Application of cultural tourist typology in a gaming destination – Macao

The aim of the paper is to study how cultural tourist typologies apply in an urban gaming destination and how such typologies could aid in the segmentation and profiling of this niche tourist market. Results showed that there exists a certain demand for cultural tourism in Macao and there are different ways to distinguish between cultural and non-cultural tourists, as well as to identify sub-groups of cultural tourists. The three approaches used to distinguish between the two cohorts came up with different percentages of cultural tourists within the total tourist sample. Other findings showed significant differences in trip characteristics and information search behaviour between the two cohorts and among sub-groups of cultural tourists. Such information could be used for profiling purposes. The resulting profiles have implications on marketing and promotion strategies which should not focus only on tourists' primary motives but should attempt to induce or arouse their secondary interests. The methodology could be applied to other destinations hoping to develop cultural tourism.     

An overview of current research and developments in urban air mobility – Setting the scene for UAM introduction

Recent technological advances provide the means for potentially realizing urban air mobility (UAM) as a passenger transport mode for intra- and inter-urban transport. However, questions regarding regulations, infrastructure requirements, and economic constraints remain to be answered. Therefore, this review aims at giving an overview on different research areas in the emerging topic of UAM. To this end, findings from several fields within the UAM research community were gathered and are presented here to provide a landscape of relevant questions surrounding the implementation of UAM. This overview considers vehicle-related aspects, such as aircraft requirements and aircraft classification for intra- and inter-city passenger transport, and discusses potential hurdles to their introduction. The exploration of challenges includes questions on certification and policy, as well as challenges in the area of traffic management and ground infrastructure requirements. Besides that, literature on operational concepts, possible market structures and the interaction with existing transport systems will be reviewed. The discussion of hurdles will conclude with a summary of current literature on public acceptance of UAM. An overview of methods for modelling and simulation of UAM will wrap up the prior discussion and provide insights on first modelling results.     

Impacts of innovation,productivity and specialization on tourism competitiveness – a spatial econometric analysis on European regions

Tourism is clearly a place-based activity, while in many advanced economies it is increasingly becoming a knowledge-based activity, with a high potential for the development of practice- and place-based innovation strategies. This study analyses whether and how regional systems of innovation influence the competiveness of tourism destinations in Europe. Impacts of both traditional production factors (physical and human capital), productivity, specialization and other contextual variables – related to the territorial capital of each region – on regional tourism performance of 237 European regions (NUTS 2) are analysed over a period of 8 years, using advanced techniques for spatial econometric analysis. The results reveal lower levels of productivity in those regions where tourism services are more labour intensive, while regions where education, innovation and productivity demonstrate higher levels are those where gross value added in tourism is less important for the regional economy. Policy implications are discussed, taking into consideration the principles for smart specialisation strategies in European regions and the possibility for cross-border regional cooperation. This work also confirms the research potential of spatial econometric analysis – and in particular spatial autocorrelation techniques – for tourism studies.     

The relationship between the ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors of a tourist destination: the role of nationality – an analytical qualitative research approach

Using qualitative research techniques, this paper explores the relationship between the ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors of a destination and the influence of nationality on these factors. These relationships were explored for a sample of 103 international tourists to Mauritius. The data were analysed by using (a) thematic analysis and (b) an analysis using the text analysis programme, CatPac. The results indicated relationships between specific motives, cognitive and affective images and it was also found that nationality has a strong influence on these variables. Different motives for visiting Mauritius were found to exist between different national groupings. Implications for use of thematic and content analysis, management of destination, marketing and tourist experiences are provided.     

The activation of local service suppliers by incoming tour operators in a “developing” destination – the case of Madagascar

This article elucidates how organised tourism initiated by the international tour operator system can involve local actors in a developing country with a young tourism industry. The empirical basis is incoming tour operators in Madagascar with the focus on their policies and practices in getting involved with local tour operators and individual providers of service by the realisation of their programs for international markets. The study adopts a qualitative approach based on personal interviews with incoming tour operators located in the capital city of Madagascar. The central theoretical frameworks applied are primarily from the research literature on partner selection and cooperation in exchange relationships (channels of distribution) and contract theory and the results are discussed within in the wider perspective of local competence development and sustainable tourism. The findings demonstrate that incoming tour operators have a quite limited involvement in the cooperation with local actors and uncover the problems linked to partner-specific, local attraction-specific and context-specific factors. The study offers an insight into a field that has been scarcely illuminated empirically by research and it is believed that the results have relevance beyond the geographical context of the research.     

