Physical Activity Levels and Related Energy Expenditure during COVID-19 Quarantine among the Sicilian Active Population: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey Study

Background: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Italian government has adopted containment measures to control the virus’s spread, including limitations to the practice of physical activity (PA). The aim of this study was to estimate the levels of PA, expressed as energy expenditure (MET–minute/week), among the physically active Sicilian population before and during the last seven days of the COVID-19 quarantine. Furthermore, the relation between this parameter and specific demographic and anthropometric variables was analyzed. Methods: 802 Sicilian physically active participants (mean age: 32.27 ± 12.81 years; BMI: 23.44 ± 3.33 kg/m2) were included in the study and…

Walking tourism in Malaga: a pilot survey to explore tourism behaviours with a GPS approach

Walking tourism in urban destinations can be defined as a sequence of day visits and/or a sequence of walking tours. In this work, GPS tracking data on spatio-temporal behaviour of walking tourists in Malaga are reported as case study. Malaga is a booming tourist destination characterized by a city centre, particularly suitable for a pedestrian visit. From 22nd January to 19th March 2018 for a total period of 41 days, a survey was carried out with a specific protocol: 103 interviews were conducted and 101 GPS valid tracks were collected. Walking tourists were systematically sampled, starting from the population of all tourists staying in the surveying day at some selected hotels in the city…

Accounting for Interdependent Risks in Vulnerability Assessment of Refugees

The United Nations’ Vulnerability Assessment Framework (VAF) of refugees encompasses a set of indicators of the living conditions in refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan; it assumes the independence among its components. In this paper we maintain the importance to account for existing interdependencies, and provide a definition of vulnerability for high income countries. The proposed “vulnerability scale”, based on the estimated joint risk of social isolation, economic deprivation and bad health, is a useful tool to address interventions toward selected groups of more vulnerable refugees. Analyses are based upon the survey of refugees carried on in Germany in 2016. Germany is the first count…

La statistica come linguaggio quali-quantitativo

Destination image and tourism intermediation. A possible interdisciplinary approach

Mobilità del turismo regionale incoming. Aspetti socioeconomici dei comportamenti e delle motivazioni. Il disegno della ricerca

the research question that have lead to the empirical research on tourism mobility are presented. Then, briefly, the methods and the instruments planned are discussed. At the end, expected result of the project are illustrated.

Conclusioni.

Viaggi multi-destinazione in Sicilia: principali determinanti ed effetti distorcenti nelle statistiche sul turismo

Introduzione

We made it to Germany … and now? Interdependent risks of vulnerability for refugees in a high-income country

Refugees are perceived as a category of people that are ‘vulnerable’ per se. However, once they have arrived in (high-income) hosting countries and are supported by a welfare state, vulnerability needs to be rethought, as they face new challenges and potential sources of inequality. In this paper, we have measured vulnerability as the probability of experiencing jointly three interdependent risks: social isolation, financial worries and poor health. For this purpose, we estimated a trivariate logit model to evaluate how individual and household characteristics are associated with vulnerability and also made inferences regarding the residual association between pairs of risks, conditionally …

Il nuovo ordinamento delle lauree psicologiche: profili ed esiti degli studenti dell'Ateneo di Palermo

THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC CRISIS ON TOURISM. A QUALITATIVE SURVEY ON THE OPINIONS OF TOUR OPERATORS IN SICILY

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has had direct effects on social relationships. Tourism activities are by definition linked to the interaction among human beings, beginning with a physical movement of a person from a habitually-frequented environment to one or more destinations. Any denial of mobility, therefore, negates the tourist experience. After briefly discussing the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the tourism system and hospitality, this work presents a qualitative survey by means of a thematic analysis approach. The study investigates tourism professionals operating in Sicily, across different tourism sectors and in various segments of the market (cultural, luxury, nautical, rural, a…

Life satisfaction of refugees living in Germany

Since 2015, Germany has been hosting noticeable incoming flows of refugees and asylum seekers, leading, in 2020, the ranking of European countries and being the fifth in the world ranking for the number of hosted refugees. Despite the quality of life of refugees is expected to be improved in the aftermath of their arrival to Germany, refugees are still facing several problems of integration and economic deprivation (e.g., about 90% are unemployed). Hence, it is a worthwhile exercise to study how satisfied they are with their present life. Using a sample of 3,408 individuals from the German IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees (regarding refugees and asylum seekers who came to the country betwee…

