Consulting communities: using audience response system (ARS) technology to assess community preferences for sustainable recreation and tourism development

Audience response system (ARS) technology (also known as “clickers”) has emerged as an educational tool that promotes active learning. This paper describes how ARS works and how it can also be used in research to assess community preferences for tourism development. A case study that used ARS technology shows how stakeholder preferences for extraction, heritage tourism and recreation within two rural mountain economies in the US west were effectively assessed. The use of ARS was backed by situation assessment procedures to determine appropriate stimulus questions probing trade-offs, perceived costs/benefits and cultural fit. A detailed series of key results measured community preferences and were made available to guide policymaking and future empirical survey work. Public meeting arrangements, publicity, structure and moderation for the ARS work is described and discussed. Evaluation of the use of ARS technology showed high levels of participant satisfaction with both the technology and the situation assessment procedures, and the emergence of potential tourism development actions.     

Barriers to community capacity building for tourism development in communities in Shiraz,Iran

This paper illustrates barriers to community capacity building (CCB) in tourism development, based on a questionnaire survey of 175 community leaders carried out in the city of Shiraz in Iran. It builds on the work of other researchers who found that in developing countries, a lack of CCB is an influential barrier to tourism development. The study found that the main barriers to CCB are to be found at the organizational and community levels. The barriers did not manifest equally in every community and tend to exhibit higher intensity and greater persistence in the new district in comparison to the old historic district of Shiraz. Community members have restricted access to decision-making, a lack of resources, knowledge, skills and education and lack a sense of ownership with regard to tourism. The centralization of government is a further problem. This paper shows that concerned leaders, especially those involved in tourism industry, could utilize the results of this study in their efforts to resolve the barriers to tourism development in their communities.     

Perceptions of surfing tourism operators regarding sustainable tourism development in the Mentawai Islands,Indonesia

Surfing tourism has the potential to provide significant economic income and employment opportunities. However, the development of surfing tourism in the Mentawai Islands, Indonesia, has raised important questions regarding its impacts and sustainability. Economic leakages, increased pressure on the environment and resources, and adverse effects on local communities have been shown as the major barriers to sustainable development. This article provides insights into how surfing tourism operators perceive the development and impacts of the Mentawai Islands surfing tourism industry. This research project uses an interpretive qualitative approach and follows a case study methodology utilising semi-structured interviews with resort and charter boat surfing tourism operators. The study also investigated possible future directions for creating a more sustainable surfing tourism industry in the Mentawai Islands. Findings from the research showed that charter boat operators and resort operators had differing views as to how surfing tourism had developed: resort operators believed it to be sustainable, while charter boat operators felt it was unsustainable. A key finding of this study was that operators felt that surfing tourism had dramatically altered the traditional Mentawai village of Katiet and was producing adverse socio-cultural impacts on the local community. It is recommended that future research explore the issue of the impacts of surfing tourism development on other remote locations in Indonesia and other surfing tourism destinations around the globe.     

Community tourism development scenarios and their use in tourism research

Scenarios have been utilised to a limited degree in tourism and in a number of areas such as in development, sustainability studies, and political decision making. The use of scenarios has primarily concentrated on evaluating people's attitudes and decision processes, as predictions toward perceived future situations for tourism planning, and as a tool in exploratory research. In a recent study conducted in Eastern Australian coastal regions, a set of community tourism scenarios was developed in order to gauge the types of communities with tourism development, and thus explore in more depth the ideologies and platforms which may have influence on decision making in local government. The use of a community tourism scenario, such as developed in this study may have strong implications in broadening the way tourism and community researchers distinguish community attitudes toward present and future tourism development opportunities as well as their corresponding pressures. In addition, it may provide a positive tool for understanding perceived community directions as well as providing a mechanism for gauging planning decisions in a tourism context.     

Sustainable tourism planning and climate change adaptation in the Alps: a case study of winter tourism in mountain communities in the Dolomites

A vast body of literature suggests that the European Alpine Region is extremely sensitive to climate change. Winter tourism is closely related to climate variations, especially in mountain regions where resorts are heavily dependent on snow. This paper explores how to effectively integrate a climate change adaptation perspective with local discourses about sustainability and tourism, an increasing priority for policy-makers in the region and elsewhere. It reports on the development and application of a participatory decision support process for the analysis of adaptation strategies for local development of an Alpine tourism destination, Auronzo di Cadore (Dolomites, Italy). This experience significantly contributed to the idea that an efficient combination of modelling capabilities, decision support tools, and participatory processes can substantially improve decision-making for sustainability. The authors show that, in this case study, such a combination of methods and tools allowed for managing the involvement of local actors, stimulating local debates on climate change adaptation and possible consequences on winter tourism, encouraging creativity and smoothing potential conflicts, and easing the integration of the qualitative knowledge and the preferences of the involved actors with quantitative information. This contributed to an integrated sustainability assessment of alternative strategies for sustainable tourism planning.     

