Detection of dengue in German tourists returning from Ibiza, Spain, related to an autochthonous outbreak, August to October 2022.

In February 2023, German public health authorities reported two dengue cases (one confirmed, one probable) and four possible cases who travelled to Ibiza, Spain, in late summer/autumn 2022; the infection was probably acquired through mosquito bites. Case 1 visited Ibiza over 1 week in late August with two familial companions; all three developed symptoms the day after returning home. Only Case 1 was tested; dengue virus (DENV) infection was confirmed by presence of NS1 antigen and IgM antibodies. Case 2 travelled to Ibiza with two familial companions for 1 week in early October, and stayed in the same town as Case 1. Case 2 showed symptoms on the day of return, and the familial companions 1 day before and 3 days after return; Case 2 tested positive for DENV IgM. The most probable source case had symptom onset in mid-August, and travelled to a dengue-endemic country prior to a stay in the same municipality of Ibiza for 20 days, until the end of August. Dengue diagnosis was probable based on positive DENV IgM. Aedes albopictus, a competent vector for dengue, has been present in Ibiza since 2014. This is the first report of a local dengue transmission event on Ibiza.

Clothing and Outdoor Thermal Comfort (OTC) in tourist environments: a case study from Porto (Portugal).

This study focuses on assessing tourists' perception of bioclimatic comfort in the urban context of Porto, Portugal, specifically in the areas of Avenida dos Aliados and Praça da Liberdade. The study examines the relationship between meteorological conditions, tourists' clothing choices, and their physical activity levels. The study integrates microclimatic measurements and questionnaire surveys carried out during the summers of 2019 and 2020, and the winter of 2019-2020. A comprehensive questionnaire following international standards was administered to a representative sample of 563 tourists. The results show significant variations in mean air temperature (AT), wind speed (Wχ), relative humidity (RH), global radiation (GRAD), and total mean radiant temperature (TMRT) over the study periods. The assessment of Outdoor Thermal Comfort (OTC) is based on ASHRAE 55 standards, using the Thermal Sensation Vote (TSV) scale and the tourists' opinions on their thermal preferences. Clothing choices are found to be influenced by AT, with tourists choosing lighter clothing in warmer conditions. Gender and age differences in clothing insulation (Icl) are identified, suggesting potential differences in OTC perception. AT varied significantly, with an inflection point in clothing choices at 21.7°C and a correlation between AT and reduction in clothing layers (r2 = 0.846; p < 0.05). The study also observes seasonal variations in physical activity levels of tourists, with higher activity levels in summer due to milder weather (110.0 W·m⁻2). More thermally comfortable environments tend to promote a sense of well-being among visitors, which directly affects their satisfaction during their stay in the city. When tourists feel comfortable with the thermal conditions of the urban environment, they are more likely to explore and enjoy local attractions for longer periods of time, thereby enhancing their cultural and leisure experiences. Women tend to wear fewer layers of clothing than men in summer, reflecting potential differences in OTC perception. Results align with previous studies, indicating the impact of clothing insulation of individual subject (Icl) on OTC varies across locations and cultures. Cultural factors influence clothing preferences and thermal tolerance, emphasizing the need for nuanced considerations in understanding OTC perceptions. The study provides to the understanding of the OTC of tourists in the city of Porto, but also offers relevant contributions for improving the visitor experience and sustainable development, namely in other geographical contexts. The major contribution of this research lies in the comparative analysis of Icl and OTC between tourists, based on physical measurements and questionnaire surveys conducted in summer and winter, providing valuable insights for tourist spot design.

Occurrence and migration patterns of microplastics in different tidal zones of tourist beaches: A case study in the Bohai Bay, North China.

Coastal areas are acknowledged to be significant reservoirs of microplastics, while limited research on their presence and migration in the intertidal zones. This study investigated in a tourist beach in northern China, to reveal the occurrence of microplastics at different intertidal heights, elucidates their migration patterns, and discusses the impact of tourist activities on microplastics. Results showed that the mean microplastic abundance was 2114.8 ± 933.2 items/kg in sediments and 30,670.8 ± 15,094.9 items/m3 in seawater. Fibers were the most common shape; transparent, blue, green and black prevailed in color; and cellulose and PET were the most common components. Microplastic abundances decreased from high tide zone to low tide zone, and the abundances of microplastics in seawater were positively correlated with those in the high tide zone and negatively correlated with those in the low tide zone. Compared to wave disturbance, human activities have a relatively limited impact on microplastic abundance. However, intensive tourist activities contribute to a higher diversity of microplastic types on tourist beaches. This study enhances the understanding of the occurrence and migration patterns of microplastics in tourist beaches, and provides a valuable dataset and theoretical basis for subsequent research on microplastic pollution in coastal areas.