Measuring Tourist Satisfaction Through a Dual Approach: The 4Q Methodology

Tourist satisfaction is one of the key factors in determining the success of a tourist destination, since it affects behavioural intentions, such as the willingness to revisit and recommend the destination. Therefore, much research has addressed the measuring of tourist satisfaction, either eliciting positive or negative evaluations of a holiday or destination. The spread between expected positive and negative characteristics can trigger a tourist experience. And the gap between expectations and perceptions will produce a feeling of satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Expectancy-Disconfirmation Paradigm, EDP). Under these conditions, this paper adopts a dual approach, considering tourist satis…

Turisti alle Eolie: tratti distintivi e modelli organizzativi

Walking tourism in urban destinations: some preliminary results from a survey in Malaga with gps-based technologies

Walking tourism in urban destinations can be defined as a sequence of day visits and/or a sequence of walking tours. In this work, GPS tracking data on spatio-temporal behaviour of walking tourists in Malaga are reported as case study. Malaga is a booming tourist destination characterized by a city centre, particularly suitable for a pedestrian visit. From 22nd January to 19th March 2018 for a total period of 41 days, a survey was carried out with a specific protocol: 103 interviews were conducted and 101 GPS valid tracks were collected. Walking tourists were systematically sampled, starting from the population of all tourists staying in the surveying day at some selected hotels in the city…

Tourism and Communication on the Internet: the Case of the Italian Wine and Food Roads Web Sites Quality

Socio-economic deprivation, territorial inequalities and mortality for cardiovascular diseases in Sicily

The present work aims at analyzing the relationship among deprivation, distance from the nearest hospital and mortality for cardiovascular diseases in Sicily. Data derived from 2011 Census are used for the determination of the deprivation index at the municipality level, whereas distance from the municipality of residence and the nearest municipality with at least one hospital is considered in terms of travel time. Results highlight association between socio-economic conditions and mortality for cardiovascular diseases, whereas it seems that the distance from the hospital is only poorly associated with mortality.

Media and fake news: An analysis of citizens’ attitudes toward misinformation in European countries

The rapid changes determined by the rise of Internet and the recent development of social media in daily life have led to profound consequences on the quantity and quality of data made available and on the mechanisms of their dissemination. The rapid spread of on-line disinformation is one of the most discussed topic, and has been identified as one of the top-trends in modern societies by the World Economic Forum, also because of the link between these processes and political communication. Thanks to the availability of micro-data from the Flash Eurobarometer survey on “Fake news and disinformation online”, the present work aims at analyzing the attitude of European citizens toward fake new…

Nuove professionalità per la ricerca e il management nel settore turistico: il dottorato di ricerca in Scienze del turismo

Refugees’ perception of their new life in Germany

Since 2015, Germany has been hosting noticeable incoming flows of refugees and asylum seekers and despite the quality of life of refugees is expected to be improved in the aftermath of their arrival to Germany, refugees are still facing several problems of integration and economic deprivation. Using a sample of individuals from the first wave of the German IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees, we present some preliminary analyses on their life satisfaction (LS). A gamma glm was estimated to focus on the association among levels of LS and main socio-demographic characteristics as well as post-migration factors. Greater stability (both in the legal and personal sphere) in refugees’ lives is posit…

Un-observed tourism: approaches and case studies in Sicily

Unobserved tourism

Having more reliable statistics is essential for policy-makers to be able to make effective decisions. Nevertheless, measuring the number of tourists in a given destination is not an easy task. After reviewing the main problems affecting official statistics on tourism, this paper proposes a general framework by formalizing a theoretical model in which tourism nights and trips in a given destination are broken down into observed and unobserved components, according to the European system of tourism statistics. The main approaches related to the measurement of unobserved tourism are discussed, and some empirical findings in Sicily (Italy) are presented in order to highlight the actual magnitu…

Environmental Dysfunctions, Childhood Maltreatment and Women’s Intimate Partner Violence Victimization

International audience; Childhood maltreatment is considered a crucial explanatory variable for intimate partner violence (IPV) in adulthood. However, a developmental multifactorial model for the etiology of IPV is not shared by researchers yet. This study has investigated the role of a wide range of childhood maltreatments and family and social dysfunctions in predicting IPV; furthermore, it tests a model where childhood maltreatment mediates the relationship between environmental dysfunctions and IPV. The sample included 78 women: IPV (38) and non-IPV (40). The Italian version of the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse (CECA) Interview was used to assess the presence of adverse childho…

Il piano della ricerca: obiettivi, tecniche e strumenti di indagine

La calibrazione delle stime nell'indagine sul turismo incoming in Sicilia

Perceived quality and satisfaction with tourist services: theoretical considerations and measurement challenges.

