The attraction of islands: travellers and tourists in the Cyclades (Greece) in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries

Islands have long acted as projection surfaces of ever-changing desires. Tourism organisations have drawn most vigorously upon the paradise metaphor in an attempt to position modern island holidays at the forefront of our minds – regardless of an island's location. Tracing the most recent history of our island-longing and illuminating the use of the island metaphor by tourist organisations is the aim of this article. A short account of the history of tourism in Greece (especially the Cycladic Islands) provides the backdrop to an in-depth picture and text analysis of nine official English and German tourist guides to the Cyclades, as well as the English-speaking version of the official Cyclades website. Images and text are coded according to pre-determined themes and contrasted with each other. Investigating islands from the perspective of tourists and tourist organisations, it becomes apparent that the official brochures draw on established island tropes and stereotypical island imagery as a means to attract travellers, and thus follow a long-established pattern of what Western culture considers unique for island locations. Dissonances, however, are emerging as our longing for island locations is contradicted by our need for ease and speed of access, thus negating the sought-after quintessential ‘islandness’.     

The production of tourism in Ponta Negra,Northeast Brazil: policies,representations and logics of desire

This article discusses how the beach neighbourhood of Ponta Negra (Natal, RN), in the Northeast of Brazil, came to experience the intensive tourist development that now characterises it. Its origins as a fishing village, its gradual emergence as a local resort and the internationalisation of its tourism in the late twentieth century are examined. The discussion of this process demonstrates how public policies have played a major role not only in configuring the model of spatial planning and urbanisation that was adopted, but also in defining Europe as the main geographical focus of tourist internationalisation, in creating attractive conditions for foreign investment, and in the construction and dissemination of a tourist identity largely founded on past images and desires. At the same time, this discussion of Ponta Negra’s tourist-capitalist appropriation, Europeanisation and its (re)production as a site of racialised desires contributes to a better understanding of the ambivalent spatialities and multiple tensions that coexist in the neighbourhood today. The analysis presented here draws on empirical data collected during a period of ethnographic fieldwork in which the predominant methodologies included participant observation, semi-structured interviews and documental and statistical research.     

Waterfall attractions in coastal tourist areas: the Yorkshire coast and Queensland's Gold Coast compared

A comparative study of tourism development on the Yorkshire coast and Queensland's Gold Coast illustrates the importance of waterfalls as attractions, even in beach orientated tourist areas catering mainly for seaside holidaymakers. A relative decline in the importance of the Yorkshire coast waterfall attractions whereas those of the Gold Coast hinterland continue to play a major role is attributed to differences in quantity and quality of these scenic resources, problems of access and the availability of other, and, for many, superior, waterfall attractions within easy reach. Appropriate levels of development at and access to waterfall sites are discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley &Sons, Ltd.     

NGO–Community Collaboration for Ecotourism: A Strategy for Sustainable Regional Development

An inappropriate mega-tourist project dramatically threatened the communities and ecosystems at Bahias de Huatulco, a beautiful site on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. The indigenous communities in the neighbouring highlands suffered, first as their forests were logged, and then by the economic pressures and cultural onslaught from globalised tourist development. An environmentally sensitive programme to emplace an infrastructure to provide ecotourism services, supported by the traditional beach-front tourist industry, offers a mechanism to strengthen the social organisation and the economic base of the participating communities. Together with complementary activities to rehabilitate and better manage the forests, to introduce artisanal activities and create a local wildlife reserve, ecotourism is stimulating conservation efforts and sustainable management and production practices. By introducing these alternatives to the marginal economic opportunities offered by the beach tourism, the local peoples enjoy a higher quality of life and are better insulated from the cyclical swings in the national and international economy that are taking a high toll on peoples elsewhere.     

