Planning for stingray tourism at Hamelin Bay,Western Australia: the importance of stakeholder perspectives

Stingray tourism continues to be developed at various locations around the world with the concept being marketed on television travel programmes, documentaries, internet sites and travel brochures. Food provisioned stingray tourism, for example, now attracts some 100 000 visitors a year to ‘tingray city’ in the Caymen Islands. At Hamelin Bay in southwest Western Australia, up to 16 large stingrays (Dasyatis brevicaudata and Dasyatis thetidis) and numerous eaglerays (Myliobatis australis) are fed by visitors from the waters edge. This study reports on stakeholder perspectives relating to tourism development and potential management of the Hamelin Bay site. From the results of this study it is clear that there is sufficient interest in stingray tourism (by all the stakeholders surveyed) to develop Hamelin Bay as a permanent feeding site. Visitors on average gave their experience with the rays a satisfaction value of 8.9 out of 10. Twenty‐five per cent of visitors surveyed did not want commercialisation, tour groups or excessive visitor numbers. Their main concern was that the health and safety of the rays may deteriorate with an increase of visitors if the situation is not managed correctly. Visitors desire to be educated about the rays, and how to best interact with them safely. Visitors also acknowledged that the site needs management through more signs, information and a management plan. Management for the site is therefore likely to be best implemented through the application of signage, development of guidelines/codes of conduct, protection of the rays and zoning the beach according to specific recreational purposes. Management regimes should also use various indicators to monitor the impacts of stingray tourism at Hamelin Bay. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring the nature of stakeholder collaboration: a case study of marine turtle tourism in the Ningaloo region,Western Australia

This paper explores the nature of stakeholder collaboration as a practical issue in the case of turtle tourism in the Ningaloo region of Western Australia. While there is a wealth of literature that explores the theory and conceptual ideas of collaboration in tourism planning, there is a need to explore these theories in applied situations. In this case study, key stakeholders of the Ningaloo Turtle Advisory Group were identified using snowballing methods and the nature of collaboration between stakeholders was investigated through an examination of workshop dialogue and action research. A framework for exploring the nature of collaboration was developed based on Bramwell and Sharman's (1999) [Collaboration in local tourism policy making. Annals of Tourism Research, 26(2), 392–415] criteria for measuring collaborative approaches and Mandell's (1999) [The impact of collaborative efforts: Changing the face of public policy through networks and network structures. Policy Studies Review, 16, 4–17] continuum of collaboration. This research confirms that the success of collaboration relies on building partnerships and trust, recognizing interdependence, generating a collective vision and objectives and commitment among stakeholders within a structured process. The appointment of an external convenor also played an important role in facilitating the process, while a programme coordinator was essential for implementing the objectives generated by stakeholders.     

Evaluating residents' attitudes and intentions to act towards tourism development in regional Victoria,Australia

With the tourism industry expanding post‐2001, research on the impacts of tourism development continues to be important. Previous research has focused both on the types of impacts on the residents and the segmentation of the host community. Most of these studies have used attitudes as the clustering base. Although the resultant cluster groups have been able to discriminate community groups who either support or oppose future tourism development, these groups are difficult to identify in the community and the influence these attitudes have on the behaviour of residents remains unknown. This research investigated the link between positive and negative attitudes and the residents' intentions to act either to support or protest future tourism development. The results found no significant relationship between negative intentions to act (protest) and demographics, attitudes or the various community cluster groups. However, positive intentions to act (support future development) were related to gender, age, education, life cycle, length of residence and tourism business connection. Further, positive intentions to become more involved in tourism development within the community were related to both positive and negative attitudes. Finally, this research found that residents who traditionally involved themselves in proactive community groups had the strongest intention to ensure future tourism development benefited the community. Implications for the tourism industry, local government and the management of future tourism development were explored. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Negotiation,bargaining, and discounts: generating WoM and local tourism development at the Tabriz bazaar,Iran

This paper examines the effects of negotiation intention, bargaining propensity, and discount satisfaction on word-of-mouth (WoM) behaviours for tourists visiting Tabriz bazaar, Iran. Data from 615-survey respondents highlight that tourists are motivated to conduct WoM behaviour when they are experientially satisfied with the opportunity to negotiate and bargain, and when they are satisfied with the discount they receive. This paper makes theoretical contributions to social exchange theory and presents managerial implications for policy-makers to generate tourism development.     

