Youth travelers and waste reduction behaviors while traveling to tourist destinations

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to develop a robust conceptual framework incorporating volitional and non-volitional dimensions within the theory of planned behavior and cognitive (green image and environmental awareness) and affective (anticipated pride and guilt) dimensions to explicate youth tourists’ waste reduction behaviors while traveling to destinations. A quantitative approach was used. Structural equation modeling was utilized for data analysis. This study proved the usefulness and sufficiency of the proposed framework. Volitional factors were significant determinants of intentions. Our findings also showed that the inclusion of green image, environmental awareness, and anticipated feelings increased the prediction power of the theory. Results also supported the significant role of these integrated variables in increasing waste reduction intentions. Attitude had a mediating role and included the relative importance in determining intentions. This study extended destination researchers’ and practitioners’ knowledge and understanding of visitors’ waste reduction behaviors in the youth tourism context.     

Identifying tourists with smaller environmental footprints

This paper identifies which information about tourists serves as the best predictor of their pro-environmental behavior at home and on vacation. If a small set of predictors can be identified, the tourism industry would be able to use them to focus attention on attracting tourists with smaller environmental footprints. Results from a survey asking respondents about pro-environmental behavior in their role as residents and tourists indicate that environmental concern, altruism, feeling morally obliged to behave in an environmentally friendly manner, age and regional identity are the best predictors of the segment of people who behave in an environmentally friendly way at home. Income levels and moral obligation best predict membership of the segment of environmentally friendly tourists. The two segments overlap; differences between them are due to the fact that, at home, people can create the infrastructure they require to behave in an environmentally friendly way. On vacation they need to adjust to the infrastructure provided, which can act as a barrier to pro-environmental behavior. Results have direct practical implications, highlighting the value of demand-side approaches to environmentally sustainable tourism for protected areas, both urban and rural, such as focusing on those market segments that have the highest intrinsic inclination to protect the environment.     

Cross-Border Destination Management Systems in the Alpine Region–The Role of Knowledge Networks on the Example of AlpNet

SUMMARY

The Alps are the focus of a wide-ranging discussion. Researchers, scientists, politicians, inhabitants, and people who earn their living in the Alpine region are all confronted with difficult challenges. The main topics are the development in the fields of nature, landscape, tourism and leisure, traffic and transport, and its consequences for the Alps as a living space and economic area. About 30 years ago, a cooperation of tourism and political authorities in 11 countries, regions, provinces, and cantons of Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and Austria has been established. Due to globalization and changing traveling patterns, people have become more and more aware that a new international cooperation of the Alpine tourism regions in the field of destination management and marketing is required. This is necessary in order to react to market changes accordingly. This acknowledgment is instead of small and more or less independent and self-sufficient organizations. It also includes the collaboration concerning one of the most important resources of our time-knowledge-and the establishment of a network where it can be consciously managed.

The following paper shows the special qualities of networks, especially knowledge networks at the example of AlpNet. It consists of three parts. The first part deals with the change of Alpine tourism management and marketing, the second part discusses the necessities and challenges of a cross-border cooperation in tourism marketing with a special focus on networks and knowledge networks, and the third part presents the results of an empirical study explaining the problems and perspectives for developing knowledge networks of cross-border destination management in the Alpine region. As far as management and marketing of tourism destinations are concerned, it is shown what possibilities-yet what limits-may result in launching cross-border cooperation projects in the future. For decades cross-border cooperation was used for compensating existing competitive disadvantages on tourism markets. The example of the new project AlpNet shows how important cooperation and member-specific requirements are for tourism and other economic industries when it comes to the establishment of knowledge networks.     

Conference Reports

Governments at all levels have assumed greater responsibility for, and involvement in, tourism destination planning and development. In the post-Brundtland era local governments in particular have been under closer scrutiny for their role in driving the sustainable development agenda in tourism destination contexts. Yet, a notable research gap still exists despite the increased focus on local government, particularly in terms of empirical research investigating the roles and responsibilities of local government in addressing sustainable tourism development. Given this context, this paper explores the role of local government in facilitating, or indeed inhibiting, sustainable development objectives in a tourism destination context. To assess this issue, it uses in-depth interviews with local government representatives and key destination stakeholders from five local government areas in Queensland, Australia. It shows that local government had assumed responsibility for facilitating the sustainable tourism agenda, due to the absence of strong industry leadership and due to top-down directives from state and federal governments. However, power struggles, tokenistic public participation and the strong influence of the local government authority in local governance structures were found to be inhibitors to sustainable tourism development.     

