Cruise infrastructure development in Auckland,New Zealand: a media discourse analysis (2008–2016)

The deployment of mega cruise ships is putting pressure on ports to redesign or construct new infrastructure. However, there is limited research which considers the media discourse surrounding this development over a longitudinal period. The aim of this paper is to explore how the media portrays the cruise infrastructure debate in the complex and highly contested political environment of Auckland, New Zealand. Thematic analysis was used to determine the most salient themes found in 103 published articles. Results revealed the media shaped the debate, focusing on a volatile political environment characterised by distrust, a lack of transparency and differing objectives among key stakeholders. An outcome of this research is a rich, in-depth case study of cruise infrastructure development presented through the lens of media discourse. Future research should focus on the perceptions of decision-makers, stakeholders and the community using hedging and framing to probe the media discourse surrounding cruise infrastructure development.     

Rural tourism development in Lithuania (2003–2010) — A quantitative analysis

The objectives of the Rural Development Programme for Lithuania for the period 2007 to 2013 are to: (a) preserve natural and cultural heritage objects, (b) support complementary activity in the rural areas, and (c) generate rural tourism as an economic sector. The aim of this study is to identify current trends specific to the Lithuanian rural tourism sector and propose potential means of development. This study focuses on an inter-county assessment of rural tourism flows within Lithuania by the means of an index decomposition analysis. Consequently, an analysis was undertaken covering factors including the number of the rural tourism farmsteads, spatial distribution of those farmsteads, and capacity, an amended Defert Index, and duration of stay effects. The analysis suggests that the Lithuanian rural tourism sector was negatively affected by the 2008 recession. Indeed, the impacts exhibited relatively high elasticity of demand for rural tourism. Hence, there is a need for the further development of appropriate marketing and information dissemination strategies aimed at both middle and lower income consumers.     

A Leg(acy) to stand on? A non-host resident perspective of the London 2012 Olympic legacies

This study extended the temporal and spatial evaluation of mega-event impacts, by investigating residents' perceptions of the Olympic legacies from a non-host community perspective. The study site was the Borough of Weymouth and Portland in South West England, which hosted the sailing competitions of the 2012 Olympic Games. Cross-sectional data were collected at two post-event intervals in 2013 and 2016. Across the two stages, the overall perceived legacies improved, with the most significant change related to perceived economic legacies and community legacies at the national level. Since residents’ attitudes toward the 2012 Olympic Games influenced their support for future event hosting, a strategic approach to event planning and leveraging is important to engender positive legacies that benefit broader communities than the host city. Future studies are recommended which replicate and extend this research to more fully understand resident support for mega-events.     

Factors that Influence the Growth of Chinese Domestic Tourism Arrivals (1985–2007) – An Empirical Research Based on the VAR Model

Using a VAR (vector autoregression) model, in which the Granger Causality Test, the Impulse Response Function and the Variance Decomposition are adopted, the factors affecting the growth of Chinese domestic tourism arrivals from 1985 to 2007 are analyzed. The research reveals the following results: that the most influential factors on the growth of Chinese domestic tourism arrivals include income and transportation, whereas the leave policy proved not to be so relevant. Establishment of social mechanisms to guide travel and to strengthen tourism infrastructure construction are proposed to promote the further growth of Chinese domestic tourism arrivals.     

Organic farm volunteer tourism as social movement participation: a Polanyian political economy analysis of World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) in Hawai‘i

In recent years, Karl Polanyi's concept of the “double movement” has been resurrected to describe growing international resistance to neoliberal global capitalism. The double movement originally referred to counter-movements for social protection against the 19th and early 20th century laissez-faire market. Today, it describes the growth of new social movements which often resist neoliberal economic practices and ideologies. Drawing on Polanyi's concept of the double movement and on recent work on neoliberalism and new social movements, this article examines farm hosts' motivations for participation in World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). It argues that farm hosts tend to articulate their motivations as an attempt to proclaim solidarity with organic, spiritual, and educational new social movement agendas. It describes how a loosely articulated organic identity converges around three corollary protective counter-movements: organic food production and consumption, spirituality, and alternative education, exploring the creative ways people are resisting neoliberal capitalism at the intersection of alternative tourism and organic agriculture. Yet, despite hosts' intentions, the article illustrates how new social movement participation through WWOOF is in constant tension with the neoliberal agrarian and tourism marketplace in which it operates, as well as the perhaps unforeseen limits of its radical horizon.