Roles for geographers in the international tourist industry

International tourism is an industry that is second only to petroleum as a commodity in world trade. There are many positions available in the international tourist industry to geographers who wish to pursue them. Nearly every geographic specialization, topical or regional, can be accomodated. There are opportunities for members of the discipline with experience ranging from the undergraduate to the post-doctoral levels in research and planning, information and marketing services, and technical services. Types of activities include development research and planning, location analysis, teaching, cartography, and others.     

Toward a framework for tourism education: Problems and prospects

Jafari, Jafar, J. R. Brent Ritchie, Toward a Framework For Tourism Education: Problems and Prospects. Annals of Tourism Research 1981, VIII(1):13–34. The purpose of this article is to offer a framework for analysis and discussion of tourism education. It first adopts a definition of tourism within which interaction among its components and extraneous aspects are considered. Specifically, it addresses issues related to travelers, tourism goods and services, socio-physical factors, and the host-guest relationship. Second, it discusses some social science disciplines relevant to the study of tourism, with reference to some methods of research and teaching of tourism. Finally, the article moves on to present some other issues pertinent to curriculum development in tourism. Throughout the paper, a number of questions are raised and attempts are made to point out some critical issues in tourism education.     

Towards a cohesive curriculum tourism: The case for a distinct discipline

This paper addresses a controversial topic in tourism scholarship which is simultaneously a problem and an opportunity in tourism education: the philosophical issue of academic disciplines and specifically, the question of a distinct discipline in tourism studies. It is argued that the orthodox approach to tourism education, multi-disciplinary studies, has become an impediment. It is suggested that a new discipline can be created by organizing the existing body of knowledge and that such a discipline can become the core of an inter-disciplinary approach. Certain characteristics of an embryonic discipline are outlined and innovations in this area at Sydney Technical College are discussed.     

The evolution of tourist arts

Tourist arts with ethnic content are at the nexus of changing tourism, ethnicity and art in the modern world. This paper explores the range of varieties of tourist arts, the dynamics of change between various types of artifacts, and the interaction between tourist arts and notions of ethnic self-perception. The analogy between language and art is pursued to illuminate the nature of the various communication codes embodied in tourist and ethnic arts. The paper concludes by stressing that tourist arts are not an end-point, but one possibility within the fluid relationships between material symbols, outsiders' demand, and the defense and reformulation of ethnicity. It also concludes that the evolution of ethnic awareness, combined with increased education and travel opportunities, is bringing a uniformity of attitudes towards tourism, material heritage, and museums among the middle classes of all nations. Thus minority ethnic symbols have become the manipulated “totems” of touristic identity.     

U.S. tourism in Mexico: An empirical analysis

This study estimated demand functions for tourism by U.S. residents in Mexico border areas, the Mexican interior, and overseas. There was no evidence that U.S. tourists substitute Mexico for more distant destinations as transportation costs rise. Border tourism is income elastic when the share of U.S. income of the border states is held fixed. Tourism in the Mexican interior is also income elastic. Tourism along the border is price elastic, while tourism in the interior is elastic with respect to U.S. and overseas prices but inelastic with respect to Mexican prices. The rise in the share of the Mexican interior in U.S. overseas tourism is not related to price factors. Recent devaluations of the Mexican peso are unlikely to provide benefits to the Mexican tourism industry.     

The measurement of spatial variations in tourist activity

This paper looks at the problems of using physical accommodation capacity figures to identify spatial variations in the level of tourist activity and considers the implications for the interpretation of Defert's tourist function index. An analysis of accomodation use patterns in New Brunswick, Canada, shows considerable differences in the intensity of use among the various forms of accommodation. A closer look at hotel and motel occupancy characteristics also reveals large spatial variations, but their combined effect on the relationship between physical accommdation capacity and yearly tourist use shows little variation over space. It is concluded that Defert's index is a most useful tool for examining tourist activity in areas where most accommodation is in the form of hotels and motels, but should be interpreted with caution where there are large spatial variations in the types of accommodation available.     