The trinomial health, safety and happiness promote rural tourism.

BACKGROUND: Health and safety protocols have become a requirement to promote rural tourism (PRT). From this perspective, this paper empirically analyses how the health and safety dimensions influence the happiness of hotel managers and rural tourists in the post-Covid 19 era. METHODS: A theory-based structural equation model will be carried out of activation of norms, that measure variables: sanitary, socioeconomic, and safety. Precisely, we will measure how those three attributes affect the managers-guests' health in rural areas and their search for happiness at the rural destination. Based on the above, a field of study has been 215 rural tourist accommodations in the Extremadura region (Spain) and a sample population of 443 guests. Data were organised through the SEM-PLS path modelling. RESULTS: The results achieved statistically show the need to undertake a new model of healthier and safer tourism consumption that values the tourist resources of rural areas, especially nearby and sustainable destinations, based on the guiding principles of safety, health, and happiness. CONCLUSIONS: The first conclusion is that promoting tourist destinations under safe and healthy conditions has become a priority objective in the tourism industry. The second conclusion that follows from the first is that the variables safety and health and the pursuit of happiness are essential factors in promoting tourist destinations for rural hotel managers and rural tourists. The third conclusion related to the first two is that the opportunity that this study provides to develop strategies of an innovative, sustainable, and creative nature based on the relationships of the new trinomial of health, safety and happiness, from the perspective of happiness management.

Gestures and pauses to help thought: hands, voice, and silence in the tourist guide's speech.

In the body of research on the relationship between gesture and speech, some models propose they form an integrated system while others attribute gestures a compensatory role in communication. This study addresses the gesture-speech relationship by taking disfluency phenomena as a case study. Since it is part of a project aimed at designing virtual agents to be employed in museums, an analysis was performed on the communicative behavior of tourist guides. Results reveal that gesturing is more frequent during speech than pauses. Moreover, when comparing the types of gestures and types of pauses they co-occur with, non-communicative gestures (idles and manipulators) turn out to be more frequent than communicatively-meaningful gestures, which instead more often co-occur with speech. We discuss these findings as relevant for a theoretical model viewing speech and gesture as an integrated system.

The role of transportation in developing the tourism sector at high altitude destination, Kinnaur.

As a supporting factor, transportation is an important element of destination image that provides a base for the successful tourism industry. It is like the blood vessels of an area and is considered a determinant in developing a tourist destination. The article aims to characterize the status or problem of transportation accessibility in Kinnaur. GARMIN hand GPS (Global Positioning System) has been used to identify the damaged roads from their start to endpoints. In addition, a simple random sample technique has been used to register the opinion of 280 tourists about the transport facilities. Study results suggest that the bad condition of National Highway-22 is one of the barriers to tourism development in Kinnaur. There were no significant differences found between the selected destinations. Overall, the district headquarters, Kalpa, has been perceived significantly higher agreements by tourists. The government should ensure that the Border Road Organization, the organization entrusted with the responsibility of construction and maintenance of roads in international border areas, has sufficient resources to invest in transport development and its maintenance.

Statistical analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the small and large-scale tourism sectors in developing countries.

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has affected the tourism sector by closing borders, reducing both the transportation of tourists and tourist demand. Due to the country-wide lockdown, most activities in the hotel, motel, restaurant, and transportation sectors have been postponed. Consequently, the article investigates four research issues by examining the consequences of global tourism in the private sector before and after COVID-19. As an analytical method, the article suggested qualitative research methodologies to collect information from tourism employees. The opinions of the respondents were gathered through online emails in the questionnaire survey. Further, the article considers people's future desire for specific tourism destinations based on visitor arrivals. Forecasting tourist demand is an essential component of good and efficient tourism management. Consequently, the article proposes an attention-based long short-term memory model for exact demand forecasting. The experimental findings reveal that the model's minimal prediction error accuracy is 0.45%, which indicates that it has a more robust prediction effect, a faster convergence rate, and a greater prediction accuracy. Seasonality has emerged as one of the most distinguishing and defining characteristics of the global tourist business. Accordingly, the article mandated to compare the seasonal and non-seasonal effects of the tourist sector throughout the years 2020-2021. Moreover, Governments must analyse the crises' long-term consequences and, as a result, define the components that constitute government advantages supplied to the tourist sector during the pandemic era. As a result, many governmental policies, especially those about social welfare, may perceive a fresh start during the post-pandemic period, respectively.

