Unethical use of wildlife in tourism: what's the problem,who is responsible,and what can be done?

Wildlife tourism is a huge global market, the revenue from which can promote local livelihoods and tourist education, enact conservation, and improve animal welfare. Such benefits arise if wildlife tourist attractions (WTAs) prioritise ethical deliverables above financial profit, but recent work has shown that the majority of WTAs have substantial negative animal welfare and conservation impacts. In the absence of global regulatory authorities, tourist revenue has become the ultimate arbiter of what constitutes acceptable use of animals in WTAs. Tourists, however, are not adequate assessors of WTAs’ animal welfare and conservation impacts: they lack the specialist knowledge required and are subject to a number of psychological biases that obscure the ethical dimensions of decisions to attend particular WTAs. This inadequacy is evidenced, and compounded, by overwhelmingly positive reviews on TripAdvisor (the industry-leading review site), even for WTAs with objectively poor ethical standards. Our suggested solution is to empower tourists by presenting unequivocal assessments of WTAs' animal welfare and conservation impacts, hosted in the fora that tourists already use to make their travel decisions. We would thereby promote a subjective norm that tourists should consider and limit their individual negative impacts when choosing which WTAs to visit.     

Can gamification improve the virtual reality tourism experience? Analyzing the mediating role of tourism fatigue

Although virtual reality (VR) technology has been increasingly applied in the tourism industry, improving the VR experience of tourists remains a challenge. Based on two studies, this paper examines how gamification can improve the VR tourism experience through reducing tourism fatigue. Study 1 explores the relationship between gamification, tourism fatigue, and tourist satisfaction. The results show that tourists are more satisfied with a gamified, rather than non-gamified, VR tourism experience, and that motivational fatigue plays a mediating role between gamification and tourism satisfaction. Study 2 provides further evidence that four elements in gamification (challenge, feedback, reward, and leaderboard) can alleviate motivational fatigue and improve tourist satisfaction, with feedback playing the biggest role. The findings have valuable practical implications for VR experience providers, for destination practitioners in VR experience enhancement, and for the application of gamification to the VR tourism experience.     

Investigating individuals’ decision formation in working-holiday tourism: the role of sensation-seeking and gender

ABSTRACT

Despite the emergence of working-holiday tourism, little research has been carried out to understand working-holiday makers’ (WHMs) decision-making processes. This study was designed to examine the formation of WHMs’ intentions to participate in working-holiday tourism programs. A study model was proposed by extending sensation-seeking into Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and testing the difference between gender groups. An online survey was conducted with 369 WHMs in China. The study result indicated that the TPB model has a good fit to the data, and that the predictive power of the intention has been improved compared with the original TPB. The results from a structural equation reveal that three critical elements in TPB significantly formed individuals’ intentions for working-holiday programs, sensation-seeking formed positive and significant relationships with subjective norm (SN) and perceived behavioral control (PBC), and most importantly, significant differences were found between different gender groups. The study’s theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

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.     

How is the hospitality and tourism industry different? An empirical test of some structural characteristics

Structural characteristics, such as competition, risk, leverage and capital intensity, directly impact the strategic management of firms operating within an industry. We provide an empirical test and formally compare the structural characteristics of the hospitality and tourism (HT) industry with other industries. Our results, based on a sample of firms from the S&P 1500 index over 21 years, show that the HT industry has higher leverage, higher risk, higher capital intensity and higher competitive rivalry than other industries in the U.S. economy. The formal identification and recognition of these differences provides justification for using the HT industry as a context for testing business theories, and can explain differences in decision-making and firm outcomes such as financial and social performance, as well as efficiency, growth, and survival of HT firms.     

Among the piranhas: the troubling lifespan of ethnic tropes in “tribal” tourism to Vietnam

This article presents findings from mixed-method research into ethnic tourism in Vietnam. Drawing on critical discourse analysis and ethnographic research carried out in Sapa, northern Vietnam, the article examines how minority Indigenous groups are represented in ways that reproduce certain racial and gendered tropes that are drawn upon by tourists before, during and after actual tours. Findings from the study suggest that ethnic tourism is having a marginalising effect on minority ethnic women, who are becoming excluded from social, symbolic and economic space for behaviour that is deemed inauthentic. Tourists are drawing on a narrow range of Orientalist tropes throughout different stages of their participation in ethnic tourism and are carrying forward their pre-conceptions into tourism environments. Therefore, the ways in which indigeneity is packaged for tourists and the ways that tourists “authenticate” ethnicity inform their desires, which then shape their behaviour and interactions with locals. By bringing together ideas about authentication and gendered Orientalism and Othering, the analysis shows that the power play and its effects on Indigenous groups are considerable and troubling, with the whims and desires of tourists steering tourism organisation, including the surveillance and controlling of Indigenous women traders in and around the town.     

