The impact of ethnic tourism on hill tribes in Thailand

This research examines how the economic benefits of working in the ethnic tourism industry affect households in the local minority community, with a special focus on the division of labor and power dynamics of gender complementarity.Household income data gathered from the inner-city communities of the Akha tribal people in Thailand are the primary data used in a linear regression framework. The results show that ethnic tourism provides income to the local minority community. This income, however, is higher for young people and women than for older men, a disparity that disrupts the community’s traditional patriarchal social system. This study contributes to a nested model of multiple marginalization based on ethnicity, gender, and legal status. This case shall contribute to tourism planning and local policymaking in areas where ethnic tourism prospers.     

Come to Tana Toraja, “land of the heavenly kings”: Travel agents as brokers in ethnicity

This paper examines the role of tourist literature in the genesis of ethnic stereotypes. Considering the case of the Toraja of Sulawesi (Indonesia), it is suggested that travel agents are brokers in ethnicity, travel brochures being the tools of their trade. In the process of marketing images of exotic places and peoples, travel brochures draw upon a small set of indigenous ethnic markers, elaborating upon them to provide a mental grid through which the tourist filters his perceptions while abroad. These travel brochure images become indices of “authenticity” and the ethnic stereotypes generated by them become reified during the course of the tourist's visit abroad.     

The impact of ethnic tourism on gender roles: A comparison between the Bai and the Mosuo of Yunnan province,PRC

The purpose of this exploratory study is to examine how ethnic tourism is impacting host women in two destinations in Yunnan. To accomplish this, the paper compares the perceived impacts of ethnic tourism on women from a matriarchal and a patriarchal host community. The findings reveal that tourism income had a greater effect on women from a patriarchal community and that both groups of women reported several other non-economic impacts. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Sustainable tourism implementation in urban areas: a case study of London

Sustainable tourism is a concept widely embraced by managers and planners of tourist destinations. However, it has received little attention in the context of urban tourism, an area of research that has until recently been largely neglected by academics. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge on sustainable tourism implementation in large cities, by using London as an exploratory case study. Through the collection and analysis of both primary and secondary data (online survey, semi-structured interviews and document analysis), it seeks to explore whether local authorities have implemented policies towards sustainable tourism in the capital. The findings indicate that although the concept of sustainable tourism is perceived as important by policy makers, only a few local authorities in London promote its principles in their policy documents and even fewer have initiatives to put them in practice. Most of these initiatives are isolated activities which address limited aspects of sustainable tourism. The paper concludes that despite some progress made to date, in the current economic climate, growth and development remain the main objectives of governments and local authorities, while social and environmental issues are often left behind.     

成本视角的国家公园旅游生态补偿标准测度研究——以黄山国家公园创建区为例

旅游生态补偿标准的测度方法与模型构建是建立旅游生态补偿机制的难点。本文以黄山国家公园创建区为例,基于国家公园旅游生态产品和服务显性和隐性供给成本的视角,综合考虑管理者、经营者、守护者（社区居民）等旅游利益相关者的供给成本和利益诉求,以保障生态系统的完整性、周边社区生存发展权的公平性和行政管理的可行性为原则,划分核心区、毗邻区和辐射区三级旅游生态补偿空间范围,确立国家公园旅游生态补偿标准测度方法与模型,测算得出黄山国家公园旅游生态补偿标准的下限值为5.1亿元/年。研究以期为构建国家公园旅游生态补偿机制,协调国家公园保护与利用的人地关系矛盾,实现国家公园生态共建、利益共享和经济共赢的高质量发展路径提供理论指导。     

成本视角的国家公园旅游生态补偿标准测度研究——以黄山国家公园创建区为例

旅游生态补偿标准的测度方法与模型构建是建立旅游生态补偿机制的难点。本文以黄山国家公园创建区为例,基于国家公园旅游生态产品和服务显性和隐性供给成本的视角,综合考虑管理者、经营者、守护者（社区居民）等旅游利益相关者的供给成本和利益诉求,以保障生态系统的完整性、周边社区生存发展权的公平性和行政管理的可行性为原则,划分核心区、毗邻区和辐射区三级旅游生态补偿空间范围,确立国家公园旅游生态补偿标准测度方法与模型,测算得出黄山国家公园旅游生态补偿标准的下限值为5.1亿元/年。研究以期为构建国家公园旅游生态补偿机制,协调国家公园保护与利用的人地关系矛盾,实现国家公园生态共建、利益共享和经济共赢的高质量发展路径提供理论指导。     

