“It’s freedom!”: examining the motivations and experiences of coastal freedom campers in New Zealand

Little is known about the motivations and experiences of freedom campers – travellers who choose to camp in open public spaces rather than formal campgrounds. In particular, the ‘freedom’ in their practices has not been examined – despite this concept being central to tourism, and leisure activities more generally. This article fills a gap in knowledge by describing the perspectives and behaviours of freedom campers, and by analysing the freedom(s) they experience. It focuses on the New Zealand context, where freedom camping is increasingly popular, especially at the coast. Over summer 2014–2015, we surveyed freedom campers at beachfront sites in three case study areas. The 61 participants characterised coastal freedom camping as a place-based activity, centred on locations offering views and leisure opportunities. Camping sites were typically selected on the basis of place appeal, recommendations and opportunity, rather than prior planning. Respondents indicated that freedom camping is a choice, and one that is often exercised alongside stays in formal campgrounds. Vehicle-based camping was understood to entail spontaneity, flexibility and mobility – inter-related benefits often labelled ‘freedom’. Participants valued the ability to travel without a fixed route, and to make opportunistic stops. They were also able to choose between sites offering privacy and spaciousness, and those offering social opportunities. The freedom of being able to camp without charge received inconsistent levels of emphasis. We conclude that freedom camping can be understood as offering a form of autonomy encompassing freedom from external constraints, as well as freedom to explore and to escape.     

Seasonality in New Zealand Winery Visitation

Summary

Seasonality is a major issue in tourism management; however, the implications of seasonality for wine tourism have only received limited attention. Arguably, because of the interaction between seasonal patterns of consumer demand with the inherent seasonality of vineyard work and wine supply means that seasonality issues may be even more problematic for wine tourism than other forms of tourism. The article provides the results of a national study on wine tourism in New Zealand. The article highlights the seasonal nature of visitation and suggests a number of marketing strategies by which some of the effects of seasonality may be overcome in terms of both target markets and the improved management of human resources.     

Visitation of tourism attractions and tourist expenditure patterns ‐ repeat versus first‐time visitors

Marketing wisdom suggests that it is less expensive to reattract previous customers than to acquire new ones. Yet, few tourism destinations are actively trying to understand their current visitors in order to more effectively market to them. The present study analyzes international repeat and first‐time visitors to Rotorua, New Zealand, in order to gain insights into their respective visitation patterns of tourist attractions in the area, as well as their trip and expenditure patterns. The results of this study indicate that there are significant differences with regards to trip characteristics, and it offers a few insightful differences with respect to the attractions frequented.     

Bicycle tourism in the South Island of New Zealand: planning and management issues

Several emerging trends are pointing to the re-emergence of the bicycle as an important leisure and recreational transportation mode. Yet little research has been conducted into cycling within a tourism context. This paper examines the increasing phenomenon of bicycle tourism by defining bicycle tourists and bicycle tourism from a demand perspective, and describes the characteristics, infrastructure and travel behaviour associated with bicycle tourism through the examination of data collected on independent cycle tourists in the South Island of New Zealand. It illustrates through performance-importance analysis, the areas of major concern in the planning and management of bicycle tourism, and recommends that a demand side perspective is needed if the supply side of the industry is to be sustainable in the future. It makes recommendations for the future planning and management of bicycle tourism in New Zealand that may be of interest to countries currently developing cycle tourism.     

The Buried village,New Zealand – An example of dark tourism?

In 1886, the explosion of Mount Tarawera resulted in the loss of 150 lives and the burial of the village of Te Wairoa, the base from which tourists had visited the Pink and White Terraces, a silicone-stained natural formation then advertised as one of the natural wonders of the world. Since 1931, the buried site has itself been a tourist attraction and Smith and Croy have argued that it serves as an example of “dark tourism”. This paper uses a different methodology to argue that Lennon and Foley's original definition of dark tourism is precise, that the buried village of Te Wairoa does not meet that specification, but does support the model suggested by Sharpley, that the site's characteristics are those of grey tourism supply. However, the findings derived from a sample of over 600 respondents indicate that sites are complex packages of potential experiences, and are potentially multi-faceted in terms of the experiences they offer. It is also suggested that cultural components might play a role in the experience of what is “dark” about a site.     

