Eco-efficiency and its determinants at a tourism destination: A case study of Huangshan National Park,China

This study creates a comprehensive evaluation index system, including undesirable outputs and a Slacks-Based Measure-Data Envelopment Analysis model, to analyse the characteristics and evolution of eco-efficiency at an individual tourism destination. This study also empirically identifies the determinants of eco-efficiency. Huangshan National Park, one of the most iconic and highly visited national parks in China, was chosen as the study site. The study results indicate that eco-efficiency has improved continuously. Pure technical efficiency is higher than scale efficiency, while eco-efficiency is more relevant to scale efficiency than to pure technical efficiency. The evolution of eco-efficiency undergoes four stages: an initial inefficient stage, a rapid growth stage, a mature efficient stage and a downside risk stage. Moreover, tourism development, industrial structure and technical level have significantly positive impacts on eco-efficiency, but investment level displays the opposite trend. Environmental regulation emphasizing waste control does not effectively promote eco-efficiency. Finally, theoretical and practical contributions of the findings are discussed in the context of eco-efficiency at a tourism destination. For instance, an eco-efficiency analysis of a destination should treat the tourism destination as a macro-scale system with complex evolutionary rules and should combine this perspective with theory, such as the tourist area cycle of evolution proposed by Butler in 1980.     

Towards sustainable tourism planning in New Zealand: Monitoring local government planning under the Resource Management Act

In the light of the increasing pace and scale of tourism activity in New Zealand, the concept of sustainable tourism has become a key ingredient in the nation's tourism strategy. This paper explores sustainable tourism planning in New Zealand at the level of local government, and in particular, focuses on the implementation of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) as a mechanism for achieving sustainable tourism. Using the findings of a survey of Regional Councils and Territorial Local Authorities, the paper explores public sector planning responses to tourism impacts and sustainability concerns in New Zealand. The paper extends the earlier work of Page and Thorn (1997. Towards sustainable tourism planning in New Zealand: public sector planning responses. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 5(1): 59-77; 2002. Towards sustainable tourism development and planning in New Zealand: the public sector response revisited. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 10(3): 222-238), which identified major issues of concern at local council level with regard to tourism impacts and argued the need for a national vision for tourism to ensure that the RMA achieved its original goals. Since then, a national tourism strategy has been published and changes in legislation have further empowered local authorities to further progress the sustainability agenda. This paper examines these developments and the ensuing implications, concluding that significant progress has been made in developing tourism policies at the local level, but that a number of constraints and issues limit the development of New Zealand as a sustainable destination.     

Recent Tourism and Hospitality Research in China

ABSTRACT

Although China's tourism has become a vital part in the world tourism market, little is known internationally about tourism and hospitality research in China. This study reviewed 500 articles published from 2000 to 2005 in China's leading tourism research journal, Tourism Tribune, and provided an overview of China's recent tourism and hospitality research. Content analysis results showed that tourism research themes in China primarily focused on tourism attraction/resources development and management, tourism planning, and tourism industry development issues. Most research under review used a qualitative approach, while 15% of the articles employed some quantitative methods. Articles using advanced statistical techniques were scarce.     

国家公园旅游发展对周边社区居民生活质量的影响——以黄山风景区为例

旅游发展是国家公园生态价值转化的重要路径与国家公园全民公益性的重要体现,周边社区居民是国家公园体制建设与旅游发展中的核心利益相关者之一,其生活质量影响国家公园生态保护与高质量发展。本文利用黄山风景区门户社区居民调查数据,探讨了处于探索阶段、参与阶段、发展阶段和巩固阶段等不同旅游生命周期阶段的社区居民生活质量差异及其成因。研究表明：（1）不同旅游发展阶段的社区居民生活质量差异显著,居民生活质量随社区旅游发展阶段演进而提升的现象具有滞后效应;（2）居民生计资本对不同旅游发展阶段社区居民生活质量的提升具有差异性;（3）随着社区旅游发展水平的不断提高,人力资本对居民生活质量的提升处于主导地位。     

Perceptions of tourism products

The concept of the tourism product has been rooted in the minds of industry professionals as the industry has rapidly developed. Yet research into the tourism product and its constitution has not been a particular focus. Smith (1994) was one of the first, and remains one of the few, researchers to have decomposed the tourism product into basic elements. His five elements formed a single core and a series of four encapsulating shells. The study reported here first clarified the definition of tourism product and employed Smith's framework to analyze various tourism products in different tourism sectors. A student sample was used in a survey to rate the importance of five elements of tourism products. The results showed that the five elements were prevalent but that they differed in their importance for tourists across a variety of tourism products. Tangible physical plant was considered to be the most important component of nearly all tourism products. Finally, a new model of the tourism product is proposed here, and managerial priorities when creating sustained and satisfying tourist experiences are discussed.     

