Spatial analysis of the U.S. lodging industry, 1963–1977

Data from the U.S. Department of Commerce Census of Business in 1963, 1972, and 1977 were compared on a state by state basis and by standard metropolitan statistical areas in order to analyze the spatial growth points of the U.S. lodging industry. The results point to major lodging growth areas in the Sunbelt states with central Florida, Las Vegas, Nevada and Hawaii as outstanding nodes of development. Metropolitan lodging growth has taken place in the Sunbelt cities with populations of 100,000 to one million, with above average growth in those cities located in the coastal zone.     

Locational strategies of international hotel chains

An empirical study was undertaken into the expansion strategies of international hotel operators in five countries in Eastern Central Europe. A questionnaire survey was conducted of the leading chains, framed around an eclectic paradigm. The analysis was complemented with multivariate analysis of competitive and locational strengths, thereby permitting additional insights into the relative positions of the major companies. The major ownership advantages were knowledge of guest requirements, strategic planning, and reservation systems. Locational advantages identified consisted of the size and nature of the city in which the hotel was to be located, the infrastructure within the region, and the perception of the region as an attractive business destination.     

IMPACT OF AN ECONOMIC CRISIS Evidence from Turkey

This paper evaluates the impact of the 2001 economic crisis on the tourism industry in Turkey. The research findings reveal that neither the government nor private organizations had any plans for dealing with the crisis before or after the event. It had both negative and positive impacts although its benefits were often overlooked. The overall implication of the study is that national culture, the level of economic development of a country, the availability of financial resources, and the ability and knowledge of its government officials and managers of private firms have a direct impact on how such an event is responded to and managed.     

Improving the perceptions of hotel managers

This research seeks to identify the importance of various capabilities and psychosociological factors of hotel managers, in order to improve their perception of the competitive environment emerging in the post-Internet era. Specifically, the study analyzes the relevance of education, experience, globalization capabilities, networking, creativity and vision of the future, and other factors related to personality and leadership, to advance the accuracy of this perception. The research used questionnaires with Spanish hotel managers, a Delphi study with international experts, and structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses formulated. The results corroborate the model established, and stress the importance of the education and globalization capabilities in this field.     

Environmental implications of tourism development

For tourism, the environment represents not a constraint, but a resource and an opportunity. Tourism and the environment are not merely interrelated but are interdependent. The viability of tourism, rather than conflicting with environmental conservation, actually demands it, otherwise visitor satisfaction will be reduced as the inherent appeal of the tourism setting is eroded. Whereas tourism can lead to environmental degradation and therefore be self-destructive, it can also contribute to substantial enhancement of the environment. Satisfying tourism settings grow out of natural forces and social conditions and are complementary and compatible with them. The proposed Japanese tourist complex on the Queensland coast of Australia, discussed in this paper, could prove a useful vehicle for demonstrating the mutual benefits to be gained from such an harmonious relationship.     

Comment on Richter''s political implications of Chinese tourism policy

The purpose of this study was to analyze the development of tourism in American Samoa. The government in American Samoa initiated efforts to develop tourism during the early 1960's. In spite of this, tourism in American Samoa is still in an early development stage. Internal factors which have constrained tourism growth have been the limited natural resources and underlying conflict between the traditional Samoan culture versus western ideas. External factors in the form of increased competition from nearby destinations and shifts in airline services also have limited the number of tourists to the area. The development of tourism in American Samoa is relevant to other less popular and newly developing destinations in the Pacific. Thus, it illustrates the risks and problems in developing tourism in similar Pacific destinations.     

Social impacts of tourism : Host perceptions

This study investigates the pergeptions of the residents of Nadi, Fiji, towards the impacts of tourism. A survey of 199 households revealed that residents (most of whom were dependent on the industry for their livelihood) supported the current magnitude of tourism and favored its expansion. Despite this very clear and generally positive view, the respondents identified specific negative and positive impacts that, in their view, affected the community. The results suggest that residents of communities dependent on tourism can clearly differentiate between its economic benefits and the social costs, and that awareness of certain negative consequences does not lead to opposition towards further tourism development.     

