Re-conceptualizing volunteer tourism organizations roles: A host perspective

While volunteer tourism organizations (VTOs) remain important intermediaries in the practice of volunteer tourism, questions remain on the role they play in serving the interests of host communities. This paper explores the role(s) of VTOs in a rural volunteer tourism hub in Ghana from a host community perspective using a phenomenological inquiry. An integrated framework of Critical/Institutional Analysis and Development (C/IAD) was used to examine host community experience with VTOs' role. Data was collected through focus group discussion and in-depth interviews with 43 residents of Asebu - Ghana. The study revealed that while VTOs act as facilitators and interpreters of local culture, issues of over-regulation and protectionism isolate guests from the host as well as rob some host of any meaningful socio-economic benefits and interactions.     

Human resources development for tourism in rural communities: A case study of Kerala

Considering the relative backwardness of rural areas, human resources development (HRD) seems to have a very important role in rural tourism development. However, tourism HRD in rural communities is affected by a number of drawbacks. In the absence of any significant private sector presence, especially during initial stages, the public sector need to take the initiative in equipping and empowering the local community to meaningfully participate in tourism. This paper suggests a multi‐pronged approach to educate and empower the members of the host community, the tourism industry personnel, and visitors to facilitate rural tourism development, which is sustainability‐oriented and can help localize the benefits. The experience of Kerala provides an example of how the public sector initiated HRD activities could contribute to the development of rural tourism, especially in engendering local entrepreneurial endeavors and giving tourism a higher profile. The Kerala experience represents some of the issues in HRD for rural tourism and suggests potential strategies for other rural communities involved in tourism development.     

In search of authenticity: a case examination of the transformation of Alabama's Langdale Cotton Mill into an industrial heritage tourism attraction

Difficult economic conditions, competition, or the decline of once thriving industries have inflicted serious damage to rural areas in many parts of the world. The USA has not been immune to these events, and the current economic climate has only exacerbated the existing problems. Apart from the industries and businesses that were forced to close their operations, former employees, their families, and even their communities are left behind with little hope of recovery. Some affected communities turn to other means to alleviate economic distress. In fact, while not a panacea to solve existing problems, some communities are considering or have even implemented tourism-related projects in an attempt to revive themselves and their surroundings. The present study explores the current development of one such project, the Langdale Mill in Valley, Alabama. To collect information about this proposed industrial heritage site, face-to-face interviews with the mill's project management were conducted. The interviews identified funding as the most critical challenge. Despite this serious problem, the mill's management is implementing alternative strategies in search for opportunities to revive a former industrial site and create tangible benefits for the local community. These findings may have important implications for other communities that also face decline.     

Mass tourism and water efficiency in the hotel industry: A case study

Mass tourism, which has traditionally been associated with an unsustainable use of natural resources and intensive land use, is frequently identified as a major environmental stressor in coastal regions. Nonetheless, mass tourism resorts typically have a compact and vertical urban configuration and have been shown to make more efficient use of water resources than other low-density tourist destinations. This article investigates how the main variables identified by the literature as determinants of water consumption by hotels influences water efficiency in hotels in Lloret de Mar, a well-known mass tourism destination on the Costa Brava in Spain. The results of a generalized linear mixed model show that large, high-rise hotels that attract thousands of tourists annually also benefit from economies of scale in terms of water efficiency.     

Legacy tourism: the search for personal meaning in heritage travel

In recent years, the existence and nature of the heritage tourism market has attracted substantial attention in the tourism industry. There appears to be a sub-segment of the heritage market that consists of tourists who have a personal connection with their heritage beyond a general relationship of collective ancestry. Those that travel to engage in genealogical endeavors, to search for information on or to simply feel connected to ancestors and ancestral roots are categorized as legacy tourists. This paper describes the heritage tourism market, discusses distinguishing characteristics that identify legacy tourists, and emphasizes to tourism managers the importance of recognizing and responding to this segment.     

