This study explores the relationship between tourism intensity (TI), social carrying capacity (SCC) of residents, and support for tourism development (STD) in an alpine destination. Furthermore, it examines the influence of perceived benefits, employer image, and the economic relevance of tourism. Building on existing research on residents' attitudes toward tourism impacts and SCC, we conducted a quantitative study using multivariate analysis of data from telephone interviews with 1,500 Tyrolean residents. The findings confirm differences in SCC across regions with varying TI levels. The results reveal a relationship between SCC and STD and confirm the positive influence of the perceived benefits and economic outcomes on STD. The study makes notable contributions to the literature on tourism perception and SCC by introducing the dimension of TI. It provides valuable insights into residents' attitudes toward tourism development in a destination in which the host-guest relationship is particularly close.

Vielseitige Herausforderungen charakterisieren heute die Tourismusbranche. Allen voran die Klimakrise und die Notwendigkeit eines nachhaltigeren Wirtschaftens, aber auch gesellschaftliche Veränderungen, technische Innovationen oder externe Schocks zwingen Destinationen, Tourismusorganisationen und touristische Leistungsträger zur fortlaufenden Anpassung. Doch obwohl die Branche inzwischen wieder stärker wirtschaftlich aufblüht als oft prognostiziert, ist ihre notwendige nachhaltige Transformation bisher ausgeblieben. Wie sich der Tourismus zukünftig entwickelt, welche Akteure dabei eine Rolle spielen und wie Politik begleiten und mitgestalten kann, beleuchtet dieser Band: Ein spannender Einblick, der neben aktuellen Konzepten und Zukunftsperspektiven der Tourismusforschung auch konkrete Anknüpfungspunkte für moderne Tourismuspolitik präsentiert.

Während in der facheinschlägigen Tourismusliteratur Service Design als vielversprechendes Konzept angepriesen wird, finden bislang insbesondere Instrumente aus dem reichhaltigen Werkzeugkoffer des Service Design-Ansatzes rege Anwendung in der gesamten Tourismuslandschaft und darüber hinaus. Die Integration und Anwendung von nutzerzentrierten Methoden aus dem Service Design sind dabei hilfreich und bieten sich in der praktischen Umsetzung des touristischen Alltags an. Trotz der regen Anwendung der Instrumente, wird das volle Potenzial des ganzheitlichen Service Design-Ansatzes aber nur teilweise genutzt. Um das volle Potenzial dieses Denkansatzes auszuschöpfen, bedarf es zusätzlich auch einer grundlegenden Änderung der Geisteshaltung – hin zu einer holistischen Betrachtungsweise, welche die immanenten Grundsätze des Ansatzes berücksichtigt und diese idealerweise in den Organisationsalltag integriert. Um eine Service Design-orientierte Denkweise im Destinationsmanagement verankern zu können, empfiehlt es sich über die reine Projektorientierung sowie Anwendung einzelner Instrumente hinauszugehen und Service Design auch als ganzheitlichen Denkansatz zu begreifen. Die Schaffung von Bewusstsein und Raum für eine kollaborative Denkhaltung ist dabei eine zentrale Voraussetzung, um Designkompetenzen und –fähigkeiten auf organisationaler Ebene zu verankern und transformatives Lernen zu ermöglichen.

Customer relationship management (CRM) is proving to be one of the most promising business strategies. However, in the field of destination marketing literature, a problem exists as to how data-supported CRM can be established. While customer data management has already been well exploited in other industries, DMOs lack customer proximity and data sovereignty. The aim of this paper is to fill this research gap and show how a data-based CRM can be deployed by DMOs based on the principles of social exchange theory. In 13 expert interviews, these aspects were examined from the DMO’s point of view. The results show that the exchange relationship must be established taking into account the DMO’s extraordinary conditions and critical success factors. In order to stimulate guests’ desire for dialogue or the willingness to disclose personal data, DMOs should offer high-quality customer benefits. A combination of hedonic and utilitarian benefits are found to be the most effective stimuli. In return, only the most necessary customer information should be requested and subsequently built passively. Only if the cost and benefit ratio of the exchange relationship is positive for both parties, a database for the CRM can be built in order to foster long-lasting relationships with potential and returning guests.

Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die Krisenkommunikation von Schweizer und österreichischen Skigebieten während der Wintersaison 2020/21 auf Instagram. Während es zu Krisenkommunikation im Tourismus bereits einen großen Literaturanteil gibt, liegen kaum Erkenntnisse zur Kommunikation von Skigebieten im Krisenfall vor. Für die Untersuchung wurden Instagram-Accounts von den größten zwölf österreichischen und elf Schweizer Skigebieten berücksichtigt. Basierend auf einem Mixed-Method-Ansatz wurden eine quantitative Hashtag-Analyse sowie qualitative Text- und Bildanalysen durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass COVID-19 kaum in der Kommunikation der Skigebiete beider Länder thematisiert wurde. Außerdem zeigen sich sowohl Gemeinsamkeiten als auch Differenzen in den Themenschwerpunkten von Schweizer und österreichischen Skigebieten.

Die Corona-Pandemie und ihre massiven Auswirkungen auf alle Bereiche der Tourismuswirtschaft hält die Branche wie kaum eine andere in Atem. Welches Krisenmanagement im alpinen Tourismus Erfolg verspricht und welche Nach-Corona-Strategien sich bereits zeigen, nimmt das von Thomas Bieger, Pietro Beritelli und Christian Laesser herausgegebene Jahrbuch in den Blick.

Abstract Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Austrian ski resorts needed to create an emotional attachment to absent tourists and provide attractive offers for local guests at the same time. This study aims to reveal how they have used Instagram to connect with their heterogeneous audiences. To do so, the authors combined a quantitative hashtag analysis and qualitative content analysis of 16 Instagram accounts. Findings indicate a tendency of the ski resorts to communicate positively connotated winter holiday content and present themselves as attractive skiing areas. Here, the topics of the winter landscape, weather, infrastructure, and holiday activities represent dominant themes whereas COVID-19 was covered rarely. In comparison to the previous winter season, only slight differences were identified. This study provides new findings to the rare amount of research on crisis management in ski resorts and contributes further insights into COVID-19 research in tourism. The implications will help ski resorts to prepare for communication in upcoming seasons and future crisis management.

Marketing research nowadays asks for in-situ, real-time, cross-channel and customer-centric data. A new customer-centred research approach called mobile ethnography involves customers or other stakeholders directly into the research process: by using their own mobile devices, they can actively report on their experiences, add opinions, photos and videos. This innovative research method thus combines various advantages compared to traditional approaches. The method enables customers to share their feedback right when the product or service is consumed rather than interviewing probands ex post. Being at the side of the customer throughout the customer journey enables organizations to get real feedback on their product, service or brand. This article provides a reference on how employing mobile ethnography can help marketing researchers get closer to their customers. The article outlines a typical research process and discusses potential and challenges of this emerging approach.

Klimawandel, Digitalisierung, Fachkräftemangel: Die Herausforderungen für alpine Tourismusregionen sind mit klassischem Destinationsmanagement kaum noch zu bewältigen. Dass dennoch viele innovative Lösungsansätze für den alpinen Tourismus überzeugen, zeigt einmal mehr das von Thomas Bieger, Pietro Beritelli und Christian Laesser herausgegebene Jahrbuch. Ein spannender Impulsgeber für alle, die die alpine Tourismuswirtschaft mit neuen Möglichkeiten und Konzepten weiterentwickeln möchten.

Ob die Sehnsucht nach Natur, der Wunsch nach Abstand oder eine Suche nach unverfälschten, authentischen Erlebnissen: Das wachsende Interesse vieler Reisenden am Landleben und ländlichen Regionen birgt unzählige Chancen und Spannungsfelder in der Tourismusentwicklung. Wie in deutschen und internationalen ländlichen Regionen ein profitabler, nachhaltiger und sozialverträglicher Tourismus entstehen kann, zeigen die vielfältigen Themen und Beiträge dieses Bandes. Ein facettenreicher Ein- und Ausblick, der die unterschiedlichen Dimensionen aktueller touristischer Potenziale des ländlichen Raums mit neuen Studien und vielen Fallbeispielen transparent macht.

As firms gather increasing amounts of data, the question of how future marketers can use these data to make their marketing more relevant and to make a strategic difference remains. However, students may feel uncomfortable about information systems and database technology, which they may perceive as complex and dry. This case describes how the development of a course on data-driven marketing makes use of service design methods. The experiential learning innovation is based on the optimization of customer journey mapping, which encompasses theoretical marketing concepts, modern database architecture and practical digital marketing knowledge. As a visualization of individual interactions with a product, service, or brand, customer journey mapping helps explain the way an interaction occurs in one moment and how it influences all other moments. By taking the "data as a service" perspective on the customer journey, students benefit from a more innovative and creative approach to data-driven marketing, which helps improve their attention and motivation.

