, or wine region the least significant factor. These preferences also varied within the clusters identified in each sample. This research represents the first comparison of consumer preferences in wine tourism between Turkey, a developing market, and Italy, a traditional Old World wine producer, while considering the diversity within each group. The findings provide key insights for wine tourism stakeholders, such as wineries and tourism managers, offering actionable recommendations to tailor their offerings for specific tourist segments to attract a larger number of wine tourists, enhance their experience, and foster sustainable growth of wine tourism. Full article

As a cultural tourism destination, museums offer opportunities for educational and exploratory experiences to all individuals. This aligns with the universal design, a concept including seven principles aimed at ensuring that everyone can equally enjoy visiting museums, facilities, and services. This paper aims to develop a framework for assessing the impact of digital media interaction on the museum exhibition environment and on visitor behavior, employing universal design principles to enhance the efficiency of museum visits. Five museums, each representing different styles, were chosen as case studies from the newly constructed cultural tourism museums in China to achieve this research objective. Qualitative and quantitative data provide a detailed picture of each exhibition hall from the perspective of visitors and demonstrate the advantages of using the 7UD evaluation framework. The results of the environmental measurements demonstrate how the display environments of the five museums are constructed in different ways. The issues identified include the lack of specific guiding information or poor location of the digital media within the exhibition environment, obstacles in the main communication spaces, and overcrowding, which reduces the efficiency of visits. The results, based on the 7UD evaluation checklist, indicated that the environment, when combined with the digital media, which has more problems and barriers, and corresponds to lower 7UD scoring rates. The evaluation framework based on 7UD captures the visitors’ interactive behaviors with exhibits through detailed indicators and meticulous data collection. These findings identify issues and visiting obstacles present in the museum exhibition environment influenced by digital media and confirm that the seven principles of Universal Design can be applied to the hypothesized problems to find potential solutions. The results directly support the further development of the exhibition design. Full article

Traditional villages, as repositories of cultural heritage and natural landscapes, have gained increasing prominence in the tourism industry. However, balancing authenticity preservation with visitor satisfaction remains a critical challenge. This study employs a combined Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)–Scenic Beauty Estimation (SBE) approach under the theoretical framework of 4E theory (Entertainment, Education, Aesthetics, and Escapism) to comprehensively evaluate visitor satisfaction in traditional village tourism landscapes. Eight nationally designated tourism-oriented traditional villages in Anhua County, China were selected as case studies. Findings from the AHP analysis reveal that aesthetic and escapism experiences are the most influential dimensions in shaping visitor satisfaction, while entertainment and educational experiences, though secondary, remain integral to a well-rounded tourism framework. The SBE evaluation corroborates these results, highlighting that seasonal characteristics, stress relief, and cultural landscape diversity significantly enhance visitor experiences. Conversely, deficiencies were observed in social interactivity, satisfaction with educational experiences, and fulfillment of aesthetic needs, indicating areas for improvement. A strong positive correlation between AHP and SBE scores (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.867, p < 0.01) underscores the alignment between expert-driven evaluations and visitor perceptions. These insights suggest that integrating expert-based hierarchical analysis with empirical visitor assessments provides a more robust and multidimensional framework for sustainable tourism management. Recommendations include enhancing social interactivity, optimizing educational components, enriching aesthetic experiences, and ensuring the preservation of vernacular landscapes to foster sustainable, experience-driven rural tourism development. Full article

The study of visitor experiences incorporating user-generated content from accommodation platforms is a distinct trend in the geography of tourism. Our research aims to better understand how this content can be instrumentalized in order to assess the viability of Airbnb accommodation ranks based on specific case studies from Greece, Italy, and Spain. The methodological frame we propose is based on two separate tools. First, the users’ reviews are summarized using sentiment analysis techniques, and the positive component is extracted as a separate indicator (predictor). The second step consists of mobilizing geographically weighted regression (GWR) to identify of the potential statistical association between the Airbnb apartments’ ranks and the quantitative outputs of sentiment analysis. The results obtained for 13 case studies are based on more than 4.6 million reviews. They clearly emphasize a gap between the rank proposed by the platform and the positive scores of sentiment analysis for the accommodation units analyzed (88,053). Despite some limitations linked to the quantity of data needed to be integrated into the investigation, the methodological frame can be transferred to other destinations, providing useful information about the potential distortions of tourism markets by the meta-description of accommodation systems. Full article

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) represent a promising application of blockchain technology that can potentially disrupt various sectors, mainly tourism. While there have been conceptual discussions regarding the opportunities and challenges of utilizing NFTs for purposes such as digital souvenirs, ticketing, loyalty programs, and conservation initiatives, there remains a significant need for a robust methodological framework to assess the impact of real-world NFT implementations empirically. This paper presents the methodological foundation of ongoing research. It proposes a comprehensive approach to researching NFT initiatives within the tourism sector, which includes data collection methods, analytical techniques, and the design of a workbench for monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs). The proposed framework combines quantitative and qualitative measures to capture the complex nature of NFT adoption, including financial performance, visitor engagement, user experience, and operational efficiency. By establishing standardized protocols and metrics, the proposed methodology aims to enable cross-study comparisons and contribute to developing the best practices for leveraging NFTs in the tourism industry. The work highlights the potential of NFTs to enhance visitor experiences, generate new revenue streams, and promote destinations as tech-savvy hubs, while also addressing ethical and sustainability concerns. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of a structured approach to evaluating NFTs initiatives, which can provide valuable insights for tourism organizations seeking to innovate and remain competitive in a digital landscape. Future research should focus on validating the framework through real-world case studies, exploring additional applications of NFTs in tourism, and addressing challenges related to data availability, technological integration, and stakeholder collaboration. Full article