Scottish theme towns: have new identities enhanced development?

Three small towns in southwest Scotland have recently been branded as distinct theme towns, based on books, artists and food. This is an attempt to make them more attractive to visitors and thereby improve their economy. The objective of this research is to establish whether the new identities possessed by the towns have enhanced their development. It is argued, using data reviewing the past decade, that they have all developed, albeit at different rates, in terms of the economy and culture. Moreover, it is maintained that social capital has been enhanced and is a factor whose importance has been under-appreciated by planners and observers of this type of process. The relevance of the new identity to the pre-branding identity is also seen as a factor in successful development and ideas of authenticity and heritage are brought to bear on the relationship.     

An assessment of ‘international best practice’ in visitor attraction management: does Scotland really lag behind?

This paper compares and contrasts selected management practices among visitor attractions in Scotland, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The catalyst for the study was the growing perception that management practices among visitor attractions in Scotland are becoming increasingly outdated and that the sector needs to learn from ‘international best practice’ in this respect. A postal questionnaire was sent to all paid‐admission visitor attractions in the four countries. In total, 1022 visitor attractions replied, representing an overall response rate of 41%. Chi‐square analysis was then used to test various hypotheses relating to the uptake of these management practices. A key conclusion is that although management practices do vary significantly among the four countries, Scotland does not necessarily lag behind. Indeed, Scottish visitor attractions seem to lead the way in many respects. Meanwhile, the study finds no strong evidence to suggest that visitor attractions in the other three countries have indeed identified and are following a common ‘international best practice’. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crocodiles and grey nomads: a deadly combination?

Increasing numbers of retirees seek individual, extended, unstructured activities in remote, non-commercial locations. Travel is predominantly by self-drive 4WD vehicle towing a caravan/campervan. These ‘grey nomads’ often prefer remote bush camping sites/caravan parks to commercial resorts. The tropics – a popular destination – are inhabited by Australia's only large semi-terrestrial carnivore, the estuarine crocodile Crocodylus porosus. Conservation programmes of recent decades have resulted in a substantial increase in numbers. With naive grey nomads increasingly encroaching on crocodile territory, attacks are expected to increase. Review of conservation programmes to incorporate awareness education targeting grey nomads is therefore required.     

Best practice benchmarking: a route to competitiveness?

This paper examines the use of best practice benchmarking as an approach to performance improvement in the airline industry. The case study draws upon phenomenological evidence from the aircraft maintenance section of Britannia Airways. A range of benchmarking issues, which could be applied to different divisions of an airline are highlighted. In particular, inter disciplinary team building, employee involvement, relationships with other industry players and identification of `best in class'. Airline alliances and the global trend towards economically deregulated air transport are identified as factors likely to increase the adoption of benchmarking as a route to competitiveness.     

Airport slot allocation: a time for change?

The increasing imbalance between airport capacity and traffic resulted in exceptional congestion and delays drawing the attention of aviation policy makers towards airport demand management for the allocation of scarce airport slots. Attempts to bring forward airport demand management measures in the form of airport slot allocation were not widely adopted and have not flourished in practice. This paper aims: (i) to apply a methodological framework for the selection of the most suitable slot allocation strategy for various types of airports, (ii) to explore potential impacts such that measures or strategies can bring about, and (iii) to assess the suitability of the existing airport pricing scheme and the potential implementation of a new policy regime aiming to bridge the gap between growing traffic and scarce airport capacity.     

The return from travel: a new beginning?

Within the context of the return from long-term travel, this paper uncovers the transitional and at times traumatic nature of return for 24 OE (overseas experience) travellers. Important considerations are raised in respect of easing repatriation distress among those returning from long-term travel. Contributing an understanding of the experience of return from travel, this paper proffers that return to the place one left to travel from does not necessarily mark the end of the journey. Conversely, it can mark a new beginning. As such, we argue that a broader framework for examining the travel experience is called for; notably, one that extends the examination of the travel experience to the return phase and beyond.     

Satellite terminals: a local solution to hub congestion?

Transport hubs are important generators of freight traffic both between and within metropolitan areas. The concentration of traffic places pressure on the terminals to expand their sites to cope with the business. At the same time the spatial spread of flows is becoming more extensive, impacting ever more severely on local communities. This paper explores some of the questions involving the need for terminals to continue expanding sites that are often in zones of intense environmental and land use conflict. It goes on to consider an alternative comprising satellite facilities, with the consequential dispersal of some transfer functions to sites that may be some distance from the main hubs themselves.     

Forecasting upon a star: Forecasting or wishful thinking?