Fatigue or satisfaction at crowded attractions?

Based on arousal theory, we argue that clarifying the mechanism of tourist fatigue on tourist satisfaction is critical for better understanding tourists visiting crowded attractions. A field survey was conducted in Zengcuoan, China's most artistic fishing village. We revealed that, contrary to expectations, tourist fatigue does not always have a negative impact on tourist satisfaction, implying that, similar to the contrast phenomenon of "poor but happy", "fatigue but satisfaction" may exist in tourism because there must be something to entice tourists in congested areas. Furthermore, we demonstrated that tourists with high experience quality may mitigate the negative effects of tourist crowding on tourist satisfaction from the theoretical perspective of arousal theory. We then propose that tourism authorities improve experience quality by creating a high-quality tourism experience, and even a one-of-a-kind and unforgettable experience for tourists. Nonetheless, we argue that finding more creative ways to reduce "fatigue" and increase "satisfaction" for tourists is critical for the tourism industry's success, especially given the industry's current competitive conditions. As a result, we believe there is still room for further research into these methods.

[The problem of risks in medical tourism (literature review)].

Known for unpredictable outcomes and potential patient safety issues, medical tourism is a term that refers to travel outside the country (region) of residence to receive medical care. The article presents a review of the literature reflecting the results of scientific research on medical and non-medical risks of tourists traveling abroad to receive medical care. The review is based on the content analysis of foreign publications in scientific and peer-reviewed journals.

[Assessment of reserves of mineral water's geothermal sources in the south of Tyumen region]. / Otsenka zapasov geotermal'nykh istochnikov mineral'nykh vod yuga Tyumenskoi oblasti.

There are rich reserves of underground mineral waters in the south of Tyumen region, which are generally deep located, in the so-called difficult exchange water zone (on average at a depth of 1311.29±34.53 m). Currently, there is a lack of assessment of prognostic resources of underground mineral waters in the south of Tyumen region. The article provides an assessment of underground mineral (therapeutic) waters' reserves (2011-2019 yrs.) in the considered territory. It was shown that the number of deposits, their sites and underground mineral waters' well bores is 76, of which less than half are in operation, as at date of 01.07.2021. Moreover, the number of deposits is remained almost constant since 2011 yr. Meanwhile, underground mineral (therapeutic) waters' reserves are gradually decreasing. Thus, there is a necessity to intensify not only the stocktaking and identification of mineral waters' well bores, but also to develop the new medical technologies to use geothermal waters in rehabilitation and prevention. Monitoring for underground waters' condition should be continued with the use of modern research tools and techniques. The above mentioned will give a new impetus to the development of health resort sphere in the tourism industry, in addition to increasing the therapeutic effects of mineral waters.

Environmental surveillance of Legionella in tourist facilities of the Balearic Islands, Spain, 2006 to 2010 and 2015 to 2018.

BackgroundLegionnaires' disease is a respiratory illness often associated with hotels and travel. Spain is a major tourist destination and one of the European countries with most cases of Legionnaires' disease , both community- and travel-associated. However, the prevalence of Legionella in tourist facilities is unknown.AimThe present investigation aimed to survey the tourist facilities in the Balearic Islands, Spain, for Legionella prevalence.MethodsWe visited tourist facilities in the Balearic Islands in two different periods (2006-2010 and 2015-2018) and took water samples following national and international guidelines. Legionella was investigated by culture methods following international standards (ISO 11731:1998).ResultsWe evaluated 13,472 samples from 465 facilities. Bacteria of the Legionella genus were detected in 65.4% of the surveyed facilities. Contamination of the facilities was significantly higher during the second decade (54.5 vs 78.6%). The most frequent colonisers were L. pneumophila serogroup 2-14. We detected the pathogen in 15.9% and 6.9% of hot and cold water distribution systems samples, respectively. The Legionella contamination rate in cold water systems samples was higher when free chlorine levels were < 0.2 mg/L and at > 25 °C temperatures, while in the hot water systems samples, the contamination rate was higher at < 50 °C. Of the samples from hot tubs, 10.9% were contaminated.ConclusionLegionella prevalence in hotels in the Balearic Islands was high but the contamination rates depended on the installations. Corrective measures are still needed to improve Legionella control.

Underground Ecosystem Conservation Through High-resolution Air Monitoring.

