Group Characteristics Influence Distribution Patterns of Off-Road Vehicle Recreation within a Complex Trail System in Southwest Idaho

Recreation on public lands is growing and is increasingly recognized as an ecosystem service providing improved health, connection to nature, and social time while also disturbing and degrading ecosystems. Human impacts must be managed, but often managers have little information about the factors that affect recreation patterns. We combined data from global positioning system receivers to record off-road vehicle (ORV) travel with a pretrip survey to determine how group characteristics, site experience, site knowledge, and motivation are associated with ORV trip patterns on public lands in southwest Idaho. Spatial and temporal extent and distribution could summarize most variation in ORV trips. Both trip distribution and extent were associated with group characteristics and site knowledge. Spatial and temporal extent was additionally associated with motivations and distribution was associated with riding experience. These findings can help land managers to identify use patterns, direct informational programs, and effect indirect management strategies.     

Alone with others: The paradox of privacy in wilderness

Attitudinal studies of wilderness visitors have indicated that people seek opportunities to limit interaction with other visitors so as to achieve privacy and solitude. This conventional interpretation of wilderness recreation was evaluated by comparing measures of visitor attitudes and social behavior in the backcountry of Yosemite National Park. Results show no association between visitor attitudes toward crowding and observed social interaction or behavior to avoid such social interaction. These findings suggest that subjective responses of visitors measured by questionnaires and interviews are often of debatable validity. Greater validity can be achieved by avoiding reliance on common‐sense interpretations in theory formulation and by employing multiple measurement techniques.     

The Relationship Between Visitor-Based Standards of Quality and Existing Conditions in Parks and Outdoor Recreation

Abstract

Parks and related areas are increasingly adopting management-by-objectives/indicator-based frameworks to protect resources and the quality of visitor experiences. Indicator-based frameworks rely on development of indicators and standards of quality, and research has been developed to measure visitor-based standards of quality. In this research approach, visitors to parks and related areas judge the acceptability of a range of recreation-related impacts to natural/cultural resources and the quality of the visitor experience. The purpose of this paper is to explore the strength and variability of the relationship between visitor-based standards of quality and existing conditions in parks and related areas. Data were derived from studies conducted in 11 U.S. national park system units between 1995 and 2002. Results indicated that visitor-based standards of quality are generally unrelated to existing conditions. Implications of these findings are explored for research on visitor-based standards of quality and related issues, and for the management of parks and outdoor recreation.     

Problems in Place: Using Discursive Social Psychology to Investigate the Meanings of Seasonal Homes

Researchers continue to explore the nature of place meanings and especially how these meanings are created, disseminated and contested. This paper uses the conceptual framework of discursive social psychology to identify varying interpretive frames homeowners use to characterize the meaning and significance of their seasonal homes as vacation and recreation residences. Among the frames are refuge from modern life, the importance or centrality of seasonal homes in people's lives, obligations and burdens entailed by maintaining dual residences and interactions within a community. The paper advocates for an approach to place meaning that acknowledges the social basis of meaning yet recognizes and focuses on how individuals appropriate and use interpretive frames to explain their relationships to place.     

Increasing public involvement to reduce depreciative behavior in recreation settings

Abstract

Managers of public recreation areas are concerned about the increase in vandalism, littering, and user disregard for regulations and the rights of others. Several strategies are available to reduce or control depreciative behavior, but little empirical evidence exists as to what approaches are really successful, where, when, and under what conditions. This report evaluated a program to increase the involvement of campers in the management of depreciative behavior. Results suggested that users who witness littering can be encouraged to help either by reporting infractions to authorities, dealing directly with the litterer, or picking up the litter. Overall, an appeal made to help resulted in a 22 percent increase in one or more types of involvement compared to control conditions.     

Exploring Everyday Self-Regulation in Nearby Nature: Determinants,Patterns, and a Framework of Nearby Outdoor Recreation Behavior

The understanding of determinants and underlying mechanisms of everyday nearby outdoor recreation behavior (NORB) remains insufficient for use in urban planning. We explored the nearby recreational decisions of walkers, cyclists, and joggers in problem-focused interviews (N = 18). The identified influences include various demands of work and private life, strains, and action circumstances. Loads and strains showed several compensatory associations with NORB. These findings were synthesized into a NORB framework that offers empirically grounded hypotheses for future research. The proposed framework may help to integrate findings from different research fields while providing a more comprehensive understanding of NORB.     

