A Sustainable Solution to Overtourism in the Social Media Era: An Exploratory Analysis on the Roles and Functions of Place–Visitor Relationship (PVR)

Abstract

As overtourism has become a serious threat to the tourism industry in recent years, this study attempts to extend the theoretical framework of organization-public relationship (OPR) developed in the public relations scholarship to the context of overtourism. To that end, the concept of place–visitor relationship (PVR) is theoretically suggested and empirically tested in a structural equation model. Also, statistical reliability and validity of PVR are put under investigation. The findings helped confirm the roles and functions of PVR as a potential solution to overtourism in the social media era. As an antecedent, visitors’ affective tour experiences stemming from exposure to social media information significantly influenced PVR. PVR, on the other hand, significantly affected attitudes toward a place and, further, behavioral intentions toward measures against overtourism. In addition, the findings revealed that PVR consists of two sub-factors: Loyalty and relational attachment. Relationship strategies as a solution to the issue of overtourism are discussed in light of PVR.

Ecotourism Capital as an Enabler of Positive Change in Tourism Sustainability

“…GT1 -Information about ecotourism products and services is generally reliable; GT3 -Information about ecotourism products and services meets my expectations regarding environmental issues; and GT4 -Information about ecotourism products and services keeps promises and commitments for environmental protection. • The Eco-information exposure variable was measured by adapting the scale of Lee, Park, and Nam (2020): EIE1 -I get a lot of ecotourism products/services information through social media; EIE2 -I frequently get tourist information about ecotourism products/services through social media; and EIE3 -I actively use social media to obtain tourist information about ecotourism products/services.…”

“…Indeed, social media can be regarded as a hub of knowledge (Zareie and Jafari Navimipour 2016) that offers a public forum for travellers to engage with one another and other ecotourism stakeholders and exchange ideas and knowledge. Therefore, social media provides a platform for interaction and communication where ecotourists knowledge and ideas about specific ecotourism products and services are actively generated and exchanged (Lee, Park, andNam 2020, Leung et al 2013).…”

Perceptions of Generation Y on Social Aspects Involving Sustainable Tourism in Romanian Destinations

“…The social and sustainable significance of tourism is approached in general from the perspective of the relationship between place and visitor in order to find a sustainable solution to over tourism in the social media era (Lee et al, 2020), but also from the perspective of the power of social networks, sustainable and responsible tourism (Shen et al, 2020) 2004) stated that GY has a growing potential for wine tourism, as it participates in specific activities, while Velikova et al, (2013) find in the profile of GY that wine consumption is a way of socialization in different locations and in groups of different sizes.…”