Local discourses and international initiatives: sociocultural sustainability of tourism in Oulanka National Park,Finland

National parks have become important tourist attractions and tools for regional development. New international initiatives, such as PAN (Protected Area Network) Parks in Europe, now promote sustainable tourism in protected areas. This paper examines the sociocultural sustainability of tourism perceived by local stakeholders of Oulanka National Park in northeastern Finland. The central question concerns the role of PAN Parks certification in community and tourism development. Four discourses were identified, based on 40 semi-structured interviews exploring different views on sociocultural development pertaining to tourism in the national park: (1) integrating nature-based tourism and conservation, (2) defending the rights of local people, (3) stressing the economic utilization of nature and (4) accepting tourism development and the national park. Although local stakeholders mostly have a positive perception of tourism in the park, it cannot be concluded whether the park facilitates development in a sustainable manner or not. Key problems identified are lack of participation opportunities and contradictions with traditional subsistence economies. The various positions of stakeholders in these discourses tend to influence their views on sustainability. Findings imply the necessity to monitor the distribution of benefits and burdens of park development holistically to multiple stakeholders.     

Effects of Gender Differences on Perceptions of Destination Attributes,Motivations, and Travel Values: An Examination of a Nature-Based Resort Destination

This study examines the perceptions of the potential tourist market to a nature-based resort destination from the gendered perspective. The research reveals that significant gender differences exist about the perceived importance of destination attributes and travel values when potential nature tourists consider destination choices. After controlling for demographic and travel behaviour variables, such as age, marital status, education, household income, preference of price quote and length of stay, most gender differences remain significant. In addition, more significant distinctions between men and women are demonstrated after controlling for age and income level. The study provides insights into gendered perceptions of nature-based tourism settings. Specific marketing implications are discussed in an attempt to successfully attract nature tourists and provide a high-quality nature destination experience.     

Heritage Tourism,Heritage Landscapes and Wilderness Preservation: The Case of National Park Thy

Tourism involving national parks manifests itself explicitly or implicitly as heritage tourism because national parks represent important symbols of the national landscape. This paper traces the journey of the proposed National Park Thy in northwestern Denmark from ordinary landscape to symbolic landscape, to candidacy for national park status and focus for heritage tourism. It is argued that the processes at work in Denmark are similar to those underpinning the creation of national parks elsewhere.     

Urban Residents' Perceptions of Environmental Impacts

This article examines urban residents' perceptions of environmental impacts in the city of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The study vies to contribute to knowledge concerning how citizens in Tennessee view tourism and its impact on the environment. A mail survey was administered to 400 registered voters. Factor analysis, Cramer's V statistical measures of association, chi-square tests, and Spearman correlation coefficients were employed for the analysis and interpretation of the data. Tests and associations support three hypotheses; residents' perceptions of the impact of tourism are influenced by employment status and short-term residency. Greater lengths of residency, age, and annual income do not influence residents' perceptions.     

Developing a Tourism Destination Monitoring System: A Case of the Hawaii Tourism Dashboard

To develop and manage a tourism destination sustainably, it is important for all stakeholders to understand the interrelated tourism dimensions and activities within a destination. One way of determining the conditions of a destination's “health” is to establish a process by which existing data on various aspects of a destination can be assessed. For this purpose, this paper presents the development processes of the Hawaii Tourism Dashboard (HTD), an online information clearinghouse for multiple stakeholders and a diagnostic tool to monitor the conditions of Hawaii's tourism. As a joint effort between the industry and academia, it is hoped that the HTD can play an important role in increasing public awareness about tourism's multifaceted characteristics and in assisting decision-making and policy development by the government and the industry.     

Visitors' Perceptions of Holiday Experiences and Service Providers: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

The paper presents and discusses the results of an exploratory, empirical study, which intended to explore links between holiday experiences and the assessment of the tourism offering. Focusing on evaluation as perceived by customers, the author argues for the acknowledgement of their notion of the ‘holiday product.’ Consequently, the central theme of the study is the holiday visitor's narrated experience. It was found that prevalent assessment frameworks were inconsistent with the way visitors described their own holiday evaluation. Instead of a component-based judgement process, visitors seem to evaluate holidays against vague holiday ideals. Based on this finding, an alternative role and assessment model of service providers is proposed.     

Environmental Management Systems (EMS) of Tour Operators: Learning from Each Other

This research determined to what extent tour operators in Western Canada who use natural, public-owned assets as a main feature of their business operations have developed formal or informal environmental management systems (EMS)and which EMS elements they use most frequently and most successfully. Furthermore, the research investigated which variables drive the use of EMS elements to ensure good environmental performance. The findings suggest that those operators who seek environmentally related business outcomes, possess supply-side tourism development values, and have more business experience, will have developed more sophisticated EMS and find these systems more useful in ensuring good environmental performance. With this information, park officials can develop a plan for knowledge sharing and the education of all tour operators. Park officials can design appropriate training and development programmes by considering the barriers that they might encounter in encouraging tour operators to implement certain policies and procedures. Tour operators can transfer some elements of EMS, widely recognised as useful, to other tour operators by ‘assimilation’, as few barriers exist to the implementation of these elements. However, if beliefs and attitudes must change before operators will use an element, learning by ‘accommodation’ will be a more appropriate approach.     

