KJC Korea
Journal Central

This study aims to provide a technically necessary reference value for producing immersive content in virtual tourism. In order to estimate the size of responsiveness of immersive content for VR tourism, the size of the responsiveness regarding animation, narration, and dynamics (the three properties that have the most significant influence on the number of views) were used in this study. One hundred fifty-two 360° VR videos posted on YouTube were purposively selected and they were compared in terms of responsiveness by simultaneously performing the estimation formula according to the Pythagorean definition and the cut-off point of Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve analysis. The results of the analyses showed that animation was the most significant discriminating power as a diagnostic tool. It elicited the most robust viewer responses out of all the virtual tourism immersive contents. This indicates that videos with added animation enhance storytelling and viewer immersion. Although the narration and dynamics had relatively weak predictive power, it still demonstrated a significant predicting power for an increase in the number of views. Throughout this study, numerical estimation and objective analyses of realistic types were possible. In addition, ROC research turned out to be a useful diagnostic tool in examining the predictive power for immersive content in virtual tourism.

Recently, hotel companies have been struggling with low economic growth, population decline and the oversupply of hotel markets. In particular, hotels are expected to suffer from external threats such as COVID-19. In this situation, the role of online word of mouth is becoming more important due to the influence of the Internet. While the importance of online reviews is emphasized from the perspective of hotel managers, current online review studies in the hospitality industry have been conducted primarily from the user's perspective and not many studies address online reviews from the perspective of hotel managers. Therefore, this study seeks to explore factors affecting ranking on TripAdvisor, one of the online review platforms. To present implications for the effective online review management strategy of the hotel. we attempted to explore the perspectives of hotel managers rather than the perspective of hotel customers A total of 103 hotel data were collected and the fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) was applied to analyze the data, resulting in a total of 4 types of patterns. We discovered four strategies to increase the rankings of TripAdvisor. First, in the case of a large hotel whose location is far from the airport, it is necessary to focus on the positive reviews. Second, if the latest number of reviews was not large, the manager's response was the most important regardless of the size or location of the hotel. Third, when the location of the hotel was close to the airport, manager's response was the most important. Lastly, in the case of a large hotel, it was most important to focus on the number of latest reviews. Based on the above strategy, practical implications for hotels to increase TripAdvisor's rankings were drawn and future research directions were presented.

Due to the recent impact of COVID-19, the form of conventions has changed rapidly to non-contact form. To adapt to trend changes, various attempts are underway in industries. Particularly, online convention has become the most common and universal form of non-face-to-face convention. The purpose of this study was to explore key factors of online convention service quality using a qualitative study method. Participants in the in-depth interview were 10 MICE industry workers who have experience in planning or operating online conventions from September 2020 to January 2021. Interviews were analyzed through the Colaizzi's phenomenological qualitative research method. A total of 71 formulated meanings were extracted based on meaningful answers from interviewees, of which 23 themes, 11 theme clusters and five categories were derived. Five categories were divided into 'quality of presenters and contents', 'quality of online convention platform', 'quality of digital environment', 'quality of service' and 'quality of marketing'. While some of the derived themes were similar to previous studies about service quality factors, this study verified the importance of the quality of speakers and contents, online platform, and digital environment quality that can replace face-to-face events.

The Korean government segmented adults aged 50 to 69 as ‘new middle-aged’ in 2017. This segment used to be considered as ‘the elderly’. However, the ‘new middle-aged’ have shown their active social participation based on their high economic power and education level. One of the remarkable phenomena among the new-middle aged women was their fandom activities toward the singers of the popular Korean trot contest program titled ‘Tomorrow is Mr. Trot’. Based on their sense of belonging and connectedness, they often obtain vitality in life from the fandom community. In this context, this study examined the structural relationships between fandom activities, social support, and meaning in life among new middle-aged women. A total of 312 samples were collected from the new middle-aged women who are active members of the online fan communities of the seven singers from ‘Tomorrow is Mr. Trot’. Findings showed that the fandom activities were divided into individual fandom activities and social fandom activities, and both individual and social fandom activities were founded to be the significant predictors that influenced social support. Social support showed significant positive effect on both dimensions of the meaning in life: presence of meaning and search for meaning. This study has theoretical implications in that it newly divided fandom activities into individual and social fandom activities, and expanded the target of fandom research from teenagers to new middle ages. It also offers practical implications for the entertainment industry and governments to enhance the understanding of the fandom activities as leisure among new middle-aged women.

