rss_2.0Sciendo RSS Feed for Czech Journal of Tourismhttps://sciendo.com/journal/CJOThttps://www.sciendo.comhttps://sciendo-parsed.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/6471508a2b88470fbea16aaa/cover-image.jpghttps://sciendo.com/journal/CJOT140216https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2023-0004<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>This study aimed to find out the effect of interpretive signs on visitors’ behaviour and satisfaction at Lekki Conservation Center, Lagos State. Direct observation and well-structured questionnaire; directed at 200 respondents were used to obtain primary data at the site. Data was analysed descriptively and inferentially. Results revealed different forms of interpretive signages available at the site as well as their location. Also, the visitors were aware of interpretive signages at the site, and they comply with these signages. Furthermore, results revealed the effect of interpretive signages on visitors’ behaviour which showed “The interpretive signages are helpful” had the highest mean value (4.52). There is significant relationship between the visitors’ awareness of interpretive signages and their compliance (r=0.404, P&lt;0.01)), satisfaction (r=0.335, P&lt;0.01) and revisit intention due to interpretive signages (r=0.220, P&lt;0.01). Thus, this study which is valid for domestic tourism concludes that interpretive signages have positive effect on visitors’ behaviour and satisfaction and should therefore be managed well at tourism destinations. Findings from this study will help tourism industry professionals in creating strategies for effective inclusion and management of interpretive signages at tourism sites.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2023-00042024-02-16T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2023-0003<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>During the last three years, significant changes have occurred on the labour market. We focused our research on the development and current state of turnover in tourism, which over the past three years have gone through perhaps the most turbulent period in their existence - the period of restrictive measures to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 disease. The purpose of the research was to focus mainly on the hypothesis there is increasing tendency of turnover in this industry and on the hypothesis, that the priority in the reasons for turnover has changed. We analysed reasons according to employees with intention to point out on their quantification and qualitative definition and comparison with the current development. We chose a structured questionnaire as the research method, which we submitted to employees in the hotel industry who had terminated their employment in the touristic industry in 2022 – 2023 in the Slovak Republic. We expanded on the questionnaire method with a semi-structured and a free interview with managers of operations in the tourism industry. Obtained results are processed into statistical outputs and analysis focused on the reasons with the highest share of employee terminations. We compared our conclusions with previous published statistical findings and also specified some new conclusions that follow the current socio-economic situation. It can help management in tourism eliminate some working conditions that lead to increased employee turnover.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2023-00032024-02-16T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2023-0001<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>In line with the concept of sustainable development, the paper deals with the issue of environmental education and training to increase the awareness of tourism participants of their own responsibility for the practical implementation of sustainable tourism. The aim is to map the behavior of tourism participants and to propose some sustainable behavior principles in the form of a miniguide. The motto of the miniguide is not to simply see travel as just fun, or passive source of information, but as an incentive to learn about nature, culture and customs of local people, to promote and deepen language and other skills, including active protection of the environment. The miniguide might also be an incentive to sustainable tourism development. An important aspect of putting the principles of sustainability into practice is to publish and disseminate these principles so that they become freely available to the general public. That may be through information materials, educational signs, social networks, etc. Spreading awareness of the need to protect nature and the countryside will help to make people aware of their own responsibility for our common future.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2023-00012024-02-16T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2023-0002<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Every region has its unique natural, cultural, and historical wealth, as well as infrastructure, a range of attractions, and business opportunities that can attract a large number of visitors. Developing the potential of tourism in regions is important for stimulating economic growth, job creation, and improving the quality of life for local residents. Its development in regions involves mapping and analyzing available resources, opportunities, and competitive environments. The purpose of this article is to quantify the level of regional tourism development, assess its potential in Slovak regions, and identify their current disparities. For the purposes of this study, we will evaluate the potential of Slovak tourism regions using commonly used indexes - indicators of tourism intensity. The results of the analyses have demonstrated significant disparities among the individual tourism regions. We see that the development in different tourism regions varies greatly, and in some cases, there are pronounced disparities in terms of their development, visitor interest intensity in each region, and the economic benefits of tourism in the regions. These findings have served as the basis for proposing solutions that address the development issues in regions through the impacts of tourism.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2023-00022024-02-16T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2020-0004<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>In recent years, social tourism has been strongly promoted in the EU, including the travel of people with various types of disabilities. The present study analyses travel motivation and barriers to travel for visually impaired people. This analysis is based on several years of research at the Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, then on the personal travel experience of a visually impaired person and the practice of a rehabilitation instructor at Tyfloservis, o.p.s (charitable trust), Hradec Králové, an organization supporting independent living of visually impaired people. The study is also based on interviews with ten visually impaired respondents and their travel experience. SARS-COV-2 is also included as a current barrier to travel.