Tourist Identities in Narratives of Unexpected Adventure in Madeira

This paper examines the shift that occurs in role identity, from a tourist to an adventurer, as travel bloggers construct an adventure narrative from their experiences of Madeira's ‘levada walk’. Travel blogs, as a naturally occurring data source, offer insight into both tourism experiences and tourists themselves. The research finds that, while bloggers have touristic motivations for visiting Madeira, they cast themselves in a heroic role as they construct an adventure narrative from their experience. The paper concludes that tourism has the potential to become an ‘adventure’ in which tourists overcome challenges and discover themselves in the process. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of the environment on adventure tourism: from motivations to experiences

Inherent in most definitions of adventure tourism is the fact that it takes place in natural outdoor settings. Yet, the influence of this setting on the behaviour of adventure tourism consumers has yet to be adequately addressed. This study, therefore, investigates the relative strength and nature of environmental influences on adventure tourists in both motivations for participation and in the context of the experience. The results are based on questionnaires collected from 459 participants in adventure tourism activities along the southern coast of South Africa. They show that, although the majority of research on adventure tourism focuses on the ‘thrill’ involved, the environment is increasingly recognized as influential. The assessment of motivations, using a push and pull factor approach, demonstrates that the environment not only plays an important role in attracting adventure tourists towards specific destinations, but that they also seek out interactions with nature. In addition, participants suggested that the environment is an especially significant component of their experiences. The fact that the findings demonstrate the importance of the environment in both the motivations and experiences of adventure tourism participants, means that such an approach would make a definite contribution to discussions, planning, and policy linked to the adventure tourism industry.     

The effects of macroeconomic and weather conditions on the business cycle of Taiwan’s adventure tourism

This paper utilises a Markov regime-switching model to explore the influences of macroeconomic and weather conditions on the business cycle of Taiwan’s adventure tourism, that is, white-water rafting. The number of rafting participants is used to identify two stages of the business cycle of the white-water rafting industry: the peak and the trough. Our empirical evidence reveals that unemployment has a negative effect on the number of rafting participants in the troughs while it has a positive effect on the number of rafting participants in the peaks. It follows that economic recession would adversely affect the number of participants in adventure tourism in the troughs, while it is not true in the peaks. Moreover, we show that the more the sunshine hours, the more participants travel on white-water rafting in the peaks. However, temperature is not a determinant of demand for adventure tourism under a subtropical climate, which contradicts much of literature.     

Rural tourism — meeting the challenges of the new South Africa

Rural tourism in South Africa has undergone fundamental change since the advent of political democracy in 1995. Previously perceived as a ‘white man's thing’, rural tourism is increasingly finding a home amongst South Africa's formerly marginalised rural communities. The country has considerable potential in attracting tourists in search of new, exciting experiences in areas of unexploited natural beauty and rich cultural resources. The concept of rural tourism has mushroomed to include adventure tourism activities, cultural tourism and, lately, a new phenomenon in rural communities known as ‘township tourism’. There are, however, substantial challenges to be overcome if the rural tourism sector is to achieve its goals. These include a lack of capacity at local government level, the difficulties involved in operationalising community‐based rural tourism and the dearth of entrepreneurial expertise, management skills and capital with which to expand the rural tourism infrastructure. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hungry for Growth? Small and Medium‐sized Tourism Enterprise (SMTE) Business Ambitions,Knowledge Acquisition and Industry Engagement

Differences are identified between the preferred information and learning channels of small and medium‐sized tourism enterprise (SMTE) proprietors, who have an interest in business operations (growers) or who have relatively less interest (lifestylers). Lifestylers sign up frequently to tourism industry associations, whereas growers have a tendency to join generic business groupings. The most common information for both groups is marketing related, and intensive use is made of online information to support day‐to‐day business operations. In aggregate, SMTE proprietors are avid information seekers, attaching importance to the advice provided from experienced and trusted sources. Growers proactively gather information about general management as well as tourism‐specific knowledge. Adopting a ‘one size fits all’ approach to providing information for the SMTE sector is unlikely to be effective. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distribution Channels for Cultural Tourism in Catalonia,Spain

This paper analyses the structure and functioning of distribution channels for cultural tourism in Catalonia, Spain. In particular, it seeks to identify the current structure of distribution channels for selected cultural tourism sites throughout the region; to analyse the factors that influence channel structure in this sector; and to discuss the ways in which and extent to which the channels and the factors influencing them reflect broader aspects of tourism distribution and cultural tourism. The study takes a regional perspective, adopts a predominantly supply-side approach and is based largely on the collection and analysis of information from in-depth interviews. Much of the demand for cultural tourism in the region comes from independent tourists or from excursionists, and the distribution channels are generally much simpler than those commonly found in the transport and accommodation sectors. The cultural attraction providers generally follow ‘at destination’ distribution practices and direct channels predominate. These are supported in both a passive and more proactive way by a range of promotional activities.     