A review of entrepreneurship research published in the hospitality and tourism management journals

This research evaluates the entrepreneurship research in field of the Hospitality and Tourism Management to obtain a better understanding of its progress and potential. The study examines entrepreneurship articles published in seven leading hospitality and tourism management journals from 1986 to 2006. Findings indicate that Tourism Management, International Journal of Hospitality Management, and International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management are the top three journals that publish entrepreneurship research. However, the amount of entrepreneurship research in the leading hospitality and tourism management journals appears less than expected. Publication of empirical work has not increased over time over the past 21 years, and theoretical work remains at a consistently low level. Even for empirical studies, there is a lack of methodological sophistication of analytical and statistical tools. The results suggest a concern that entrepreneurship research remains under studied; therefore, more theoretical work is needed to map a course of study and to develop a framework unique to the entrepreneurship domain of hospitality and tourism research. The good news is that there are abundant opportunities for scholars in hospitality and tourism management to explore the field of entrepreneurship as a viable research paradigm.     

Tourism Education in Austria and Switzerland

SUMMARY

Both Austria and Switzerland are small countries with a long tradition hosting tourists. Irrespective of high levels of economic development, the two countries also have high levels of tourism intensity when measured either in terms of number of tourists per native population or in terms of tourism receipts per population (e.g., per gross national product). Consequently, both countries also display a long tradition and evolution in their development of systems of tourism education and training albeit under differing market conditions and pressures. Both countries provide similar products like in the field of cultural tourism and alpine tourism. The tourism structure is also comparable. Both countries are dominated by family owned small and medium size businesses. However, their political structures are very different. This paper shows how each country under the three forces of labour market pressures and industry requirements, on the one hand and tourism education policy initiatives on the other has evolved two slightly different tourism education systems. Furthermore, an attempt was made to provide, based on the discussion in the first part of the paper, a more general explanation with respect to the response of tourism schooling/training supplies to varying conditions in tourism product markets, tourism employment and labour market systems, public choice decisions and general economic conditions. Finally, the paper discusses the paradigmatic shift (i.e., structural change) of tourism factor and product markets from the “Old to New Tourism” and discusses its implications for new types of tourism schooling and training in these two countries.     

Sustaining culture and seeking a Just Destination: governments,power and tension – a life-cycle approach to analysing tourism development in an ethnic-inhabited scenic area in Xinjiang,China

Set against the background of China's changing economy and its rapid rise as a major tourism provider, this paper examines the development of tourism, and tourism policies, in Kanas (Xinjiang), an ethnic inhabited scenic area in north-western China which has seen visitor numbers rise from c. 800 to c. 1 million annually from 1990 to 2013. It uses the first four stages of Butler's Tourism Area Life Cycle model (TALC) as a framework, analysing governments’ role in policy-making and implementation, and the tensions and conflicts at each TALC stage. It finds that the TALC is a useful analytical framework in China, despite its command economy, and governments’ multiple roles in tourism development. The position of cultural heritage and the characteristics of the Tuva and Kazakh ethnic minority peoples in tourism in Kanas are critically examined, as is China's concept of social harmony and progress. Social harmony is compared – and contrasted – with the emerging concept of the Just Destination in destination planning and management. The minorities are found to be weak in knowledge, capital and bargaining power, but the relationships involved are complex and still evolving. The paper is one of a JOST series on China's new tourism management policies.     

Tourism in difficult areas revisited: the case of Bradford

Bradford was the first city in a “difficult area” in the UK to try to capitalise on tourism. This concept was introduced by Buckley and Witt in the 1980s using Bradford as an example. The article looks at how Bradford and its tourism policies have changed since their initial success in the 1980s. Support for tourism from Local Government has fluctuated because of funding crises, uncertainty about the benefits of tourism and changing political priorities in the City. In the late 1990s, Bradford launched a new strategy to attract leisure tourists, using support from the private sector and funds from Europe. Finally, we attempt to evaluate Bradford's success in tourism over the period and relate this to the original study of difficult areas     

On bringing people and park together through ecotourism: The Nanda Devi National Park,India

