This study sought to identify the main themes of sensory experiences of Douro wineries shared online by tourists. Douro is a demarcated wine region famous for Port, which is on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s World Heritage List. The research used 470 visitor reviews posted on the TripAdvisor website, which referred to experiences of the five regional wine brands that run wine hotels. Mixed content analyses extracted the main themes from the reviews, as well as identifying concepts associated with the five senses. The results include 12 main themes: wine, view, staff, room, hotel, food, restaurant, pool, service, Douro, delicious (food and wine) and comfort. Most concepts are linked with sight and taste, followed by hearing, with only a few reviews mentioning touch or smell. These findings have managerial implications for wine tourism, contributing to a better understanding of how sensory dimensions create memorable experiences for visitors.
11 February 2019 in International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
Purpose: This paper aims to identify the main themes shared in online reviews by airline travellers, as well as which of these themes were linked with higher and lower value for money ratings.Design/methodology/approach: The research used mixed content analyses (i.e. quantitative and qualitative) to examine 1,200 reviews of six airline companies shared by airline travellers in a social media platform.Findings: The analyses revealed nine themes in descriptions of airline travel experiences. These are the core services during “flights”, “airport” operations, crew and ground “staff”, ticket “classes”, “seats”, inflight “services”, “entertainment”, overall experiences of “airlines” and post-purchase recommendations of with which companies to “fly”. Low value for money ratings are linked with the “airport” and “flights” themes.Originality/value: The results offer useful insights into airline travellers’ overall experiences based on social media information and facilitate the identification of the main themes linked with different value for money ratings.
1 December 2020 in Journal of Destination Marketing & Management
Purpose: The concept of camping has changed over time, with new niche markets appealing to sustainable tourists. Glamping – short for “glamorous camping” – offers a way to experience the positive aspects of camping while minimising the negatives. This paper aims to present the empirical findings of an exploratory study that examined tourists’ Web-reviews to identify the expressive dimensions that describe these travellers’ experience.Design/methodology/approach: A content analysis of Web reviews provided by tourists on glamping booking websites produced a battery of concepts used to assess glamping experiences from the guests’ perspective. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used.Findings: The analysis identified 11 themes: experience, hotel, learn, host, camping, nature, food, ingredients, different, eco and yoga. The results reveal that, when quality of experience is evaluated through user-generated content, two attributes appear to be involved – functional elements offered by service providers and consumers’ emotional elements.Originality/value: Web-reviews clearly offer important information to managers in the glamping sector. The present study’s analysis revealed that different market segments (i.e. couples, visitors with families or friends and those travelling alone) share certain aspects of glamping experiences.