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2020-00042022-04-10T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2020-0003<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>The enormous growth of research and development is accompanied by growing number of scientific publications in recent decades. These publications are collected and processed by a number of digital libraries. Though digital libraries provide basic search tools, more advanced methods such as visualization and visual analysis can be implemented by using special software only. This article presents the possibilities of visual analyzing content of digital libraries using the CiteViz tool developed in Klapka (2013) and shows the implementation using of the Scopus database. Results of testing the implemented solution in selected areas of sustainable tourism and demonstration of the possibilities of the implemented solution are presented at the end of the article.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2020-00032022-04-10T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2020-0001<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Language learning in tourism is increasingly embracing digital technologies for both synchronous and asynchronous content delivery and interaction. Blended learning combining online and traditional face-to-face forms as well as immersive forms such as 3D virtual worlds, where participants may travel as they learn from the comfort of their sofa, offer promising benefits, namely in times of pandemic and other turbulent events. Involving culturally and geographically distant tutors in the learning process may increase learners’ motivation as well as satisfaction, provided that the course curricula and lesson plans utilize the potential by appropriate selection of activities. Despite all the potential benefits, however, troubles caused by the increased complexity of digitally enhanced courses may ruin learners’ experience. The paper provides a conceptual basis for a systemic approach in planning, creating, and delivering courses, considering both technical and psychological aspects, which may assist in the prevention or mitigation of the challenges. To provide a relevant context, presentations of several language schools are briefly examined. The study of changes in their presentations between 2014 and 2021, in the light of web search trends, provides an additional glimpse into the evolution of the adoption and perception of relevant forms of education and technologies, further supporting the necessity of a systematic approach. Experience from three separate projects implementing innovative language courses collected both qualitatively and quantitatively via questionnaires is summarized, pointing out both successes and challenges.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2020-00012022-04-10T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2020-0005<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Growing tourism in environmentally protected areas brings pressure not only on nature and ecosystems, but also on their management. This paper focuses on main conflicts connected with transport and mobility of tourists and environment protection in these areas, and tools to solve the identified problems. The research is based on data obtained from structured interviews with representatives of administrations of 26 PLAs (protected landscape areas) and 4 NPs (national parks) in the Czech Republic. Another 45 key stakeholders were interviewed in three case study areas (PLA Jizerské hory, PLA Moravský kras, and NP České Švýcarsko together with PLA Labské pískovce). Our results indicate that sustainable mobility of visitors and sustainable tourism have a high potential, but that a system supporting relevant economic activities, together with good information and promotion, should be created. The paper also suggests mobility plans for these areas as a promising strategic tool.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2020-00052022-04-10T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2020-0002<abstract> <title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> <p>Nowadays, health tourism has emerged as a multi-billion-dollar industry due to the fact that people have frequently traveled in order to improve their wellbeing. The internationalization of health tourism has also motivated production and consumption of healthcare services as well as increased variety of intermediaries and ancillary goods and services to support this sector. Although the significant benefits of health tourism, its actual contribution to economic growth and related issues have remained ambiguous. Therefore, this paper aims to: (i) Discuss the potential economic aspects of health tourism based on the published figures of major destinations in Asia Pacific with an international focus and (ii) Examine the economic risks related to health tourism that either directly or indirectly harm the process of economic growth. The results indicate that development of health tourism satisfies patients’ demand for high quality healthcare at competitive prices, boosts the value of foreign exchange inflow and expands job opportunities. Health tourism services have become the subject of international earnings which has elevated economic opportunities of potential destinations. Besides that, increasing international health tourist flows with high income could evaluate costs of healthcare services, brain drain of healthcare professionals, inequitable health care access. Additionally, increases in international traveling might produce a new economic burden of communicable diseases, environmental degradation; brokers and organ transplants associated with black-market in some destinations. Hence, sustainability and responsibility have been considered as key criteria in the health tourism industry in order to improve tourists’ health performance and maximize benefits for local communities. Such economic analysis also enables us to evaluate benefits and losses from health tourism development and track the balance of trade around this economic sector.</p> </abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2020-00022022-04-10T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-0007<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title><p>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.</p></abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-00072021-01-29T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-0008<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title><p>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.</p></abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-00082021-01-29T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-0009<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title><p>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.</p></abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-00092021-01-29T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-0006<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title><p>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.</p></abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-00062021-01-29T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-0010<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title><p>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.