Managing online communications and feedback relating to the Welsh visitor attraction experience: apathy and inflexibility in tourism marketing practice? David Huw Thomas, BA, PGCE, PGDIP, MPhil Supervised by: Prof Jill Venus, Dr Conny Matera-Rogers and Dr Nicola Palmer Submitted in partial fulfilment for the award of the degree of PhD University of Wales Trinity Saint David. 2018 i ii DECLARATION This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree. Signed (candidate) Date 15.02.2018 STATEMENT 1 This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated. Where correction services have been used, the extent and nature of the correction is clearly marked in a footnote(s). Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A bibliography is appended. Signed (candidate) Date 15.02.2018 STATEMENT 2 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter- library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed (candidate) Date 15.02.2018 STATEMENT 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for deposit in the University’s digital repository. Signed (candidate) Date 15.02.2018 iii iv Abstract Understanding of what constitutes a tourism experience has been the focus of increasing attention in academic literature in recent years. For tourism businesses operating in an ever more competitive marketplace, identifying and responding to the needs and wants of their customers, and understanding how the product or consumer experience is created is arguably essential. The impact of user generated content (UGC) and online reviews in the tourism sector has captured the attention of academics, yet the focus has been mostly on the accommodation sector. The application of online social media sites such as TripAdvisor and Facebook by visitors to attractions and, particularly, by attraction operators has seemingly received little academic attention to date. This thesis sets out to gain a critical insight into Welsh visitor attraction operators’ understanding of the visitor experience, and their practices in relation to managing online communication and feedback. It uses a three-phase methodological approach to investigate attraction operators’ understanding of visitor experience; to critically analyse their opinions on the use of social media by themselves and their publics; and to identify the online co-creation of visitor experience for selected visitor attractions in Wales. A combination of research methods was used: online questionnaires with eighty-one Welsh attraction operators; sixteen semi structured interviews with Welsh visitor attraction operators; and a netnographic review of the digital ‘footprint’ of eighty-four Welsh visitor attractions. It is found that the online co-creation of experience for Welsh visitor attractions is predominantly visitor-led, and that supply-side interaction is lacking in the feedback and communication process. It is apparent that many Welsh visitor attraction operators are missing a key marketing opportunity to develop their online presence and exploit the interactive communication opportunities offered by Web 2.0 and social media. The findings contribute to theoretical understanding of co-creation of experience, and online interactions between suppliers and consumers in a tourism context. The management implications of apparent apathy or indifference and inflexibility in the marketing practices of many Welsh visitor attractions are considered. v vi Acknowledgements The journey to complete this work was set against a backdrop of major re-organisation, mergers and changes in my place of work. It was ultimately an enjoyable one, in an area of tourism and marketing that I still find to be interesting and stimulating as well as challenging. I am sincerely grateful for the patience, understanding and support of my colleagues, and especially my supervisors: Professor Jill Venus, Dr Conny Matera-Rogers and Dr Nicola Palmer. My thanks to all the attraction owners and operators who completed the online questionnaire, and particularly those who helped with the semi-structured interviews. Finally, my heartfelt thanks go to my family for their help and encouragement through the whole process – yn enwedig fy ngwraig Carey, heblaw am dy gymorth, dealltwriaeth ac amynedd trwy’r amser, byddwn i ddim wedi dod i ddiwedd y daith hon. vii viii Table of Contents Title page i Declaration iii Abstract v Acknowledgements vii Table of contents ix List of tables xv List of figures xxi Chapter 1 – Introduction 1.1 The impact of online social media developments on visitor attractions 1 1.2 Purpose and rationale for the study 3 1.3 Attractions and the visitor experience 5 1.4 Attractions and marketing concepts 6 1.5 Chapter summary: Thesis outline 7 Chapter 2 – Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 11 2.2 Visitor attractions, tourism and marketing 11 2.3 Different types of visitors and the evolutionary consideration of visitor attractions: blurred boundaries 12 2.4 Tourists or visitors? 