Khaosan Road: an evolving backpacker tourist enclave being partially reclaimed by the locals

Backpacker tourist enclaves dot the globe but have been little studied. The present study examined the structure and functioning of Khaosan Road; Bangkok's large archetypal backpacker bubble. It gauged basic dimensions such as tourist area spread, guesthouse and business numbers, and tourist economic and social impact. It surveyed tourist demographics, travel motives, behaviour, and reactions to and uses of the area, and characteristics and reactions of Thai visitors and street vendors. The area is a complex, evolving system with mixed ownership and functions. It is expanding, going up‐market and becoming a key nightlife area for young Thais. Overdevelopment may alter its appeal to backpackers. The data give a detailed picture of one backpacker enclave, which may partly generalise to others. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Travel guidebooks and the construction of tourist identity

Tourist identity is an important component of the postmodern identity. This review paper unveils the role of travel guidebooks as identity construction agents at a time when tourism has become an important postmodern phenomenon. The review offers a processual look at roles played by guidebooks in tourist information gathering and formation of cultural tastes and preferences, and portrays the influence of guidebooks on social change. The review points especially to the lack of a broad theoretical perspective in the research of the role of guidebooks in tourist identity formation as well as tourist motivation and consumer behaviour formation. Consequently, the paper suggests that future studies of tourist identity should adopt a socio-historical and cultural interdisciplinary approach focusing on travel guidebooks, using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Based on this proposed framework, the article suggests several further research directions for the study of social construction of tourist identity within a spatio-temporal context.     

Visitors’ diversified motivations and behavior – the case of the pilgrimage center in Krakow (Poland)

The article presents the visitors’ motivations and behavior at the pilgrimage center in Krakow (Poland). Here, the relation between these elements, i.e. whether their motivations have a correlation with what buildings they visit, is emphasized for the first time. The most important motivations for visits were religious and tourist ones, often rated equally high by the same respondents. They visited religious, cultural and tourist buildings and facilities. The stay of visitors with religious motivations was not limited to religious practices, but was extended by tourist behavior. Similarly, visitors with tourist motivations visited religious buildings and participated in religious practices. However, they visit tourist and cultural facilities more often. Additionally, the three groups of respondents were categorized and, on the basis of importance of the religious and tourist motivations, three types were distinguished, i.e. pilgrims, religious tourists and tourists. Their characteristic has been expanded by the analysis of their behavior. Nowadays, visitors’ motivations and behavior at pilgrimage centers include those typical for pilgrims and tourists in the traditional meaning. In addition to their religious function, these sites offer cultural and tourist facilities. The article highlights the dedifferentiation approach to visitors’ motivations and behavior, and in respect of the spatial organization of pilgrimage centers.     

Tourism,changing architectural styles,and the production of place in Itacaré, Bahia,Brazil

This article examines changing architecture in Itacaré, Brazil, as it transitions from a fishing village to an international tourist destination. Tourism, as an assemblage of practices and perspectives, recreates places in specific ways that structure social and environmental relationships. Through an examination of historical architectural styles, tourist architecture, and popular architecture in Itacaré, this article analyses the ways a tourist economy has physically and socially rebuilt the city. Socially, the changing architecture marks and creates differences between class, racial, and regional identities while also providing an idiom through which public conversations about these changing economic systems and demographics are articulated. At the same time, the expansion of the city has led to racial-, regional-, and class-based segregation. Environmentally, tourist architecture creates new relationships to nature through re-imagining Itacaré’s position in relation to other rural and urban places and a new emphasis on the aesthetic value of nature.     

Rethinking authenticity and tourist identity: expressions of territoriality and belonging among repeat tourists on the Greek island of Symi

This paper approaches the subject of tourist identity from an anthropological perspective, arguing for a culturally contextualized analysis that focuses on the interactive and processual nature of these constructions. Specifically, it explores the processes by which repeat tourists on the Greek island of Symi construct their identities as tourists in relation to the place of their vacation experience, local residents and other tourists. It highlights the competitive and often antagonistic way in which these tourists – drawing on ideas about authenticity and demonstrating sympathy with local concerns – seek to incorporate the island as an aspect of their own personal identities and, similarly, create a form of ‘local’ identity in Symi. The picture of tourists that emerges in this case study contrasts sharply with standard analytical formulations that portray tourists as transient and liminal figures, defined almost exclusively by their vacation preferences and experiences, and constituting a category of people that is clearly distinguishable (practically and ideologically) from local residents. As a consequence, it argues for an approach to tourist identity that seeks out linkages between tourists and locals, and which looks more broadly at the views and experiences of tourists beyond the time and space of the vacation.     

