Tourists' perceptions of environmentally responsible innovations at tourism businesses

This paper investigates tourists' perceptions of environmentally responsible practices by tourism businesses by analyzing the attitudes of tourists toward “green” innovations in tourist places. It was hypothesized that tourists who were more strongly motivated by nature-oriented experiences would perceive environmentally responsible practices as more valuable than tourists less motivated by nature-oriented experiences. The study is based on a survey of individuals who visited the Arizona Welcome Center in northeastern Arizona and the Chamber of Commerce offices in Holbrook and Springerville, Arizona. As expected, visitors with a stronger nature orientation had more positive views of environmentally responsible practices by tourism businesses than tourists not nature-oriented. They felt such innovations are important and valuable.     

基于Agent的景区游客行为仿真建模与应用——以颐和园为例

我国旅游景区内部客流管理一直以来都没有得到应有的重视。通过对颐和园景区"五一"小长假和"十一"黄金周客流持续2年的实际观测,采用基于Agent的仿真建模方法,构建了游客到达、游客移动、游客停留等景区游客基本行为模型及其仿真运行环境——基于Agent的景区游客行为仿真系统。系统的正确性验证表明,仿真系统的输出数据能够反映景区各停留点游客数量的真实情况;系统的灵敏性验证表明,入口游客数、游客在景点的停留时间以及流向景点方向的客流量3个参数能够引起仿真系统各景点游客数量的灵敏变化。所建系统能够预测景区客流的时空分布,能够通过变换仿真参数值进行各种客流调控措施的仿真实验,并给出具体调控参数以支持景区管理者的客流管理实践。     

Nature-based Tourists: The Relationship Between their Trip Expenditures and Activities

This paper investigates the relationship between four groups of trip activities and the daily expenditures of a sample of visitors at two nature-based attractions in Northern Norway. The paper also examines some other potential factors by adopting a widely utilised twofold segmentation approach: light versus heavy spenders. The results of the logistic regression analysis indicate that there is a significant relationship between the importance attached to travel activities by nature-based tourists and their daily expenditure on a current trip. More specifically, the more individuals consider visiting historic/cultural sites as an important activity on their journey, the more likely they are to be light spenders, whereas the more they consider ‘challenging nature-based activities’ as important, the more likely that they will be classified as heavy spenders. The investigation additionally finds that travel motives, though to a lesser degree, when taken in tandem with variables such as trip length, trip purpose, age and household income, influence nature tourists’ daily expenditure.     

Visitors’ acceptance of negative ecological impacts in national parks: comparing the explanatory power of psychographic scales in a Norwegian mountain setting

Even in protected areas, it is inevitable that any human use will produce some impact on natural resources. This study identifies visitors’ tolerance of potential negative ecological impacts from tourism activities and facilities in a Norwegian national park context, based on park visitors’ expressed degree of acceptance of negative effects on particular species of wildlife (wild reindeer and raptors) and on vegetation. Attitudes were analysed using psychographic scales, reflecting respondents’ nature orientations, their specific facility desires, their preferences in a wilderness setting and their concerns about human interaction with the natural environment. Fourteen research hypotheses were tested. Findings demonstrated that the psychographic scales explained more variation in attitudes than most social background and trip characteristics. Higher levels of education among visitors were strongly associated with increased ecological concern; age and gender were not. There was generally strong ecological awareness and eco-centrism among park visitors in general, with a small proportion of wilderness purists. Better trail conditions, signposting and interpretation were sought. But park visitors were also found to possess a complex mixture of needs and drivers. The study found significant potential for strategic alliances between tourism and conservation interests, and key value issues for park governance systems.     

