Touristic: Fragments & Friendship Friday

Thanks to Mrs. 4444's for hosting...

Saw this bumper sticker "Happy Wife, Happy Life - The Alternative is Too Expensive."

On a related note: I just want my loving, darling and incredible wife to be happy for happiness sake.

This week has been very quiet.

On a related note: Rabbit season must be upcoming. P.S. I just used this an an excuse to post this clip. I miss classic Looney Tunes.

People always ask what I write about in my academic life (Okay no one really does but I will answer the question because I need filler this week). Here are summaries of my two latest articles:

Litvin, S.W., Smith, W.W. and Pitts, R. (2012). Travel and Leisure Activity Participation. Annals of Tourism Research. 39(2012) 2203-2219.

While tourism and leisure have traditionally been studied in their respective silos (Carr 2002), recent literature has begun to link the two. At the intersection of this cross-disciplinary research has been the question: Does travel predominantly present an opportunity for individuals to experience new activities, or is the norm for travelers to engage in the same activities as when at home? The findings of this study strongly suggest that recreation providers in vacation destinations are correct in targeting those who are regular at-home participants in their activity – for those who enjoy an activity while at-home are those most likely to participate in the activity when on vacation. Moderating this suggestion, however, in synch with the recreational motivational theories of Iso-Ahola (1983), is the advice that activity providers ensure their promotional message is destination focused, for travelers, as even heavy recreationalists are primarily destination (versus activity) driven when deciding where to vacation. And while travelers often partake in their preferred at-home activities when away, they rarely select their destination based upon the activity.

Smith, W. W. Pitts, R. & Litvin S.W. (2012) Sedentary Behavior of the Nontravel Segment: A Research Note. Journal of Travel Research. 52(1) 131-136.

Nontravel behavior has been studied in some depth, with the intent generally to find ways to motivate the segment to travel. This research examined an aspect of nontravel behavior previously unexplored: their “at-home” behavior. The results are very informative and reflect a highly sedentary lifestyle. The nontravelerers were found to be far less active in their daily lives, both recreationally and culturally, than were those who traveled. This sedentary lifestyle, not before identified, is an important characteristic adding to the difficulty of motivating the nontravel segment to travel.

In the new year I will be bringing back Tourism News Thursdays where I either review a new travel product or discuss news related to the travel industry. I will be giving lots of hints and advice about how to save money and get better value for your travel dollar.

On a related note: I love tourism research and understanding the industry but I am terrible at taking vacations. I just can't turn off the intellectual curiosity when I am on the road.

Now onto Create with Joy's Friendship Friday... Here question of the week is:

Question Of The Week

What are your favorite Christmas carols?

This has been a popular question this week...I always liked this song (although I think the Earth Kitt version is better but I used it on the blog earlier this week).