</p></abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-00102021-01-29T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-0002<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title><p>Competitiveness of the country is a very important factor, especially in the area of tourism. Tourism is one of the most important and most rapidly growing economy sectors, which faces the challenges and possibilities of globalization. The travel and tourism sector is widely recognized as an important factor for the regional development. This enables the country to be successful in the world market and for tourists. To measure the competitiveness of travel and tourism, we used various indexes. One of them is the Travel &amp; Tourism Competitiveness Index, published by the World Economic Forum. The aim of this paper is to analyse the travel and tourism competitiveness in selected countries. According to their performance, we identified the best travel and tourism country. In addition, we focused on strengths and weaknesses of the analysed countries to improve their competitiveness position in the future.</p></abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-00022020-02-24T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-0003<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title><p>There are not many European countries with such a significant share of the capital city on tourism (especially incoming tourism) as the Czech Republic. The number of foreign tourists grows significantly in the Czech Republic and so does the share of Prague. All marketing campaigns aiming to get foreign tourists beyond Prague ended inefficiently. The share of Prague on the number of tourists accommodated in standard accommodation facilities per the total number of tourists in the Czech Republic is 62%. Prague is also the only region with a higher number of foreign tourists in comparison with the number of the Czech tourists (85% of tourists in Prague are foreigners). Furthermore, the offer of sharing economy in the field of accommodation in Prague also exceeds the offer of other Czech cities. Prague is therefore struggling with overtourism in some attractive areas and must deal with unsustainable development.</p></abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-00032020-02-24T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-0001<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title><p>This paper investigates the perceptions and practices of managers of the tourism sector with regards to change management. It has been suggested that change management is an inevitable element for tourism businesses to increase their speed of response to market and competitive changes. Logically, it can be argued that tourism managers are best placed to initiate and facilitate this change. The primary data were obtained through a survey, carried out in tourist agencies in the Republic of North Macedonia and evaluated by using the tools of descriptive statistics and the methods of comparison, induction, deduction and synthesis. The key findings indicate that the majority of the respondents were familiar with the term change management and they implemented the change management practices. However, work still needs to be done to help the remaining companies to understand the necessity of changing the paradigm. Regarding the practical implications, this paper can serve as a stepping stone for future research that can uncover the potential, experiences and outcomes of change management in the tourism sector in the country.</p></abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-00012020-02-24T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-0005<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title><p>The purpose of this paper is to make conceptual analysis support of the travelling of people with disabilities by using mobile technologies. Based on the conducted qualitative research, an analysis of the requirements for LBSs (local based services) to support the safe travel of people with health disabilities in the context of price and energy consumption optimization has been done. It was accompanied by the conceptual analysis of the use of the LBS to support the safe travel for people with disabilities in both individual and collective tourism. The concept of the application, which will fulfil all discussed requirements, was created. It is based on the analysis of the requirements for safe travel of disabled persons, analysis of available mobile technologies, and analysis of dynamic health assessment options by using neural networks. The presented concept includes the key components of a solution: procedures for reactive and preventive care and individualization of the system settings according to the specific needs.</p></abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-00052020-02-24T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-0004<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title><p>The increasing importance of tourism and the growing number of tourists put pressure on tourist destinations. To support competitive and sustainable tourism development, it is advisable to focus on alternative forms of tourism in order to diversify tourism options in the destinations. From this point of view, it seems appropriate to deal with the issue of ‘Special Interest Tourism’ as a form of ‘alternative’, ‘ethical’, or ‘environmentally responsible’ tourism. The paper reflects the urgent need for sustainable tourism research. The aim of the paper is to provide the introduction and overview of the issue and outline perspectives that may open the way to future, more systematic research. The situation in the Czech Republic is based on the mapping of the current spatial distribution of selected special interest tourism attractions. The findings identify the possibilities for diversification of general (mass) tourism offers. The metadata from the Czech and foreign metainformation systems and databases are used.</p></abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/cjot-2019-00042020-02-24T00:00:00.000+00:00https://sciendo.com/article/10.1515/cjot-2018-0006<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title><p>Acknowledging the significant advancement of social media, the role and impact of social media has been widely discussed in tourism research. As a result, it has become increasingly difficult to obtain an overview of the knowledge produced in relation to the topic. Review studies provide such overviews to guide future research efforts. This study reviews and analyses 152 tourism-related social media publications since 2008. Based on a qualitative systematic analysis of publications that address the topic from a consumer perspective, the paper identifies publication trends and highlights patterns in the topics, aims, and research designs of existing publications. Specifically, it captures a broader array of consumer-centric topics than previous reviews and highlights methodological gaps. Moreover, the research argues that there is still ample room for more research on social media in tourism, particularly as the existing literature neglects social media beyond review platforms while demonstrating that user-generated content greatly influences tourist behaviours and experiences.</p></abstract>ARTICLEtruehttps://sciendo.com/article/10.1515/cjot-2018-00062019-07-02T00:00:00.000+00:00en-us-1