Browsing by Author "Fu, Yao-Yi"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Assessing the Public’s Perceptions towards Indianapolis’ Sports Imagery
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2015-04-17) Harrington, Nicolette; Fu, Yao-Yi
    When marketing a destination, it is important to study how people perceive a destination. If there is a gap between people’s perceptions and what a destination offers, strategies will be needed to close the gap or to improve the perceptions. This research involves understanding people’s perceptions towards Indianapolis and researching if the sports imagery that the city has developed has been effective for its sports tourism. Indianapolis has focused on creating an identity for itself since the 1970s. This identity hinged on sports—auto racing, amateur sports, and major sporting events. Indianapolis began to grow: skyscrapers graced the new skyline, the Colts became the first NFL franchise in the state, major businesses such as Eli Lilly moved operations to the city, local communities and infrastructure were developed. This study investigated how these changes were perceived by both Hoosiers and visitors. To identify the images the public associated with Indianapolis, a total of 75 in-depth interviews were conducted by students as a class project. When asked to indicate what comes to mind while thinking of Indianapolis, responses fell all over the spectrum. Many mentioned the Indy 500 and the Indianapolis Colts, some described Indianapolis as a small, boring city, and a few cited images of violence and racism. About 88 percent of interviewees said the city has become more attractive, but almost 33 percent said they would not visit Indianapolis for leisure. Around 90 percent of respondents said there are strong links between Indianapolis and sport, and about 68 percent of interviewees said these links have been strengthened within the last 10 years. Although the study findings show the city’s efforts to become a sports tourism destination have worked, the results of this research highlight some gaps that need further efforts by the city.
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    Cultural tourism investment and resident quality of life : a case study of Indianapolis, Indiana
    (2013-12-10) Gullion, Christopher Scott; Hji-Avgoustis, Sotiris; Fu, Yao-Yi; Lee, Soonhwan
    This thesis will explore issues concerning cultural tourism investment and resident quality of life in the Midwestern city of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is important to understand from a cultural tourism perspective how further attempts to grow and invest in tourism will affect resident perception of quality of life and future cultural tourism investment. To achieve this goal, data from the 2012 Indianapolis Quality of Life survey was statistically analyzed to specifically examine how residents' perceived quality of life affects cultural tourism investment. This allows for the study of what city-service attributes (i.e. safety, attractions, transportation, et cetera) identify as potential indicators of whether residents' perception of quality of life affects cultural tourism investment and if there were any correlations between demographic factors of age, gender, ethnicity, and household income with the perception that investing in cultural events and attractions for tourists is good for residents. Results indicated that several key city-service attributes identify as potential indicators of whether residents' perception of quality of life in Indianapolis affects residents' perceptions that investing in cultural tourism for tourists is good for residents. In addition, several key city-service attributes identified as potential indicators of residents' perception of quality of life in Indianapolis excluding perceptions of cultural tourism investment. Finally, results indicated that demographic factors of gender, age, ethnicity, and income were not significant when it came to affecting the perception that investing in cultural events and attractions for tourists is good for residents.
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    Examining the Impacts of Robot Service on Hotel Guest Experience
    (2021-05) Jain, Namrata Rajendra Kumar; Liu-Lastres, Bingjie; Fu, Yao-Yi; Mirehie, Mona
    The aim of the study is to assess the impact of robot service on hotel guest experiences. Application of technology in tourism and hospitality services is growing each day. Using robots in hospitality establishment is becoming more and more popular, mainly because it can help cut down the labor costs, increase efficiency and reduce human contacts. Very few studies, however, have been done on examining customer experience regarding robots used in the hotel. Social media sites such as TripAdvisor are popular platforms where people share their first-hand experiences. Hence, this study focuses on studying the reviews of robotic hotels. Using the software Leximancer, reviews were studied and categorized in different themes to understand if the presence of the robot would create positive or negative experience for customers. The sample of the study included total of 2383 reviews related to robotic hotels from TripAdvisor from January 2011 to October 2020. The findings highlighted the major themes as Room, Robot, Hotel and Staff and their relationship with the ratings. It also provided insights into the contribution of robot service to consumer’s hotel experiences.