Communicating sustainability through a destination’s website: a checklist to inform,motivate, and engage stakeholders

This study investigated sustainability communication through destination websites. In particular, it suggested an online sustainability communication checklist (OSC-Checklist) that informs, motivates, and engages stakeholders to contribute towards the development of environmental, sociocultural, and economic sustainability. The OSC-Checklist was applied to the official websites of the top 50 competitive destinations with the aim of evaluating the extent to which each destination communicates sustainability on its website. The results indicated that the sample destinations lack an appropriate online approach to communicate sustainability. The results also revealed that the less developed and competitive destinations scored higher in terms of communicating sustainability than other more competitive developed destinations. Theoretical and practical implications are also provided.     

Policy communities,networks and issue cycles in tourism destination systems

This paper demonstrates how concepts derived from policy community, policy network and issues management theories can be used to understand the roles, activities and interactions of government, corporate and pressure group stakeholders engaged in tourism policy, planning and management in destination contexts. It shows the relevance and utility of an “integrated issue lifecycle approach” to trace the evolution of tourism policy, planning and destination management within specific destination contexts. The application of this approach is demonstrated through a case analysis of the tourism policy and planning system that underpins the destination system of Byron Bay, a significant domestic and international destination on the East Coast of Australia. The underlying premise adopted for this study is that the examination of the antecedents of tourism policy and planning processes, within particular destination contexts, can lead to an understanding of the driving values and ideas that have led to contemporary tourism policy issues and problems.     

Development Opportunities for a Tourism Benchmarking Tool-The Case of Tyrol

Abstract

The aim of this study is to improve an already existing Tourism benchmarking tool designed and implemented by the Austrian Provincial Government of Tyrol in 1987 (Haemmerle and Lehar 1987, Berktold 1992). After a brief introduction which overviews latest benchmarking approaches within tourism (Morey and Dittman 1995, Kozak and Rimmington 1998, Siguaw and Enz 1999, Dubé et al. 1999, Ritchie and Crouch 2000) and emphasizing its strategic significance of continually monitoring and emulating standards of performance, the principal purpose of an already existing benchmarking tool, the Tyrolean Tourism Barometer, is described in form of a case study. Both, the data gathering process as well as the operational sequences leading to a variety of indicators are thoroughly discussed. The paper concludes by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of this secondary data based benchmarking tool. The final section of the paper critically assesses the neglect of relevant elements within the production process of tourism services. Here, the point will be made that it will not suffice to only describe structural shifts in tourism supply and demand in order to establish a reliable instrument for retrospectively evaluating tourism policy and strategically optimize future destination policies. Thus, the existing approach, initially based on price and capacity data only, is extended by linking it to both quality measures of customer satisfaction as well as resource allocation conditions (Weiermair and Fuchs 1999, Wöber 2000).     

Introducing the concept of environmental policy integration into the discourse on sustainable tourism: a way to improve policy-making and implementation?

Many studies have explored how the tourism sector and tourism policies understand and relate to the concept of sustainable development. A common conclusion is that tourism concentrates on economic and social viability at the expense of environmental sustainable development. This paper considers if and how the concept of environmental policy integration (EPI) could improve sustainable tourism policy implementation. It defines EPI, and explores both the three-level (co-ordination, harmonization and prioritization) and four-level (inclusion, consistency, priorities and reporting) EPI approaches. It notes that there is both strong and weak EPI, and both political systems and policy analysis approaches. The paper then describes Norway's post-2007 adoption of sustainable tourism as a central part of its national tourism development strategy, with 10 defined principles, and suggested defined development standards, and assesses the implementation of the national strategy through the lens of the EPI concept. While there are now 18 pilot sustainable tourism destinations, with 44 criteria and 108 indicators, there remain many difficult issues to address. A series of suggestions are made, the chief of which is the need for a politically strong central authority that has been entrusted with having environmental concerns within the tourism sector as its key mandate.     

