This study sheds new light on the importance of perceived object-related authenticity for a positive tourism experience. We used a novel method of categorizing tourists based on their objective and constructive authenticity perceptions. The authors hypothesized that authenticity perception type would affect tourists’ positive experiences more than other factors. Specifically, differences among authenticity perception types in existential authenticity, satisfaction, and memorability scores were investigated using on-site surveys. The effect was empirically tested in settings with conflicting characteristics: original and re-created heritage sites in South Korea. The results suggest that tourists had more existentially authentic, satisfactory, and memorable experiences when they perceived the site as more objectively authentic. This had a greater impact on positive experience than setting and authenticity orientations. This study makes theoretical contributions by uncovering the relationality of objective and constructive authenticities, which also has implications for practitioners, as it significantly and positively contributes to tourists’ experiences.

The role of volunteers is an important factor for the sustainability of mega sports events. Key issues in the literature on sports event volunteers are volunteer satisfaction and its determinants and outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of the fulfillment of volunteers’ psychological needs and Volunteer Management Practices (VMP) on overall volunteer satisfaction, and to test their conditional effects depending on volunteer involvement. Additionally, the present study aimed to examine the effects of volunteer satisfaction on future volunteer activity, word-of-mouth, and host city visitation. For these purposes, a survey was conducted with 2442 volunteers in the context of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics in South Korea. The results of a Latent Moderated Structural Equation (LMS) revealed that the fulfillment of volunteers’ general needs and volunteer satisfaction with the VMP have positive effects on overall volunteer satisfaction. Interestingly, these effects were differently moderated by the level of volunteer involvement. Overall volunteer satisfaction was found to positively affect future volunteering intention, spreading positive words regarding sports event volunteering, and intention to visit the host city as tourists. In conclusion, sports event managers need to design an optimal work environment that can fulfill volunteers’ psychological needs and improve VMP to enhance the sustainability of mega sports events.

Religious destinations today are visited by a large number of tourists, whose travel motives may vary from purely religious to purely secular. Diverse motives and on-site experiences are, in turn, causing a shift in the identity perception of these destinations. However, research is still limited regarding the dynamic relationship between travelers’ motivation and the perceived identity of a religious space. Using a theoretical–thematic analysis, this study analyzes the online written accounts of visitors to Camino de Santiago (a route-based pilgrimage site) to understand (i) the motivational and experiential differences among religious versus non-religious travelers, and (ii) the perceived identity of Camino with respect to Smith’s “pilgrimage–tourism continuum”. Despite the increase in secular motives, the majority of travelers showed some form of spiritual connection with Camino. Concurrent with the contemporary shifts in the idea of “religion”, Camino continues to be a religious place driven by inner goals, albeit in a more personal, interpretive, and “spiritual” way.

Understanding the weaknesses and strengths of event attributes plays a significant role in business survivability, specifically the meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE) industry, in which the business environment is competitive. To be in business and survive long-term, service and product offerings must satisfy the needs of clients. In the case of the MICE industry, clients include event organizers, planners, and attendees. Thus, the IPA (importance-performance analysis) was conducted with hopes to provide valuable insight into the MICE industry to identify and evaluate their offering (attributes) that can assist Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs) to establish better operational strategies that maintain their economic sustainability. Furthermore, this study also addressed the event planners and organizers’ perceptions toward the environment and social sustainability, measuring the importance and performance of ecofriendly venues and the availability of disabled access, which showed neither significant importance nor performance. However, as the main purpose of the research was to examine the essential venue selection criteria based on the perceptional lens of the event organizer and planners to MICE operators on achieving business sustainability, the findings of this study provide strategical direction to establish, maintain, and improve their facility, service, and products. The study also finds that there are different needs depending on the types of event organizers and planners.

This study revisits .Plog’s travel personality model in a true experimental setting and tests the model’s predictive power. The specific aim is to examine whether attitudinal and behavioral responses toward a destination vary as a function of the congruity between the tourist’s travel personality and the characteristics of the destination as perceived from an advertising message. The concept of self-congruity serves as a foundation for the theoretical framework. Results indicate message-personality congruity had a significant influence on visit intention via attitudes as mediators. This study provides theoretical implications for the predictive potential of Plog’s model as well as strategic marketing implications for destinations.