Infrastructure Capitals and Community Transformation in Tourism Destinations, Southwest Nigeria (Published)

The study analysed the influence of tourism infrastructure on community transformation in Southwest Nigeria. One most prominent tourism destination was purposively selected from each state of six; Oyo – Agodi Gardens, Ogun – Olumo Rock, Osun – Osun Osogbo Groove, Ondo – Idanre Hills, Ekiti – Ikogosi Warm Springs, and Lagos – National Theatre. Simple random sampling technique was employed to select thirty residents from each destination, giving a total of one hundred and eighty respondents. The results revealed social factors had Cronbach’s Alpha values of social (0.799) with variance 10.310%; political factors (.811) with variance 9.237%; natural factors (0.781) with variance 9.103%; economic factors (.614) with variance 10.117%; physical factors (.749) with variance 10.312%; human factors (.721) with variance 10.003%; and cultural factor (.611) with variance explained as 9.041%. The results further revealed that social capital (B = 0.164; p<0.05); physical (B = 0.174; p<0.05); human (B = 0.184; p>0.05); and natural capital (B = 0.159; p<0.05) showed significance with community transformation. While, economic capital (B = 0.113; p>0.05); political factors (B = 0.181; p>0.05); and cultural factor (B = 0.130; p>0.05) showed no significant prediction but all had t values greater 1. Infrastructure capitals (social, physical, and natural) were found to have significant relationship with community transformation. It is recommended that infrastructure capital should be set up as a ‘service industry’ to providing goods that meet customers’ demands in order to forestall irregularities and delay in supply for rapid and optimal sustainable transformation.

Keywords: Community, Tourism Destination, Tourism Development, community transformation, infrastructure capital

How Can Social Responsibilities Contribute to Brand Equity: Evidences from Isfahan City (Published)

Currently, tourism destinations differentiate themselves from other competitors through different factors such as social responsibilities. The reason is that doing social responsibilities results in many considerable outcomes such as tourist satisfaction, loyalty, and etc. This is why the present study aims to investigate the effect of tourism destinations social responsibilities on their brand equity. This study is practical and descriptive research from research goal and methodology perspectives respectively. The statistical population of this study includes foreign tourists who have traveled to Isfahan in the third season of 2016 and also have visited Naghshe Jahan Square in this city. A sample of 200 tourists was selected from this population randomly. For more certainty, 210 tourists were surveyed. A researcher-developed questionnaire was used for collecting the research data, which consists of 40 items. The validity and reliability of questionnaire were measured by Content and Construct Validities and Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient respectively. The results of Content and Construct Validities and Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient revealed that the questionnaire is a valid and reliable data-collection instrument for our purpose. The research data were summarized and analyzed by using both descriptive and inferential statistics in the SPSS and LISREL respectively. The findings showed that tourism destination social responsibilities affect tourism destination awareness, perceived value, perceived quality, image, and loyalty significantly; perceived value affects tourism destination loyalty significantly; tourism destination image affects tourist loyalty significantly; perceived quality affects tourism destination image and loyalty significantly. 

Keywords: Brand Equity, Brand Image, Social Responsibilities, Tourism Destination, brand loyalty