Prelims

Half Title Page

Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing, 2nd Edition

Endorsements

This book twins the topics of tourism planning and destination marketing in a unique way that delivers great value to practitioners, scholars, and students. Drawing upon case studies and other research from around the globe, it is a must-read source for all those with a serious interest in destination management. This innovative text strikes a good balance between the positive and negative impacts of tourism and provides up-to-date insights for those involved with hotels, events, restaurants, spas and well-being, enterprise digitalization, and other aspects of the sector.

–Prof Alastair M. Morrison, PhD, Research Professor, School of Management and Marketing Greenwich Business School, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom.

This title is relevant to those interested and engaged in the planning, marketing and promotion of destinations. This excellent and timely contribution offers a wealth of thought-provoking examples of contemporary tourism development as well as critical insight into the future challenges and opportunities facing the industry. It discusses about changing patterns of tourist behavior, structural changes in the industry, new forms of sustainable tourism and on cutting edge digital strategies. The text makes a valuable and timely addition to the literature and is a must-read for those yearning for deeper knowledge and insight.

–Dr Alan Fyall, Visit Orlando Endowed Chair of Tourism Marketing, University of Central Florida Rosen College of Hospitality Management, Orlando, United States of America.

A timely update to this useful insight into planning and destination marketing. Wide range of international case studies and experiences, demonstrating the multiple levels of planning and marketing for tourism destinations that are required, and how ingenuity and gumption can help governments and industry alike be innovative.

–Xavier Font, Professor, University of Surrey, and Editor in Chief, Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

Title Page

Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing, 2nd Edition

Edited by

Mark Anthony Camilleri

University of Malta, Malta

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL

Second edition 2024

Editorial matter and selection © 2024 Mark Anthony Camilleri.

Individual chapters © 2024 The authors.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80455-889-8 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80455-888-1 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80455-890-4 (Epub)

About the Editor

Mark Anthony Camilleri, PhD, (Edinburgh) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Corporate Communication at the University of Malta, Malta, and a Visiting Academic (Fulbrighter) at NorthWestern University in Evanston, USA. Prof Camilleri was featured among the world's top 2% scientists in an author database of standardized citation indicators, published through Elsevier's Mendeley Data (in 2021 and 2022).

He holds a PhD (Management) from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, an MBA from the University of Leicester, England, and an MSc (Educational Leadership) from the University of Portsmouth, England, as well as other qualifications, including a graduate teaching certificate in education.

Prof Camilleri is regularly engaged as a scientific expert, reviewer or as a foreign member of expert teams of various (national) research councils in Europe. He has been recognized as an “excellent reviewer” as well as a “top peer reviewer” by Publons. In 2022, he was awarded a Literati Award by Emerald, for his “outstanding reviews”.

He is an Associate Editor of

• Business Strategy and the Environment

• International Journal of Hospitality Management

• Sustainable Development

• Business Ethics, the Environment and Responsibility

He is a Member in the Advisory Board of

• Journal of Family Business Management

He is a Social Media Editor of

• Tourism Planning and Development (Journal).

He is a Member in the Editorial Board of

• Anatolia: An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research

• Corporate Communications: An International Journal

• Interactive Technology and Smart Education

• International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

• International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility

• International Journal of Electronic Trade

• International Journal of Tourism Cities

• Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

• Technology, Knowledge and Learning (Journal)

He is a Member in the following Conference Committees

• Asia Conference on Computers and Communications – ACCC

• Asia Conference on Communications, Signal Processing and Information Technology – CSPIT

• International Conference on Big Data and Computational Intelligence – BDCI

• International Conference on Digital Media and Information Processing – DMIP

• International Conference on E-Education, E-Business, E-Management and E-Learning – IC4E

