Preferences and willingness to pay for bird-watching tour and interpretive services using a choice experiment

This study identifies the activity and experience preferences of bird-watchers and estimates their willingness to pay (WTP) for bird-watching-related ecotourism tour and interpretive services using choice experiment methods. An on site survey was conducted of tourists attending the Cheonsuman International Birdwatching Fair, South Korea's most popular bird-watching festival. Results indicate that respondents are more likely to prefer intermediate length bird-watching courses, interpretive opportunities and services, seeing special birds, and lower admission fees. WTP for bird-watching interpretive services is approximately $10.14 per person per visit, whereas WTP for additional diversity in bird species is $12.64. Courses with bus tours are preferred to courses with no bus tours, but long tours are not preferred. WTP is $14.24 for an intermediate length tour and $8.09 for a longer tour compared with the no bus tour. It appears that as the levels of service attributes associated with the bird-watching ecotourism resources increase, the respondents are more satisfied and willing to pay more for bird-watching tours than if the levels of service attributes are lower.     

Ecotourism in Bhutan: Extending its Benefits to Rural Communities

This paper analyzes the present state of tourism in Bhutan and considers the prospects for the development of ecotourism. Empirical surveys of tour operators and foreign tourists indicate that visitors interested in the natural beauty of the Himalayan kingdom stay longer than those who come to experience its culture. By attracting younger tourists, ecotourism could contribute to the goals of Gross National Happiness. The majority of tourists and tour operators are in favor of ecotourism activities that might benefit local rural communities. The prerequisite for a substantial promotion of ecotourism would be changes in the Bhutanese tourism policy to encourage the diversification of tourism products.     

Ecotourism as a conservation tool and its adoption by private protected areas in Brazil

Ecotourism in private reserves combines the establishment of protected areas with an incentive mechanism to conserve biodiversity. Brazil's private reserve system is well-established but little is known about its links to tourism. This study puts the global private protected area into context and quantifies the extent to which ecotourism has been adopted as a sustainable land-use practice on private reserves in Brazil. Our findings demonstrate that small reserves do contribute to conservation and are used for ecotourism. The belief that large reserves are necessary for ecotourism and conservation is challenged. Only 4% (n = 45) of the 1182 reserves are engaged in ecotourism, mainly those within the Atlantic Forest biome and these are generally small in size (<50 ha). Reserves provide modest to basic accommodation as well as education and economic opportunities that include adjacent communities. Hiking and bird watching are the most popular activities but many reserves are threatened by poaching and invasive species. The low adoption of ecotourism appears due to a combination of factors, including lack of landowner interest, constraints imposed by regulations, logistics and anthropogenic threats. Nonetheless, there is potential to expand ecotourism within private reserves as 143 further private reserves are located near those already engaged in ecotourism.     

乡村居民参与旅游发展的多维价值及完善建议——以贵州安顺天龙屯堡文化村为个案研究

乡村居民作为乡村旅游资源的重要载体和乡村旅游开发的核心利益主体,其参与旅游发展的态度、参与程度不仅关系到乡村居民自身利益,对于提高旅游者体验质量,开拓乡村旅游市场,促进乡村旅游地可持续发展等都有着重要的现实意义。本文在文献研究和实地调研的基础上,从实证经济学角度出发,以贵州安顺天龙屯堡乡村旅游发展模式为个案,对乡村居民参与旅游发展的实践进行分析,进一步探索和揭示乡村社区居民参与旅游发展的意义,并对社区居民参与旅游发展中的潜在问题提出完善建议。     

Understanding the Impact of Ecotourism Resort Experiences on Tourists’ Environmental Attitudes and Behavioural Intentions

This study explored the conservation benefits of environmental management practices and nature experiences provided at a major Australian ecotourism resort. To achieve this purpose the study investigated changes in tourists’ environmental knowledge, awareness, attitudes and behavioural intentions between pre-visit and post-visit stages. Overall, there were few statistically significant differences between the pre-visit and post-visit samples. This study found, however, significant effects of (1) visitor awareness of, and (2) involvement in, the environmental management practices, and (3) participation in nature tour activities on environmental attitudes and behaviours. It is suggested that awareness of in-resort environmental practices and satisfying experiences in ecotourism accommodation may lead to reinforcing visitors’ favourable environmental attitudes, thus increasing their interest in further ecotourism experiences. Through these cumulative effects, ecotourism accommodation could achieve its educative goal.     

