‘Gay’ tourists and host community attitudes

Despite the growing interest in tourism by gay men, there is little evidence (other than journalistic) of host communities' views towards such tourists. This paper describes a study of such views in a small Mexican beach destination popular with gay tourists. The village is also popular with heterosexual visitors and is known for nude bathing and drug consumption. Interviews were undertaken with a number of residents and revealed disapproval of the gay tourists. This was attributed by residents to overt sexual behaviour, and although there was no evident homophobia, it is postulated that this underlay the attitudes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘It is better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission’: tourism development in an unregulated town

This study describes the state of a Costa Rican community as it is affected by tourism development. It suggests reasons for the current state of affairs and offers potential solutions to remedy this town's issues. By gathering data on location through the use of interviews with business owners, the issue of individual development versus community development is exposed. It provides a glimpse into the concept of group dynamics and collective action (or the lack of it), and offers some understanding about collective development in unregulated communities. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘Passports to pleasure’: credit cards and contemporary travel

This paper explores the relationship between credit cards and contemporary travel. The credit card has transformed the way in which travel‐related experiences are produced and consumed. Production‐related activities within both the travel and credit card industries have, in certain ways, become rationalised, systematised and more co‐ordinated. As a result, credit cards are widely accepted by travel providers around the world. The credit card has also altered travel‐related consumption; in particular, pleasure travel and hedonism have become more accessible to a broad proportion of the population in many Western countries. This tension between rationalised production and pleasure‐driven consumption underpins the travel industry and, more broadly, contemporary economies. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Germany’s changing airport infrastructure: the prospects for ‘newcomer’ airports attempting market entry

Despite fluctuations for economic or political reasons, the number of passengers and volume of cargo carried by air is growing quickly, leading to a shortage of airport capacity in some European regions with few slots available at some hubs. This problem has accelerated the trend towards an increase in airport capacity for larger aircraft everywhere, a process which started in the UK and is now continuing throughout Europe, especially in Germany. Apart from development at the hubs, however, many small airports have also been enlarged, former military airbases have been converted to civilian use, and new runways are to be built in areas away from centres of population. These changes have occurred within a short period of time. In Germany, the number of available airports with runways over 1800 m will have doubled in a period of 10–15 years.     

Understanding the meaning of the ‘journey’ to budget travellers

The purpose is to construct a hermeneutic understanding of the significance of the journey to budget travellers. Narrative interviews were gathered from budget travellers. This research confirms the complexity, holistic reflections and personal travel history associated with the journey. The participants' narratives indicated the primacy of personal authenticity instead of cultural authenticity. The sight became a landmark to distinguish the destination, participants' geographical placement and some of their travails on their journeys. The nomothetic significance of the journey involved the meaning themes of personal development and liminal encounters and meaning factors of styles, visual cues and problem solving. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley &Sons, Ltd.     

Developing Rural Tourism: the PAT Program and ‘Nong jia le’ Tourism in China

Despite the fact that the last three decades have witnessed the rapid development of rural tourism (RT) in China, which is being promoted by the Chinese government as an important new type of tourism due to its special role in revitalizing China's rural economy, there is still little knowledge about the economic impacts of RT on Chinese rural communities in terms of socio‐economic development and regeneration. Accordingly, this study represents an attempt to address this issue by examining the Poverty Alleviation through Tourism program and ‘Nong jia le’ (Happy Farmer Home) tourism within the Chinese context. The findings not only confirm the widely held importance of RT, as expected, but also identify the problems and challenges relating to the sustainable development of RT in the future. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tourism product and service innovation to avoid ‘strategic drift’

Dealing with change in the external environment creates substantial challenges for tourism managers. Given the complexity of strategy formulation it is difficult for managers to analyse all aspects of their environment or establish precise objectives, consequently business strategies tend to be characterised by small strategic adjustments or ‘incrementalism’. However, these marginal adjustments of strategy within an organisation's existing culture may lead to strategic drift reflecting strategies that are inconsistent with changes taking place in the external environment. The paper begins with a brief overview of the global trends that comprise the remote environment of tourism organisations. It argues that the standard response of tourism organisations to changes in the remote environment can be characterised as ‘strategic incrementalism’. The paper also addresses the concern that strategic incrementalism can give rise to ‘strategic drift’. In the face of changing global trends the paper explores some of the barriers that must be overcome, discussing seven areas of importance on which managers can focus to assist them to avoid strategic drift. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surveying the ‘empty land’ in selected South African landscape postcards

This paper adds to the discourse around picture postcards by looking at a number of South African postcards and photographs from about the 1940s to the 1970s wherein the object of the gaze is the supposedly empty landscape. These postcards simultaneously reveal and conceal the political and social realities of South Africa at that time by only showing white people gazing at the land. It is argued that the accessible and portable nature of postcards made them an ideal medium by which white peoples' relationship with the land was rehearsed and enacted during a decisive period of South African history. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differences in travel objectives between first‐time and repeat tourists: An empirical analysis for the Kansai area in Japan

