Implementing Flexible Learning Practices in Tourism Courses

ABSTRACT

The design and delivery of quality tourist experiences will be the key focus for tourism and hospitality professionals throughout the 21st Century. This outcome will be promoted through educational design and delivery that meet the needs of a diverse range of tourism students. Aspiring towards this aim, a process for introducing flexible learning practices in the development of tourism courses is outlined. This process is then applied to the redevelopment of a tourism project course. To conclude, the utility of flexible learning practices and information and communication technology for delivering quality learning outcomes to students separated by geographic distances is critically appraised with reference to tourism course development.     

Identifying cultural tourism: a theoretical methodological proposal

This article explores the effectiveness of tourism as a means to heritage conservation in urban areas, focusing on the case study of Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf, an inner-city industrial heritage site in Sydney, Australia. The Finger Wharf redevelopment represents a familiar scenario whereby an old industrial site located at a sought after inner-city location has been redeveloped and transformed from a derelict structure into a popular leisure and recreation precinct. The findings of a study of local stakeholder perceptions of the redevelopment are presented and then evaluated according to the goals of sustainable tourism development. The findings highlight the importance of planners and managers of heritage tourism sites thinking beyond the cosmetic conservation of the tangible asset to also consider how best to preserve the non-material value of the site. Through the provision of more effective interpretation heritage, managers can create a visitor experience which is authentic and meaningful to visitors and local stakeholders.     

Coastal tourism and shoreline management

This paper examines the environmental factors and the policy framework that have driven new approaches to shoreline management since the mid-90s, and how they interact with tourism development. The paper argues that resorts in the rejuvenation stage have limited options for coastal defense strategies due to the value of their economic (built) assets, unless redevelopment allows coastal re-alignment, while resorts placed earlier in the cycle can implement more sustainable strategies that work with the “natural” environment. However, environmental quality is not coupled to resort cycle stage. It can be enhanced at any stage, but especially so in the earlier and late (rejuvenation) stages.     

Effects of the redevelopment of an elementary school playground

The effects of the redevelopment of an elementary school playground were evaluated by comparing the situation before and after physical transformation. Observations produced data on the actual use during play time. Interviews were held with all the pupils on their perception and evaluation of the change. A group of adult experts judged the environment before and after the change on aspects like complexity, ‘manipulability’ and ‘affordance’ for different activities. An interview with the designer of the plan gave information about his intentions and expectations, especially regarding behavioural aspects. Data from these different sources are presented and related to each other.     

Heritage tours and trails on foot in Hong Kong: towards a typology that crosses the tourist-local divide

Hong Kong's retrocession to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 initiated intense interest in cultural heritage on the part of divergently positioned actors, including activists, the state, and entrepreneurs. Heritage walking tours have proliferated, providing a wide range of examples suitable for comparison. This article develops a typology of heritage trails and tours in order to consider how they are situated in relation to the tourist economy and local context. Theoretically it builds on insights in new walking studies and debates in tourism and heritage studies on the ‘tourist-local divide.’ The article relies on qualitative research conducted in Hong Kong, including participant observation and interviews, and a review of various secondary sources. The typology distinguishes between government-generated, market-oriented, and community-based heritage walks. Three key issues are discussed: the ways that tours and trails develop, how they engage with official and unofficial heritage places, and how they reference urban issues including state-led urban renewal and redevelopment. The article argues that, while walking in general is a format that is suited to both tourist and local visitor engagement, some trails and tours reinforce dominant narratives of heritage and urban space, while others challenge them.     

Considering a Convention Center

ABSTRACT

An increasing number of communities are actively considering the construction of a convention center. Rather than being a 1-step, build or not build process, the convention center decision process is multi-stepped. Many of the decisions that must be made in the process are complicated and have huge potential implications for existing lodging facilities and other industry and non-industry players. Further, because the process includes numerous steps, the entire process is often very time-consuming. The author used a variety of sources to suggest the elements that should be considered when thinking about the construction of a modern convention center for a community.     