New Zealand’s transformed adventure: from hero myth to accessible tourism experience

Sir Edmund Hillary’s first ascent of Mt Everest in 1953 provided New Zealand with a global adventure representation. His image aligned to a mythologised pioneering cultural identity. Although the privileged masculine, white, class and imperialist features of this cultural myth have been critiqued, adventure remains a positively valued social tenet in New Zealand. Since 1953 socially recognised ‘adventure-makers’ have sustained traditional adventure practices and narratives. In the 1990s, however, bungy jumping became the prominent representation of New Zealand adventure. This challenged traditional understandings, providing an avenue to explore the contested social space and features underpinning understandings of adventure. Guided by Bourdieu’s conceptualisation of social life, the paper examines the practices and stories of 12 New Zealand ‘adventure-makers’ with sustained distinction. The interpretation draws on discursive data from newspapers, magazines, websites, biographies, auto-biographies and research interviews. The rule-changing social distinction afforded bungy jumping is not a rupture of New Zealand’s adventure habitus. It does, however, highlight a collective self-deception in negotiation of the understandings of adventure in relation to the features of ‘misadventure’, ‘exclusivity’ and the ‘extraordinary’. The bungy jumping leap innovatively transforms the danger, myth and extraordinary into a recognisable, individually inclusive experience of adventure.     

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.     

Leisure corporations,beer brand culture,and the crisis of masculinity: the Speight’s ‘Southern Man’ advertising campaign

Leisure corporations and their brands are becoming increasingly signified to represent certain values and attitudes towards leisure and particular aspects of identity. One popular leisure product and practice is beer and its consumption, which also plays a role in constructing identity and, more specifically, masculinity. Within the context of contemporary promotional culture, beer advertising serves to reproduce the cultural links between masculinity, sport/leisure, and the consumption of beer, which form a theorised ‘holy trinity’. In this paper, we focus on Speight’s, one of New Zealand’s renowned breweries and beer brands, to explore the ways in which its promotional culture illuminates notions of a crisis of masculinity. Our multimethod, qualitative approach combines contextualisation with the critical textual analysis of two advertisements from the ‘Southern Man’ television campaign and interview data obtained from one key cultural intermediary, the campaign’s creator. From this, our analysis elucidates three key dimensions about the important role of the Speight’s ‘Southern Man’ advertising campaign as a site for understanding masculinities, in addition to how they are constructed and, ultimately, how they embody a crisis of masculinity. The first is the campaign’s exploitation of societal cleavages. The second is the campaign’s explicit use of nostalgia. And the third is the campaign’s omission of ‘other’ masculinities.     

MICE,ICT and Local Economic Development

Abstract

This paper investigates how information and communication technologies (ICT), and particularly the World Wide Web (Web), can enhance the role that Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions (MICE) properties play in local economic development (LED). The complex linkages between MICE, ICT and LED are explored through a literature review, a website audit, in-depth interviews, and a case study of Te Kahurangi (TK) in New Zealand (NZ). Our findings reveal that the Web has considerable (but as yet largely untapped) potential to facilitate linkages between MICE and local economies. Such potential can only be reached, however, through careful planning, and the realization on the part of managers, developers and planners, that the Web is not only simply a marketing tool but also an integral part of attempts to improve internal MICE performance and external links to local development.     

Resilience and sustainability: a complementary relationship? Towards a practical conceptual model for the sustainability–resilience nexus in tourism

“Sustainability” has endured as an important concept for tourism scholars, and volumes have been written about how to achieve this holy grail of the tourism industry. Sustainable tourism destinations are often promoted as the ethical choice for discerning travellers, with some marketers taking full advantage of the widely acknowledged ambiguities implicit in the term. More recently “resilience” has generated appeal in the academic tourism literature as a term that might capture core aspects of sustainability, while acknowledging the considerable influences that multiple contexts have on the capacity of communities to adapt and ultimately sustain their tourism enterprises. The resilience concept encompasses an inclusive and integrative “social ecological systems” approach which gives it a firm interdisciplinary underpinning in its application in tourism. While in a tourism context sustainability and resilience are kindred terms, relatively little scholarly effort has been committed to a critical treatment of these concepts. Addressing this deficiency, we present a conceptual model to discuss the relationship between sustainability and resilience in tourism. Drawing on examples from New Zealand's nature-based tourism sector, this conceptual paper explores the insights that a critical treatment of the sustainability–resilience nexus might offer both academics and practitioners in the field of tourism studies.     

Strategy Communication in Family-Owned Restaurants: Ad Hoc and Ad-Lib

ABSTRACT

Most New Zealand restaurants are small family-owned businesses, which could be expected to communicate their purpose, business strategy, and goals to their employees. However, this expectation may be at odds with the informal mode of a family operation. This exploratory study therefore examines the communication of strategies in family-owned restaurants to determine the likely impact of family ownership on strategy communication. Interview data from family business owners and employees indicate that communication was largely ad hoc, relating to tactics more than strategies, and that many owners lacked the skills needed to operate a profitable and successful business. The weak understanding of strategic business skills identified may explain the high rate of failures identified in the New Zealand restaurant industry.