The quality of tourist services is frequently analysed and measured in terms of perceived quality (PQ). As PQ is the subject of evaluations based on one or more tourist experiences, there are areas that overlap with consumer satisfaction (CS), although the two constructs can be logically distinguished. Specific proposals have been made for the measurement of the PQ and CS in the tourism field, although there may be some drawbacks when technical solutions do not take into account the logical and ontological assumptions of the measurement process.

Resident’s Perceptions of Tourism Influence on Quality of Life: a Multilevel approach.

This study aims to evaluate whether individual perceptions of tourism’s effects on quality of life (TQOL) are related to the degree of tourism activity in the host community, as well as to residents’ personal characteristics, by a multilevel model. Data from a survey performed in Sicily have been analyzed. The model revealed that the level of tourism activity have an influence on the way residents perceive the effect tourism in their community, as measured by TOQL index.

Assessing mental health therapeutic communities functioning

Empirical and clinical evidence shows that therapeutic communities produce changes in people’s mental health and well-being. Treatment in communities has effects on improving interpersonal relationships, acceptance among members, ability to recognize other people’s feelings, symptomatology, life satisfaction and self-esteem. This paper aims to investigate which factors can explain the treatment effectiveness, measured by an index which incorporates the point of view of the communities staff members, by means of a beta regression model with random intercept. The results show the influence of some organizational dimension as well as staff roles, providing a meaningful insights into the functi…

Unobserved Tourism: Conceptual Aspects and Estimates

A survival approach for the analysis of cruise passengers’ behavior at the destination

The present work aims at proposing an analysis of cruise passengers’ behavior at the destination through a survival analysis approach. Data collected through GPS devices on cruise passengers’ behavior in the port of Palermo and Dubrovnik are analyzed in order to show similarities and differences among behaviors at the destination, according to socio-demographic characteristics. Results are of interest from both a methodological perspective, related with the processing and the analysis of GPS data, and from the destination management perspective.

Mobilità e sommerso nella misura del turismo regionale incoming: una prospettiva di ricerca.

Referring to space and time when using territorial data: the case of touristic arrivals

Multi-Destination Trips and Tourism Statistics: Empirical Evidences in Sicily

Abstract The knowledge of the actual magnitude and main features of tourism flows in a given destination is an essential prerequisite for the evaluation of tourism impacts and externalities. Indeed, many pleasure trips are often characterized by the visit to more than a single destination. Although the topic is well-documented in literature, the empirical results are limited to a few pioneering studies. The lack may be attributable to the failure of tourism organizations to collect data on multi-destination trip behaviour. This can be seen, for example, in the system of European statistics on tourism (according to the Council Directive 95/57 EC), where information on the average number of v…

The research on the mobility of tourists in Sicily: detection and estimation of non-sampling errors

Socio-economic determinants of inter-regional mobility in patients with cancer

This paper presents an investigation of inter-regional mobility in patients with cancer. Thanks to the availability of geocoded information on patients’ place of residence, the effect of socio-economic status and of other individual characteristics on inter-regional mobility is analysed through multi-level logit models. The extent of patient’s mobility, and its dependence on socio-economic status raises equity issues, as well as regional policy considerations.

Methodological issues and first results of a study to identify and evaluate the error of some tourism statistics

Il lavoro evidenzia il problema legato ad un utilizzo improprio di alcune statistiche del turismo costruite aggregando dati spazio-temporali che, nel processo di aggregazione subiscono alcune modifiche che non permettono più il loro riferimento all'unità elementare di rilevazione. Si propongono alcuni semplici soluzioni e si presentano i risultati preliminari di una indagine volta al dimensionamento del problema in questione.

I distretti e la domanda turistica; quale informazione statistica per il territorio?

Tourist Mobility. Implications on Incoming tourism Assessment

Key-indicators for maternity hospitals and newborn readmission in Sicily

This paper proposes a composite indicator for the classification of maternity units, which takes into account for the different dimensions of service delivery, as potential predictors of health outcomes. As a measure of outcome, infant readmissions is considered, being a proxy of morbidity. The results highlight that after controlling for risk factors of the newborn, and for the presence of neonatal intensive unit, infants born in lower level hospitals show readmission rates higher than infants born in higher level hospitals.

