Tourism distribution channels in Wellington,New Zealand

This paper outlines a multiple method approach used in Wellington as a way of researching issues of distribution channels for tourism in urban areas. The study combines information obtained from interviews with providers and intermediaries, visitor surveys and the analysis of catalogues to present a systematic examination of distribution channels for a range of accommodation and attractions. The results highlight the complexity of distribution channels in Wellington, with variations occurring by market segment and by type of accommodation and attractions. Chain hotels have the most complex channels. Smaller properties and attractions tend to pursue simpler ‘at destination’ distribution strategies. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tourism,Trams and Local Government Policy-making in Christchurch,New Zealand

This paper examines the role of local government and the nature of the policy-making process in urban tourism through a detailed analysis of the development of the Christchurch tourist tramway. The basic issues addressed are why and how a tourist tramway was developed in Christchurch and what was the development and policy process. A detailed chronology of events is established through the analysis of archival material, newspaper accounts and interviews with key personnel. The analysis and interpretation centres on understanding what was driving the tramway development process. Emphasis is given to identifying key factors and events, the tourism arguments used, and the interests of the different parties involved. The process is shown to be ad hoc and incremental, with the development of the tramway being part of broader urban processes and policies. Tourism is frequently used to rationalise other interests, notably a desire amongst enthusiasts to see trams running once more on the city's streets. In many respects, the Christchurch case reflects broader issues elsewhere.     

E-business in the New Zealand Tourism Industry: An Examination of Implementation and Usage

This article presents the findings of a web-based survey examining the extent of e-business uptake in the New Zealand tourism industry. It provides a snapshot of both the implementation and usage of e-business. The survey extends the earlier research on New Zealand e-business by Clark et al. (2001) and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (2000), focusing specifically on tourism. This study shows that the tourism industry is committed to the establishment of e-business, and recognises the competitive advantages of this. It also appears to be adopting e-business more quickly than other industries, reflecting the industry’s service and information bases. While this sounds positive, concern must be expressed at the superficial level of implementation of e-business, particularly from SMEs which constitute a large portion of the economy. The New Zealand tourism industry respondents seem to be basic users of the technology, rather than ‘champions’ of e-business. Unless the simple adoption of ICT can be developed into a sustained and dynamic acceptance of e-business, the New Zealand tourism industry risks missing the opportunities provided by the global marketplace, and thus, becoming increasingly marginalised.     

Commodification of Volunteer Tourism: a Comparative Study of Volunteer Tourists in Vietnam and in Thailand

Volunteer tourism (VT) has often been depicted as a means of avoiding the commodification of tourism (and even ecotourism) by ensuring that local communities benefit from VT, both environmentally and economically, and that there is authentic engagement by the tourists with indigent people and their cultures. However, critics have questioned this claim, arguing that VT has become little different from tourism and ecotourism, entailing commodification by providing profit for VT organizations rather than for local communities and consuming rather than respecting local environments and cultures. This study tests these claims and counterclaims by a comparative analysis of two VT experiences, one in Vietnam and the other in Thailand. The findings of the study are that although each cohort of volunteer tourists (VTs) exhibited elements of both decommodification and commodification, on a continuum of decommodification and commodification, the Vietnam VTs were closer to the decommodification node, whereas the Thailand VTs were closer to the commodification node. In part, this was because the Vietnam VT project was pitched more towards conservation research, whereas the Thailand VT project was pitched more towards vacation conservation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adventure Sports and Tourism in the French Mountains: Dynamics of Change and Challenges for Sustainable Development

Despite their historical links, there have always been profound contradictions in the relationship between sport and tourism in France and Europe in terms of behaviour and development models. The end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s marked a certain narrowing of this divide, with a gradual blurring of the boundaries between tourism and sport, and an increasing hybridisation of activities and reference models. This change was due on the one hand to the increasing demand for 'active tourism', breaking with the cultural and geographical conformism of conventional holidays and trips, and on the other hand to the appearance of 'leisure sports' held in new esteem following the development of a whole range of new or revived activities (climbing, mountain biking, canyoning, parascending, rafting, hydrospeed), which no longer resisted 'touristification.' In this process, the crisis which affected winter sports in France during the second half of the 1980s played a far from negligible role by stimulating a systematic search for diversification in the supply of tourism 'products', with respect both to seasonal aspects and to the target clientele and activities. Thus, while a crisis was shaking the foundations, the renewal in the supply of leisure sports was contributing to a revival of mountain tourism, particularly in the summer. The result of this upheaval was that leisure sports, which until then had been largely marginal to tourism, were placed at the very centre of the touristic system.     