The human dimensions of wildlife tourism in a developing country: watching spinner dolphins at Lovina,Bali, Indonesia

The number of cetacean watching tourism operations in developing countries has doubled in the past decade. Practices are typically unregulated and not informed by research, especially research into the human dimensions of the tourist experience. Dolphin watching tourism at Lovina, Bali, started in the late 1980s when local fishers formed self-regulating cooperatives. Up to 180 dedicated operators use small fishing vessels to carry passengers to watch dolphins close to shore. Most tourists come from western countries, although the industry also attracts Asian visitors. Most visitors are tertiary-educated. Tourist satisfaction ranges from low to medium. While there was no significant difference between the average satisfaction of western and Asian tourists, the associated variables were different. The satisfaction of western tourists was associated with encounter management, preferred number of boats and the number of dolphins seen. Encounter management was the only variable associated with the satisfaction of Asian tourists. Satisfaction was positively associated with willingness to recommend the tour: western respondents who felt neutral to very comfortable with their dolphin encounters were more likely to promote the tour. Better understanding of the tourist experience is crucial in designing sustainable marine wildlife tourism in developing countries; such research appears to be rare.     

Assessment on and Perception of Visitors' Environmental Impacts of Nature Tourism: A Case Study of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park,China

This paper examines trampling impacts on vegetation and soil as well as visitors' perception of these impacts in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China. Results indicate that visitor usage is proportionate to trampling impacts, with the two most used trails–Yellowstone Village Trail and Gold Whip Stream Trail–having the highest values in Soil Impact Index (SII) and highest rate of scarred trees. Vegetation and soil near 'Treasure Box for Celestial Books' are the most impacted with the Impact Vegetational Index (IVI) being 87.50% and SII being 2.27, respectively. This spot has the highest level of unacceptability. However, visitors' perceptions of the impacts on their hiking satisfaction are not always consistent with the actual physical deterioration. The unacceptability level for 'Gold Whip Crag' was much higher than 'The General Rock' despite the latter having higher IVI values than the former. It is argued that visitors' perceptions of recreation impacts could be influenced by the interaction of IVI, SII, and the size of the area impacted. Other factors such as visual sensitivity and social elements could also have an effect on visitors' judgements. Finally, this paper proposes management strategies for improving the park's visitor and environmental management.     

Ensuring good governance of marine wildlife tourism: a case study of ray-based tourism at Hamelin Bay,Western Australia

This paper focuses on stingray and eagle ray tourism in Hamelin Bay, Western Australia, and examines whether current governance arrangements are sufficient. Utilising a desk-based methodology we review the literature and analyse the relevant legal provisions and management practices to determine whether these are appropriate given growth in tourism numbers. Although stricter controls were recommended over ten years ago, and some reforms were made, we find that governance remains limited. We make recommendations for the future with implications for governance in Australia and other regions where marine-based tourism is expanding and must be sustainably managed.     

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.     

环境旅游与文化旅游紧密结合--贵州省乡村旅游发展的前景和方向

本文紧紧围绕乡村旅游发展的方向——环境旅游与文化旅游紧密结合这个主题,从乡村旅游的基本概念和本质特征入手,就乡村旅游的市场特点和发展趋势进行了分析．并对如何开发贵州省乡村旅游产品进行了分类讨论,指出环境旅游和文化旅游紧密结合是贵州乡村旅游可持续发展的基本要求．贵州省乡村旅游只有沿着环境旅游和文化旅游紧密结合的方向前进,才有希望把贵州省建设顾国内、乃至国际著名的乡村旅游胜地。     

Assessing sustainable food behaviours of national park visitors: domestic/on vocation linkages,and their implications for park policies

This study compares the “at-home” and “while travelling” sustainable food practices of national park visitors in the US Intermountain West through an in-person survey. Results show that tourist's sustainable food practices do not carry over into their national park experience. Specifically, they shop for and consume fewer local foods and participate in fewer food-related activities when travelling, such as farmers' market and local farm visits. When divided into groups of low, medium and high sustainable food practices at home, the medium and high-level groups exhibited a significant reduction in sustainable food practices while travelling. This likely stems from poor promotion of local foods and food related events, lack of linkages between the tourism and food industries, as well as limited recognition of local food labelling schemes and interest in local culture by visitors. These results imply that local foods and culinary experiences do not currently play an essential role in national park experiences in the US Intermountain West. It raises important questions. Is there a link between sustainability practices at home and when on vacation? Should national park managements widen their environmental remits by becoming involved in local food production and promotional practices?     