Role of positive emotions in the constraint process: the case of Taiwanese college students

This study adopts the partial least squares (PLS) method to analyse the relationships among positive emotions, leisure constraints, leisure negotiation strategy, and participation frequency in outdoor recreational activities using stratified proportional sampling of Taiwanese students (N = 569) and SmartPLS 2.0 statistical software to perform statistical analyses. This study determined that positive emotions not only directly affected the level of involvement in outdoor recreational activities but also indirectly increased involvement by improving negotiation ability. While leisure constraints have a direct, positive and significant impact on the leisure negotiation strategy, they do not significantly influence the level of participation in outdoor recreational activities. This article observed that the level of participation did not depend on constraints but instead depended on the process of ‘leisure negotiation’ based on the constraints. In the future, different samples can be used to test the stability and adaptability of this model; alternatively, other variables can be added to better understand college students’ participation in outdoor recreational activities.     

休闲与生活质量关系的量化考察:国外研究进展及启示

参与休闲活动能够提高人们的生活质量,这是国内学界普遍认同的观点.然而这个观点更多地是从逻辑推演而来,还缺乏实证的量化考察.对休闲与生活质量关系的量化考察,涉及主客观两类指标的设置;而其最终价值在于帮助决策者制定和调整相关政策,采取有效措施,从而全面改善居民的休闲状况,提高其生活质量.     

Managing Heritage Volunteers: An Exploratory Study of Volunteer Programmes in Art Museums Worldwide

This study addresses the paucity of research on volunteer management in art museums and heritage attractions. Based on the results of surveys and interviews with volunteers and managers from international art museums, it identifies three sets of promising practices that appear to increase the performance of volunteer programmes: (1) building a community of volunteers; (2) enhancing volunteers' learning experiences; and (3) fostering the self-management of volunteers. Taken together, these practices offer evidence for the value of the ‘serious leisure’ concept in the theory and practice of volunteer management.     

Desired recreation companionship and travel behaviour of people with disabilities

This study examines whether people with disabilities(PWD) participate in leisure and travel activities with their desired companions and if there are discrepancies between their social networks and real recreation companions. The recreation companionship and travel behaviour of PWD have not been thoroughly explored, particularly in non-Western contexts. Accordingly, data were collected from 494 respondents in South Korea, and findings suggest that there was a significant gap between companions PWD desire and those they actually maintain. Travel and tourism were the least frequent recreation activities for PWD. The results can provide managerial implications regarding practices of inclusive and accessible tourism.     

A decade of injury monitoring in the New Zealand adventure tourism sector: A summary risk analysis

Adventure tourism safety has received relatively little research attention despite the level of risk inherent in many adventure activities. In New Zealand, an absence of surveillance or monitoring of injury in the adventure sector has had important implications for the management of tourist safety. A series of studies conducted by the authors between 1996 and 2006 have sought to address this knowledge gap, with the aim of identifying the extent and nature of adventure tourism injury using a range of primary and secondary data sources. The paper reports on findings from a summary risk analysis of these studies, including evidence for the scale of the adventure tourism injury problem, and ranking of degree of risk for a range of factors for safety in adventure tourism participation. A conceptual model to assist risk management in the adventure sector is presented, and implications of findings for management and the adventure sector are discussed.     

A Proposed Research Agenda for the Refinement of the High Performance Work System Construct in the U.S. Restaurant Industry

Abstract

The current research proposes a framework for the investigation and conceptualization of high performance work systems in the U.S. restaurant industry. The projected U.S. restaurant industry sales for 2006 are $511.1 billion according to the National Restaurant Association (National Restaurant Association, 2005). Because of its size and impact on the foodservice industry and the hospitality industry in general, improving the performance of the restaurant industry could help increase overall revenues and guest satisfaction in the foodservice and hospitality industry. By identifying a list of high performance work practices in the industry, a more in-depth exploration of these practices and then organizational policies can be aligned together to help improve overall performance in the U.S. restaurant industry. The current study provides theoretical background and support for the high performance work systems theory.     

Factors Inducing National Media Coverage for Tourism in Rural versus Urban Areas: The Role of Public Relations

This study examines the relationship between media coverage patterns of rural and urban tourist spaces in Israel, the characteristics of these spaces, and the way in which public relations (PR) are conducted to promote rural tourism in those areas. Using geographical distance, population size and type of tourist products for the spatial variables, PR financial budgets and PR practice types for the PR variables, the study examines their relative importance for rural versus urban tourism promotion. Results show that ongoing professional PR is crucial for the success of rural destinations in receiving large and positive national media coverage.     

