Smart tourism is a social phenomenon arising from the convergence of information technology with the tourism experience New ways of doing business, new patterns of experience and new problems concerning tourism destination image management and marketing are emerging due to the ubiquitous presence and influence of the internet and mobile devices New conceptual tools are also available to enable researchers to further understand the social implications as well as the practical implementation of these new virtual and augmented smart tourism ecosystems To this effect this paper introduces the constructivist paradigm and associated research methodologies as another toolbox for interpreting how smart tourism works as a form of soft power The implications revealed by constructivism are that through smart tourism ecosystems, destination commodification and commoditization, experience and image formation are increasingly self-per-petuating, autonomous and organic social constructions Researchers in information technology can use con-structivist research to further explore these dynamic developments in smart tourism

Constructivist Research in Smart Tourism

Making the right impression is paramount to succeed in today’s very competitive market, where photographs have acquired a prominent role in doing so. The evaluation and analysis of destination imag...

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1356766717736350

Analysis of the projected image of tourism destinations on photographs: A literature review to prepare for the future:

China's Chairman Mao: a visual analysis of Hunan Province online destination image.

Identity is the master variable for many constructivist scholars of international politics. In this comparative study, Richard Ned Lebow shows that states do not have identities any more than people do. Leaders, peoples, and foreign actors seek to impose national identifications consistent with their political projects and psychological needs. These identifications are multiple, fluid and rise in importance as a function of priming and context. Leaders are at least as likely to invoke national identifications as rationalizations for policies pursued for other reasons as they are to be influenced by them. National identifications are nevertheless important because they invariably stress the alleged uniqueness of a people and its country, and are a principal means of seeking status and building self-esteem. Lebow tracks the relative appeal of these principles, the ways in which they are constructed, how they influence national identifications, and how they in turn affect regional and international practices.

National Identities and International Relations

The objective of this research is to identify the main tourism dimensions that require an explicit decision and to determine the level of involvement of wives in the different tasks associated with pleasure trips. This study segments the tourism decision making tasks into 4 categories, namely, initial trips tasks, financing, pre departure, and destination. Wives were asked to assign a score to their level of involvement in each task.. "Level of involvement" is defined in a subjective way by the respondents using a 0-10 scale (10 indicates "total involvement" and 0 indicates "lack of involvement"). Results of the survey suggest 5 perspectives. First, wives have a marginal involvement in tasks related to the "financial aspects". Second, at the destination site wives are highly involved in the decision making process such as "shopping" and "selecting restaurants". Third, there are definite differences in involvement in "accommodation" decisions. Wives involvement increases by 28 6% from the "pre departure" to the "destination" stage. Fourth, this involvement confirms that for some tasks the gender dimension still has a determining role. Finally, research has established the importance of the family life cycle in understanding the tourism decision making. The results of the survey clearly indicate a wide divergence in the level of wives involvement. Involvement is the highest at the destination sites and the lowest in the decision involving financial matters. Two hypotheses were tested: the socioeconomic characteristics of wives and trip characteristics have a positive effect on the level of involvement in the tourism decisions; and levels of task involvement are consistent for the 17 tasks (stability in tasks involvement). That is, if a wife scores high in one task, she will also score high in the other 16 tasks. Better understanding of the degree of wives involvement in tourism decision would assist the industry in its marketing efforts and would provide operators with a more realistic assessment of the role played by wives in decisions and tasks associated with tourism. Recommendations for further research were also discussed.

Wives involvement in tourism decision processes

The article argues that semiotic analysis can be applied advantageously in tourism studies. C. S. Peirce’s representation triad is applied to destination representations by conceptualizing destinations, related activities, or entities as objects; photographs or textual descriptions as signs; and potential tourists’ comprehension of the sign as interpretants. Three formal analyses of selected photographs used by convention and visitor bureaus (VISIT FLORIDA, Destination Halifax and VisitDenmark) illustrate how the sign–object relationship is always characterized by a combination of iconic, indexical, and symbolic qualities, each of which destination marketers should consider in choosing representations because of the influence those qualities exert on reception. It is argued that the semiotic model can help marketers make informed decisions about the relevance and probable impact of the iconicity, indexicality, or symbolism of a representation, and that the semiotic model helps avoid conceiving of...

A semiotic model of destination representations applied to cultural and heritage tourism marketing.