• International Conference on E-Education, E-Business and E-Technology – ICEBT

• International Conference on E-Society, E-Learning and E-Technologies – ICSLT

• International Conference on Education and Service Sciences – ICESS

• International Conference on Education and Training Technologies – ICETT

• International Conference on Education Development and Studies – ICEDS

• International Conference on Educational Technology – ICET

• International Conference of Machine Learning Technologies – ICMLT

• International Conference on Modern Educational Technology – ICMET

• Mediterranean Tourism Knowledge Exchange and Policy Forum – MED LIFE

• Tourism, Hospitality & Events International Conference – THE INC

He published more than 100 articles (through Scopus), including in

• Business Strategy and the Environment

• Corporate Social Responsibility and Environment Management

• European Journal of Innovation Management

• Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology

• Journal of Services Marketing

• Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development

• Service Business

• Sustainable Development

• Technology in Society

• Total Quality Management and Business Excellence

He authored/edited the following highly cited books, among others.

• Strategic Corporate Communication and Stakeholder Engagement in the Digital Age (Emerald)

• The Branding of Tourist Destinations. Theoretical and Empirical Insights (Emerald)

• Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing (Emerald)

• Corporate Sustainability, Social Responsibility and Environmental Management: An Introduction to Theory and Practice with Case Studies (Springer)

• Travel Marketing, Tourism Economics and the Airline Product (Springer)

He is a member of the Academy of Management and former member of the Academy of Marketing Sciences, American Marketing Association, American Psychology Association, as well as of the British Academy of Management. He published conference papers in the proceedings of the Academy of Management (AOM2018), Academy of Marketing Sciences (AMS2019), American Marketing Association (AMA2014, AMA2015), and in the British Academy of Management (BAM2017, BAM2018), among others.

About the Contributors

Ginevra Addis is an Adjunct Professor of Systems for the Management of Contemporary Art at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, where she has also been working as an Adjunct Professor and Faculty Member in the Master of Arts Management program since 2017. She holds a PhD in Analysis and Management of Cultural Heritage from the IMT School for Advanced Studies, Italy. She published a book with the European Press Academic Publishing and several contributions for journals, and in book chapters published by Edward Elgar, Ledizione Press, Accademia University Press, and Postmedia Books.

Mohammed Ashraf is a Junior Research Fellow at the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. He served as an Ad hoc Faculty member of staff at the Department of Tourism Studies, Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod. He has authored two books for the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE's) vocational subject on tourism. He published research articles and edited books in national and international journals. His research interest areas are consumer behavior, dark tourism, transformational experiences, and tourist psychology.

Kamel Ben Youssef is a Certified Professor of Business Management at the IUT of Ville d' Avray. He teaches Marketing and Business Strategy at the University of Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense (UFR des Sciences Economiques Gestion Mathématiques Informatique). He has also been a Visiting Professor of Business Strategy at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Turin and of Strategic Design at the Polytechnic School of Milan, at the ISD of Valenciennes and at the IAE of Toulouse. His work at CEROS (Research Center on Organizations and Strategy) of Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense focuses on design management and consumer behavior.

Hardik Bhadeshiya is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Commerce and Business Management under the faculty of Commerce at The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. He is the holder of prolific academic accolades like MCom, MBA, MA (Economics), UGC-NET (Commerce and Management), SLET(Commerce), PhD (Commerce). He acquired more than 10 years of academic, research, and administrative experience. He authored five books and published 18 research papers published in well-known Scopus/Web of Science/UGC Care Listed journals and three Research articles in peer-reviewed ISBN Journal proceedings. One of his papers was published in the Indian Journal of Finance (Scopus Indexed). Currently, he is a PhD Research Supervisor, and is currently supporting four students.

Soniya Billore is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University, Sweden. She earned her PhD from Keio University, Japan as a Monbukagakusho scholar. Her research areas are Marketing, Cultural consumption and practices, and Consumerism and Innovation. Soniya was awarded the Top cited paper award from Wiley publishers in 2021 and 2022, the Emerald Literati Award for Highly commended paper in 2020, and at the Annual Emerging Scholar Award by WAIB in 2010. Soniya has taught and researched extensively in India and Japan and with various European grants such as the Urban Innovative Actions (UIA), an initiative of the European Union.

