Encounters in the Fields – Tourism to the Battlefields of the Western Front

The First World War is now slipping beyond the realm of lived experience, yet it continues to wield a profound fascination over the British modern imagination. The Western Front in France and Belgium, which was the decisive theatre of operations for the Allied troops, has fashioned its own mythology and imagery and has secured a firm place in modern memory. Although the unremarkable topography of the region now visually betrays little of the momentous nature of the battles fought across its expanses, thousands of British visitors travel to the area throughout the year. This paper explores the ways in which tourists embarking on commercial coach tours engage with the battlefield landscape by examining contemporary tourist performance. It also considers the role of the tour guide in setting and directing the tourist encounter.     

Aviation and the environment in the context of the EU–US Open Skies agreement

We examine the impacts of the EU–US Open Skies agreement on the environment on emissions from the aviation sector. We use the Hamburg Tourism Model of domestic and international tourist numbers and flows, to estimate these impacts. The Open Aviation Area will result in increased competition between carriers and falls in the cost of transatlantic flights. This will not only have implications for the size and structure of the industry but also for climate policy. The paper assesses what effects the expected increases in passenger numbers will have on CO₂ emissions and tests whether this increase in travel will result in a corresponding rise in emissions. Simulations show that passenger numbers arriving from the US to the EU will increase by between 1% and 14% depending on the magnitude of the price reductions because of substitution between destinations, the percentage increase in global emissions is much smaller (max. 1%) than the increase in cross-Atlantic traffic.     

Have the frills really left the European airline industry?

The emergence of low‐cost scheduled carriers in European aviation has attracted attention from business and leisure travellers as well as from established carriers. This paper examines low‐cost carriers in terms of their operating features and considers implications for European transport markets. Relevant aspects of the operating environment of European airlines are examined. An analysis of the USA situation in relation to low‐cost carriers is also provided. It is suggested that further research into the development of budget air travel in Europe needs to be undertaken. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An analysis on the concentration–advertising relationship in the hospitality industry

This paper empirically investigates the non-linear relationship between advertising and concentration in the hotel industry. Using data collected from the Taiwanese hotel industry, this paper finds that (1) the influence of concentration on advertising intensity is inverted U-shaped in the room service market and (2) concentration in the food and beverage markets has no significant effect on advertising intensity.     

Airline strategy in the 2001/2002 crisis—the Lufthansa example

This article presents a European view of the global airline crisis in 2001/2002. The underlying cyclical nature of the airline business and flexibilization as a strategy to manage the cycles are described. Crisis management at Lufthansa German Airlines following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 is discussed in depth. In Europe, the slump in air traffic demand was soon matched by an industry-wide capacity reduction. Reduced overcapacity helped to stabilize yields and corporate results. However, managing the current crisis does not only aim at restoring the pre-crisis state, but rather at forming a more healthy business environment.     

Borders in tourism: the transformation of the Swedish–Finnish border landscape

Permeability in the European internal borders has increased, challenging state-centric tourism development in the border regions. The aim of this article is to examine the development of the Finnish–Swedish border, which has been one of the European Union's internal borders since 1995, as a tourist attraction. An examination of the path of tourism development in this border region shows that the differentiative meaning of the border that has been characteristic for state-centric tourism development has diminished and some of the excitement of crossing the old east–west border has vanished. At present the significance of the border for local tourism development can be seen in the new cross-border enterprise and commercialisation of tourist attractions. Such development can have a wide-ranging influence for the reorganisation of border landscape and dissolution of mental boundaries in the region. This study contributes to an understanding of the transition in the European Union's internal border regions from the perspective of tourism.     

‘Gap Year' in China: views from the participants and implications for the future

This paper contributes to debate about how tourism is conceptualised. It takes a discursive approach to understanding some of the rules and relations that have influenced the way tourism has been defined ‘conventionally’ with particular attention to a way of seeing tourism that has the hallmarks of a tourist looking-glass. From here an examination is made of more contemporary movements that undermine conventional discourse. In searching for some common ground between these different approaches to tourism, a synthesis can start to be developed around the idea of relations and context. Tying these contemporary analyses to a relational and contextual basis invites some coherence in the search for new directions for tourism discourse.     

