Updates on tourism-knowhow.at http://www.tourism-knowhow.at/tkh/ Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:49:34 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2-ppt (info@mypapit.net) http://www.tourism-knowhow.at/scripts/img/tkh.gif http://www.tourism-knowhow.at/tkh/ bianca.peinsipp@tourism-knowhow.at (Bianca Peinsipp) http://oegaf.wu-wien.ac.at/scripts/studienkarte.php?Stu2Element=101762&L=0 Golf in Austria has undergone a fast-paced development over the last 15 years. The once elitist sport has more or less successfully turned into a sport for the populace. Yet, the time of high growth rates in reference to the number of new members seems to be over. Nowadays, decision-makers are forced to re-think and focus on how to increase loyalty and optimize existing golf courses instead of concentrating on the acquisition of new members. The work at hand addresses these questions and tries to find ways in order to improve the offerings of existing golf courses. Given the results of a conjoint analysis and a cluster analysis, that both were conducted within the framework of this thesis, it can be said that the service provided by a golf club, i.e. the interaction with the golf club’s employees, is of utmost importance to golfers. A great potential for positioning and managerial implications – expressed by the greatest number of significant differences in reference to the various levels of the conjoint analysis – were identified for golfers with different handicap, i.e. playing ability. Green speed – one of the importances within the conjoint analysis – showed the highest number of significant differences between certain groups of golfers, e.g. male golfers versus female golfers. In addition, an analysis of golfers’ satisfaction concerning the services offered by Österreichischer Golf-Verband was conducted. In general, it can be stated that Austria’s golfers are content with these services. ilona.pezenka@wu-wien.ac.at (tourismus-studien.at) Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:44:56 +0100 tkh-stu-101762 http://oegaf.wu-wien.ac.at/scripts/studienkarte.php?Stu2Element=101761&L=0 Customer satisfaction and service quality are very important factors in the service sector, especially in the cultural and heritage sector. Many visitors from Austria and foreign countries visit the Kaiservilla in Bad Ischl every year and the thesis deals with their satisfaction of the visit and the question if all their expectations regarding this visit can be fufilled. The SERVQUAL model, which has been developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml und Berry to measure service quality, is used to analyse the customer satisfaction and the fulfillment of customer expectations. In contrast to the original SERVQUAL study the survey is based on a one-time performance scale and also the used dimensions and items have been adapted. The thesis starts with a short historical overview of the Kaiservilla, followed by an introduction about service and product quality and an overview of the different tools to measure service quality. The next part describes the SERVQUAL model and its usage in the cultural and heritage sector. In the last part of the thesis all collected data is analysed and correlations are shown and described. This analysis shows that most of the visitors of the Kaiservilla are fully satisfied with their visit and also their expectations can be fulfilled. ilona.pezenka@wu-wien.ac.at (tourismus-studien.at) Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:34:24 +0100 tkh-stu-101761 http://oegaf.wu-wien.ac.at/scripts/studienkarte.php?Stu2Element=101760&L=0 The region around the Lake of Constance is one of the few regions, in which four national states are combined in a compact area. The region is known for its scenic and natural characteristics and its cultural diversity. It provides a wide range of excursions and sport activities. The aim of this study is to investigate how the region around the Lake of Constance is perceived by the Viennese population. The respondents were asked via online survey about their travel patterns and their image of the region. It was investigated, if the perceived image differentiates between actual visitors and potential visitors. In addition, it was also tested if the perceived offer of tourist services in the region meets the needs and wishes of the Viennese vacationers. On the basis of the results recommendations are given. The study also explores whether the region of the Lake of Constance forms a regional unit beyond the borders of Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The paper also offers an insight in the destination management and regional marketing of the region around the Lake of Constance. ilona.pezenka@wu-wien.ac.at (tourismus-studien.at) Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:48:34 +0100 tkh-stu-101760 http://oegaf.wu-wien.ac.at/scripts/studienkarte.php?Stu2Element=101759&L=0 The Semantic Web is the next level in the evolution of the current world wide web. This new pack of technologies, e.g. Microformats, OWL, RDF and so forth extends the existing internet by new functionalities and possibilities. The fundamental idea of this technology is to extend all available information within the web with semantics by using metadata, to enable the automated processing of the information by computers. This new web technology is available at present, but is still under development. Among other areas the tourism sector can profit from the usage of the Semantic Web. The thesis at hand deals with the current situation of the Semantic Web and its potential, concentrating on the perspective of the tourism industry. For this purpose a qualitative research is carried out in which experts are interviewed about their opinions on the subject of the Semantic Web and the project ebSemantics, which deals with the commercial usage of the Semantic Web in the tourism domain. Due to the focus of this study on E-Tourism a literature research is conducted to survey all theoretic application areas of Semantic Web technology inside the field of tourism. In addition a quantitative research investigates the current degree of implementation of the technology in the field of tourism by analysing the usage on Austrian hospitality web pages. In summary the results show that the level of application is low. Nevertheless there are multiple trends which indicate that in the near future the Semantic Web is going to be widely adopted. Based on the information of the empirical studies the results of the work are discussed and management recommendations are provided. ilona.pezenka@wu-wien.ac.at (tourismus-studien.at) Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:22:14 +0100 tkh-stu-101759 http://oegaf.wu-wien.ac.at/scripts/studienkarte.php?Stu2Element=101758&L=0 The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has a great variety of sightseeing spots and aims to improve incoming tourism and subsequently tourism revenue. In order to reach this goal, the attributes and features of the target tourists need to be analysed for setting up suitable marketing strategies. The selected tourists that are described in this study are Austrians travelling to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, as there is no valid information available about them yet. An important point of this thesis was to find out appropriate segmentation strategies for describing tourists, of which there are numerous available. After carrying out research in the tourism literature, it was revealed that some concepts are more meaningful than others for predicting tourism behaviour and destination choice. Among others, items of destination perception, trip characteristics, general travel motives and specific travel motives for going to Jordan were then implemented into a questionnaire which was constructed in both German and English. It was discovered that one of the main reasons for visiting Jordan is to do sightseeing. A small group of the asked tourists makes a trip to Jordan for health and wellness reasons, while other travellers want to be active. For another segment of tourists it is important that Jordan is a well-publicized destination, easy to reach and not expensive, whereas one group of travellers does not really care about time and money. The destination expectations were generally very positive. Jordan is seen as a peaceful country, local people are expected to be friendly and to be able to speak English on an average level. Accommodations are anticipated to be of Austrian standard quality. General travel motives point out preferences for exploring unusual sights and places. Motivations such as avoiding the hustle and bustle of daily life and relaxation are also important for the respondents. The most used and best evaluated information sources are travel guides and information from the travel agency. The majority of the asked tourists used at least one Internet source for travel preparation. However, nearly 90% of all tourists have finally booked their trip at a travel agency. Regarding demographic features of the respondents, especially the age of the travellers was very similar, 66% were at least 65 years old. ilona.pezenka@wu-wien.ac.at (tourismus-studien.at) Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:03:22 +0100 tkh-stu-101758