New Frontiers in Travel Motivation and Social Media: The Case of Longyearbyen, the High Arctic

Carolina Aldao and Tanja A. Mihalic
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Carolina Aldao: Faculty of Tourism, University of Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain
Tanja A. Mihalic: Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 15, 1-18

Abstract: Tourism explores new frontiers by traveling around unknown geographical and technological territories that bring new tourism opportunities and hazards to satisfy visitors’ needs and sustainability and responsibility in destinations. This study introduces a composite model for measuring travel motivation and the impact of social media on travel behavior and applies it to the town of Longyearbyen in the High Arctic. Both aspects were surveyed through qualitative semi-structured visitor interviews. While the motivation to visit Longyearbyen depended on travelers’ needs, their travel experiences, and push and pull motivational factors, respondents gave examples of how social media positively or negatively affected different elements of their motivation and visitation. The study indicates the opportunities and hazards analyzed from social media as well as future research directions needed in the pursuit of a more responsible tourism approach while exploring new technological and geographical frontiers.

Keywords: travel motivation; travel behavior; social media; the High Arctic; responsible tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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