Surface Transport Distribution Channels in New Zealand

Abstract

This paper complements recent research on distribution in the airline industry by examining distribution channels for a range of surface transport businesses (coaches, rental cars, campervans, rail and inter-island ferries) in New Zealand. The study takes a national perspective, adopts a supply-side approach and is based on the analysis of information from in-depth interviews with selected providers. Particular emphasis is given to establishing the nature of the channels used and to the factors that contribute to differences and similarities in channel structures from one form of transport or product to another. Three broad classes of channels are identified: direct; conventional travel intermediaries; and local intermediaries. While carriers use multiple channels, broader patterns do emerge related to particular forms of travel and market segments.     

Sustaining urban place-making

Educational travel, a neglected area of study in sustainable tourism, has grown substantially over the last 20 years in part as a response to institutional missions to promote international education, but also as a result of the USA's national security concerns to nurture a global citizenry. Considerable future growth is predicted following the bipartisan Lincoln Commission report and under the pending new legislation in the USA. Our pre-test/post-test study of almost 5% (n = 651 US students) of the entire short-term, US educational travel market to Australia and New Zealand between 2008 and 2009 revealed significant differences between the cohorts of the two programs, both of which focused on sustainable development. The Australia program not only produced significant increases in global citizenship (as measured by scores on consumer behaviors, support for environmental policies, and environmental citizenship) beyond that of the New Zealand program, but any initial differences between the programs were erased following participation. Reasons for the differences in attitude change are discussed. Analysis also noted key differences between students with different political orientations, but no gender differences. Implications for managing educational travel, marketing Australia's and New Zealand's tourism, sustainable tourism planning, and theory advancements are discussed.     

Towards sustainable tourism planning in New Zealand: Monitoring local government planning under the Resource Management Act

In the light of the increasing pace and scale of tourism activity in New Zealand, the concept of sustainable tourism has become a key ingredient in the nation's tourism strategy. This paper explores sustainable tourism planning in New Zealand at the level of local government, and in particular, focuses on the implementation of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) as a mechanism for achieving sustainable tourism. Using the findings of a survey of Regional Councils and Territorial Local Authorities, the paper explores public sector planning responses to tourism impacts and sustainability concerns in New Zealand. The paper extends the earlier work of Page and Thorn (1997. Towards sustainable tourism planning in New Zealand: public sector planning responses. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 5(1): 59-77; 2002. Towards sustainable tourism development and planning in New Zealand: the public sector response revisited. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 10(3): 222-238), which identified major issues of concern at local council level with regard to tourism impacts and argued the need for a national vision for tourism to ensure that the RMA achieved its original goals. Since then, a national tourism strategy has been published and changes in legislation have further empowered local authorities to further progress the sustainability agenda. This paper examines these developments and the ensuing implications, concluding that significant progress has been made in developing tourism policies at the local level, but that a number of constraints and issues limit the development of New Zealand as a sustainable destination.     

旅游权内涵解析及其保险保障机制探讨

公民旅游权是基本人权的重要延伸,是一种综合性权利,可分为基础性旅游权和消费性旅游权两大类,旅游保障权、旅游自由权、旅游平等权、旅游资源共享权、旅游发展共享权、旅游消费权和出入境旅游权等七项权利。在我国旅游发展与旅游者权益保护亟待加强的情况下,建议通过相关制度设计构建全面广泛的公民旅游权保障体系,完善我国旅游业持续健康发展的制度基础。在保险制度方面的保障措施主要包括:借助强制保险和商业保险提供公民旅游休闲保障,完善保险制度安排,加强旅游资源保护,进行保险创新,保障公民旅游自由权,加强保险国际合作保障,公民出入境旅游权等。     

The Closer Economic Relationship Between Australia and New Zealand:

The closer economic relationship trade agreement (CER) between Australia and New Zealand has substantial implications for travel and tourism in the two countries. This study provides a discussion of the development of new branding strategies at both the inter and international level. In addition, New Zealand appears set to benefit greatly from its improved access to the much larger Australian market.     

