Integrated rural tourism:: Concepts and Practice

A model of integrated rural tourism, which took account of the various resources (cultural, social, environmental, economic), their use, and the role of pertinent stakeholders, was developed to explore effective methods of promoting tourism as part of a rural development strategy. “Strategic fit” was used to assess the effectiveness of the model in adding value locally in the context of an established tourism area in western Ireland. The model reveals considerable robustness in identifying features that promote the adding of value in a holistic way and in identifying the pertinent stakeholders and issues that require attention to meet objectives more effectively.     

Negotiating landscape in rural tourism

Landscape is a vitally important asset for Norwegian rural tourism. Different views and perceptions of landscape are negotiated among key actors such as operators, tourists, and farmers. This article investigates these negotiations in relation to three dimension of landscape: values and requirements; how it is experienced; and future development prospects. The study shows that while actors hold different positions and attitudes, all of them unite in their concerns about landscape change, and in their desire to preserve food traditions and local produce. Further, this paper argues that there is a general re-orientation in landscape perception from “spectacularization” towards “multi-sensing”.     

An international travel Demand model US Travel to Western Europe

This paper examines international travel demand between the United States and Western Europe. A complete system of demand equations is estimated to obtain expenditure and price elasticities of the demand for travel. The results allow the classification of regions of Western Europe as substitutes or complements according to the preferences of travelers. It is found that Americans view Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, and Portugal as “luxury destinations” that might expect to receive an increasing share of the traveler's budget. The price elasticities are relatively low for France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. France and the U.K eexhibited high price substitution effects as did France and Germany. Travel to most other countries might be classified as complementary with respect to travel to France and substitutes with respect to the U.K.     

Wives' involvement in tourism decision processes

This study segments tourism decision-making tasks into 17 categories. Wives were asked to assign a score to their level of involvement in each task. A marginal involvement in tasks related to the “financing aspects” of the trip was observed whereas involvement was high in tasks such as “shopping”, “selecting restaurants”, “collecting information”, and “preparing luggage”. Two hypotheses were tested: the socioeconomic characteristics of wives and trip characteristics have a positive effect on the level of involvement in the tourism decisions; and levels of task involvement are consistent for the 17 tasks (stability in tasks involvement). Marketing implications and recommendations for future research were also discussed.

Résumé

La participation des épouses aux décisions de voyages. Cette étude segmente les décisions et taches des voyages en dix-sept catégories. On a demandé aux épouses d'attribuer une valeur numérique selon leur niveau de participation dans chaquetâche. On a observé peu de participation aux “aspects financiers” tandis que la participation était élevée pour le “shopping”, le “choix des restaurants”, la “collecte d'information”, et la “préparation des bagages”. On a vérifié deux hypothèses: que les caractéristiques socio-économiques des épouses ainsi que certaines caractéristiques du voyage ont un effet positif sur la participation des épouses aux décisions du tourisme, et que les niveaux de participation pour les dix-sept tâches sont stables. On discute aussi des implications de marketing et des recommandations pour la recherche future.     

Tourists and refugees: Coinciding Sociocultural Impacts

The new millennium holds promise of being both the “Century of Tourism” and the “Century of the Refugee.” Never in history have there been so many refugees and tourists crossing international borders. This paper discusses the ironic similarities of both positive and negative impacts of tourism development and refugee relief on developing countries. Parallels in recommendations for both phenomena are also presented. Although not originally intended, the observations made in the paper are drawn from two different fieldwork projects: a study of refugee camp aid with Operation Lifeline Sudan in northern Kenya in 1994 and an investigation of tourism development in Malaysia in 1992.     

Rural tourism and gendered nuances

Research findings on rural residents’ attitudes towards tourism are often contradictory, in part due to a lack of data examining the often divergent perspectives of particular subgroups. Regional survey data from the Intermountain Western United States is used to provide an improved understanding of rural tourism attitudes as they are linked to community involvement and changes, while also exploring both intragender and intergender differences. Group differences in levels of community involvement, perceptions of tourism and various other issues are observed. While differences emerge, there is also widespread agreement on the importance of preserving local culture and the opposition to sale of agricultural land for development.     

Tourism dependence and resident attitudes

Many rural communities view tourism as a major vehicle for addressing rural economic decline, but several empirical studies suggest that its growth can bring negative social impacts. One group of studies suggests a direct relationship between the level of tourism development in a community and the presence of negative resident attitudes toward it. This “tourism dependence” hypothesis is evaluated using survey data from four rural communities in the United States Rocky Mountain West. Results support the hypothesis with some important qualifications, and suggest a typology of rural communities experiencing tourism growth that includes tourism-saturated, tourism-realized, and tourism-hungry community types.