International and domestic tourists’ “a priori” and “in situ” image differences and the impact of direct destination experience on destination image: the case of Linz,Austria

A profound understanding of destination image and its determinants is of significance for destinations aiming to effectively position themselves in the tourism market. However, existing research on destination image formation has mainly focused on the “a priori” and “a posteriori” stages and paid only limited attention to the “in situ” stage. To fill in this gap, this study examines the effect direct destination experience and visitors’ nationality (domestic vs. international) have on both “pre-travel” and “in situ” cognitive and affective elements of image. The study was conducted using 400 international and domestic visitors to Linz, Austria. The findings indicate that there are significant differences in the way domestic and international tourists perceive Linz as a tourist destination both prior and during the actual experience. The study also provides empirical evidence that direct destination experience plays a major role in destination image formation, irrespective of individual’s nationality. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are also discussed.     

Lessons from the field: reflecting on a tourism research journey around the ‘celtic’ periphery

The challenge within the tourism academy to acknowledge the situated nature of knowledge within the research process is intensifying. Drawing on a multidisciplinary body of reflexive narratives and recent work in tourism that acknowledges the personal influences that construct knowledges, this paper embraces this challenge by offering an autobiographic narration of field work in Ireland, Scotland and Cornwall. Food tourism is employed as a conceptual vehicle to pursue a more culturally focused, critical tourism investigation, thereby contributing to work that extends tourism research beyond the sphere of management and business. Drawing on research involving in-depth interviews with (food) tourists and participant observation, it is suggested that tourism knowledge is constructed at the micro-level, directly shaped by seemingly insignificant or overlooked moments. The paper illustrates how personal aspects of field work (gender, age, ethnicity, personal insecurity, loneliness and physical demands), combined with overcoming more practical issues (weather and transport logistics), should inform the contextual foundations of any empirical research; it from these moments where tourism knowledge is truly cultivated. Underpinned by qualitative methodological literature within a framework of critical realism, it urges others to embark upon a similar reflexive journey in order to develop tourism research into a robust sphere of academic enquiry.     

The tourist with a hidden agenda? Shifting roles in the field of tourism research

This article focuses on the way tourism researchers have to shift between different roles when in the field. The complex reality of the tourism arena with its multidisciplinary character requires a certain flexibility when it comes to the approach and perspective used by the researcher when interacting with the actors in the field. This role switching and flexibility has certain consequences when it comes to the position of the researcher. Furthermore, contemporary developments in the world (such as globalisation, technological developments and increased human mobility) have altered the practice of ethnographic research. The article explores and reflects upon some of the (methodological) issues that tourism researcher are confronted with when conducting ethnographic research, by discussing a number of empirical examples from different researchers in the field. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley &Sons, Ltd.     

A research on social impacts of the Foça Rock Festival: the validity of the Festival Social Impact Attitude Scale†

The purpose of this study is to examine the validity of the instrument proposed by Delamere, T. A., Wankel, L. M., & Hinch, T. D. [(2001). Development of a scale to measure resident attitudes toward the social impacts of community festivals, Part I: Item generation and purification of the measure. Event Management, 7, 11–24] and to assess the local residents' perceptions of the Foça Rock Festival, which was held in Foça, Turkey. In order to achieve the validity of the instrument, confirmatory factor analysis with LISREL 8.8 was employed, the composite reliability, the estimated percentage of variance extracted by each construct, the discriminant and convergent validity were examined. Results indicated that the local residents' perceptions have two main dimensions with five sub-factors. Furthermore, the results also suggest that these two dimensions (social benefits and social costs) can be measured by 35 items instead of using all 47 items. The collective results indicate that when convergent and discriminant validities are achieved, construct validity is supported. The results also suggest that social benefits dimension is perceived positively by the local residents. On the other hand, other important findings of this study related to the social costs of the festival are the increases in traffic congestion, pedestrian traffic, ecological damage, litter and overcrowding.     