Customer Satisfaction nell’impresa-aeroporto

Il lavoro introduce alcune riflessioni sulla customer satisfaction nell'impresa aeroporto, azienda e non più semplice località destinata all'approdo degli aeromobili e al transito dei passeggeri. Il tema è di attualità in relazione alle rapide trasformazioni delle filiere aeroportuali e ai conseguenti interessi di una pluralità di stakeholders locali

The Analysis of Large-scale Retail Trade Groups Customer Satisfaction: A Comparison Between CAPI and PAPI Data Collection Methods

Computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) and similar electronic survey data collection methods seem to improve both technical and economical efficiency and data quality. Compared to traditional paper and pencil interviewing (PAPI) CAPI is affected by some shortcomings yet. At the end, the selection of one among many data collection methods has to be justified in terms of a profitable ratio between scientific and organizational costs and benefits. In this paper we discuss the (quasi)experimental design arranged in order to assess the differential effects of face-to-face paper and computer assisted interviewing in terms of efficacy, efficiency and the production of non-sampling errors. …

Tourism and Communication on the Internet: the Case of Italian Wine and Food Roads Web Site quality

Il lavoro analizza i fattori della comunicazione web dei siti internet delle strade del vino italiane e ne propone un indicatore sintetico di valutazione. Da questo e dall'analisi delle sue dimensioni componenti si ricavano utili informazioni per il marketing della comunicazione.

ESTIMATES OF HIDDEN TOURISM TO PLAN LOCAL SERVICES:THE SICILIAN CASE

Individual and contextual determinants of inter-regional mobility in cancer patients

This paper will present an investigation of inter-regional mobility in patients with a diagnosis of cancer. By virtue of the availability of geocoded information relating to a patient's place of residence, the effect of socio-economic status and other individual characteristics regarding inter-regional mobility will be analysed by means of multilevel logit models. The results demonstrate the influence of age and comorbidity on mobility propensity, in addition to the treatment type, which plays a role in patient mobility. As contextual determinants, patients residing in less deprived areas show greater mobility than those who reside in materially deprived areas. The extent of patient mobilit…

Service Charter for airport customer satisfaction: an exploratory study

Measuring tourism from demand side

This Paper proposes an analysis of tourism from the demand side, taking into account for both the total level of tourism demand produced by some European countries (domestic and outgoing) and its general tendency, and for the seasonal fluctuations which characterize many tourism-related aggregates. Tourist flows from the demand side at the European level are analyzed in the last decade, and a special focus on Italian tourism demand is provided, jointly with an analysis of its seasonal fluctuations. The analysis of general tendency of tourism demand and of the impacts of seasonality is a fundamental pre-requisite for the implementation of tourism policies.

L'immagine di una destinazione turistica in una prospettiva attribute-based. Risultati di un'indagine empirica

Any territory today has to communicate in order to render visible to the outside world what it is, what it knows how to do, its qualities and its value in order to improve its image, which represents one of the fundamental components of the intangible patrimony of a destination. In the paste, the tourist marketing literature has concentrated on the image perceived by travellers. Very limited, instead, have been studies on the image perceived by tourist intermediaries, who constitute an important category of mediation in the diffusion of the image of a territory and take on a remarkable role in the development of tourist destinations. The main objective of the present study is to analyze the…

Le vacanze dei friulani: alcuni confronti con la rilevazione Istat

Viaggi multi-destinazione e percorsi turistici in Sicilia

The topic of tourist mobility within a single destination and between destinations during a single trip has received much attention among several researches since long time. However, from the empirical point of view, the analysis of tourists paths, and of the main determinants of multi-destination trips, have not still been adequately investigated. Information collected thanks to the Project of Relevant National Interest (PRIN) on mobility and tourists behaviors in Sicily and Sardinia, allow to analyse the main tourists paths in the two Islands. The present work aims to analyse multi-destination trip in Sicily and to illustrate the main tourists routes undertaken by incoming tourists in Sic…

TOURIST MOBILITY AND DESTINATION COMPETITIVENESS .

Competitività e attrattività della destinazione. Definizioni operative e percorsi di misurazione.

CAPI Versus PAPI and The Production of Non-Sampling Errors

CAPI Versus PAPI and The Production of Some Non-Sampling Errors

The study aims at assessing the differential effects of face-to-face paper and computer assisted interviewing in terms of efficacy, efficiency and the production of non-sampling errors. The research ground is constituted by the analysis of the customer satisfaction of a large-scale retail trade group owning many shops in Sicily. The reaction of respondents to paper versus electronic questionnaires is investigated by means of an experimental design in terms of non sampling error amounts.

Short term Dynamics of tourist Arrivals: What do destination have in common?

This work aims to detect the common short term dynamics to yearly time series of 413 Italian tourist areas. We adopt the clustering technique of Abraham et al. (Scand J Stat. 30:581–595, 2003) who propose a two-stage method which fits the data by B-splines and partitions the estimated model coefficients using a k-means algorithm. The description of each cluster, which identifies a specific kind of dynamics, is made through simple descriptive cross tabulations in order to study how the location of the areas across the regions or their prevailing typology of tourism characterize each group.

