Backpackers in Hong Kong – motivations,preferences and contribution to sustainable tourism

This paper examines the backpacker market in Hong Kong, in terms of profile, motivation, preferences, and contribution to sustainable tourism development. The purpose is to provide an understanding of this market to help in marketing and promoting services and products that meet backpackers’ needs as part of expanding Hong Kong’s target market. Currently, Hong Kong relies on tourists from mainland China and recent reports reveal the issue of social conflicts between mainland tourists and Hong Kong residents. Based on a survey of backpackers in youth hostels and hiking trails in Hong Kong, this study revealed that backpackers are pushed by the search for new ideas and pulled by the uniquefood culture of Hong Kong, preferring to experience such a unique food culture in a traditional setting. Moreover, they are less likely to spend on international brands in Hong Kong as part of promoting sustainable tourism development.     

Backpacker tourism: sustainable and purposeful? Investigating the overlap between backpacker tourism and volunteer tourism motivations

Alternative tourism, particularly backpacker and volunteer tourism, has developed significantly in recent times. This rapid development has contributed to criticism of potential negative effects, notably of the environmental, cultural, economic and social impacts associated with backpacker tourism. Volunteer tourism, by contrast, has been seen in positive terms as more sustainable, combining altruistic motivations with the travel concept. This paper explores backpacker interest in volunteer tourism and identifies overlaps in motivations between the two forms of tourism; 249 self-administered questionnaires were collected from backpackers within backpacker hostels in central Melbourne, Australia. The findings of this study suggest that a motivational overlap exists between backpacker and volunteer tourists, indicating potential for the creation of volunteer tourism products catering specifically for the backpacker market. This may encourage more sustainable tourism experiences within the burgeoning backpacker market, thus addressing some of the negative criticism of the latter. This paper also discusses the implications of these findings for the marketing and development of volunteer tourism products for both the backpacker and volunteer tourism markets.     

Is sustainable tourism an obstacle to the economic performance of the tourism industry? Evidence from an international empirical study

Sustainability has become an important strategic objective for tourism destinations worldwide. All analytical tourism competitiveness models make direct or indirect positive references to sustainability. It is accepted that sustainable tourism can reduce resource costs and help create market differentiation. Nevertheless, it has traditionally been considered that, short term, sustainability measures can reduce profitability and compromise competitiveness. Debates on the progress, implications, and practicality of sustainable tourism remain open. The relationship between economic sustainability, and environmental and sociocultural sustainability, is a central but largely unresearched area for tourism scholars, especially at the macro level. This study explores that difficult but essential area, using the World Economic Forum's empirical evidence from 128 countries, backed by the economic data search tool of the World Travel & Tourism Council. It demonstrates that progress in tourism sustainability does not affect a country's main economic tourism indicators in the short term, and does not constrain profitability and competitiveness. It also finds that sustainable tourism is not a luxury that only rich countries can afford, nor should it prevent development and perpetuate poverty in developing countries. An effective marketing and communication program about sustainable tourism is, however, found to be essential for economic success.     

Tourists’ aesthetic assessment of environmental changes,linking conservation planning to sustainable tourism development

Abstract

Tourists often travel to experience the natural beauty of a destination such as the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in Australia. This nature-based destination attracts millions of tourists every year because of its outstanding underwater aesthetics. Recently, parts of the GBR have been degraded by warming sea temperatures and other local anthropogenic influences, threatening the Reef aesthetics and tourism in the region. In order to deal with this topical issue, the current research investigates tourists’ aesthetic assessment of environmental changes in the GBR ecosystem. Research outcomes indicate that tourists’ perceived beauty of the Reef is sensitive to environmental changes. The disappearance of sea animals (colourful fish, turtle), degrading coral and decreasing water quality negatively influence their aesthetic assessment, which can reduce tourist visitation in the long-term. Hence, sustainable tourism development in the GBR regions can only be achieved when government support for environmental management is strengthened. Conservation programs of the GBR should expand beyond coral restoration for controlling water quality, reducing pollution and protecting aesthetically appealing sea animals.     

