Environmental governance for sustainable tourism development: Collaborative networks and organisation building in the Antalya tourism region

For more than two decades the attainment of sustainable environmental quality and the protection of environmental assets have been at the forefront of central policy issues in global tourism development. Recently, it has been argued that collaborative and associative forms of governance among tourism companies and other related agents are growing in importance in the drive for sustainable and environmentally sensitive tourism. Despite the increasing number of debates on the role of networking on tourism they are not well supported by empirical studies, and still far from explain how such networks can contribute to the sustainable development of territories. This paper aims to contribute to previous literature by analysing together governance networks and literature on sustainable development, and by providing empirical findings that highlight the importance of governance networks in sustainable tourism development, the importance of different scales of collaborative governance networks and the role of organisation building for environmentally sustainable tourism development in Antalya. The paper offers analytical findings on the networks of environmental governance among different types of tourism organisations based on a company-level survey, which reveals an increase in local collaboration and self-help networking based on local concerns and endogenous dynamics among the different actors in tourism. Unfortunately, the findings show that environmental motivations fall far behind economic considerations in networking practices.     

Current issues in tourism: Mitigating climate change in sustainable tourism research

This paper adopts a problematising review approach to examine the extent of mitigating climate change research in the sustainable tourism literature. As climate change has developed into an existential global environmental crisis and while tourism's emissions are still increasing, one would expect it to be at the heart of sustainable tourism research. However, from a corpus of 2573 journal articles featuring ‘sustainable tourism’ in their title, abstract, or keywords, only 6.5% covered climate change mitigation. Our critical content analysis of 35 of the most influential papers found that the current methods, scope and traditions of tourism research hamper effective and in-depth research into climate change. Transport, the greatest contributor to tourism's emissions, was mostly overlooked, and weak definitions of sustainability were common. Tight system boundaries, lack of common definitions and incomplete data within tourism studies appear to hamper assessing ways to mitigate tourism's contribution to climate change.     

Mainstreaming sustainable tourism with user-centred design

Abstract

Efforts to design and communicate sustainable tourism products have been based on the premise of explicit market demand for sustainability. This study tests whether it is possible to design mainstream sustainable tourism products that circumvent customer scrutiny of their sustainability features, by making sustainability implicit (as part of quality product design) and communicating hedonistic benefits instead. This is akin to using the peripheral route of communication, as explained in the Elaboration Likelihood Model, as the central route emphasises the consumer-driven message of overall quality of experience; the approach lessens the need for customers to be conscious of the sustainability consequences of their actions. The methodology proposed to achieve this is user-centred design (UCD), which places insights into customer needs, values and demands at the heart of new product design. We designed sustainable tourist activities using UCD and then appraised customer demand for them. Although this may seem counterintuitive, the results show that it can be more effective than traditional methods in mainstreaming sustainable activities, through choice-editing of unsustainable ones and normalising the appearance and communication of sustainability, provided a focus on sustainability is maintained by the product provider.     

Sustainable attitudes: Protecting tourism with inoculation messages

This study explored the potential of inoculation messages to protect the pro-destination attitudes of potential tourists. As this study argues, much research has focused on the promotion of destination images, sustainable tourism, and more recently the impact of Tourism 2.0 (i.e., hyper connected, multidimensional consumer knowledge sharing across social media platforms) on the industry. Yet, little attention has been given to communication strategies designed to pre-emptively protect tourist attitudes from negative online peer reviews. Therefore, via a three-phase experiment the current investigation explored the impact of different (i.e., no message, supportive, and inoculation) communication message strategies on tourist pro-destination attitudes when faced with a negative peer review of the destination on social media. Results indicate that for participants exposed to negative peer reviews presented via social media inoculation messages protected pro-destination attitudes better than other message types.     

Short-haul city travel is truly environmentally sustainable

With rising interest in and concern about climate change and environmental sustainability, and the significance of the tourism industry worldwide, the impact of tourism-related activities and behaviors on the environment has become a key area of research. In particular, transport related to tourism has come under scrutiny for its contribution to the ecological footprint of tourism of a destination, mostly accounted for by the dominance of air travel. This study contributes to research in this area by identifying the types of travel situations in which tourists make environmentally friendly choices about travel modes and, consequently, which types of tourism destinations should seek to develop and promote in order to minimize the environmental impact of the tourist sector on both an individual destination and global scale.     

