Canal boat tourism: Application of complexity theory

Abstract

This study applies complexity theory to explain how a cognitive-affective model indicates canal boat tour participants' desired behaviour. An in-situ survey was administered to collect data from 202 boat tour participants following a tour of the Canal du Faux-Rempart in Strasbourg, France. The study applies an asymmetrical analysis to investigate the cognitiveaffective factors deriving participants' intentions to recommend canal boat tours. This study uses an asymmetrical approach to explore causal recipes from three configurations of sociodemographic factors with prior experience and cognitive and affective factors, leading to both high and low scores of recommendation intention. An analysis of necessary conditions was performed to identify the factors required to achieve the expected outcome. The results revealed that complexity theory supports causal interactions, leading to intention to recommend. Overall image, perceived quality, emotion and satisfaction are necessary factors to recommend canal boat tours. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications.

Social-Psychological Determinants of Serbian Tourists’ Choice of Green Rural Hotels

“…Thus, demographic variables were used in combinations with host and accommodation place attributes in order to describe disabled tourists' behavioral outcomes in relation to p2p accommodations [37]. They were also included in an asymmetrical analysis related to the recommendation intention of canal boat tour participants [38], as well as in a configurational model developed for "predicting residents' support for tourism development (RSTD)" [39].…”

Encouraging tourist citizenship behavior through resource uniqueness and service quality: The mediating role of emotions

“…Extant studies have argued that positive emotional responses during a tour such as satisfaction and pleasure (Hosany and Gilbert, 2010), play a vital role in creating memorable experiences for tourists (Mehran and Olya, 2020; Tung and Ritchie, 2011). More recent studies suggest that tourists’ emotions have an extensive impact on their travel experience (Hosany et al, 2016a, 2016b; Prayag et al, 2015; Yan et al, 2018).…”

The Loyalty of Tourism in Synagogues: The Special Case of the Synagogue of Córdoba

“…The relationship between expected and perceived quality has previously been studied in publications about different economic sectors such as nursing [110] or air transport [111]. In the tourism sector, studies have been carried out into the management of tourist boats [112] and luxury hotels [113]. Most of these studies have shown how the evaluation of the tourist experience at a site is essential to gain knowledge about expected and perceived quality and value.…”

“…Secondly, Hypothesis 2 was also confirmed and shows that the expected quality of a destination directly influences its perceived quality. A high level of expected quality is expected to have a positive effect on the value given by tourists for perceived quality [111,112]. Expected and perceived quality are the basic requirements for any successful tourist destination.…”