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Among tourists, there is recently a growing interest in the environment and enjoying the natural world. This study analyzed the motivations and segmentation of the demand for ecotourism, using functional theory as a reference point. Empirical analysis was carried out in Santay National Recreation Area, Morro Mangrove Wildlife Refuge, and Samanes National Recreation Area. The sample included 382 surveys, obtained in situ using the simple random sampling method. Factorial analysis and non-hierarchical segmentation were performed to analyze the data. The results indicate that there are several motivational dimensions in ecotourism, including self-development, interpersonal relationships and ego-defensive function, building personal relationships, escape reward, and nature appreciation. We also identified three different segments of ecotourists based on their motivations—nature, multiple motives, and reward and escape—as well as the characteristics of the different segments. The present investigation will help public institutions and private companies improve their tourism offerings and develop more efficient marketing plans.

In recent years there has been a growing interest of tourists in the environment and the enjoyment of the natural environment, which causes ecotourism to grow in a greater proportion than conventional tourism. This study is designed to analyze the motivations and segmentation of the demand in ecotourism taking as reference the functional theory. The empirical analysis was conducted in the Machalilla National Park in Ecuador, which is a coastal protected area, where one of its main attractions is the sighting of humpback whales. The sample consists of 386 surveys, obtained in situ for convenience. For the analysis of the data, a factorial analysis and a non-hierarchical segmentation were performed. The results show that there are several motivational dimensions in ecotourism such as "Self-development", "Interpersonal relationships and Ego-defensive function", "Building personal relationships", "Escape", "Nature appreciation" and "Reward". In addition, the characteristics of the different segments are established according to their motivations, which is why three segments of ecotourists have been found, the "Nature", "Reward and Escape" and "Multiple motives". The present investigation will serve so that public institutions and private companies can improve the tourist offer, benefit the destination and develop a more efficient Marketing planning.

Purpose This paper aims to explore university students' multitasking behavior in online classrooms and their influence on academic performance. Also, the study examined students' opinions. Design/methodology/approach A total of 302 university students fulfilled an online survey. Ten questions were focused on demographic information, five items evaluated online class behavior of students, 9 items evaluated self-efficacy and four items measured academic performance. Findings Multitasking behavior was found to negatively influence self-efficacy of −0.332, whereas self-efficacy showed a positive influence of 0.325 on academic performance. Cronbach's alpha and average variance extracted values were 0.780 and 0.527 (multitasking behavior), 0.875 and 0.503 (self-efficacy), 0.781 and 0.601 (academic performance). Outcomes of the bootstrapping test showed that the path coefficients are significant. Originality/value The research findings may help university managers understand undergraduates’ online and face-to-face behavior and strategies to improve the behavior to ensure the best academic outcomes. The novelty is based on using the partial least square structural equation modeling technique.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the attitude declared by the tourists towards the local gastronomy as a variable of tourist interest in a WHS destination. Gastronomic tourism strengthens and consolidates the tourist destinations. Design/methodology/approach The methodology is based on a survey conducted on foreign travellers who visited the city of Quito. In total, 516 valid surveys of foreign tourists were conducted, using convenience sampling. As for the data analysis, a multivariate technique of grouping cases (K-mean clusters) was applied with the objective of analysing the similarity existing among those surveyed, taking as a reference variables that indicate greater or lesser interest in the local gastronomy. Findings The results show evidence on the existence of different attitudes towards gastronomy as a variable of interest in the choice of a tourist destination. There is a direct relationship between their attitude towards gastronomy and their expenditure. Research limitations/implications The principal limitation of this research is found in the time period in which the surveys were conducted. Practical implications The study allows the hotel/restaurant companies and tourism rooted in the city of Quito to know the importance of the local gastronomy as variables of interest for the foreign tourists as well as the segmentation carried out with regard to their attitudes. Originality/value Gastronomy is used as a source of inspiration in tourist destinations. This research reinforces this theme, taking on the study of food tourism in an important heritage destination, such as the city of Quito, in a geographic area, Latin America, characterised by a recognised gastronomy, but still little studied in the scientific literature.

Coastal and marine tourism offer various topics discussed within social media communication during a pandemic. The present study analysed the discussion topics in the popular Twitter's tourism hashtags during the COVID-19 crisis related to coastal and marine tourism. The objectives were to (i) determine the discussion topics, (ii) identify the discussion topics of greater hierarchy, and (iii) determine the tourist destinations discussed. The data were collected from Twitter between March and April 2020. A total of 269,722 tweets were extracted in different languages and globally through the Twitter API of popular tourism hashtags about the COVID-19 pandemic using big data software. The word associations technique was used to process the Twitter data. The discussion topics were ‘travel’, ‘beach’, ‘cruise’, ‘sea’, ‘ocean’, ‘nature’, ‘sun’, ‘coast’, and others. The discussion topics of greatest hierarchy were ‘travel’, ‘beach’, ‘sea’, and ‘cruise’. These topics refer to the motivational dimensions‘ ‘escape’, and ‘sun and beach’. The geographic locations discussed were Spain, Canary, Hawaii, Australia, Caribbean, Bermuda, Florida, California, and others. The findings will contribute to the relationship of the topics with the tourist motivational dimensions, and the destinations discussed about marine and coastal tourism in the time of crisis in the COVID-2019 Pandemic in Twitter's tourism hashtags, and companies will also be able to improve their communication strategies and develop post-pandemic products.

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