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This study examines the influence of residents' trust in government and organizing committee on their impact perceptions and support for a mega-event, namely 2014 FIFA World Cup. Findings suggest significant relationships between impact perceptions and support. While trust in government is found to be a significant determinant of impact perceptions, findings indicate no significant relationship between trust in government and support, which suggest that the relationship is mediated by impact perceptions. While a positive relationship between trust in organizing committee and positive impact perceptions is found, findings suggest no significant relationship between trust in organizing committee and negative impact perceptions. Trust in organizing committee is also found to have significant positive impact on support.

The objectives of this study are threefold. The first objective is to understand the underlying dimensions of motivation for attending a prominent city festival in Turkey and if motivation will vary with respect to the socio-demographic composition of attendees. The second objective is to ascertain how festival attendees perceive the socio-economic benefits of the festival and how these vary across select demographic variables. Finally, the study examines the nature of the relationship that may exist between festival motivation and perceived benefits of the festival.The results indicate that the only significant variation in motivation occurs across gender. Female visitors place significantly more importance on "escape and excitement," "family togetherness," and "event novelty." The findings also reveal that younger attendees seem to place more importance on socialization and event loyalty, and older attendees place more importance on family togetherness. Multiple classification analysis indicates that as age increases, so does the importance placed on event novelty. This finding is also valid for increased educational level. Escape and excitement is a common motivator across all age, income, and occupation groups. The study findings also point out that local attendees see a positive relation between the perceived socioeconomic benefits of events, community cohesion, and motivation for 277 attending such events. The article ends with both practical implications for the festival organizers and city officials and theoretical contributions to the growing research of event attendee behavior.

PurposeThe study has three objectives. The first objective of this paper is to investigate the underlying dimensions of motivation for attending an international festival in Turkey and whether motivation will vary across six different festival products (symphony, rock, world music, dance, ballet, and theater). The second purpose is to understand how festival attendees perceive the socio‐economic impacts of the festival and how these perceived impacts vary across different festival attendee groups. Finally, the study examines the overall satisfaction of festival attendees with respect to different festival products.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical data was collected by way of self‐administered questionnaires to obtain perceptions and motivations of 523 attendees in Eskisehir International Festival.FindingsThe results showed that there were significant differences in motivation among attendees from six different festival products. Duncan's multiple‐range tests were performed to further examine differences in motivation among these attendees. The mean scores of different groups indicate that “rock event” attendees tended to have lower motivation scores than other groups and have the lowest ratings on the factor of “family togetherness”. However, attendees did not differ on the perceived importance of socio‐economic impacts and satisfaction with the festival, irrespective of the festival product attended.Originality/valueFestivals and special events have increased worldwide because they provide significant economic, socio‐cultural, and political impacts on destinations. While a plethora of studies have examined tourists' motivation and socio‐economic impacts, little research has been conducted on the motivation and socio‐economic impact of festival attendees with regard to different product offerings.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that are likely to influence the loyalty behavior of first-time and repeat visitors to all-inclusive resorts. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from first-time and repeat Russian tourists to Antalya, Turkey, utilizing a self-administered survey questionnaire. A total of 339 usable responses were obtained. A structural equation modeling approach was used to test the proposed model on the first-time and repeat visitors’ samples. Findings This study suggests that the effects of cognitive evaluation of the resort (service quality) channel through affective evaluation of the visitor experience (visitor satisfaction) before bolstering visitor loyalty. This study also shows that differences exist between the two groups of visitors – first time visitors value cognitive attributes more and rely more on cognitive evaluation. Practical implications Destination marketers and managers need to promote all aspects and attributes of a destination among all-inclusive vacationers by creating innovative and comprehensive marketing campaign. Due to the differences between first-time and repeat visitors, it is critical to differentiate the two groups in designing targeted marketing campaign and providing targeted service/product. Originality value All-inclusive resorts have attained substantial global presence and popularity over the past 40 years. However, guest satisfaction/loyalty studies in this particular context have not often been approached with the kind of statistical breadth and rigor presented herein. This study adds new information for the understanding of and marketing to the all-inclusive resort guest.

Effective human resources management (HRM) is vital for the success of small-and medium-sized hotel enterprises (SMHEs). However, there are no single studies concerning HRM practices of SMHEs in Turkey. The purpose of the study is to analyze the current HRM practices of SMHEs in Turkey. Findings from 313 SMHEs revealed that they did not possess formal HRM practices and this resulted in lack of professionalism in these firms. The study concludes that small-and medium-sized hotels, apart from microfirms, should formalize their HRM practices. However, formalization of HRM practices requires financial support and training of owner/managers on managerial skills and the importance of HRM. Cooperation and collaboration among the government, educational institutes and firms are recommended in order to improve HRM applications.

This study attempts to explore behavioral characteristics of international tourists visiting Istanbul in guided tours, and to examine the differences and similarities among tourists of different nationalities using data provided by Turkish tour guides. Data were collected utilizing a survey site designed for research for Turkish tour guides working in Istanbul, Turkey. The results suggest that there are three underlying dimensions of tourists’ behavior during guided tours, namely, shopping, activities, and social interaction. Significant differences are observed among seven nationalities. Pair comparisons of the groups belonging to the three dimensions are conducted for the purpose of revealing similarities and differences. The Japanese are found to be the most distinct tourist group in comparison to others. Finally, conclusions and implications are discussed at the end of the study.

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