Methodological approach for assessing the potential of a rural tourism destination: An application in the province of Cáceres (Spain)

Evaluating the resources in a tourism destination is one of the previous tasks in the development of its comprehensive planning. There are many criteria to use in order to evaluate tourism resources; but, independently on the number of attributes considered the fact is that not every criterion is equally important in the process of evaluation and ranking of the tourism potential of a destination's resources. In contrast to other well-known methodologies, the aim of this paper is to propose a methodology to weight qualitative and hierarchical evaluation attributes by estimating a discrimination parameter. In this research, an item response theory (IRT) model is used, the graded response model, to estimate each attribute's discrimination coefficient. This parameter will be the basis to propose a weighting system for the entire set of attributes. Graded response model (GRM) will also allow establishing a hierarchy of resources by constructing a continuous latent scale, where it will be possible to position every analysed resource in the tourism destination. The applicability and robustness of the IRT methodology will be tested using data from rural tourism resources in the Spanish province of Cáceres.     

Mergers and acquisitions in aviation – Management and economic perspectives on the size of airlines

This paper reviews literature and management perspectives on airline mergers and acquisitions. We find that M&A/consolidation is seen as a “game-changer” and mandatory to survive in aviation markets. We, therefore, apply DEA models to 66 airlines to evaluate whether big is indeed always beautiful. Our results suggest that the optimal airline size is between 34 and 52 bn available seat kilometre capacity and that airlines with more than 200 bn ASK are definitely too large to operate efficiently. This also applies when revenues are included in the DEA models, which is central as yield management and ancillary revenues are increasingly important.     

‘Being on the move’: Time-spatial organisation and mobility in a mobile preschool

The mobile preschool, a form of preschool practice in a bus, is a new and growing phenomenon in Swedish preschool education. Combining theories of time-spatial organisation and mobility, we critically investigate the implications of transforming traditional stationary preschool practice into a mobile preschool. Our findings show that the social order of the mobile preschool is ‘being on the move’ and that the travelling shapes the time-spatial organisation, with major implications for daily routines and activities. In our analyses we show how constant travelling characterises the mobile preschool as a social practice with (i) logistics and choice of place prevailing over daily planning, (ii) creation of time and space for embodied habits, (iii) teachers as attendants and children as passengers, and (iv) walking in lines. However, mobility and time-spatial constraints are also co-constructed and intimately connected with the participants’ agency, since both children and teachers are actively ‘doing time’ and ‘creating space’ within the dominant structure of ‘being on the move’.     

Peripheral market entry,product differentiation,supplier rents and sustainability in the deregulated European aviation market – a case study

Ryanair, in its net margin and passenger numbers compared with its national airline, is the most successful new airline in Europe. The history of the airline is examined briefly and the Ryanair product is analysed. The airline has developed a very low fare product with high staff productivity. It has also tackled costs to airlines of services such as airports, handling, reservations and ticket retailing. Ireland’s island location was an attractive base for a low cost airline and rapid traffic growth has resulted from Ryanair’s entry to the market. The paper examines the sustainability of the low fare Ryanair product in respect of passenger preference, labour markets, and external costs such as airports and reservations. The optimum regulatory environment for the successful operation of low cost airlines is examined in the light of the Ryanair experience.     

On academic publishing,the myth of the East–West nexus,and tourism scholars in a regime era – a commentary on “The global permutations of the Western publication regime” by Erik Cohen,Scott A. Cohen,and Victor T. King

The article, “The global permutations of the Western publication regime” (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2016.1272556), inspires this short commentary. I respond directly to two points made in the original article about academic publishing and divisions between the “East” and “West” and make an additional point about the role of tourism scholars in these debates. My reason for writing this commentary is twofold: to take seriously the publishing regime’s influence in academia around the world and to challenge a universalizing critique of its features.     

Which is a stronger competitor,High Speed Rail,or Low Cost Carrier,to Full Service Carrier? – Effects of HSR network extension and LCC entry on FSC's airfare in Japan

In Japan, High Speed Rail (HSR) extended its network in 2011 and 2015, and Low Cost Carriers (LCC) entered into the domestic airline market in 2012. We compared the effects of the extension of the HSR network and the entry of LCCs on the airfares of the incumbent Full Service Carriers (FSC). We conducted Difference in Differences analysis with passenger level data to evaluate these market changes, and found that the effects of the HSR extension on FSC's airfares were consistently negative and larger in the short haul markets, while the effects of the entry of LCCs were inconsistent. HSR seems to be a stronger competitor than LCC to FSC and this finding could be affected by capacity, which is large for HSR while small for the LCCs.