Optimizing or maximizing growth? A challenge for sustainable tourism

Virtually all destinations seek to increase tourist numbers, pursuing economic maximization strategies. Considerably less attention is paid to optimizing existing tourist systems to create more profitable, stable, resilient and potentially more sustainable entities. While aspects of tourist expenditure, average length of stay and seasonality as three key destination management variables have received considerable attention in the literature, focus has usually been on the identification of “profitable” tourism markets by considering observed patterns of spending, length of stay and vacation timing. Building on such earlier studies, this paper focuses on flexibilities in these parameters: could tourists have spent more, stayed longer or visited during a different season? Perceptions of destination expensiveness as a potential deterrent to visitation were also addressed. Based on a sample (n = 1914) of domestic and international tourists in the Swedish cities of Kalmar and Stockholm, data were collected in face-to-face interviews using questionnaires. Results indicate considerable potential to optimize the Swedish tourism system with regard to all variables studied, while also providing new insights for destination management in the context of economic resilience. Results also indicate the need for researchers everywhere to have detailed market knowledge if they are to persuade the industry to change its sustainability behavior.     

Australian indigenous tourism policy: practical and sustainable policies?

This paper reviews the development of Australia's policies for indigenous tourism and analyses those policies for their sustainable tourism content. It notes that in Australia, tourism is increasingly seen as an instrument for sustaining indigenous communities, many of whom look to tourism for a better future. Growing intervention from Australian federal and, more recently, State/Territory governments has sought to create tourism policies to facilitate market growth and product development in the indigenous sector. Yet the effectiveness and appropriateness of these policies, particularly in terms of a sustainable approach to development, has been questioned. A qualitative study of Australian State/Territory governments' policy for indigenous tourism examines the extent to which sustainable development principles are addressed. The results revealed that 32 of the 35 analysed policies demonstrated “sustainability rhetoric” that lacked the rigour and depth to realise any legitimate moves towards achieving sustainable tourism development for indigenous peoples. Based on the study's findings, this paper recommends that there cannot be a “one size fits all” framework for indigenous tourism development to suit all circumstances. Policies need to draw upon indigenous diversity and, in a consistent, collaborative, coordinated and integrated manner, provide the mechanisms and capacity-building to facilitate long-term sustainable indigenous tourism.     

Protected areas,conservation and tourism – financing the sustainable dream

Many commentators suggest that tourism could help fund the ever growing number of protected areas. The traditional reliance on government sources to support protected areas is increasingly untenable, in both the developed and developing world. This paper reviews the relationship between tourism and protected areas to assess opportunities for sustainable funding to assure effective stewardship. It explores a range of innovative and creative alternative funding mechanisms which could be consistent with a positive evolving relationship between tourism and protected areas. An outline classification of four protected area archetypes for management and funding purposes is suggested, based on a combination of visitation and biodiversity levels. To service the management of those four types, a series of non-government revenue streams are explored such as payments for ecosystem service (ES), environmental mortgages, intrinsic value funding, carbon abatement funding and research dividend funding. Issues discussed include: the willingness to pay on the part of potential visitors, the potential impact of fees on visitation, “quarantining” particularly valuable ecosystems from visitation and intrinsic value funding, the unpredictability of environmental mortgages and the potential stability of ES payments. Further research is required in data analysis and into the design of land tenure systems and regulatory mechanisms.     

What do tourism students know about sustainability and sustainable tourism? An exploratory study of Latin American students

While research has started to pay attention to the content and delivery of sustainable tourism education, little is known about what students actually know and feel with respect to sustainability. This preliminary study explores students’ knowledge of and attitudes toward sustainable tourism as well as their sense of competence and empowerment to make sustainability-related decisions. The focus was on Latin America, where tourism has caused severe negative impacts and where sustainability knowledge and skills are most needed to protect fragile natural and cultural resources. Results show that although most tourism students think sustainable tourism is important, they have limited knowledge of sustainability principles and technical aspects related to sustainable tourism. Implications for teaching are discussed.     