New heights in climbing and tourism: Jordan's Wadi Rum

Climbing tourists, seeking out evermore exciting locations in which to practise their sporting and touristic ‘envelope-pushing’, provide an excellent example for analysis of how foreign places and peoples are enmeshed in individual narratives of othering and ‘selfing’ predicated in no small part on individualised and marketised (mis)conceptions of embodied risk, heavily gendered forms of ‘extremeness’ and ethnic difference. Based on observer-as-participant fieldwork carried out in Wadi Rum, and analyses of marketing publications aimed specifically at rock-climbing tourists, this article explores how this particular landscape is masculinised to appeal to the ‘hard’ [Robinson, V. (2008). Everyday masculinities and extreme sport: Male identity and rock climbing. Oxford: Berg] Western climber, who is invited to experience Rum as hard or extreme play; as a performance of leisure that is unpredictable and unusually dangerous and risky for several reasons. Wadi Rum's ‘soaring sandstone towers’, inhospitable desert environment and Bedouin inhabitants feature heavily in holiday advertisements; the Bedouin people are valorised for both their ‘inherent primitiveness’ and capacity to adapt to, and ultimately conquer, their land's inhospitable summits. It is under these terms that adventure tourist ‘spaces’ become racialised, gendered and often classed and sexualised through various intersecting discourses.     

Strategies for Adopting Consumer‐generated Media in Small‐sized to Medium‐sized Tourism Enterprises

Consumer‐generated media (CGM) are created when consumers submit, review or respond to online content. The bulk of research into CGM has focussed upon its use by consumers, with less research examining the use of CGM by small businesses. This article discusses small business sector use of online technologies such as CGM, concentrating on tourism small businesses as a key industry sector affected by CGM activities. A CGM ‘strategy’ framework, developed from an existing small business strategy framework, is proposed. This serves as a practical tool for developing CGM strategies and as a theoretical foundation for conducting research into the use of CGM. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ecotourism from a conceptual perspective,an extended definition of a unique tourism form

The aim of this article is to develop and present an extended definition of the concept of ecotourism, which has been used and misused in many ways. Ecotourism is not farm tourism, nature tourism or adventure tourism, but a unique tourism form that has become very popular due to the greening of markets, increasing knowledge of the fragility of the environment, better informed managers, and the recognition that there is a close relationship between good ecology and good economy. Ecotourism has been defined in many different ways in the literature, but one of the most central dimensions, co‐operation, has not been included. Ecotourism must be sustainable and four central groups of actors have to co‐operate, the local people, the authorities, tourists and companies involved in tourism. The understanding of what ecotourism is and stands for is very diverse and the discussion found in Finland is used as an illustrative case in this article. The general view in Finland is that sustainable tourism should be used instead of the concept of ecotourism. A position, which can cause large problems for the development of ecotourism in Finland. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Co‐operatives in southern Spain: their development in the rural tourism sector in Andalucía

This paper examines the characteristics of a number of recently established rural tourism co‐operatives in Andalucía, southern Spain against the background of the theory of co‐operatives as economic organisations. The origins and composition of the co‐operatives are examined, their local impact, their policies on employment and remuneration, and their internal management characteristics. Few of the businesses in the sample appear to possess the characteristics of the ‘ideal type’ of co‐operative identified in the literature. Although small‐scale, beneficial impacts may be identified within their localities, these appear to be no different to those associated with any small business organisation in the rural tourism sector. Furthermore, it is concluded that their prospects for developing genuine alternative forms of employment structures are not strong, partly owing to the circumstances of their foundation and partly because of the very nature of rural tourism itself, where extreme seasonality imposes a very specific labour regime. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The characteristics and motivational decisions of outdoor adventure tourists: a review and analysis

