Tourist Behavior: Past, Present, and Future

Studying tourist behavior--what tourists do, what their preferences are, etc.--provides helpful information for designing new tourism products, for policymaking, and for developing effective tourism marketing strategies. This informative volume offers a diverse selection of chapters on research related to the customer behavior of tourists.

With chapters from tourism professionals from around the world, the volume presents research work, new perspectives, and case studies of tourist behavior from varied cultural and geographical backgrounds. The volume addresses relationship management at different types of tourist destinations, such as spas and museums; the creation and sustainability of tourism luxury brands; the continuing growing influence of social media and digital technology on tourist choices; gauging tourists’ motivation, satisfaction, and return-trip intentions; the role of tourism activities on destination choice; perspectives and case studies on heritage tourism, and more. The book also includes a chapter on how virtual reality, streaming, and livestreaming during the COVID pandemic affected tourism and goes on to makes predictions for tourist behavior in the post-COVID-19 era.

Narendra Kumar, PhD, is currently associated with the Amity Institute of Travel and Tourism, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, India. He has over 20 years of industry and academic experience. He has been associated with many universities in various capacities and is well-known in the academic fraternity. Dr. Kumar has also good connections in the travel and hospitality industry and has helped many young students in setting up start-ups in India. He is associated with many journals as an advisory member and regularly holds interactive sessions on issues related to the tourism and hospitality industry. The recipient of many intra-departmental recognitions for outstanding contributions to institutional and academic development, Dr. Kumar believes in hard work and dedication towards achieving targets. He is a reviewer of many scientific conferences and international journals, including Current Issues in Tourism.

Bruno Barbosa Sousa, PhD, is Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (IPCA, Portugal) and Head of the Master Program in Tourism Management and PhD Marketing and Strategy. He was a market analyst at Sonae Distribuição, Modelo e Continente, S.A. and he was a marketing assistant for the Jornal O Jogo at Controlinveste. He is author or co-author of several papers. His research interests include tourism management, marketing, and strategy. He is an editorial board member and an ad-hoc reviewer for several peer-reviewed scientific journals. He is also a member of the scientific committees of several national and international congresses and conferences. His awards include Teaching Award of the School of Economics and Management of the University of Minho (2015-2016), Best Thesis in Tourism Award from the International Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Marketing and Consumer Behaviour (2015), among others.

Swati Sharma, PhD, is currently associated with the Amity Institute of Travel and Tourism, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, India. She has 15 years of industry and academic experience and is well-known in the academic community. She has published many papers in journals of repute and has a major interest in events and exhibitions. She has been instrumental in organizing various career-related exhibitions for students. She was awarded her PhD under Prof. Manjula Chaudhary, who is one of the key members of the Indian tourism academic fraternity.