Social learning and sustainable tourism development; local quality conventions in tourism: a Greek case study

This paper presents the trajectory of an innovative organisational scheme, the Local Quality Convention (LQC), concerning sustainable tourism development in the Lake Plastiras area, a less favoured area in Central Greece. It outlines the development issues of the area, the main actors, their views and practices and describes the creation, progress and emerging problems of the LQC scheme. Research reveals contradicting approaches to sustainable tourism development which, in turn, influenced the LQC's evolution. The findings are critically discussed in the light of the Social Learning (SL) approach to social change and sustainable development. According to SL it is only through interactive (participative), concerted action that stakeholders are able to co-construct an issue and its solutions. Given the dominance of “conventional” tourism in Greece as well as the top-down formation and implementation of policies, the importance of the long term facilitation of local stakeholders to achieve sustainable tourism development is demonstrated, along with other related lessons for planners and managers.     

The effects of tourism development on rural livelihoods in the Okavango Delta,Botswana

The Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) program in Botswana aims to achieve biodiversity conservation and rural development in rich biodiversity areas like the Okavango Delta. CBNRM assumes that if rural communities derive benefits from natural resources, they will be obliged to use such resources sustainably. Using the sustainable livelihoods framework, this study analyzes the effects of tourism development through CBNRM on rural livelihoods at Khwai, Sankoyo and Mababe in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, using primary and secondary data sources. Results of long-term surveys and in-depth interviews indicate that the three communities have forgone traditional livelihood activities such as hunting and gathering, livestock and crop farming to participate in tourism through CBNRM. Livelihoods in these villages have been improved as a result. Basic needs such as shelter, employment and income and social services like water supply systems, transportation, scholarships and payment of funeral expenses are now provided to community members and funded with income from CBNRM. Social capital has been built up in order to agree, manage and develop the CBNRM process. These results show that tourism development in these villages is achieving its goal of improved livelihoods, contradicting claims that community development projects are failing to achieve rural development.     

Local reactions to mass tourism and community tourism development in Macau

By 2014, it became apparent that a popular debate was emerging in many destinations about the “annoyances” felt by local residents in the face of an upsurge in inbound tourism. This study investigates residents’ attitudes toward mass tourism and tourism development in Macau. It comprises an examination of three emotional solidarity factors of residents’ perceptions of the contribution of tourism to the community and the community's experiences of so-called “annoyances” from tourists that may ultimately influence residents’ attitudes toward community tourism development. The results of this study reveal that three emotional solidarity factors play different roles in influencing residents’ attitudes about community tourism and community tourism development. The theoretical contributions, as well as implications, are discussed and future research opportunities are proposed.     

Fostering rural and agricultural tourism: exploring the potential of geocaching

Geocaching is a modern-day version of “hide and seek” where participants use geographical longitude and latitude coordinates to locate a “geocache” using a GPS device or mobile app. An agriculturally focused geocache program could foster tourism, interest and educational opportunities about rural and agricultural areas, and could facilitate additional patronage of businesses that operate in these areas. As a prerequisite to such a program, however, organizations must commit to establishing and maintaining a geocache. This study explores the perceived benefits and constraints to an organization's participation in a rural or agriculturally focused geocache program. A case example of an agriculturally focused geocaching program, AgCache, is used as a starting point. In-depth interviews of program Founders and current participants explored the program's background and goals, and experiences of participating sites. Complimenting this, a survey collected information from potential host sites, and probit model analyses were used to assess influences on an organization's interest in hosting a geocache. While many organizations indicated that they would be interested in such a program, several indicated (addressable) concerns. Characteristics of the organization and respondent were found to significantly influence their interest. Findings are instructive for targeting and recruiting organizations into an agricultural or rural geocaching program.     

Enhancing sustainable heritage tourism in Egypt: challenges and framework of action

Prior research on heritage tourism has suggested a set of general guidelines to develop sustainability in heritage sites, but these lack details on implementation and prospective challenges, especially in developing countries. This research studies the practical application of sustainable heritage tourism (SHT) in Egypt. In particular, it investigates the challenges facing the tourism development of the Esna heritage site, and proposes a framework of action. The emergent challenges are related to two main aspects: community (e.g. close urbanization and theft of antiquities) and management (e.g. lack of top management support and commitment, conflict of authorities, lack of awareness and appropriate skills and lack of adequate funding). The study found that the central and most influential factors are those related to management. The suggested framework of actions outlines objectives, related actions and implementation responsibilities. The implementation of the entire suite of actions would enhance the ability of Esna to conserve heritage, develop local community and assist in facing the challenges to SHT development. Generally, this study is a step toward a better understanding of how SHT could be achieved in developing countries. It also gives relevant insights to both researchers and practitioners.     

