Food Tourism as a Viable Market Segment: It's All How You Cook the Numbers!

This study examines whether food is a special interest or mainstream tourism product. Much of the research on special interest tourism examines the activity in isolation of the broader suite of products available in the destination mix. Such a myopic approach may produce impressive looking numbers, but may not define viable market segments. Instead, based on their research findings, the authors argue that a more holistic approach is required to examine food tourism within the context of other products in the destination to determine its value. Overall, this study suggests that consuming food may be a ubiquitous activity for most visitors to sophisticated urban destinations and may not be representative of a specialist segment.     

基于Q方法的滨海民宿集聚区选址评价指标体系构建

构建滨海民宿集聚区选址评价指标体系是科学引导滨海旅游业转型发展和保护海岸生态环境的基础工作。从已有文献和专家访谈中提取55个滨海民宿集聚区选址评价候选指标,采用Q方法,构建了包括经济环境、旅游发展、平台条件、运营条件、地理环境以及支持设施等6个一级指标和22个二级指标的民宿集聚区选址评价指标体系。与已有研究比较,滨海与内陆民宿集聚区选址评价指标体系中的一级指标基本一致;由于滨海地区生态环境脆弱、用地矛盾更为突出,滨海地区“运营条件”“地理环境”等指标的权重明显高于内陆地区。评价体系一级指标中“经济环境”权重最大、“支持设施”权重最小,二级指标中“合理的旅游及相关规划”最为重要、“专业人才吸引力”权重最小,反映了滨海旅游发展的相对滞后性。本研究可为滨海地区旅游业发展布局、民宿集聚区选址开发和民宿从业者投资建设等决策提供参考。     

Tourism and poverty alleviation: perceptions and experiences of poor people in Sapa,Vietnam

This paper examines the perceptions and experiences of poor people in Sapa, Vietnam, regarding tourism as a means of poverty alleviation. Participant observations and semi-structured interviews were conducted with local people and key informants. The paper indicates that local people perceive poverty as a lack of rice and/or income and attribute it to both internal and external causes. The local tourism sector has primarily benefited the non-poor and tour operators, resulting in conflicts of interest among community members. However, more local people consider tourism a contributor to poverty alleviation than those who do not. All interviewees wish to become homestay owners or tourist guides. The most important barrier to the former is the lack of capital, while foreign language proficiency is the main hindrance to the latter. It is concluded that while an appropriate approach is required to involve local people in tourism, alternative livelihoods other than tourism are also needed. The study suggests that poor people's interpretation of poverty may be substantially different from that of academics and policy-makers. It argues that by valuing the perspectives of those experiencing poverty we can establish more meaningful approaches to alleviating poverty through tourism that are more likely to succeed.     

Exploring factors influencing individual participation in community‐based tourism: The case of Kampung relau homestay program,Malaysia

This paper presents the early findings from a qualitative investigation conducted to examine how participation is practiced in a community‐based tourism program which offers homestay experience to tourists in Kedah, Malaysia. The first objective of the study was to determine where on the spectrum of participation (Pretty 1995) does the homestay program fall. The second objective was to explore the variables that may influence the extent of community participation in this program. Findings from the present study indicate that participation in community‐based tourism is influenced by community members’ motivations to participate. An important implication from this finding is that community‐based tourism projects must include awareness programs among its members so as to educate them about the project and to motivate them to participate.     

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.     

Redefining Rural Tourism in Malaysia: A Conceptual Perspective

There is little consensus on the definition for rural tourism. Researchers from different countries have developed their own definitions based on their unique experiences or contexts. In Malaysia, the current definition for rural tourism is rather vague, narrow and focuses on homestay programmes in rural areas. As rural tourism is an important component of the tourism industry in Malaysia, there is a need to redefine what rural tourism is, so that it encompasses the multiple dimensions and complexities. Hence, this paper proposes to redefine rural tourism in Malaysia. The objective was achieved through a content analysis of the different definitions used in selected developed and developing economies that were available in the published literature. With the clear understanding of what rural tourism should ideally encompass, the findings from the study can be used to guide the Malaysian Government in re-positioning rural tourism as a key niche industry and boost the tourism industry higher up the value chain.     