Sustainability and integration – the principal challenges to tourism and tourism research

ABSTRACT

What are the biggest challenges facing tourism and tourism research? This paper answers this question by canvasing the opinions of recognized experts in the field. The analysis is based on 30 interviews with fellows of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism. Two key thematic issues were identified. First, the pragmatic issue of how to operationalize sustainability and its various sub-elements, such as climate change, overtourism, and tourisation to ensure the long-term future of tourism. Second, the need for further integration between disciplines within the tourism field, between tourism and other fields, and between research and practice.     

Exploring tourists’ soundscape emotion and its impact on sustainable tourism development

Despite the long-standing appeal for tourism researchers to pay more attention to the effects of soundscape, there remains a serious lack of in-depth studies on the topic. Drawing on moderating effects of tourists’ soundscape emotion, this study examines certain determinants of tourists’ pro-environmental behaviour. Kulangsu was used as a source of empirical data for its abundant soundscape resources. The results revealed the explicit connections of human-environmental relationships to pro-environmental behaviour. All the paths are more significant when grouped with positive soundscape emotions than with their negative counterparts. This demonstrates the importance of soundscape to promote sustainable development in tourist destinations.     

Are there cultural limits to tourism?

This article poses the question: are there cultural limits to tourism? It argues that tourism is a culture industry in the sense that it markets cultural products to tourists as cultural experiences. The three elements of tourism as culture are: the cultural foundations of tourism products, the sophistication of tourists’ perceptions and experiences of tourist cultures, and the cultural consequences of tourism development on resident communities. Yet these aspects are usually treated in a tokenistic way in favour of economic and environmental considerations, ignoring the cultural consequences of major changes to destination communities as a result of tourist development. This article proposes that the changes and consequences of tourism on the culture of destinations and on the culture of tourists should be central to debates about sustainable tourism development. The article proposes a number of conditions or indicators to identify the matrix of impacts of tourism from which acceptable and unacceptable limits can be determined. The use of these indicators should be central to planning, management and monitoring practices to achieve sustainable tourism.     

From travel to tourism — visions and utopias

Man has been on the move since the beginning of his existence. Gradually different forms of transport were developed and greater distances travelled until most parts of the globe became accessible. The invention of the printing press enabled images of the world to be disseminated among people unlikely to experience travel at first hand. Information systems have developed to supply instant images anywhere, and travel and transport technologies enable man to explore outer space.     

A triple lens measurement of host–guest perceptions for sustainable gaze in tourism

This paper investigates perception of self and others by hosts and guests, which may be critical for sustainability of a destination receiving tourists with different cultural backgrounds. Specifically, the study investigates self-perception of hosts and reciprocal perception between hosts and guests on several service personnel characteristics using importance and performance analysis. Thus, a triple lens of hosts’ evaluation of self, hosts’ evaluation of the guests, and hosts’ evaluation by the guests is involved in a multi-cultural tourism experience context. Results report differences between the lenses, hosts’ self-evaluation being harsher than guests’ evaluation of hosts. Suggestions are provided for destination marketing and management organizations to design effective tourism experiences for both hosts and guests for a more sustainable gaze between hosts and guests.     

ASEAN’s intra-regional tourism demand to Thailand

This paper presents an overview of intra-regional tourism in ASEAN at the beginning of the challenging times that will come with the constitution of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Thailand is chosen as the destination country and the other nine countries are selected as origin. After presenting ASEAN’s intra-regional tourism, the study develops a model of long-run demand. The coefficients are estimated by a time-varying parameters method considering the potential presence of structural breaks, and its implication. The results present and discuss the implications of income, own price, and cross price elasticities. As concluding recommendations, this study suggests that while the region should take advantage of the expansion of the Asian markets due to economic growth and liberalization of ASEAN since 2016, it should use different policies in each origin market.     

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.     

