Green tourism

The notion of ‘green’, or ecological, tourism, in which people are encouraged to pursue rural leisure activities in a manner that will benefit, rather than harm, the countryside, is gaining popularity. Independent tourism and environment consultant Arwel Jones describes a recent conference on the subject which looked at ways of developing a coherent, ecologically sound strategy for the future.     

Mission statements of international airlines: a content analysis

A well-designed mission statement is essential for formulating, implementing, and evaluating business strategy. Yet the role of the mission statement in the strategic management of business firms has not been sufficiently highlighted in the research literature. It is not surprising that minimal attention has been paid to the role of mission statements in the strategic management of tourism and hospitality organisations. This paper attempts to remedy this apparent neglect. It focuses on the international airline industry by selecting 50 mission statements from corporate websites.¹ The mission statements are then analysed to determine the extent to which they conform to commonly accepted views of the ‘ideal’ mission statement. Variations from the stated ‘ideal’ are highlighted and discussed. Conclusions are drawn regarding the role of mission statements in the strategic management of tourism and hospitality organisations.     

Terrorism and tourism as logical companions

The symbiotic relationship between terrorism and tourism needs to be understood and acted on, not just in terms of security and marketing, but in terms of such factors as planning, site development, employment policies, political risk analysis and emergency management. This article looks at the relationship between tourism and terrorism from several perspectives. The political and economic impact of terrorism on tourism is assessed, including the sensitivity of the tourism industry to general political strife and the vulnerability of travellers and tourist facilities to terroristic activity. The nature of terroristic violence and the objectives of terrorist groups are evaluated to determine why and how attacks on tourists and facilities may fit the organizational and political objectives of terrorist groups. Finally, the article suggests how the industry and policy makers must proceed to reduce the vulnerability for tourists and the travel sector.     

Consuming dark tourism: A Thanatological Perspective

Despite increasing academic attention paid to dark tourism, understanding of the concept remains limited, particularly from a consumption perspective. That is, the literature focuses primarily on the supply of dark tourism; less attention, however, has been paid to the demand for ‘dark’ touristic experiences. This theoretical paper seeks to address this gap in the literature. Drawing upon the contemporary sociology of death, it explores the relationship between socio-cultural perspectives on mortality and the potential of dark tourism as a means of confronting death in modern societies. In so doing, it proposes a model of dark tourism consumption within a thanatological framework as a basis for further theoretical and empirical analysis of dark tourism.     

The influence of terrorism in tourism arrivals: A longitudinal approach in a Mediterranean country

This longitudinal study examines the impact that terrorist attacks within a representative group of European countries can have on the tourism demand of a South European country with no record of terrorism attacks. In order to analyze the connections between terrorist attacks and tourists' arrivals, occurred between 2002 and the end of 2016, an Unrestricted Vector Autoregressive model was used for multivariate time series analysis. The main results show that terrorist attacks have a strong impact on tourist arrivals and confirm the existence of terrorism spillover, namely the substitution and generalization effects phenomena.     

VOLUNTEER TOURISM—“INVOLVE ME AND I WILL LEARN”?

Voluntourism or volunteer tourism is increasingly available and popular amongst everyday tourists in different parts of the world. Despite its seeming virtue and it often being positioned as a form of “justice” or “goodwill” tourism, critics in the public media have begun to question and criticize the effectiveness or “real” value of volunteer tourism. However, academic work has not yet critiqued volunteer tourism in the same manner. This paper thus provides a critical and timely review of volunteer tourism, using interviews and participant observation with 11 respondents on a volunteer tourism trip to South Africa. This paper reviews volunteer tourists’ motivations (what prompted their participation); performances of the “self” in volunteer tourism; and the tensions and paradoxes surrounding volunteer tourism.     

‘Scientific identity’ of scholarly journals in hospitality and tourism research: Review and evaluation

The objective of this study is to describe the ‘scientific identity’ of scholarly journals in hospitality and tourism research by reviewing and evaluating the approaches and the geographical affiliations of authors published in selected journals. The compiled results are analysed for patterns that appear to reveal the ‘scientific identity’ of each of the selected journals. In particular, scholars can note the particular features of individual journals while acknowledging the width and variety of research designs that are published in these scholarly journals.     

