Sustainability Indicators for Small Tourism Enterprises – An Exploratory Perspective

Despite the numerical dominance of small tourism enterprises (STEs) in many destinations, little is known about their role in helping destinations progress towards sustainability objectives. The a priori assumption is that, by being small and locally owned, these enterprises automatically contribute to sustainable tourism development. This paper argues that to test this assumption, relevant indicators of sustainability (ISTs) should be developed. In contrast to destination and community ISTs, which are often stakeholder driven, the indicators developed here take an unconventional but not unprecedented approach, drawing on published frameworks and peer-reviewed case studies. The methodology of this approach has been made explicit so that potential users and researchers can assess its value and build upon it. A list of indicators that emerge from the process, covering the four broad sustainability dimensions, is given, which can be used in assessing the STE's progress towards a destination's long-term sustainability goals.     

Tourism in the Gambia: problems and proposals

This paper analyses the development constraints which confine The Gambia to being one of the poorest countries in the world. The programmes designed to reduce these constraints are outlined. In particular, tourism is identified as an appropriate development strategy. Using primary data, tourism in The Gambia, its development and administration are described in some detail. Althoiugh a prima facie case can be made extolling the virtues of tourism in that country, the industry is beset by a range of problems. The juxtaposition of the country's growing reliance on tourism against increasing stagnation in the sector is a focus of particular concern. Constraints in the tourism sector are identified in the spheres of policy formulation and implementation, capital investment, human resource endowment, existing and potential tourist markets, seasonality issues and product resource base. For each constraint identified, a management strategy is proposed. In essence, the article is an advocation of sustainable tourism development for The Gambia based on long-term holistic planning, including appropriate resource development, community involvement, education and training.     

Tourism and Sustainable Development: Exploring the Theoretical Divide

Despite the significant attention paid by tourism academics and practitioners to sustainable tourism development in recent years, there has been a consistent failure within the tourism literature to relate the concept to the theory of its parental paradigm, sustainable development. As a result, the applicability of sustainable development to the specific context of tourism is rarely questioned. This paper addresses this omission in the literature. Reviewing development theory and the notion of sustainability, it proposes a model of sustainable development against which the principles of sustainable tourism are compared. It is argued that tourism development remains embedded in early modernisation theory whilst the principles of sustainable tourism over look the characteristics of the production and consumption of tourism. As a result, significant differences between the concepts of sustainable tourism and sustainable development are revealed, suggesting that the principles and objectives of sustainable development cannot be transposed onto the specific context of tourism.     

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。     

Why It's Good To Be Bad: The Role of Conflict in Contributing Towards Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas

This paper examines the historic and contemporary role of one Canadian environmental non-governmental organisation (ENGO) in the operationalisation of sustainable tourism. In particular, the extent to which the ENGO has contributed to coordinated, cooperative policy development and implementation within this policy domain is examined. While coordinated policy making is widely accepted as a basis for environmentally sustainable tourism development, organisations may contribute more towards this goal by choosing not to be included, or by being excluded from, this framework of coordination. This paper uses an interorganisational relations perspective to explore the position, influence and relationships of one ENGO active within Canada's national park tourism policy domain. Implications are drawn for the implementation of sustainable tourism within protected areas.     

Tourism Restructuring and the Politics of Sustainability: A Critical View From the European Periphery (The Canary Islands)

There has been considerable discussion of sustainable tourism development, in both theory and practice. Less attention has been paid to the discourses, ideologies and power relations which help to shape 'sustainable' tourism policies and planning instruments. This paper analyses recent initiatives introduced by the regional government of the Canary Islands, designed to bring about a more sustainable model of regional tourism, including a temporary moratorium on tourism development and the drafting of a strategic and normative set of guidelines for sustainable tourism. The paper considers the contested nature of the public debate that accompanied these initiatives within the wider context of the regionally distinct pattern of tourism and capitalist development. It is argued that the legacy of uneven development, and the entrenched power of regional economic and political élites, is likely to undermine the prospects for a just model of sustainable tourism, and to consolidate the continuing privatisation of space and socio-spatial inequalities across the region.     

旅游管理专业人才培养模式与质量保证体系研究

在高速发展的旅游业背景条件下 ,旅游管理专业人才的培养已成为一个极具现实和理论研究价值的焦点 ,本文剖析了我国旅游人才培养的现状 ,提出了旅游人才培养的相关模式 ,并建立了质量保证体系 ,以确保旅游人才的高品质素质并支撑旅游业的可持续发展。     

Influences on Tourism Development Decision Making: Coastal Local Government Areas in Eastern Australia

With sustainable development and specifically sustainable tourism, decision making is perhaps the area where the impact on the future of communities is most crucial. Understanding better the decision-making process, provides possibly the most important potential tool in the sustainable management of tourism development. This paper examines the influence factors on tourism decision making and sheds some light on how important various influences are in the tourism development decision process. A typology of community decision-making influence factors was examined through research on local government councillors in Australian coastal regions. Three major categories of this typology were identified in the literature and further explored in this study: inter-personal, intra-personal and circumstantial influence. Results from this study show that a number of influence factors which relate to sustainable tourism are considered by councillors to have a more profound effect on their decision making than only the components of social influence theory which has been discussed in much of the literature. Utilising this typology of community decision-making influence factors may form the foundation for further studies of decision making. The results suggest that influence factors on decision makers need to be both understood and taken into consideration for sustainable tourism approaches to be effectively implemented.     