Mountain Places,Cultural Spaces: The Interpretation of Culturally Significant Landscapes

This paper presents an overview of how national park interpretation in New Zealand is incorporating Māori perspectives of cultural landscapes. Since the formation of the Department of Conservation in 1987, interpretive material containing information about the relationship between local iwi (Māori tribal groups) and natural areas has increased. Co-operative management strategies have been instigated by the Department to ensure that interpretation conveying Māori perspectives and cultural values for the landscape is accurate and authorised by iwi members. The paper analyses the findings from a survey that asked visitors about their experiences of the cultural interpretation at Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. At this site, Department of Conservation staff aim to (1) increase visitors' understanding of the Māori relationship to the land and (2) direct appropriate visitor behaviour whilst in the area. Many survey respondents were unaware of the relationship between Māori and the area prior to their visit, despite reporting cultural activities and experiences with indigenous peoples as travel motivators. On-site interpretation contributed to raising visitors' awareness that the landscape has special significance to local iwi, thus providing a cultural dimension to the visitors' experiences at this internationally renowned natural area.     

旅游合同解除制度的体系性解释

《旅游法》中的旅游合同解除制度,须结合《合同法》上的解除制度进行体系性解释。旅游合同的一般法定解除权应包括《合同法》第94条的规定。《旅游法》第67条的"不可避免事件",存在解释的空间。《旅游法》虽未明确旅游者的任意解除权,但无论是从合同性质路径还是合同具体内容导出合同义务路径,《旅游法》第65条都应被解释为旅游者任意解除权的依据。而旅游经营者的法定解除权,应秉持立法宗旨及旅游特性,对传染病、危害公共安全的物品、社会公德、违法活动等用语进行限定解释。在旅游合同解除效果上,应考虑到未履行部分费用、返程费用、履行利益及时间浪费赔偿的特殊性。     

The Role of Chinese Students as Tourists and Hosts for Overseas Travel

With more visas being granted and application processes streamlined, more Chinese students are studying abroad. These students have an influential and continuing effect on the host country's tourism industry over and above their own education-related activities and expenditures because they attract family members and friends to visit the countries where they study. Unfortunately, the research on the role of Chinese students as hosts for overseas travel is quite limited. Therefore, this paper provides some insights into this issue by looking at the influence of students' satisfaction on their role as hosts for the friends and family sector while also providing some data on the students' own holiday motives and assessments of New Zealand. The data were derived from 504 self-completed surveys by Chinese students from four universities in North Island, New Zealand. Evidence was found of students fulfilling a number of roles as guides, sources of information and acting as hosts, but the relationships between their own holiday experiences and satisfaction and the degree to which they fulfilled these roles was weak at best, indicating, therefore, the importance of other variables.     

Ethical travel decisions travel agents and human rights

This paper explores the ethics of selling tourism products for destinations that have known major human rights issues. The study uses the moral intensity framework to analyze the ethical decisionmaking of New Zealand travel agents. Qualitative interviews reveal support for all aspects of the framework. In particular, agents’ judgements are strongly influenced by their perceptions of how their decisions impact upon their clients. In contrast, uncertainty surrounds the probability and magnitude of consequences of their decisions for destination communities. Strong social, cultural, legal, and economic links between the agent and the more proximate stakeholders mean that ethical decisions commonly favor these stakeholders.     

TOURISM SENSE‐MAKING: THE ROLE OF THE SENSES AND TRAVEL JOURNALISM

The tourist experience is corporeal and multisensory. Tourism organizations, therefore, need to pay attention to the sensual content of promotional messages conveyed to potential tourists to provide incentives for seeking enriched experiences of place. Together with other image formation agents, travelogues (travel articles published in newspapers and magazines) offer information on and prompt imagination about destinations that help frame visitors' expectations and influence their subsequent travel decisions and behaviors. This article content‐analyzed 199 travelogues about New Zealand to identify relationships between regions and perceptions based on sensory allusions. It was found that the reporting of New Zealand as a whole by visiting journalists tended to utilize an appeal to all senses, but this was not true of individual destinations. It is suggested that urban destinations such as Auckland and Wellington possess potential for a wider sense appeal than is currently used through products based on urban adventure tourism and culinary tourism. An “ideal” itinerary is proposed that would permit journalists to capture a sensory experience of New Zealand.     