Antonio Botti, PhD, is an Associate Professor of management at the University of Salerno and he is Affiliate Research Fellow at the IPAG Business School, Parigi. He is member of several committee, in particular he is: Associate Editor for Journal of Small Business Management (Print ISSN: 0047-2778 – Online ISSN: 1540-627X), Associate Editor for Journal of the International Council for Small Business (JICSB) (Print ISSN: 2643-7015 Online ISSN: 2643-7023), member of the Editorial Board of Science Journal of Business and Management (ISSN Print: 2331-0626 ISSN Online: 2331-0634), member of the Editorial Board of The Journal of Management and Economic Studies, (ISSN 2667-6125), and member of Editorial Board of Mecosan (ISSN 1121-6921).

Danilo Brozović is an Associate Professor in Business Administration at the University of Skövde, Sweden. His research interests include sustainability, perspectives on value creation, organizational resilience, and strategic flexibility. His work has appeared in Business Strategy and the Environment, British Journal of Management, International Journal of Management Reviews, Management Decision, Futures, Tourism: An International Interdisciplinary Journal, and Journal of Service Theory and Practice, among others.

Raffaele Campo, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Management and Marketing at University of Bari (Italy) – Department of Economics and Finance – where he has taught Food Marketing and currently teaches International Marketing. His main research interests are Food and Sensory Marketing, Marketing to Kids, and Consumer Behavior. He is member of the Advisory Committee of the PhD course of Multisensory Engineering (Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotà, Colombia). He published, with scholars from Europe, America, and Asia, in journals like Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Business Horizons, and British Food Journal.

José Ramón Cardona received a PhD in Business Economics at the University of the Balearic Islands (Spain). He was a Lecturer at University of Zaragoza, Pablo de Olavide University, University of the Balearic Islands, and University of Santiago de Compostela, and visiting researcher at Pablo de Olavide University and University of Seville. He is a member of two research groups: Business Management and Tourist Destinations (University of the Balearic Islands) and Tourist Experience (University of A Coruña). He is also a Lecturer of Tourism Management in the University College of Ibiza Island Council (affiliated to the University of the Balearic Islands).

Nimit Chowdhary is a Professor of Tourism at the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Jamia Millia Islamia, India. He researches tourism, service/experiences, and entrepreneurship, among other focuses. He is a recipient of many awards and fellowships. In addition, he has supervised 23 PhDs, authored 15 books, edited nine, and contributed more than 225 papers and chapters.

Oliver Cruz-Milán is an Associate Professor in the College of Business at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He received a PhD in Business Administration (Marketing) from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and has teaching experience at undergraduate and graduate levels in universities of the United States and Mexico. His research focuses on marketing and consumer behavior in services and tourism-related settings, which has appeared in publications such as the Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management, the Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, among others. He is member of the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (SNI-1) in Mexico.

Joseph Daitai is a Lecturer in the Department of Rural Development at Great Zimbabwe University, Masvingo Zimbabwe. He holds an Honors Degree and a Masters in Development Studies (from Fort Hare University) and a PhD in Development Studies (UKZN). His areas of research include local governance and service provision, social protection, community development, and poverty.

Anna D'auria is an Assistant Professor of Management at the University of Naples “L'Orientale”. She currently teaches International Management and was a visiting Professor in Business Administration and Tourism Marketing at the University of Jaén (Spain) from 2016 till 2019. She participated in national and international conferences, published books on Tourism management and Innovation and sustainability, and book chapters and papers on Smart innovation and Tourism on national and international journals, such as Journal of Service Theory and Practice, International Journal of Public Service Management, and Sustainability Science. Her main areas of research are sustainable development and sustainable cities, international business, tourism and destination management, innovation and smart cities.