16 2.5 Attractions and the marketing perspective 19 2.6 The marketing mix for visitor attractions 23 2.6.1 Overview of the application of the 7Ps model to visitor attractions 24 2.7 The attraction product 25 2.7.1 Typology of attractions 35 2.7.2 Product life-cycle 38 2.8 Promotion 41 2.8.1 Push and Pull factors 42 2.9 Price 42 2.10 Place 44 2.11. People 46 2.11.1 A market segmentation of attraction visitors 48 2.11.2 Social changes and visitor experience 52 2.12. Process 56 2.13. Environmental (business/economic factors) 58 2.14 Technological 59 2.15 Quality issues in attractions 60 2.15.1 Quality, value and satisfaction 64 2.16 The tourist experience 67 ix x 2.16.1 The ‘experiencescape’ 73 2.16.2 Co-creation of the experience 77 2.16.3 Measuring the experience 81 2.16.4 eWOM and social media 85 2.17 Online feedback and communication as customer experience and 91 relationship marketing tools in the context of visitor attractions 2.18 Chapter conclusion 91 Chapter 3 – Context 3.1 Introduction 93 3.2 Attraction surveys and reports 95 3.2.1 Approach 96 3.3 Developing a database of attractions for 2015 99 3.4 Online marketing: a tourism industry context for Wales 103 3.5 Chapter conclusion 104 Chapter 4 – Methodology 4.1 Introduction and thesis objective 105 4.1.1 Positionality 109 4.2 The methodological structure 110 4.3 Online questionnaire (Phase 1) 115 4.3.1 Questionnaire design 115 4.3.2 Survey execution 117 4.4 Semi-structured interviews (Phase 2) 120 4.5 Review of websites and UGC social media (Phase 3) 125 4.5,1 The netnographic approach 126 4.5.2 Online visitor attraction sample 127 4.6 Ethical issues and netnography 133 4.7 Plan of data analysis 134 4.7.1 Thematic framework 135 4.8 Chapter conclusion 137 Chapter 5 – Results 5.1 Presentation of results 139 5.2 Sample characteristics for Phases 1, 2 and 3 139 5.2.1 Characteristics of the Phase 1 sample 139 5.2.2 Characteristics of the Phase 2 sample 147 5.2.3 Characteristics of the Phase 3 sample 148 5.3 Welsh visitor attraction operators’ understanding of the visitor 150 experience and its use as a marketing tool 5.3.1 Marketing of Welsh visitor attractions in Phase 1 sample 150 5.3.2 Welsh visitor attractions and the visitor experience 154 xi xii 5.3.3 Management and marketing elements 160 5.3.4 Final comments about the marketing of attractions by operators in the 171 Phase 1 sample 5.3.5 Phase 2: semi-structured interview results for marketing and visitor 172 experience 5.3.6 The main promotional or marketing activities 173 5.3.7 Sufficient expertise to work on marketing activities 174 5.3.8 Visitors’ motivation or reason for coming to your attraction 176 5.3.9 Planning the visitor experience 176 5.3.10 Incorporating the visitor experience into marketing activities 177 5.3.11 Measuring the quality of visitor experience 178 5.3.12 Any gap between why visitors come and the actual experience 179 5.3.13 Concluding comments on Welsh visitor attraction operators’ understanding of 180 visitor experience and it’s use as a marketing tool 5.4 Welsh visitor attraction operators’ engagement with online communications and 184 feedback relating to consumer experience 5.4.1 Phase 2 results: Welsh visitor attraction operators’ online activities 188 5.4.2 Phase 3 results: Welsh visitor attraction operators’ online activities 189 5.4.3 Welsh visitor attraction websites 190 5.4.4 Review of social media content (TripAdvisor, Facebook and Google) 193 5.4.5 Welsh visitor attraction operators’ interactions with online visitor 195 comments/feedback - summary 5.4.6 Online presence: concluding remarks 198 5.5 Chapter conclusion 199 Chapter 6 - Conclusion 6.1 Introduction 203 6.2 Shifting concepts of the visitor attraction ‘landscape’ 204 6.3 A disconnect between operators and visitor experience 206 6.4 Implications of netnographic review for visitor attractions 206 6.5 Theoretical contributions in relation to the overall research aim 209 6.6 Limitations of the work and opportunities for further research 212 6.7 Implications for attraction operators 214 6.8 The research journey 217 Bibliography 219 Appendices Appendix 1: Visitor attractions meeting Visit Wales definition 1998 and 2015 259 Appendix 2: Phase 2 online questionnaire 273 Appendix 3: Scoping analysis of promotional activity for Phase 2 279 Appendix 4: Transcripts and coding of semi-structured interviews (Phase 2) 281 Appendix