Assessing the ‘value’ of new transport initiatives in deprived neighbourhoods in the UK

In the context of growing policy awareness in the UK of the links between transport and social exclusion, this paper describes case-study research of four different transport projects funded under the UK Department for Transport's Urban Bus Challenge Fund (UBC) with the specific aim of facilitating social inclusion in the areas they serve. Through surveys and interviews with end-users, the study qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated the value of these new services to local residents in terms of their increased economic opportunities and other quality of life benefits. It also aimed to identify their wider contribution to the renewal and regeneration of the deprived areas they serve through depth interviews with professional local stakeholders.     

Effects of the Asian Crisis on the geography of Southeast Asia’s air traffic

An examination is made of how the Asian Crisis of 1997–1998 has affected the geography of air traffic within Southeast Asia and between the region and other parts of the world. The study’s context is provided by an examination of extra-regional and intra-regional air transport networks in 1965 and 1995 to highlight the key features of the period of rapid traffic growth. This exercise is repeated in 1998 and comparisons are made with the 1995 pattern to gauge the impact of the Crisis on the geography of air traffic and the variable response of major regional carriers. Interpreting the many extra-regional and intra-regional patterns emerging from this data comparison proved difficult. Some of the readjustments and realignments can be attributed to the Asian Crisis, others cannot. There are many explanations of these patterns just as there are multiple causes of the Crisis. As the Crisis is related to wider interconnections of the globalising economy it cannot be seen as a separate and isolated event. Invariably, the general effect of the Crisis meshes with specific political factors.     

Informing tourism policy with statistical data: the case of the Icelandic Tourism Satellite Account†

The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) is a popular internationally recognized method for measuring tourism's contribution to the economy. The credibility and visibility of tourism as a distinct economic activity are, therefore, based on TSA data which have the power to show its macroeconomic importance. According to the most recent World Tourism Organization study, 60 countries around the world implemented TSA in one way or another in 2010. However, in the same year, a research carried out by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development revealed that the usage of TSA for tourism policies is rather limited due to specific issues, such as the lack of knowledge about TSA, inadequate international comparability, and timeliness. This paper illustrates several possibilities of using enhanced TSA estimates in the Icelandic context for informing tourism policies. Specific examples are presented of developing data on tourism-related investment (Tourism Gross Fixed Capital Formation) and governmental consumption for selected collective services related to tourism (Tourism Collective Consumption). These improve the usefulness of the TSA as a statistical instrument for sound tourism policies.     

Going beyond the traditional destination competitiveness – reflections on a smart destination in the current research

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews the literature on tourism destination competitiveness from different aspects, focusing on comparative and competitive advantages. Also, the paper highlights the importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in tourism destinations and their increasing impact on the achievement of destination competitiveness. Thanks to the wider application of ICTs in tourism, tourists nowadays are well informed and have access to global market which creates a new dynamic environment by creating a smart demand. Since smartness emphasizes on ICT-based tools, including smartness integration for value co-creation, it can increase and enhance destination competitiveness. In this regard, special emphasis is placed on exploring the core components of smartness and smart tourism destination.     

For the young and old alike – An analysis of the determinants of seniors’ satisfaction with the true door-to-door DRT system EcoBus in rural Germany

Mobility and transportation service requirements change with growing age. Also in a car-based society like Germany many seniors need to give up driving the car and are dependent on relatives or public transport. Especially in rural areas, the accessibility of public transport is often limited. Demand responsive transportation has occasionally been proposed by researchers as a viable alternative to stop-, route- and time-based public transportation to address such problems. This case study analyses passenger data from the true DRT system EcoBus to identify distinct drivers of old passengers’ satisfaction compared to other passengers. Contrary to existing literature, older people stated to be even more satisfied with the service then younger travellers did. Moreover, older travellers tend to travel alone, but showed slightly higher satisfaction when travelling in groups. The results suggest that older people might be more open-minded and positive regarding flexible public transport schemes than expected.     

