Tourist Destination

Vol. 4, No. 1 (2026) • Research Papers

ESG uncertainty, economic growth, and tourism performance in the United States: A wavelet quantile mediation and moderation analysis

Abdul Qudus Adeniyi Abdul Azeez

The United States tourism sector faces growing exposure to sustainability-related uncertainty and shiftingmacroeconomic conditions. This study examines the direct effect of ESG uncertainty (ESGU) on tourist arrivals(TOR) and investigates whether economic growth (ECOG) moderates or mediates this relationship. Using quarterlydata for 2002–2025, the analysis applies a wavelet quantile regression framework extended to mediation andmoderation, allowing effects to vary across distributional states and short-, medium-, and long-term horizons. Thedirect effect of ESGU on TOR is nonlinear and horizon-specific: in the short term, ESGU reduces arrivals at theextreme lower quantile (τ = 0.01) but is associated with higher arrivals at the upper tail (τ = 0.95). In the mediumterm, a positive ESGU effect persists at upper quantiles (τ = 0.60–0.80). Economic growth does not significantlymoderate the ESGU-tourism relationship at any quantile or horizon. As a mediator, ESGU affects economic growthpositively only at the lower tail in the short term, but negatively at selected quantiles in the medium and long term.Since economic growth supports tourism at medium- and long-term upper and lower tails, the indirect effect ofESGU on tourism through growth is negative and significant in the medium and long term at distributionalextremes, though absent in the short term. These findings point to the importance of horizon- and state-specificpolicy design for managing sustainability-related uncertainty in the U.S. tourism sector.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20613666

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Vol. 4, No. 1 (2026) • Research Papers

Smart destination applications in Türkiye and global examples: A comparative analysis

Hasene Nur Gök, Şule Aydın

This study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of smart city/destination applications in Türkiye and around the world and to identify areas where smart destination management can be further developed in Türkiye. The research was designed using a multiple-case study approach within the framework of qualitative research. Document review was utilized as the data collection technique, and secondary sources such as academic studies, institutional reports, municipal websites, strategy documents, project descriptions, and digital destination applications were evaluated. The study’s sample was determined using purposive sampling; a total of ten cities were included in the analysis: Benidorm, Singapore, Helsinki, Amsterdam, and Valencia from around the world, and Konya, Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, and Mugla from Türkiye. The global cities were treated as the global reference group, while the Turkish cities were treated as the local analysis group. The data were analyzed using a thematic analysis method that combined deductive and inductive approaches. As a result of the analysis, nine main themes were identified: smart governance and institutional capacity; smart transportation and mobility; digital services and local resident/visitor experience; data-driven management 8-and digital infrastructure; smart tourism and cultural heritage management; environmental sustainability and resource management; accessibility, inclusivity, and visitor convenience; innovation ecosystem and experimental applications; and security, risk, and resilience management. The findings indicate that cities in Türkiye have advanced examples, particularly in transportation integration, mobile municipal services, digital payment systems, geographic information system (GIS)-based mapping, and tourist information applications. In contrast, it was determined that in cities around the world, data-driven decision support systems, digital twin applications, environmental sensor infrastructures, capacity management, living lab applications, institutional certification, and inclusive accessibility solutions have developed in a more comprehensive and measurable manner. In conclusion, the study highlights that smart destination applications in Türkiye should not remain limited to the level of digital service delivery but must be transformed into data-driven, sustainable, inclusive, measurable, and integrated destination management systems.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21759169

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Vol. 4, No. 1 (2026) • Research Papers

The glass ceiling experiences and professional challenges of female employees in travel agencies: A qualitative study in Düzce province

