Developing a new Multi‐Nation tourism region: Thai perspectives on the Mekong initiatives

This article examines Thailand's recent tourism policy and its attitudes towards international tourism development collaboration in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Thailand is the major tourist destination country and gateway for international tourists visiting the region, and is a leader of Mekong tourism developments. This paper considers the Thai perspective on its tourism development, and examines current co‐operative activities in the Mekong region in the context of its own tourism industry. A number of research needs are sketched out as a proposed framework for future studies.     

Degrowing tourism: rethinking tourism

Abstract

Concerns with growth have steadily advanced since the Limits to Growth report due particularly to human impacts on the natural environment. Since that time, neoliberal capitalism has become increasingly reliant on growth exacerbating these problems. The destructive outcomes of these strategies has led to a growing interest in degrowth. Analysts are examining how we can create economies that eschew a growth imperative while still supporting human thriving. Tourism as a key facet of capitalism is implicated in these issues and recent concerns with “overtourism” are only one symptom of the problem. This article presents a conceptual consideration of issues of degrowth in tourism. It examines current tensions in international mobility and argues just and sustainable degrowth will require greater attention to equity. This analysis suggests that essential to such an agenda is redefining tourism to focus on the rights of local communities and a rebuilding of the social capacities of tourism. This article argues for the redefinition of tourism in order to place the rights of local communities above the rights of tourists for holidays and the rights of tourism corporates to make profits.     

Service Quality in Tourism Research

Abstract

This paper reviews the recent development of service quality research. It relates the key issues and approaches to the tourism and hospitality sectors. It identifies the need for further research into the meaning and management of service quality in tourism and hospitality.     

Tourism development in Cambodia: An analysis of opportunities and barriers

Cambodia has been perceived as one of the major destinations for development in the southeast Asia region. Information regarding the country and its attractions have been difficult to obtain. This study investigated the opportunities and barriers the Cambodian tourism industry now faces.     

The Sixth Asia Pacific Tourism Association Annual Conference

ABSTRACT

Developed over the last two decades, higher tourism education in China has made a great contribution to the growth of the tourism industry, but is now faced with a variety of challenges in its further development. The article discusses the current situations and problems of higher tourism education in China, analyzes the causes of the problems and then puts forward suggestions to solve them.     

Exploring factors influencing individual participation in community‐based tourism: The case of Kampung relau homestay program,Malaysia

This paper presents the early findings from a qualitative investigation conducted to examine how participation is practiced in a community‐based tourism program which offers homestay experience to tourists in Kedah, Malaysia. The first objective of the study was to determine where on the spectrum of participation (Pretty 1995) does the homestay program fall. The second objective was to explore the variables that may influence the extent of community participation in this program. Findings from the present study indicate that participation in community‐based tourism is influenced by community members’ motivations to participate. An important implication from this finding is that community‐based tourism projects must include awareness programs among its members so as to educate them about the project and to motivate them to participate.     

The effect of tourism investment on tourism development and CO2 emissions: empirical evidence from the EU nations

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of tourism investment on tourism development and CO₂ emissions in a panel of 28 EU countries using annual data from 1990 to 2013. The empirical results from a panel cointegration test confirm the presence of long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables. The long-run elasticities indicate that tourism investment has a significant positive and negative impact on tourism development and CO₂ emissions, respectively. Finally, the short-run heterogeneous panel non-causality test results show the evidence of bidirectional causality between tourism investment and tourism revenue. These results therefore suggest that tourism investments not only increase tourism revenue but also reduce CO₂ emissions. Given these findings, we suggest the policy makers of the EU nations to initiate more effective policies to increase the tourism investments. The increasing tourism investments will allow the industry to grow further by ensuring sustainable tourism development across the EU member countries.     

Urban bicycle tourism: path dependencies and innovation in Greater Copenhagen

Abstract

During the latest decade, a renaissance of bicycling in urban transportation has occurred in many Western European cities. This opens up for a development of bicycle tourism as a form of urban sustainable tourism, taking advantage of improved infrastructure and facilities for cycling tourists. The aim of this study is to conceptualise the dynamics behind the development of urban bicycle tourism. This development may be viewed as an innovative process based on incremental changes in local socio-technological mobility systems. An analytical framework is proposed, based on the following categories: urban planning, bicycle tourism services, communication, and place making. In the analysis, evidence from the Greater Copenhagen region is used to contextualise particularly these perspectives of the development of urban bicycle tourism. In each of the four categories, evidence of innovative services or procedures supporting bicycle tourism was found. However, the most important source of incremental innovation is likely to be found on a systemic level, between the actors in the destination. It is also argued that the development of urban bicycle tourism is highly path dependent, related to the local bicycle culture. Bicycle tourism should not be viewed as isolated from the locals’ everyday cycling.     