While the need for linking park with people was heavily stressed both at the World Conservation Strategy (1980) and the World Congress of National Parks (1982), the conflict has remained unresolved, particularly in the developing nations. The hackneyed question, who is more important – monkey or man - is still argued. Admittedly, human beings are as much a part of nature as any other animal or plant species. Indeed, it is neither desirable nor feasible to alienate poor people, living in and around parks and protected areas. Modern methods of judicious park management now point more to Integrated Conservation Development Projects (ICDP) than resorting to a traditional “fences and fines” approach. ICDP ensures the conservation of biological diversity by reconciling the management of park with social and economic needs of the local people, who have limited access to resources and few alternative means of livelihood. Paradoxically, these people bear substantial costs – as a result of lost access – while receiving little in return. Nanda Devi National Park in Uttaranchal (India) presents an unsavory example of people and park relationship. It is India's highest park after Kangchendzongha (Sikkim). Characterized by high altitude ecology, the park (625?sq.?km) is profoundly rich in biodiversity, mountain-lores and mythologies. Indigenous communities, particularly Bhotias, have enriched the landscape by their bizarre ways of life. After Tilman and Shipston's successful ascent (1936) of Nanda Devi peak (7817?m), an era of mountaineering and trekking ensued which resulted in degradation of fragile Himalayan environment. Poaching of musk deer and herb smuggling also raised alarm. Considering the dire conservation needs for preserving genetic resources and diversity of species, the area was notified as a National Park in 1982. Subsequently, the park was closed for ecological quarantine. Later it was declared a Biosphere Reserve (1988) and inscribed asa World Heritage Site in 1992. Customary to Third World practices, the park emphasized a policing role excluding local people, displacing them arbitrarily with meager or little compensation for their losses of livelihood. Ban on tourism activities further added to their problem of life and living. The paper discusses the cleavage of park and people and argues that development of sound ecotourism can resolve this conflict and bring park and people together.     

The multiple logics of tourism development in China

It has been widely demonstrated and accepted in the sustainable tourism literature that tourism development involves multiple stakeholders. However, little research has been conducted to examine the logics guiding and explaining the behaviours of the stakeholders in tourism development. Guided by the institutional logics perspective and stakeholder theory, this study identifies the logics of different stakeholders in China's tourism development through fieldwork in two tourism development cases (Yalong Bay and Haitang Bay) in Hainan Province and content analysis on secondary data from multiple sources. The logic of pursuing political legitimacy, the logic of fiscal income maximisation, the dual logics of the market and politics, and the logic of pursuing economic benefits were identified to be the dominant logics driving the behaviours of the central government, local government, tourism enterprises and local communities, respectively, in China's tourism development. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the dynamics of tourism development in China.     

Serviced Accommodation,Environmental Performance and Benchmarks

Abstract

The establishment of benchmarks as a tool to aid the evaluation and review of the performance of hospitality and tourism enterprises in a number of areas, e.g., financial appraisal, grading schemes, is comparatively long established. More recently, benchmarks have been developed for the accreditation of business in such areas as TQM and IiP. One area that has been comparatively ignored is that of environmental performance of the enterprises. This is particularly notable, given the rise of attention and debate over sustainable development and the need for a balance between economic growth and the quality of the environment which has generated much debate. The quintessential importance of this latter aspect-the quality of the environment-to the development of tourism has long been recognised, and since the mid-1980s has generated substantial attention to the impact of tourism on the physical environment. In combination, this attention has led to the development of 'sustainability indicators for tourist destinations.' However, there has been a substantial lack of attention to the environmental performance of the enterprises involved and their impacts on the environment-taken in its widest senses. This weakness, and the absence of suitable benchmarks, emerged in the initial stages of a major project designed to evaluate the environmental performance of the tourism sector in the Lake District of England; an area listed in the top 50 of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world in 2000. Thus, the first stage of the project required the development of a set of suitable indicators designed to assess the environmental performance of the enterprises involved. This article discusses the development and derivation of these indicators, with specific focus on serviced accommodation, and subsequently the establishment of a range of benchmarks which may not only be applied in evaluating progress in future assessment of the environmental performance of this sector in the Lake District but also may be applied in other destinations throughout the world.     

Public–private partnerships and contested cultural heritage tourism in national parks: a case study of the stakeholder views of the North Head Quarantine Station (Sydney,Australia)

This paper examines the public perceptions of stakeholders towards a proposed cultural heritage public–private partnership (PPP) within a national park in Sydney, Australia. Governments in Australia are initiating PPPs for the purposes of designing, planning, constructing and operating projects that would traditionally be regarded as ‘public goods’. The North Head Quarantine Station (Sydney, Australia) was one of the first proposed PPPs in national parks that moved beyond the licensing of private sector operations within park boundaries. The Quarantine Station is used as a case study to offer insights into the PPP process because of its place in the cultural heritage of Australia, its prime a facie tourism position within Sydney Harbour and its prolonged history of development. The case study provides a mechanism for examining public opinion on cultural heritage tourism issues in national parks through understanding stakeholder perspectives presented in newspaper media accounts. The accounts are analysed on political and environmental considerations with implications drawn for future developments.     

