A “load-carrier” perspective approach for assessing tourism resource carrying capacity

To address the challenge of global tourism resources being overloaded or underutilization, there requires an adequate method for assessing the tourism resource carrying capacity (TRCC). However, the majority of previous evaluation perspectives on TRCC are limited by thresholds. This paper develops an innovative approach for assessing TRCC from the “load-carrier” perspective. TRCC is assessed by exploring the interaction between the carriers and loads of tourism resources. Chongqing city in China is employed as the case city to demonstrate the application of the established TRCC method. The conclusions are as follows: 1) This study elaborates the new connotation of TRCC from the perspective of “load-carrier”, and establishes the TRCC evaluation system based on the dynamic relationship between the carrier and load of tourism resources. 2) The proposed TRCC evaluation method is proved effective through an empirical study of Chongqing. 3) Chongqing's case unveils that the overload performance of TRCC can be dynamically monitored and predicted. By applying the TRCC evaluation methodology developed in this study, tourism managers and policymakers can identify whether it is the load or the carrier of tourism resources that affect the performance of TRCC, thereby taking targeted policy measures to eliminate potential risks of overload or underutilization.     

Employee workplace spirituality and pro-environmental behavior in the hotel industry

Pro-environmental behaviors in the workplace are less investigated than those in the public and private spheres. With this in mind, and through the values framework of workplace spirituality (WPS), synthesizing the theories of connectedness and organizational citizenship, the current study proposed a theoretical model to gauge the influence of WPS, a relatively new area of inquiry in organizational research and a neglected field in tourism and hospitality, on hotel employees’ organizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCBE). In this framework, the emerging concept of connectedness to nature (CNS) – a strong cognitive and affective predictor of pro-environmental behavior – was depicted as a mediator, and the construct of environmental awareness (EA) was deemed a moderator. The intended model received support through empirical testing, and results confirmed that WPS is significantly associated with employees’ OCBE, and CNS indirectly affects the relationship between WPS and OCBE, while EA functions as a booster. The theoretical and practical implications of the study were discussed, and a series of contributory managerial implications were described accordingly.     

Tourism as a discipline in light of the non-classical sociology of science

Embedding the issue of the recognition of tourism by the academia in the context of the scientific identity of the researchers of tourism can bring valuable insights into the debate. Moreover, such an approach is aligned with the main assumptions of social constructionism and the non-classical sociology of science (knowledge) stemming from the paradigm theory of science formulated by Kuhn. These concepts served as the foundations for the present research, allowing for the formulation of its main hypothesis: that every academic community has the right to decide whether it accepts tourism as a separate academic discipline or not, and that there is no reason why any opinion on this matter should be imposed on everyone. Another useful piece of information can be gained by adopting an epistemological perspective in the form of the questions: will separating tourism from other disciplines make it possible for us to learn more about it? Or should we continue considering it through the prisms of other disciplines? These were the premises which drove both parts of the present research: literature query and empirical study (which featured results from researchers from all around the world), and were addressed in the conclusion.     

Chinese tourists' views of nature and natural landscape interpretation: a generational perspective

This study investigates Chinese tourists’ views of nature, interest in animal experiences and their preferred natural landscape interpretation content from a generational perspective. Eight hundred and eight self-administered questionnaires were collected at Wulingyuan, a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, in China. It suggests that overall Chinese traditional cultural values and beliefs, notably the thinking of tian ren he yi (oneness of nature with humans), still have considerable impacts on Chinese tourists. They were found to have a strong sense of connection with nature and a preference for cultural interpretations of natural landscapes. Meanwhile, Chinese might be reaching a point of convergence in terms of attitude towards nature and animals with their Western counterparts, as reflected by their weak anthropocentric view, and strong ethical and aesthetic appreciation of animals, regardless of generation cohorts. Yet, the study shows significant generational gaps: older generations have a stronger connection with nature, are more concerned about environmental issues and show more support for the Western approach towards nature protection; the younger generations hold weaker anthropocentrism, and are more interested in animals, yet are less likely to learn about nature through tourism interpretation.     