Understanding the residents’ social impact perceptions of an African Cultural Festival: the case of Macufe

ABSTRACT

The Macufe is one of the Africa’s largest cultural festivals, and takes place annually in Bloemfontein, South Africa. This 10-day event attracts approximately 140,000 attendees, meaning that the residents have to share facilities and services with tourists. The effects of such interactions can be both positive and negative. Community members are stakeholders in any tourism ventures that take place in their area, meaning that their goodwill is of utmost importance. Therefore, the social impacts of this event should be well managed to foster community support. For this reason, a quantitative study was done to determine residents’ social impact perceptions towards the event. A total of 425 questionnaires were completed by willing residents who lived in proximity to festival activities. From an exploratory factor analysis, four factors were extracted, namely community enhancement, community degradation, tourism growth and increased public spending and interaction. It was found that the event does not generate significant levels of positive social impacts, and that the negative social impacts are viewed almost equal to the positive social impacts. This was one of the first social impact perception studies done on an African arts festival, which contributes to the sustainable management of such crucial events.     

Lessons from the field: reflecting on a tourism research journey around the ‘celtic’ periphery

The challenge within the tourism academy to acknowledge the situated nature of knowledge within the research process is intensifying. Drawing on a multidisciplinary body of reflexive narratives and recent work in tourism that acknowledges the personal influences that construct knowledges, this paper embraces this challenge by offering an autobiographic narration of field work in Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall. Food tourism is employed as a conceptual vehicle to pursue a more culturally focused, critical tourism investigation, thereby contributing to work that extends tourism research beyond the sphere of management and business. Drawing on research involving in-depth interviews with (food) tourists and participant observation, it is suggested that tourism knowledge is constructed at the micro-level, directly shaped by seemingly insignificant or overlooked moments. The paper illustrates how personal aspects of field work (gender, age, ethnicity, personal insecurity, loneliness and physical demands), combined with overcoming more practical issues (weather and transport logistics), should inform the contextual foundations of any empirical research; it from these moments where tourism knowledge is truly cultivated. Underpinned by qualitative methodological literature within a framework of critical realism, it urges others to embark upon a similar reflexive journey in order to develop tourism research into a robust sphere of academic enquiry.     

Network analysis of the Caucasus’ image

Destination image is influenced by many factors, including destination promotion materials, the mass media as a general familiarity agent, the perceivers’ own characteristics and even researchers’ methodological choices. To isolate and minimize the impact of research on destination image, different qualitative and quantitative designs and analysis techniques have been utilized. However, no previous study utilized the network analysis technique, which may be useful to reveal a picture of destination image with the interconnections and hidden dynamisms of dimensions as well as its correlates. The present study applies this technique on qualitative data from an online sample of Americans on their perceptions of a relatively remote and unfamiliar destination, the Caucasus region, in order to hone in on the dramatic impact of mass media on destination image. Results revealed networks of meanings with residue of mass media messages about Boston bombing, with some differences among different genders and education levels.     

Alliance or acquisition? Strategies for growth in the container shipping industry,the case of CP ships

The global shipping industry is undergoing a transformation through the establishment of strategic alliances involving nearly all the major carriers. The near universality of the phenomenon would lead one to believe that being part of a global alliance is the only means of survival today. The case of CP Ships, the maritime arm of Canadian Pacific, provides a radically different model. CP Ships began as a small market player, but through direct acquisition has grown in size to be comparable with many of the large global carriers. It has remained focused as a niche player, venturing to confront the mainline carriers only peripherally. This paper explores the bases for CP Ship's success, highlighting the fact that alliances need not be the only path to survival in a global industry.     

Testing the accuracy of collected geoinformation in the Norwegian Personal Travel Survey––experiences from a pilot study

This paper presents results from a pilot study to the Norwegian Personal Travel Survey 2001 designed to test the quality of geographical information in travel surveys. The use of travel surveys to produce input data for transport modelling requires respondents to provide adequate geographical information on their trips. Data from a telephone survey of 1500 respondents are analysed, and it is shown that people in general are capable of recalling street addresses of places they have been to or give alternative geographical information to help locate trips at a set level. However, the accuracy of location recall varies with respect to place of residence, trip purpose and transport mode.     

What are corridors and what are the issues? Introduction to special issue: the governance of corridors

Linear concepts such as the corridor have a long history in spatial and urban planning. The recent megacorridor or eurocorridor concept, proposed in the context of discussion on European territorial development, strives to integrate policies on infrastructure, urbanisation and economic development. As is shown by the example of the Netherlands, the corridor concept can count on a hostile reception from spatial planners. As an analytical concept the corridor can hardly be denied its legitimacy. Several urgent policy issues can be attached to corridor developments that together require an improved coordination between policy domains at different spatial levels.