Text mining a decade of progress in hospitality human resource management research: Identifying emerging thematic development

The authors identified the emerging research streams based on the published research literature in human resource management (HRM) from 1994 to 2003 in the International Journal of Hospitality Management. Textual data were collected and content-analyzed by a text-mining program aided by human judgments. The results from the content analysis of both the computer-aided and human judgmental methods were then integrated and conceptually graphed to map meaningful findings that were logically precise, humanly readable, and computationally tractable. Through this unique approach, nine major HRM research themes emerged and each thematic development based on time and country was interpreted and discussed.     

Adopting e-Procurement technology in a chain hotel: An exploratory case study

As the lodging sector evolves into a more technology-oriented industry, the need to understand e-Procurement practices becomes more important. The main purpose of this study was to understand the challenges faced by decision makers at a chain hotel company in its adoption and implementation of e-Procurement. Results indicated that the company suffered from a lack of purchasing standardization across properties. Furthermore, this study suggests that not all vendors of e-Procurement solutions may be ready to partner with hotel companies. e-Procurement offers considerable potential for the industry but uncertainties such as those exhibited in this case must be addressed before significant resource commitments are made to e-Procurement.     

Quantitative approaches for economic use of emerging technology in the tourism industry: unmanned aerial vehicle systems

As technological innovations develop, new categories of services are emerging. In the tourism industry, one of the limelight technologies is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for virtual tourism systems, monitoring, and patrol activities for safety and security. However, for the successful application of a UAVs system, it is important to construct the system in an economic and efficient manner. In this study, quantitative approaches for a UAV system are introduced to support the economic establishment and its efficient operation. Two mathematical models are developed to construct and operate UAVs systems for recreation and safety purposes in the tourism industry. The validity of the proposed models is demonstrated via numerical experiments for both cases. To our knowledge, this is the first approach to address the issues of a UAV system design for tourism purposes. This study is expected to be the theoretical basis for future use of UAVs in the tourism industry.     

Not quite paradise: Inadequacies of environmental impact assessment in the Maldives

The Maldives, a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), has seen a rapid development of its tourism industry over the last 35 years with visitor numbers rising from 1062 visitors per year in 1972 through to over 600,000 today. Both in popular conception and reality the Maldives relies on its marine life and beaches to sustain a tourism industry that contributes over 30% of total GDP.     

Fuzzy Rasch model in TOPSIS: A new approach for generating fuzzy numbers to assess the competitiveness of the tourism industries in Asian countries

This study proposes a novel approach, the Fuzzy Rasch model, which combines Item Response Theory (IRT) and fuzzy set theory. This paper applies the Fuzzy Rasch model in Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to analyse the Tourism Destination Competitiveness (TDC) of nine Asian countries: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines. The study was conducted in 2009 using 6 criteria and 15 indices. The results demonstrate the feasibility of applying the Fuzzy Rasch model in TOPSIS to analyse TDC in Asian countries. In addition, the proposed model also provides an effective means of applying the MCDM method to study TDC. Furthermore, in 2009, the Asian countries were ranked from most to least competitive as follows: China, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and the Philippines.     

The effect of Facebook users’ arousal and valence on intention to go to the festival: Applying an extension of the technology acceptance model

The rapid development of social media has challenged event managers to rethink how this trend will shape traditional marketing practices. Given the rise of these technologies, the current breed of special event “fan” has started to take advantage of and venture into this social space for possible benefits. For event managers, the fundamental issue becomes how to uncover the process through which special event consumers come to accept social media marketing. This paper reviews social media marketing literature, the characteristics of event marketing, and highlights the emotional aspect of social media applications. An extended TAM (technology acceptance model) is adopted to explain the mechanism by which social media marketing influences attitudes toward Facebook event pages. The authors find that users’ emotions exhibited on the Facebook event page do have a significant impact on the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived enjoyment of such social media marketing. However, only the last construct significantly influences users’ attitudes and intentions toward an event. Implications and insights were provided to event practitioners and were discussed accordingly.     

The Power of Images: Marketing Tourism in the 1990s

This conference was held at The Roehampton Institute, London on 2–3 September 1992 with its main aim being to bring together those involved in tourism education and those from the industry to discuss the future of tourism marketing. Organised jointly by Tina Bryant (University of Hertfordshire) and John Eade (Roehampton Institute), the event attracted delegates mainly from the academic community, with members of the tourism industry conspicuous by their absence! Ray Youell of Sheffield Hallam University describes the somelime contrasting perspectives evident at the conference.