Ethnic politics and tourism: A British Case Study

This paper argues that one can better understand the phenomenon of ethnicity in the West through an analysis of tourism representations of a region's history and culture and of the many motives behind them. It examines the rise of a particular version of Shetland (United Kingdom) identity by linking the differing goals of the local bourgeoisie, as well as the bulk of the islands' inhabitants, with the projects of the Shetland Tourist Organisation and related groups. While this version of the Shetlandness is understood as providing a Durkheimian sense of unity for many inhabitants, its origins and increasing articulations with the economic and political goals of the islands' bourgeoisie are the main concerns of the paper.

Résumé

Développement économique et tourisme de randonneurs. Cet article soutient que l'on peut mieux comprendre le phénomène de l'ethnicité occidentale en analysant les représentations touristiques de l'histoire et de la culture d'une région et les motivations derrière ces représentations. On examine une certaine version de l'identité shetlandaise (Royauyme-Une) en reliant les différents objectifs de la bourgeoisie locale et de la majorité des habitants des îles, avec les projects de l'Organisation Touristique Shetlandaise parmi d'autres groupes. On comprent que cette version de l'identité shetlandaise donne un sens d'identité à la Durkheim à beaucoup d'habitants. Pourtant, l'objet principal de l'article est d'examiner les origines de cette version et sa relation croissante avec les buts économiques et politiques de la bourgeoisie shetlandaise.     

Measuring the ethical nature of tourism operators

Selected ecotourism, adventure, fishing, cruiseline, and golf operators were studied in an effort to determine possible ethical differences among them as distinct groups. Through the implementation of a multidimensional ethics scale, the resulting data illustrate that ecotourism operators were in fact more ethical than their counterparts in the other groups. This became apparent on the basis of analyzing their responses to ethical economic, social, and ecological issues outlined in three scenarios. The paper examines the influence of education, organizational size, and the use of codes of ethics in day-to-day business operation and practice to help explain the differences that exist among the participating groups.     

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.     

Destination place planning and design

Destination place management requires that land use and development issues be addressed. Despite considerable advancement in the methodological processes, there is still no clear conceptual destination model to address these issues. Existing models have largely been developed through a fragmented case-study approach and have not yet achieved a sufficiently integrated conceptual basis for a comprehensive understanding of the spatial characteristics of destination regions. This paper attempts to sharpen the conceptualization of the core elements of destination regions by building upon existing models and concepts. The model presented here is a systemic construct and provides for a common platform from which investigations can proceed into the normative and functional aspects of spatial destination design.     

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.     

Attitudinal compliance with ecotourism guidelines

This study has developed and tested a conceptual framework to explain compliance attitudes of ecotour operators with industry guidelines. The results suggest that compliance with ecotourism principles is a function of a multitude of intrinsic and extrinsic factors concerning ecotour operators, including the type of social and economic sanctions, gender of the respondents, perceived moral obligations, and revenue obtained from ecotourism. The key strategies for increasing compliance seem to lie in educating the tour operators and placing a call to their conscience. Some strategies for increasing compliance are suggested.     

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.     

Domestic tourism in FRG : Trends and problems

Participation on tourism of the population of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) has enormously increased. Domestic tourism, however, stagnates. The German tourist regions have to expect a significant decrease in visitors, since an increasing segment of the German holiday-makers (now two thirds) travels abroad. The German domestic tourism providers and vacation travel organizers have not yet fully realized the new trends in the travel behavior. The unfavorable trend can only be met through a continually increasing supply with vacation homes and apartments. Moreover, the various resort towns need to join regional tourism associations which are able to achieve a more effective regional marketing for smaller tourist regions. Preparations for the establishment of regional tourism associations and programs for a subsidization of regional marketing plans are imminent.     

Traditions of sustainability in tourism studies

As sustainability has become an important policy issue in tourism, it is arousing growing discussion and criticism, and an increasing need to understand the nature of the limits of growth. This paper analyzes how these limits are approached and evaluated in discussions on a local scale. The purpose is to recognize that behind the different understandings of them lie distinct traditions that are different in their focuses. These are referred to as resource-, activity-, and community-based traditions of sustainability. Further, the relationship between sustainable tourism and sustainable development is critically discussed.     