Service marketing has evolved from focussing on products to services to experiences. Enterprises are nowadays competing for and looking for competitive advantages in experiences rather than customer satisfaction. Even though customer experience management is nothing new, it is a field that has evolved strongly in the last years. Especially in tourism destinations, various local tourism providers struggle with providing high service quality throughout the whole customer journey. Customer experience management has thus become an interesting approach also in tourism research. This paper applies customer experience research by using an innovative research method. Mobile ethnography as a qualitative method transfers the classic ethnographic approach by using mobile devices. Thus, the customer becomes a researcher himself and has the possibility to self-structure his or her data. Especially for tourism destinations, this method allows to “follow” the guest throughout the geographical space that he or she uses and collects data in real-time and in-situ. It therefore overcomes many of the disadvantages of both classic survey studies and ethnography. However briefing of participants and incentivising them turned out to be the main challenges in two projects carried out in the Austrian province of Upper Austria.

Service marketing has evolved from focussing on products to services to experiences. Enterprises are nowadays competing for and looking for competitive advantages in experiences rather than customer satisfaction. Even though customer experience management is nothing new, it is a field that has evolved strongly in the last years. Especially in tourism destinations, various local tourism providers struggle with providing high service quality throughout the whole customer journey. Customer experience management has thus become an interesting approach also in tourism research. This paper applies customer experience research by using an innovative research method. Mobile ethnography as a qualitative method transfers the classic ethnographic approach by using mobile devices. Thus, the customer becomes a researcher himself and has the possibility to self-structure his or her data. Especially for tourism destinations, this method allows to “follow” the guest throughout the geographical space that he or she uses and collects data in real-time and in-situ. It therefore overcomes many of the disadvantages of both classic survey studies and ethnography. However briefing of participants and incentivising them turned out to be the main challenges in two projects carried out in the Austrian province of Upper Austria.

Tourismus lebt vom und mit dem Wandel – er ist die Basis jeder erfolgreichen Destination. Immer besser vernetzte, globale Reisemärkte und die Digitalisierung bieten unzählige Chancen. Doch nur wer in der Lage ist, Veränderungen zielgerichtet zu identifizieren und zu analysieren, wird im Wettbewerb bestehen. Dieser Band nimmt die vielseitigen Facetten des Wandels im Tourismus systematisch in den Blick: eine aufschlussreiche Auswahl aktueller Forschungsergebnisse nationaler und internationaler Projekte, die innovative Handlungsempfehlungen für Tourismus- und Destinationsmanager aufzeigt.

The emerging use of social media fundamentally changes the communication and interaction of societies and organizations. It revolutionizes the way organizations market their products and interact with their customers. Social media acts as an agent of change within the marketing and communication of organizations. In particular, the tourism sector is affected by these disruptive changes. Social media influences and changes the interaction between touristic supply and demand sides fundamentally. These upcoming opportunities and challenges are especially relevant for destination management organizations (DMOs), which try to coordinate and market the intangible and immaterial tourism product of a destination. Social media marketing transforms the classical marketing and communication of these destination management organizations. Nevertheless, destination management organizations are still in an experimental stage of utilizing social media as a marketing tool, as they slowly start to realize the potential benefits of social media as an agent of change. This study investigates how DMOs in alpine regions implement social media marketing in their classical marketing strategies through a quantitative survey. Furthermore, the paper outlines which upcoming challenges and opportunities DMOs face by conducting qualitative interviews with social media managers in the destinations. Finally, implications and recommendations for DMOs are presented to cope with the emerging use of social media as a marketing tool.

Purpose - Many companies struggle with the assessment of customer experience. This chapter aims to demonstrate how mobile ethnography tackles this issue by assessing data in a holistical way, in-situ, and in real-time.Methodology/approach - The chapter describes the implementation of a mobile ethnography project in a tourist destination, including participant recruitment, data collection, data analysis, and the derivation of insights.Findings - The mobile ethnography project allowed to gain deep insights into the customers' journeys.Research limitations/implications - Future research will need to further investigate questions of participant recruitment, the effectiveness of incentives as well as the performance of the data collection process. Furthermore the findings of this case need to be replicated in the context of other industries, as well as in other cultural contexts.Practical implications - Mobile ethnography allows companies to gain more information on customer experience in real-time, thus with reduced cognitive and emotional bias. Therefore, the method can help to improve the touristic service offering and, consequently, customer experience.Originality/value - As companies are searching for new approaches to research and manage customer experience, this chapter is of high value for both academia and practice.