Résumé

La dépendance envers le tourisme et les attitudes des habitants. Les communautés rurales voient le tourisme comme un véhicule important pour aborder le probème du déclin économique, mais plusieurs études empiriques suggèrent que la crossance du tourisme entraîne des impacts sociaux négatifs. Certaines études suggèrent un rapport direct entre de développement du tourisme dans une communauté et la présence d'attitudes négatives de la part des habitants. On évalue cette hypothèse de “dépendance de tourisme” en utilisant des données d'enquêtes de quatre communautés rurales dans les montagnes Rocheuses de l'ouest des États-Unis. Les résultats appuient l'hypothèse avec quelques réserves importantes et suggèrent une typologie des communautés qui font l'expérience de la crossance du tourisme, comprenant les types de communautés saturées, réalisées et affamées de tourisme.     

From drifter to gap year tourist: Mainstreaming Backpacker Travel

Long-haul, long-term independent travel—here backpacking—has become increasingly common over the last few decades. Once considered a marginal activity undertaken by society’s drop-outs, it has gradually entered the tourism mainstream. Based on interview and internet material and ethnographic field research, this article considers where this growth in interest has come from, and how transformations in the perception of backpacking have taken place. Focusing on the travel imagination, it examines socioeconomic and cultural “incitements to travel”. As backpacking has become more mainstream its “alternative” standing has diminished, but it continues to be a potentially status-enhancing activity.     

Taiwan aboriginal ecotourism: Tanayiku Natural Ecology Park

This paper discusses research into an ethno/ecotourism site developed by the Tsou nation of southern Taiwan. The Tanayiku Natural Ecology Park receives approximately 450,000 tourists annually. This paper assesses, from a poststructuralist perspective, the theoretical implications of what is termed an “ecocultural renaissance”. It shows that the park functions in two contradictory ways. First, it is a site of geopolitical resistance to colonization for the Tsou. Second, it is as a site of topological consumption—which is, effectively, continued colonization—by tourists. Paradox notwithstanding, the paper discusses why Tanayiku represents a rare example of a successful community-based ecotourism operation owned and operated exclusively by an aboriginal group.     

A New Paradigm in Guiding: The Madrich as a Role Model

The “role model” guides encountered in the counselors of Israel Experience youth study tours, contrast traditional concepts of pathfinder and mentor. This model type is proposed as more appropriate for tours providing informal education and quest for identity. Not drawing authority from official recognition but from a personal guide–tourist relationship, madrichs rated characteristics essential to guides leading these trips. A multi-dimensional analysis uncovered the structure of these characteristics to create a structure of an “excellent” Israel Experience madrich. This structural analysis confirms an earlier typology and helps to uncover another kind of approach towards youth guiding.     

Exploring place perception a photo-based analysis

This paper examines the merits of volunteer-employed photography as a technique for investigating perceptions of residents and tourists of a destination. An exploratory study was undertaken in which both groups were asked to photograph features they considered important to their personal experience of the Welsh seaside resort of Aberystwyth. Participants also completed photologs and written questionnaires, which were used to supplement a content analysis of their snapshots. This enabled various comparisons and inferences to be drawn regarding how the town is perceived as a destination and as a place to live. An unexpected finding is that residents and tourists tend to adopt similar ways of “reading” the destination.     

Rosanzerusu is Los Angeles an anthropological inquiry of Japanese tourists

The popularity of Los Angeles with Japanese tourists prompts the anthropologist to ask what they are seeking there. An ethnography of that tourism discloses a number of “must see” sights for first time tourists. Subsequent tourists may seek more esoteric sites, as disclosed by an examination of tourist guide texts. Tourists progress from “mass” to “elite” status. Against a theoretical perspective of life as “sacred journey”, and of pilgrimage, tourism is seen as a ritual of modernity, amenable to semiotic analysis in the manner of Barthes. Los Angeles' ecumenical tourism reflects the mythology of the movies. Japanese tourists select sites drawn from this mythology which also reflect Japanese preferences (e.g., the Hollywood Bowl). They also emphasize sites where they may purchase souvenir or “marker” goods (e.g., UCLA). They thus attach importance to some sites thought to be quite minor by Angelenos.     