Contextualizing the complexities of managing alternative tourism at the community-level: A case study of a nordic eco-village

To shed light on the complexities of fostering sustainability through alternative tourism, we explore the managerial contradictions and difficulties that arise as alternative tourism is developed in the name of sustainability at Sólheimar eco-village in Iceland. Following a focused ethnographic approach, we establish that those behind the management of volunteers, students and other guests regularly struggle to coordinate these respective groups in a manner that balances economic objectives with those relating to the environment and social equity. This is because limited human resources and strategic knowledge exist to fulfill all the host community's goals through alternative tourism. The findings reveal the need to conceptualize alternative tourism as a forum for discussion between host and guest over the complexities of generating sustainable development. This highlights the need for knowledge transmission over matters such as conflict resolution, critical reflection and cultural communication associated with the tourist experience at the community.     

Developing sustainable tourism through ecomuseology: a case study in the Rupununi region of Guyana

Sustainability is a concept that continues to evolve and perplex in tourism, one of the world's largest industries. Effective new theories and practices are constantly explored so as to incorporate sustainability into tourism frameworks. Due to their focus on participation processes, integration of resources, and responses to specific needs and contexts, ecomuseum principles can be very useful for the development of sustainable tourism. This paper examines the potential of using the principles of ecomuseology to support sustainable tourism development. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach involving local expert stakeholders at the case study site, the Rupununi region of Guyana, South America. The findings from this research suggest that the principles of ecomuseology possess considerable potential to support sustainable tourism development in the Rupununi and potentially other destinations internationally. In particular, this study illustrates how ecomuseological principles can be used to manage heritage resources and economic development by focusing on, for example, holistic interpretation and information sharing, placing equal attention on heritage resources, and monitoring changes to the region over time.     

The contribution of social tourism to sustainable tourism: a case study of seasonally adjusted programmes in Spain

Recent policy from the European Union has attempted to justify social tourism initiatives on the basis that they lead to a more sustainable tourism industry. However, the majority of latest research in the field has been focused on the benefits for participants, with the addition of some evidence on the economic impacts of such programmes on destinations, which have pointed towards sustainability outcomes including: a longer tourism season, more even spread of demand, and longer periods of employment for tourism workers. Yet there is a lack of direct evidence linking such programme to these outcomes. This paper aimed to explore this important disconnect between policy assumptions and evidence-based outcomes through an analysis of the deseasonalising effects of the Spanish social tourism programme for older people. The research found that this programme does have an effect on the seasonal nature of employment and economic activity in most regions studied, but that the huge volume of demand from international tourists in the high seasons masks the quantitative effects in the regions with the highest seasonal concentration of international tourists. Recommendations for policy and practice in sustainable tourism are made that are transferable to many countries and regions that adopt social tourism programmes.     

Sustainable tourism planning and climate change adaptation in the Alps: a case study of winter tourism in mountain communities in the Dolomites

A vast body of literature suggests that the European Alpine Region is extremely sensitive to climate change. Winter tourism is closely related to climate variations, especially in mountain regions where resorts are heavily dependent on snow. This paper explores how to effectively integrate a climate change adaptation perspective with local discourses about sustainability and tourism, an increasing priority for policy-makers in the region and elsewhere. It reports on the development and application of a participatory decision support process for the analysis of adaptation strategies for local development of an Alpine tourism destination, Auronzo di Cadore (Dolomites, Italy). This experience significantly contributed to the idea that an efficient combination of modelling capabilities, decision support tools, and participatory processes can substantially improve decision-making for sustainability. The authors show that, in this case study, such a combination of methods and tools allowed for managing the involvement of local actors, stimulating local debates on climate change adaptation and possible consequences on winter tourism, encouraging creativity and smoothing potential conflicts, and easing the integration of the qualitative knowledge and the preferences of the involved actors with quantitative information. This contributed to an integrated sustainability assessment of alternative strategies for sustainable tourism planning.     