Tourist Perceptions of Heritage Exhibits: A Comparative Study from Israel

It is common in tourism and leisure literature to define and approach tourism subgroups in terms of the presence of the tourists in certain spaces. This approach is challenged in the present paper. It is argued that the understanding of heritage tourism should be based on the link between the individual and the space, namely tourist perceptions of a site relative to their own heritage. Based on a study dealing with visitation patterns to places where historic artefacts are presented, it is suggested that tourist perception is key to the understanding of visitation patterns. It is not so much the artefacts the tourists see or observe, but the meaning they ascribe to them. The theoretical implications of this argument are discussed in terms of tourism in general and heritage tourism in particular, as well as the practical applications to cultural heritage management.     

Tourism,Marketing and Sustainable Development in the English National Parks: The Role of National Park Authorities

This paper examines the work of the English National Park Authorities (NPAs) in relation to aspects of the development of sustainable tourism. The NPAs have implicitly sought to achieve sustainable tourism development since the parks were first designated, striving to balance the needs of visitors and the environment within the context of living, working landscapes. Studies have revealed, however, that some NPAs are not fully championing sustainable tourism development. The paper examines the NPA's use of marketing and marketing perspectives in encouraging sustainable tourism, exploring attitudes, roles and activities. A diverse, piecemeal and sometimes underinformed approach is revealed. The paper concludes with ways forward for English NPAs and for other protected area management organisations.     

Environmental Management Systems in Outdoor Recreation: A Case Study of a Forest Enterprise (UK) Site

Management of environmental impacts is a key requisite to achieve sustainable tourism and recreation; and Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) provide the framework to assess, plan, act upon, control and monitor environmental management and performance. Although a large proportion of tourism and recreation sites would be in a position to work towards an EMS, few of them are aware of what they need to do to implement such systems. This case study analyses to what extent the elements of an EMS are present in the current management of a Forest Enterprise site in the UK providing outdoor recreation, promoting nature conservation and producing timber. This paper demonstrates how an EMS can be applied to put a structure to the management of a multi-purpose site, and concludes that this site, representative of other Forest Enterprise sites, can meet the basic demands of an EMS.     

Loyalty Runs Deeper than Thread Count: An Exploratory Study of Gay Guest Preferences and Hotelier Perceptions

Alongside many global businesses, hotels have recently shared in the movement to serve the gay market. If the perception of being gay-friendly is not the same for hoteliers and their gay guests, a marketing discrepancy may exist and loyalty of the gay segment could be at risk. To address this issue, a sample of 188 gay guests and 48 hoteliers was explored. Differences tests were conducted to evaluate the hotel attribute importance ratings of gay guests versus hoteliers when considering that segment. After conducting a factor analysis, a regression determined the impact of each factor on gay guest loyalty, with the social environment component having the greatest impact. Most importantly, hotels should support the gay community beyond simply offering a room, an intangible yet important display of social responsibility. This study augments previous hospitality research on the gay guest segment and provides avenues for future qualitative and quantitative studies.     

Nature-based tourism,resource dependence,and resilience of Arctic communities: framing complex issues in a changing environment

Current research on tourism in the Arctic has focused largely on the extent, location, and type of tourism activities that occur in the region. Recently, challenges have been identified that the tourism industry is likely to face in the wake of global changes, including climate change. Related research, conducted within and outside of the Arctic, suggests that rural communities can become economically dependent on natural resource extraction (e.g. oil, gas, timber harvesting, and mining of minerals) and non-extractive resources (e.g. nature-based recreation and tourism), limiting diversification and potentially threatening resilience of rural communities. In the western USA, communities have become dependent on both extractive and non-extractive natural resource activities including nature-based tourism; however, it is less clear whether a similar situation is occurring in Arctic communities. In this article, we propose a framework and indicators to analyze the potential dependence of Arctic communities on nature-based tourism and the resilience of Arctic communities to potential boom–bust cycles of nature-based tourism. To do so, we examine the current state-of-knowledge about tourism and nature-based tourism in the Arctic through the lens of boom–bust dynamics and social-ecological systems.     

Chinese Student Travel Market to Australia: An Exploratory Assessment of Destination Perceptions

ABSTRACT

Chinese students form the largest international student travel market for Australia and approximately a quarter of Australia's international student enrollments are mainland Chinese. Despite the significance of the market, little is known about Chinese student travelers. This study offers an exploratory assessment of the perceived image of Australia in the Chinese student market. Through a self-completion questionnaire, data regarding the pre- and post-arrival perceptions of Australia were collected from Chinese students on the Gold Coast. The study identified natural scenery/attractions and agreeable environment/climate as the strengths of Australia. Historical attractions and shopping related opportunities were the weaknesses of Australia as a tourist destination. A factor analysis was performed on both pre- and post-arrival perception data. Different structural patterns emerged from the two sets of data suggesting a modification effect of actual experience on the destination perception. The results also suggest that destination marketers should emphasize the general environment in Australia when marketing to the Chinese student market.     

旅游解说系统规划初探--以浏阳道吾山引路松景区为例

本文以浏阳道吾山引路松景区旅游解说系统规划为例，介绍旅游解说系统规划的概念与分类，阐述旅游解说系统规划的重要意义，明确其在旅游规划中的地位和作用，探讨旅游解说系统规划的基本思路、规划方式和规划理念。