The growing demand for outdoor adventure tourism activities, and the rapid growth in associated industry supply, means we need an improved understanding of outdoor adventure tourists. The paper considers the characteristics and motives of outdoor adventure tourists, as well as the influence of experience, age and gender on their motives. This is based, firstly, on a critical review of the relatively much more extensive literature on outdoor adventure activity participants for insights into the character and motives of outdoor adventure tourists. The paper also focuses, secondly, on an original case study of mountaineer tourists in Chamonix, France. Results from the case study of mountaineer tourists are evaluated against the research themes and gaps identified from the review of literature on outdoor adventure activity participants, including outdoor adventure tourists. It is shown how outdoor adventure tourists are a diverse group. Motivational similarities and differences exist between these tourists and their outdoor recreational counterparts. Experience, age and gender influence the motives and motivational differences among outdoor adventure activity participants. It is noted that there is considerable scope for further research on outdoor adventure tourists, including mountaineer tourists, and potential new research directions are identified for the specific themes examined in the paper.     

The Role of the Public Sector in Rural Tourism: Respondents' Views

Using a four round Delphi survey, a focus group and semi-structured interviews, this study investigates the respondent perspective of the public sector role in providing an environment conducive to the development of the rural tourism sector in Britain and South Africa. Although South African respondents generally perceived a greater need of support for the rural tourism sector than did their British counterparts, many of the problems, concerns and frustrations that emerged from the study were similar. Respondents perceived the public sector as ‘leader’, ‘strategist’, ‘mentor’, ‘co-ordinator’, ‘champion’ and ‘partner’ in their endeavour to build the rural tourism sector. Grappling with the problems of uplifting the quality, viability and communal benefit of rural tourism is seen as a futile exercise if the facilitatory platform of rational policy, planning and support conducive to the sustainability of the sector, is not in place. Above all local authorities are seen as ‘the enabler’ of successful rural tourism projects that diversify the local economy and generate employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. However, whilst there is respondent acknowledgement of the role played by the public sector, there is evidence of widespread disenchantment with the efficacy with which this role is fulfilled.     

Professional Development Barriers and Benefits in a Tourism Knowledge Economy

This study investigates small to medium tourism enterprise (SMTE) owner–managers' intentions to seek professional development. SMTEs in a regional tourism destination were surveyed, and an exploratory factor analysis identified barriers to, and benefits of, professional development factors. Logistic regression analysis was used to predict SMTE owner–manager's intention to pursue professional development based on perceived benefits of and barriers to training factors, education level and business size. ‘Staff performance benefits’ and ‘time/cost barriers’ of owner–manager's intention to seek professional development opportunities for staff. ‘Business performance benefits’ predicted owner–manager's intentions to seek professional develop for themselves. Implications of the findings are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Inherent factors of family business and transgenerational influencing tourism business in Malaysian islands

ABSTRACT

There is an indication that the existence of transgeneration enterprise has unique ability as a ‘resilient factor’ in sustainable tourism development. It bridges the relationship between resilience and sustainability. This paper highlight evidences of the relationship using two successful case studies of Small-Medium scale tourism enterprises on the islands in Malaysia, namely the islands of Langkawi and Tioman. The most important factors influencing successful family business in transgeneration enterprise by priority within the business wealth point of view are aspect of survival, followed by low-entry barriers, ‘passing the baton’, bridging relationship, ‘smallness’, and adapt and change. From the socioemotional wealth point of view, aspect of belonging followed by family welfare priorities, structural generation change, contextual embeddedness, attitude, informal decision making and friendly working environment influence the success of family business in transgeneration enterprises. Hence, sustainable tourism development in the context of local community empowerment might only be achieved once the ‘resilient factor’ is present or in place and ready at the tourism destination.     