Testing a model of effective interpretation to boost the heritage tourism experience: a case study in Macao

While the impact of tour guides’ interpretation on tourism experience is well acknowledged, little research has been conducted on the production of effective interpretation by tour guides. In this study, effective interpretation is defined as producing a positive outcome on tourists’ knowledge and understanding of the visited heritage site, feelings and emotion, satisfaction and likelihood of visiting other relevant nearby heritage sites. Based on a literature review, a conceptual model of effective interpretation consisting of four propositions was formulated and examined by empirical on-site research in the World Cultural Heritage Site in Macau. The empirical findings support the four propositions and the applicability of the model for effective interpretation in Macao. The research was conducted in two phases: on-site guide evaluation and a linked tourist survey. The target market was mainland Chinese visitors. The results revealed the influence of four factors on effective interpretation, namely, heritage and tourist information knowledge, service attitude, communication competence and emotional intelligence. Special attention is given to the use of humor, provocation and emotional sensitivity. Future research should further investigate tourists’ emotion management and the applicability of this model to other tour guides’ heritage interpretation, at different types of site and in different regions.     

Tourism as a cultural domain the case of Taos,New Mexico

This paper offers an analysis of tourism as a cultural domain through a combination of hierarchical clustering and multidimensional scaling procedures not previously used together in touristic studies. The data for the study were gathered from interviews with 89 tourists who completed a card-sorting task for fifty items selected as representative of the range of real behavioral choices available to visitors to the Taos region. The two solutions presented, based on the U-statistic and the KYST program, are in reasonably good agreement and also correlate well with an earlier analysis reported in this journal (Kemper 1979). The approach used here not only enhances ethnographic understanding of tourism as a cultural domain and complements field research carried out using more traditional participant-observation and survey interview methodologies, but also offers a number of valuable applications for conceptualizing and marketing tourism.     

Segmentation by recreation experience in island-based tourism: a case study of Taiwan's Liuqiu Island

This study expands the profile characteristics of island-based tourists by assessing recreation experiences. In so doing, it aims to elucidate the market segmentation of island-based tourists by assessing the recreation experiences of tourists at Liuqiu Island in Taiwan. A total of 481 useable questionnaires were obtained and analyzed. The analytical results indicate that tourists can be segmented into four clusters according to their recreation experiences: multi-experience recreationists, aestheticists, hedonists and knowledge seekers. These four different tourist segments performed significantly differently in terms of environmentally responsible behavior (ERB). The market segmentation introduced in this study can be helpful for elucidating tourist experiences and ERB implementation. Understanding tourism experience preferences will help managers develop marketing strategies and design tourism products to meet tourists’ needs. This study's findings could be used to provide different strategies for different segments of tourists. To help manage natural resources, managers should design their environmental programs to encourage different segments of tourists to participate in ERBs. We provide valuable managerial implications for the sustainable development of island-based tourism.     

Applicability of the market appeal—robusticity matrix: a case study of heritage tourism

Hong Kong is a city where contemporary global culture coexists with traditional Chinese heritage. One way of promoting Hong Kong's traditional built heritage is to develop a number of linked sites as a heritage trail. For helping the development of such, this study evaluates the applicability of the market appeal—robusticity matrix on heritage tourism development, by assessing the potential for tourism in the single-surname villages of Hong Kong's New Territories. The study techniques include documentary research, questionnaire survey and interviews. The findings indicate the matrix is effective for enabling the assessment of heritage tourism potential because it simultaneously demonstrates the importance of two major considerations for both tourism industry and heritage managers, namely market appeal—an asset's appeal to tourists, and robusticity—its ability to endure visitation. The shortcomings of the model includes the inappropriateness of the technical term “product design needs” in the market appeal subset and lack of community concerns in the robusticity subset of the matrix.     