The Question of Scale in Ecotourism: Case Study of Two Small Ecotour Operators in the Mundo Maya Region of Central America

The issue of scale in ecotourism is addressed, with specific reference to the relative costs and benefits of large versus small-scaled development, tour groups, and tour operators. A case study of two small ecotour businesses operating in the Mundo Maya region of Central America provides pertinent insights through comparison of their organisation, tours, owners opinions, impacts and issues pertaining to the Mundo Maya business environment. Results shed light on important policy, planning and marketing questions relating to ecotourism and sustainable development in this destination, and on the general issue of scale. A framework for research and evaluation of the issue of scale in ecotourism is advanced.     

Using a Choice Experiment (CE) to Value the Attributes of Cruise Tourism

Recently, cruise tourism has drawn public interest in the Republic of Korea. In this study, we attempt to analyze people’s preferences regarding the attributes of cruise tourism, such as duration, accommodation, services, and cost. Thus, we applied a choice experiment (CE) to measure the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for each attribute. The results show that the coefficients of the attributes of onboard activities are positive and statistically significant. MWTPs for increasing the cabin level from an inside to an ocean view and for increasing the level of onboard services from 4-star to 6-star are South Korean Won (KRW) 1,095,760 (USD 954.8) and KRW 671,264 (USD 584.9) respectively. Comparison of all the MWTP estimates indicates that people prefer onboard activities rather than visiting foreign ports of call above all other attributes. This study is expected to provide tourism managers with useful information for designing cruise tourism products that meet travelers’ needs.     

Wildlife Tours in Australia: Characteristics,the Place of Science and Sustainable Futures

Wildlife tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism sectors worldwide. Across the world the number of tourists seeking close interaction with wildlife in their natural environment is growing. Understanding the interface between visitors (social) and wildlife (environmental) can make a critical contribution to the sustainability of this industry. This study examined wildlife tours in Australia. Questionnaires were posted to wildlife tour operators in Tasmania, Western Australia and Northern Territory, seeking information on the characteristics of tours, and the place of science and monitoring in their business. The results illustrate several similarities between wildlife and ecotourism, suggesting the benefits of increasing education and interpretation, both central features of ecotourism, to enhancing the sustainability of wildlife tourism. For tour operators, interactive activities included feeding, swimming with and touching wildlife, and the level of interaction was identified as high, making it imperative to better define interaction and develop species or group-specific protocols for sustainably managing these interactions. Lastly, this study showed a low level of engagement of scientists in protecting the wildlife of interest to tours. Given the centrality of science to sustainability, mechanisms for increasing this involvement particularly in impact research, through partnerships and other means, are critical for the long term sustainability of this industry.     

Local community participation in ecotourism and conservation issues in two nature reserves in Nicaragua

This paper explores the factors influencing community participation in ecotourism and how this affects conservation in the Nature Reserves of Mombacho Volcano and Datanlí-El Diablo in Nicaragua. Information was collected using individual structured and semi-structured interviews and focus groups, with local people, farmers and tour operators, combining quantitative and qualitative techniques. The farmers in the two communities are engaged in the protection of the reserves because of environmental concern and also because their own welfare is at stake. In different ways, the farmers and communities benefit from ecotourism, but not enough. Either they are excluded from the management system, or they lack resources to promote the sites and improve infrastructure. Community participation is to a large extent dependent on the management system, but it is not the only aspect required to make ecotourism successful. A minimum of governmental support to infrastructure and local entrepreneurship is required. In the case presented, there are direct economic benefits from ecotourism, as the records of visitors illustrate. But there are many differences between the two reserves and their communities, illustrating that ecotourism development is complex and demanding, and demonstrating that ecotourism is not a “one size fits all” approach to sustainable development.     

Tourists and community development: corporate social responsibility or tourist social responsibility?