In cave ecosystems tourists represent moving sources of discontinuous disturbances, able to induce transient system responses whose knowledge is crucial in defining appropriate conservation measures. Here we propose an approach to evaluate the amplitude and scales of cave alterations based on high-resolution air monitoring, through the use of purposely developed low-cost monitoring stations and a consistent analytical framework for information retrieval based on time series analysis. In particular, monitoring stations adopt a modular structure based on physical computing platforms acquiring data through several sensors, with means of preventing humidity damages and guaranteeing their continuous operation. Data are then analyzed using wavelet periodograms and cross-periodograms to extract the scales of tourism-induced alterations. The approach has been exemplified in the Pertosa-Auletta Cave, one of the most important underground environments in Southern Italy, highlighting the development of monitoring stations and the information obtainable with the proposed analytical workflow. Here, 2 monitoring stations acquiring data for 1 year at 1' sampling time on temperature, relative humidity, CO2, VOCs, and particulate matter were deployed in trails subjected to different levels of tourism. In terms of Pertosa-Auletta Cave air dynamics, the approach allowed estimating the temporal and spatial scales of tourism-induced alterations in the order of minutes and meters, respectively, with parameter-dependent variations. On more general terms, the approach proved reliable and effective, with its modularity and low-cost fostering its straightforward adoption in other underground ecosystems, where it can support the development of tailored management strategies.

[Differentiation of tourist practices of the older generation: a sociological analysis (on the materials of a study in the Rostov region).]

Based on the materials of a quantitative and qualitative sociological survey conducted in 2022 in the Rostov region, the article analyzes the involvement of the older generation in tourist practices and their content characteristics. The assessment of the involvement of the older generation of the Rostov region against the all-Russian background looks quite optimistic, despite the existence of a significant group of people who have not made a tourist trip for more than 5 years, and a decrease in the tourist activity of the older generation amid the pandemic. The most active travelers are women, urban residents, elderly people 60-70 years old and respondents with higher education. It is shown that the tourist practices of the older generation are widely differentiated due to a combination of objective and subjective factors. The older generation of the Rostov region is dominated by bathing and beach, health and sightseeing tourist practices within the regions of Southern Russia. Domestic practices, as a rule, are organized by tourists independently in order to save money, and trips abroad - with an appeal to a travel agency. There is a tendency to advance planning of trips and repeated practices.

Are the tourist beaches safe for swimming? A case study of health risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in tourist beaches of Bushehr City.

The aims of the present research were to evaluate the health risk of long-term exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concerning the human, ecotoxicological risk for marine biota, and identify their possible sources. Surface sediment bioassay samples were collected from 15 stations of tourist beaches surrounding Bushehr City and analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results indicated the concentrations of ∑PAH ranged from 193.5 to 725.5 ng g-1 with mean value of 351.1 ± 155.2 ng g-1, which could be considered as moderate level of pollution. Measured levels of PAH in sediments were compared with sediment quality guidelines (SQGs), indicating low to medium ecotoxicological risk on marine organisms. Moreover, mean ERM quotient (M-ERM-Q) and mean PEL quotient (M-PEL-Q) were implemented, demonstrating potentially biological adverse effects. A preliminary evaluation of human health risk using incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) and toxic equivalent quotient (TEQcarc) indicated that PAH-contaminated sediment in some stations of touristic beaches of Bushehr City would induce potential carcinogenic effects especially for children. Composition and diagnostic analysis indicated that PAHs originated from both pyrogenic and petrogenic, with higher portion of incomplete combustion PAHs.

Forecast daily tourist volumes during the epidemic period using COVID-19 data, search engine data and weather data.

The COVID-19 epidemic has brought a devastating blow to the tourism industry. Affected by the epidemic situation, the change of tourism volume of scenic spots is very unstable. Therefore, forecasting tourist volume in the context of COVID-19 epidemic is a new and challenging problem. In response, a novel multivariate time series forecasting framework based on variational mode decomposition (VMD) and gated recurrent unit network (GRU), i.e., VMD-GRU, is proposed to forecast daily tourist volumes during the epidemic. It takes the lead in using COVID-19 data, search traffic data and weather data. Through sufficient experiments and comparisons, the superiority of the approach is illustrated, and the predictive power of the above three types of data, especially the COVID-19 data, is revealed. Accurate forecast results from the method can help relevant government officials and tourism practitioners to better adjust tourism resources, cooperate with anti-epidemic work and reduce operational risks.

Leveraging AI for advanced analytics to forecast altered tourism industry parameters: A COVID-19 motivated study.