Anna Dłużewska is a Professor on Tourism and Hospitality at Maria Curie Sklodowska University, Lublin and Kazimierz Wielki University, Bydgoszcz (Poland). She is also an honorary research Associate at Durban University of Technology (South Africa). Her main research interest includes responsible tourism (management and marketing) with special focus on the sociocultural impact of tourism on host destinations (and local residents). She has also acquired relevant experiences in international humanitarian projects (e.g., by UNESCO or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland). She was co-chair for the working group “Toward Research informed Policies” in the COST action “Tourism, well-being and ecosystem services” (IS1204).

Marta Massi, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Athabasca University, Canada. She was Researcher at the Cattolica del Sacro Cuore University and Lecturer at McGill University. Her research focuses on consumer behavior, digital marketing, and branding. She has published her research on outlets such as International Journal of Market Research, Journal of Strategic Marketing, and Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing. Most recently, she edited the Routledge book Digital Transformation in the Cultural and Creative Industries. Production, Consumption and Entrepreneurship in the Digital Economy and Sharing.

Aurelio Mauri is an Associate Professor of Economics and Business Management. He is a member of the presidency of quality at IULM UNIVERSITY, former vice president of the evaluation board and a member of the Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale, and of the Società Italiana di Management. Professor Mauri taught at several universities in Italy and abroad.

Sweety Mishra is a Junior Research Fellow with the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi. She is graduated with a Bachelor of Computer Application from Jaipur National University and completed her Postgraduation in Master of Travel and Tourism Management from Banaras Hindu University. She has worked in the tourism industry for one year. Her research interest are – Entrepreneurship, Women Entrepreneurship, Gender Studies, Women Empowerment, and Tourism Mindfulness. She has authored two books for CBSE's vocational subject on tourism.

Antonella Monda, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Management at the Tor Vergata University of Rome, Department of Management and Law, Rome, Italy. She holds a PhD in Management and Information Technology. Antonella is a Member of the LISA Lab (Laboratory in Innovative Entrepreneurship and Academic Spinoffs), University of Salerno, Italy. Her research interests include technology and innovation across fields and issues, and entrepreneurship, with a specific focus on the creation and development of innovative start-ups.

Oliver Mtapuri is a Full Professor in Development Studies at the School of Built Environment and Development in College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN), Durban South Africa. He has a PhD in Development studies (UKZN). His areas of research interest include poverty, redistribution and inequality, community-based tourism, public employment programmes, research methodologies, climate change, and project management.

Serena Nasino is an Independent Researcher in Cultural Tourism and Destination Marketing. She has conducted research on art hotels at the Bellarmine University, Louisville, USA, within the Exchange Program in Arts Administration. She has recently graduated cum laude, obtaining her MA degree in Economics and Management of Art, Culture, and Entertainment at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan with a thesis on the art hotels, investigating their new role in the current international contemporary art system. She currently works in Melbourne, Australia, in the marketing field.

Abhisek Porya is a Junior Research Fellow in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi, India. Abhisek holds an MBA (Tourism) and an MA in Geography and Environment Management. He has presented many papers at international conferences and published an article in a SCOPUS-indexed journal. His research interests include rural tourism, society, destination management, and sustainable tourism.

Urvashi Prajapati is a Temporary Teaching Assistant in the Department of Commerce and Business Management under the faculty of Commerce at The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. She is the holder of profile academic accolades like MCom (Human Resources Management), and a PhD Scholar. She has presented one research paper in an international seminar.

Monika Prakash is a Professor at the North India Campus of Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM), Noida. She also heads the IITTM South India Campus. She is currently leading the prestigious Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Programme (IITFP) of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. She is a researcher, trainer, and academic administrator.

Pierfelice Rosato, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Management and Marketing at University of Bari (Italy) – Department of Economics and Finance –where he is the Director of the Masters' Degree in Strategic Management and Digital Marketing. He teaches Marketing Management, Entrepreneurship, and Cultural Institutions Management. His main research interests are: Tourism Management, Tourism Sustainability, Hospitality, Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Marketing. He published in different outlets such as Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Ecological Indicators, and British Food Journal.

