Electronic commerce in the tourism sector has experienced rapid growth in recent years. However, due to market competition, consumer demands, the inherent risk of e-commerce and the intangible nature of tourism products, it is important to understand consumers' online purchasing behavior in greater depth in this sector. With this premise, this paper's objective is to study the variables that influence the online purchase intention and the e-loyalty of young people in the context of destination tourism. This two variables that have rarely been studied together. Young people have similar attitudes, beliefs and experiences, they use the Internet, mobile telephony and social media when they want to buy a tourism product, and have great potential to buy and influence. Through a wide sample and using structural equations (PLS), an equitable causal model has been generated that explains the formation of online purchase intention and e-loyalty in tourism through two external variables (site design and eWOM intention) and two internal variables (trust and satisfaction). The results show that the weight of the internal variables is greater than that of the external variables. The proposed causal model is practical to the extent that it can be applied by tourism firms to improve purchase intention and online loyalty.

Entrepreneurial intentions determine to a large extent the entrepreneurial behavior; therefore, the study of those intentions and the factors that influence them constitute a valid research area. The purpose of this regional comparative study was to design a new causal model of the formation of the entrepreneurial intention among young adults in Spain and Poland. Using the Structural Equation Modeling (PLS) methodology, the results show that subjective variables (beliefs, social norms, values) initiate the chain of effects that influence the action variables (motivation, self-efficacy, intention). Attitude is the nexus variable between both groups of variables. It is verified that there are no significant differences in the responses to the items or in the causal relationships of the model between both countries. This confirms the relevance of a homogenizing generational approach at a global level that allows the application of policies to promote the entrepreneurial intention for the entire segment. The proposed model takes into account and complements the previous designs, and is practical because it can be used at different levels of the education sector and by institutions promoting entrepreneurship and sustainability.

In this paper, the potential of the World Economic Forum (WEF) model to analyze tourism competitiveness is studied. The study aims to analyze the WEF model’s validity, reliability and dimensionality. It attempts to determine the WEF model’s potential for studying tourism destinations’ competitiveness in an integrated context. Finally, using the WEF model, Portugal’s competitiveness is analyzed in an integrated and benchmarking context. The methodology used in this study is the Rasch mathematical model, a methodology that has been effectively demonstrated in social sciences. Competitiveness data from the latest available WEF Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (TTCR-2019) has been used. The results show that the WEF model is statistically valid and reliable for studying competitiveness in tourism. Likewise, the WEF model’s high potential for the joint study of competitiveness and individual countries in an integrated and benchmarking context is confirmed. The study facilitates the development of policies to improve tourism competitiveness.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to synthesize the published works about tourism in the island. Island destinations, especially smaller ones, suffer the negative effects of tourism more than other destinations. This is because of the characteristics of island destinations and the negative impacts arising from their inadequate management by different stakeholders. For these reasons, and conversely because tourism favors the social and economic development of islands, there has been a great deal of research published on insular tourism in the literature at a global level. Despite the number of studies carried out from different approaches, none have synthesized this scientific production. Thus, the main contribution of this paper is the use of a bibliometric and descriptive approach to carry out a thorough review of studies published on tourist development in island destinations. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a bibliometric and descriptive approach to carry out a comprehensive review of the published studies on tourism development in island destinations in the past decade with special emphasis on the items analyzed, places of analysis and scientific journals that have addressed this topic. Findings The results of the analysis of the literature show the interest of the study of tourism in island destinations. This interest is partly due to the attraction that tourists have for this type of destinations and the need to promote their sustainable management as tourism destinations (Cusick, 2009, Hall, 2011, Cave and Brown, 2012, López, Orgaz, Marmolejo and Alector, 2016). In addition, tourism in island destinations constitutes an opportunity for economic development and benefits both the local population and its visitors (Fabinyi, 2010; Porter et al., 2015). Research limitations/implications The main limitation of this paper is the great diversity of tourist destinations made up of islands, the complex nature of these destinations and tourism and the quantity and diversity of research carried out into them. This aspect has already been highlighted by other authors and makes it complex to determine which research should be included or excluded in this review. Practical implications Importantly, the results allow researchers and decision-makers to identify the main areas of interest in the study of island tourism and the reasons for this interest. They also indicate new areas of interest and in-depth studies. Thus, professionals have a map that shows the most relevant factors in tourism development for this type of destination and the variables that, both from a positive and a negative point of view, influence its development. Social implications This research shows that the main areas of interest is island destination are the quality of life of the local community, stakeholder collaboration, sustainability, diversification and seasonality, marketing, consumer behavior/perception and segmentation, planning of tourism activity, information and technology, competitiveness and efficiency. Originality/value As evidenced by the amount of research carried out, there is a great deal of interest in tourism in island destinations. This interest arises from the specific characteristics and the interest of tourists themselves in this type of destination, as well as from the negative impacts and opportunities generated by island tourism. Nevertheless, the number of references obtained for tourism in island destinations (N = 949) represents only 0.2 per cent of the total number of studies referring to only “island” in the SCOPUS consultation (339,607 studies). Thus, one of the contributions of this paper has been to highlight the need to continue studying and reviewing in greater depth research on insular tourism.

This article studies the variables of entrepreneurship at the regional (countries) level proposed by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) in its periodic global reports. This response to the suggestions and concerns of various authors is related to the need to analyze the theoretical foundation of the variables used by GEM. The validity and reliability of GEM data for the scientific study of entrepreneurship are also analyzed. Finally, the potential of GEM data to manage entrepreneurship variables at the country level is studied. Data from the GEM global report and the fifty countries for which data are available on all variables are used in the study. The methodology used is the Rasch mathematical model, a valuable alternative to the Classical Theory of the Test. The results confirm the theoretical validity of GEM data, its validity and reliability for the development of scientific studies, and its potential for managing entrepreneurship variables at the country level. Both the methodology used and the conclusions obtained constitute novel contributions to this field.