Coping with ambiguous relationships: sex,tourism, and transformation in Cuba

Relationships between foreign tourists and members of the visited population in Cuba tend to be ridden with ambiguities with regard to their instrumental and commoditized dimensions. In the realm of sexual encounters, these ambiguities become a source of moral controversy, as they call into question notions of ‘sex tourism’ and ‘prostitution’. Focusing on how foreign men travelling to Cuba account for sexual relationships with Cuban women, this article shows how a variety of notions of tourism and of being a tourist are played out to justify people's engagements. From the establishment of continuities between sexual seduction ‘at home’ and ‘on tour’, to the normalization of sex for money exchanges, to the quest for an ‘authentic Cuban sexuality’, different modalities and moralities of travel are actualized in tourists' narratives, alternatively silencing and highlighting transformations in the places, people, and conceptions of tourism. In addressing the question of what counts as ‘transformation’, this article sheds light on the situated and purposeful ways this notion is deployed, the controversies, and struggles it generates, as well as its moral underpinnings, affordances, and limits. Ultimately, this illustrates the interests of investigating change and notions of change in tourism in a reflexive and empirically grounded manner.     

Spatial analysis of access to and accessibility surrounding train stations: a case study of accessibility for the elderly in Perth,Western Australia

Approximately one-fifth of Perth’s population is aged 60 or older. Projections suggest that this proportion will continue to increase as a result of the large number of children born after the World War II (1946–1964). Access to and accessibility around train stations for the aging population is and will become a more important issue as the elderly population continues to grow. The aim of the paper is to develop and apply a new measure of accessibility to train stations at a fine spatial scale, justified by the special circumstance of the elderly using a case study in Perth, Western Australia. Intercept surveys are used to collect data on factors affecting train station accessibility for patrons aged 60 years or older, at seven highly dispersed train stations. Overall accessibility is measured separately using a composite index based on three travel modes (walk-and-ride, park-and-ride and bus-and-ride). The results illustrate that key variables, such as distance from an origin to a station, walking or driving route directness, land-use diversity, service and facility quality, bus connection to train stations, all affect the accessibility to train stations for the elderly. This implies that improvements to these factors will improve accessibility for this population group.     

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.     

A geographically weighted regression model to examine the spatial variation of the socioeconomic and land-use factors associated with Strava bike activity in Austin,Texas

Despite evidence showing the spatial nonstationarity of the determinants of bike activity, very few studies have addressed the phenomena, probably due to the limited sample size of the traditional count data. To address this gap, this study demonstrated the applicability of Strava bike activity data by developing a geographically weighted Poisson regression (GWPR) model that can reveal how the influence of socioeconomic and land-use factors vary across a region. The city of Austin was selected as a case study, and Strava bike volume was gleaned from 1494 intersections. The representativeness of the Strava data was first examined by comparing those data with the video-based actual bicycle volume data from 43 intersections in the study area. Despite the high deviation in several locations, Strava volume exhibited moderate linear relationships with actual volume. The GWPR model developed in this study outperformed the traditional global model and revealed significant spatial variability of nine variables related to age, income, education, transit stops, hub locations, offices, schools, trails, and sidewalk facilities. Notable spatial variations on bike activity were observed across the study area in terms of magnitude, direction, and significance of the impact for all model variables. The analysis and discussion offer guidance to practitioners and policy makers in tailoring policies and programs that consider the spatial context. The study also provides insights for understanding the potential use of crowdsourced data in examining bike activity, especially when resources are limited.