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Although cross-cultural interactions and cultural bubbles have been researched extensively in tourism, these issues have often been viewed one-sidedly. More precisely, in contemporary literature, cultural bubbles are mostly considered one-sided biases that prevent tourists from fully enjoying the culture of their hosts. Besides that, it is important to bear in mind that a tourist offer itself is also formed from the perspectives of tourism experience designers and tourism managers. Therefore, it is important to consider how the perception of a tourist offer is distorted by looking from inside the bubble of tourist culture. This paper highlights managers' cultural biases in designing tourist experiences, which have often been overlooked in cross-cultural tourism studies. It is crucial to have this discussion now so that the global tourist industry can continue to provide local experiences, as tourism managers and employees in the sector are increasingly interacting with people from diverse cultural contexts. This might be beneficial for the cultural expression of destinations, on the one hand, as well as for providing more valuable experiences for tourists, on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism development can strongly affect purpose of land use at the destination and in surrounding areas. However, the effects of development in tourism destination cannot be easily visible and proven. Sometimes indicators of tourism development do not show its significant impact, but the structural changes are occurring and they affect land use. The aim of this paper is to employ methodology for assessing effects of development on land-use changes in tourism destination. Proposed methodology includes combination of the use of publically available geographical data, geographical information systems and landscape metrics. The applicability of this approach has been investigated in test region of Čajetina municipality (south-western part of the Republic of Serbia), where tourism industry has flourished in last decades. Time series of maps (2000 and 2006) have been obtained from CORINE land cover project. Landscape metrics for area, size and density have been calculated for the entire test region and for tourism destination at patch and class levels. The results showed significant effects of development on land use changes in investigated tourism area comparing to its surroundings.

Many technologically driven societies currently experience a "pandemic of loneliness". The purpose of this viewpoint paper is to conceptualize loneliness as a persistent and widespread issue among consumers that has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic and increasingly spills over into the travel and tourism domain. This issue creates many challenges for smart tourism design as it implies changed consumer perspectives on smart tourism and needs for smart tourist experiences. This viewpoint paper is based on a review of relevant academic literature and online resources regarding the issue of loneliness, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and potential solutions in smart tourism settings. Loneliness has been completely overlooked by the smart tourism research agenda despite its tremendous implications for engagement, value co-creation, and the need for experience enhancement. This viewpoint paper proposes a framework for designing a loneliness-sensitive smart tourism ecosystem (LoSSTE). The purpose of this paper is to start a debate on how to mobilize smart tourism research for combating loneliness in the post-pandemic era and to outline areas for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slow tourism is a type of alternative tourism that promotes the tourist experience by slowing down the pace, protecting the environment and improving of the tourist experience quality by engaging tourists with the place. It is a new idea that is gaining acceptance worldwide. This study is a reflection on how this type of tourism might grow in Vojvodina. The first goal of this study was to examine the characteristics of tourists who visited Vojvodina and to examine which destinations in Vojvodina are the most visited. Finally, the primary objective of the article was to investigate the motives travelers choose to travel to Vojvodina. Based on the research data of 243 participants who visited destinations in Vojvodina, two factors that motivate tourists (research and leisure) were identified, using the Exploratory Factor Analysis. Future studies on this subject in the surrounding countries can take advantage of the research methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In order to make recommendations for the diversification of tourism products on the Thai island of Phuket, this paper applies the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to rank the attractiveness of six cultural heritage sites in the island of Phuket to make recommendations for sites that could be incorporated in to cultural tourism development in the region. In addition, it applies a quantitative-qualitative evaluation structure with weighted criteria, based on local expert opinion. The research identified which of the many potential cultural tourism sites would be the most attractive to tourists and shows the utility of the AHP method, combined with quantitative-qualitative evaluation, for decision making in tourism destination development contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]