Value co-creation in sustainable tourism: A service-dominant logic approach

To mainstream sustainability, we need to understand the value gained from sustainability by users. We apply a user-centred design methodology to develop an agile, iterative, incremental and reflexive process to understand the sustainability value proposition for Lufthansa City Center travel agents. We analyse the failure of sustainability communications within the online platforms used by these agents and explore why the agents factor out sustainability information during the customer sales process. We identify how agents and customers understand sustainability, and we explore opportunities to co-create sustainability value. Furthermore, we prototype, and then test, methods of empowering travel agents to communicate sustainability to their customers as a value-adding proposition.     

Sustainable urban tourism success factors and the economic performance of small tourism enterprises

The aim of this study is to introduce the relationship between sustainable urban tourism success factors and the economic performance of small tourism enterprises (STEs). The related data was obtained from 330 STEs business owners/managers in Eskisehir (Turkey). To determine the dimensions Exploratory Factor Analysis was performed and Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used for verifying these dimensions. Structural Equation Modelling was applied in order to introduce the relation which is foreseen. As a result of the analysis, seven dimensions of urban tourism success factors and two dimensions of the economic performance of STEs have been determined and a significant relation was found between them. These findings provide an insight to literature and new directions and suggestions for local governments, regional marketing organizations and business managers on how tourism development and sustainability can be achieved in urban areas.     

Organic,incremental and induced paths to sustainable mass tourism convergence

This paper positions sustainable mass tourism (SMT) as the desired and impending outcome for most destinations. Natural resource scarcity, development of green technology, climate change awareness, the global financial crisis, institutionalised environmentalism and Internet technology all facilitate the emergence of sustainability as a societal norm that is combining with the longer established norm of growth desirability. SMT convergence is occurring along three distinctive paths in an evolutionary manner that reflects environmental pragmatism. The market-driven ‘organic’ path describes the conventional tourism area life cycle model of Butler, whilst the regulation-driven ‘incremental’ path entails deliberate alternative tourism (DAT) in which carrying capacities are gradually increased to accommodate higher visitation levels. The hybrid ‘induced’ path describes planned mega-resorts conceived as growth poles. Each model is invested with its own specific planning and management implications.     

Benchmarking the Asia Pacific tourism industry: A Bayesian combination of DEA and stochastic frontier

This study measures and compares the efficiency of leading tour operator and hotel companies across several Asia Pacific countries. We use an innovative methodology that is based on combining the stochastic frontier and data envelopment analysis in a Bayes framework. We show from the results that Australia, Singapore and South Korea are the most efficient in both their tour operator and hotel industries. We further show that international hotels in the region have a slightly higher efficiency than local hotels. We provide a listing of the most efficient tour operators and hotels in each country and discuss the implications of our findings.     

International academic impact of Chinese tourism research: A review based on the analysis of SSCI tourism articles from 2001 to 2012

Between 2001 and 2011 Chinese authors published over 838,000 articles in SSCI rated journals, second only to authors in the United States. However Chinese tourism academics lagged behind their counterparts in obtaining such publications, with only 157 papers in the Thomson Reuters SSCI listing for tourism and hospitality. However in recent years the numbers of Chinese authored publications have significantly increased. The paper argues that access to SSCI ranked publications is important for Chinese tourism academics because (a) it helps inform the world of developments in Chinese tourism, (b) it is a recognition of the standards of Chinese research and a means of improving Chinese research and (c) it provides a motive for international collaboration between Chinese researchers and their counterparts.     

Creating a scale for assessing socially sustainable tourism

As destinations absorb ever increasing number of visitors, destination managers become progressively more concerned about the longer term viability of tourism from a resident's perspective. However, few studies have examined the application of real-time social sustainability within tourism, particularly how to measure impacts on social sustainability. This study outlines the development of a valid and reliable scale – the Scale of Social Sustainability (SSS) – for tourism that provides an assessment of social sustainability in destination settings. A 10-step procedure was developed drawing upon the related literature. A telephone poll-based survey generated 1839 valid responses from Hong Kong residents. Hong Kong's growing popularity as a destination provides a rich array of host–guest conflict situations. Dimensionality was identified using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Construct validity, reliability, and stability were assessed, and found good, showing that the scale could be used by other destinations worldwide. The theoretical and managerial implications of the scale are discussed, including options for annual surveys giving policy-makers alerts before situations worsen. Detailed host resident viewpoints and the large scale of the survey can help local residents be informed about tourism development and better involved in the policy formation process.     

