Reviewing Thailand's master plans and policies: implications for creative tourism?

This article contributes to an understanding of how creative tourism is perceived on a national level, by using Thailand as a case analysis. The primary objective of this article is to investigate Thailand's plans and policies for the creative economy at both national and ministry levels in relation to creative tourism. It also identifies how a national strategic plan can provide a blueprint for individual agency master plans to provide policy support for the development of the creative economy in the tourism sector. Thailand is chosen as an example of how government and related agencies can contribute to a national creative tourism movement in the country, especially in the light of the Tourism Authority of Thailand branding campaign to stimulate creative tourism to the destination. The qualitative research methodology through content analysis is used to scrutinise the plan and policy contents from the selected government agencies. The results demonstrate a better view of how creative tourism is positioned in the Thailand context and contribute to a policy study on the creative economy in the tourism sector as well as in creative tourism.     

The Role of Interested Groups in England's Emerging Tourism Policy Network

The role of interested groups within English tourism policy development has increased considerably in recent years. There are several possible explanations for this, including changing government policy styles, the perception of the importance of tourism to the national economy, and the developing sophistication of a tourism policy network. This paper reviews the role of interested groups and the nature of tourism policy development in England within the context of a theoretical discussion on public policy analysis, policy styles and policy networks. It specifically reports on the relationship between the tourism interest groups and government, and the mechanisms used by them to influence policy development. The paper shows that the tourism policy network can be characterised as immature. It has government at its centre directing strategic policy, with two sub-networks concentrating on the detail of commercial tourism and tourism resource policy. Within these sub-networks are dominant and secondary players defined as such by the manner in which they use their resources, gain access to decision-makers, collaborate with like-minded groups and work with government bureaucracy.     

Impact of economic policy on international tourism demand: the case of Abenomics

Since the 2008 global financial crisis and resulting recession, many countries have been following unconventional monetary policies. Little information is known on how these policies may influence tourism demand. This study starts to fill this gap by investigating the impact of the Japanese economic policy known as Abenomics on South Koreans’ travel to Japan, the largest inbound market for Japan. Per capita gross domestic product, relative prices, and exchange rates are significant determinants of Japanese inbound tourism. As these variables have been influenced by Abenomics, one can infer that Abenomics is associated with a significant increase in tourist arrivals from South Korea. Findings highlight the importance of government economic policy in stimulating international tourism demand through its impact on the economy.     

Travel Safety,Terrorism and the Media: The Significance of the Issue-Attention Cycle

Terrorist attacks against tourists and tourism infrastructure have long been acknowledged as having significant impacts on travel behaviour. The article examines the impact of the terrorist attacks of the 11 September 2001 in the United States to reflect not only the impact of the media on influencing travel behaviour but also tourism policy, particularly with respect to security issues and government response to crisis. The article does this with respect to the notion of an issue-attention cycle of political attention to policy issues and the manner in which these are played out. Several stages of the cycle are identified and related to the post September 11 aftermath. The cycle suggests that a five stage pattern of policy attention will be followed: pre-problem stage, alarmed discovery and euphoric enthusiasm, realisation of the cost of significant progress, gradual decline of intense public interest and the post-problem stage. The model suggests that current adoption of post September 11 security measures will likely cease to find political support once the perceived terrorist threat receives less attention in the media and, related to this, the voting public.     

Surfing tourism and community in Indonesia

ABSTRACT

While surfing tourism brings many advantages to isolated communities, it also brings unwanted side-effects. This article explores how people in the Mentawai Islands, Indonesia, perceive surfing tourism, taking particular note of how people talk about both the positive and negative influences on their daily lives. The article draws primarily on fieldwork undertaken between July and September of 2010 but incorporates further data in making its arguments. The article explores ways people in Mentawai talk of improvements in their livelihoods due to surfing tourism, including increased employment opportunities and the ability to learn English. The article also shows, though, that people in Mentawai express concern about surfing tourism, particularly concerning issues of alcohol, drugs and the disrespectful behaviour of surf tourists. The article concludes by arguing that more research needs to be conducted to ensure the views of Mentawai people are incorporated into policy developments and surf tourism growth. The article uses a sustainable livelihoods model to evaluate the impact of surf tourism in Mentawai.     