TERRITORIAL PLANNING AND TOURISM DEVELOPMENT TAX

An economic model of land taxation involving a local government and a private developer constitutes the theoretical framework in this research. The model hinges around a two-tier approach including both a conservation and an efficiency criterion. The analysis indicates that sustainable tourism calls for the use of land taxation and planning legislation simultaneously geared to the achievement of efficiency and the signaling of the government’s commitment to conservation policies. To provide support for the theoretical conclusions, an Italian case study is discussed, showing how the local government chose not to yield to a developer’s requests by not changing a norm prohibiting construction near of the coastline.     

Tourists and troglodytes: Negotiating for Sustainability

This paper contributes to the continuing discussion concerning the paradox that tourism destroys the object of its desire. An analysis is made of tourism relations and hospitality in a Turkish village, and it is argued that in their close interactions with tourists traveling independently of organized tour groups, local people are in a position to negotiate both their own “traditional” identity in the presence of tourists and the latter's quests and experiences in themselves. A dynamic notion of sustainability in cultural tourism is developed, by challenging the assumptions that tourist localities must remain authentically “traditional” to meet with the expectations of tourists.     

Integrating tourism with rural development

Tourism can play a much more powerful role in stimulating rural development than it has in most regions. Achieving this objective will require more careful integration of visitor marketing and rural development strategies. High “quality” visitors and accommodations may not be the same in rural and urban areas. What may be good for the region as a whole may not be good for its rural periphery. In the case of Hawaii, the expansion of tourism was not planned as an integral part of the rural development process, even though most of the state's hotel rooms will eventually be located in non-metropolitan areas. Hawaii may not, therefore, serve as an ideal planning model for other island regions to follow.     

Representative dissonance: India’s Self and Western Image

Western media have often been criticized for portraying Third World destinations through a colonial prism via images of primitiveness and exoticism. Contrastingly, some destinations have begun to resist those representations with media campaigns of their own. The purpose of this study was to critically construe the differences between ways that India is represented in American tourism media and how it is represented by the Indian government itself. The findings revealed that these two representations are different in ways that reflect the colonial nature of international tourism and the postcolonial stage of India’s nationalism. Moreover, the study of representative dissonance is proposed as a tool for understanding the conflicting ideological forces that shape destination images.     

Market shares analysis: The Case of French Tourism Demand

This paper examines the magnitudes and determinants of changes in destinations’ shares of a major tourist origin market. The Almost Ideal Demand System model is used to quantify the responsiveness of French tourism demand in Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom to changes in relative prices, exchange rates, tourists’ expenditure budget, and external events. The results indicate that effective price competitiveness is a key variable driving changes in market shares. Policymakers who wish to maintain their shares of the French market should pay particular attention to tourism pricing policies, as well as to improving the tourism offer.     

Positioning museums on an authenticity continuum

This research was designed to contribute to scholarly and applied understanding of how curators define authenticity and how those perspectives fit into the contemporary role of museums today. The study was drawn from a sample of curators based in the heritage museums of the state of Iowa, United States. A complex cross-section of ideologies behind the museum curtains is unveiled. This study positions the curators on an authenticity continuum and suggests a negotiation model reflecting active citizenship and social capital for the museum audience seeking a cultural tourism experience.     

Community views of ecotourism

Ecotourism can be an incentive for conservation, especially when it triggers positive economic change. Yet it introduces many changes to communities:positive and negative, social and economic. The full range of change is seldom evaluated in direct relation to conservation at the local level. In this study of three Amazon ecotourism projects, local leaders discussed changes from ecotourism in their communities. Economic benefits were mentioned, but so were new restrictions on time, decreased reciprocity, and social conflict. Other changes included heightened self-esteem and greater community organization. Such shifts should be considered in relation to conservation as they affect the stability of local institutions and the prospects for long-term collective action for resource management.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Antecedents of revisit intention

Revisit intention has been regarded as an extension of satisfaction rather than an initiator of revisit decisionmaking process. Some other independent variables, related to perceived quality of performance during onsite and post-purchase periods as well as the destination’s distinctive nature, may contribute to revisit likelihood. This study explores antecedents of this intention based on literature reviews and examines their significance based on the results of 2000–2003 surveys of pleasure tourists in Hong Kong. Research findings reveal that perceived attractiveness, rather than overall satisfaction, is the most important indicator. Managerial and theoretical implications are also discussed.