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    Exploring inbound tourists experience in Beijing, China: an online deductive approach
    (Emerald, 2019) Liu, Yu; Liu-Lastres, Bingjie; Wang, Qiuju; Fu, Yao-Yi; Tourism, Conventions, and Event Management, School of Physical Education and Tourism Management
    Purpose Beijing is becoming one of the top global destinations but the number of international tourists to the city has been declining recently. By analyzing inbound tourists experience in Beijing and identifying the relationship between the destination attributes and satisfaction, the purpose of this paper is to provide important insights into city tourism research and city destination development. Design/methodology/approach This study used an online deductive approach and collected 1,254 reviews on TripAdvisor referencing major attractions in Beijing. This study used the Leximancer software to analyze the content of the reviews and to identify the underlying relationships. Findings The results showed that international tourists’ experience in Beijing can be reflected via five aspects: attractions, city, transportation, service and people. The results further indicated that the major concern of international tourists visiting Beijing related to the service quality on site. Originality/value This study explored inbound tourists experience in Beijing using an online deductive approach. Practical implications were provided with respect to improving international tourists experience in Beijing and enhancing their satisfaction and revisiting intentions.
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    The Influence of the Indy International Festival on Visitors' Attitudes Toward Diverse Cultures
    (2016-04) Chu, Yung-Tsen; Wang, Suosheng; Fu, Yao-Yi; King, Carina Chern Chern
    In this era of globalization, people have more opportunities to meet many ethnic groups in their daily lives whether it is in schools, in the workplace, or even in the private sector or in government. Interacting with people from other countries can enhance our knowledge of cultural diversity and provide us with an international perspective. There are many ways of enhancing cultural understanding such as attending international festivals. While research on festivals is fast growing, study on visitors’ attitudes toward diverse cultures is relatively unexplored. This paper used a visitor attitude scale, a modified M-GUDS-S, to investigate visitors’ behavioral, cognitive, and/or affective components of diversity attitudes. The research was conducted at the 2014 Indy International Festival and focused on measuring visitation frequency, stay-time at the event, similar event participation, cultural interest, and overseas travel experience contributing to any observed differences on visitors’ attitudes. Also, the visitors’ intention to travel overseas after attending this festival was investigated. A total of 195 visitors was surveyed on site with 176 providing usable data. The findings suggest that international festivals play an important role in improving visitors’ awareness, appreciation, and acceptance of diverse cultures. Specifically, visitation frequency, the time spent at the event, and personal interest in cultures have significant influence on attitudes.
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    A Longitudinal Study of Cultural Tourism and Quality of Life of Indianapolis Residents
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2010-04-09) Cecil, Amanda K.; Fu, Yao-Yi; Wang, Suosheng; Hji-Avgoustis, Sotiris; King, Carina; Heo, Jinmoo
    Cultural tourism development is considered a viable channel to attract tourists to a destination and to enhance residents’ overall quality of life (QOL). This research reports the findings of a five-year study, from 2004-2008, to monitor patterns and changes in perceptions of cultural tourism and residents’ quality of life measurement. The series of studies yield interesting conclusions that have practical implications for Indianapolis city and tourism leaders who continually evaluate the cultural tourism initiatives and ways to improve the residents’ quality of life.
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    A Statewide Hallmark Event: The Exploration of Participants' Perceptions and Emotions
    (2022-12) Nyhuis, Millie Kathleen; Krohn, Brian; Liu-Lastres, Becky; Fu, Yao-Yi
    The Indiana Bicentennial Torch Relay was a one-of-a-kind event that involved over 2,000 participants from all 92 counties. The event was created to invoke community pride and connectivity. The purpose of this study is to understand the emotions and perceptions of participants in a state-wide Hallmark event. To achieve the purpose of this study, this research studied the perception and emotions of the participants of the state-wide event. Participants filled out an online survey with questions related to their sense of community, perception and emotions of the event. Four different scales from previous research were used in the survey. A total of 490 participants responded to the survey. Normality and nonparametric tests were performed. The results of the tests showed an increase in positive affect after the event than before. Most of the perceptions of the event were shown to be relatively similar based on proximity and population of the counties. Showing that no matter the population of the community, perceptions of the event could be very similar.