Browsing by Author "Liu-Lastres, Becky"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Adrenaline, Fear or Curiosity? Exploring Individuals' Motivations to Engage In Adventure Tourism
    (2022-12) Bufkin, Alexa Renee; Liu-Lastres, Becky; Wang, Suosheng; Cecil, Amanda
    Adventure tourism is a fast-growing niche sector within tourism. This study aims to identify the primary motivations and constraints for individuals participating in adventure tourism. Emphasis was put on adventure participants' travel pattern behaviors (local residents/ tourists) and the new factor of COVID-19. Only some studies have examined constraints within adventure tourism, including motivations, travel, and COVID-19. A total of 240 individual's participated in a 10-15-minute survey that focused on 37 motivations and constraints pulled from previous literature. The findings highlighted personal improvement and destination experience as the key motivators to participate in adventure tourism, while traveler anxiety was the key constraint holding participants back. It also gave insight into how adventure tourism continues to be popular despite the pandemic.
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    Applying Crowd Risk Mitigation Technologies in Urban Sport Events: A Case Analysis of the Collegiate Football Event in Indianapolis, IN
    (Events and Tourism Institute at IUPUI, 2021-12) Weaver, Kennedy; Liu-Lastres, Becky; Tourism, Conventions, and Event Management, School of Health and Human Sciences
    In recent years, the need for advanced precautions for mitigating the risks imposed by events, which involve high volumes of people in shared spaces, has multiplied. The occurrence of COVID-19 pandemic has further altered event practices, spaces, and event attendees’ mindsets in large-scale events. Proper crowd management not only seeks to prevent acts of violence and injury, but in today’s event environments; efforts should be consciously applied to reduce the spread of respiratory infections such as COVID-19. As the events industry continues to evolve and face new limitations, ways in which event organizers respond must evolve as well. Smartphone technologies are opening new ways for event organizers to communicate with and monitor attendees. This case study explores current crowd management strategies, analyzes the gaps in widely used models, and finally proposes event management technologies trending in the field.
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    Are we always prepared? Examining Risk and Crisis Management in Tourism and Hospitality
    (Center for Translating Research Into Practice, IU Indianapolis, 2021-07-23) Liu-Lastres, Becky
    The tourism and hospitality industry is a solid supporter for our local and domestic economy. Despite its importance, the industry is vulnerable to various adverse events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Becky Liu-Lastres' primary research interests involve risk and crisis management in tourism and hospitality. In this presentation, Professor Liu-Lastres shares some of her major findings in previous research and provides insights into the lessons we have learned from the industry's experiences with COVID-19 and how we can adapt to the new normal.
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    Assessing the Importance and Value of Events for Indianapolis Using Willingness to Pay
    (2023-08) Burke, Michael; Pierce, David; Liu-Lastres, Becky; Sherman, Geoffre
    Having the support of the local community is vital to having events go well. This study is needed to better understand the value of the current events and event types to be able to bring better events to Indy. This study used the contingent valuation to measure the willingness to pay for a variety of events held in Indianapolis and then assessed the difference between them while including identity and quality of life factors as additional variables. An online questionnaire was used to gather responses for all the variables. Event type and sports identity were significant variables impacting the willingness to pay to attend.
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    Exploring Sustainable Travel Behavior for Generation Y and Z
    (2023-06) Bao, Huilin; Liu-Lastres, Becky; Cecil, Amanda; Wang, Suosheng
    Since the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly hit the world, the tourism industry has been impacted in every conceivable area. Environmental issues are recognized and considered essential to solve especially in the tourism industry. It is unavoidable that tourists bring both positive and negative impacts to a destination. Meanwhile, the tourism industry is eager to return to its pre-pandemic tourist numbers and levels of spending that traveler previously engaged in. The young generations, specifically Gen Y and Z, play an important role in the tourism market, and they often embody a mindset that takes into consideration issues of sustainability. However, they are not as active as expected in practicing sustainable travel behaviors. Sustainable tourism development and "green" travel practices are becoming increasingly necessary. The main purpose of this study is to identify the gaps between Gen Y and Z's intentions and their behaviors regarding sustainable travel. This study developed and tested a conceptual framework to understand this dynamic. This study identified two gaps: (a) the behavior-intention gap, which exists between Gen Y & Z's intentions and their behaviors in sustainable travel, and (b) daily life and sustainable travel gap, which is the gap between individuals’ daily sustainable habits and sustainable travel behaviors. The results of quantitative study indicated the factors contributed to the gaps included: (1) individuals who have bachelor’s degrees are more likely to conduct sustainable travel behaviors; (2) individuals who have daily sustainable habits; (3) individuals who have higher perceived consumer effectiveness. The implications of the study provide suggestions for destinations to promote sustainable travel and ways to encourage more sustainable traveling choices by travelers.
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    Introduction to Becky Liu-Lastres & Her Work
    (Center for Translating Research Into Practice, IU Indianapolis, 2021-07) Liu-Lastres, Becky
    Professor Becky Liu-Lastres briefly discusses her translational research that deals with risk and crisis management in the tourism and hospitality industry.
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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.