Impersonation in ethnic tourism – The presentation of culture by other ethnic groups

Adopting Goffman’s (1959) theories about presentation in daily life, this paper discusses the use of the culture of marginalised peoples whose very marginality forms the focus and subject of a tourist gaze and tourism development. This paper (a) examines to what extent Goffman’s theory (1959) regarding presentation of self in daily life can be applied in discussing commercial cultural performance, and (b) explores the operational mechanism of impersonation in multi-ethnic communities. The discussion is based in an ethnic community, Xinjiang, China where the first author resided for a year for fieldwork. An interdisciplinary approach is adopted in this study. Sociological theory, anthropological research method and management practice are all involved and the implications for both theory and practice are discussed.     

Is the protection of beach and dune vegetation compatible with tourism?

The paradox of development vs. protection and conservation of the coasts highlights the need to determine if tourism and conservation can be compatible rather than opposite activities. We analyzed the spatial and temporal changes in vegetation cover, composition and diversity in three beaches located in the state of Veracruz (Mexico) with different levels of tourism activity (Natural, Trailer Park and Hotels). We calculated tourist density and evaluated vegetation cover, species richness and diversity and analyzed the changes before and after three holiday seasons (winter, spring and summer). The Natural site had the highest vegetation cover (42.8 m²), species richness (14) and diversity (1.50), and Trailer Park the lowest (4.9 m², 8 species, and 0.897 respectively). The BACI (Before-After-Control-Design) analysis showed no significant differences before and after the holiday seasons. Our results show how low and medium density tourism can be compatible with the protection of beach and coastal dune vegetation.     

The “Pink Night” festival revisited: Meta-events and the role of destination partnerships in staging event tourism

This paper adopts a managerial perspective to revisit an original case study of the “Pink Night” festival presented by Giovanardi et al. (2014) in an earlier issue of this journal. Our in-depth qualitative study contributes to the event tourism planning and management literature in three ways. First, we shed light on how and why competing Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) cooperate to plan, develop and manage event tourism. Second, we introduce and describe the brand new concept of the meta-event, which is the main theoretical contribution of this work. Third, we elucidate the role of meta-events as brand architecture tools to rebrand and reposition wide tourism areas. We illustrate the theoretical and managerial implications of the meta-event concept for event tourism studies and destination managers.     

Volunteer tourism and the “voluntoured”: the case of Tijuana,Mexico

This paper explores resident attitudes to volunteer tourism in several small communities within Tijuana, Mexico. Social exchange theory has been used to argue that the degree of personal benefit from volunteer tourism would predict residents' perceptions of the impacts of volunteer tourism and support for volunteer tourism planning and for volunteer tourism activities. Survey research of a purposive sample targeted several neighborhoods within Tijuana that were extensively “voluntoured”. Results indicate mixed support for social exchange theory. Implications are discussed concerning the need for volunteer tourism organizations to include a variety of community stakeholders in the volunteer tourism development process.     

The formation of visitor behavioral intention to creative tourism: the role of push–Pull motivation

This study proposes and examines a behavioral intention to re-experience model consisting of experience quality, perceived value, satisfaction, and push–pull motivation factor as the determinants. For this purpose, self-administrated questionnaires were utilized to gather data from 369 participants of five creative tourism attractions in Indonesia. To examine the proposed model and hypotheses, partial least square modeling was applied. The results provide evidence that pull motivation impacts visitor behavioral intention to re-experience. It also demonstrates that push motivation impacts visitor behavioral intention to re-experience and is strengthened by experience quality and perceived value.     

The mediating role of place identity in the relationship between residents’ perceptions of heritage tourism and place attachment: the Macau youth experience

Ever since Macau became a World Heritage city, there is a growing body of research on Macau heritage tourism. However, the study on Macau residents’ place identity (PI) and place attachment (PA) amid heritage tourism development has yet to be explored. Owing to this, the current study explores the mediating role of PI on the relationship between heritage tourism perceptions and PA.     

Transnational tourism education and student approaches to learning: is there a mismatch?

