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.     

More than an “industry”: The forgotten power of tourism as a social force

This paper argues that in the current neo-liberal era, the discourse of tourism as an “industry” has overshadowed other conceptualisations of the tourism phenomenon. An argument is developed that this discourse serves the needs and agendas of leaders in the tourism business sector. However, the author desires to revive an earlier understanding of tourism that predates the neoliberal era. Tourism is in fact a powerful social force that can achieve many important ends when its capacities are unfettered from the market fundamentalism of neoliberalism and instead are harnessed to meet human development imperatives and the wider public good. Examining the human rights aspects of tourism, investigating phenomena such as “social tourism”, exploring a few “non-western” perspectives of tourism and outlining some of the tantalising promise that tourism holds, this paper attempts to revive and reinforce a wider vision of tourism's role in societies and the global community. It is argued that it is critical for tourism academics, planners and leaders to support such a vision if tourism is to avoid facing increasing opposition and criticism in a likely future of insecurity and scarcity.     

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.     

Applicability of the market appeal—robusticity matrix: a case study of heritage tourism

Hong Kong is a city where contemporary global culture coexists with traditional Chinese heritage. One way of promoting Hong Kong's traditional built heritage is to develop a number of linked sites as a heritage trail. For helping the development of such, this study evaluates the applicability of the market appeal—robusticity matrix on heritage tourism development, by assessing the potential for tourism in the single-surname villages of Hong Kong's New Territories. The study techniques include documentary research, questionnaire survey and interviews. The findings indicate the matrix is effective for enabling the assessment of heritage tourism potential because it simultaneously demonstrates the importance of two major considerations for both tourism industry and heritage managers, namely market appeal—an asset's appeal to tourists, and robusticity—its ability to endure visitation. The shortcomings of the model includes the inappropriateness of the technical term “product design needs” in the market appeal subset and lack of community concerns in the robusticity subset of the matrix.     

Design of a curriculum for destination studies

Since vocational tourism courses started at Sydney Technical College in 1973, there have been problems in teaching about tourist destinations. Historical analysis of the subject's development indicates that problems stem largely from an absence of tourism theory. Throughout this subject's development, there have been four major influences: the vocational needs of tourism students; the definition of tourism systems; the adoption of a primary orientation towards the study of the causes of tourism; and developmental work on the nature of tourist attractions. The current curriculum is described and it is suggested that due to these influences it overcomes many former problems with its integrated inter-disciplinary approach employing tourism theory as the core discipline.     

Human resources in tourism: Still waiting for change

This paper reviews key themes that impact on the role and management of human resources in tourism (primarily relating to work and employment) and assesses whether the past 20 years provides evidence of significant change within the sector. The paper considers the status of work in tourism and reflects upon the impact that key environmental developments have had upon employment—the practice of human resource management in contemporary tourism; the impact of global and social forces on perceptions of work and careers; the impact of ICT on work and employment in tourism; changing interpretations of skills within tourism; and the increasingly diverse nature of the tourism workforce in developed countries. Conclusions are drawn which point to a “hung jury” in considering whether change in the tourism workplace, over the review timeframe, has been ephemeral or more fundamental.     

Tourists and troglodytes: Negotiating for Sustainability

This paper contributes to the continuing discussion concerning the paradox that tourism destroys the object of its desire. An analysis is made of tourism relations and hospitality in a Turkish village, and it is argued that in their close interactions with tourists traveling independently of organized tour groups, local people are in a position to negotiate both their own “traditional” identity in the presence of tourists and the latter's quests and experiences in themselves. A dynamic notion of sustainability in cultural tourism is developed, by challenging the assumptions that tourist localities must remain authentically “traditional” to meet with the expectations of tourists.     

A strategic framework for terrorism prevention and mitigation in tourism destinations

Tourism destinations and tourists have always been ‘soft targets’ for terrorist activities. Although it is widely acknowledged that it is no longer a question of ‘if’ terrorists will strike but rather a question of ‘when’, ‘how’ and ‘how prepared’ the destination is to deal with them, the crisis management frameworks proposed by the literature appear to offer little help to tourism authorities in the development and implementation of a strategy aiming at the prevention and mitigation of terrorist attacks. This paper first discusses the premise that Destination Management Organizations can and should play an active role in the co-ordination of tourism stakeholders in addressing the threat of terrorism. Then, based on the analysis of interviews with 16 experts on terrorism and tourism, it offers a framework for the development and implementation of a destination-specific anti-terrorism strategy.     

The perceived impact of tourism by residents a case study in Santa Marta,Colombia

Studies of the local population's perception of tourism impact are useful in setting up programs to minimize friction between tourists and residents, and in formulating plans to gain resident support of tourist ventures. This study identifies the positive and negative aspects of tourism as perceived by the Santa Marta residents, and the influence of selected variables on resident response. It is hypothesized that the perception of tourist impact varies with the distance a person lives from the tourist zone and with the resident's socio-economic status. It is found that despite the perception of some serious negative aspects, Santa Marta residents consider the overall impact of tourism to be beneficial. They want their government to offer more economic incentives and eliminate any restrictive measures in order to stimulate tourism in the area. The positive attitudes of the Santa Marta residents toward tourism may be a function of the incipient stage of tourism development in this area.     

