01-02 / 2020 / Volume 9

The abundant use of the Internet and mobile technologies while traveling leaves a digital footprint in the form of big data that can be tracked. Big data bring information about spatial visitor behaviour that is valuable for strategic destination management. Big data enrich not only scientific fields (e. g. management, marketing, or geography) with their knowledge, but also represent the invention of new tools for their actual processing. Generally, big data are considered as a strategic tool enhancing the competitiveness of a destination. The paper presents the basic characteristics of big data and reviews research focused on big data in tourism. Moreover, it identifies its potential for tourism from both the theoretical and methodological point of view. The final part deals with current trends in using the big data in tourism and its application in destination management. The future trends of big data in the context of destination management are implied as well.

The main objective of the heritage interpretation is communication and dissemination of scientific knowledge generated around a certain site. Therefore, this article aims to demonstrate that the use of an adequate interpretation methodology contributes to improving a mere aesthetic experience through greater learning outcomes, more intense emotional binding, higher awareness of the heritage conservation and overall satisfaction with the visit. Thus, the heritage interpretation has become a critical tool for creating competitive cultural or nature-based tourism services and products providing hosting destinations with attractive tourism offers. The methods of this study include a literature review, which summarises the findings of different research projects assessing the relationship between the aforementioned variables. The main conclusions drawn from this review are that there exist adequate methodologies for the heritage interpretation, which contribute to improve learning outcomes, improved tourist satisfaction and emotional experiences during the visit.

Agrotourism industry has contributed immensely to economy of many developing nations, especially in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. This forms a basis for these research findings aimed at assessing the potential of agrotourism in Obasanjo Farm and Oakfield farm for improving the livelihood of immediate communities. This study employed a multiple research instrument while theoretical and specific practical approaches were used in the identification and classification of the potential agrotourism activities using a thematic qualitative, descriptive quantitative and SWOT analysis. The results show that 71% of the respondents have basic knowledge of agrotourism. The Likert scale shows that the respondents completely agreed (4.52) that agrotourism is beneficial to people and equally agreed (4.56) on the need to develop it. Recommendations are drawn from the SWOT analysis on the need for farm management to strengthen available opportunities through incorporating agrotourism activities with other farming activities, while addressing the environmental threats and organisational weaknesses.

A geopark mission does not consists just of presenting and interpreting the geological phenomena and processes, but it also includes conservation and sustainable use of the natural resources as well as understanding and supporting the local people and their culture. For sure, the geology of the area determinates the local flora and fauna as well as the local life style. On different examples, this case study presents how the Nature and Geopark Styrian Eisenwurzen is involving local people to protect the local geoheritage and natural resources as well as to raise its visibility and touristic attraction. It shows that the traditional local production can contribute both to the landscape conservation and geoheritage interpretation, and that the application of participatory management and ABC interpretive concept can affect all that in a synergic way.

Either due to religious and spiritual motivations or to personal ones, religious pilgrimages have become increasingly popular during the last decades. The article proposes a study concerning the motivations of pilgrims who travel to Iasi every year in October to attend a religious event organized in the city. The main goal of this paper is to present the results of the research concerning the main travel motivations of pilgrims. The issue is whether their socio-demographic profile influences their travel motivations and the extent to which pilgrims’ satisfaction is determined by the travel motivations they declare. This is quantitative research which uses a questionnaire survey, based on the data provided by 441 respondents. The results are important for the scholars in religious tourism and for destination managers who use this kind of data to improve their planning and organisational activities of such events.