The purpose of this paper was to perform a detailed analysis of the challenges faced while developing and using econometric models to forecast future transportation demand. To this end, a comparative analysis of the state of practice and state of the art was undertaken on a concrete example – Viracopos Airport in Brazil. A review of relevant technical and scientific literature identified a number of approaches and each representative example was synthesized into a specification “template”. We then compared the performance of each “template” with the observed demand, through an intra-series forecast. A general finding was that econometric model specifications proved to be somewhat homogenous and simpler in nature, with results indicating a relatively small difference in fit and forecast capability across models. Even with the elimination of what is typically considered the main culprit for deviations – the forecast uncertainty of the explanatory (input) variables – the forecast is still subject to sizeable deviation. To address this issue, we proposed developing some sanity check indexes, particularly relevant for long-term forecasts. We conclude that the challenges faced at the Viracopos Airport Concession were far from econometric ones, that the success of the demand forecast and the concession itself required more than a well estimated econometric model. Finally, regarding investment obligations within the concession agreement, we strongly recommend making them conditional to meeting demand milestones, given the inherent unpredictability in forecasts.     

Generation Y: opportunity or challenge – strategies to engage Generation Y in the UK attractions’ sector

This study examines the extent to which Generation Y (Gen Y) serves as an opportunity or challenge for visitor attractions in the UK and the corresponding strategies adopted to seek engagement with this generational segment. A multiple-case study design was adopted with face-to-face interviews undertaken with senior personnel at leading visitor attractions across the UK. The paper advances a number of marketing and experiential strategies before advocating that further research is required to explore the growing pains of Gen Y from ‘adolescence’ to ‘adulthood’ if the industry is going to be able to understand, meet and hopefully exceed their needs, wants and expectations in the challenging years to come.     

Industry convergence in rural tourism development: a China-featured term or a new initiative?

ABSTRACT

Industry convergence is a popular term that has been widely referenced in the context of rural tourism development in China. All levels of government (local, regional, national) in China have repeatedly addressed the significance of industry convergence in their tourism plans and related policies. Despite its popularity, limited studies at present have explored this concept in-depth. Using Huai’an as a case, this study applied a path analysis and reported the industry convergence process in a destination. The findings of this study can provide both theoretical and practical implications that are useful for tourism planners and policy makers.     

Participation index: a measure to identify rural transport disadvantage?

This paper develops a composite participation index (PI) to identify patterns of transport disadvantage in space and time. It is operationalised using 157 weekly activity-travel diaries data collected from three case study areas in rural Northern Ireland. A review of activity space and travel behaviour research found that six dimensional indicators of activity spaces were typically used including the number of unique locations visited, distance travelled, area of activity spaces, frequency of activity participation, types of activity participated in, and duration of participation in order to identify transport disadvantage. A combined measure using six individual indices were developed based on the six dimensional indicators of activity spaces, by taking into account the relativity of the measures for weekdays, weekends, and for a week. Factor analyses were conducted to derive weights of these indices to form the PI measure. Multivariate analysis using general linear models of the different indicators/indices identified new patterns of transport disadvantage. The research found that: indicator based measures and index based measures are complement each other; interactions between different factors generated new patterns of transport disadvantage; and that these patterns vary in space and time. The analysis also indicates that the transport needs of different disadvantaged groups are varied.     

Tourism: a sacred journey? The case of ashram tourism,India

Religious tourism — tourism that is motivated by faith or religious reasons — has been in evidence for centuries. In more recent times, however, it has been suggested that modern tourism has become the functional and symbolic equivalent of more traditional religious practices, such as festivals and pilgrimages. In other words, it is claimed by some that tourism is a sacred journey. To date, however, little work has been undertaken to explore this position; the purpose of this paper, therefore, is to contribute to this debate. Based on an exploratory study, it considers the motivations and experiences of Western tourists visiting the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and the nearby utopian township of Auroville in Pondicherry, south east India. It identifies two principal groups of visitors, namely ‘permanent tourists’ who have immersed themselves indefinitely in a spiritual ‘Other’, and temporary visitors. The latter are categorised into sub‐groups which point to a variety of spiritual and non‐spiritual motives. The paper concludes that there is a continuum of spirituality inherent in tourism, though this is related to tourists' experience rather than initial motivation. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Airport regulation in Europe: Is there need for a European Observatory?

This paper provides an overview of how the major airports are regulated in Europe. In order to eliminate the potential of airports to exercise market power and protect the public interest, it has become increasingly necessary to set a common regulatory framework. We intend to discuss the need for a single regulator in Europe to monitor or establish the quality of service and the charges practiced by the airports, to ensure cost-relatedness, transparency and non-discrimination. The existing regulatory approaches regarding aeronautical charges and their economic implications are also analyzed. We propose the creation of a European Observatory for this sector.     

Mapping accessibility in Belgium: a tool for land-use and transport planning?