Market shares analysis: The Case of French Tourism Demand

This paper examines the magnitudes and determinants of changes in destinations’ shares of a major tourist origin market. The Almost Ideal Demand System model is used to quantify the responsiveness of French tourism demand in Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom to changes in relative prices, exchange rates, tourists’ expenditure budget, and external events. The results indicate that effective price competitiveness is a key variable driving changes in market shares. Policymakers who wish to maintain their shares of the French market should pay particular attention to tourism pricing policies, as well as to improving the tourism offer.     

Tourists and retailers' perceptions of services

This paper describes a study which measures tourist and retailers' perceptions of service levels in a tourism destination. A service quality model was used to develop survey items and interpret the results. The service dimensions used to evaluate a tourism experience included reliability, responsive, assurance, and access. The results indicate tourists evaluate tourism services based on “who” delivers as opposed to the nature of the services (as outlined in the Service Quality model). This has implications for those who create and service tourism destinations, such as city planners and leaders, tourism convention and visitor bureaus, and retailers.     

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.     

Tourism and social change reply to Romsa

While most state socialist societies attempt to attract large scale foreign tourism, the Albanians continue to constrain the numbers and movements of foreign tourists permitted onto their soil. Within the framework of three “contexts”—the organizational, the environmental, and the perceptual—this paper briefly looks at the individuality of the Albanian approach to foreign tourism: implicitly, as a possible model for other small, less developed societies. Finally, questions are raised as to the future of tourism in Albania given an imminent change —after forty years—in the country's dogmatic leadership.     

Psychology and tourism management

As more people recognize that tourism is indeed an industry and so does require skilful and informed management, so it becomes apparent that depth of experience, rules-of-thumb and personal intuition, valuable as they are, are not enough for the successful development of the industry. As a consequence, the scientific study of human behaviour and experience—psychology—is being looked to for answers to many questions in tourism. This paper briefly reviews some of the ways in which psychology can be harnessed to benefit tourism management.     

Rosanzerusu is Los Angeles an anthropological inquiry of Japanese tourists

The popularity of Los Angeles with Japanese tourists prompts the anthropologist to ask what they are seeking there. An ethnography of that tourism discloses a number of “must see” sights for first time tourists. Subsequent tourists may seek more esoteric sites, as disclosed by an examination of tourist guide texts. Tourists progress from “mass” to “elite” status. Against a theoretical perspective of life as “sacred journey”, and of pilgrimage, tourism is seen as a ritual of modernity, amenable to semiotic analysis in the manner of Barthes. Los Angeles' ecumenical tourism reflects the mythology of the movies. Japanese tourists select sites drawn from this mythology which also reflect Japanese preferences (e.g., the Hollywood Bowl). They also emphasize sites where they may purchase souvenir or “marker” goods (e.g., UCLA). They thus attach importance to some sites thought to be quite minor by Angelenos.     

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.     

A facilitated access model and ottoman empire tourism

This paper proposes a “facilitated access” model to describe how local people make and have made use of tourism. Although Western travel accounts of the Arab Middle East have been studied by various disciplines, the Ottoman Empire has not been treated from a tourism studies approach. Travel narratives from 1835 to 1870 are used to reconstruct how, and tentatively why, Ottoman subjects adapted existing tourism services and expertise to the new Western tourists of the era. It is argued that Western tourism in the empire flourished in the foundational period before Cook Company tours began in 1869 because some Ottoman subjects could thus increase their own autonomy.     

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.     

Religion and identity in India’s heritage tourism

The growing worth of heritage in the renegotiation and dissemination of identities has intensified conflicts over whose voice dominates heritage tourism representations. Therefore, this study compares the way India’s heritage is represented by the Indian government, by the domestic tourism trade media and by the popular tourism media. The findings reveal that India is consistently represented as an ethnically diverse nation in which Hinduism preceded and prevailed over all other ethnicities/religions; a portrayal that consolidates the state’s secular nationalist narrative. Furthermore, the trade and popular media emphasize nostalgic experiences of a sanitized colonial history while the government emphasizes accounts of resistance against colonial powers and of suffering due to Muslim atrocities.     

Tourism in difficult areas revisited: the case of Bradford

Bradford was the first city in a “difficult area” in the UK to try to capitalise on tourism. This concept was introduced by Buckley and Witt in the 1980s using Bradford as an example. The article looks at how Bradford and its tourism policies have changed since their initial success in the 1980s. Support for tourism from Local Government has fluctuated because of funding crises, uncertainty about the benefits of tourism and changing political priorities in the City. In the late 1990s, Bradford launched a new strategy to attract leisure tourists, using support from the private sector and funds from Europe. Finally, we attempt to evaluate Bradford's success in tourism over the period and relate this to the original study of difficult areas