The travel cost method and the economic value of leisure time

Recent estimates of high values for tourist related recreation USA amenity values indicate that allocation of basic water and terrestrial resources to recreation activities should be given precedence over conventional market oriented activities that often degrade or even extirpate the resource. We discuss at length the travel cost method (TCM), a survey based technique that quantifies the non‐market benefits of trips to recreation sites. The TCM has been cast in the role of an ‘umpire’ in recent resource allocation debates. Understanding the key role of the TCM in the debate will aid tourist agency officials throughout the world. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the U.S.A.     

Restoring tourist confidence and travel intentions after disasters: some insights from a rejoinder to a series of unfortunate events in Malaysian tourism

Many countries face a decline in tourist confidence and reduced travel intentions after disasters. However, Malaysia – a country that experienced a series of aviation tragedies throughout 2014 – encountered an overall increase in inbound tourists and monetary receipts. This article more closely examines the effects of these unfortunate events on Malaysian tourism and identifies several strategic avenues that can contribute to restoring tourist confidence and reigniting tourist interest in travelling to disaster-stricken countries.     

Service-Dominant Logic in tourism: the way to loyalty

Many tourist destinations have focused heavily on attracting a growing number of new visitors each year. However, recent changes in the tourism market have led to the need for new strategies oriented towards retaining already existing visitors. Service-Dominant Logic (S-D Logic) is a new orientation that allows greater competitive advantage by recognising the active role of tourists in the creation of their own experiences. The main purpose of this paper is therefore to develop a theoretical model based on S-D Logic in order to increase levels of tourist loyalty. An in-depth analysis of foundational premises has allowed us to identify the key aspects of this process. The proposed model was empirically tested, using a structural equation model with partial least-squares technique, on a sample of 763 tourists visiting Spanish tourism destinations. Research findings have evidenced that tourist loyalty is achieved through the development of relationship quality in the co-creation of tourist experiences. These results will help destination managers to achieve a greater competitive advantage through the development of customer-centric strategies. The relevance of this article also lies in its being one of the first attempts to develop practical measures for S-D Logic by applying them to tourism.     

Experience value: antecedents and consequences

This article outlines and tests a holistic model of tourist experience that includes the effects of the antecedents and consequences of the perceived value of an on-site trip experience. Based on the literature and the results from the present research, this article develops a framework of perceived value experience and its antecedents, such as tourist motivation, involvement, and knowledge, and consequences, such as satisfaction and future intention, in terms of recommendations and repeat purchase. Structural equation modelling is applied to test the model. The results strongly support the notion that the constructs of motivation, involvement (to a lesser extent), and tourist knowledge serve as antecedents to the perceived value of a holiday experience, which influences the consequences of behaviour, such as satisfaction and loyalty.     

Predicting tourists' behavioural intentions at the destination level

Using structural equation modelling, the formative model was tested on a sample of 703 tourists who visited six coastal destinations in Montenegro. It relies on the complex relationships between five constructs – perceived quality of a destination's offerings, tourist satisfaction, perceived equity, perceived benefits and behavioural intentions – simultaneously incorporating the emotional and rational self-regulatory mechanisms. The empirical results supported the hypothesised relationships. The group of eight tourist destination attributes affects perceived quality of a destination's offerings that positively and directly relate to perceived benefits, behavioural intentions and tourist satisfaction, whereas satisfaction is also determined by equity perceptions. Additionally, perceived quality of a destination's offerings also relates indirectly to tourist behavioural intentions, through perceived benefits and tourist satisfaction, while satisfaction also mediates the interaction between perceived equity and tourist intended behaviour. These research results contribute to a deeper understanding of which behavioural processes, and with what strength, lead to the increase in tourist loyalty at the destination level, and ultimately provide better insights into the predictors of behavioural intentions.     

Young Japanese Female Tourists: An In-depth Understanding of a Market Segment

Since the launch of the government's Ten Million Program in 1986, the number of Japanese outbound tourists has steadily increased even during the post-bubble economy period. Many destination countries have recognised the importance of the young female market segment as having a rapid growth rate and high spending power. This article investigates the sociocultural background of the Gal tourist by exploring Japanese values on life and women, sex and sexuality and changing values in the younger generations. Based on the findings, this paper will discuss the significance of the Young Female Japanese tourists as a potential market in the near future, and also importance of understanding the sociocultural background of the target market segment.     

