Victor Anandkumar

Purpose: This paper aims to reveal the influence of digital competence on perceived stress, burnout and well-being among students studying online during the COVID-19 lockdown in the spring of 2020 and to compare this influence on the basis of studies conducted in four countries. Methods: An exploratory study was conducted in Poland, Lithuania, Turkey and India using a cross-sectional research design. A total of 1097 respondents took part in the survey. Well-being was measured by the World Health Organization (WHO) Well-being Index, stress was evaluated using a psychological stress measure (PSM-9) instrument, burnout was evaluated using the Copenhagen Burnout inventory, and digital competence was measured by the Digital Competency Profiler (DCP). Results: The results revealed that social and informational dimensions of digital competencies had a positive influence on dealing with stress or burnout and improved well-being of students studying online during the COVID-19 lockdown. Moreover, the analysis on a country level highlighted that with regard to dealing with stress and burnout, the epistemological dimension of digital competence was the most important for Lithuanians and Indians, the informational dimension for Polish students and the social dimension for Turkish students. Conclusion: The findings support the importance of digital competence on perceived stress, burnout and well-being among students studying online during the COVID-19 lockdown and propose deeper research directions on this phenomenon.

Four hundred domestic and international tourists visiting Kerala, India were typologised using cluster and discriminant analysis into three clusters – ‘Enthusiastic Travelers,’ ‘Information Seekers’, and ‘Planners’ based on their pre-trip usage of social media. Association between the clusters and external variables were used to characterize the typologies. Findings indicate that domestic tourists and international tourists differ in their usage of social media. The domestic tourists use social media for gathering information and international tourists use social media for trip planning and online travel booking in addition to gathering information. Findings also indicate that gender does not influence the usage of social media in the pre-trip phase. This study expands the understanding of typologies in tourism and suggests directions to Destination Marketing Organizations and tourism service providers.

Purpose: – Tourists differ in their needs, motives and activities but they can be described based on demographic characteristics, nationality being one of them. The purpose of this paper is to compare the different nationalities travelling to Dubai during the Dubai Shopping Festival on their travel motives. Design/methodology/approach: – Data were collected from 604 English-speaking tourists, using the mall intercept technique, during the XVIII edition of the shopping festival from January-February 2013. Findings: – The study found that a total of 23 nationalities differed on their travel motives. Research limitations/implications: – Only English-speaking tourists were included in the study. Practical implications: – Tourists from different nationalities differ on their travel motives .The findings of this study will help the Destination Marketing Organisation in understanding the travel motives of the tourists which would help in developing products and market-specific destination promotion. Originality/value: – Shopping festivals are being promoted by various destinations as a tourism product. Yet there is a lack of research literature on this topic. This empirical study on travel motives of international tourists visiting a shopping festival will be a worthy addition to the literature.