Integrating tourism with rural development

Tourism can play a much more powerful role in stimulating rural development than it has in most regions. Achieving this objective will require more careful integration of visitor marketing and rural development strategies. High “quality” visitors and accommodations may not be the same in rural and urban areas. What may be good for the region as a whole may not be good for its rural periphery. In the case of Hawaii, the expansion of tourism was not planned as an integral part of the rural development process, even though most of the state's hotel rooms will eventually be located in non-metropolitan areas. Hawaii may not, therefore, serve as an ideal planning model for other island regions to follow.     

AIRPORT RUNWAY SLOTS: Limits to Growth

The United States–European Union market accounts for approximately 25% of all international tourist arrivals worldwide, and is arguably the busiest market in the world. This paper argues that landing slot policy and the manner in which airport capacity is allocated among airlines across the north Atlantic is likely to underpin the future geographic structure of the tourism industry. By analyzing the historical evolution of slot policy, this paper attempts to enhance the extant literature on how government authorities allocate scarce airport resources. The paper concludes by arguing that various slot reform proposals need to be adopted to make airports more “elastic” when managing origin-destination tourist flows.     

The multiplier impact of tourism in the okanagan

The primary objective of this study is to examine the economic impact of tourism on the Okanagan Region, (B.C., Canada), by evaluating the multiplier effects of tourist expenditure on the generation of income, sales and employment. Specifically, separate multipliers are calculated in order to identify the relative contribution of four major types of tourists, namely: (a) Non-residential Visitors, (b) Residential Visitors (B.C.), (c) Day-trippers, and for the first time, (d) Convention Delegates. This study utilizes the Archer tourism multiplier methodology by adopting a price level adjusted twenty-nine sector input- output framework as the basis for calculating the tourist multipliers. Unlike the earlier studies that are based on primary data, this study uses secondary data.     

Location patterns of urban restaurants

Locational patterns of five categories of restaurants in eight Canadian cities in Ontario are examined to identify spatial regularities. Spatial regularities sought include tendencies to agglomerate or deglomerate with respect to restaurants of the same category as well as of different categories; spatial correlations with other land uses; apparent effects of varying traffic levels (AADTs) on restaurant location; and variations in restaurant patterns in cities of different population sizes. Specific hypotheses relating to these expected spatial regularities were formulated, the majority of which were confirmed. The paper concludes with some observations on the types of locations that appear to support successful restaurants in urban areas.     

Sustainable tourism and the question of the commons

Sustainable development calls for wise management of natural, built, and sociocultural resources in destination areas. Resources created mainly for tourism are used in time by the local population as well. Many others are shared in common with local people in everyday life. More often than not, resources are overused and degraded, as is the unfortunate fate of most ‘common pool resources’. When this happens, sustainable development is severely threatened: economic wellbeing declines, environmental conditions worsen, social injustice grows, and tourist satisfaction drops. This paper analyzes the central role that common pool resources play in sustainable tourism development, outlines policy design principles for their management, and offers future research directions.     

Tourism and crime in the Caribbean

This study reviews the general literature on tourism and crime and the recent history of violent and property crime in several Caribbean destinations. It highlights the failure of most previous research to discriminate crimes against tourists vs. residents. Annual crime data for Barbados for 1989–93 are analyzed and reveal that overall guest victimization rates are higher than host rates. Residents are significantly more likely to be victimized by violent crime while tourists are significantly more likely to experience property crime and robbery. Monthly data on guest victimization for 1990–93 show similar patterns. The paper concludes with a number of measures to enhance tourist safety.     

Oligopoly and the resort cycle in the Bahamas

Markusen's “profit cycle” and the influence of oligopoly are applied to Butler's notion of the resort cycle. The stagnation and decline associated with the latter stages of the resort cycle can be explained by industrial organization and the oligopolistic position of the major suppliers. The study area of Paradise Island (Bahamas) appears to be a clear example of how the corporate strategies of a major supplier can dramatically influence the resort cycle process. Resorts subjected to long-term oligopoly can experience eventual declines in the number of visitors because of an emphasis on market share and competitive stability, at the expense of innovation and diversification.     