The destination competitiveness of Kinmen's tourism industry: exploring the interrelationships between tourist perceptions,service performance,customer satisfaction and sustainable tourism

Based upon an empirical investigation, the study draws upon the responses of 1623 tourists in Kinmen to explore the notion of destination competitiveness and how it is related to customer satisfaction with tourists’ perceptions, service performance and destination competitiveness. It also considers the question of destination competitiveness and sustainable tourism development. Variables such as tourists’ pre-visit perceptions, post-visit satisfaction toward destination attractions and resources, willingness to recommend and revisit, and competitiveness with foreign destinations are tested. The results of the study suggest that there is no correlation between tourists’ overall satisfaction and destination competitiveness. Implications of the study outcome illustrate that a destination's unique tourism characteristics can be the most important variables for destination competitiveness. In Kinmen's case, battlefields, historic relics, beautiful scenery and travel security gave it a competitive edge, despite high prices. In addition, developing the destination's brand image was found to be critical for tourism marketers and authorities in the context of increasingly global tourism competition.     

Politics,power, and tourism in Thailand

This paper examines the political system in Thailand with particular attention given to the location of the power in the system and its effect on the tourist industry. Noted also is the environment within which the system must operate. It is shown that while power lies with the political leaders and the bureaucracy, they are limited by the faction-ridden competitive system with the need to maintain support and offer material rewards. This has left the industry with considerable freedom to exert its power and develop. There is little opposition to development but defects in the system need to be rectified or the power balance could move, to the detriment of the industry.     

The tourist guide: The origins,structure and dynamics of a role

The two lines of origin of the modern tourist guide are the pathfinder and the mentor. These are the antecedents, respectively, of the leadership and the mediatory spheres in the guide's role. Since each has an inner and an outer directed aspect, four major components of the role are distinguished: the instrumental, social, interactionary, and communicative. The dynamics of development of the role from the Original to the Professional Guide is represented as a transition of emphasis from the instrumental to the communicative component. Aside from this main line of development, two new role types have differentiated: the Animator and the Tour-leader, emphasizing, respectively, the social and the interactionary components. The Original Guide's function is to produce attractions in the marginal regions of the ecological tourist system, while that of the Professional Guide is to reproduce the attractions in the central regions of the system.     

Anthropology and tourism: A science-industry evaluation

The anthropological contribution to touristic study derives from this discipline's holistic perception of human culture and its comparative methodology. Renewed use of the “national character” approach, applying traditional field methods to industrial societies, would serve to identify elements stimulating tourism in the donor area and the needs within the recipient region. A tourist region is defined as a marketable destination with the surrounding support zones to supply requisite visitor services. The relationship between tourism and regional development needs to be assessed in terms of the economy theory of multiplier effect, as money, goods, services and people flow between the regional core and its support zones. Models illustrate internal development as well as donor-recipient relations. Science and industry share common goals in development and management of tourism, noted by efforts to educate the decision-makers as well as the tourist.     

The tourist art market as a factor in social change

Richter, Dolores. “The Tourist Art Market as a Factor in Social Change,” Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. V, No. 3, July/September 1978, pp.323–338. This paper disputes the theory that participation in the tourist art market has had limited economic impact on African artists. An analysis of social changes that have occured in the social organization of a group of traditional woodcarvers indicates that tourist art market participation is directly responsible for significant changes in many social institutions. It has also provided the economic means by which the carvers have been able to respond positively to government policies and regulations aimed at modernization.     

Course content and structure in the geography of tourism the Canterbury example

This paper outlines the structure and content of a graduate course in the geography of tourism which was introduced at the University of Canterbury in 1976. Attempts to structure the course and considerations regarding its content are set against the fragmentation and general lack of coherence which characterize much tourism research and literature. Although this paper refers essentially to the Canterbury experience, many of the issues discussed should be relevant not only to geographers but also to those teaching courses on other aspects of tourism.     

The political economy of tourism in the third world

When a Third World country uses tourism as a development strategy, it becomes enmeshed in a global system over which it has little control. The international tourism industry is a product of metropolitan capitalist enterprise. The superior entrepreneurial skills, resources, and commercial power of metropolitan companies enables them to dominate many Third World tourist destinations. This paper outlines the dynamics of this process, particularly in the context of the South Pacific.     