Trends and Forecasts for Inbound Tourism to China

Summary

The development of tourism in China over the last two decades is reviewed. It is argued that the success of the economic reforms in China which has resulted in fast economic growth has also been the main cause of rapid tourism growth in China. Forecasts of international tourist arrivals by source country market and destination region within China are generated over the period 2001-05. An integrative approach is used which combines both time-series and econometric methodologies, termed structural integrated time-series econometric analysis (SITEA).     

Strategies for minimising tourism leakages in Indo‐Chinese development countries

For developing countries in Indo‐China embarking on tourism for economic growth, their success hinges on minimizing three types of tourism leakages, namely financial, structural, and operational leakages. This paper proposes financing and market strategies for those countries to reduce tourism leakages. The strategies suggest that Indo‐Chinese developing countries should target fairly‐developed countries in Asia as their main capital markets and tourist feeders at the early stage of tourism development. In later phases of tourism growth and expansion, they may seek tourism capital and tourists from both fairly‐developed and well‐developed countries. The recent Asian financial crisis has presented new challenges to Asia Pacific tourism. It may, however, create opportunities for developing countries in Indo‐China to attract more regional tourists and investors and reduce tourism leakages.     

A Study into the Use of Management Science and Marketing Research Techniques in the Irish Tourism Industry

Abstract

The authors report the findings of a recent survey into the use of management science and marketing research techniques in the Irish tourism industry. Given the well documented benefits of these techniques for management decision making, the research was undertaken to explore the extent to which managers in the Irish tourism industry are aware of and use these techniques. The usefulness of these techniques has spawned a considerable expansion of the coverage of such topics throughout business studies programmes in the higher education sector internationally. The study examines whether what is being taught is being used in practice and if not why not. Overall, the results indicate that management science and marketing research practice in the Irish tourism industry do not seem to reflect their potential.     

Tourism and Hospitality Higher Education in Taiwan

SUMMARY

The binary system of tourism and hospitality higher education in Taiwan divides into academic higher education and technical/vocational(institute/university of technology, five-year junior college and two-year junior college). The development of tourism and hospitality higher education in Taiwan is closely related to the growth in the domestic tourist market and the social development of the country. The earliest tourism education began in 1965. This long process of development has given Taiwanese tourism and hospitality education a multifaceted outlook and is generally divided into three periods: the origination period (1946–1968), the growth period (1969–1991), and the competition and adjustment period (1990–present). Over the past years, tourism and hospitality higher education in Taiwan has witnessed rapid growth in numbers, increasing diversification in program names, and with junior colleges and institutes of technology transforming themselves into universities of technology. Current tourism and hospitality programs are boosting global competitiveness for the future hospitality market in Taiwan, with careful positioning clear goals, curriculum planning, integrating hospitality/tourism curriculum, alliances and collaboration, and strengthening tourism and hospitality research.     

Heritage Management and Control

ABSTRACT

Tourism is one of the most important economic activities. Historical heritage has been identified by both administrators and the private sectors as major touristic assets. It has been a myth that the more heritages a country own, the better it would be. Some recent reports, however, revealed that heritages, in fact, could be a burden to the concerned government and the economy. This paper is to review the situation in Egypt in relation to the issues of discovering, preserving and commercializing of historical heritages. The results of this study are expected to contribute to the community, which has the gift of heritage, and heritage preservation of Egypt and to the improvement of our knowledge of the discipline of tourism.     

Is It Difficult to Market a City as a Convention Destination?

Abstract

Convention tourism is a very lucrative form of tourism and is becoming one of the fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry. Greece, a traditional tourist destination worldwide, has not developed its convention sector satisfactorily. This paper presents the outcome of a small scale qualitative research in the form of in-depth interviews with six experts of organizing meetings and conventions, which were undertaken in order to explore the potential of Thessaloniki as a convention destination by assessing its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The results revealed that Thessaloniki has a potential to develop this special form of tourism and ameliorate the low tourist inflow. However, it is a difficult task, mainly due to the lack of cooperation among the city's stakeholders.     

The Moderating Influence of Psychographics in Homestay Tourism in Malaysia

Like other special interest tourism products, homestay as a community-based tourism product has shown substantial growth in terms of number of visits in recent years. Nevertheless, compared to other special interest tourism products, visitor behavior in homestay tourism has been neglected by the literature. This study fills this void by investigating the relationships between perceived value, satisfaction, and behavioral intention, and by examining the moderating influence of psychographics in a homestay tourism context. Respondents were visitors who visited selected homestay villages in Malaysia. Multi-group structural equation analysis was used to test for group differences in the structural weights.     