Towards a history of tourism in Sarawak

The study of the historical development of tourism is still in its infancy with the majority of publications focussing very much on development in the western world. Even these documented histories fall mainly into just a few categories; the spas, the pilgrimages, and the Grand Tours. Only a handful record the story in non‐European locations, although these have been primarily about places which have colonial histories, thus maintaining the European focus to a large extent. Sarawak, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo, fits this category also. Famous for its colonial White Rajahs and its indigenous long‐house cultures, Sarawak has a variety of resources on which to base a strong special interest tourism industry. This study seeks to encourage the documentation of the historical development of tourism in Sarawak. A further aim is to provide reference points for other scholars while another is to ensure that tourism is not seen strictly as a post‐federation phenomenon but as a factor which was present in the overall development of the state. It concludes that in tourism, as in every other human activity, the weight of the past is inescapable.     

社区旅游参与视角下民族村寨旅游地居民地方感生成研究

居民地方感领域的研究在深化“人-地”关系认识、旅游目的地地方性塑造、旅游资源开发与保护以及旅游规划等方面具有特殊意义。已有研究主要探讨人口统计学特征、物理环境和社会环境等影响因素,缺乏对旅游世界中人与场的积极互动而产生的地方感等问题的讨论。本研究从社区旅游参与视角,通过田野调查的方法收集郎德上寨村民主诉的旅游参与实践,对民族旅游村寨居民地方感的生成问题进行分析。研究发现:郎德上寨村民的社区旅游参与主要表现为“合作激励型”“自我激励型”“机械被动型”和“利益激励型”4种类型;在社区旅游参与过程中,村民获得了强烈的地方感,并由自然地理和人文物理环境、社会文化特性、经济制度、乡土认同、血缘认同、文化认同、房屋归属感和生活便利性等内容体现。本研究还发现,居民地方感在不同的社区旅游参与形态中表现出差异性;社区旅游参与和地方感之间是双向、交互式的影响关系,其中,旅游效益感知因素在二者的关系中起着重要的中介作用。     

国外葡萄酒旅游研究进展

作为新兴的利基旅游或特殊兴趣旅游的重要分支,葡萄酒旅游在国外相关领域的研究中自20世纪90年代中期以来日益受到关注并积累了丰富文献.本文对国外葡萄酒旅游研究文献从葡萄酒旅游的概念、葡萄酒游客、区域葡萄酒旅游开发与管理3个方面进行了归纳和综述.文献研究表明,国外有关葡萄酒旅游的已有研究呈现出多学科参与的应用研究的特点.其未来的研究仍将保持这一趋势,并有可能在大众旅游和替代旅游这一对范畴下有其理论贡献.     

Managing for sustainable tourism: a review of six cultural World Heritage Sites

The paper reports findings derived from questioning 471 visitors to Katherine, Northern Territory. A questionnaire was constructed using Juster Scales and items based upon the items of the Beard and Ragheb Leisure Motivation Scale. Respondents were asked to rate existing and potential tourism products, among which were those based on Aboriginal culture. It was found that generally interest was higher in nature rather than culturally based tourism, but about a third of the total sample rated Aboriginal tourism products highly. However, it was also found that this sub-sample showed high rates of interest in natural and adventure based tourism and hence their interest is based upon ‘active information seeking’ that encompasses many needs. However, as the paper describes, Aboriginal entrepreneurs are already active in many different aspects of tourism. It is thus argued that while a demand for culturally based products exists, a wider market may be attracted by offering more mainstream products with Aboriginal culture representing, in marketing terms an added product value.     

