Engaging volunteer tourism in post-disaster recovery in Nepal

There is limited research published on the significance of volunteer tourism in assisting host communities in the recovery of a tourism destination and its industry after a disaster. Our paper addresses this research gap with reference to a case study of Nepal's tourism recovery after the country's 2015 earthquake. We argue that a clear post disaster volunteer tourism framework could validate volunteer tourism's potential role to ensure that communities do not miss out on any form of assistance that may be of use in re-establishing destination or community lifestyle. Our paper provides an initial exploratory understanding of how post disaster volunteer tourism might be effective; it uses a disaster management framework to conceptualise the phenomenon.     

Cultural heritage and Indigenous tourism

ABSTRACT

Tourism is acknowledged as a vehicle that can help sustain both tangible and intangible elements of Indigenous cultural heritage, including languages, stories, song, art, dance, hunting methods, rituals and customs. Often, cultural heritage products developed for tourism promise to provide many socio-economic opportunities for the communities involved, however, tourism can also present a challenge as the self-management of Indigenous cultural product and cultural identity can be problematic. Given the pivotal role culture plays in the sustainability of Indigenous tourism products, it is time for a twenty-first century examination of the nexus between cultural heritage and Indigenous tourism. This paper reflects upon tourism and contemporary Indigenous cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. Through a review of the current literature on Indigenous tourism and cultural heritage, the authors identify key areas for future research and aim to stimulate further discussion around the ways Indigenous tourism may be developed to sustain Indigenous cultural heritage.     

Cultural and non-cultural tourism: Evidence from Italian experience

Cultural tourism is recognized as one of the main resources used to counteract seasonality in tourist destinations, being by its very nature non-seasonal. Moreover, according to the generally accepted stereotype, cultural tourists tend to be ageing and therefore more likely to travel also during the off-peak season than younger tourists. Our data show that international cultural tourism has increased in Italy during the last 15 years, but this increase has not contributed to reducing seasonality. We have conducted a statistical analysis of the data in an attempt to explore the possible reasons behind such an unexpected finding. By comparing foreign cultural and non-cultural tourists through several socio-economic-demographic variables, our results highlight the fact that a “new (and younger) cultural tourism” is emerging in Italy. Consequently, promoting cultural tourism is just one component for effectively counteracting seasonality. Nevertheless, promotion should also focus on the dual concept of “cultural tourism/ageing tourists”.     

Cultural tourism and temples: Content construction and interactivity design

Cultural and creative industries have a crucial role in the postindustrial knowledge economy. However, our understanding of the importance of temples in connecting people with society is limited. To fill this gap, this study explores points of interest for tourists in Taiwan to analyse the design of cultural interest operation modes in temples' interactive kiosk interfaces. We also examine three cultural levels related to the design of interactive kiosks in temples. Results reveal that participants’ levels of interest vary depending on temple complexity. Most participants prefer animated presentations of content related to two- and three-dimensional murals and the history and origins of temples. We illustrate how to develop a process for designing cultural and creative digital products. We construct a flowchart for guided temple tours and present an effective and suitable design method and its prototype product. Implications for the revitalisation of historic sites to create new value are discussed.     

Cultural political economy and urban heritage tourism

The paper explains a cultural political economy “framing” for interpreting heritage tourism in urban contexts. Key ideas behind this research perspective are explained and illustrated through discussion of past research studies of urban heritage tourism. It is underpinned by a relational view of the inter-connectedness of societal relations, and an emphasis on taking seriously both the cultural/semiotic and the economic/political in the co-constitution of urban heritage tourism’s social practices and features. A case study of heritage tourism in Nanjing, China considers cultural political economy’s relevance and value, including the distinctive research questions it raises. It reveals, for example, how economic relations in the built environment were related to tourist meaning-making and identities in the cultural/semiotic sphere.     

Cultural systems and the wine tourism product

Regionally distinct cultural systems are manifest in the landscapes of all cultures. Geographers have begun to explore such cultural systems in an attempt to better understand a range of cultural geographical phenomena, but such an approach has yet to be applied to our understanding of tourism. Using Bonnemaison’s cultural systems approach, this paper explores the relationship between rural cultural systems and the production and consumption of wine tourism in two culturally distinct wine regions: Champagne, France, and Margaret River, Western Australia. In so doing, it highlights the importance of situating wine tourism within the wider system of rural land tenure, local mythologies of rurality and the regional wine cultural complex.     

Diaspora Chinese tourism: Cultural connectedness and the existing academic insights

Tourism scholars and practitioners tend to regard diaspora tourism as a homogeneous market, with needs that can be met through general types of products. Adopting a literature review approach, this article has conducted a review of the extensive research on the diaspora, immigration, and root-seeking tourism to China. The conceptual framework provides a holistic perspective for researchers and destination managers to study diaspora tourism. This shows that the demand dimension of diaspora tourists is related to the structure of diaspora communities. Place attachment (sense of nostalgia), transnationalism, cultural (re)connectivity, hybrid self-identity (re)constructions and the nation-state power metrics of China for overseas Chinese, are as identified as factors that determine motivation for “returning home”. Further research is suggested to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the typology of diaspora tourism that may need to be considered in order to meet the needs of diaspora tourists in future planning and strategy formulation.     