Interorganisational Relations in the Protected Area – Tourism Policy Domain: The Influence of Macro-economic Policy

A considerable body of work suggests that sustainable tourism development may only be achieved when sectoral fragmentation is overcome and collaborative planning achieved. This paper describes the findings from research that identifies obstacles to and opportunities for collaboration between two key stakeholders in a tourism policy domain. Specifically, the paper focuses on the influence of government macroeconomic policy on interorganisational relations between two government agencies. Generally, economic policy and practice provides not only the context, but also the rationale and legitimation of certain activities, and therefore shapes the nature of interorganisational relations, particularly when those organisations are reliant on state funding. Using an interorganisational relations framework, two federal government organisations in Canada involved in the 'national park – tourism' policy domain were studied to identify the influence of fiscal policy operating through a range of facilitating and inhibiting factors, on the formation and maintenance of relations between the organisations. The material for this paper has been drawn from a larger study that considers relations between a wider group of stakeholders in the Canadian 'national park-tourism' domain.     

Reassessing employer expectations of graduates in UK travel services

This article sets out to ascertain travel and tourism industries employers' views on degrees. Research of this kind and on this scale has not previously been carried out and a large scale survey of industry views was conducted with key issues identified and discussed. These cover topics such as the employment of graduates within the UK travel services industry, views on their contribution and appropriateness, the types of skills that such degrees provide, salary scales and graduate training schemes. Current government policy on widening participation in higher education (HE) and its impact on industry skills is also evaluated. The issue of the provision of tourism curricula and their content has at the beginning of 2007 once again been pushed centre stage. This is as a result of the increasing scrutiny of the Sector Skills organisation People 1st and the launch of the government's new vocational diplomas in 2008. The findings in this article are pertinent for government bodies and educators alike and have previously been shared with the Sector Skills organisation and Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in addressing HE in tourism. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of foreign direct investment on accommodation patterns in Vietnam as a result of the open-door policy

Before the ‘open-door’ policy doi moi, the Vietnamese government had monopolised all sectors of tourism in the country. In 1987, one year after the beginning of doi moi, the state issued the Law on Foreign Investment, which encouraged foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam, especially in the tourism industry. This article examines the influence of the resulting influx of FDI on tourism accommodation patterns in Vietnam. A synopsis of policy and background of FDI in Vietnam accommodation is followed by an examination of developments, projects and experiences in this field since doi moi. The article then investigates the effects of FDI in Vietnam tourism accommodation on developments and practices in Vietnam's accommodation market, including the traditional state-owned accommodation sub-sector. The article integrates insights gained from interviews with operators of joint venture and state-owned hotels in Vietnam.     

Elite interviews: critical practice and tourism

The elite interview method has been applied to the study of politics and policy-making and to other social and organisational contexts, although it has been relatively little applied in a formal fashion in tourism research. Nevertheless it is a method that has the potential of enhancing the quality and quantity of research data given the power and influence of elite subjects. The conduct of elite interviews suggests that there are qualitatively different aspects in interviewing ‘up’ as compared to interviewing ‘across’ or ‘down’. The article provides a review of some of the major issues involved in the conduct of elite interviews and highlights some of the tactics that researchers may use in the interview process as well as some of the potential ethical and publishing constraints. Even though there are a number of potential methodological challenges in using this method it provides a valuable approach in tourism research, especially studies that aim to understand decision-making processes, policy-making and perceptions. It is shown that individual ingenuity and reflexivity are required in order to overcome some of the challenges reported in existing studies.     

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.     

Public Choice and Tourism Analysis

This paper considers the potential of Public-Choice theory to serve as a means to analyse tourism policy. It introduces the central issues for understanding the study of policy and economic decision-making, bringing them together as a single coherent explanation of the role of government within the contemporary market system. In the context of tourism analysis, the focus is on the forces that explain why governments make particular types of decisions for the industry and the effect these have on the community's collective well-being. Policy can impact on a society's culture, its social order, its administration or its use of law, or any combination of these; but, largely it is about the economic welfare of the community. Much of the public decision-making system concerns who gets what, who should benefit and who should pay. The paper reviews the notion of government intervention to establish an 'interpretation' of economic policy-making in Western democracies, such as Australia, Britain or New Zealand. It argues that most policy issues, including tourism issues, derive from some form of failure in the market-place, where the tourism industry is but one component interconnected with many others. The paper expands the public-choice approach further by applying it to segmented markets, and the tourism industry itself, and provides an issue-based model that allows the tourism policy-making process to be explored, exposed and predicted.     