Site and situation strategy in tourism planning: A Mexican case study

Mexico has experienced all the effects, good and ill, of a large and expanding tourist trade. Tourism's negative consequences--economic dependency, crime, cultural erosion--have manifested themselves in tourist ghettos along Mexico's northern border, on the Mexican Riviera, and in the capital. This study is an assesment of contemporary Mexican tourism planning as it relates to these problems, and further as it seeks to make tourism a stimulus to economically depressed areas of the nation. A case study approach is utilized to identify the strategy of site and situation selection for the new programmed resort complex at Cancun on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan peninsula. It is concluded that Cancun embodies, at least for Mexico, a radical departure in tourism development. The resort is situated to attract a large foreign clientele and to create the greatest possible positive economic and social impact on a resident Mexican population that has suffered chronic underdevelopment.     

Formal and informal tourism sectors: A case study in Pattaya,Thailand

In view of increasing disparities in socioeconomic development, the importance of enterprises of smaller scales of operation is increasingly emphasized by recent development theories. The ILO has proposed strategies to promote the informal sector which is composed of self-employed businessmen and enterprises of a petty scale of operation. The dichotomy of formal and informal sectors and its implications are examined in a study of the tourism sector in Pattaya, Thailand. Findings on the informal tourist sector disprove major hypotheses regarding the development potential of the informal sector.     

Multidimensionality of HRD in small tourism firms: A case study of the Republic of Ireland

This case study explores multiple dimensions of human resource development (HRD) in small tourism firms (STFs) within the Republic of Ireland. Underpinned by the evolutionary resource-based view (ERBV) and institutional logics, this study investigates owner-manager/senior manager and employee perceptions of the internal and external STF context and how such contextual contingencies shape their perceptions and experiences of multiple dimensions of HRD. Our study highlights (a) a dynamic interaction between external institutional logics and internal contextual factors, with the owner–manager acting as a key agent in shaping HRD dimensions; (b) actors within STFs are able to reconcile potentially conflicting institutional logics to create a dynamic HRD approach; (c) STFs implement HRD in a coordinated manner, imbued with elements of formality and informality, and (d) significant differences exist between owner-manager and employee perceptions of HRD dimensions. We discuss the implications of the findings for both research and practice.     

Community-owned tourism and degrowth: a case study in the Kichwa Añangu community

Abstract

Tourism is a booming global industry, seemingly at odds with a degrowth movement seeking to challenge the profit-maximizing model embedded in capitalist expansion. However, the tourism industry is not a homogenous entity, but is instead characterized by diverse forms of distinct tourisms. In Ecuador, the Kichwa Añangu Community has chosen to dedicate their livelihood to community-owned tourism. Añangu owns and operates two lodges, whose management and oversight are administered through communal governance. As a result, tourism is locally embraced as a vehicle for livelihood wellbeing, cultural reclamation, and environmental stewardship. Community-owned tourism will not provide a cure-all answer to the critiques levied against tourism or to the vulnerabilities inherent in the practice of tourism. However, Añangu’s project offers a compelling case study for considering how certain tourisms could become a vehicle for developing a localized degrowth society. The Añangu have decentralized the value placed upon profit in the practice of tourism, replacing it with Kichwa forms of communal organizing guided by their goal for Sumak Kawsay, or the “good life.” For the Añangu, the sustainability of their project cannot be separated from its economic viability, however, success is also measured by how tourism contributes to a number of community-defined goals.     

The salience of stakeholders in religious tourism: A case study of the Dajia Mazu pilgrimage

Previous studies have focused on the relationship between religious tourism and some of its stakeholders. However, tourism's success relies on the commitment of all stakeholders. Based on stakeholder theory, this study assesses the stakeholder salience of a mass folk religious pilgrimage, the Dajia Mazu pilgrimage in Taiwan, by using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The results indicate that temples, pilgrims, and host communities are more important than tourists, environment, businesses, and governmental bodies. Among the 18 contributions of all stakeholders, pilgrims' engagement, organizing temple management, food and drink sharing, host communities' engagement, and supporting temples' assistance are the most important. Organizers and administrators therefore need to identify key stakeholders and prioritize their contributions in managing pilgrimages and religious tourism.     