Cultural tourism policy in developing regions: The case of Sarawak,Malaysia

There is a need for empirical data that can be used to confirm or disconfirm literature that makes a case for functional linkages between cultural activity, inbound tourism and wider economic activity. This motivates a case-based investigation using Sarawak, a culturally rich state of Malaysia and which is currently trying to diversify and uplift its economy. Using interviews of tourism operators, artists and cultural brokers, visits to art venues and examination of documentary material, the paper identifies Sarawak's cultural and tourism policies, the ways they have been operationalized, and some of the concrete outcomes. The findings are interpreted by parsing Adorno's concepts of significance and function into their normative, representational and material dimensions. Tourism planners, it is found, have exoticized and marginalized local communities at the cost of developing a diversified economy. The policy dilemma extends to policy objects. How can artists relocated to urban areas be enabled to be productive on their own terms, and how can faraway communities lend support to their artists? Solutions might be sought, it is argued, using a participatory approach to cultural tourism planning.     

Cultural capital and online purchase of tourism services

Based on an original conceptual framework that links cultural capital and pro-active behaviors, this paper investigates whether individuals' cultural capital increases the probability of purchasing tourism services through the Internet.The identification of possible direct channels through which tourism firms can address and attract consumers is particularly relevant for an industry in which re-intermediation processes by big online travel agencies have partly dampened the benefits of disintermediation along the supply chain.Through a Heckman-corrected probit run on year 2016 microdata referred to the Italian population, evidence is found that the cultural participation is associated to individuals' higher probability to purchase tourism services online. This adds some new dimensions to the understanding of factors that have a bearing on online purchasing.     

Cultural sustainability – a framework for Aboriginal tourism in British Columbia

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a framework to assess the cultural sustainability of Aboriginal tourism in British Columbia, which meets must take into account the protection of human rights, good self-governance, identity, control of land, the tourism product’s authenticity, and a market-ready tourism product. These criteria are specified by two indicators each. The cultural sustainability framework was generated by triangulating qualitative research methods like experts’ interviews, secondary research, and participant and non-participant observations. This paper is thus conceptual in nature and inductive in its approach. It partly leverages a collaborative approach, as it includes interviewees in an iterative research loop. Furthermore, the paper shows why cultural sustainability is a determinant of the success of Aboriginal tourism.     

Degrowing tourism: rethinking tourism

Abstract

Concerns with growth have steadily advanced since the Limits to Growth report due particularly to human impacts on the natural environment. Since that time, neoliberal capitalism has become increasingly reliant on growth exacerbating these problems. The destructive outcomes of these strategies has led to a growing interest in degrowth. Analysts are examining how we can create economies that eschew a growth imperative while still supporting human thriving. Tourism as a key facet of capitalism is implicated in these issues and recent concerns with “overtourism” are only one symptom of the problem. This article presents a conceptual consideration of issues of degrowth in tourism. It examines current tensions in international mobility and argues just and sustainable degrowth will require greater attention to equity. This analysis suggests that essential to such an agenda is redefining tourism to focus on the rights of local communities and a rebuilding of the social capacities of tourism. This article argues for the redefinition of tourism in order to place the rights of local communities above the rights of tourists for holidays and the rights of tourism corporates to make profits.     

Intercultural sensitivity and tourism patterns among international students in Korea: using a latent profile analysis

The purpose of this study is to examine the intercultural sensitivity of international students in Korea based on Chen and Starosta’s [(2000). The development and validation of the intercultural communication sensitivity scale. Human Communication, 3, 1–15] intercultural sensitivity scale using a latent profile analysis and to discuss tourism patterns of each group segmented by intercultural sensitivity. According to the analysis, international students were classified by intercultural sensitivity with four groups: introverted observer, defensive bystander, favorable crowd, and veteran. Based on their characteristics and tourism patterns of each group, theoretical and practical implications were suggested. Considering the growing overseas education particularly in non-English-speaking countries and its significant influence on tourism, this study connected the multiple constructs in various fields such as intercultural contact, international student mobility, and tourism, providing a quintessential example of multidisciplinary research.     

Cultural tourism, the state, and Day of the Dead

Using Day of the Dead in the rural Mexican community of Huaquechula as an example, this paper analyzes how various levels of the state, in its roles as planner, marketer of cultural meanings, and arbiter of such practices, mediate between cultural tourism and local identity in a global context. It shows that the results have been met with opposition from some community groups. Although such opposition has caused the state to rethink its strategy, it remains intent on using its new program of cultural tourism as an alternative form of development in rural Mexico.