Informing tourism policy with statistical data: the case of the Icelandic Tourism Satellite Account†

The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) is a popular internationally recognized method for measuring tourism's contribution to the economy. The credibility and visibility of tourism as a distinct economic activity are, therefore, based on TSA data which have the power to show its macroeconomic importance. According to the most recent World Tourism Organization study, 60 countries around the world implemented TSA in one way or another in 2010. However, in the same year, a research carried out by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development revealed that the usage of TSA for tourism policies is rather limited due to specific issues, such as the lack of knowledge about TSA, inadequate international comparability, and timeliness. This paper illustrates several possibilities of using enhanced TSA estimates in the Icelandic context for informing tourism policies. Specific examples are presented of developing data on tourism-related investment (Tourism Gross Fixed Capital Formation) and governmental consumption for selected collective services related to tourism (Tourism Collective Consumption). These improve the usefulness of the TSA as a statistical instrument for sound tourism policies.     

城际列车对新疆旅游经济影响研究

新疆日趋完善的城际列车网络是提升旅游经济发展的重要保障。选取2010—2019年新疆14个地州市统计数据,结合引力模型和DID模型探究城际列车对新疆旅游经济发展的影响效应。研究表明,城际列车开通极大压缩地州市间的时间距离,新疆旅游经济联系网络逐渐紧密,旅游经济综合质量快速增长,空间极化特征缓慢减弱。受天山山脉阻隔效应影响,新疆旅游经济格局存在非均衡性,各地州市间旅游经济互动趋于频繁,但仍呈现出北强南弱的空间格局,南疆是新疆旅游经济的短板。基于DID模型分析,城际列车开通有效助推新疆旅游经济增长,显著提高人均旅游收入水平,经济发展水平、服务发展水平和旅游资源丰度,是促进新疆旅游经济发展的重要因素。     

Can stopovers be induced to revisit transit hubs as stayovers? A new perspective on the relationship between air transportation and tourism

This research examines the potential of transit hubs and affiliated airlines to stimulate future stayover visits by stopover passengers, thereby securing new market opportunities for the host destination and a new relationship between the transportation and tourism sectors. Data were obtained from 694 stopovers who transited with Singapore Airlines through Singapore Changi International Airport but had no prior stayover visit. ‘High influence’, ‘low influence’ and ‘selected influence’ clusters indicated how nine selected services and facilities differentially stimulated their interest to revisit Singapore. Especially influential are generic services such as the Singapore Girl service style, and specific facilities such as the airport Butterfly Garden. These therefore no longer situate as simple facilities that only provide utilitarian transport services for passengers; occupying the blurred boundaries between the transit and destination regions, they frame Singapore's hub airport and national carrier as a type of ‘quasi-destination’. Appropriate strategic considerations are recommended to maximise their conversion potential.     

高速铁路对民族地区旅游发展水平的影响机制研究

高速铁路的开通降低了游客出行的时间和经济成本,影响旅游活动空间集聚规律,形成同城化、网络化等现象。以黔桂云三省39个市州为案例地,采用2010—2019年的面板数据测度地区旅游发展水平并分析其时空演化动态,构建回归模型考察高速铁路影响区域旅游发展水平的效果及作用机制,明确高速铁路在区域旅游经济发展中的作用,为民族地区旅游高质量发展贡献力量。结果显示:高速铁路开通后区域内旅游发展水平普遍提高,并表现出不同的空间态势:贵州以贵阳为中心向四周扩散,云南以旅游发达地区散状分布,而广西呈现出桂林、南宁两核遥望之态;高速铁路通过改善区域旅游可达性实现旅游发展水平的提高,且旅游可达性在民族地区的促进作用中表现为完全中介效应。     

Air route suspension: The role of stakeholder engagement and aviation and non-aviation factors

This study provides insight into how aviation and non-aviation factors affect the decision to suspend air routes. Using examples from Australian domestic routes, the paper analyses the business relationships and negotiation processes followed by airports, airlines, and destination management organizations (DMOs) to avoid air route suspensions. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with key aviation and tourism stakeholders directly impacted by suspended routes. The outcomes of this paper demonstrate that while most of the major reasons for air route suspension in Australia are mentioned in existing literature and are linked to demand, other factors have not previously been deeply investigated, including how stakeholders can be involved to avoid air route suspension. The paper also explores and identifies strengths and weaknesses in the relationship among airlines, DMOs and airports.     