The psychological process of travel destination choice

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews literature on travel destination choice and organizes these studies systematically. A “cell–system” structure is proposed to describe the psychological process of travel destination choice. When forming decisions on vacations, tourists gather information on potential destinations and evaluate visit intentions among potential destinations (“cell”). The visit intentions are successively compared while information is updated in the process (“system”). The “cell–system” structure provides a clear view of the psychological process of travel destination choice. Empirical studies based on the structure can provide further insights into why and how tourists choose travel destinations.     

Identifying value conflicts between stakeholders in corporate travel management by applying the soft value management model: A survey in South Africa

Four stakeholders are involved in corporate travel: management, travellers, travel suppliers and travel management companies. A successful corporate travel management process is dependent on cohesion of values between these stakeholders and pursuit of common goals. Value conflicts can influence the effective management of the process. The purpose of the study was to propose a model which recognises value conflicts, the interdependence of stakeholders and incorporates common goals. The so-called ‘Soft Value Management Model’ was selected and conceptualised in the context of corporate travel management. This study defined and surveyed each stakeholder group in terms of their values and objectives on travel management information; travel policy and compliance; travel management company partnerships; and travel expenditure processing. Quantitative and qualitative techniques were used. The results show that value conflicts exist between stakeholders. The model provides a theoretical foundation against which an effective travel management process can potentially be measured.     

The Experience Must Meet the Promise

ABSTRACT

Tourism departments spend millions of dollars on marketing campaigns with heavy branding and advertising focuses in hopes of drawing vacationers to their destinations. It is imperative that they are not only able to brand and sell their destinations, but also deliver on the promises made within their advertising campaigns; ultimately meeting visitors' expectations. Delivery on the advertising promises is often a secondary consideration and destinations rarely develop budgets and plans to train associates on the brand image. The actual process of establishing a quality and associate branding process lies within ten simple steps. However, destinations must overcome a variety of obstacles prior to implementing the actual process.     

Management of the change process in hotel companies: An investigation at unit level

The management of change has become an organisational necessity in the 1990s and will continue to be a major factor in the management of hotel companies in the future. This article investigates and evaluates management of the change process at unit level in hotel firms. The data was gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews with ten hotel managers in the UK. Lewin’s three-stage model was found to be of limited use in practice. A five-stage model of the change process emerges from the research findings. This model reflects a more practical view of the management of change as an on-going, continuous process. Finally, the limitations of the research are discussed and further research areas identified.     

Does Gender Affect Korean Tourists' Overseas Travel? Applying the Model of Goal-Directed Behavior

Tourism is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing industries, and female travelers continue to contribute to the growth of the industry. However, little conceptual research has been conducted on overseas travel behavior and the role of gender in the decision-making process. Thus, this study examined the sophisticated decision-making process of overseas travel and the moderating effect of gender in the decision-making process, using the model of goal-directed behavior (MGB). The results indicate that the MGB is a powerful framework for explaining overseas travel behavior and that gender plays a critical role during the decision-making process. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed in the discussion section.     

Land expropriation in tourism development: Residents' attitudinal change and its influencing mechanism

The development of tourism projects is often predicated on land expropriation. It is therefore important to understand residents' attitudes towards land expropriation and how changes in those attitudes can benefit both the land expropriation process and tourism development. Taking Wudaoliang in Sandaogou village in Hebei province as a case study, this study focuses on residents' attitudinal change by taking a longitudinal approach involving non-participant observation and 180 interviews. Critical event analysis was conducted, and a framework for modelling attitudinal change was adopted. The results show that the attitudes of rural residents towards tourism development were not static but underwent a dynamic process of change across three phases. These results suggest that residents should deepen their involvement in the land expropriation process and that information transparency can reduce social conflict, which will facilitate the sustainable development of rural tourism. The theoretical and practical contributions of this study are also discussed.     

