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“Aggressive hospitality” is an emergent phenomenon that is yet to be understood in the tourism field. This phenomenon involves social interaction between hosts and guests that imitates a hospitable encounter, but at the same time fails to demonstrate some characteristic(s) inherent to hospitable behavior. The underlying forces of the phenomenon are traced back to imperialism, high tourism dependence of the developing regions, staged authenticity, and the mutual gaze. The study focuses on two cruise destinations in the Caribbean region and utilizes over 1200 online reviews to construct the meaning of the phenomenon. Theoretical insights and practical implications are provided based on the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Travel blogs provide a new way of understanding consumers' perceptions on destination and its associated products. The purpose of this study was to examine international tourists' destination image of China as represented in travel blog discourse. Data were obtained from blog entries relating to trips to China posted on three dominant travel blog websites. Content analysis facilitated by Atlas.ti 6.0 was performed on a total of 89 China-related travel blogs. The study identified the most frequently discussed aspects of tourists' experiences in China. The results also indicated that the blog authors had mixed and paradoxical images of China as identified by previous research. Marketing implications for China's tourism development based on the results were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study assessed the mediating effects of destination image on the relationship between travel constraints and intention to visit. Structural equation modeling identified that destination image mediates between travel constraints and intention to visit, and thereby the negative impact of perceived constraints on intention to visit could be alleviated through the mediating effect of destination image. Thus, travelers can find the means to alleviate travel constraints through a negotiation mechanism. The findings provide practical implications for effective destination marketing programs in that the negative impact from travel constraints can, to a great extent, be mitigated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article investigates traditional decision-making choice models and offers a new way of thinking about the tourist vacation-making intricacies. Specifically, this article examines the interrelationship between affect and cognition in the tourist vacation decision-making process and argues that consumers, during each vacation decision-making task, use both affect and cognitive processes in varying degrees depending on their valence and intensity. The traditional view of decision making posits that the consumer is a rational decision maker who proceeds through a series of prescribed steps before finding an optimal decision solution. However, with the growing prominence on the role of affect, 'hot' aspects of cognition in psychology, and neuroscience investigations, much of the traditional cognitive-dominated theories are being reexamined. A tourist decision-making framework is presented demonstrating the proposed theory and provides understanding to the influences that affect and cognition have on the decision-making process. After delineating these concepts, propositions are presented followed by the Discussion and Conclusions section that summarizes and discusses challenges associated with studying affect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]