Developing environmental performance measures for tourism using a Tourism Satellite Accounts approach: a pilot study of the accommodation industry in Egypt

Considering the recognized pressures of tourism on the natural environment, it is important to quantify and understand those pressures. This paper adopts an approach based on the Tourism Satellite Accounts conceptual framework to measure selected environmental pressures of tourism. Egypt is selected for the case study and the accommodation industry group is used as a pilot test (reference year 2009) for the feasibility of the proposed methodology. Results show that each US$ 1 million of direct value added supported by tourists expenditure in the accommodation industry group requires 18.6 thousand m³ of water, 51.1 tons of fuel, and 426 megawatt hours (Mwh) of electricity. Similarly, each US$ 1 million of the direct value added generated by tourists expenditure for accommodation creates directly about 464.3 tons of CO₂ emissions. It is estimated that serving inbound tourism is a higher user of energy resources than serving domestic tourism, which is higher in terms of water use. These environmental performance measures enable the Egyptian Government to examine the potential environmental pressures and financial costs of attracting new tourists.     

A phenomenological explication of guanxi in rural tourism management: A case study of a village in China

Drawing on hermeneutic phenomenology in tourism studies as well as Heidegger's concept of being-in-the-world, this paper reveals how tourism can and should be done in a Chinese rural village. This research contributes a contextual interpretation of guanxi in Chinese rural tourism development through an empirical study of a traditional agricultural village in China that has been transformed through tourism development. The paper argues that for the Chinese indigenous residents who are the primary actors engaged in tourism, guanxi is, neither a Confucian political ideal nor an instrumental tool, but the specific manner in which they dwell in their place. It demonstrates how the tourist destination, landscape and managerial regulation have been modified and adapted in a guanxi way. The paper suggests that an emic understanding of guanxi and the roles it plays in tourism participants' daily life is warranted and can provide a more holistic picture of tourism development in rural China.     

Marginal paradises: Bungalow tourism on the islands of Southern Thailand

In a longitudinal comparative study, some current issues concerning the nature, penetration, and impact of youth tourism on two beaches on two differentially developed islands in southern Thailand are examined. The beaches are “marginal paradises”—touristic paradises marginal to both the life plan of the tourists and the ecology and economy of the native society. Contrary to a widespread idea, vacationing youth tourists seek mainly “recreational” experiences, resembling those sought by most mass tourists, and show marked narcissistic tendencies. They have few relations among themselves or with the natives. Superficial native friendliness covers up a deeper resentment of the foreigners; while nude bathing causes inter-cultural misunderstanding, animosity finds expression in tourist- oriented crime. Though tourism development is of the small scale “craft” type, its benefits for the surrounding native villages are few, especially on the more developed island, where urban businessmen control the beach. The study lends some support to the multi-lineal model of touristic development, with the two beaches mainfesting differential development dynamics     

The impact of tourism on a dependent island: Gozo,Malta

Tourism for the 22,000 inhabitants of Gozo, Malta's underdeveloped sister island, means just over one hundred foreign residents, several hundred hotel visitors, and an annual stream of several hundred thousand day trippers from Malta. For Gozitans tourism has provided substantial earnings for a few catering and transport entrepreneurs, permanent employment for a few hundreds, and a modest income for some 1,600 women and girls producing handicraft souvenirs at home. However, the tourist connection to Gozo is controlled by Maltese, who obtain a disproportionate share of the industry's earnings. Increasingly Gozitans resent the way Maltese exploit their island, pollute it with picnic rubbish and treat them as backward. They compare their patronizating neighbours to the polite, free spending foreigners by whom they are treated with respect. Foreign appreciation of their rural environment and lifestyle has increased Gozitan self confidence, even as it has exacerbated their traditional resentment of Maltese cultural, social, and economic dominance. On balance, Gozitans from all walks of life regard tourism positively, especially its benefits to their underdeveloped economy.     

民族村寨社区参与旅游开发的利益保障机制

民族村寨作为一类特殊社区,是我国乡村旅游开发的重要区域.社区参与是民族村寨旅游可持续发展的前提,而社区旅游利益的保障是社区有效参与的决定性因素.本文从旅游利益分配现状及其原因出发,基于开发的基本理念和目标提出了民族村寨社区参与旅游的利益保障机制.