Gravitational force exerted by Brazilian tourist destinations on foreign air travelers

This article analyses the context of international tourist flows by air and tourism in Brazil, by applying the principles of the gravity model. The study includes 13 Brazilian international airports that served 108 origin-destination pairs, which accounted for 80.14% of the total tourist flows by air in 2012. In the statistical analysis applied, the dependent variable Ft is the tourist flow between the country of origin and the Brazilian state of destination. To approximate an explanatory equation, we formulated a linear function that was able to support, in 31.7% of the cases, the dependence of the international tourist flows with the variables considered in the linear regression performed. The conclusion is that the assumptions considered in this study only partially explain the gravitational force exerted by Brazilian tourist destinations, so there is a need to refine the model by including other variables that can influence the flows by air of international tourists.     

Literature,cultural identity and the limits of authenticity: a composite approach

Although tourism scholarship has paid much attention to the concept of authenticity in relation to the homogenisation of tourism representation, this term has limits that curb its usefulness for analysing subtle interrelations of place, representation and identity. Some recent work has attempted to recuperate authenticity by associating it with experience and activity, however we suggest that the concept of cultural identity allows for greater attention to the fluid movements of social power relations that inform the tourist site. By undertaking a comparative analysis of three global tourist sites located in the Middle East (Jerusalem), North America (Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan) and Europe (Isle of Wight), this article discusses the politics of representation vis à vis identity as manifested in a spectrum of tourism‐related literature ranging from pamphlets, maps and guidebooks, to more creative approaches in contemporary novels and poetry. This comparative survey of literature explores questions of identity on several fronts: first, it prompts questions about how religious, historical and national identities are formulated in and through the tourist site; second, it leads to an assessment of a site's claim to status as a work of art that prompts aesthetic identification; and finally, it allows one to consider how other works of art — in this case, novelistic or poetic representations — both affirm and question identities presented by standard tourist literature. These alternative textual representations demonstrate not only how cultural identity as represented in the tourist site is an active site of struggle, but also present alternative politics of place and identity that enable a greater diversity of interpretations of the tourist site. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shopping value,tourist satisfaction and positive word of mouth: the mediating role of souvenir shopping satisfaction

We propose new insights into key satisfaction outcomes for souvenir retailers, such as positive word-of-mouth recommendations, seeking deeper comprehension of overall tourist satisfaction determinants, by analysing the mediating role of tourist souvenir shopping satisfaction. We apply variance-based structural equation modelling by means of partial least squares to a sample of 408 tourists all of whom had purchased souvenirs. The results suggest that tourist shopping satisfaction partially mediates the relation between shopping value and positive word of mouth, while tourist shopping satisfaction completely mediates the relation between shopping value and overall tourist satisfaction. The results and their implications are then discussed to arrive at pertinent conclusions on tourist souvenir shopping satisfaction.     

Urban food markets and their sustainability: the compatibility of traditional and tourist uses

The aim of this article is to highlight the importance of urban food markets as tourist icons in the current competitive race to create attractive cities. Food markets attract a large number of consumers, both local and tourists. However, their impact on the city and its dynamics should be treated to establish measures to ensure sustainable (compatible) uses for both kinds of users. This calls for the establishment of a system of indicators to determine what level of sustainability food markets are at and facilitate decision-making for the agents involved in their management.     

Towards Integration of Sustainability into Tourism Planning in Developing Countries: Egypt as a Case Study

This article argues that planning and thus implementation of sustainable tourism development would differ not only between the developed and less developed countries’ (LDCs) tourist destinations but also from one destination to another in developing countries. Although sustainability has been introduced to the global world as an avenue for the protection of the resources in the developing world that the intrageneration equity is one of its objectives, developing countries still lack the effective planning techniques and tools for implementation. Nevertheless, developed countries have got better opportunities for the implementation of such principles, ranging from appropriate funds and expertise needed for the planning tasks, to more stable economic and environmental conditions. As the capabilities of developing countries’ tourist destinations for adopting the principles of sustainability would differ, each of those destinations should be treated separately while assessing such abilities to implement sustainable tourism development. For this purpose, this article approaches the evaluation of the Egyptian tourist planning mechanism from a sustainable point of view. In order to achieve the research objectives, a benchmark technique has been employed by using sustainability indicators as criteria to judge the appropriateness of the tourist planning system against the principles of sustainable tourism development.