Liberation wars and tourism development in Africa : The case of Zambia

Development of Africa's immense tourism potential is severely limited for reasons including lack of capital, distance from the large North American and European markets, the cost of travel to Africa, and Africa's poor image abroad. A key factor contributing to this image problem is political instability. Since World War II, almost all African countries have achieved independence. In several countries, this decolonization process has taken the form of long and often bloody liberation wars. This paper examines the impact of Zimbabwe's protracted liberation war on tourism development in Zambia and suggests that a detailed examination of major internal and external political events associated with the decolonization process in Zimbabwe could provide important perspectives on the obstacles to tourism development in other African countries.     

Tourism development: Assessing Social Gains and Losses

Resident attitudes toward tourism, and perceptions of its impacts, are often diverse, with development often generating gains for some and losses for others. The net effect has been discussed conceptually for many years. This study illustrates an empirical evaluation of it, as well as of gains to tourists. Survey responses to hypothetical ski resort development in Åre, Sweden, indicate that some residents gain from such an expansion while others lose; the net effect on the community is negative over the range of slopes evaluated. Tourists gain from expansion, but their gains are not great enough to outweigh the net losses for residents, such that the welfare change for society as a whole is negative.     

Tourism land use conflict in the United States

Despite numerous articles detailing the consequences of tourism, one's understanding of the conflict caused by tourism development is limited. This paper attempts to identify generalizable features of the tourism development debate in the United States through the use of a locational conflict framework. A typology of tourism development was created using content analysis of newspaper articles that described conflict over tourism related land use changes. The results of the analysis indicate that the number of tourism development conflict incidents and the issues involved in these incidents varied substantially across the United States. Analysis also indicates that the participants involved in the conflicts aligned themselves into different coalitions, depending upon the particular issue. This suggests that the particular tourism development issue is the most important variable affecting generalizations about tourism development conflict.     

Indigenous tourism development

Through colonial intervention, several South Pacific countries were catapulted from a decentralized village-based society to a centralized state in which the metropolitan power imposed its own legislation in a comprehensive way. Little account was taken of prevailing traditional values and practices as the Island countries leapfrogged much of the pioneer stage of development. The direction of change was prescribed by imported models imposed from above. Today, the participation of indigenous communities in tourism may be strongly supported by government policy but inhibited in practice by long standing legislative requirements. The concept of “pioneer space” is advanced to bridge the “implementation gap” between tourism policy and effective result, with Solomon Islands as a case study.     

Estimating total statewide travel

Past research has not addressed the specific procedures needed to estimate the total number of people traveling by motor vehicle in a state or the number of vehicular trips they take based on a sample of those travelers. Methods were developed in a study in which leisure travelers were surveyed enroute throughout a state over a year's time. Procedures involved in trip estimation are discussed, and a simple method for cross-validating estimates obtained is proposed. An estimate of one segment of these trips was validated by comparing it with a figure obtained from a state agency, suggesting that the approach is sound. Implications of the method and its results are discussed.     

Tourism's regional development impacts : A comparative analysis of the Greek islands

This paper explores the conditions that determine tourism development and theorizes how these conditions lead to a variety of impacts on host communities. Thirty-eight Greek islands were statistically analyzed using secondary data and a smaller sample was studied in greater detail through a comparative case-study approach. While the quantity of tourism development was found to be subject to demand, its quality and integration with other sectors were associated with the size of the community. Tourism impacts were found to be beneficial in larger islands. In smaller islands with high tourist activity, while a reverse in declining demographic patterns has been observed, tourism was found to create unstable, short-term, and dualistic development. The paper concludes that factors such as the local institutional capacity to absorb development and the potential interaction of locals and tourists should be considered in the making of tourism policy.