The political impact of tourism dependence in Latin America

This research seeks to test empirically the validity of hypotheses drawn from dependency theory that suggest that economic reliance on tourism creates political dependence. Specifically, it seeks to determine whether the Carribean region, strongly dependent on U.S. tourism, is demonstrably more compliant politically with the United States than other, less dependent, Latin American nations. In addition, the paper examines the relation between political compliance and other indicators of dependence, e.g., investment, aid, and trade. Compliance is measured basically by correlating each nation's voting behavior in the UN General Assembly with that of the United States. A series of tests on a number of relevant economic and political variables yields no confirmation of the dependency argument in the political realm.     

Money illusion and inflation management in tourism: The hotel industry case

Using regression analysis, this study examines the relationship between inflation, room rates, capacity utilization, and profitability in the hotel industry. The results show that room rates and nominal profits have been strongly related to inflation while occupancy rates and real profits have been independent of inflation over the twenty year period examined. Findings suggest general absence of money illusion implying effective inflation management policies.     

The anthropology of tourism

This paper considers some of the issues in the anthropology of modern tourism, emphasizing comparative and dynamic perspectives. Building on the works of MacCannell, V. Turner, and E. Cohen, the relations of tourism to ritual, play, and pilgrimage are considered. Two kinds of tourism are identified: periodic or annual vacations, paralleling cyclical rites of intensification, and arduous, self-testing tourism, paralleling rites of passage. The relation of tourism to class, life style, and cultural change are examined, focusing on the factors; discretionary income, cultural self-confidence, and socio-symbolic reversals. The paper concludes with an examination of research methodology and suggests important avenues for further research, including studies of non-Western tourism, of tourism in relation to such institutions as museums, festivals, and theme parks, and of individual biographical recreational and tourist growth patterns.     

The effects of scale in tourism projects in developing countries

The paper by Rodenburg (Annals VII:2:177–196) on the effect of scale in tourism development in Bali raises important questions relating to tourism development in Third World countries. One fundamental question is whether large-scale development is inevitable in such countries, or whether there is persuasive evidence to support smaller and craft scale enterprises. This article undertakes a critical review of Rodenburg's analysis and concludes that large scale developments are likely to be inevitable because of external economies of scale and market structures in international tourism, but that the consequences of such developments can be foreseen and therefore mitigated by appropriate pre-project planning.     

Domestic tourism in FRG : Trends and problems

Participation on tourism of the population of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) has enormously increased. Domestic tourism, however, stagnates. The German tourist regions have to expect a significant decrease in visitors, since an increasing segment of the German holiday-makers (now two thirds) travels abroad. The German domestic tourism providers and vacation travel organizers have not yet fully realized the new trends in the travel behavior. The unfavorable trend can only be met through a continually increasing supply with vacation homes and apartments. Moreover, the various resort towns need to join regional tourism associations which are able to achieve a more effective regional marketing for smaller tourist regions. Preparations for the establishment of regional tourism associations and programs for a subsidization of regional marketing plans are imminent.     

The conceptual framework for ethics and corporate social responsibility in Taiwanese tourism industry

This study examines ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Taiwanese tourism industry from the standpoints of the government, academia, and industry through the perspective of Confucianism and creates a comprehensive, tourism-specific ethics and CSR conceptual framework. A qualitative approach was adopted in this study that recruited 21 experts to share their perspectives regarding ethics and CSR in the tourism industry. An original, valuable and comprehensive ethics and CSR conceptual framework in the tourism industry within the context of Chinese society was conducted and includes seven dimensions emerged from the data and were integrated into the following four facets: first, the dimensions of ethics; second, the antecedent facet of CSR is the inside and outside force; third, the strategy facet includes the economy, the environment, society, and culture; and fourth, the consequence aspect is feedback. Further, this research provides value for academics and practical strategy for related fields.     

Mass tourism and the dilemmas of modernization in Pacific Island communities

This paper relates global discussions of tourism as a means of development to the history of cultural contacts in the Pacific. The paper reviews the relevance of the existing literature on social and cultural impacts of tourism to the Pacific and suggests implications for policy makers and community leaders. The existing literature is found to be methodologically suspect and does not provide helpful knowledge to policy-makers.