This study investigates the differences in travel objectives between first‐time and repeat tourists. We conduct a questionnaire survey of travel agencies, which asked about specific tour plan for target tourists, their experiences and travel objectives in the Kansai area in Japan. We estimate a logit model for the relationship between travel objectives and visiting experiences. The results indicate that the first‐time tourists' main objective is to enjoy looking around sightseeing spots, while the repeat tourists' objective is simply to enjoy the stay, including the hotel visit and participating in events. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The UK air inclusive‐tour industry: a reassessment of the competitive positioning of the ‘independent’ sector

This paper investigates the increasing concentration in the UK air inclusive‐tour (AIT) market and the behaviour of the dominant companies (Thomson, Airtours, First Choice and Thomas Cook) operating in the sector. Arguments relating to the theoretical organisational structure of the industry are explored and regulatory investigations that have taken place are discussed. Research evidence as to the competitive position of independent tour operators in the overall UK AIT market is provided. The research indicates that a key area of difficulty for the independent sector relates to the provision of charter airline capacity although access to distribution channels and the ability to contract accommodation are viewed as further concerns. The paper concludes that regulatory authorities are faced with trying to ensure that diversity is maintained while at the same time ensuring any economies of scale derived from consolidation of the sector are passed on to consumers. In order to properly understand the true effects of industrial concentration the assembled package must be dissembled into its component parts and an increasingly a pan‐European perspective is necessary. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding ASEAN tourism collaboration — the preconditions and policy framework formulation

Intergovernmental collaboration in tourism among ASEAN nations has received little attention in the literature despite the significant contribution that tourism makes in the region. This paper helps improve our understanding of the phenomenon by providing empirical evidence that explains the preconditions that gave rise to ASEAN tourism and the formulation of its policy framework. It is suggested that, to truly realise the vision of economic integration and sustainable tourism development, continuous efforts are required to establish, promote and protect the common interests of member countries. Policy‐makers should also strive for a good balance between pragmatism and mechanism when implementing policies. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘When buying into the business,we knew it was seasonal’: perceptions of seasonality in Central Otago,New Zealand

Although the majority of the academic literature makes a convincing economic case when suggesting that seasonality is problematic, it is, arguably, equally important to consider whether businesses themselves perceive seasonality as a distinct problem. This paper considers the extent to which businesses and operations, variably involved in tourism, perceive seasonality. A case study of the Central Otago region of New Zealand is offered. The results suggest that although seasonality is perceived as a salient issue for the sector itself, it is not universally perceived to be inherently problematic from the perspective of the individual business/operator. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Human resources development and sustainability — the case of Indian tourism

The goal of sustainability oriented tourism development requires a number of human resources development (HRD) strategies aimed at the tourism industry personnel, host community and the tourists, and underpinned by concepts and practices of sustainability. Sustainability based ‘work culture’, ‘professional ethics’ and operational practices are basic to sustainability in tourism. Indian tourism, despite its immense potential, has seen tardy development, and shortcomings in the HRD domain have been one of the reasons for this below par performance. This paper suggests a comprehensive and strategic approach to HRD, catering to the training and education needs of Indian tourism at various levels for the major target groups. The paper also identifies the pressing issues confronting HRD in Indian tourism and potential strategies to address them within the context of sustainability. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rural tourism and the development of less favoured areas—between rhetoric and practice

Tourism has, in recent times, been advocated as a particularly efficient way to promote the development of the so‐called less favoured regions, mostly inland and mountain, owing to its potential for employment and income creation and the synergies it is able to generate in other sectors of activity. Based on the results of empirical research carried out in two distinct inland zones of Portugal, this article tries to demonstrate that a wide gap and considerable contradictions are emerging between the rhetoric and the real benefits that tourism has been producing in the local societies and economies of these regions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anatomy of tourism crisis: explaining the effects on tourism of the UK foot and mouth disease epidemics of 1967–68 and 2001 with special reference to media portrayal

This paper studies the UK foot and mouth disease (FMD) epidemics of 1967–68 and 2001. It briefly analyses the characteristics of each outbreak of disease and the contrasts between them. The paper then assesses the effects on the UK tourism industry from both outbreaks and also focuses on the role of the media in its portrayal of the effects. Data are gleaned from secondary sources such as BBC archives of radio and television programmes, other media such as key newspapers, as well as specialist journals and government reports. The study concludes that the 1967–68 outbreak had only a limited actual effect on tourism (and an even more limited effect as perceived in the media), whereas the 2001 epidemic had a much larger effect — actual and as perceived in the media. It is suggested that there are many explanations for the differences, including the time of the year of the outbreaks, the spatial spread of the disease, the amount of countryside that was deemed to have restricted access and the growth in supply of rural tourism operators. The changed character of news reporting itself created some different effects — the media role in the 2001 crisis was not entirely passive. Indeed, the paper finally stresses that the role of the media is crucial in tackling any future such crisis — the media can be harnessed as a key element of tourism contingency planning. In this respect there is, indeed, much similarity between the 2001 FMD crisis and other current crises worldwide. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.