Tourism and the perceived quality of life of Sicilian residents. Evidences from a sample research.

An Examination of Tourist Arrivals Dynamics Using Short-Term Time Series Data: A Space—Time Cluster Approach

The purpose of this study is to examine the development of Italian tourist areas ( circoscrizioni turistiche) through a cluster analysis of short time series. The technique is an adaptation of the functional data analysis approach developed by Abraham et al (2003), which combines spline interpolation with k-means clustering. The findings indicate the presence of two patterns (increasing and stable) averagely characterizing groups of territories. Moreover, tests of spatial contiguity suggest the presence of ‘space–time clusters’; that is, areas in the same ‘time cluster’ are also spatially contiguous. These findings appear to be more robust in particular for those series characterized by an…

Statistical Information and Local Tourism

Una rilevazione a latere per la valutazione della divergenza tra arrivi e turisti

In this paper it is discussed a typical tourism statistical problem: the substitution of an elementary unit of observation (the tourist) with an indicator, making use of an empirical research. Therefore the necessity to consider the quality of some aggregates in addition to the quality of individual measurements, is stressed.

Aspetti di qualità delle statistiche sul turismo: effetti distorcenti derivanti dall'uso di alcune statistiche

Il tema affrontato è relativo alla qualità delle statistiche sul turismo, in particolare alla non coincidenza tra arrivi e turisti. Si analizza la questione della misura del numero di turisti attraverso gli arrivi e si propongono alcune soluzioni per la stima del numero dei turisti mediante l'ausilio di informazioni ausiliarie.

The Effect of COVID-19 Lockdown Measures on Physical Activity Levels and Sedentary Behaviour in a Relatively Young Population Living in Kosovo

To abate the spread of the COVID-19 virus, different restriction measures were imperative, limiting the possibility to be engaged in physical activity. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 lockdown on physical activity (PA) levels expressed as energy expenditure (MET-min/week) and sedentary behaviour in Kosovo. The possible association between PA levels and other factors was analyzed. 1633 participants (age range: 13 to 63 years; mean: 24.70 ± 9.33 years; body height: 172 ± 10.57 cm; body mass: 69.10 ± 13.80 kg; BMI: 23.09 ± 3.63 kg/m2) participated in the study, categorized by age, gender, BMI, and living area. An online survey, including an adapted version of the…

Multi-destination trips: A survey on incoming zourism in Sicily

Many pleasure trips are often characterized by the visit of more than a single destination. Despite the topic is well documented in literature, the empirical studies are limited to a few pioneering studies. This lack may be attributable to the failure of tourism organizations to collect data on multi-destination trip behaviors, as it results, for example, from the system of European statistics on tourism (according to the Council Directive 95/57 EC), where no information on the average number of destinations visited within a single trip are provided. This paper aims to analyze the main implications of multi-destination trips both on tourism statistics and in tourism planning, and to describ…

Measuring tourist satisfaction and dissatisfaction: adaptation of the 4Q methodology to the case of web based data

Tourist satisfaction has been studied so far using many different theoretical approaches and measurement models. In doing that, scholars have considered satisfaction and dissatisfaction either as two extremes on a single continuum or two distinct conceptual dimensions, i.e. tourist satisfaction (TS) and tourist dissatisfaction (TD) (Alegre and Garau, 2010). In line with the latter approach, known as dual approach, the 4Q is a methodology which permits to measure TS and TD through the administration of just four open-ended questions to tourists (Oliveri et al., 2018). The main feature of the 4Q methodology is that data regarding dozens of TS and TD elementary indicators can be drawn from the…

Aspetti e qualità delle statistiche sul turismo: effetti distorcenti tra misura e utilizzo di alcune statistiche

Si affronta il tema della qualità delle statistiche sul turismo, mettendo in evidenza la mancata corrispondenza tra arrivi e turisti, e proponendo alcune soluzioni per la stima del numero dei turisti attraverso l'ausilio di informazioni ausiliarie.

Short Term Dynamics of Tourist Arrivals: What Do Italian Destinations Have in Common?

This work aims to detect the common short term dynamics to yearly time series of 413 Italian tourist areas. We adopt the clustering technique of Abraham et al. (Scand J Stat. 30:581–595, 2003) who propose a two-stage method which fits the data by B-splines and partitions the estimated model coefficients using a k-means algorithm. The description of each cluster, which identifies a specific kind of dynamics, is made through simple descriptive cross tabulations in order to study how the location of the areas across the regions or their prevailing typology of tourism characterize each group.