Are tourism livelihoods sustainable? Tourism development and economic transformation on Komodo Island,Indonesia

Tourism development has often been regarded as an effective strategy for poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods. However, tourism often triggers transformations of traditional livelihoods and complete dependence on tourism-based income. Presenting the case of Komodo village on Komodo Island, Indonesia, this study provides an empirical evidence for such transformation. Based on qualitative methods, this article discusses the ways in which tourism development has led the local fishing community to give up their fishing to become fully dependent on selling souvenirs. Although currently, the souvenir business offers adequate return for local people, potential threats to this new livelihood, like a limited market, fierce competition, a short tourist season, and high dependence on cruise ship visits, are looming large. If tourism declines, local people will be left with no options to sustain their livelihood.     

Corporate social marketing in tourism: to sleep or not to sleep with the enemy?

ABSTRACT

Social marketing is regarded as an effective consumer-oriented approach to promoting behavioural change and improved well-being for individuals, communities and society. However, its potential for tourism, especially sustainable tourism, remains under-researched. This article examines the utilisation of social marketing by tourism businesses. A search strategy identified 14 behavioural change programmes that involved tourism businesses. Half of these programmes label themselves social marketing; the others tend to be part of corporate social responsibility efforts, using a form of corporate social marketing (CSM). Most programmes seek to encourage pro-environmental behaviours in tourists, tourism businesses and other stakeholders including suppliers. Although tourism businesses can develop social marketing programmes alone, typically they collaborate with public and non-profit agencies as partners and sponsors. The strength of the tie between the promoted behaviour and the sale of a company's product varies considerably. It is suggested that social marketing can make significant contributions to environmentally sustainable tourism. However, this research also suggests that social marketing is not a substitute for, but rather an essential complement to, technological and regulatory approaches to climate change. Changing behaviour is a long process: without a long-term commitment from private sector companies, CSM programmes will fail to achieve behavioural change goals.     

Can the North American ski industry attain climate resiliency? A modified Delphi survey on transformations towards sustainable tourism

As global temperatures increase, does accelerating climate change represent an existential crisis or a manageable challenge for the ski industry? Despite considerable evidence demonstrating the global ski industry is in the early stages of a climate-induced transition, global research on ski industry stakeholder perspectives shows varied levels of climate risk awareness, a focus on future vulnerability, and limited engagement in adaptation. Within North America, research has focussed on the physical climatic impacts to ski operations and possible skier responses, yet there lacks insight into industry perceptions on current and future climate vulnerability. This study fills this important knowledge gap using a Delphi survey to engage 52 leaders from across the continent in a dialogue on strategic climate responsiveness. Results demonstrate North American ski industry leaders’ climate risk perceptions range widely, and opinions diverge over if or how to respond at both an industry and destination scale. Simultaneously, industry experts believe mountain tourists increasingly value nature-based activities, place-bound products, and corporate responsibility. Analysing industry leaders’ responses through Enlightened Stakeholder theory highlights how aligning supply-side environmental management with demand-side tourist experiences may create opportunities for new partnerships, innovations, policies, and strategies needed to achieve climate-resilient and sustainable futures.     

Agroecological tourism: bridging conservation,food security and tourism goals to enhance smallholders’ livelihoods on South Pentecost,Vanuatu

Smallholder farmers continue to make up the largest proportion of the world's disadvantaged. Rural smallholders in the South Pacific are particularly vulnerable to climate change, underinvestment and growing competition for land and resources. Strengthening synergies between agriculture and tourism through avenues such as agritourism has been widely discussed; however, very little research has approached these concepts from a sustainability perspective. This case study of rural Ni-Vanuatu smallholders uses the Agroecology and Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Framework (ASRLF) to explore tourism's potential contribution to improved conservation and food security outcomes. Data collection combined participatory methods such as “storian sessions” with analysis of secondary data.

The findings highlight minimal current opportunities for rural Ni-Vanuatu smallholders to gain significantly from the tourism sector in Vanuatu. The shift from traditional gardening systems to cash cropping monocultures is also conflicting with tourism and conservation goals. This paper puts forward agroecological tourism as a strategy for integrating positive conservation, food security and livelihood outcomes for rural smallholders. It defines agroecological tourism as having a primary focus on the interpretation of sustainable traditional agroecosystems which exhibit cultural and heritage significance. Agroecological tourism has potential to support traditional practices, enhance the preservation of cultural knowledge and promote sustainable farming practices.