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities are usually determined, in large part, by head office and by shareholder interests. This article explores the unique case of tourism CSR which has a distinctive relationship with local communities. CSR programmes of hotels and resorts in the Global South are increasingly creating opportunities for tourists to engage directly with communities, yet the relationship between tourists and CSR – and how this impacts on community development outcomes – has so far been overlooked. Based on two separate research projects undertaken in Zambia and Fiji which examined hotel CSR from community perspectives, we show how these programmes were largely motivated, driven and financed by tourists. This suggests that, in the accommodation subsector of tourism, CSR is not only being shaped by head office, but that tourists can play a key role, leading us to coin the term TSR (tourist social responsibility). For community development initiatives in particular, this gives rise to both challenges and opportunities.     

The Potential for Developing Community-based Tourism among the Bedouins in the Badia of Jordan

Population displacement through desertification has affected the socioeconomic and cultural development of Jordan's Badia desert. To counterbalance this change, it is important to preserve and revitalise cultural heritage as a source of tourism development in the desert. One possible way of revitalising the Badia regions is to highlight their cultural resources for tourism. The goal of the study is to find alternative tourism resources based on understanding the potential tourism resources in the Badia and to attract tourists for cultural heritage experiences. The analysis suggests new opportunities for cultural heritage tourism with elements of Bedouin material and non-material culture. Solutions include establishing community-based Bedouin tourism that involves the local people in partnership with the BRDC,1 expanding the tourism network to include the Badia region using resources such as folkways and archaeology to enrich the experience, building a rest house; and erecting a Bedouin heritage village. This will generate income and give Badia indigenous communities additional revenue, thereby positively impacting the regional and national economy.     

A Decommodified Experience? Exploring Aesthetic,Economic and Ethical Values for Volunteer Ecotourism in Costa Rica

Volunteer ecotourism has been described as an ‘ideal’ form of decommodified ecotourism that overcomes problems associated with tourism in general, and ecotourism specifically. Using a case study of volunteer ecotourism and sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica, this paper interrogates this ideal. Perceptions of volunteer ecotourism were explored through in-depth interviews with 36 stakeholders, including hosts, NGO staff, government employees, local ‘cabineros’ (families who provide accommodation) and guests (volunteers). Results show that while all stakeholder groups share similarly positive views of volunteer ecotourism, subtle but important differences exist. We analyse these differences in terms of aesthetic, economic, and ethical values, and situate the results in existing theories about the moralisation and decommodification of ecotourism.     

野生动物观赏旅游者的敬畏感体验：基于斯里兰卡大象旅游的实证研究

野生动物观赏旅游在唤起敬畏感方面有着巨大潜力,值得研究者多加重视。本研究以斯里兰卡大象旅游为例,试图对敬畏感所包含的4个维度（时间感、联通、浩瀚和适应）进行描述性分析,并对具有不同人口统计学特征或旅游行为特征以及到访不同野生动物生境下的旅游者所获得的敬畏感差异进行检验。采用独立样本T检验和单因素方差分析等方法对回收数据进行分析。结果表明,大多数旅游者获得较强的敬畏感,但旅游者之间存在一定差异。其中,女性、中年人或受过高等教育的旅游者能够获得更强的敬畏感;与大象拥有特定文化联系的斯里兰卡和印度游客体验到的浩瀚和适应感明显高于西方游客。此外,自然情境在旅游者获得的适应感方面亦发挥重要作用。     

Local perspectives of ecotourism development in Tawushan Nature Reserve, Taiwan

This paper examines local responses to potential ecotourism development in the Tawushan Nature Reserve located in southeastern Taiwan. Community attitude and intention toward four dimensions of ecotourism, including conservation of natural resources, preservation of cultural tradition, sustainable community development, and participation in ecotourism planning and management, were measured. Furthermore, the paper examines whether or not there is congruence between community attitude and intention toward ecotourism development. Analysis is based on data collected using face-to-face questionnaire interviews in two indigenous communities consisting primarily of the Paiwan ethnic group. The study findings show that local people hold generally positive views of the measures necessary to achieve ecotourism; however, their intentions to engage in behaviors to support these measures do not entirely match with their positive views. This suggests that while local residents may support ecotourism development based on international guidelines, their intentions to act will depend on local environmental, social, and politico-economic conditions. It is suggested that issues related to community empowerment, relationship between government and communities, value conflicts introduced by ecotourism development, and the dynamics among and between various community groups will need to be addressed if positive community intention to participate in ecotourism is to be encouraged.     

