Travel and retirement status

Research shows that travel is a desired activity among retirees; however, investigations into the relationship between retirement and older adult travel activity have been limited by basing retirement status on attainment of age 65, an outdated criterion given recent social, political, and economic changes. Four separate analyses examine the relationship between known retirement status and constraints to travel activity; use of various forms of travel information; travel characteristics, and participation in travel related activities. A number of similarities and differences emerge from this examination. Travel neither becomes more nor less frequent after retirement and interest appears constant. Where differences in travel activity do occur, work force involvement and age may be underlying causes.     

The positioning of overseas honeymoon destinations

The objective of this study was to investigate the competitiveness of seven overseas honeymoon destinations among potential Korean tourists, and the positioning among them. The main analytical techniques used were multidimensional scaling and correspondence analyses. Results included a variety of information on image similarity, strengths, and ideals of destinations among seven sites, as well as the relationships of major sociodemographic and tourism variables to the sites. The results provide significant insights for a more effective approach to the market positioning of competing places for a honeymoon trip.     

Ethical travel decisions travel agents and human rights

This paper explores the ethics of selling tourism products for destinations that have known major human rights issues. The study uses the moral intensity framework to analyze the ethical decisionmaking of New Zealand travel agents. Qualitative interviews reveal support for all aspects of the framework. In particular, agents’ judgements are strongly influenced by their perceptions of how their decisions impact upon their clients. In contrast, uncertainty surrounds the probability and magnitude of consequences of their decisions for destination communities. Strong social, cultural, legal, and economic links between the agent and the more proximate stakeholders mean that ethical decisions commonly favor these stakeholders.     

Measuring novelty seeking in tourism

The purposes of the study were to define the construct of novelty in the context of tourism, to conceptualize its role in the destination choice process, and to develop an instrument to measure novelty. The novelty construct was comprised of four interrelated but distinctive dimensions: thrill, change from routine, boredom alleviation, and surprise. A 21 item instrument was developed to measure the construct and its dimensions. The scale was judged to have content validity by an initial panel of experts. It was demonstrated to have convergent, theoretical, discriminant, and criterion validity in terms of its expected correlations with other measures. Items measuring the dimensions were internally consistent, and both test-retest and split-half reliability were satisfactory.     

U.S. tourist destinations: A history of desirability

This study supplies a ranking of the most desirable tourist destinations for US travelers from 1907 through 1980, as gauged from a content analysis of travel-related advertisements appearing in two national magazines; Harper's Monthly and National Geographic. The amount of advertising space that features each destination is calculated, and from these totals the rankings of desirable destinations are derived. Maps and accompanying narrative give external validity to the content analysis, while use of consistent coding forms provides reliability. Listings of frequently visited areas accompany each map and narrative, and these in turn generally agree with those developed from the advertisements.     

A facilitated access model and ottoman empire tourism

This paper proposes a “facilitated access” model to describe how local people make and have made use of tourism. Although Western travel accounts of the Arab Middle East have been studied by various disciplines, the Ottoman Empire has not been treated from a tourism studies approach. Travel narratives from 1835 to 1870 are used to reconstruct how, and tentatively why, Ottoman subjects adapted existing tourism services and expertise to the new Western tourists of the era. It is argued that Western tourism in the empire flourished in the foundational period before Cook Company tours began in 1869 because some Ottoman subjects could thus increase their own autonomy.     

An international travel Demand model US Travel to Western Europe

This paper examines international travel demand between the United States and Western Europe. A complete system of demand equations is estimated to obtain expenditure and price elasticities of the demand for travel. The results allow the classification of regions of Western Europe as substitutes or complements according to the preferences of travelers. It is found that Americans view Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, and Portugal as “luxury destinations” that might expect to receive an increasing share of the traveler's budget. The price elasticities are relatively low for France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. France and the U.K eexhibited high price substitution effects as did France and Germany. Travel to most other countries might be classified as complementary with respect to travel to France and substitutes with respect to the U.K.     

Residents' perceptions on tourism impacts

The limited explanatory research on residents' perceptions of tourism impacts has resulted in an underdeveloped theoretical orientation of research on this subject. This paper presents a social exchange process model as a theoretical basis for some understanding of why residents perceive tourism impacts positively or negatively. The model is based upon the concept of the exchange relation. Propositions are derived from the model to test the relationships between the model's components. These propositions have been developed from inferences based upon the social exchange literature.     

Multicity trip patterns: Tourists to the United States

This study examines international tourists’ multicity trip patterns within the United States. Actual and perceived distance from the country of origin to the destination is assumed to affect the likelihood of multicity tourism behavior. In addition, higher opportunity costs for first-time tourists are expected to lead to increased multicity patterns. An analysis of the trips of international tourists to US metropolitan areas confirmed that multicity patterns differ for groups of tourists with different origins and varying levels of familiarity with the destination. Differences lie in the directionality of flows as well as the extent and nature of multicity tourism behavior.     

Gifts of tourism: insights to consumer behavior

Using empirical evidence from real-life accounts of the giving, receiving and consuming of tourism and leisure products as gifts, this paper examines the phenomenon of experience gift giving behavior. Although generic gift giving has an extensive literature expanding from the 1950s, there is a gap between consumer activity in experience gift consumption and academic understanding. The study findings show the constituent parts and processes of decision-making, gift exchange, and post-exchange, consumption and post-consumption. These concepts, whether new (for example, patterns of participation in consumption), adapted (for example, wrapping strategies) or absorbed (for example, impression management) from the gift giving literature, are drawn together as a Model of Experience Gift Giving Behavior.     

