Removing Uncontrollable Factors in Benchmarking Tourism Destination Satisfaction

Abstract

High level of visitor satisfaction is an important signal of sustained success for tourism destinations. The primary goal of this research study is to identify differences in reported visitor satisfaction that do not accurately reflect differences in the delivery of satisfaction by destinations. Our aim is to reveal the influence of factors, such as weather conditions, that may distort comparisons of tourism destinations when measuring visitors’ satisfaction with their stays. We used a generalized linear model (GLM) to estimate reported satisfaction as a function of various factors, with weather included as a factor. The analysis shows that weather as well as the other extraneous factors play an important role in measuring visitors’ satisfaction. The results suggest that when comparing the relative success of various tourism destinations, adjustments in destination benchmarking are necessary to avoid arbitrary bias caused by differences in the timing and conditions of visitor data collection.

Emotional Analysis in Designing Tourism Experiences Through Neuromarketing Methods: The Role of Uncontrollable Variables and Atmosphere: A Preliminarily Study

“…In this paper, the role of consumers' emotions and their impact on CX evaluation and satisfaction was investigated, shedding light on the role of atmosphere that can activate different sensory perceptions (Mazaheri et al, 2014;Slåtten et al, 2009) and uncontrollable variables (Vojtko et al, 2020) in influencing such satisfaction. To this end, the level of emotions of the participants involved was measured using a camera-based emotion recognition system during a cultural tourism event, using the Macerata Opera Festival as the research setting.…”

“…However, the literature shows that despite several positive elements of which the offer is composed, able to maximise the satisfaction of consumers, tourists and in the case of shows therefore of spectators bystanders, several additional antecedents may intervene in amplifying or decreasing this effect, both in terms of consumer-related variables (e.g., lifestyles, preferences and attitudes, Šimić et al, 2018), and in terms of variables defined as "uncontrollable" due to their unforeseeable nature ("uncontrollables", Vojtko et al, 2020). These refer to endogenous factors that are not directly controllable by marketers and managers since they are related, for example, to unexpected weather aspects and can change the satisfaction of end consumers concerning the proposed offer (Vojtko et al, 2020). The weather significantly alters consumers' moods, emotions and consequently their behaviour.…”

Study of the Tourism Competitiveness Model of the World Economic Forum Using Rasch’s Mathematical Model: The Case of Portugal

“…Benchmarking is a method of comparative evaluation of tourist destinations in order to establish priorities, objectives and improvements [108][109][110]. Although its use in tourism is limited [111,112], the technique has attracted considerable attention for its effectiveness in the context of competitiveness [113][114][115].…”

Big Data for Big Insights: Quantifying the Adverse Effect of Air Pollution on the Tourism Industry in China

“…Adequate snow is mandatory for ski resorts (Gorman-Murray 2008; Hopkins 2015; Williams, Dossa, and Hunt 1997). Weather variables like temperature, wind, and snow depth were found to significantly affect various tourism outcomes, such as visitation to different tourism places (Becken 2013; Shih and Nicholls 2011, 2012; Shih, Nicholls, and Holecek 2009), tourist satisfaction with a destination (Vojtko et al 2020), and tourism spending (Wilkins et al 2018), even though urban tourists are more weather resilient (McKercher et al 2015). Such as people travel to warm destinations to escape the cold of winter (Becken and Wilson 2013; Wall 2007).…”