This article employs a novel approach by investigating Chinese students from a transnational tourism management programme in Hong Kong and Chinese students studying on a similar programme at the degree-awarding UK university. This quantitative study investigates whether there are any differences between two groups of students in terms of their approaches to learning, preferred learning and teaching methods and their satisfaction with the programme. The findings demonstrate significant differences between the two cohorts, indicating that a programme cannot be easily exported. The implications of the findings for the transnational curriculum, learning and teaching practice and theories of student approaches to learning are discussed.     

Drivers and consequences of sustainability committee existence? Evidence from the hospitality and tourism industry

This study's objective is twofold: (1) to investigate whether board characteristics predict the existence of a sustainability committee, and (2) to examine whether the establishment of sustainability committees stimulates sustainability reporting, external assurance, and the adoption of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework in hospitality and tourism (H&T) firms. For this purpose, the data was derived from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database for publicly traded H&T firms from 2013 to 2018. The results indicate that while board size is a significant predictor of sustainability committee establishment, female and independent directors are not. Furthermore, the H&T firms with a sustainability committee are more likely to issue a sustainability report, to get an independent assurance statement on sustainability reporting, and to follow GRI guidelines in configuring sustainability report content and structure. Overall, the results suggest important implications to help H&T firms achieve sustainable goals and to design their boards accordingly.     

Examining tourism SME owners’ place attachment,support for community and business performance: the role of the enlightened self-interest model

This research examines how support for the local community by small tourism businesses influences their enterprise performance, and the extent to which the owners’ place attachment influences the level of support that they provide to the community. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used to analyse the responses from the owners of 298 small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) operating in regional South Australia. Results of the analysis provide support for the validity of a structural model. The place attachment of tourism business owners has a significant positive effect on their support for the community which in turn has a significant positive effect on enterprise performance. The robustness of the structural model was tested through a series of invariance (equality) tests. Results demonstrate that the causal relationships among place attachment, support for community and enterprise performance hold true (are invariant) irrespective of the gender of the business owner, the size of the business, and/or the length of time the business has been operating. These findings have implications for research scholars in developing more robust tests of model relationships between and across groups, and for tourism policymakers aiming to support the sustainable development of regional tourism destinations.     

The role of travel agents’ ethical concerns when brokering information in the marketing and sale of sustainable tourism

ABSTRACT

Using conservation tourism as a test case, this study explores the role high-end travel agents play in selling sustainable tourism. It examines a niche marketing activity in that process. The study focuses on agents’ consideration of ethics as they act as information brokers between tourists and operators. Data were collected from interviews with agents and analysed using a deductive content analysis based on six overarching concepts and theories on ethical decision-making. The findings emphasize the implicit influence within conservation tourism of tourism's ethical dimensions, whilst identifying many constraints that prevent a full consideration and/or disclosure of ethical concerns in the sales process. Most importantly, agents made assumptions using a false consensus bias about clients' preferences for service over concerns for the environment, and were not prepared to discuss the more sensitive issues surrounding conservation with their clients. A number of recommendations are proposed regarding the need to unpack conservation information, overcome the false consensus bias, and agents’ reluctance to discuss ethics in the sales process. Finally, the findings have broader implications for the development of sustainable tourism, which ultimately will depend on a dialogue of ethical concerns and values within the tourism supply chain between suppliers, brokers and tourists.     

Sustainability and integration – the principal challenges to tourism and tourism research

ABSTRACT

What are the biggest challenges facing tourism and tourism research? This paper answers this question by canvasing the opinions of recognized experts in the field. The analysis is based on 30 interviews with fellows of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism. Two key thematic issues were identified. First, the pragmatic issue of how to operationalize sustainability and its various sub-elements, such as climate change, overtourism, and tourisation to ensure the long-term future of tourism. Second, the need for further integration between disciplines within the tourism field, between tourism and other fields, and between research and practice.     

Chinese international students’ psychological adaptation process in Korea: the role of tourism experience in the host country

This study aims to shed light on the effect of international students’ lifelong learning and dining experience during the trip in a host country on their psychological adaptation, place attachment, and sharing of tourism experience. Employing responses from 247 Chinese students in South Korea, a SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) technique was used for the analysis. The study found that lifelong learning positively influences dining-out flow experience, which in turn placed positive effects on psychological adaptation, place attachment, and sharing of tourism experience, whereas place attachment mediates the relationship between flow experience and both sharing of tourism experience and psychological adaptation.