Theoretical activity in sustainable tourism research

There is growing recognition in tourism and sustainable tourism research of the need for a fuller engagement in theoretical activity. The paper examines how different research strategies in recent articles on sustainable tourism have advanced theoretical understanding in this research field. The articles advance thinking through ideas and concepts connected with political ecology, mobilities, transition pathways, and behavioural and systems change. They are evaluated using a typology of research strategies associated with theoretical work, using a broad perspective on this work. The research strategy typology was developed for the paper, and it is explained and illustrated. While the papers on sustainable tourism use a range of strategies associated with theoretical activity, there is only limited engagement with “big” social theories.     

Perceptions of tourism promotion and business challenges: A survey-based comparison of tourism businesses and promotion organizations

Tourism is an important economic development driver in the U.S. especially in rural areas. Most US regions have tourism-related economic development organizations to assist the local industry. Despite such assistance, however, many tourism-based businesses struggle. One possible reason is a disconnect between business needs and the activities of related organizations. This study uses survey data from tourism-based businesses and tourism promotion and economic development organizations in rural western Pennsylvania and West Virginia to compare how the various actors perceive the most pressing tourism promotion efforts and business challenges. In general, tourism businesses and support organizations agree on the promotional needs of tourism-based businesses and hold similar perceptions about industry problems. However, tourism promotion agencies underestimate the role of the internet in promotions and perceive workforce issues differently than do businesses. Better alignment of priorities within tourism partnerships should enhance promotional and educational efforts as well as the integration of tourism into overall economic development efforts.     

Ecological ideals,sustainable tourism and the heritage concept of an eco-village: the case of Arcosanti,USA

Arcosanti in Arizona, USA, is a yet-to-be completed ecological settlement which reflects the major ideas of Paolo Soleri, an Italian architect and philosopher, on an alternative type of city. Based on field research using interviews, participatory observation and the survey method it examines the relationship between tourism and eco-settlements, using Arcosanti as a case study, in order to discuss current approaches to sustainable tourism and to examine visitor profiles, perceptions, and attitudes. The data indicates that ecological settlements such as Arcosanti can be an attractive tourist destination and it is clear that although Arcosanti had started life as an urban experiment based on ecological and alternative ideas, today it is a place that attracts many visitors. Regardless of whether Arcosanti can be categorized as an eco-village or eco-city, its valuable attractiveness results from Paolo Soleri and his tangible/intangible heritage that contributes an income via sustainable tourism. The study concludes that Arcosanti is an excellent case which offers the promise that ecological settlements can have significant potential for sustainable tourism.     

Analysing relationships in tourism: A review

In recent decades, a systemic notion of tourism has been gaining ground, leading to its recognition as a set of interacting elements. From this perspective, relationships have become an important factor in research for understanding tourism, proving useful in the planning and management of tourism destinations. By means of an comprehensive review of the main contributions in the scientific literature in this regard, this paper highlights that there is no one single conception or theoretical-methodological approach to studying relationships, and proposes a classification of the literature on the basis of six major research lines, with a view to identifying and analysing the main advances and gaps presented by each of the research lines. In short, the article identifies the main lines of research developed in this field, analysing the main contributions and making a series of proposals to guide the future research agenda regarding the analysis of relationships in tourism.     

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.     

Progress in tourism management: A review of website evaluation in tourism research

This paper reviews tourism studies published from 1996 to July 2009 that pertain to methodological approaches to website evaluation. The paper analyzes the initial work and continues up to recent developments in website evaluation. In general, prior research can be divided into five evaluation approaches: counting, automated, numerical computation, user judgment, and combined methods. The strengths and weaknesses of each method are examined. Research gaps and opportunities for future studies are discussed.     

Individual tourism systems

This research note tests the proposition that unique tourism systems exist through an analysis of participation in attractions and activities among a sample of free and independent tourists who visited Bali, Indonesia.     

Monitoring tourism flows and destination management: Empirical evidence for Portugal

We propose the use of a tool recently introduced by Gayer (2010), known as the “economic climate tracer”, to analyze and monitor the cyclical evolution of tourism source markets to Portugal. Considering the period 1987–2015, we evaluate how tourism to Portugal has been affected by economic cycles. This tool is useful as it clearly illustrates the evolutionary patterns of different markets, and allows us to identify close relationships with economic fluctuations. We found that German tourism plays a leading role, since its movements are followed with delays by tourism flows from other countries, and exhibits higher resilience to shocks. Also, domestic and Spanish tourism have both displayed less irregular behaviors than tourism from other source markets. On the contrary, tourism from the Netherlands and the UK, have displayed irregular patterns, which demonstrates the urgency to diversify tourism source markets to reduce the country's vulnerability to external shocks and economic cycles.