An educational simulation tool for integrated coastal tourism development in developing countries

In spite of the importance of coastal tourism for the economies of many developing countries, tourism infrastructure has often been developed without full consideration of long-term impacts on the environment. The simulation model presented in this paper aims to address critical gaps in awareness and capacity for integrated decision-making and planning in tourism infrastructure development in a developing country context. We build a simple closed-loop model of tourism infrastructure investment, which integrates typical economic, social and ecological dimensions of the problem. The model is calibrated so that within 20 years, investment projects in tourist capacity done without concomitant investment in solid waste and wastewater treatment result in a collapse of fish stocks and a sharp drop in tourist attendance. The model includes several policy options that allow users to intervene at various points in the loop, allowing stakeholders to explore how various combinations of policies perform in financial, environmental and social terms over the long period. The model can, therefore, be used as an educational tool for training and capacity-building.     

Sustainable tourism implementation in urban areas: a case study of London

Sustainable tourism is a concept widely embraced by managers and planners of tourist destinations. However, it has received little attention in the context of urban tourism, an area of research that has until recently been largely neglected by academics. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge on sustainable tourism implementation in large cities, by using London as an exploratory case study. Through the collection and analysis of both primary and secondary data (online survey, semi-structured interviews and document analysis), it seeks to explore whether local authorities have implemented policies towards sustainable tourism in the capital. The findings indicate that although the concept of sustainable tourism is perceived as important by policy makers, only a few local authorities in London promote its principles in their policy documents and even fewer have initiatives to put them in practice. Most of these initiatives are isolated activities which address limited aspects of sustainable tourism. The paper concludes that despite some progress made to date, in the current economic climate, growth and development remain the main objectives of governments and local authorities, while social and environmental issues are often left behind.     

Human resources in tourism: Still waiting for change

This paper reviews key themes that impact on the role and management of human resources in tourism (primarily relating to work and employment) and assesses whether the past 20 years provides evidence of significant change within the sector. The paper considers the status of work in tourism and reflects upon the impact that key environmental developments have had upon employment—the practice of human resource management in contemporary tourism; the impact of global and social forces on perceptions of work and careers; the impact of ICT on work and employment in tourism; changing interpretations of skills within tourism; and the increasingly diverse nature of the tourism workforce in developed countries. Conclusions are drawn which point to a “hung jury” in considering whether change in the tourism workplace, over the review timeframe, has been ephemeral or more fundamental.     

乡村旅游发展中的城乡要素流动过程与机制

乡村旅游是促进城乡市场连接的途径之一。厘清乡村旅游发展带来的城乡要素流动过程及其机制,既是乡村旅游衔接乡村振兴战略、推动城乡融合发展的重要议题,也是促进乡村旅游高质量发展的题中之义。本文遵循“过程—特征—机制”的研究思路,分析乡村旅游发展的城乡流动要素类型,总结要素流动过程中的规律与特征,进而阐释要素流动机制。研究表明：乡村旅游带来的要素流动,既涵盖了人、资金、物资等基础要素,也涵盖了生态、文化等核心要素及技术、信息等创新要素。在乡村旅游的萌芽和启动、设计和建设以及运营和转型等发展阶段中,城乡之间的流动要素类型不断增加,要素流向从单向逐步转变为双向,生态和文化是关键要素类型。“需求牵引—价值耦合—市场推动—政策促进”是乡村旅游发展的要素流动机制,合理的流动能促进城乡要素互动以及乡村要素价值增值、类型增多、数量增长,进而推动乡村振兴和城乡融合发展。     

Business characteristics and efficiency of rural tourism enterprises: an empirical study from China

The booming rural tourism (RT) has broadened ways for rural revitalization and poverty alleviation strategy in China. Rural tourism enterprises (RTEs), as the core operator and a hinge delivering its benefits to rural communities, play a critical role in the achievement of RT expectation on rural revitalization. To address the research gap in business characteristics and efficiency of RTEs, and make the theoretical contribution to rural business and tourism management, this study collected and analyzed the business data with investors or managers of 60 national-class RTEs in Jiangsu Province, north Yangtze River Delta of China. The results showed that business characteristics of RTEs varied with their property, business strategy, and rural industrial base. Flexible and sustainable business operation and comprehensive regional development have a profound influence on business efficiency that presented multi spatial disparity from inter-regional and intra-regional views, respectively. In addition, the political and practical implications on rural business and RTEs for research and practice were also discussed.     