Wellness tourism and spatial stigma: A case study of Bama,China

This study focused on the stigmatisation of an emerging wellness tourism destination due to patient travel for tourism. The concept of spatial stigma was adopted to explore how local residents perceive, experience and manage the particular negative effects of wellness tourism. The study investigated Bama Yao Autonomous County, colloquially known as ‘Bama’, in China, to which many tourists with cancer and other chronic diseases travel. The results showed that the influx of wellness tourists brought significant challenges in this area. The residents reported ambivalent experiences of and feelings about wellness tourism in local communities, and disagreed with the vilification of wellness tourists. However, they were concerned about the potential consequences of wellness tourism. To manage and resist spatial stigma, the residents deliberately separated themselves from the places occupied by wellness tourists. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications of the study are discussed.     

Impact evaluation for tourism development using the fuzzy set model: A case study of Kyongju,Korea

The Community tourism industry is primarily influenced by facilities, traffic systems, capacity, and development of tourism commodities. To develop tourism industry on a local basis, it is unavoidable to make investments on a large scale. Factor analysis for impact evaluation prior to undertaking of development projects, which this study intends to make, is more reasonable when related to the fuzzy numeric analysis of words or sentences than to a quantitative analysis of measured information. In this study the Euclidean distance method and Zadeh's fuzzy extension principle were used as linguistic approximation to establish the validity of decision‐ making in each factor category of impact degree. Therefore, this study introduces a general concept of Fuzzy theory through literature review of linguistic expressions. This study examined availability of the Fuzzy model in analyzing investment priorities for tourist development and applied it to Kyongju area, which unveiled the priorities for Kyongju tourism future in order of traffic system improvement, early construction of horse‐ racing track now under planning, promotion of Kyongju as tourism special zone to visitors and positive tourism events. In terms of methodology, this study disclosed that Fuzzy Model approach is greatly useful to decision‐making processes in tourist development.     

Collective tourism social entrepreneurship: A means for community mobilization and social transformation

Communities depicted by lack of opportunities for development often look to tourism initiatives as a means to combine economic growth and community building. Such activity highlights a nexus between tourism, social entrepreneurship and community development. This nexus has been investigated somewhat in tourism literature, but lacks empirical backing, as well as theoretical refinement. We argue that a collective perspective on social entrepreneurship in the tourism context is needed, and introduce a concept and framework for ‘Collective Tourism Social Entrepreneurship’. We investigate how these principles are utilized by local communities to combat depopulation and deterioration in two Danish destinations, and find that the proposed process can create (social) value even if the expected result is never reached.     

New Public Management in tourism: a case study of York

Issues concerning destination governance continue to engender much interest and debate in the development of more sustainable forms of tourism. This study explores the implications of a New Public Management approach to tourist destination governance in the historic City of York. Using secondary data, as well as drawing on interviews with a range of destination stakeholders, this study seeks to understand how market ideology is, via the notion of New Public Management, transforming tourism governance in the city. Rather than leading to greater levels of stakeholder engagement, the study demonstrates how the outsourcing of destination management functions to a private sector organisation has had the opposite effect, including a weakening of accountability and the widening of a democratic deficit. The paper provides a unique insight into how public policy discourses manifest themselves at the local level, with implications for tourist destination governance. A critique of New Public Management is offered which extends our understanding of tourism governance structures and stakeholder engagement, with implications for sustainable tourism development discussed.     

Aggravated fragmentation: A case study of SME behaviour in two emerging heritage tourism regions

This paper investigates the behaviour of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) within the heritage tourism supply chain (HTSC), in two emerging heritage regions. SMEs are conceptualised as implementers, working within the constraints of government level tourism structures and the heritage tourism supply chain. The research employs a case study approach, focusing on two emerging regions in Northern Ireland. In-depth interviews were carried out with small business owners and community associations operating within the regions. The research identifies SME dissatisfaction with the supply chain and the processes in place for the delivery of the tourism product. To overcome the perceived inadequacies of the heritage tourism supply chain SMEs engage in entrepreneurial behaviour by attempting to deliver specific products and services to meet the need of tourists. The challenge for tourism organisations is how they can integrate the entrepreneurial, innovative activities of SMEs into the heritage tourism system.     