基于旅游发展价值取向转移的旅游规制创新刍议

从国家的视角探究旅游发展价值转移的历程与趋势发现,全球基本形成了双轨化的旅游价值取向:对于遗产类资源的旅游开发实行严格的政府管制,以资源保护和旅游可持续发展为根本目标;对于普通、非垄断性的旅游资源推行充分竞争的市场机制,以经济收益为根本取向.而且旅游业中政府作为的聚焦点逐渐从大众旅游目的地和一般景区的营利目标向遗产类景区的公益性服务转移.受国情影响,我国较长时间更多地关注旅游业的经济问题,选择性地忽视了西方国家更加关注的社会与生态问题,市场化的经营方式延伸到遗产类景区.黑龙江汤旺河国家公园试点计划的推出,标志着我国旅游业发展价值取向转移的开始和对世界国家公园运动的响应.值此之际,需要通过严格的政府规制来保证旅游开发与资源保护间的共促协调,以实现国家公园及相关保护区对全民共享国家遗产、维持遗产资源的永续性和培育国家精神的深远价值.     

Sustainable Transport,Market Segmentation and Tourism: The Looe Valley Branch Line Railway,Cornwall, UK

This paper uses cluster analysis, a form of a posteriori market segmentation, to understand the attitudes of tourists and the local community towards using the Looe Valley Branch Railway Line. The research revealed five segments of users distinguished by their attitudes towards using the train. Following this, the paper discusses the implications of the survey findings for attracting more people to use the Looe Valley Line. It sets its findings in the context of the sustainable tourism aims of reducing transport congestion and emissions, as well as recent work on assessing the scope for sustainable transport development in the leisure and tourism markets.     

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.     

Alternative Tourism and Sustainable Development in Kenya

This article examines alternative tourism and especially the form dubbed ecotourism and assesses its prospects for sustainable development in Kenya. It also considers community participation in ecotourism, the Kenya government policy on ecotourism, and the initiatives to yield sustainable development in the country. The findings show that biodiversity conservation encourages and supports tourism which, in turn, provides money for conservation efforts and local development programmes. However, ecotourism has not necessarily led to small scale, locally owned tourism enterprises expected in the ecotourism model. The analysis shows nevertheless that alternative tourism development has drawn attention to the role of local people in biodiversity conservation, the basis of ecotourism. Hopefully, this will lead to greater local participation in the ownership, management and control of ecotourism enterprises.     

An Examination of Changes in Residents' Perceptions of Tourism Impacts Over Time: The Impact of Residents' Socio-demographic Characteristics

This study investigates whether there has been a change in residents' perceptions of various tourism impacts over time and the impact of residents' socio-demographic characteristics on those changes. A survey of local residents (n?=?732 in 2004 and n?=?590 in 2009) was carried out for collecting the data for this study which was then followed by focus groups, conducted in 2012, consisting of academics, local residents and the tourism experts to validate the outcome from the survey. The results suggest that there has been significant increase in the level of agreement of the Sunshine Coast residents during this period on some of the tourism impacts such as job creation, attracting more investment, providing more business for local people and more cultural exchange between tourists and residents. The results also suggest that there is a significant decline in their perceptions of tourism negatively affecting the way of living of local residents and likelihood of residents suffering from living in a tourism destination. The residents also feel that there will be a decline in parks and other recreational areas for local residents with growth in tourism. The study also found that demographic variables such as age, gender, income, education and occupation are likely to influence residents' perceptions of tourism impact over time. Implications for future tourism development plans for the region are discussed.     

Developing Woodlands for Tourism: Concepts,Connections and Challenges

Driven by potential economic benefits for rural communities, tourism has become an increasingly central focus of sustainable woodland management in Great Britain. Knowledge of the values and uses of woodlands for tourism, and the impacts of woodland management on tourism is, however, limited. This paper outlines qualitative research in three study areas which used in-depth interviews and discussion groups to engage with tourism providers to explore these issues. It argues that woodlands are an important constituent of ‘countryside capital’, with woodlands” imagery and accessibility, and their natural and man-made resources used directly and indirectly by tourism enterprises. A landscape-scale approach to tourism planning and development is advocated to ensure a more holistic use of woodlands for tourism. Critical issues are identified as being strategy and integration, local engagement, sharing of information, resources, costs and benefits between stakeholders, and policies and practices to stimulate innovation and growth.     