QUALITY MARKET ORIENTATION: Tourist Agencies’ Perceived Effects

This paper analyzes the effects of market orientation from two perspectives. First, its direct influences on tourist agencies’ perceived performance, and its indirect ones on performance through the perceived value of market information. Second, direct effects on the perceived service quality offered by the firm and indirect influences derived from the utilization of quality measurement systems are analyzed. Hypothesized relationships are tested in an empirical study of tourist managers. Research findings confirm the proposed relationships, except the influence of using quality measurement systems on service. A positive direct influence between perceived service quality and performance is also analyzed and confirmed.     

Main destination ratios : Analyses of tourist flows

Published data such as those from the World Tourism Organisation omit statistics about multidestination trips. The main Destination Ratio and its derivatives provide a partial remedy, illuminating patterns and trends that otherwise may be hidden. The techniques are illustrated by data about trips in one year by Japanese, New Zealanders, and Australians to sixteen countries, and about Australians' visits over thirteen years to Singapore and Hong Kong. The techniques' distinction is data collected at two points in a tourism system; conventional statistics about traveler-tourist flows usually rely on one point. Practical applications of the new techniques are discussed.     

Taiwan aboriginal ecotourism: Tanayiku Natural Ecology Park

This paper discusses research into an ethno/ecotourism site developed by the Tsou nation of southern Taiwan. The Tanayiku Natural Ecology Park receives approximately 450,000 tourists annually. This paper assesses, from a poststructuralist perspective, the theoretical implications of what is termed an “ecocultural renaissance”. It shows that the park functions in two contradictory ways. First, it is a site of geopolitical resistance to colonization for the Tsou. Second, it is as a site of topological consumption—which is, effectively, continued colonization—by tourists. Paradox notwithstanding, the paper discusses why Tanayiku represents a rare example of a successful community-based ecotourism operation owned and operated exclusively by an aboriginal group.     

Beyond authenticity and commodification

Authenticity and commodification are central to academic debates in tourism. Previous analyses suggest that the commercialization of local identities leads to negative consequences. Based on a long-term study in Eastern Indonesia, this paper examines authenticity from three perspectives: government, tourists, and villagers. While the former two reflect views highlighted in the literature, the villagers’ interpretation is different: tourism brings a sense of pride and identity and also a political resource to manipulate. Seen in this context, the debates about authenticity should examine how the notion is articulated, by whom and for what purposes, to reveal in what circumstances cultural tourism leads to positive responses and empowerment.     

African-American travel agents: Travails and Survival

Social science research on the struggles of early and contemporary independent African-American travel agents represents a void in the literature. These agents experienced serious obstacles to survival during the past half-century, not only during times of racial segregation, but more recently with airlines and government regulations, expensive technological innovations, and significant industry demands. Six agents describe their histories, successes and failures, and the futures of independent Black travel agents; serious difficulties remain, including access to capital. A scenario identifies the start-up costs for an independent Black travel agency in a medium-sized Middle West metropolitan area to illustrate the problems that remain.     

Tourism Brochures: Usefulness and Image

Tourist information has been shown to have an important influence on the choice of vacation destinations. This article studies brochures, their significance as image generators, and their influence on the selection of destinations. The study sought to discover which features in this medium are more relevant in image generation and destination choice using logistic regression analysis. The analysis is based on data collected from tourists in Madrid, Spain. The results establish a model of usefulness of brochures in order to propose recommendations for their design and content. Implications pertain to the development of theoretical understandings about the influence of the information sources on destination image, destination choice, and satisfying tourist needs.     

Exploring place perception a photo-based analysis

This paper examines the merits of volunteer-employed photography as a technique for investigating perceptions of residents and tourists of a destination. An exploratory study was undertaken in which both groups were asked to photograph features they considered important to their personal experience of the Welsh seaside resort of Aberystwyth. Participants also completed photologs and written questionnaires, which were used to supplement a content analysis of their snapshots. This enabled various comparisons and inferences to be drawn regarding how the town is perceived as a destination and as a place to live. An unexpected finding is that residents and tourists tend to adopt similar ways of “reading” the destination.     

Rural tourism and gendered nuances

Research findings on rural residents’ attitudes towards tourism are often contradictory, in part due to a lack of data examining the often divergent perspectives of particular subgroups. Regional survey data from the Intermountain Western United States is used to provide an improved understanding of rural tourism attitudes as they are linked to community involvement and changes, while also exploring both intragender and intergender differences. Group differences in levels of community involvement, perceptions of tourism and various other issues are observed. While differences emerge, there is also widespread agreement on the importance of preserving local culture and the opposition to sale of agricultural land for development.     

Tourism productivity: Evidence from the United Kingdom

This paper examines the ways in which productivity in tourism businesses can be increased by studying the roles of changes in physical capital, human capital, innovation, and the competitive environment. Comprehensive results are obtained by using questionnaire-based interviews, business survey data analysis, and computable general equilibrium modeling. The results demonstrate the positive contribution that each of the productivity drivers can make to improving efficiency and welfare, notably increases in human capital and innovation. They also indicate that a combined strategy incorporating all of the drivers is more effective than independently formulated policies. Government organizations can collaborate to assist productivity increases, with specifically tailored measures for small businesses.     

Integrated rural tourism:: Concepts and Practice

A model of integrated rural tourism, which took account of the various resources (cultural, social, environmental, economic), their use, and the role of pertinent stakeholders, was developed to explore effective methods of promoting tourism as part of a rural development strategy. “Strategic fit” was used to assess the effectiveness of the model in adding value locally in the context of an established tourism area in western Ireland. The model reveals considerable robustness in identifying features that promote the adding of value in a holistic way and in identifying the pertinent stakeholders and issues that require attention to meet objectives more effectively.