European Silk Road Tourists' and Their Tour Guides' Perceptions of Product and Service Quality

Abstract

The development potential of the China Silk Road tour has been recognised by international organisations. In a preliminary survey product and service quality perceptions of 78 European Silk Road tourists and of 20 guides were assessed. The tourists were quite critical of food served outside their hotels, the interest created by the attractions, the friendliness of locals and the price and quality of souvenirs. In nearly all these aspects tour guides' assessment differed substantially from their clients'. These results indicate a need for product and service quality improvements, including tour guides' training, to realise the undoubted potential of China Silk Road tours.     

Personalized multi-period tour recommendations

During a trip planning, tourists gather information from different sources, select and rank the places to visit according to their personal interests, and try to devise daily tours among them. This paper addresses the complex selection and touring problem and proposes a “filter-first, tour-second” framework for generating personalized tour recommendations for tourists based on information from social media and other online data sources. Collaborative filtering is applied to identify a subset of optional points of interest that maximize the potential satisfaction, while there are some preselected mandatory points that the tourists must visit. Next, the underlying orienteering problem is solved via an Iterated Tabu Search algorithm. The goal is to generate tours that contain all mandatory points and maximize the total score collected from the optional points visited daily, taking into account different day availabilities and opening hours, limitations on the tour lengths, budgets and other restrictions. Computational experiments on benchmark datasets indicate that the proposed touring algorithm is very competitive. Furthermore, the proposed framework has been evaluated on data collected from Foursquare. The results show the practical utility and the temporal efficacy of the recommended tours.     

Motivational and Behavioral Profiling of Visitors to Forest-based Recreational Destinations in Sri Lanka

The tourism industry plays a key role in regional and destination development. As negative environmental and socio-cultural impacts of mass tourism become more common, the appeal of alternative forms of tourism, especially ecotourism, continues to increase. With rising demand, ecotourism operators are facing the task of meeting expectations of diverse consumers of ecotourism products. Accordingly, the need to define and distinguish ecotourists from other types of tourists has become important. The importance of using a behavioral approach to distinguish ecotourists from other types of tourists is emphasized by tourism scholars. This study developed distinct motivational and behavioral profiles of visitors to forest-based ecotourism sites in Sri Lanka. Results identified four different types of tourists based on their behavioral and motivational characteristics: ecotourists, picnickers, egoistic tourists, and adventure tourists. Broad implications of visitor profiling are also discussed. This approach can help ecotourism operators to better tailor marketing strategies and increase visitor satisfaction.     

Community engagement and heritage tourism at Geneva Estate,Dominica

Community and heritage tourism can be developed alongside the promotion of Dominica as the ‘Nature Island of the Caribbean’, in which the island's natural resources are commodified as an ecotourism destination. The development of Dominica's tourism product to include heritage tourism through the presentation of plantation sites allows tourists to experience the island's culture and history. A direction for the advance of community and heritage tourism is demonstrated with a case study of the Geneva Heritage Project, begun in 2011 at Geneva Estate near the village of Grand Bay. Through a partnership between professional researchers and a community group, the Grand Bay Tourism and Environmental Committee (GTEC), the Geneva Heritage Project demonstrates an avenue for community groups to define and to interpret the community's history. Members of GTEC collaborated with professional archaeologists and students to conduct archaeological and historical research, which included the collection of data used to create interpretive signs and to compile documentary sources to be made available to community members and tourists. Such collaborative efforts promote the value of resource preservation in a nation lacking legislation to protect its cultural and archaeological resources.     

Nature-Based Tourism on the Edge of Urban Development

Urban sprawl in Australian cities is threatening a substantial number of pristine environments. Councils in Local Government Areas are attempting to meet the challenge of providing housing for increasing populations and preserving natural resources, many of which have tourism potential. This paper seeks to promote our understanding of the problems of balancing urban growth and the conservation of natural resources using Campbelltown, an outer suburb of Sydney, as a case study. The paper distinguishes five different types of tourists to highlight the appeal of Campbelltown's natural assets to different markets. A Market/Asset matrix is used to show how the existing level of development affects the expectations and needs of each different market. A framework based on the 'ecotourism paradigm' recently formulated by Ross and Wall (1999b) is used to identify the types of relationships which must exist in order for Campbelltown City Council to develop nature - based tourism in the area to its full potential.