旅行社承包挂靠问题的诱因分析与法律规制

改革开放30多年旅游业发展进程中,旅行社行业普遍存在的承包挂靠经营成为严重扰乱旅游市场秩序且难以彻底整治的顽症.为了进一步提升旅游市场质量和秩序,充分保护旅游者的合法权益,这一问题需要我们采取有效对策加以解决.文章通过对我国旅行社承包挂靠现实状态的调查,从历史根源、外力影响、内力驱动及市场主体间的逻辑关系等几个方面分析了这一问题产生的主要诱因,并结合我国旅游法治建设的进程,从疏、堵、压三个维度提出了相应的法律规制措施,认为以疏导为主的规范、激励措施及有效的市场执法的结合是根治这一难题的基本出路.     

Canary in the coalmine: Norwegian attitudes towards climate change and extreme long-haul air travel to Aotearoa/New Zealand

Accelerating global climate change poses considerable challenges to all societies and economies. The European Union now targets a 20% reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2020. Indeed, the Labour-led Norwegian government is committed to carbon neutrality across all sectors of the economy by 2030. Aviation has been identified as a rapidly growing contributor to CO₂ emissions. This article reports on a research project that explored Norwegian attitudes towards climate change, particularly as they relate to extreme long-haul air travel to Aotearoa/New Zealand. It reveals that the ‘dream trip’ to New Zealand for Norwegians is still largely intact. It also finds evidence of ‘air travel with a carbon conscience’ arising from growing concern for high frequency discretionary air travel. Evidence of denial of the climate impact of air travel that recent studies have revealed was largely absent. Interviewees expressed a greater concern for short-haul air travel emissions than for the climate impact of long-haul travel. However, intentions to adapt long-haul travel behaviours were expressed, highlighting the need to monitor consumer attitudes towards the impact of air travel on climate change. We conclude that Norway is a vanguard European tourism market in terms of climate sensitivity.     

Somewhat empty meeting grounds: Travelers in South India

Making ‘genuine’ contacts with local people has been defined as one of the ‘pillars’ of the ideology of independent travel. In a groundbreaking time-space budgeting survey among travelers in Kerala, India, a contradictory reality was discovered. Western travelers interacted mainly with local service providers, in an instrumental manner. Spontaneous contacts occurred mostly during their travel days when situations such as sharing a train compartment ‘forced’ the interaction. Interestingly, the ‘genuine’ contacts with locals were least common on leisure days when there was maximum freedom to look for them. The interest for difference was apparently satisfied in less demanding engagements. An analysis of the spatiotemporalities of the traveler everyday challenged and gave measure to several assumed features of travel culture.     

Analysing International Tourist Flows to Estimate Energy Use Associated with Air Travel

Tourism is a major global industry and air travel is an increasingly vital component of international tourism. This paper examines the neglected relationship between tourism and aviation with regard to global environmental impacts, including energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Based on visitor arrival data collected by Statistics New Zealand, it estimates a total energy use of 27.8 PJ resulting from international passenger air travel to New Zealand, which would increase national energy use by 6% if international air travel were included in national inventories. This energy use translates into additional carbon dioxide emissions of 1.9 million tonnes. These estimates are discussed in terms of a tourist's 'energy bill', national and international climate change policies, and with regard to the concept of sustainable tourism development.     