China’s first Tourism Law: representations of stakeholders’ responses

The application of tourism laws to advance the well-being of stakeholders is of broad interest to many countries attempting to shape the rapid rise of the sector. In China, the first Tourism Law came into effect on 1 October 2013. The 112-article law includes various measures to address issues such as unfair competition. Adopting a social representations framework, this study investigates the perceived impacts of China’s new Law from the perspectives of eight groups of stakeholders. Data were collected from 152 articles published in the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure. This material was used to access the commentaries and social representations of the impacts of the Law. A consistent array of positive and negative comments was uncovered using content analysis, justifying a view that a hegemonic representation exists across the groups. Additionally, and somewhat unexpectedly, it was discovered that the new Law is also a catalyst for further conflicts requiring additional management. Pursuing a social representations framework as a way of integrating stakeholder views was seen to be valuable for future studies in China and elsewhere.     

Impact of yurt tourism on labor division in nomadic Kazakh families

ABSTRACT

Tourism’s impacts on ethnic cultures have received much attention, but few studies have been done on its impacts on nomadic people, especially for Kazakh nomads in China. Many Kazakh households are experiencing a transition from pastoralism to tourism, with yurt tourism being the popular Kazakh tourism products. This study takes Narat in China as a case to understand the impact of yurt tourism on the gendered labor division of Kazakh families, and the status of Kazakh women. Observations and semi-structured interviews were adopted. We find that the division of labor in yurt tourism is an extension of traditional nomad labor division and that the traditional gender statuses have been reinforced. Women are required to not only work but also face additional social pressure since they are considered to be going against customary rules when greeting tourists. Despite this, women’s self-confidence, business skills, and income have improved since the development of tourism. We argue that the form of tourism product, ideology of gender roles, and position of ethnic families in the tourism market account for this change. Diverse results of tourism impacts on the gender relationships of ethnic communities can be derived from the interactions of these three factors.     

The impact of low cost carriers on Korean Island tourism

Given the mixed findings of extant research on the impact of low-cost carriers (hereafter LCC) on aviation markets (with some studies showing stimulation of new demand, other studies showing LCCs encroaching on the turf of full-service carriers), the emergence of LCCs in Korea raised an interesting question as to whether or not they actually contribute to overall growth in domestic air traffic. The literature has paid limited attention to this issue so far. Employing a multivariate regression analysis with monthly data from 2000 to 2009, the impact of LCCs on tourism demand to a popular destination in Korea, Jeju Island, is examined, focusing on two specific questions: Have LCCs generated new tourism demand and brought more tourism revenue into the island’s economy? Have LCCs mitigated tourism seasonality on the island? Controlling for the effects of a number of factors, results showed that LCCs have generated new demand in addition to existing tourist flows to the island. Korean LCCs accounted for 35% of total passengers in 2009, which indicates an average growth rate of 161.7% over the last 4 years, compared to a −0.3% growth rate for all full-service carriers in Korea. However, LCCs seem to have had little impact on reducing seasonal fluctuations in passenger traffic to Jeju Island. The findings of this study will be of interest to researchers, policy makers, and a variety of stakeholders in the tourism industry interested in the relationship between no-frills airlines and island economies.     

Does tourism really cause stress? A natural experiment utilizing ArcGIS Survey123

ABSTRACT

Tourism related stress has recently been revealed as an issue for tourism host community residents. Prior studies have relied on directly asking residents if tourism caused them stress, resulting in possible participant priming. This study utilized the ArcGIS Survey123 app to collect data on resident stress from a community with high levels of tourism visitation and a community with low levels of tourism visitation. During the study, researchers never mentioned tourism. Half of study participants in the community with high tourism visitation discussed tourism directly as a stressor, accounting for almost 5% of all stressful experiences, while no participants in the community with low tourism visitation mentioned tourism as a stressor. Geospatial data revealed that tourism related stressors occurred outside of the ‘tourism zone’ in the community with high tourism visitation, and tourism related stressors mirrored perceived tourism impacts measured in a post experiment survey of study participants.