Capital City Museums and Tourism Flows: an Empirical Study of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

This study uses time series analysis to explore the extent to which the opening of the Museum of New Zealand in 1998 contributed to tourism growth in the nation's capital, Wellington. With the use of a series of different measures for tourism and major events in the city, econometric regressions are undertaken to better understand the relationship between visitors to the museum and tourism growth in the city's short‐term commercial accommodation sector. The findings are consistent with the museum having a positive impact on tourist arrivals and overnight stays. These results contribute valuable empirical evidence of the positive role of museums in attracting tourists to urban centres. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adventure tourist destination choice in Tanzania

It is said an adventure is an experience and experience is a part of expectations. Yet as adventure tourists expect unique experiences, certain ingredients of services (degree of satisfaction) affect their deeper needs to become attached to a place. Are such needs developed over time at a new destination? This paper suggests tourist behaviours and preferences towards destination choice change over time. The proposed model suggests that tourists’ expectations and motivation at early stages of planning affect satisfaction and level of perceived constraints, and these further predict place identity and dependence at the end of travel. As much as satisfaction arises from concrete services such as food and transportation services, constrained activities are expected to have a negativeconsequence on expectations and motivations. Since this paper is based on international adventure tourists, typically willing to take on calculated risks during their visits to Tanzania, we expect many of these hypothesised gaps to diminish as tourists become mature and aware of services offered at the destination. To test awareness and familiarity, we add different proxies for maturity (i.e. late stage of stay, repeat visitors and loyalty intentions) and awareness (i.e. tourists with escape motives) of services provided at the specific destination.     

Estimating airport efficiency of New Zealand airports

New Zealand's airport industry has experienced substantial growth over recent years, but few studies have analysed the operational efficiency of New Zealand airports. This paper aims to extend the study of Francis and Lyon (2007) by exploring the efficiency and productivity changes of New Zealand's major airports between 2010 and 2012, using slacks-based measure (SBM) model and the Malmquist productivity index (MPI). The findings suggested that the majority of New Zealand airports increased efficiency and productivity during the period under investigation, but should decrease scale of operations in order to operate at their most productive size. Decomposition of the MPI showed that most New Zealand airports experienced gains in efficiency but, in terms of technology, they have regressed. Four significant factors (i.e. airport hub status, airport operating hours, airport ownership, and the Rugby World Cup 2011) were identified by the Simar–Wilson bootstrapping regression analysis as explaining variations in airport efficiency. Importantly, the significant effect of the Rugby World Cup 2011 (a major sport tournament) on New Zealand's air transport demand and airports' efficiency has been demonstrated in this research.     

Partial Industrialisation in Tourism: A New Model

Certain forms of human activity, such as sport, education and tourism, can be described as being partly industrialised; they are supported partly by organisations with industrial relationships to the particular activity (e.g. tourism industries, sports industries, and so on), and partly by other factors. The latter includes business organisations whose relationship to the activity might be direct and commercial but is non-strategic, non-industrial. Partial industrialisation in tourism (PIIT) has been explored by a handful of researchers interested in its nature, causes and implications. However, the diagrammatic model used in the exploratory studies is awkward, a defect that probably helps explain why PIIT has not become widely recognised in the community of tourism researchers. A new model enables clearer insight and should facilitate understanding and greater recognition. Using the new model, an empirical research project in a mass destination provided substantial evidence for PIIT. Implications arise for many issues, including how tourism is conceptualised, strategic business management, destination competitiveness, destination development and promotion, seasonality, environmental activism, employment numbers, vocational training, planning and government policy.     

Tourist Identities in Narratives of Unexpected Adventure in Madeira

This paper examines the shift that occurs in role identity, from a tourist to an adventurer, as travel bloggers construct an adventure narrative from their experiences of Madeira's ‘levada walk’. Travel blogs, as a naturally occurring data source, offer insight into both tourism experiences and tourists themselves. The research finds that, while bloggers have touristic motivations for visiting Madeira, they cast themselves in a heroic role as they construct an adventure narrative from their experience. The paper concludes that tourism has the potential to become an ‘adventure’ in which tourists overcome challenges and discover themselves in the process. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coping with Crowding: Tourist Displacement in the New Zealand Backcountry

The displacement phenomenon in outdoor recreation has increased in importance in recent years. It is one of a number of cognitive and behavioural coping mechanisms that are being employed by recreationists in the New Zealand backcountry. Displacement may be divided into intra-site and inter-site displacement, and further segmented into spatial and temporal displacement. This paper, utilising data collected at 22 sites within the New Zealand backcountry, explores the extent to which displacement is occurring in our natural areas. It evaluates displacement at the key Department of Conservation tracks, namely, the Great Walks and investigates other cognitive and behavioural coping strategies that are being employed at these sites. Furthermore, management strategies that may be used to mitigate crowding and displacement are identified.     