Profiling the segments of visitors to Portuguese protected areas

This study identifies the diversity of domestic visitors to Portuguese protected areas (PPA) based on benefit segmentation. The segments of PPA visitors are also compared with other nature-based tourist segments using some empirical benefit segmentation literature. Data were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire and multivariate statistics techniques (principal components, hierarchical and K-means cluster analyses) were applied. Five distinct segments of visitors were identified based on the motivation for their visit and further characterized by the perceived importance of activities, facilities and services, frequency of visit and socio-demographics. Three segments are nature-focused and two are focused on activities or events. Only one segment shows specific interests and motivations associated with ecotourism and similar characteristics to international ecotourists; moreover, the reasons for the visit in one segment are unrelated to any of the motivations of nature-based tourism. Some implications for management are also described.     

Tourism in Maasai communities: a chance to improve livelihoods?

This paper examines community-based tourism among Maasai communities in Tanzania in the context of national policies that have increasingly devolved control over natural resources to local communities. It focuses on economic revenues generated from tourism growth, their distribution to village communities and the constraints and conflicts resulting from attempts to control or access resources. Specific cases illustrate the political and economic complexity of devolved resource management and increased income generation at the community level. Ecotourism and community-based tourism are frequently claimed to be possible remedies for wildlife and natural resources conservation, but research indicates that implementation and revenue-sharing are far from straightforward. The paper uses case studies from communities in northern Tanzania, in Ngorongoro District (Loliondo and Lake Natron), Simanjiro District and Longido District (West Kilimanjaro) to explore issues between pastoralism, cultivation, hunting tourism, photographic tourism, conservation and governance systems. It discusses the implementation of the 1998 National Forestry and Wildlife Policies, the creation of Wildlife Management Areas and the 1999 Land Act and Village Land Act. Data and experiences were gathered over a three-year period working with the Sand County Foundation – Tanzania from 2006 to 2008. The paper contributes to the assessment and discussion of pro-poor tourism and poverty alleviation concepts.     

The human dimensions of wildlife tourism in a developing country: watching spinner dolphins at Lovina,Bali, Indonesia

The number of cetacean watching tourism operations in developing countries has doubled in the past decade. Practices are typically unregulated and not informed by research, especially research into the human dimensions of the tourist experience. Dolphin watching tourism at Lovina, Bali, started in the late 1980s when local fishers formed self-regulating cooperatives. Up to 180 dedicated operators use small fishing vessels to carry passengers to watch dolphins close to shore. Most tourists come from western countries, although the industry also attracts Asian visitors. Most visitors are tertiary-educated. Tourist satisfaction ranges from low to medium. While there was no significant difference between the average satisfaction of western and Asian tourists, the associated variables were different. The satisfaction of western tourists was associated with encounter management, preferred number of boats and the number of dolphins seen. Encounter management was the only variable associated with the satisfaction of Asian tourists. Satisfaction was positively associated with willingness to recommend the tour: western respondents who felt neutral to very comfortable with their dolphin encounters were more likely to promote the tour. Better understanding of the tourist experience is crucial in designing sustainable marine wildlife tourism in developing countries; such research appears to be rare.     

The effects of property and landowner characteristics on profit efficiency in salmon angling tourism in Norway

This paper analyzes how different property and landowner characteristics and other factors affect landowners’ profit efficiency from salmon angling tourism. The paper helps correct a lack of studies on the economic aspects of the triple bottom line approach to sustainability and suggests new areas of rural tourism research. A stochastic profit frontier function with an inefficiency module was estimated based on survey responses from 203 landowners along four Mid-Norway rivers. Profit efficiency decreased as the revenues from off-property and on-property activities increased relative to angling tourism. Factors increasing efficiency were long-term renting of fishing instead of permit sale or selling fishing packages with additional services and common property ownership instead of simple fee ownership. Cooperation, by merging several fishing rights into one unit rather than fishing on a single property basis, decreased efficiency. This study did not distinguish between different forms of cooperation; mandatory cooperation in the form of common property and voluntary cooperation between private properties are issues for further research. If sustainable economic efficiency is a public goal, policies should ensure a predictable economic environment for landowners specializing in salmon angling tourism and promote long-term renting, with a 10-year minimum period for the lease of fishing rights.     

