Using Travel brochures to Target Frequent Travellers and ”Big-Spenders”

Travel brochures are used throughout the industry to promote virtually all tourist destinations. This study examines how regional travelers request and use this material, specifically focusing on the relationships between brochure use and propensity to travel and travel expenditures. The results from a mail survey of 276 marginally related to high conversions, yet those marketing destinations can distinguish between how brochures are used and travel propensity and travel expenditures.     

中、韩、朝旅游合作现状及其对图们江区域经济发展的作用

图们江区域是东北亚的地理中心，是东北亚区域经济的潜在交会点，图位江区域开发是东北亚六国国际经济合和的关键。本文具体分析了环图位江区域中、韩、朝三国的旅游合作现状，旅游带动和促进了跨国区域经济的发展，旅游合作不仅给图位区域经济带来了新的增长点，并创造了许多间接收益，大大地促进了图位江区域经济的发展。     

Past,Present, and Future of Tourism Education

SUMMARY

Tourism education in Korea, mandated by the Higher Education Act, has evolved rapidly in response to the tourism industry's growth and labor demands for the last four decades. As tourism education has matured and become increasingly recognized as a legitimate academic field of study, the Korean tourism education has attempted to generate future quality workforce and to establish the status of tourism as a prominent research oriented discipline. The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the Korean tourism industry and tourism education over the past four decades and to suggest future directions for Korean education in the 21st century. By improving current curricula according to today's fast changing tourism business environment and cooperating with the tourism industry with the aid of the government on policies and regulations, Korean tourism education will continue to contribute to the Korean tourism industry as a legitimate partner.     

Tourism, peace, politics and ideology: impacts of the Mt. Gumgang tour project in the Korean Peninsula

A number of researchers have postulated that tourism between nations that have been divided or remain hostile to each other may be a means of reducing tension and promoting peace. The Korean Peninsula has remained divided since the Korean War and tensions between the North and South remain high. In the first tangible attempt to develop meaningful relations between the North and South outside of the UN structure, the Hyundai Corporation of South Korea was given permission to build and operate a resort destination at Mt. Gumgang in North Korea. The project has not been well supported by South Korean tourists and has required significant financial assistance from the South Korean Government. The paper examines the background of the project, the issues that were the primary cause for low demand and the role of the project as a vehicle for promoting peace. The paper finds that while tourism may be a method of reducing political tension as suggested by Butler and Mao (Asia Pacific J. Tourism Res. 1(1) (1996) 25) and Yu (Asia Pacific J. Tourism Res. 2(1) (1997) 19), it may also have a darker side and inadvertently become a vehicle for inhibiting peace. Further the paper suggests that in the case of Mt. Gumgang, tourism is the consequence of a political process aimed at rapprochement, not the genesis of the process.     

The mediation of information technology on visitors’ experience at a cultural heritage site

This study identifies perceptual differences between the experiences of using an interactive ubiquitous access tourism service (U-tourism service) at a cultural heritage site and on-site participation-driven services. An interactive U-tourism service, “Hwaseong Haenggung Histour”, a smart phone application, was developed and implemented for this study. The study found (a) visitors who experienced the U-tourism service showed higher recognition on such dimensions as education, novelty, entertainment and fellowships, regarded as important components of on-site experiences, than those who joined on-site participation-driven services and (b) young visitors who used the interactive U-tourism service recorded higher in the dimensions of both education and novelty than those who joined on-site participation-driven services and showed higher satisfaction. These findings provide strong justification for the introduction of U-tourism services, particularly for young visitors. This study contributes to the understanding of a fast-growing and influential electronic tool for cultural heritage sites.     

中国公民赴韩国旅游市场分析--以我国六大旅游热点城市为例

中韩两国历史源远流长,文化相似,地理相邻,两国人民世代交往不断。由于特定时期的政治原因,两国一度中断了联系。但自1992年中韩建交以来,两国之间的经济、文化交流日益频繁。中国已经成为韩国第二大旅游客源国,中国公民赴韩国旅游业已成为我国出境游市场的重要组成部分。本论文旨在通过对中国公民赴韩国出境游市场的现状进行分析,提出当前韩国游市场存在的问题,并从政府旅游部门、旅游企业及韩方相关机构角度提出相关对策建议,以利于促进中国公民赴韩出境游市场的持续、健康、快速发展。     

Characteristics of a Medical Tourism Industry: The Case of South Korea

This study investigates the process involved in developing a medical tourism industry in South Korea as a case country, one of the fastest growing countries with strong potential in the medical tourism industry. It analyzed 252 articles on medical tourism posted on the websites of the Korean Tourism Organization and the Korean International Medical Association. Both sources are highly representative portal websites for medical tourism in the country. The article aims to enhance understanding of medical tourism as a new growth industry while identifying its key developmental characteristics and makes valuable suggestions for the industry that can be reflected to other countries. The study contributes theoretically and practically by examining the unique and updated characteristics and process of positioning of this recently emerging field in the global tourism industry.     