COVID-19 pandemic has given a sudden shock to economy indices worldwide and especially to the tourism sector, which is already very sensitive to such crises as natural calamities, terrorist activities, virus outbreaks and unwanted conditions. The economic implications for a reduction in tourism demand, and the need to analyse post-COVID-19 tourism motivates our research. This study aims to forecast the future trends for foreign tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings for India and to formulate a model to predict the future trends based on the COVID-19 parameters, vaccinations and stringency index (Government travelling guidelines). In the study, we have developed artificial intelligence models (random forest, linear regression) using the stacked based ensemble learning method for the development of base models and meta models for the study of COVID-19 and its effect on the tourism industry. The architecture of a stacking model consists of two or more base models, often referred to as level-0 models, and a meta-model that combines the predictions of the base models, and is referred to as a level-1 model (Smyth & Wolpert, 1999). The results show that the projected losses require quick action on developing new practices to sustain and complement the resilience of tourism per se.

Dire Straits: How tourists on the Diamond Princess cruise endured the COVID-19 crisis.

Despite insights about tourists' health risk perception, crisis management literature still lacks understanding of how tourists actually experience ongoing crises and how their in situ perception evolves. Drawing on the unique case of the quarantine of the Diamond Princess at the Port of Yokohama in early February 2020, this study investigates how tourists intuitively and affectively enact the scene of a crisis in their concurrent discourses. A unique dataset covering 2259 social media entries by tourists during the quarantine were compiled manually and examined. Tourists' concerns and emotions demonstrate two salient characteristics of the enactment of the crisis scene: expressing cautious optimism and crafting realistic lifestyle. Findings demonstrate the resilience of tourists under extreme circumstances, elucidate similarities and differences of tourists' experience mediated by language, and show their supportive attitude toward tourist industry players. Service providers can strategically use of tourists' sensemaking and psychological resilience to improve market images.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel behavior: A case study of domestic inbound travelers in Jeju, Korea.

This study analyzes a large-scale navigation dataset that captures travel activities of domestic inbound visitors in Jeju, Korea in the first nine months of 2020. A collection of regression models are introduced to quantify the dynamic effects of local and national COVID-19 indicators on their travel behavior. Results suggest that behavior of inbound travelers was jointly affected by pandemic severity locally and remotely. The daily number of new cases in Jeju has a greater impact on reducing travel activities than the national-level daily new cases of COVID-19. The impacts of the pandemic did not diminish over time but produced heterogeneous effects on travels with different trip purposes. Our findings reveal the persistence of COVID-19's effects on travel behavior and the variability in travelers' responses across tourism activities with different levels of perceived health risks. The implications for crisis management and recovery strategies are also discussed.

How does tourist perception lead to tourist hesitation? Empirical evidence from Bangladesh.

The paper aims to identify the factors that cause prospective tourists' hesitation to travel. The study also examines whether this relationship is mediated by the tourist perception in Bangladesh. The study is of quantitative design, and the relationships between tourist knowledge, tourist health risk, and destination personality with tourist hesitation were explored using a sample of 322 Bangladeshi prospective tourists. The three relationships were also examined through tourist perception. By using cross-sectional data, the researchers hypothesized that tourist knowledge, tourist health risk, and destination personality have a positive and significant effect on tourist hesitation. Besides, the researchers also hypothesized that tourist perception mediates the relationships between tourist knowledge, tourist health risk, and destination personality with tourist hesitation. In this respect, the Smart PLS 3.0 was employed to analyze the data. The results of the study confirm findings of previous related studies by not only highlighting the importance of tourist perception in shaping tourist hesitation but also indicating the way each dimension of tourism either enhances or inhibits the tourist hesitation. The results of the study also reveal a positive and significant relationship between tourist knowledge and tourist health risk with tourist hesitation. The analysis of data showed no conventional relationship between destination personality and tourist hesitation. Accordingly, this study identified the extent to which tourist perception mediates the relationship between tourist knowledge and destination personality with tourist hesitation. Meanwhile, the results of the study indicate the absence of any mediation role of tourist perception between tourist health risk and tourist hesitation. The study outcomes would encourage the government, policymakers, and tourism managements in creating a tailor-made responsiveness program by building a scenario that could offer more prominent sustainable tourism establishments. Besides, the results may assist stakeholders of tourist destinations in understanding tourist perception and the causes of tourist's hesitation.

[The motivation and consumer preferences in medical tourism].

The article considers issues reflecting characteristics of motivation of medical tourists to travel to country other than their residence placement to receive medical care. The most popular directions of medical tourism are identified as well as medical services for which travels are made.