Tourism dance performances authenticity and creativity

Despite shifts in scale and context, dance performance in tourism settings, unlike some other artistic expressions, remains “authentic” and creative. Possible explanations for this include the manner in which “authentic” and “creative” are defined, the unique properties of dance as expressive behavior, and the particular politico-economic situation of different settings. The data used for this study are cross-cultural, assessing Native American, Oceanic, Caribbean, and African studies of dance performance, primarily those collected during fieldwork in Haiti and Cuba. The analysis is interpretive, based on cultural framing and examination of dance behavior and its affect.     

AIRPORT RUNWAY SLOTS: Limits to Growth

The United States–European Union market accounts for approximately 25% of all international tourist arrivals worldwide, and is arguably the busiest market in the world. This paper argues that landing slot policy and the manner in which airport capacity is allocated among airlines across the north Atlantic is likely to underpin the future geographic structure of the tourism industry. By analyzing the historical evolution of slot policy, this paper attempts to enhance the extant literature on how government authorities allocate scarce airport resources. The paper concludes by arguing that various slot reform proposals need to be adopted to make airports more “elastic” when managing origin-destination tourist flows.     

Spanish tourism migrants : The case of Lloret de Mar

This paper details experiences of Spanish tourism migrants in a Costa Brava resort, Lloret de Mar. Employment in these resorts is largely seasonal, “unskilled” with long hours and low pay. Much of the labor force consists of women from rural areas where stable employment is scarce, and for whom migration can bring some improvement in their position in the household and the labor market. Migrants can redefine gender roles and reassess their class position, including attitudes toward unions. However, their immediate employers often operate on low profit margins, and as seasonal workers, tourism migrants are especially vulnerable to down-turns in the industry as well as to pressure from high national unemployment. These influences have hindered union organization. Tourism migration can bring temporary improvement for individual migrants, but has represented no more than a half-way house. It reflects lack of rural development, while providing no solution.     

Tourism and agricultural development in thailand

The adoption of tourism by agricultural communities may increase or decrease environmental degradation by affecting the frequency of cultivation or perceived value of soil conservation. Research undertaken in a prominent “hill tribe” village in northern Thailand indicated that tourism was only adopted by those with available cash and labor, and did not present a viable alternative to agriculture. However, households which did adopt tourism increased frequency of cultivation by hiring agricultural labor and dividing land within families to maximize use of land. Tourism has, therefore, been unavailable to the poorest small landowners who most need a new source of income, but it has generally increased frequency of cultivation among those who have adopted it.     

Toward a critical analysis of tourism representations

This paper advances a “critical analysis of tourism representations” through examination of photographic postcards of African Americans from the South during the period 1893 to 1917. Analysis of these photographic images reveals that specific iconographic strategies were employed by postcard photographers to culturally inscribe black bodies with “Otherness”. Analysis of the postcard senders' messages reveals that these texts were often interpreted by tourists as interchangeable images of the mythic Old South or as attempts at humor. These images positioned black subjects in a racist regime of representation that constructed subjectivities for those depicted and identities for their viewers.     

Tourism attraction systems: Exploring Cultural Behavior

Attractions are vital sub-elements in all whole tourism systems, and yet their study suffers from lack of theoretical depth and empirical foundation. This paper presents an empirical exploration of the attraction system model, based on a survey of over 6,000 tourists to cultural attractions. The results provide strong support both for the general structure of the model and for the idea that tourists are “pushed” towards attractions by their motivations. Visitation is shown to be strongly related to motivation, attraction markers, use of different media, and touristic characteristics. Potential areas of development for the model are suggested, including more consideration of the relationship between agency and structure.     

Tourism and cultural revival

Cultural change is a recurrent concern in tourism anthropology studies. Host societies frequently remodel their culture following the creation of a tourist resort. But, that does not necessarily imply an acculturating process, since what actually takes place is pragmatic cultural production work in response to the touristic demands that offer consolidated economic alternatives and livelihood. As for the Pataxó Indians of Porto Seguro of Brazil, they have sponsored a “cultural revival” process. In other words, they have generated the traditions that start being exhibited commercially in arenas where the prospect of emergent ethnic tourism is perceived.     

TOURISM AND CULTURAL PROXIMITY: Examples from New Zealand

While tourism products based on Maori culture are popular among some overseas tourists to New Zealand, there has been little research as to their appeal to the domestic market. This paper discusses notions of indigenous tourism and the role of cultural and spatial difference in European conceptualizations of the exotic other. It argues that although there is a common cultural antecedence between non-Maori and European culture, the lack of spatial distance between Maori and tourists means that European New Zealanders are not drawn to Maori culture as an attraction in the manner that those from Europe and North America are. The paper discusses “kiwi culture” and familiarity as determinants of tourist demand.