Tourism on organic farms in South Korea: a new form of ecotourism≟

This exploratory research examines the potential of organic farms in South Korea to enable a distinct form of environmentally sustainable tourism. Case studies involving in-depth interviews with three organic farms and content analysis of the websites of 38 organic farms offering tourism-related activities were conducted. An analytical framework using key ecotourism principles was developed to guide an evaluation of activities and practices on the farms. Organic farmers in the study were concerned about ecological conditions on their land, possessed close ties to that land, and employed related knowledge to help preserve natural habitat and minimize adverse environmental impacts. Social–cultural gains were evident, for both visitors and local inhabitants. It is argued that this type of tourism on organic farms may be a potentially new form of ecotourism (eco-organic farm tourism). The study suggests that ecotourism principles may be usefully applied as a guiding sustainability paradigm for small scale, organic farms engaging in tourism. This new tourism type can be employed as a strategy for facilitating sustainable agriculture, local development, social–cultural and environmental conservation, wellbeing, and learning. Further research needs to be carried out both in Korea and elsewhere to develop this eco-organic farm tourism concept.     

Island of Peace or Island of War: Tourist Guiding

The role of tour guides in conveying information, offering explanations, and developing narratives has become a contemporary research theme. The guide is introduced as a translator of the culture, who has the crucial task of selecting, glossing, and interpreting sights. The study will examine how the Island of Peace—a border site between former adversaries, Israel and Jordan, is introduced to Israeli tourists by Israeli guides and what messages the guides deliver to their captive audience. Based on participant observation of the guided tours in the site the article will show that the guides’ narratives and messages in many cases do not portray the site as a site of peace (as its name suggests), but mostly as a site with a past of tension and conflict.     

Regional Development Strategy for Increasing Cultural Tourism Business in South Korea

Korea's traditional distribution market is at a turning point, and the international paradigm of distribution is also gradually declining in terms of numbers and sales. As such, the Korean government has developed cultural tourism to revive regional economies, which are losing competitiveness, by expanding the new distribution field, such as large discount stores and Internet shopping. The results of the empirical analysis indicate that several factors have a significant influence on profitability and success: traditional factors, gender and age, the intention to return, products and competitive prices, and amenities. This paper illustrates how Korea's national and local governments oversee cultural tourism business through case studies in Korea. For a developing country, cultural tourism is a valuable policy in terms of regional development and, by extension, of regional economic revitalization.     

Impact of Tourism Openness Across the Taiwan Strait: Perspective of Mainland Chinese Tourists

ABSTRACT

Millennials, who are different from the older generations in leisure and consumption propensities, constitute more than 30% of the global population. The increase in the proportion of millennials in the population has motivated national museums in Korea to implement a new operational strategy for attracting this generation. Using data envelopment analysis, this study reveals that Korean millennials are more interested in special exhibitions and participatory events compared to the earlier generations. The results also indicate that enhancing the overall revisit rate significantly improves the overall performance of national museums. This study is expected to help museums and event organizers to establish differentiated operational strategies according to visitor types for “what service should be provided for whom.”     

Tourists’ Perceptions of London,United Kingdom (UK), as a Safe Host City During the 2012 Olympic Games

The Olympic Games 2012 provided the host city London with the opportunity to showcase its cultural diversity and world-class tourist attractions. However, the build-up to the world’s largest sporting event attracted considerable negative publicity primarily related to security at the Games, namely terrorism and its potential to disrupt the spectacle. Intercept interviews were carried out with 354 spectators during the Games at public viewing sites and key tourist attractions to elicit the perceptions of London as a safe host city. The findings demonstrate that visitors to the Olympics perceived London to be safe, in terms of both crime and terrorism, with positive consequences for their future plans to revisit London. Ultimately, a better understanding of spectators’ perceptions of safety and security of the Games can help improve communication messages to combat misperceptions in an effort to increase tourist arrivals to host cities during the staging of mega-events and after such events.     

On linguistic relativity and pro-environmental attitudes in tourism

Language is a key cultural and cognitive attribute which can shape the way people think and behave. Research in economics has tested the influence of language on human consumption and found that languages that explicitly mark future events, i.e. so-called future-time-reference or strong FTR languages, may engage their speakers in less future-oriented attitudes and actions. This phenomenon is known as linguistic relativity. By applying its principles to tourism, this study investigated the impact of language on pro-environmental attitudes of tourists. Comparative analysis of Korean (strong FTR language) and Mandarin (weak FTR language) speaking tourists revealed substantial differences in attitudes. Although tourists possessed good knowledge on the environmental impacts of tourism, this knowledge did not translate into high pro-environmental attitudes for Korean speakers while it did for Mandarin. This suggests that language can shape the attitudes of tourists towards environmental impacts. Implications for management, policy-making and future research are discussed.     

南方长城与长城文化之旅的开发

中国南方长城的存在已是不争的事实,苗疆边墙不论在修筑的时间还是在结构和功能上,都与北方长城没有什么两样,不同的是它经过我国湿润的人口密度较大的地区,从而使长城作为历史上中国特定地区不同民族文化之间的功能界线,这一特有的文化背景,在更小的区域内得到了清晰的体现。由于南方长城的存在,凤凰的文化景观形成了差异明显的三大区：民族文化分界区、民族文化分离区和民族文化联合区,它们各自具有鲜明的特色,都是凤凰旅游的重要引力源。本文在挖掘长城文化内涵,诠注凤凰三大文化景观区之间成因联系的基础上,提出以长城文化为旅游主题,以“中国南方长城之旅”为旅游形象,以南方长城和民族文化分合为景观整合的线索,打造中国长城文化旅游精品的思路和措施。