Tourist modernisation and social legitimation in Spain

Spain's modernisation has been based, to a large extent, on the so‐called ‘residential tourism’. Its two‐fold nature—as a production model and a type of lifestyle migration—has complex repercussions. The aim of this paper is to delve, with a qualitative approach, into the key factors that explain the current social legitimation of this process by the Spanish society. The research suggests that the process is legitimated by its definition as an essentially tourism phenomenon. The label ‘tourism’ acts as some sort of ‘funnel’ that would not allow to go through it the problems associated with lifestyle migration or urbanisation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Success factors and constraints among nature-based tourism entrepreneurs

The nature-based tourism sector is characterised by small-scale businesses often located in rural regions. As a consequence, business success is dependent not just upon the sustainable use of natural resources, but also on several external (e.g. infrastructure and destination images) and internal (e.g. management and human resources) factors. Many nature-based tourism entrepreneurs are also driven by non-monetary objectives, which imply different management priorities compared with many other businesses. This study provides an exploratory analysis of business success factors and constraints among nature-based tourism entrepreneurs in Sweden. Data collected in 2009 include ‘life-history’ interviews, a telephone survey of 176 entrepreneurs, and follow-up critical incident interviews. The results show that internal factors are more common for business success, while external factors dominate among the constraints. Among the 26 success items studied, management (commitment and competence), access to natural resources, and lifestyle are considered the most important. Low profitability, lack of capital, regulations, infrastructure, and taxes are given the highest weights among the constraints. The classification system of Ishikawa [(1990). Introduction to quality control (J.H. Loftus, Trans.). Tokyo: 3A Corporation] is used to analyse how business success and constraints are structured over time. This study also elaborates how success factors and constraints are associated with different types of businesses, including perceived monetary and non-monetary achievements.     

Small firms in the tourism industry: some conceptual issues

Public policy to promote small business development is an established feature of the political landscape throughout western Europe. In a tourism context, there is a growing interest in the small business dimension, in both academic and policy terms. Yet, research relating to small firms does not appear to inform policy development. This paper argues that such a situation is exacerbated, if not precipitated, by a lack of common understanding about terminology and reasons for categorisation. The paper explores various definitions of ‘small tourism firms’ and examines the utility of adopting such a grouping as an analytical category. Following a critical review of statistics relating to the sector, it argues that additional research is required so that policy initiatives might be more finely focused. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rural Tourism Partnerships and Actor Mobility

In this paper, I examine actor mobility within the context of rural tourism partnerships (RTPs). The term ‘actor’ refers to those who have a stake in tourism planning, promotion and development such as policy makers, businesses, non‐profit making sector and community groups. Mobility is embedded in personal and social histories of actors as well as the policy framework that impacts their daily lives and informs their motives for being (dis)associated with RTPs. While exploring how actors' journeys transform rural localities' socio‐economic fabric, I find the writings of Lefebvre and de Certeau particularly useful because of their focus on counter‐hegemonic practices that shape the ‘everyday life’. Given that most rural societies in current times comprise an intricate mix of long‐term residents, seasonal‐home owners and migrants, each with their distinct set of life stories and value preferences with regard to their place of dwelling, my thrust in this paper on actor mobility is likely to identify new areas of future research on RTPs. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Disentangling the tourism sector’s fragmentation: a hands-on coding/post-coding guide for interview and policy document analysis in tourism†

Qualitative tourism research is inevitably multidimensional. The fragmentation of the tourism sector across policy domains, scales, space and stakeholders leads to ‘blurry’ and aggregated datasets. Yet, tourism studies have a weak record in describing how results emanate from raw qualitative data. This paper presents a coding/post-coding scheme that proved robust in disentangling multidimensional tourism datasets in a middle-range research project that necessitated reflecting on the position of the researcher and the literature study during the data analysis. It describes the pragmatic decisions taken to organise the qualitative data from a research project on cross-border tourism and regional development processes. The paper also functions as a reflexive account of how this scheme came into existence. It contributes to the tools available to practically acknowledge the fragmentation of the tourism sector and the resulting multidimensional qualitative data, and calls for a more open accounting of the data analysis process and the underlying research values in tourism studies.     

Aboriginal tourism—a linear structural relations analysis of domestic and international tourist demand

This paper analyses data from 471 domestic and international visitors to Katherine, Northern Territory as to their levels of interest in Aboriginal tourism products. It finds that although 40% of visitors do have an interest in Aboriginal culture, for the great majority such an interest is part of a wider interest in the Northern Territory as a whole. There is little evidence that tourists might be described as ‘amateur anthropologists’—rather their interest is related to other aspects of the Territory, such as its landscape, flora and fauna, and opportunities for outback adventure. Additionally, it is argued that evidence emerges of some tourists re‐evaluating natural settings from an Aboriginal perspective. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.