Conceptual and theoretical implications of tourism between partitioned states

Recent history regarding the partition or separation of single states is not new. The ramifications caused by these divisions are numerous. All too often, the problems associated with crossing the “new” border, visiting family and friends separated by the newly imposed border, or trying to establish or re‐establish business ties with past acquaintances are overlooked. Once a country is partitioned, there are several levels or stages which the newly partitioned states go through in a “maturing'’ process to build new identities and levels of trust. At the macro level, there are social, economic, and political differences which must be resolved before open dialogues can occur. Often, by allowing family members, in the two or more partitioned states, to visit each other, the governments begin a long process of reconciliation. The fact that travel and tourism is one of the fundamental aspects of this process is significant.     

Critical success factors for tourist destination governance in times of crisis: a case study of Antalya,Turkey

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to identify the critical success factors for the development of crisis management and strategy for the governance of the tourist destination of Antalya, Turkey. Data was obtained from in situ interviews, participant observation, and documentation. Interviews were conducted with the main tourism stakeholders representing both public and private sectors in Antalya. Findings show that the critical success factors of responsiveness, shared roles, strategy formation, and collaboration are vital for effective crisis management. The study also highlighted the fact that in the area of shared roles and collaboration, encompassing the characteristics of coordination, communication, cooperation, and knowledge transfer, stakeholders are proving ineffectual, thereby obstructing the development of necessary strategies for crisis management and the recovery process. Further, ineffective governance, adopted by local stakeholders, has had a substantial negative impact on the process of developing future effective crisis management strategies.     

Curriculum,Development and Conflict

ABSTRACT

This article is a case study examining the process and products of THEME (Tourism Higher Education for Moldova with the EU), a curriculum development and innovation project. The project is part of the EU's Tempus Tacis plan to stimulate institutional modernisation and economic diversity in the NIS (Newly Independent State) region. A method for curriculum design and development is elaborated based on strategic management techniques. Specifically, three aspects of situational analysis are utilised. These are needs analysis, capability analysis and force field analysis. A curriculum, with supporting measures, is developed and presented based on the findings of this analysis. Finally a critical evaluation of the process and product finds conflict with opposing views providing different stories of success and failure for the project.     

Research Possibilities in Private Club Management

Abstract

This research project proposes a process that studies the service quality trade-offs that restaurant managers worldwide are willing to make in order to maximize their customers' satisfaction level. The project uses traditional conjoint techniques to determine which service attributes managers are willing to trade so that customer satisfaction is maximized.     

Tourism migrant workers: The internal integration from urban to rural destinations

This article examines the unique phenomenon of tourism migrant workers (TMWs) who move from developed urban areas to less-developed rural destinations in China. It investigates the four dynamic dimensions of TMWs' integration process: economic adaptation, social integration, cultural acceptance and psychological integration. Three inhibiting factors of the integration process are identified from the socio-cultural context of Chinese society: TMWs' own social network, urban-rural differences, and sojourner mentality. This research was conducted in three stages and used both qualitative and quantitative research methods to examine TWMs' integration process from the perspectives of TMWs and local residents.     

A fuzzy multi-criteria decision model for international tourist hotels location selection

The main purpose of this paper is to present a fuzzy multi-criteria decision making (FMCDM) model for international tourist hotel location selection. In this article we created 21 criteria for selecting the international tourist hotel location acquired from literatures review and practical investigations. And the methods of fuzzy set theory, linguistic value, hierarchical structure analysis, and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process are used to consolidate decision-makers’ assessments about criteria weightings. Finally, an empirical study for identifying the international tourist hotel location selection in Taiwan is conducted to demonstrate the computational process and effectiveness of FMCDM proposed by this paper.     

From Selling to Relationship Marketing at International Trade Fairs

Abstract

The role of international trade fairs in establishing and developing buyer-seller relations has been overlooked by most marketing scholars. Based on a survey of sellers at international trade fairs, relationship marketing at trade fairs is analyzed. Using an interaction approach, some propositions are developed. The article suggests that international trade fairs play a significant role in reducing uncertainty and distance for industrial marketers and in demonstrating commitment to the buyer-seller relationship development process. The implications for practitioners, as well as for future research, are discussed.