Since Lester B. Pearson led Canada onto the major international scene to keep the Suez Crisis antagonists apart in 1956-and won the Nobel peace prize for his efforts-Canada has been seen by many as the world's peacekeeper par excellence: in the space between then and the 19903, Canada participated-and came to be expected to do so by the international community-in every UN-led peacekeeping operation, as well as a few more. Consequently, in this period Canada's role as "helpful fixer" and "honest broker" helped construct and sustain the country's international position as a middle power-and thus, in effect, often enabled Canadian governments to "punch above their weight" in foreign policy.During the foreign affairs ministry of Lloyd Axworthy, which among other developments saw the Lysoen declaration, an explicit focus on the connection between human security and peacebuilding was brought to the forefront. As explored by Bosold and von Bredow in detail elsewhere in this volume, the human security doctrine became a fundamental part of the Canadian foreign policy (CFP) contribution to the international environment. The argument inherited by successive governments came to be that in order to protect the safety and freedom of the individual, peace and stability must be ensured. The Paul Martin government acknowledged that "lasting stability cannot be achieved until people are protected from violent threats to their rights, safety, or lives."1 Peacekeeping has not been considered the only tool with which to establish the necessary preconditions for human security: Canada's efforts in areas such as the ban on landmines, the proliferation of small arms, children in armed conflict, and the establishment of the International Criminal Court illustrate other aspects emphasized in CFP. National security is sometimes insufficient to guarantee the safety and freedom of individuals, so peacekeeping becomes a central tenet-a means by which to restore "peace, order, and good government" for people in failed or fragile states.2The Canadian government states that "[a]s peacekeeping evolves, Canada will serve as a model and, in so doing, develop peace support operations that expand the possibilities for both the prevention of conflict and the making of peace."3 The close relationship between human security, peacekeeping, and its role model for the world is firmly established.The discourse on Canadian peacekeeping and middle-powerhood has been and remains powerful, both within and outside Canada, and it carries an appealing, but also slightly simplistic and perhaps even naive message: Canada became an active and leading peacekeeper because as a multicultural, federal society, Canada had something to offer the world-namely its experience and expertise in accommodating ethnic and regional differences. To be sure, Canada has a long history of largely successful accommodation of such differences, and at least to some extent has proven its ability to create unity from diversity. In the introduction to this issue of the International Journal the question of consistency is brought up. What is referred to here is the coherence (or lack thereof) between externally projected norms and arguments and the domestic application and status of the same norms and arguments within the gidsland itself. In Canada's case, the pressing question would be whether the creeds of "unity in diversity" and "peace, order, and good government" are successfully applied at home. Since 1971 Canada has officially defined itself as a "multicultural" society, which implies the integration into Canadian society of ethnically diverse immigrants, while allowing and encouraging each ethnic group to maintain its distinct cultural characteristics. Interethnic conflict is known in Canada, as elsewhere, and one relevant question is whether these conflicts are handled in a manner consistent with the ideal role model values projected to the world as distinctively Canadian. For consistency to be present would, for instance, require a "fluid," rather than a "fixed," national identity and the constant critical self-examination that John Erik Possum elsewhere in this issue calls "reflexivity. …

Keeping the peace and national unity: Canada's national and international identity nexus

It is often argued that “authenticity” has become one of the most overused terms in tourism marketing and tourism studies. Yet, most scholars readily agree that some form of authenticity is essential to the level of satisfaction experienced by tourists. Through its focus on representations and perceptions of “authenticity” at heritage tourism sites, this article argues that it makes sense to speak of authenticities (in the plural), rather than authenticity (in the singular), and proposes a semiotics-based typology for the purpose – including a new definition of “symbolic authenticity”. Finally, through practical application to two sites: Nottingham Castle and the Hans Egede monument in Nuuk's Colonial Harbour, the article illustrates how such a typology of authenticities might be a valuable tool to destination developers and marketers, city planners, site managers and interpreters as they seek to address different heritage tourist segments.

Towards a Semiotics-Based Typology of Authenticities in Heritage Tourism: Authenticities at Nottingham Castle, UK, and Nuuk Colonial Harbour, Greenland

Encyclopedia of Nationalism. Vol. 2

/pdf/handbook-of-project-writing-under-the-study-board-for-cross-3tm4owkygi.pdf

Robert Chr. Thomsen

Papers

A semiotic model of destination representations applied to cultural and heritage tourism marketing.

Keeping the peace and national unity: Canada's national and international identity nexus

Towards a Semiotics-Based Typology of Authenticities in Heritage Tourism: Authenticities at Nottingham Castle, UK, and Nuuk Colonial Harbour, Greenland

Encyclopedia of Nationalism. Vol. 2

Handbook of Project Writing under the Study Board for Cross-Cultural Studies: Culture, Communication and Globalization & Tourism