旅游地企业主移民社会网络状态演化研究——以九寨沟为例

文章从家乡和在地两处社会网络的一体化视角出发,增加两地自致性社会关系网络的情感比较选项,寻求更完整的探析旅游企业主移民的社会网络的构成和状态表现,通过对九寨沟116位旅游企业主移民的半结构式访谈并结合实地调查研究。结果表明,由先赋性关系为主构成的家乡社会网络在旅游企业主的移民前后都有着重要作用。以网络质量、网络构成、网络比较、时间等为变量,可以将旅游企业主移民社会网络状态划分为困难状态、自力状态、偏离状态、拓展状态、维持状态5种类型,并具有随时间呈现情感重心由家乡向在地偏移的特性。     

流域一体化进程中旅游地可持续发展研究框架

流域是相对封闭、自成体系的地理空间,流域旅游是流域可持续开发的重要组成部分。从流域生态系统服务出发分析流域一体化进程中旅游地的可持续发展,以全流域功能和结构转型视角探究旅游地绿色发展的优化策略与调控路径,是适应国内流域经济带建设、提升流域社会福利和发展公平性,促进流域生态安全屏障建设的重要探索。本文分析了流域一体化进程中旅游地发展研究面临的关键问题,结合现有研究基础阐释重点研究主题并构建研究框架。研究认为,流域内旅游地研究正在从点状分析走向网络和面域协同发展,旅游地发展在流域生态补偿、流域产业融合等方面产生的效应越来越明显;外部环境变迁、多要素交互作用下,中国流域一体化进程中的旅游地可持续发展面临的形势迫切,流域内旅游地的供需结构、均衡发展、协同治理均面临挑战;未来应重点关注旅游地时空演化特征、外部环境因素、演化更新机制、时空情境模拟、优化调控路径5个方面,为正确认识流域内旅游地要素交互作用的趋势规律、实现流域内旅游地可持续发展提供科学依据。     

Networking for sustainable tourism – towards a research agenda

This paper proposes a research agenda for networking for sustainable tourism research based on a collaborative workshop of international tourism academics and researchers and an extensive review of the relevant literature. Each year, Building Excellence in Sustainable Tourism – an Education Network (BEST EN) holds a Think Tank on a topical issue in sustainable tourism education. One aim of the Think Tank is to develop a relevant research agenda that draws on the collective knowledge of participants and acknowledges the interdependent economic, environmental and social objectives in sustainable tourism. Six main areas were identified as important for a research agenda on networking for sustainable tourism and its implementation: theory, methodology and conceptual issues; actors, culture and power; lifecycle, evolution and dynamics of networks; knowledge transfer; macro-perspectives and strategic action, vision, innovation and management of networks. This paper presents and discusses these research themes in the context of a literature review on networks and networking for sustainability in tourism. It is found that substantial progress has been made in the investigation of private sector networks at the destination levels; research on networks involving public sector stakeholders and networks across sectors and levels of governance, however, remains limited.     

遗产旅游地意象媒介传播机制——苏州园林与江南古镇的比较研究

旅游地意象既包括旅游者经实地体验形成的复合意象,也包括那些远离旅游地的潜在旅游者借助各类媒介信息所形成的引致意象.在新媒体时代,传媒在旅游地意象传播中所扮演的角色越来越重要,分析和研究旅游地意象媒介传播机制现已成为该领域前沿课题.为探索遗产旅游地意象媒介传播模式,文章结合苏州园林和江南古镇案例,采用焦点组访谈、内容分析、问卷调查等方法获取9365例样本的旅游目的地意象媒介传播数据,在质性分析基础上,通过在遗产旅游地意象属性因素与传播媒介因素之间建立结构方程模型,并根据系列研究假设验证结果,揭示出传统媒体与新媒体在遗产旅游地意象形成中的实际作用机制.结论认为,传统媒体与新媒体在文化遗产旅游地意象传播中存在功能互补,前者的优势在于遗产形态与形象推广,而后者的优势则在于遗产文化与意义诠释;借助传统媒体扣新媒体传播不同类型的遗产旅游地意象信息,能够在激发遗产旅游需求的同时,帮助公众更完整地理解遗产文化价值和精神内涵,从而在潜在旅游者中塑造更优良的遗产旅游地意象.在文化遗产旅游地意象传播中,传统媒体与新媒体的整合使用,代表着文化遗产旅游地意象传播的必然.     