水生态系统服务供需视角下的水网乡村 适应性规划策略——以吴江张鸭荡片区为例

苏南乡村地区一直是中国乡村建设的先行区域，特殊的纵横交错的水网结构构成了一个错综复杂的系统，呈现出其他地区不具有的复杂性和生态特殊性。随着城镇的扩张，乡村的发展建设使其水网空间的平衡发展面临极大的挑战。传统单一静态的规划方法逐渐显示出无法适应经济、社会等发展要求的缺陷。苏南乡村地区以水为核心，从水生态系统服务供需关系的视角下探究水网乡村的适应性规划策略更加适应当前的乡村现状和需求。以传统水网乡村空间形态转译为基础，建立水生态系统供需服务评估体系，在评估水生态系统服务供需能力的基础上，分析供需分异模式及供需矛盾。从构建乡村水域空间生态格局、乡村水域空间功能分区规划，以及乡村水域空间多情景预判3个方面，提出苏南水网乡村的适应性规划策略，并为水网乡村的生态实践提出新思路。     

名山风景区风景特质理论体系及其实践 ——以武当山为例

名山风景区“人与天调”的风景系统代表了中国独有的山岳文化现象和山水相融的总体特征。在风景自然和文化整体性视角下研究风景系统的形态、类型及其形成原因和规律，分析了风景资源评价和风景特质评价的互补性；构建了“相-制-理”的名山风景区风景特质理论及其实践框架。以武当山为例，探索“以脉绘景”的风景特质之相、“山川流峙”的风景特质之制以及“因脉而成”的风景特质之理。最后总结了风景特质理论作为形态学理论、作为图谱理论、作为地脉文脉认识论实践的整体性特点及其应用前景。     

实际控制人控股多家上市公司与超额在职消费

文章基于委托代理理论，从实际控制人监督职能角度，研究实际控制人同时控股多家上市公司，对管理者超额在职消费的影响。研究发现，当上市公司所属实际控制人同时控股多家上市公司时，其超额在职消费水平显著高于其它上市公司。进一步研究表明，产权性质和外部治理环境能够对二者关系产生显著影响：民营企业和分析师关注度较高企业，控股多家上市公司对其超额在职消费不存在显著影响；媒体监督较高企业和十八大之后，控股多家上市公司对其超额在职消费的促进作用受到显著抑制。文章研究不仅丰富了实际控制人监督和超额在职消费领域的相关文献，同时对实际控制人如何有效治理公司具有重要的实践意义。     

旅游目的地地格的理论源流、本质与测度指标

全球化背景下,在旅游目的地开发与营销过程中忽视了地方的本质特征,旅游目的地竞争走向“无地方性”与“无个性”的地方趋同陷阱。地格理论融合地理学的地方性理论、营销学的品牌个性理论、旅游学的推拉理论以及管理学的资源基础论,提出旅游目的地开发与营销成功的关键是以地格为依托,即关注目的地长期积累形成的生活方式的本质特征,避免地方趋同。本文指出具有代表力、吸引力与竞争力的旅游地格是旅游目的地的品牌基因,还从旅游目的地政府、游客和居民视角出发,运用定性与定量相结合的方法,创建了由自然环境、人文环境与群体性格组成的地格因子体系。     

Tent City: Patterns of Informality and the Partitioning of Sacramento

Unsanctioned tent cities are increasing in number in cities throughout the western United States. Scholars explain the phenomenon as homeless people asserting their ‘right to the city’ or as ‘managed marginality’. These explanations capture much of the socio-political relationship between local government and homeless populations, but do not explain the long-term persistence of tent cities and the fluctuating nature of their visibility. A spatial history of informal encampments in Sacramento at three key moments—the founding of the city, the Great Depression and the Great Recession—reveals a long-term ebb and flow of tent cities occupying close-to-the-center, urban vacancies. Urban vacancies arise from the partitioning of the city into specific purposes, places and people, a taken-for-granted perception of how cities should be. The visibility of tent cities disrupts this aesthetic notion of stability and growth as homeless people use the tent to protest their isolation and exclusion.     

Informal Property Rights as Relational and Functional: Unravelling the Relational Contract in China's Informal Housing Market

In the face of state-led land grabs, enterprising Chinese peasants have started a revolution in the ambiguous and insecure rural tenure system by developing an extralegal property system known as the small property right (SPR). Using the SPR, peasants are able to capitalize on their property through the sale of houses built on collectively owned land. Little is known, however, about the specific process behind the development of the SPR by the peasants, or how this extralegal property system functions in terms of securing the use and transfer of property without the backing of law. This article aims to clarify the situation through the lenses of the Endogenous Nature of Institutions and Relational Contract Theory, aiming to understand the socially constructed, endogenous and relational nature of the property rights that make SPR functional. Based on an ethnographic investigation of Beijing's largest SPR housing settlement, we show how enterprising peasants develop long-term relational contracts with urban households for the provision of housing services, secured on the basis of the common interests and symbiosis of the two parties and a reputation system that serves to deter defaults. The discretionary treatment of SPR housing by local states serves as a further motivation for the village and the informal homeowners to preserve a stable property arrangement, with such a specific institutional setting being an exemplar of China's pragmatic state entrepreneurialism.