Developing industrial heritage tourism: A case study of the proposed jeep museum in Toledo, Ohio

There are a growing number of industrial cities in which promoting tourism maybe a helpful tool for urban restructuring and economic development. This paper identifies six key attributes of developing industry heritage tourism from the previous literature. These attributes have been used to evaluate a proposal for the National Historic Jeep Museum by the city of Toledo, Ohio. The investigation revealed that although the potentials for conserving and interpreting the museum are valued highly, there exist conflicting views by various stakeholders. Problems are attributed to poor community perceptions, a lack of strong support from the Jeep industry, the controversial reuse of existing facilities, ill-informed economic benefits and the issue of authenticity. The implications of the study provide suggestions for future improvements in the development of industry heritage tourism.     

Border resident perceptions of sanctions and tourism: A case study of North Korea

Sanctions have been increasingly used as a diplomatic practice among international actors. Although sanctions have offered important insights into the global tourism system, relevant understandings require further research endeavour. This study explores border resident perceptions of sanctions and tourism in the case of North Korea. It involves an analysis of in-depth interviews with residents of Dandong - the largest Chinese border city facing North Korea. The findings reveal that the economic and tourism development of both North Korea and Dandong are considered to be disrupted by sanctions. In addition to the perceived negative impacts brought by sanctions, the study also uncovers relevant positive impacts. Furthermore, it suggests that sanctions tend to be interpreted and evaluated by residents through short- and long-term perspectives. The study advances the emerging interdisciplinary progress of tourism and sanctions through unpacking and highlighting the influences of sanctions on residents and tourism of border city.     

Effects of power and individual-level cultural orientation on preferences for volunteer tourism

This study examined whether individual-level cultural orientation and psychological feelings of power interact to influence preference for volunteer or self-indulgent holiday packages. Results from a study involving 466 participants revealed that intentions to purchase a holiday package were greater among those who had been primed to feel powerful, supporting the notion that power increases an individual's tendency to take action. Nevertheless, the holiday packages that powerful participants chose varied as a function of their individual-level cultural orientation. Specifically, when primed to feel powerful, vertical individualists exhibited a distinct preference for a self-indulgent holiday package whereas horizontal collectivists preferred a volunteer holiday package. These findings indicate that preference for volunteer or self-indulgent holidays arises from the confluence of individual-level cultural orientation (which shapes goal meaning) and power (which influences goal pursuit).     

The economic consequences of community support for tourism: A case study of a heritage fish hatchery

Although tourist attractions are the drivers of tourism to many communities, and local citizens’ support of these attractions is vital to their viability, the economic outcomes of such support have never been assessed. To help fill this information void, the authors examined the unusual case of a historical attraction that was closed in 1983 by the federal government agency operating it but resurrected the following year by local citizens who considered it indispensable to their town’s identity, cultural heritage, and tourist appeal. Since the attraction would not exist but for this intervention, the current value of the community’s resuscitation of it in 1984 was inferred from the economic impacts it currently generated. In 2007 these were estimated to be about US$1.6 million in direct attraction-related expenditures in the town, US$2.1 million in business revenues, US$629,000 in personal income, US$141,000 in local and state taxes and fees, and 27 new jobs.     

An Opinion Piece. A response to the Special Issue on volunteer tourism: the performative absence of volunteers

This short Opinion Piece reflects on the construction of volunteers in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism's recent Special Issue on Volunteer Tourism, Volume 22, Issue 6, 2014. The Issue indicates directions for future research and presents some productive cases of applied modes of knowledge production. This Opinion Piece notes that, despite the good work in the Special Issue, more research on the impacts of volunteer tourism on host communities is still overdue. But most importantly, however, running through the papers in the Issue, there is a problematic construction of volunteers as passive subjects of capitalism. As “consumers” or “clients”, it is argued that the Special Issue papers perceive volunteers through the very same logic of commodification that much of the research intends to push against. Drawing attention to the performativity of language and research outputs, the case is made for more careful attention to the ways researchers in volunteer tourism address subjects so that critical attention might be better aligned with our practices of representation. We should seek to preserve the potential of volunteers to bring about change, and resist the temptation to reproduce the very deleterious discursive realities we seek to bring to account: volunteers, before all else, volunteer.