Exploring well-being as a tourism product resource

This study employs a qualitative research approach where focus groups (n = 11) with key stakeholders were used to understand how tourism investors view the concept of well-being in relation to tourism and the potential to use it as a tourism product resource. Findings validated by a wider group (n = 50) exposed the barriers and enablers of implementing well-being in this way. The potential for businesses and policymakers to transform these barriers into enablers was also identified. In addition, study findings were mapped onto a robust model extracted from the public health sector and applied in a tourism context using a systems theory approach. This further highlighted the potential offered to the fields of public health and tourism in the concept of well-being, and demonstrated the well-being value of tourism. Data from this research will aid tourism business practice and development by embedding a well-being philosophy for tourism destinations' strategies.     

Thirty years of research on tourism and hospitality management in China: A review and analysis of journal publications

The tourism industry in China has undergone rapid development since 1978 and is foreseen as being the world's largest tourism market by 2020. However, no comprehensive review of literature in this context has been completed, and international academics have little understanding of China tourism research. This paper aims to provide an overview of 119 articles selected from six leading English language academic journals published from 1978 to 2008. Content analysis points to the evolving trend in Asian universities in terms of journal contributions. Consumer behavior has gained popularity as a research topic, and will likely remain as a prevalent research theme in the near future. A tendency toward multiple-authorship, rather than single authorship, and more sophisticated methodological procedures has also been found. Future analysis may focus on including other forms of publications and Chinese language journals to capture the full picture of China tourism.     

Tourism Education in Canada

SUMMARY

This paper explores the past, present, and future directions of tourism education in Canada, from its origins in the late 1960s until today. The study reviews the development of tourism education over four decades, with a particular focus on developments in Ontario. The influence of tourism organizations, and the impact of legislation on tourism and hospitality education in developing future industry leaders capable of sustaining and growing Canada's tourism industry are discussed. The paper also reflects on the current status of tourism education in Canada, the lack of government support for tourism research initiatives, and the loss of research talent to overseas universities. The research discovered a paucity of past historical documentation of tourism education in Canada and this paper is perhaps the first concerted effort to chronicle the 40-year cumulative history of formal tourism education in Canada.     

Dependency on Tour Operators

Abstract

Tour operators have increasingly emerged as the most powerful and influential factor of international flows from the main generating countries to various destinations, since they are able to interpret and manipulate the “push” and “pull” factors of the tourism process to a commercial end. As a result, many tourist-receiving destinations have to face the intervention of foreign tour operators in their tourism industry. Despite the crucial role played by tour operators for the development of insular regions' tourism, little empirical evidence is available on the relationship between tour operators and the destination tourism suppliers. This paper presents the findings of a study undertaken during the summer of 1997 on the Greek island of Crete. From the findings, it is evident that the Cretan tourism industry is heavily dependent on tour operators, and that various actions should be undertaken by the island's public and private sector to overcome this problem.     

Serious games and the gamification of tourism

Gamification has become a focus of attention in an increasing number of fields including business, education, and health care. Through a wide range of applications and support functions, its potential for the tourism industry is significant. Gamification of tourism can contribute to a more rewarding interactions and higher level of satisfaction, as well as increase brand awareness and loyalty to the destination. As one of the first attempts to conceptualize gamification of tourism, this paper examines gaming in general terms and the application of it in specific tourism fields. It identifies game design elements that can contribute to a meaningful gamification. A few cases of best practices are presented to show how this innovative concept can benefit tourism marketing. Implications for tourism marketing and management are discussed as well as future research recommendations.     

A Local Reading of a Global Disaster

Abstract

This paper describes the events of 2001 in South West England and explores their wider messages for the management of tourism in the region. The year 2001 was an annus horribilis for the region, witnessing as it did, first of all, an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and later, as the region began to emerge from its first crisis, the unfolding events of 09/11. This sequence of events is used as a lens through which to inspect the interaction of three sets of obviously overlapping tourism management approaches. This fusion reveals that important contradictions and tensions exist between the claims, assumptions and practices of contemporary tourism governance. A more strategic approach to the concept of risk is required in the UK tourist “industry” since the prevailing principles and imperatives of tourism governance may have frustrated the response to events in 2001.