In search of authenticity in historic cities in transformation: the case of Pingyao,China

This article uses a series of controversies that unfolded in the Little Bighorn Battlefield area of Montana (USA) to critique the guest/host distinction that pervades tourism research. The battlefield where Custer made his legendary last stand is now a popular but contested American heritage site. This article describes how individuals have used the discursive space opened by the conjuncture of local conditions and the site's growing touristic appeal to accomplish objectives marginal to tourism. Many of those have taken shape within and served local, regional, and national identity politics. All have sought to either challenge or defend the status quo. The issues raised and positions defended during the struggle for control of the battle site and story reveal social rifts and ideological differences among, as well as between, guests and hosts. The events and interactions described complicate those categories and blur the distinction between cultural politics and critical public history. The article concludes by calling for an elaboration of the social relations found within the touristic context driven by indigenous saliences rather than scholarly concepts. Only then can the intersection of touristic and non-touristic processes be brought within the analytical purview.     

Local Government Tourism Planning and Policy-making in New South Wales: Institutional Development and Historical Legacies

Local government has an important role in tourism planning and development but has been criticised for not being more proactive. Impediments to local government involvement in tourism planning and policy-making include lack of community interest; lack of resources; lack of appropriate research and information; lack of commitment to implementation; lack of co-ordination and communication; and lack of technical expertise. This paper argues that these impediments can be more accurately viewed as consequences of deeply embedded values, beliefs, ideas and perceptions about local government roles and responsibilities. The paper reviews the historical development of local government in New South Wales, Australia, with respect to tourism, and discusses the influence of institutional history on how tourism is dealt with in that state.     

Partial Industrialisation in Tourism: A New Model

Certain forms of human activity, such as sport, education and tourism, can be described as being partly industrialised; they are supported partly by organisations with industrial relationships to the particular activity (e.g. tourism industries, sports industries, and so on), and partly by other factors. The latter includes business organisations whose relationship to the activity might be direct and commercial but is non-strategic, non-industrial. Partial industrialisation in tourism (PIIT) has been explored by a handful of researchers interested in its nature, causes and implications. However, the diagrammatic model used in the exploratory studies is awkward, a defect that probably helps explain why PIIT has not become widely recognised in the community of tourism researchers. A new model enables clearer insight and should facilitate understanding and greater recognition. Using the new model, an empirical research project in a mass destination provided substantial evidence for PIIT. Implications arise for many issues, including how tourism is conceptualised, strategic business management, destination competitiveness, destination development and promotion, seasonality, environmental activism, employment numbers, vocational training, planning and government policy.     

Tourism planning requirements from a private sector perspective: the case of Hong Kong

Government’s role in tourism planning has shifted from control to consultation, and many governments have adopted economic planning that move the responsibility for investment in infrastructure from the public to the private sector. In Hong Kong, the government has not articulated a clear tourism policy to guide tourism development but continues to assume responsibility for significant tourism infrastructure investment. This paper considers the views of the private sector towards tourism planning in Hong Kong, which gravitate towards the need for a formalized planning. The tourism sector supports the interventionist policies that have been a characteristic of the government’s relationship to the tourism industry in the past, believes that the current approach to planning needs to be replaced by a formal planning process, and that there is a need to include community groups in the policy determination process. The insights gained from the case of Hong Kong may serve as a reference for other destinations.     

Disentangling the tourism sector’s fragmentation: a hands-on coding/post-coding guide for interview and policy document analysis in tourism†

Qualitative tourism research is inevitably multidimensional. The fragmentation of the tourism sector across policy domains, scales, space and stakeholders leads to ‘blurry’ and aggregated datasets. Yet, tourism studies have a weak record in describing how results emanate from raw qualitative data. This paper presents a coding/post-coding scheme that proved robust in disentangling multidimensional tourism datasets in a middle-range research project that necessitated reflecting on the position of the researcher and the literature study during the data analysis. It describes the pragmatic decisions taken to organise the qualitative data from a research project on cross-border tourism and regional development processes. The paper also functions as a reflexive account of how this scheme came into existence. It contributes to the tools available to practically acknowledge the fragmentation of the tourism sector and the resulting multidimensional qualitative data, and calls for a more open accounting of the data analysis process and the underlying research values in tourism studies.     