This study explores the decision-making process of travel with pet dogs based on the Model of Goal-directed Behavior (MGB). In particular, the relationship between owner and dog was added as an extension variable of the MGB. The simplicity of the model and understanding of the model were also improved by employing high-order factor analysis in this study. An online survey using SNS were conducted to those who have owned dogs. A total of 220 samples were collected, and data were analyzed using structural equation model. The results revealed that attitude toward travel with pet dogs and positive anticipated emotion to travel with pet dogs positively influenced desire to travel with pet dogs. The relationship between owner and dog positively influenced desire and intention to travel with pet dogs. High-order factor analysis generated six factors of the relationships between owner and dog such as symbiotic relationship, dog-oriented self-concept, anthropomorphism, activity, specialty purchase, and willingness to adapt. However, subjective norm of traveling with dogs, perceived behavioral control of traveling with dogs and negative anticipated emotion toward travel with dogs did not affect desire to travel with dogs. This study structurally identified decision making process of traveling with dogs and it has made a significant contribution to the field by identifying the relationship between owners and dogs using a high-order factor analysis. Practical implications were suggested for infrastructure construction for travelers with dogs and for developing tourism products associated with pet dogs.

This study examined the relationship between hotel customers’ behavior intention and selection attributes of online hotel reservation channels. The type of online hotel reservation channels was first investigated, and customers’ selection attributes were reviewed through previous literature. Then, online surveys were administrated, and the responses toward selection attributes of online hotel reservation channels, behavior intention, and demographic information were collected. A total of 298 responses were used for the analyses. The results showed that trust, ease of use, information/content, and customer service, which were the selection attribute of hotel customers’ online hotel reservation channels, had positive effects on the customers’ reuse intention. Also, information/content, promotion, and customer service were found to have positive effect on the customers’ recommendation and word-of-mouth intention. However, no significant difference was found in responses of reservation channel selection attribute and behavior intention according to the reservation channel types. It is noticeable that this study reports the latest information about online hotel reservation channels. This study also provides viable and practical recommendations for management of online hotel reservation channels such as homepage and mobile applications.

The global pandemic has led to a ban on tourism activities between countries. Personal experiential camping has become a popular tourism activity after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigated the impacts of campers’ overall image of a camping destination on their perceived place attachment, place identity, and their intentions to revisit. Gender was proposed as a moderating variable in this study. An online survey was conducted with individuals who experienced camping from January to December 2020. The results showed that campers’ perception of amenities and safety significantly affected their camping destination's overall image. In addition, overall image that the campers had made a positive (+) effect on their place attachment and identity. In regards to moderating effect of gender, the results did not show a significant difference between men and women in terms of forming overall camping destination image. However, the invariance model results showed that, for women, amenities and safety perception were essential factors in the formation of a camping site's overall image. This study suggests that camping destination managers should expand amenities and safety facilities to help form a positive image of the destination. Moreover, they should induce camping tourists' intentions to revisit based on their camping place attachment and identity.

Even though wellness tourism is attracting attention as a new high value-added tourism industry in Korea, the researches in this area are still insufficient. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between motivation, satisfaction, and behavioral intention of wellness tourists. A survey was conducted with visitors to the Seogwipo Healing Forest in Jeju in May 2021. A total of 295 samples were used for final data analysis. Findings showed that leisure and rest motivation of wellness tourists had a significant effect on the satisfaction about the wellness tour. Moreover, it was found that nature experience motivation of wellness visitors had a significant effect on satisfaction. However, physical activity motivation and sociability motivation of wellness visitors did not have a significant effect on their satisfaction about the wellness travel. Finally, satisfaction of wellness visitors was found to have a significant effect on their revisit intention. The results of this study will serve as basic data that can be used for wellness tourism marketers when developing tourism products in the era of COVID-19.