试论产业发展进程中的旅游区(点)

在简要回顾中国旅游产业发展进程的基础上,本文对旅游业发展态势与旅游区(点)建设、经营和管理之间的互动关系做了重点分析,指出了在产业发展进程中旅游区(点)存在的问题,并有针对性地提出了相关的对策与建议.     

Coping with Crises- Case

ABSTRACT

As the number one tourist attraction in this remote mountain region, the historic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad had become an economic mainstay. Now, in the midst of a dismal tourism season brought about by a weak national economy and international turmoil, management of this operation faced a crisis. A roaring wildfire was consuming thousands of acres of pristine forests, and tourism activities and expenditures were evaporating as the fire and smoke spread. Chief Executive Officer Allen Harper found himself caught between a rock and a hard place as the fire danger increased. Continuing to run the coal-fired trains in the isolated tinder dry mountains could cause additional fires, and firefighting resources were already stretched. Yet business owners who feared lost revenues if the train were idled urged management to keep the trains running. He knew he had to make a decision and announce it soon.     

Good governance in protected areas: an evaluation of stakeholders’ perceptions in British Columbia and Ontario Provincial Parks

As government funding is reduced and tourism-based fees are increasingly used to fund protected area operations, two options are often used for management: transfer of tourism services to the private sector or operation of tourism services by a government agency that functions like a corporation. This paper reports stakeholders’ views concerning governance for two prominent, but different, management models for protected areas’ tourism services in Canada. British Columbia Provincial Parks uses profit-making companies to deliver park services; Ontario Provincial Parks uses the parastatal approach, where park staff members provide most services directly. Surveys of five key stakeholder groups (park staff, visitors, contractors working in park, nearby residents and NGOs with an interest in parks) provided higher rankings of perceptions of governance criteria closer to good governance for the Ontario approach, with important differences found between some groups and amongst some criteria in both park systems. This research suggests that the parastatal model is perceived as superior by important stakeholder groups, using the lens of standard governance criteria, compared to the outsourcing model that uses profit-making companies to provide park tourism services. This finding has implications globally where governments seek to shift park funding from government towards tourism fees and charges.     

Computer Simulation as a Tool for Planning and Management of Visitor Use in Protected Natural Areas

The United Nations Environment Programme’s Principles on Implementation of Sustainable Tourism suggest that implementing sustainable tourism must include monitoring visitor use of protected natural areas and directing it to areas where the environmental and social impacts of tourism are minimised. Thus, sustainable tourism management requires information about the spatial and temporal flow of visitor use in protected natural areas to help identify potential tourism-related threats to the natural and cultural resources of an area and the quality of visitors’ experiences. Recent research has identified at least four ways in which simulation modelling of visitor use can facilitate more informed planning and management of sustainable tourism in protected natural areas, including (1) describing existing visitor use flows; (2) monitoring the condition of ‘hard to measure’ indicator variables; (3) testing the effectiveness of alternative visitor use management practices; and (4) guiding the design of research on public attitudes. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate, using findings from studies conducted in the Inyo National Forest and Isle Royale National Park, USA, each of these four potential contributions of computer simulation to sustainable tourism management and planning. The paper concludes with an assessment of the limitations of existing applications of computer simulation to nature-based tourism and recommendations for future research.     

Consulting communities: using audience response system (ARS) technology to assess community preferences for sustainable recreation and tourism development

Audience response system (ARS) technology (also known as “clickers”) has emerged as an educational tool that promotes active learning. This paper describes how ARS works and how it can also be used in research to assess community preferences for tourism development. A case study that used ARS technology shows how stakeholder preferences for extraction, heritage tourism and recreation within two rural mountain economies in the US west were effectively assessed. The use of ARS was backed by situation assessment procedures to determine appropriate stimulus questions probing trade-offs, perceived costs/benefits and cultural fit. A detailed series of key results measured community preferences and were made available to guide policymaking and future empirical survey work. Public meeting arrangements, publicity, structure and moderation for the ARS work is described and discussed. Evaluation of the use of ARS technology showed high levels of participant satisfaction with both the technology and the situation assessment procedures, and the emergence of potential tourism development actions.