This paper compares the spatial structure of car accessibility to towns and to railway stations during peak and off-peak hours in Belgium for the country’s 2616 municipalities. A clustering method is applied. It is shown that in a highly urbanised country, the situation is far from being spatially equitable in terms of accessibility, and some areas are more favoured than others. Congestion increases spatial inequalities, differently according to absolute or relative measures of change. By means of examples, this paper shows that even simple accessibility indicators could be useful to support decisions taken by planners and politicians (e.g. as regards the development of residential, industrial and business park areas). Maps indicate the spatial inequalities in terms of accessibility to urban centres and transport nodes, and the impact of congestion on these inequalities. The absolute and relative time losses due to congestion affect different areas in different ways. The location of new developments further increases the congestion problem and the spatial disparities. This paper also insists on the caution that should be adopted when measuring and interpreting “accessibility”, its measurements, its inputs, its temporal changes in absolute and relative terms as well as the need for spatially disaggregated data.     

Minimum delay or maximum efficiency? Rising productivity of available capacity at airports: Review of current practice and future needs

Around the world airports are facing capacity constraints more and more everyday, generally the runway capacities are restricted by governments and airports are unable to accept additional aircrafts. Technological improvements can decrease the necessity of policy limitations in terms of noise and air pollution. Rapidly increasing numbers of traffic developed severe scarce capacity, congestion and delay problems and the capacity that is available, needs to be allocated as efficiently as possible. Airport capacity can be allocated in different ways; administrative capacity management with slot allocation and traffic distribution rules; market-based capacity management with slot auctioning, secondary trading and peak pricing; a combination of both mechanisms; and no regulation mechanism as applied in the USA with the exceptions of busiest airports. The review contains the analysis of current state of practice and the review of relevant research on capacity and slot allocation modelling with policy and demand management perspectives. It targets identification of existing problems, inefficiencies, gaps and requirements in current practice of slot allocation mechanisms, defining options for change in policies to allocate slots more efficiently, transparent and fair by investigating market-based mechanisms. The objective of this paper is to contribute to the ongoing research for improvements to the slot allocation process that can be rationally implemented in practice in order to improve efficiency, fairness and transparency. For that purpose, based on these slot allocation approaches, we provide a critical review of status-quo, literature and current research with demand and congestion management perspectives by considering overall social welfare, airline and airport surplus, passenger welfare and explore hypothetical, computational and practical challenges that have arisen from cross-disciplinary methodologies.     

Czechoslovak light rail — Legacy of socialist urbanism or opportunity for the future?

This article focuses on the development of the Czechoslovak ‘rychlá tramvaj’ (‘fast tram’) systems in Prague, Bratislava and Brno. Its aim is to examine whether these systems meet the requirements of light rail and whether it is possible to continue their development as a functional light rail city transport system. A further aim is a detailed analysis of the conditions and contexts affecting the gradual development of ‘rychlá tramvaj’ schemes in three selected metropolises in the former Czechoslovakia.Urban development in Czechoslovakia was affected by the socialist planning system that constructed large housing estates on the edges of metropolises during the 1970s and 1980s. As a result, many commuters had to be moved between them and city centres daily; therefore, the necessity for high-capacity ‘rychlá tramvaj’ connections became apparent. After socio-political changes in 1989, a market economy was introduced and the trends of commercial and residential suburbanization have modified the spatial structure of the cities, and mobility has begun to be increasingly dependent on cars. In response to this, city councils departed from further development of ‘rychlá tramvaj’ schemes. Currently, the emphasis on sustainable mobility is apparent, principally because of smart city solutions, an environmental focus and a common European transport policy; thus, municipalities are rediscovering the virtues of light rail lines again. Because the ‘rychlá tramvaj’ systems from the 1970s and 1980s are still in operation, transforming them into modern light rail systems appears to be a convenient and cheap solution.     

物流:行业?产业?

目前国内外物流正在迅速发展,但在我国的产业目录中却没有列入物流这个产业,国家预算及税务规划、国家产业投资、建设与发展规划的编制、政府机构的设置及部门和行业管理权限的划分、产业发展政策的制定、产业法制建设等等都与物流产业无关;国家统计局的官方统计口径也从来不把物流作为一个产业来对待,从国家到地方,再到企业,找不到关于物流的完整统计资料,国家、企业和社会都没有办法计算物流成本。那么,物流究竟算不算一个产业?     

Methods of estimating destination price competitiveness: a case of horses for courses?

Price competitiveness is a key factor in the overall tourism competitiveness of a country or a destination. Given its importance to overall destination competitiveness, various indicators of prices have been developed. Different indicators shed light on different aspects of competitiveness, and the measures which are most useful depend on what questions are being explored. The authors explore several of the different indicators aimed at measuring destination price competitiveness, describing the strengths and weaknesses of using each. Some of the key aspects which condition which indicators should be used are: the need for accuracy and tourism-specific detail versus timeliness; the need for cross-country (or cross-destination) comparisons of the prices tourists are actually paying; the need for estimates of changes in relative price competitiveness over time and the need to provide overall summary measures of a country's price competitiveness at a point of time or changes in it over time. The specific measure used will therefore depend on the particular analytical and practical need of researchers and destination managers.