Analysis of motivation,travel risk,and travel satisfaction of Taiwan undergraduates on work and travel overseas programmes: Developing measurement scales

Travel is an increasingly important aspiration for young people around the world. In order to explore other places and their culture, and to relax, have fun, and save money to travel, combining overseas work and travel is now a popular young students' activity. Such student travel has a history of 30 years and in 2011 7 countries have permitted a work and travel visa to be issued to Taiwanese students. Every year almost over 3000 Taiwanese young people travel overseas, especially to the United States of America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, to both work and travel in those countries. There they can improve their language skills, expand their international viewpoints and experience different cultures. This study looks at the relationships between work and travel overseas motivations, perceived travel risk and satisfaction for young people, and uses a sample of 151 Taiwanese undergraduates working and traveling in the U.S.A., Australia and New Zealand during 2008 to 2010. Three hypothesized relationships are examined with reference to perceived risk, motivation and satisfaction and measurement scales are proposed.     

Bicycle tourism in the South Island of New Zealand: planning and management issues

Several emerging trends are pointing to the re-emergence of the bicycle as an important leisure and recreational transportation mode. Yet little research has been conducted into cycling within a tourism context. This paper examines the increasing phenomenon of bicycle tourism by defining bicycle tourists and bicycle tourism from a demand perspective, and describes the characteristics, infrastructure and travel behaviour associated with bicycle tourism through the examination of data collected on independent cycle tourists in the South Island of New Zealand. It illustrates through performance-importance analysis, the areas of major concern in the planning and management of bicycle tourism, and recommends that a demand side perspective is needed if the supply side of the industry is to be sustainable in the future. It makes recommendations for the future planning and management of bicycle tourism in New Zealand that may be of interest to countries currently developing cycle tourism.     

Online Reputation Monitoring: An Exploratory Study on Italian Hotel Managers’ Practices

This study aims to understand current Italian hotel managers’ practices in monitoring online reviews included on travel websites and online travel agencies. Results obtained by a web survey indicate what hotel managers monitor (rating, rankings, guest comments regarding different service elements) and managers’ orientation in replying to customer reviews. Findings may support online reputation management tools providers and consulting firms by highlighting the degree of hoteliers’ interest in UGC monitoring and providing insights on possible factors that differentiate current management practices and should be considered in order to offer technical solutions coherent with the distinctiveness of Italian context.     

Trip Planning and Decision Making of Self-Drive Tourists—

Abstract

Touring holidays are greenhouse gas intensive, and ways are being sought to reduce these emissions in New Zealand. This research seeks to influence rental vehicle tourists' planning and decision making towards shorter travel. Semi-structured interviews (n = 96) were conducted as part of a quasi-experimental approach, in which tourists were “treated” by receiving a purpose-designed tourist map. Three levels of planning and decision making could be distinguished, whereby both cognitive and affective processes were important. The tourist map did not influence tourists' itineraries, but tourists in New Zealand consistently followed a “travel budget” of about 3-5 hours driving per day.     

The use of eLearning strategies among travel agents in the United Kingdom,India and New Zealand

ABSTRACT

This study explores the use of eLearning courses created by destination management organizations for education and certification in the travel trade. Phone interviews were conducted with travel agents based in the United Kingdom, India and New Zealand to identify knowledge upgrade strategies with regard to tourism destinations. The study evaluates the rates of current usage and awareness of eLearning courses about tourism destinations among agents in the three countries.     

Constructing Taiwan's Low-Carbon Tourism Development Suitability Evaluation Indicators

This study aimed to construct an operable, monitorable, and quantifiable low-carbon tourism development suitability evaluation model. This paper presents quantitative indicator standardization. Delphi and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process methods were used for data collection and carrying out the corresponding weight analysis. Through abundant literature review and expert interviews, this study constructed an objective and quantitative evaluation model, consisting of 6 aspects and 16 evaluation categories with 53 indicators that were significant to develop low-carbon tourism. The six aspects include transportation, travel agencies, hotel accommodation, destinations, local communities, and food service. This study also used Yilan Taiwan, a low-carbon tourism county, as an example, and carried out a comprehensive assessment, providing advice for developing low-carbon travel. This model can be used for evaluating the development of low-carbon tourism not only in Taiwan but in all places that aspire to promote low-carbon tourism development.