Tourist security,terrorism risk management and tourist safety

Tourists are easy targets for terrorist activities, especially with the rise of lone wolf attacks. Drawing on the example of the 2015 Sousse (Tunisia) shootings, and using a conceptual framework informed by tourist security, terrorism risk management including terrorism risk assessment, communication and due care, we analyse the management of the terror induced security risks, and the factors influencing this process. This is achieved through a first-in-the field tourism study that applies narrative analysis to legal discourse. The study reveals that tourist security was compromised by a lack of terrorism risk communication, poor policing, and by limited integration of counter-terrorism strategies, particularly the inadequate implementation of environmental mitigation. We discuss the implications for terrorism risk assessment, management and communication and consider key propositions around tourist security responsibilities (e.g. due care). Future avenues for research are highlighted.     

Networks, clusters and innovation in tourism: A UK experience

In an era where tourism is dominated by requests for tailored experiences, SMEs play a key role in providing adequate products and services to tourists by responding to their most specific requirements.This paper uses network and clusters as a framework providing SMEs with innovative opportunities to operate in a competitive tourism environment. A review of relevant literature on clusters, networks and tourism business innovation is undertaken, then focusing on the specific issues of Healthy Lifestyle Tourism.The UK ‘Healthy Lifestyle Tourism Cluster’ experience is employed to discuss the process and the implication of network and cluster development in tourism. However, the development of clusters should not be seen as a simple and spontaneous process due to the nature of businesses involved, but as a very complex process linked to strong stakeholder collaboration.     

The implications of hotel employee attitudes for the development of quality tourism: the case of Cyprus

In an increasingly competitive market, the issue of quality has grown in significance for tourism businesses and destinations alike. This has been influenced by a number of factors, such as the expansion of consumer rights and the alleged emergence ‘new’, quality conscious tourists. In particular, it is the need to retain or increase competitive advantage that has underpinned the drive for quality in tourism—certainly, many destinations, especially those operating in the highly competitive summer-sun market, are now adopting quality tourism development strategies. However, little or no attention has been paid to the role of tourism industry employees, particularly those in hotels, in the success of quality management programmes. The purpose of this paper is to address this omission. Based upon a survey of hotel employees in Cyprus, it identifies a number of factors that may support or limit the drive towards quality service provision, with a variety of implications for the destination as a whole as well as individual hotels. In particular, hotel management should implement strategies based on reward systems, empowerment and reducing staff turnover, whilst there is an important co-ordination and guidance role to be played by the national tourism organisation.     

Tourism image, evaluation variables and after purchase behaviour: inter-relationship

Numerous authors have pointed out the influence of tourism image on consumer behaviour. Tourism image will also exercise some influence on the quality perceived by tourists and on the satisfaction obtained from the holiday experience. This paper focuses on the relationship between the image of a destination as perceived by tourists and their behavioural intentions, and between that same image and the post-purchase evaluation of the stay. We will also examine the relationship between quality and satisfaction and between these variables and the tourist's behaviour variables. We place the accent on a joint analysis of these relationships, using a structural equation model. The results of the empirical study show that tourism image is a direct antecedent of perceived quality, satisfaction, intention to return and willingness to recommend the destination. The role of image as a key factor in destination marketing is thus confirmed. With reference to the other relationships, on the one hand, it is confirmed that quality has a positive influence on satisfaction and intention to return and that satisfaction determines the willingness to recommend the destination. However, the influence of quality on ‘willingness to recommend’ and the influence of satisfaction on ‘intention to return’ cannot be corroborated. In this sense, further research could be necessary.     

Terrorism and Tourism:The Vulnerability of Beach Vendors' Livelihoods in Bali

Tourism has been encouraged in many of the world's poorer countries as a means of stimulating development. However, tourism is vulnerable to external shocks, which can damage a host country's economy, especially where reliance on tourism is high. This paper focuses on Bali, Indonesia where tranquillity was shattered by terrorist bombs in October 2002, and again in October 2005. It examines the impact of the 2002 bombings on the island's beach vendors, members of the informal sector who work at the margins of tourism. The UK's Department for International Development's (DFID) model of sustainable development is used as a guide to assess notional changes in vendor livelihoods and reveals the sharp reduction in their access to financial capital once tourism had collapsed. Fieldwork showed that livelihoods were sustained with difficulty after the terrorist attacks and that social capital played a major role in survival. Although visitor numbers to Bali are recovering, the research reveals significant changes in vendors' livelihood patterns. Social capital remains strong though it has changed in certain respects as a consequence of terrorist activity, one of the most negative changes being an increase in local religious tensions. The authors question the wisdom of encouraging tourism as a major vehicle for development without simultaneously promoting alternative income-generating opportunities to offer a safety net against external shocks to a vulnerable tourism industry.     