Rauno Rusko is a Lecturer at the University of Lapland. His research activities focus on cooperation, coopetition, strategic management, digitizing and social media, supply chain management, and entrepreneurship mainly in the branches of information communication technology, forest industry, and tourism. In addition to several book chapters, his articles appeared in the European Management Journal, Forest Policy and Economics, International Journal of Business Environment, Industrial Marketing Management, International Journal of Innovation in the Digital Economy, and International Journal of Tourism Research among others.

Ruggero Sainaghi holds a PhD in Management from St. Gallen University (Switzerland) and is an Associate Professor at IULM University in Milan. His research interests include competitive strategies of tourism firms and literature reviews.

María Dolores Sánchez-Fernández holds PhD in Competitiveness, Innovation and Development and a Lecturer at the University of A Coruña (Spain), Faculty of Economics and Business, Department of Analysis and Business Management, Business Organization area. She is also part of the Exper.Turs (University of A Coruña) and GEIDETUR (University of Huelva) (Spain) and RENUTEG (México). She has been the author or coauthor of several articles published in indexed journals. She has participated in over 150 communications in national and international conferences and is a member of the scientific committee. She reviews international scientific magazines in Spain, United States, México, and Brazil.

Savino Santovito, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Management and Marketing at University of Bari (Italy) – Department of Economics and Finance. He is a board member of the Department and vice president of the University Sport Committee. Graduated in Economics, he attended doctoral courses in Capital Markets and Financial Management at Catholic University in Milan, at University of Bergamo and at Washington University in Saint Louis Missouri, USA. He teaches Business Management and Digital Marketing. His main research interests regard food companies (with a focus on oil firms), benefit companies and management. He published on Marketing Theory and British Food Journal.

Pinaz Tiwari is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Institute of Business Management, GLA University, India. She did her PhD from Jamia Millia Islamia and holds two years of industry experience. Her interest areas are consumer behavior, destination management, and tourism education. She has over 30 publications to her credit including book chapters under well-known publishers and articles in Scopus and ABDC-indexed journals. She has edited one book under Emerald Publications and authored two books for CBSE's vocational subject on tourism.

Marco Tregua holds a PhD in Business Science since 2012 and he is an Assistant Professor in International Management at the University of Naples Federico II. His main research interests include service research, smart innovation, and sustainability management. He coauthored articles in Journal of Service Theory and Practice, International Journal of Management Reviews, and Journal of Business Ethics, among others. He authored a book on service logic and edited a book on managing museums in light of new technologies. He took part in international conferences and organized tracks in some of these conferences.

Massimiliano Vesci is an Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at University of Salerno, Italy. He holds a PhD in Management and Governance of Public Administration from the University of Salerno. His research interests focus on sustainable entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial education, public management, service management and value co-creation in the areas of tourism and local development. His business experience includes management consulting and market research in the agri-food industry in Italy, in destination management and in local development. He serves as Associate Editor for Journal of Small Business Management and Associate Editor for Journal of the International Council for Small Business (JICSB).

Preface

“Destination marketing” is a term that is widely used in the travel industry. In plain words, it involves the promotion of specific locations including countries, regions, cities, holiday resorts, and/or tourist attractions. The rationale behind this marketing notion is to increase awareness about a destination (or destinations) among prospective visitors, and to encourage them to plan itineraries and to book their travel and accommodation requirements (Camilleri, 2018a). Destination management organizations (DMOs) and travel businesses rely on tourism planning as well as on well-crafted strategies to appeal to market segments and niches.

In many cases, policymakers and practitioners are adopting customer-centric digital marketing tactics to lure local and international visitors to their destination(s) (Camilleri & Kozak, 2023; Camilleri et al., 2023). Very often, their promotional activities generate positive outcomes for their country's economy, for the benefit of a wide array of businesses (including to enterprises in non-tourism sectors) as well as for local residents.

