0000000001155320
AUTHOR
Kristine Berzina
The role of digital information sources in the travel planning process
World Economic Forum’s Digital Transformation Initiative emphasizes that digitalisation in tourism is transforming the industry at an exponential rate across the globe. Current tourist behaviour patterns are changing not so much in travel habits as in the ways of finding and using travel information. These digitalisation changes are evident at all travel stages starting from dreaming about the future trip, planning and booking necessary tourism services, as well as sharing information and evaluating experiences. Tourist destination organisations and companies need to make strategic decisions, when sharing information, to reach the target audience in a smart and efficient way. The purpose of…
Tourism SME sustainability social and economic challenges during pandemic: cases of Russian Federation, Georgia and Latvia
Until 2020, the tourism industry was characterized by a growth rate, the statistics highlight that globally 2019 was the tenth year with a consecutive annual growth. However, the Covid-19 pandemic marked a major turning point in the development of tourism, instead of tourism overdevelopment, the underdevelopment issues appeared in front pages of the industry news. The effects of the pandemic are intensified by the fact that tourism is a labour-intensive industry and that most companies in the sector are SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises). At this time, it is crucially important to look at sustainability issues, therefore the aim of this study is to analyse the social and economic dim…
Supplemental material for this article is available online.
Supplemental Material for Cross-border Entrepreneurial Education, Development and Knowledge and Technology Transfer: Experiences with the Cambridge–Riga Venture Camp Programme—A Reflective Report by Alan Barrell, Anders Paalzow, Elmars Baltins, Jan Storgårds, Karlis Purmalis, Kristine Berzina, Madara Mara Irbe and Modris Ozolins, in Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies
Cross-border Entrepreneurial Education, Development and Knowledge and Technology Transfer: Experiences with the Cambridge–Riga Venture Camp Programme—A Reflective Report
Over a 6-year period, a collaboration has been developed between a group in Cambridge, UK, and two Latvian Universities, Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and other organisations, including Riga City Council, supported by the British Embassy Riga and the Latvian Embassy in London, enabling structured processes to be developed to identify aspiring entrepreneurs based in Latvia and Estonia and provide education, coaching, mentoring and encouragement first in the home territory, leading to an intense whole-week development venture camp in Cambridge for selected candidates. The programme was extended to provide ongoing business development support for a number of entrepreneurial companies …
Tourism product/ service attribute influence on overall tourist satisfaction level in Riga
Tourist satisfaction is significant for successful destination marketing as it affects the choice of destination, consumption of tourism products and services as well as the decision to return to the destination and intentions to recommend the destination to other potential tourists. The mutual positive influence of customer satisfaction and loyalty is indisputably proven by empirical research studies carried out in different economic fields and industries, including tourism. The aim of the research was to study the satisfaction level of foreign tourists as consumers with various tourism product attributes in Riga and its influence on overall satisfaction and further consumer behaviour of t…
Associative Perception of Latvia as a Travel Destination in European Target Markets
The image of the destination and its perception play an important role in distinguishing objectively comparable alternatives. The aim of the research was to find out the associative perceptions of Latvia as a tourism destination in Latvia’s target markets in Europe, as well as to investigate whether the current and potential Latvian tourism brands correspond with the associations of the people of these markets about holiday travel. The study involved data of three face-to-face surveys conducted in several places in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria in the summer of 2015, 2016, and 2017. The questionnaire was made to determine the recognition and the image of Latvia as tourism destination as…
Tourism association development tendencies in Latvia
Tourism as one of the leading industries has gained attention from scholars that are researching different influencing factors of tourism destination development. One of the challenges that tourism destinations need to overcome is heterogeneous nature of tourism industry that could be solved with the help of professional and regional tourism associations. Current tourism technology from one side creates additional potential for tourism enterprises and destinations, from other side it could decrease need for traditional tourism associations. The Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) indicates eighteen active tourism associations in Latvia. These tourism associations have been go…
Use of information sources in outbound travel planning: case of the Netherlands and Belgium
In the Information Age travellers have a wide range of information that can be accessed by a variety of channels. The kind of information search travellers undertake and acquire will have significant consequences for the purchases they will make. There is a need for repeated studies to track possible changes in tourist behaviour for information search patterns as use of information sources and their combination evolve over the time. Understanding tourists’ information search peculiarities can be of use for tourism scholars and practitioners in the marketing planning process. Majority of European citizens are travelling mainly within their home country (Eurobarometer, 2014) still small count…