Pedalling towards equity: Exploring women's cycling in a New Zealand city

Although the benefits of cycling are well-known, in New Zealand, women cycle much less than men. This qualitative research took a feminist intersectional approach and interviewed 49 women in six focus groups, to explore their experiences as women who knew how to cycle, and wished to cycle more. Participants, who were all based in one city, included two ethnic groups (Māori and non-Māori) and three age groups (adolescents, mothers with children at home, and older women), giving a range over the life-course and including an innovative study of Māori women's cycling. Topics covered included learning to ride as a child, experiences with traffic, topography and other local issues, feelings about cycling and taking an imagined ride. Results revealed the challenge and joys of cycling, what is normal and not normal in cycling, and a double or triple burden affecting women in terms of safety: perceptions of traffic danger; personal safety as women; and the need to be safety-conscious because of responsibilities for others. Differences between Māori and non-Māori arose in context of varying household types, access to bicycles and cultural perspectives on cycling. Participants were clear about how to support women cycling: safe and connected cycling infrastructure, and systems that normalise women's cycling, with national and local government policies to support these.     

The perceived risks of local climate change in Queenstown,New Zealand

Place-embedded, resource-dependent industries are increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The scientific framing of these risks can be understood through modelling; however, risks are perceived by non-scientific communities in more culturally relevant and localised frames. This empirical study utilised qualitative, semi-structured interviews with four stakeholder groups connected to the ski industry in Queenstown, New Zealand. The objectives of this research were to identify current scientific knowledge on climate change risks to Queenstown's ski industry and to critically address how the risk of climate change is perceived. This paper reports three main findings: (1) scientific reporting and expert interviews expect climate change to manifest as inter-annual variability up to the 2050s, (2) current climatic variability is perceived to be the greatest risk to the ski industry at present and (3) climate change is perceived to be distant and a greater threat to other people and other places giving rise to ‘optimistic bias’.     

The replication and reduction of automobility: Findings from Aotearoa New Zealand

In this paper, we examine the factors that contribute to the replication or reduction of automobility amongst young adults. Semi-structured interviews conducted in Aotearoa New Zealand, with 51 drivers and non-drivers, aged 18–35 years old, form the empirical material. The findings build upon previous research and extend understandings of how seven explanatory factors; perceptual, value and preference, social, built environment, economic, legal/policy and technological, work both to continue the current automobility paradigm, and to challenge it by adopting alternative mobilities. We use the Energy Cultures Framework as an analytical tool to explore the ways through which materialites, norms, practices, and external context can replicate or reduce participation in the hegemonic mobility paradigm. This approach offers useful insights into the interactions between what the research participants think, have and do, and how this is resulting in a reduction in automobility norms amongst some younger people. It also identifies and highlights potential opportunities to leverage upon current change trends to assist a systemic transition away from automobility towards a culture of multi-mobilities.     

Factors contributing to injury severity in work zone related crashes in New Zealand

Roadworks take place frequently on existing roads in New Zealand. The adverse effects of poor road conditions and reduced road width due to the presence of a work zone on the safety of road users and workers at the work zone have been a matter of concern. Several studies have been conducted to examine the risk factors contributing to the occurrence of road crashes in work zones in different countries. Slow-moving and stopped vehicles near work zones have been found to be the primary cause of crashes and casualties in the work zones. Excessive speed of passing traffic has also been recognized as a crucial factor contributing to work zone related crashes in New Zealand. This study examined the effect of possible risk factors contributing to severe injury and fatality in work zone related crashes in New Zealand. A multinomial logistic regression model was established to determine the association between crash severity and factors such as road environment, vehicle attributes, driver behavior, and crash circumstances, based on the information available on 453 road crashes during the period from 2008 to 2013. The results indicated that the time period, vehicle involvement, and presence of vulnerable road users were the factors that determined the crash severity in work zones. This implies that improvements are required in traffic control and management measures in work zones to enhance road safety in the long run.     

Modelling the volatility of international visitor arrivals to New Zealand

International visitor arrivals are considered to be a major source of foreign exchange, tourism-related employment and other tourism-related activities. This study used SARIMAX/(E)GARCH volatility models to forecast visitor arrivals by air transport to New Zealand from its eight key tourist source markets (Australia, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US)) and control macroeconomic factors together with global and regional structural changes. The empirical models reveal that the macroeconomic factors contributed at various levels to different markets, and the models we provided made accurate and reliable forecasts for visitor arrivals by air transport from all studied markets. The results from the markets for Germany, Japan, South Korea and the UK showed that significantly negative tourism demand shocks increased the volatility of tourism arrivals, more than positive tourism demand shocks of equal magnitude. Accordingly, the findings of this study will allow policy-makers in the New Zealand tourism sector and other stakeholders (e.g. airline management) to better understand the impacts on the volatility of visitor arrivals to New Zealand.