However, at times, unsound tourism planning and destination marketing endeavors may also result in an unforeseen influx of tourists, who can possibly cause undesirable consequences to host destinations, in terms of their impact on society and on the natural environment. Arguably, over-crowding as well as an unsustainable surge in tourism will probably require the development of additional infrastructure and resources to cater for more visitors (Camilleri, 2018b). Over-tourism could influence the quality of life of local inhabitants and may have a negative effect on the conditions of the host country's attractions. It could possibly lead to increased emissions, pollution, litter, and to the loss of natural eco systems (Mtapuri et al., 2021).

Debatably, there are opportunities as well as challenges for travel, tourism, and hospitality practitioners who are engaged in the marketing and promotions of destinations. In this light, the second edition of Emerald's Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing adds value to the first edition of this authoritative book. Like its predecessor, it also provides a strong pedagogical base for advanced postgraduate students, researchers, and aspiring practitioners. It presents informative, interesting, and timely contributions from leading academics – hailing from diverse backgrounds. This book features real-life case studies as well as theoretical and empirical investigations on different aspects of the tourism industry.

Chapter 1 is focused on tourist behavior. Cruz-Milán (2024) appraises Dr Stanley C. Plog's venturesomeness concept, as he reviews empirical research based on Plog's (1974) personality-based psychographic model. This author synthesizes relevant literature that describe the travelers' personality traits and attitudes that induce them to visit destinations. He presents a discussion on this topic, outlines managerial implications for tourism practitioners, and puts forward future research directions to academia.

Chapter 2 elaborates on the seasonality of tourism. Cardona and Sánchez-Fernández (2024) present a comparative analysis between the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. They evaluate the demand for these Spanish destinations and identify the impacts and consequences of seasonality issues. In conclusion, they articulate the implications of their contribution and outline recommendations for future research.

Chapter 3 sheds light on the overall short- and medium-term effects generated by the Milan Expo event over a nine-year period. Sainaghi and Mauri (2024) report that this event has resulted in a significant increase in tourism figures to the Northern Italian city. These authors indicated that all classes of hotels experienced higher occupancy levels. They found that the hotel rates were higher for upscale and economy hotels when compared to midscale hotels, while in terms of percentage the economy hotels have registered the largest increase in revenue.

Chapter 4 raises awareness on “coopetition” as this business-related notion is increasingly being used in the academic literature, to describe the cooperation and competition among different entities, including those operating within the tourism industry. Rusko (2024) argues that more researchers are exploring coopetition in the context of tourism planning and development. This author advances theoretical implications as he discusses about coopetitive networks and on how the relationships with different stakeholders (including with competitors) could add value to tourism destinations.

Chapter 5 investigates the sustainability prospects of small hospitality businesses that are focused on local food and beverage items, within the Italian, Spanish, and Swedish contexts. Brozović et al. (2024) put forward a conceptual framework that clearly identifies the opportunities and challenges for the development of food and beverage tourism. The authors imply that small hospitality businesses are intrinsically linked to the local heritage of destinations. They suggest that enterprises can differentiate themselves if they specialize in indigenous foods and delicacies. At the same time, they could contribute to the cultural enrichment and to the sustainability of their country's tourism product.

Chapter 6 discusses about sustainable tourism in South Africa. Mtapuri et al. (2024) elaborate on sound initiatives that can promote responsible and environmentally sustainable tourism development. The authors identify opportunities and challenges for the future. In conclusion, they imply that there is scope for policymakers to allocate financial resources to practitioners to encourage them to foster eco-friendly services, to engage in knowledge sharing activities to improve competences in the sector, and to introduce new incentives that facilitate community-based tourism.

Chapter 7 explores the effects of an unexpected Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on a luxury hospitality business, in a Southern Italian context. Campo et al. (2024) evaluate the marketing strategies adopted by a five-star hotel during COVID-19. The authors reported that despite the upscale hotel received less bookings during the crisis, the management opted to continue pursuing its differentiation strategy and brand positioning, by continuing offering service quality as well as enhanced hygiene and sanitation facilities, in order to deliver customer-centric experiences to their valued guests.

