Research on tourist mobility in combination with the tourists' experiences has been rare to date. Previous studies focusing on the activities of tourists in time and space have most often used the method of time-space diaries. However, an important flaw in this method is that these recordings depend on the respondents' personal observations and notes. This disadvantage is avoided by using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) devices, which record their carriers' movements directly, thus replacing personal notes. This new method was used to study the time-space movements of visitors during the Biathlon World Championships 2008 inÖstersund, Sweden. In addition to the GPS devices, questionnaires were used to study the tourists' movements and experiences. In trying to combine methods to support the event analysis, the aim of the study is to evaluate the practicability of GPS devices during an outdoor sports event. Movements and experiences in time and space are studied. In order to answer questions regarding the visitors' movements on a macro-level, these methods were combined with bird's-eye view photographs taken of the race arena every minute. The overall results of this study thereby contribute to our understanding of time-space movements. The questionnaires offer comprehensive background information about the participants and their experiences, although some modifications will have to be made in future studies. The information provided by the photographs substantially complements the itineraries collected by means of GPS.
The present research aims at understanding the value of travel guidebooks as an object of consumption in the context of the digital age. It does so by applying a consumer value perspective to an object that has traditionally been studied as an information channel or as a cultural text and not as an object of consumption. Holbrook's consumer value framework was adopted to identify the value dimensions associated with guidebooks, and the underlying reasons for their use. Given the explorative nature of the study, a qualitative study design was chosen, and fifteen indepth interviews were conducted. The results suggest that the use and value of guidebooks are strongly connected to emerging Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Information needs are evolving due to technological development: the constant availability of online information has caused the temporal dimension of tourists' information needs to shift so that decisions can be postponed until right before consumption, making information search more serendipitous. Several types of value were identified which go beyond information needs, and they are: efficiency, excellence, play, aesthetics, status, esteem, spirituality and ethics.
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