Muhammet Caner Kaya, Meryem Muhafiz, Ezgi Aydemir, Meryem Demirkal, Hilal Akyol

Women’s participation in the workforce has increased in various sectors both globally and in Turkey following the Industrial Revolution. However, despite this increase, women remain underrepresented in senior management positions. This situation points to the existence of invisible barriers that limit women’s career advancement and is explained in the literature by the concept of the “glass ceiling.” The purpose of this study is to examine the phenomenon of the glass ceiling that women face in their professional lives, the validity of this phenomenon under current conditions, and the difficulties women encounter in their participation in the workforce, specifically within the context of the tourism sector. In the literature, glass ceiling barriers are generally addressed in three dimensions: individual, organizational, and societal. Individual barriers are associated with women’s self-confidence, career perceptions, and professional attitudes; organizational barriers are linked to internal organizational practices, promotion processes, and discriminatory approaches; and societal barriers are related to traditional gender roles and expectations regarding work-life balance. The tourism sector is one of the areas where female employees’ experiences with the glass ceiling have become more visible due to long working hours, a fast-paced work environment, a seasonal employment structure, and working conditions that require emotional labor. Accordingly, this study was conducted within a qualitative research framework to examine the professional experiences of women working at Group A travel agencies in Düzce Province and to identify the barriers they face in their career development. Data for the study were collected through semi-structured interviews with three female participants and analyzed using content analysis. The study found that individual, organizational, and societal barriers affect women’s career development to varying degrees; recommendations were developed to strengthen women’s employment in the tourism sector and support their career development processes.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21378221

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Vol. 4, No. 1 (2026) • Research Papers

Food allergy knowledge, attitudes, and practices among employees of food and beverage establishments: Evidence from Şanlıurfa

Serkan Yiğit, Fatma BEŞALTI EDE

This study aims to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral levels of personnel working in food and beverage establishments in Şanlıurfa province regarding food allergies. Food allergies are among the important issues in the food and beverage sector in terms of consumer health, food safety, and service quality. The prevalence of eating and drinking out, especially in tourist destinations, makes the awareness and preparedness level of employees in this area even more crucial. A quantitative research method was adopted in the study, and data were collected between September 15 and September 30, 2024, using a face-to-face survey technique. A total of 409 questionnaires were obtained; after removing incomplete and erroneous forms, analyses were performed on 352 valid questionnaires. The research findings revealed that participants' knowledge and attitudes regarding food allergies were at a moderate level, and they exhibited a moderate level of risk in terms of behavior. The results indicate that personnel working in food and beverage establishments are not adequately prepared regarding food allergies and that more systematic training practices are needed in this area. The study makes significant contributions to improving safe service delivery in food and beverage establishments, increasing employee awareness, and strengthening food safety practices at the destination level.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21312101

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Vol. 4, No. 1 (2026) • Systematic Meta-Analysis

Tourists' negative destination behaviours: A systematic review and conceptual framework of destination rejection, avoidance and boycott

Hakan BENEK

Despite decades of scholarship on destination choice, satisfaction, and loyalty, the question of why tourists deliberately refuse, avoid, or boycott destinations has remained conceptually fragmented. Multiple overlapping constructs (destination rejection, avoidance, boycott, repulsion, and non-visitation intention ) circulate in the literature without consistent definitional boundaries. This paper does not claim to establish a new independent research domain; rather, it performs an integrative conceptual clarification: a typological refinement that specifies the distinct psychological mechanisms, antecedent structures, and management implications of each form of negative destination behaviour. Drawing on a systematic review and conceptual synthesis of 29 peer-reviewed studies published between 2010 and 2026, conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines (Page et al., 2021), the paper identifies four thematically and mechanistically distinct clusters: (1) active destination rejection, (2) protective/risk-based avoidance, (3) moral/political boycott, and (4) negative image-based passive non-selection. Two theoretically primary mechanisms are designated: Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) for risk-based avoidance, and Social Identity Theory (SIT) for boycott and identity-based rejection. Six additional theoretical frameworks serve as complementary rather than co-equal explanatory resources. Two exploratory effect-size syntheses are reported in Appendix C as illustrative material ( not as meta-analytic claims ) noting that full pooling was not feasible due to limited effect-size comparability across studies. The most important practical implication is type-specificity: the management response to moral/political boycott must be fundamentally different from the response to risk-based avoidance or passive non-selection. Implications for DMOs and an eight-priority future research agenda are provided.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20744602

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