Past,Present, and Future of Tourism Education

SUMMARY

Tourism education in Korea, mandated by the Higher Education Act, has evolved rapidly in response to the tourism industry's growth and labor demands for the last four decades. As tourism education has matured and become increasingly recognized as a legitimate academic field of study, the Korean tourism education has attempted to generate future quality workforce and to establish the status of tourism as a prominent research oriented discipline. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the Korean tourism industry and tourism education over the past four decades and to suggest future directions for Korean education in the 21st century. By improving current curricula according to today's fast changing tourism business environment and cooperating with the tourism industry with the aid of the government on policies and regulations, Korean tourism education will continue to contribute to the Korean tourism industry as a legitimate partner.     

Governmentality and surf tourism destination governance

Abstract

Surf resources are critical to thousands of coastal communities as the natural resource base for many tourism services that spur development. There is, however, almost a total lack of formal surf-break management around the world, despite many surf resources becoming crowded, which leads to nuanced resource conflicts with social, economic and environmental implications. Managerial approaches and surf research, we argue, could become more effective by incorporating a nuanced understanding of the scales and process that govern behavior in surf tourism. This conceptual article first applies tourism destination governance (TDG) to outline the many stakeholders and scalar dimensions involved in governing surf tourism. To expand this normative analysis, Foucault’s governmentality framework is used to discuss different informal governance regimes (sovereign, disciplinary, and neoliberal) that conduct behavior at surf-breaks. The intersection of TDG and typologies of governmentality then help to discuss empirical cases demonstrating how governmentalities operating both at the surf-break and at wider scales, often overlap to either reinforce one another and powerfully condition behavior or compete and make governance ineffectual. This elaboration of surf tourism destination governance (STDG) opens up a new research agenda for surf tourism scholarship also applicable to other forms of tourism dependent upon contested natural resources.     

Modeling Tourist Flows to Indonesia and Malaysia

Summary

The purpose of this study was to examine the major factors that influence the flow patterns of tourists from six important tourist-generating countries to Indonesia and Malaysia. The primary determinants included in the demand models were income, prices, and time trend. Two models that employed different indicators for the price variable were estimated; one with exchange rates in addition to relative prices, whereas the other included only an exchange rate adjusted-relative price variable. Annual time-series data covering the period 1980 to 1997 were used for estimation. The results generally indicated that the factors provide reasonably good explanations for the demand for Indonesian and Malaysian tourism. The measure of thejoint effect of the changes in exchange rates and relative prices also seems to be a better indicator for the price variable for both destination countries. The study has important marketing implications for the tourism industries in Indonesia and Malaysia.     

Development of intangible cultural heritage as a sustainable tourism resource: the intangible cultural heritage practitioners’ perspectives

ABSTRACT

Authentic intangible cultural heritage (ICH) provides a community with a unique selling point in the globally competitive tourism industry. The process of commodification of ICH, however, has threatened its authenticity and thus sustainable tourism approaches are required to achieve successful transmission and promotion of ICH as a sustainable tourism resource. This paper explores the priorities of ICH practitioners in relation to the development of ICH as a sustainable tourism resource, by utilising South Korea as a case study. The results revealed that from the ICH practitioners’ perspectives, authenticity is a holistic notion integrating the transmitted customs, inherited meanings and the practitioners’ identities. ICH practitioners agree with the potential positive symbiotic relationship between transmission of authentic ICH and promotion of ICH as a tourism resource. To achieve the positive symbiotic relationship, locals’ awareness of ICH, ICH practitioner empowerment and parallel development between tourism development and transmission of ICH are necessary. To date, the practitioner approach to the authenticity of ICH and ICH as a sustainable tourism resource is little explored in the literature, thus this paper makes a valuable addition to the area of sustainable heritage tourism.     

Economic and social yield of investing in hiking tourism: the case of Berguedà, Spain

ABSTRACT

Nature-based tourism is on the rise around the world. This article employs a cost–benefit analysis methodology to contribute to knowledge in this area by estimating both the economic impacts and the social costs and benefits of investing in hiking tourism. It includes tangible and non-tangible impacts, such as health benefits and CO₂ emissions. Using data collected between March 15 2014 and March 14 2015, results show a positive return from every Euro invested in hiking tourism. A single figure of net returns to society enables policymakers to assess the social value of the investment itself and can help citizens’ rational choice regarding whether to encourage or resist additional tourism development.