Sustainable tourism and the question of the commons

Sustainable development calls for wise management of natural, built, and sociocultural resources in destination areas. Resources created mainly for tourism are used in time by the local population as well. Many others are shared in common with local people in everyday life. More often than not, resources are overused and degraded, as is the unfortunate fate of most ‘common pool resources’. When this happens, sustainable development is severely threatened: economic wellbeing declines, environmental conditions worsen, social injustice grows, and tourist satisfaction drops. This paper analyzes the central role that common pool resources play in sustainable tourism development, outlines policy design principles for their management, and offers future research directions.     

Tourism environments and management

The Congress of the World Leisure and Recreation Association, held in Sydney, Australia 16–19 July 1991, had as its focus the theme of ‘Leisure and tourism: social and environmental change’. Among over 140 papers on varied management, research and education issues a number examined the frameworks used to understand tourism environments and their management. Bill Bramwell, of the Centre for Tourism at Sheffield City Polytechnic, assesses the new insights offered by these papers.     

Modelling and forecasting the demand for Hong Kong tourism

The main objectives of this paper are to identify the factors which contribute to the demand for Hong Kong tourism with the aid of econometric models and to generate forecasts of international tourism arrivals to Hong Kong for the period 2001–2008. The general-to-specific modelling approach is followed to model and forecast the demand for Hong Kong tourism by residents from the 16 major origin countries/regions and the empirical results reveal that the most important factors that determine the demand for Hong Kong tourism are the costs of tourism in Hong Kong, the economic condition (measured by the income level) in the origin countries/regions, the costs of tourism in the competing destinations and the ‘word of mouth’ effect. The demand elasticities and forecasts of tourism arrivals obtained from the demand models form the basis of policy formulations for the tourism industry in Hong Kong.     

From mass to ‘responsible’ tourism: the Turkish experience

Turkey has only recently become a destination for the mass tourist, but it has already attracted attention as an example of poor planning and lax environmental controls. This article discusses Turkey's place within the mass v ‘responsible’ tourism debate and presents research into how far the negative views of the western media are reflected by tour operators to the country and its government.     

Tourism's contribution to the Yugoslav economy

Tourism is an important sector of the post-industrial economies of the developed nations. This article concentrates on the contribution of tourism to the balance of payments in Yugoslavia. Current methods of assessing the value of tourism transactions are inadequate and make international comparisons impossible. The complexity involved in defining ‘tourism’ has led to the accumulation of meaningless data. The IMF's standard balance-of-payments model is described, and the ways in which Yugoslavia's measurements of tourism income and expenditure could be standardized according to IMF recommendations and thus become use- ful in economic policy formulation.     

A travel demand model for Mainland Chinese tourists to Hong Kong

The purpose of the study was to determine what exogenous variables best explained the travel demand for Mainland Chinese tourists to Hong Kong. The 12 years (1984–1995) annual time series data of ‘number of Mainland Chinese tourist arrivals’, ‘China disposable income per capita’, ‘consumer price indices in Hong Kong and China’ and ‘exchange rates’ was used to develop a travel demand model. Seven exogenous variables were selected for the model through a literature review. An OLS multiple regression analysis was performed to identify the ‘best’ subset of seven exogenous variables to determine the demand model. The results showed that travel demand for Mainland Chinese tourists to Hong Kong could be explained by ‘disposable income per capita’ and ‘relaxation of visa requirements’.     

The service economy, de-industrialisation and the hospitality industry

This paper examines the popular view that the growth of services (and in particular, hospitality services) is both inevitable and desirable. It considers the terminological confusion surrounding the term ‘services’ and examines whether there is sufficient evidence to justify the continuing emergence of the ‘service’ as opposed to manufacturing-based economy. The view that the prosperity of the U.K. depends more on manufacturing than it does on services is considered, and conclusions are drawn for the hospitality industry.     

The role of tourism in the economy of Scotland

This paper examines the economic impacts of tourism on the Scottish economy. Three study areas were defined on the basis of economic characteristics: the north of Scotland; the central lowlands (which generate more than half the total economic benefits attributable to tourist spending); and the south of Scotland. Financial information was obtained from businessmen involved in tourist-related industry. In 1980 about £231 million (35% of tourist spending) was retained as income to Scottish residents, and tourism was responsible for, directly and indirectly, over 100000 jobs. The ‘multiplier’ effect generates income, employment and tax revenues beyond the immediate tourist system. This summary of economic estimates should be of value to tourism planners.