The consumption of goods by tourists while being on holiday is an essential subject in the tourism industry. Souvenirs are seen as universal elements of traveling (Swanson, 2012) and are looked upon as objects tourists can bring back home to remind them of their activities during their holiday, trying to make an intangible experience tangible through the purchasing of these artifacts (Litrell, 1993). Furthermore, souvenirs represent the notion of trying to prolong the travel experience (Swanson, 2004). The phenomena of collecting souvenirs while being away from home is rather nothing new. In fact, according to Swanson (2012), there are records going back to the time of ancient Egyptians, Romans, and later explorer-travelers who would bring mementos back from their journeys. Nowadays, the most typical souvenirs that tourists will collect can be categorized into groups. According to Gordon (1986), five groups of souvenir types exist: pictorial souvenirs (e.g. postcards), piece-of-the-rock souvenirs (natural elements collected), iconic souvenirs (items that evoke a message about the place they come from), markers (e.g. t-shirts with the name of the destination) and local product souvenirs (items indigenous to the area).
The consumption of souvenirs play also a major economic role in tourism destinations where producing, consuming and the selling of souvenirs are worth billions of dollars each year (Swanson, 2012). On a smaller scale, many retail businesses located near or at the destination are dependent on the selling of souvenirs (Swanson, 2004). Furthermore, souvenir consumption also helps in supporting indigenous local people who produce and retail authentic handicrafts and souvenir goods (Tosun, Temizkan, Timothy & Fyall, 2007...
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...motions involved and stated that when it comes to the action of gift receiving and gift giving “receivers have beliefs about the action the giver will take and givers have beliefs about the action the receivers expect” (p. 400). He further mentioned that emotions such as surprise, disappointment, pride and embarrassment arise from comparing the recipient’s ex ante expectations with the ex post physical outcome. Further studies relate the concept of gift giving behavior with the attributes of the Four ‘S’s’: suspense, surprise, sacrifice and sharing (Clarke, 2007). On the other hand, studies have been done on the experience of gift giving of souvenirs and the insights it offers to shared consumption of tourism activities with significant others (Clarke, 2008). However, no specific study has been done on the relation of emotions and souvenir purchasing specifically.
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B. (1998). Objects of Ethnography. Destination Culture : Tourism, Museums, and Heritage. Berkeley: University of California Press.
The same study also compiled some strategies that gift givers used to arrive at these gifts. Perhaps these will help you to tap into some
According to Schneider, defining “authenticity” is a battle between indigenous peoples and the tourists who purchase their arts and crafts. As “tourist” art grows with the realization of international tourism as means of development and economic growth in marginalized communities, foreign assumptions affect the perception of indigenous arts and crafts as “legitimately” indigenous. Indigenous peoples readily “transform” functional items into feasible commodities; “goods such as “indigenous blouses and shawls” easily become “alien place mates and pillow cases,” enabling indigenous peoples to survive (Schneider 80).
We live in a culture where people are expected to give to others gifts of gratitude and expressions of love. Sometimes these gifts are accepted for what they are worth and other times they are not. We use that which others give us based on several factors. Among them are whether we perceive the gift as valuable, whether we can practically use the gift, or whether the gift is given earnestly and for the right reasons. Because of this there is not one explanation why certain attitudes about gifts exist. We should, however, understand that it is not for us to realize why a gift is given, but rather that someone thinks enough of us to give a gift in the first place. It is certain that if gifts are not accepted and used in a prudent and expeditious manner, then the gifts that are received will deteriorate or whither completely away.
...nal tourism." Annals of Tourism Research 30.3 (2003): 606-624. ScienceDirect.com. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. .
Several studies (Hall and Shaples 2008, Apega 2013, Tresidder and Hirst 2012, Ali-Knight et al. 2009, Yeoman et al. 2004, Kim et al. 2009, Culinary Tourism 2010) emphasize the growth of food in the tourist’s budget and the importance of it as a cultural element. To mention some probes of the growing phenomenon, around one million of culinary tourists travel every year around the world where one third of his total budget goes only in food and beverages (Culinary Tourism 2010). In addition, Chang (2011, p151) states “in the past decade, food has increasingly recognized by its social and cultural significance”. Ali-Knight et al. (2009) proposed “Tasting Australia” as a clear example of successful cultural- food festival where Australian food interests have become a crucial role in the traditions and culinary identity. Furthermore, Hall and Sharples (2008, p95) identified the principal social outcomes of food and wine festivals as the improvement of “leisure opportunities, learning experiences and cultural exchanges as well as the main stakeholders benefactors like the residents, tourist, government and media”. The authors also stated that the possible benefits cannot only being done in short-term but also in long-term (Hall and Sharples 2008). In addition, some of these long-terms benefits and impacts are also related to the image of the festival on the community. Yeoman et al. (2004, p45) argued
For the introduction, brief information regarding my purchase and the travel and tourism industry is presented. It was then followed by the explanation of the 2 chosen theories from two different chapters.