Chapter 8 clarifies how digital interventions may be employed in the Japanese spa and well-being industry context. Billore (2024) builds on the theoretical lenses related to the service dominant logic and to the value creation notion, as she puts forward a conceptual model that may be useful for practitioners operating cultural enterprises. The author implies that there is scope for the wellness businesses to continuously ameliorate their customer services, by enhancing their value creation in terms of technical and innovative services, as well as through empathetic designs and results-oriented approaches.

Chapter 9 raises awareness on art hotels. Addis et al. (2024) commend that such hospitality businesses are clearly differentiating themselves from traditional hotels, as they strive to promote cultural tourism. The authors identify the segments of travelers including art-infused travelers, art-seeking travelers, art-indifferent travelers, and art-blind travelers, who are currently availing themselves of the art hotels' services. In conclusion, the authors outline managerial implications and put forward research avenues in this promising area of study.

Chapter 10 recontextualizes the organization of events. Monda et al. (2024) review the extant literature on this topic. The authors formulate definitions and describe key characteristics of events. Afterward, they discuss about the benefits and risks of promoting events through social media networks.

Chapter 11 assesses the attributes and features that can lure visitors to tourist destinations. Prakash et al. (2024a) clearly distinguish the differences between common places vis-à-vis destinations with attractions and amenities, that could appeal to different tourists. The authors discuss about the theoretical implications of their research. They use descriptive case studies to raise awareness on the sense of place, place DNA, place identity, placemaking, and experience-scape.

Chapter 12 is related to the promotion of religious tourism in “Incredible India”. Bhadeshiya and Prajapati (2024) shed light on some of India's holy temples and sacred places. These authors outline existing policy initiatives and schemes that can support the development of the religious tourism market (in addition to other markets). In conclusion, they identify possible challenges and discuss on possible opportunities related to tourism planning.

Chapter 13 describes the key elements of destination marketing. Prakash et al. (2024b) elaborate about the importance of destination leadership in order to ensure that independent tourism businesses are delivering appropriate levels of service quality that exceed expectations of tourists, at all times. The authors imply that different interactive marketing channels including social media and mobile applications, among others, can be utilized to improve the visitors' experiences, and to reach prospective travelers.

Chapter 14 explains how destination marketers could use digitization strategies to attract tourists. Prakash et al. (2024c) put forward a theoretical model that is intended to encourage revisit intentions to destinations. The authors maintain that marketing superstructures (in terms of a destination marketing mix, segmentation, and data analysis), as well as information, communication technologies (ICT) like databases, extranet, multichannel delivery platforms, and business intelligence ought to be used to reach more customers in the digital age.

This authoritative book is a valuable resource for industry practitioners like consultants, senior executives, and managers who work for destination management organizations, hotels, restaurants, inbound/outbound tour operators or travel agents, as well as for academic researchers and students who are aspiring to pursue a career in tourism and hospitality.

This title features case studies from real-life businesses and a thorough review of the relevant academic literature. It describes different tourism marketing strategies that are related to cultural tourism, events tourism, food tourism, religious tourism as well as spa and wellness tourism, among others, as they may be utilized by destination managers. At the same time, it comprises discursive contributions that elaborate about critical matters that affect the tourism industry, including consumer (or tourist) behavior; the planning, organization, and implementation of responsible tourism practices in different contexts; crisis management; marketing environment issues affecting the long-term sustainability of destinations like seasonality factors; as well as the utilization of smart tourism technologies and digital marketing channels, among other topics.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Emerald Publishers and their editorial team, including Sheena Reghunath, Thomas Creighton, and Nick Wallwork for their kind support during this fruitful project. I am grateful to my wife Adriana and to our special kids, Michela and Sam, for always backing me in my academic endeavors.