Framing in a contested space: media reporting on tourism and mining in Australia

The last decade has seen Australia's economy undertake a significant transformation, with a rapid resurgence in mining. The high exchange rate that has arisen as a consequence of this boom has resulted in a number of other Australian industries becoming less competitive, leading to a two-speed economy. For the tourism industry, the result has been declining visitation, with some commentators attributing this decline directly to the mining boom. This paper explores how the media frames tourism- and mining-related issues regarding the current mining boom in Australia by undertaking a content analysis of 265 online newspaper articles relating to tourism and mining in Australia. The impact of mining on the tourism sector was frequently identified as a key issue, with the rapid expansion of mining increasing competition for labour, resources and infrastructure, as well as having the propensity to destroy certain tourism products. Journalistic techniques, such as hedging, were found to be prevalent in the media reporting, potentially leading to confusion surrounding key issues relating to tourism and mining in the public forum. Future research should seek to explore strategies that could be used by government and businesses to build sustainable, resilient regions through tourism and mining.     

Rural Tourism Partnerships and Actor Mobility

In this paper, I examine actor mobility within the context of rural tourism partnerships (RTPs). The term ‘actor’ refers to those who have a stake in tourism planning, promotion and development such as policy makers, businesses, non‐profit making sector and community groups. Mobility is embedded in personal and social histories of actors as well as the policy framework that impacts their daily lives and informs their motives for being (dis)associated with RTPs. While exploring how actors' journeys transform rural localities' socio‐economic fabric, I find the writings of Lefebvre and de Certeau particularly useful because of their focus on counter‐hegemonic practices that shape the ‘everyday life’. Given that most rural societies in current times comprise an intricate mix of long‐term residents, seasonal‐home owners and migrants, each with their distinct set of life stories and value preferences with regard to their place of dwelling, my thrust in this paper on actor mobility is likely to identify new areas of future research on RTPs. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A comparative automated content analysis approach on the review of the sharing economy discourse in tourism and hospitality

Using the sharing economy (SE) as the context, this article provides a coherent and nuanced methodological understanding of automated content analysis (ACA) in tourism and hospitality (TH) field. By adopting a comparative ACA approach, the paper compares the current TH Western academic literature of the SE with news media discourse in TH from the period 2011–2016 (August) (inclusive). The emerging issues from the news media discourse, such as mobility, SE companies and the role of government, are absent in current tourism academic research. Findings reveal that ACA can facilitate a more systematic comparison between different sources of data. This paper offers a starting point for tourism scholars to methodologically engage with ACA that can draw useful insights on a particular context.     

Tourism Policy in Jamaica: A Tale of Two Governments

This paper explores the role of public policy in the development of tourism in Jamaica. It focuses on two separate and contrasting periods. In the first, 1972–80, referred to here as 'The Socialist Era', the Jamaican government pursued goals of self-reliance combined with seeking to integrate tourism into Jamaican life. In the second period, 1980–89, 'The Period of Capitalism', emphasis was shifted to reducing government intervention and pursuing foreign exchange earnings. A comparison of tourism development during these two periods reveals that during the 'Socialist Era' some success was achieved in the Jamaicanisation of tourism but at the same time government policies contributed to an overall decline in the industry as measured by the traditional indicators of tourist arrivals, hotel occupancy, hotel provision and employment. During the 'Period of Capitalism' a change in policy is associated with a successful recovery of tourism numbers but an increasing tension between locals and tourists. The study cannot provide causal explanations of the links between policy shifts and tourism development. The wide range of external variables, including oil crises and world inflation, that occurred during the periods is too great to admit this kind of certainty. However, the policy background provides an important context for understanding the link between policy and development in one of the oldest and most well-developed tourist destinations in the Caribbean.