Tourism is currently one of the world’s largest global industries and the fastest growing economic segments, with much of the growing market focused around the primeval natural environments such as coastal areas (Tourism Today, 2011). Tourism encompasses the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one uninterrupted year for vacation, commercial and other purposes. It also involves the activities of people, referred to as tourists or visitors, during their visit to these destinations and the facilities and services utilized during their stay (Tourism Today, 2011). These tourists spend money earned in their places of residence at their home country. This money, termed foreign exchange in the visited destination, is used for balance of payment in other countries (About the Tourism Industry, 2014). Foreign exchange enables countries to purchase the goods and services needed to stimulate their economies, thus generating wealth and employment.
Consumer behavior incorporates certain activities, decisions or experiences, which satisfy the needs of the consumers. It concerns all the activities that incorporate consuming, obtaining and product disposing of that precedes and carry out these actions (Darling, 2015). The Consumer behavior remains one of the important areas for research in the tourism and marketing fields in terms of travel behavior or the behavior of tourist (Rid, Ezeuduji & Pröbstl-Haider 2014). There are a few comprehensive literature reviews on the behavior of consumer typically described his injurious area with the help of the existing models or concepts of Consumer Behavior. There are exceptions in the insights of the authors who give the review about
2.1.3.2 Personal Realm While the influential realm encompasses all the elements of a tourist experience which are outside the individual, including the physical environment, the social environment and the tourism products and services, the personal realm embraces the elements within a person. This includes motivation and expectation, satisfaction/dissatisfaction, knowledge, memory, perception, self-identity, and emotions. 2.1.3.3 Motivation and Expectation Literature on tourist experience outlines the importance of both motivation and expectation in the overall evaluation of the experience of a destination. Although there are a number of variables shaping the tourist behaviour, motivation and expectation are often considered as the most critical ones as they constitute the driving force behind all behavioural actions of tourists towards a destination (Fodness, 1994). This is also reiterated by Garcia-Mas and Garcia-Mas (2005, as cited in Gisolf, 2014) pinpointing that “needs, motives and motivation are the engine of human conduct and play together with expectations a fundamental role in the mechanics of tourism”.
Mitas, Ondrej, et al. "Taking a “Peak” at Leisure Travelers’ Positive Emotions." Leisure Sciences, vol. 34, no. 2, Mar/Apr2012, pp. 115-135. Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection, doi:10.1080/01490400.2012.652503.
Nowadays in the rea of globalization, according to the World Tourism Organization, “seven hundred million people travelled abroad in 2003”, and the number is estimated to increase to 1.6 billion by 2020. (International Labour Organization, 2005). Tourism is spreading in unusual places. A lot of people want to be in the midst of adventure. It is a vital source of revenues for the GDP of many countries. I partially agree that tourism hugely benefits the local community. This essay will discuss some of the economic, social and environment effect of tourism on the host community.
Tourism is an important and intricate element to society. It affects economical, social, cultural and environmental elements. Tourism can be argued to have a negative impact on the environment and decrease our already depleting resources, but tourism can also be argued to be a major contributor to strengthening economies, spread cultural traditions and improve people’s lives. Tourism
Tourism is a typical activity of fashion that the public participate widely and it has grown in importance over recorded human history. Innumerable articles refer tourism as “the world’s largest industry”; policy-makers, analysts, and scholars often speak of the size of the tourism compared to that of other industries (Smith 2004: 26). These series of misleading statement, together with the mass media’s reports (out of context), make the idea that tourism is a single large industry branded into many people’s minds. However, in this essay I will demonstrate that it is a simplistic and misleading idea, which should be replaced by the plural term, “tourism industries”. Moreover, tourism is not the world’s largest industry, but largest service sector.