The impacts of climate change on tourist mobility in mountain areas

This study investigates the effects of climate change on tourist mobility in mountain areas, distinguishing between infrastructure, transport operation and travel demand. We examine change in tourist travel demand by proposing a two-step approach to forecast its future development. A multi-origin, multi-destination model for tourism demand quantifies the variation in overnight stays within a given region, and a linear, deterministic model determines the traffic-related implications. The method, tested on the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol (Italy), exhibits expected variations in winter and summer travel demand up to 2080 under different scenarios. Results reveal that average summer traffic can be more than twice as intense as average winter traffic, contributing to significantly increasing the peak days of congestion along the Provincial road network. Despite this evidence, all stakeholders seem to be at an early stage in incorporating this information into their strategic planning. The need for adequate transport policies and measures is considered essential to obtain the optimal balance of transport modes that will be required in the near future.     

Local arts agency participation in cultural tourism management

The tourism literature does not consider the role of the local arts agency in destination management. This paper explores the extent to which local arts agencies engage in programming and partnerships related to the development of tourism. It proposes that participation in cultural tourism management is determined by both organizational and environmental characteristics. Drawing on a national survey of local arts agencies, the analysis compares survey measures of these characteristics to estimate their influence on the likelihood that agencies are involved in cultural tourism programming. Two-thirds of subject local arts agencies report that their organization is currently working or partnering in programming aimed at cultural tourism. Smaller agencies with a range of programs are more likely to have adopted the innovation. Agencies responsible for management of a cultural facility develop audiences through cultivation of tourists.     

旅游公共服务的理论认知与实践判断——兼与李爽商榷

在中国旅游市场呈现出大众化、散客化、常态化的新趋势下,旅游公共服务体系成为影响游客满意度和目的地竞争力的关键因素。由于旅游业在中国长期被作为高度市场化的经济产业看待,人们对旅游公共服务体系建设的依据和重要性缺乏认识,因而在理论研究和实践探索中均出现不少问题。文章检视了已有研究对于旅游公共服务理论认知的相关论点,着力分析了李爽等的旅游公共服务论所存在的核心概念认知矛盾、理论理解和实践判断偏差问题。在此基础上提出了笔者对于旅游公共服务的理论认知,从5个W和1个H的角度阐述了旅游公共服务的内涵、外延、属性、服务的对象与供给主体、供给机制与时空条件。文章认为,旅游公共服务的主体内容体现为旅游基础设施、目的地推广、旅游权益保障三大方面;其本质是公益性服务,服务供给机制和方式的多元化并不等同于责任提供主体的多元化;旅游者的共同需求和目的地公共利益的性质及其客观存在,决定了旅游并非纯粹市场化领域,政府提供旅游公共服务是正当的,也是应该的。当下中国旅游公共服务的主要问题不是过多,而是欠缺与低效并存。旅游行政部门虽然承担着最大、最多的公共服务职能,但对这一职能的性质、内容和功效的认识并不到位,与旅游者的期望和需求还有较大距离。     

旅游地社会责任对旅游地品牌资产的影响——中介与调节作用机制

文章构建了旅游地社会责任、旅游地声誉、旅游地认同、旅游地品牌资产的整合性理论模型,采用结构方程模型实证分析旅游地社会责任、旅游地声誉、旅游地认同和旅游地品牌资产之间的结构关系,试图发掘旅游地社会责任对旅游地品牌资产的影响机理,并引入信任倾向作为调节变量,剖析在不同信任倾向的旅游者中,旅游地社会责任对旅游地品牌资产的影响是否存在差异。研究结果表明,旅游地社会责任直接显著正向作用于旅游地品牌资产;旅游地社会责任通过旅游地声誉和旅游地认同对旅游地品牌资产产生显著的间接作用;信任倾向对旅游地社会责任和旅游地声誉之间的关系具有正向调节作用;信任倾向对旅游地社会责任与旅游地品牌资产之间的关系具有正向调节作用。最后,提出研究结论,指出研究不足和未来研究展望。     

零团费与我国出境游发展阶段的互动关系分析

零团费是我国出境游在特定阶段下出现的现象,是客源地和目的地相互作用的一种特殊表现.本文划分了我国出境游的三个发展阶段,并结合各个阶段的具体特征,分析了零团费的产生和演化与出境游各阶段特征的互动关系.在此基础上,得出零团费具有存在暂时性、形式合理性、治理长期性等三方面特征,以及只有进行标本兼治的综合治理才能根除零团费的基本结论.