新乡村经济精英在乡村旅游中的形成和作用机制研究——以虎跳峡徒步路线为例

文章从乡村精英的性质、特点等方面对这一特殊阶层做出初步分析,以虎跳峡徒步路线地区为例,分析受益于乡村旅游的发展,脱胎草根而非传统权力社会的新乡村经济精英的形成及其在乡村旅游中的地位,探索应如何更好地发挥他们的作用,从而带动欠发达地区乡村旅游业的发展,并为整个社区带来更大的福利.结论指出,中国欠发达地区的乡村需要培育和支持新乡村经济精英,虎跳峡徒步路线发展乡村旅游的模式值得其他欠发达地区借鉴.该案例研究对社会学领域的社会分层理论和人类学领域的旅游涵化理论都具有一定的借鉴意义.     

国外旅游地居民旅游感知和态度研究综述

自20世纪70年代以来,研究旅游地居民对旅游发展的感知和态度逐渐成为国外旅游影响研究的重要课题。本文通过对国外《Annals of Tourism Research》和《Tourism Management》两种SSCI引用的旅游期刊所发表的相关文献的梳理,较为系统地对国外相关研究进行了归纳和评述,其研究焦点集中在居民对旅游影响的感知、居民对某些特殊旅游产品的感知和态度、居民旅游感知和态度的影响因素、相关理论以及基于居民旅游感知和态度差异的群体聚类等五个方面。在此基础上,对我国的旅游地居民旅游感知和态度研究进行了展望。     

Bundling attractions for rural tourism development

Tourism is often regarded as a viable solution to economic crisis, especially for remote areas without many development options. While many tourism destinations have strong cultural or heritage assets, not all destinations have primary attractions that can bring visitors to the region. Rather than developing special interest “themes”, rural areas that do not have enough of any one type of tourism resource to act as a primary draw may consider bundling different attraction types to increase visitation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the preferences of visitors to secondary heritage sites and explore the relationship between heritage tourism and alternative, non-heritage activities in rural areas. Findings revealed that motivation to visit small-scale heritage sites consisted of two dimensions: learning and recreation. The two motivational dimensions influenced visitors’ interest in different heritage attractions and likelihood of visiting heritage tourism “scenarios”. As for alternative activities, there was a cluster of “popular” activities that were enjoyed by both learning-oriented and recreation-oriented respondents, but recreation-oriented visitors were more interested in nature-based activities and sport-related activities than learning-oriented visitors. Findings can help rural communities improve secondary attractions and diversify their tourism product by bundling heritage attractions with non-heritage activities.     

Climate Change and Tourism: An Overview

This paper presents an overview of the relationship between tourism and global climate change. On the one hand, the tourism industry may be one of the greatest economic victims of climate change. Yet, on the other hand, the broader tourism sector is also a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. This study traces the evolution of academic interest in tourism and climate change. Growth in this area has tracked growth in interest in climate change in general, with tourism-related papers representing consistently about 0.5% of the published research on climate change.     

情感凝聚对旅游者环境负责任行为的影响研究——晋东南地区传统村落民宿情境下的实证检验

旅游者环境负责任行为对乡村旅游的高质量发展意义重大。本文基于情感凝聚理论,探讨旅游者与民宿主之间的情感凝聚对其环境负责任行为的预测效果。以晋东南地区传统村落为案例地收集数据,采用定性和定量相结合的研究方法,对乡村民宿情境下,旅游者环境负责任行为的维度及“情感凝聚—环境负责任行为”影响路径的存在与否,进行实证检验。结果显示：（1）乡村民宿情境下,旅游者环境负责任行为既包括生态环境负责任行为,亦包括社会环境负责任行为和经济环境负责任行为;（2）旅游者与民宿主之间的情感凝聚能够显著促进其环境负责任行为,影响程度从高到低依次是生态环境负责任行为、社会环境负责任行为和经济环境负责任行为;（3）情感凝聚的3个二阶构念对旅游者环境负责任行为的影响程度从高到低依次是同情理解、情感亲密度和受欢迎程度。本文拓展了情感凝聚理论的应用范畴,为旅游者环境负责任行为相关研究提供了新的视角,亦为乡村旅游目的地政府和企业激发旅游者环境负责任行为提供了实践启示。     