Sustainable human resource management as a driver in tourism policy and planning: a serious sin of omission?

This paper focuses on the neglect of an employment or workforce focus in policy engagement and planning for sustainable tourism. Tourism is of interest here because there is an established role for government and the private sector in policy engagement and strategic planning with respect to product development, infrastructure, marketing and human resource capacity and the focus has increasingly emphasised sustainable goals within this process. The discussion addresses the central role of people and work within concepts of sustainability and sustainable communities and questions why this has been, substantially, ignored in tourism. The paper starts by recognising the interconnectedness of employment in tourism and its workforce concerns with a wide range of inter-linked policy and operational considerations. This, in turn, points to the utility of the sustainable HRM model as a means by which to frame tourism work. Thereafter, this paper introduces new approaches through the proposal of sustainability indicators that have both theoretical and practical policy formation value in relation to the workforce. These sustainable employment capacity, service delivery capacity and service quality capacity with which policy-makers can gauge their readiness for sustainable growth in tourism employment. The research and application implications for this approach are discussed.     

关于乡村旅游、农业旅游与民俗旅游的几点辨析

目前,乡村旅游、农业旅游与民俗旅游越来越受到我国旅游业界和学界的关注,但是,包括研究论文、会议发言和旅游规划中的片面理解不仅相当普遍,而且也正在传播.本文作者认为,如果业界、学界能够更广泛的注目业态实践,并在此前人们已有研究的基础上进行更深入的研究,则将有可能对乡村旅游、农业旅游与民俗旅游的理论和实践产生更加积极的作用.本文的几点内容,就是作者试图根据自己近20年的接触对乡村旅游、农业旅游、民俗旅游所做的一点个人的诠释和辨析.     

国外旅游小企业研究进展

随着旅游小企业的迅速兴起与发展，国外学术界已经初步形成关于旅游小企业的研究体系，并将其视为旅游目的地可持续研究的重要内容。相对于国外研究而言，国内学术界对于旅游小企业的研究还是一片空白。为此，本文对国外旅游小企业研究的兴起与发展的历程，重要的研究文献，以及当前国外学者研究的主要内容等进行了具体的介绍，并对国外现有研究文献进行相关评述。希望借此文以促进国内旅游小企业的研究。     

中国旅游产业结构变迁对旅游经济增长的影响

文章从产业结构合理化和高级化两个维度考察了中国旅游产业结构变迁的特征,通过构建计量模型分析了旅游产业结构变迁对中国旅游经济增长的影响,并验证了该影响的可靠性。结果表明:(1)整体看我国旅游产业结构的高级化程度在提升、合理化程度在波动中下降,但区域差异明显;(2)旅游产业结构变迁对我国旅游经济增长的影响具有区域普遍性和持久性,但影响力在下降;(3)旅游产业结构变迁对旅游经济增长影响力的大小具有时段性特征,但比较而言,旅游产业结构合理化是推动旅游经济增长的基础性动力。针对上述结论,文章进一步讨论了其成因并提出了相关建议。     

Tourism,tourist learning and sustainability: an exploratory discussion of complexities,problems and opportunities

Learning is often a central element of tourism. Tourists can learn actively, i.e. with a specific purpose, as well as passively through the comparison of values, norms and customs. It has been argued that travel supports active learning that has positive outcomes for sustainability, for instance, in the context of conservation. Yet, the complexity of active and passive learning processes and their outcomes for environmental sustainability and sustainable lifestyles remain insufficiently understood. Against this background, the paper discusses selected learning outcomes for transportation (air travel), accommodation (hotels) and activities (theme park visits). Findings suggest that “desirable” learning (defined as pro-sustainable development learning) in tourism may be very limited, while in particular, passive learning processes which redefine social norms frequently have outcomes that are largely detrimental to sustainable lifestyles. They include forms of moral licensing, the diffusion of responsibilities as well as the attenuation of the negative consequences of travel. Given the economic, social and cultural importance of tourism vís-a-vís its global implications for environmental sustainability, learning outcomes in tourism deserve to be studied in greater detail, while strategies need to be devised to enhance sustainable learning effects.     

可持续旅游开发多中心管理模式研究——以湖泊旅游为例

旅游开发必须建立在科学的管理模式下,才能确保资源环境的可持续利用.而作为常见的旅游开发形式,湖泊旅游具有较强的环境敏感性和生态脆弱性.本文以此为着眼点,系统论述了可持续目标下的旅游开发过程中的多中心管理模式,阐明了各行为主体的职能与关联,并就我国当前湖泊旅游开发管理的若干关键问题提出了建议和对策,尤其深入地针对一些流行观点进行了再认识.