Community-based tourism and networking: Viscri,Romania

This paper raises questions concerning the complexity of the term “community” when dealing with community-based tourism initiatives. It highlights the difficulty of translating into practice the paradigm of “community-based tourism”. Through a case study of tourism in the multi-ethnic village of Viscri, Romania, the paper discusses the operational role that a network of both internal and external actors may play in piloting tourism initiatives that produce benefits for communities that are unaccustomed to participatory development processes due to various barriers. The study highlights the key role played by a local leader and an external foundation in building a network that, thanks to the bonding and bridging relations activated, led the community towards a form of sustainable tourism development and a broader amelioration of the social conditions. The network described can be replicated in other geographical contexts, provided there is strong local leadership and also international interests and donors. In the long term, however, the network needs to be strengthened by involving other actors, above all local authorities. They are needed to assure the basis for long-term empowerment, participation in decision-making and progressive diversification of economic activities.     

旅游乡村聚落生态保护行为决策的空间响应——以茶陵县卧龙村为例

生态空间是旅游型乡村聚落重要的功能空间,其格局变化可反映空间与行为的相互作用关系。本文选取特色旅游名村茶陵县卧龙村为研究对象,采用PRA(Participatory Rural Appraisal)方法研究聚落空间演变的基本特征,并利用遥感数据对其空间格局变化进行空间反演,根据不同时段各行为主体行为决策的空间响应差异,分析其生态保护行为决策与生态空间格局变化的关系。结果表明：乡村旅游开发后生态空间占用总量明显高于前40年之和,村民聚居地整体搬迁与旅游设施建设是生态空间占用量扩大的主要原因;乡村旅游兴起后,各行为主体的生态保护行为决策偏好值整体提升但有差异;旅游业发展和居民生活方式改变是各主体生态保护行为决策变化的主导因素,聚落空间演变也是主体行为决策的空间响应结果。研究成果可为旅游乡村的规划编制提供借鉴,也有利于根据各行为主体决策偏好制定差异化空间管控策略提供案例实践。     

The effects of property and landowner characteristics on profit efficiency in salmon angling tourism in Norway

This paper analyzes how different property and landowner characteristics and other factors affect landowners’ profit efficiency from salmon angling tourism. The paper helps correct a lack of studies on the economic aspects of the triple bottom line approach to sustainability and suggests new areas of rural tourism research. A stochastic profit frontier function with an inefficiency module was estimated based on survey responses from 203 landowners along four Mid-Norway rivers. Profit efficiency decreased as the revenues from off-property and on-property activities increased relative to angling tourism. Factors increasing efficiency were long-term renting of fishing instead of permit sale or selling fishing packages with additional services and common property ownership instead of simple fee ownership. Cooperation, by merging several fishing rights into one unit rather than fishing on a single property basis, decreased efficiency. This study did not distinguish between different forms of cooperation; mandatory cooperation in the form of common property and voluntary cooperation between private properties are issues for further research. If sustainable economic efficiency is a public goal, policies should ensure a predictable economic environment for landowners specializing in salmon angling tourism and promote long-term renting, with a 10-year minimum period for the lease of fishing rights.     

Developing sustainable tourism through adaptive resource management: a case study of Machu Picchu,Peru

Machu Picchu, Peru, is recognized as a top international travel destination. Pressure from the approximately 900,000 tourists who annually visit the ancient Inca city threatens the ecological integrity, physical substance and cultural authenticity of the World Heritage Site and surrounding area, including the Inca Trail. Multiple organizations and agencies currently involved in the management of Machu Picchu have distinct agendas for the conservation and development of the city, and conflicts regarding public access, economic growth and cultural preservation are rampant. Attempts to establish carrying capacities have failed, with proposed daily visitor levels ranging from 800 to 4000. This paper explores the complex issues surrounding tourism at Machu Picchu and presents a potential solution: an adaptive management approach based on the UN World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO) sustainable tourism framework. This integrative strategy accounts for multiple perspectives and synthesizes disparate goals embraced by diverse stakeholders, including the Peruvian government, international conservation organizations, foreign tourists, private tour operators, regional authorities and indigenous communities. The focus on Machu Picchu as an adaptive management case study site outlines key steps leading to implementation, offering planning and policy implications for sustainability initiatives at numerous developing-world tourism destinations facing similar political and socio-economic challenges.     

A phenomenological explication of guanxi in rural tourism management: A case study of a village in China

Drawing on hermeneutic phenomenology in tourism studies as well as Heidegger's concept of being-in-the-world, this paper reveals how tourism can and should be done in a Chinese rural village. This research contributes a contextual interpretation of guanxi in Chinese rural tourism development through an empirical study of a traditional agricultural village in China that has been transformed through tourism development. The paper argues that for the Chinese indigenous residents who are the primary actors engaged in tourism, guanxi is, neither a Confucian political ideal nor an instrumental tool, but the specific manner in which they dwell in their place. It demonstrates how the tourist destination, landscape and managerial regulation have been modified and adapted in a guanxi way. The paper suggests that an emic understanding of guanxi and the roles it plays in tourism participants' daily life is warranted and can provide a more holistic picture of tourism development in rural China.