经济驱动型城市的旅游发展模式研究--以广东省东莞市为例

有别于一般地方以旅游资源开发、旅游产品推陈出新为主的传统发展模式,东莞旅游发展所走的道路是先建酒店、后建景点;先出游、后进游;先积累、后发展;先无意、后有意的经济驱动型城市旅游发展的新模式。经济的快速发展。使东莞完成了资金的原始积累,有了自我发展的实力和基础。同时,伴随着自身产业结构调整、地方产业高级化发展、营造自身区域竞争力和培育新的经济增长点的要求,以及对旅游作为新兴产业认识水平的逐步提高,使东莞有能力在一个更高的起点上投入旅游业的发展。从而实现了东莞旅游业的飞跃性发展,为国内其他发达地区的旅游发展提供了新的借鉴和参照。     

ENGAGING TIMESHARE OWNERS IN TOURISM DESTINATION MANAGEMENT: TOURISM PLANNING AND TOURISM MARKETING IMPLICATIONS

It is important to understand tourists' willingness to participate in tourism planning and the factors influencing their willingness because they are an integral part of the destination and ultimately one of the main buyers of the product. Timeshare owners are a special group of tourists who have additional connections with the tourism destination through their timeshare. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among timeshare owners' perceptions of tourism planning, civic engagement, sense of place, and willingness to participate in tourism planning.

This study was based on a questionnaire survey of U.S. timeshare owners. The total sample size was 302. A two‐stage structural equation modeling approach was applied in data analysis. Results from the measurement model suggested that the model fit the data quite well. Results from the structural model suggested that timeshare owners' perceptions of tourism planning, their past history of civic participation, and their sense of place significantly impact their willingness to participate in tourism planning, while timeshare owners' past experience in political participation did not significantly affect their willingness to participate in tourism planning. Implications of the findings in tourism planning and tourism destination marketing are presented.     

Barriers to offering special interest tour products to the Chinese outbound group market

As Chinese outbound tourists expand in numbers and diversity, they may seek more challenging special interest tourism (SIT) activities. Tourists' participation in SIT activities can be profitable to a wider range of providers, enhance destination image, and enrich tourists' experiences. This research investigated the opportunities for offering SIT products to the China outbound group market by interviewing 20 Chinese outbound tour operators to examine the extent of interest in developing the product as well as factors driving or hindering the development. Findings revealed four types of barriers that influence operators’ willingness to incorporate SIT activities in their product offerings. Drawing on a critical social theory approach that focuses on 'enlightenment' and 'critique', this paper argues the validity of these perceived barriers - operators are risk-averse for institutionalised practical, social, cultural, and policy-related reasons.     

Cyprus' image—a sun and sea destination—as a detrimental factor to seasonal fluctuations. Exploration into motivational factors for holidaying in Cyprus

Cyprus is established as a summer destination. To aid the destination in developing its winter season as well, this research uses a qualitative, interpretive, inductive approach to explore the tourists' visitation motivations in order to establish whether Cyprus can be perceived as a year-round destination. The research indicates that the sun and sea image prevails and determines visitations. This in effect dissuades tourists from seeing it as a year-round destination. Nonetheless, increasing the pull factors of the destination through the development of unique special interest products can help in extending the tourism season as well as broaden its narrow image.     

中国旅游产业结构变迁对旅游经济增长的影响

文章从产业结构合理化和高级化两个维度考察了中国旅游产业结构变迁的特征,通过构建计量模型分析了旅游产业结构变迁对中国旅游经济增长的影响,并验证了该影响的可靠性。结果表明:(1)整体看我国旅游产业结构的高级化程度在提升、合理化程度在波动中下降,但区域差异明显;(2)旅游产业结构变迁对我国旅游经济增长的影响具有区域普遍性和持久性,但影响力在下降;(3)旅游产业结构变迁对旅游经济增长影响力的大小具有时段性特征,但比较而言,旅游产业结构合理化是推动旅游经济增长的基础性动力。针对上述结论,文章进一步讨论了其成因并提出了相关建议。