International price competitiveness of Australia's MICE industry

A special‐interest tourist market that holds out great promise for continued growth well into the next century is that of MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions). At the same time, changing prices in particular destinations relative to others are regarded as one of the most important economic influences on destination shares of total international tourism flows. The question arises as to the price competitiveness of major competing MICE destinations. Although earlier research has recognised that a destination's price competitiveness differs according to a visitor's country of origin there has been relatively little attention paid to tourism price competitiveness from the perspective of those having different motives for travel. This paper has four major aims: first, to provide a method by which price competitiveness of tourism by journey purpose can be estimated; second, to construct price competitiveness indices that measure, absolutely and relative to major competitors world‐wide, the price competitiveness of Australia's MICE tourism industry; third, to compare Australia's price competitiveness as a MICE destination with its price competitiveness for total inbound tourism; fourth, to discuss the implications of the results for travel and tourism decision‐makers in both the private and public sectors. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Power of Tourism: A Metamorphosis of Community Culture

The commodification of culture for tourism can result in fundamentally changing a community's structure. Focusing on one rural Atlantic Canadian community, this article examines the transformation of longstanding stable forms of human and social capital that have bonded a local community over two centuries, and in so doing helped to ensure sustainability. Transformations induced by tourism development may dramatically transform such cultures. To avoid corrosive transformation of local culture, careful management plans that protect community values must become the focal point of the plan. This paper discusses the commodification of the culture process as it has unfolded and transformed local culture in a case study rural community. Results of the study show that while local culture may be a community's most valuable asset, the commodification of local culture for tourism may, in reality, impede a community's efforts to achieve sustainability. Cultural-based tourism development invokes transformation, whereas the traditional community culture dies away while attempting to simultaneously create a new culture based on the icons of the traditional one. This may be described, metaphorically, as a death–rebirth-like process. This research suggests that conventional notions of cultural tourism as a means of community sustainability without regard for traditional practices and values may not be appropriate.     

The Role of the Tourism Industry in Transforming a Rentier to a Long-Term Viable Economy: The Case of Bahrain

During the past four decades, the tourism industry has emerged as one of the leading industries worldwide. In the Arab countries, however, despite its huge potential, the tourism industry is still in its infancy phase. With the exception of only a few countries, until recently most of the Arab countries almost ignored the economic potential of tourism. Since the 1990s, their traditional attitude of neglect toward the tourism industry has undergone a transformation, a fact that was not lost by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Thus, since the mid-1990s, all of the GCC countries, without exception, have been trying to promote their tourism sector, which soon became a prominent economic sector. The paper concentrates on one tourism development case – that of Bahrain – the least ‘rentier’ within the GCC oil-economies. The main research question addressed by this paper is to what extent Bahrain has introduced a cohesive and economically viable tourism industry that contributes to a more sustainable economy of this country. This exploratory paper examines Bahrain's motivation to promote tourism; its tourism comparative advantage; the major difficulties facing Bahrain's further tourism expansion; and the overall role of the tourism industry in the Bahraini economy.     

Ecological tourism in the state image policy structure. Experience and problems of modern Russia

The article deals with the problems of ecological tourism in Russia. The authors give various approaches to the understanding of ecological tourism in modern science, analyse the reasons of interest in this kind of tourism, consider its types and identify specific features. The article provides an overview of the main regions and countries where ecological tourism is developed at a high level and considers some national policy models in the field of ecological tourism. Specific attention is paid to the analysis of the development of ecological tourism in Russia and its current status; the examples of different programmes aiming at support of ecological tourism are given. Specific impetus is given to Russia's resources for the development of ecological tourism, for example, natural landscapes, national parks and nature heritage sites. The authors explore the main challenges to ecological tourism in Russia, identify factors that hinder its development and suggest measures to improve the ecological tourism in the Russian Federation. The authors focus on the projects that promote the improvement of Russia's image as an eco-touristic destination. The authors pay specific attention to the analysis of international cooperation in this field. The article discusses various projects carried out within the framework of bilateral cooperation. The article discusses the role of ecological tourism as a tool for image policy. The article analyses in detail which elements of the Russian image are under the influence of ecological tourism and what are the future prospects of ecological tourism.     

A double life cycle: determining tourism development in Macedonia

This article investigates the symptoms of tourism development in Macedonia by applying the Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) model. The study explores the political context and the government's role in policy-making and implementation at each TALC stage. It also attempts to assess key arenas of governmental influence on tourism, such as privatization, legislation, tourism promotion, and fiscal policy. To this end, we conducted an analysis of secondary data sources with the aim of assessing the current stage of tourism development. Our analysis indicates that tourism in Macedonia is presently in the development stage but that future decline is still possible. Our general findings indicate an insufficiently developed tourist supply, underlining the importance of taking action as a prerequisite for a well-established tourism planning process. Finally, the study reviews and offers a better understanding of the manner in which Macedonia's tourism policies are changing in a complex region, with the aim of blending top-down decision-making with elements of grass roots involvement in a bid to create a solution to the country's search for a new future.     

Reviewing Thailand's master plans and policies: implications for creative tourism?

This article contributes to an understanding of how creative tourism is perceived on a national level, by using Thailand as a case analysis. The primary objective of this article is to investigate Thailand's plans and policies for the creative economy at both national and ministry levels in relation to creative tourism. It also identifies how a national strategic plan can provide a blueprint for individual agency master plans to provide policy support for the development of the creative economy in the tourism sector. Thailand is chosen as an example of how government and related agencies can contribute to a national creative tourism movement in the country, especially in the light of the Tourism Authority of Thailand branding campaign to stimulate creative tourism to the destination. The qualitative research methodology through content analysis is used to scrutinise the plan and policy contents from the selected government agencies. The results demonstrate a better view of how creative tourism is positioned in the Thailand context and contribute to a policy study on the creative economy in the tourism sector as well as in creative tourism.     

Women's travel writing and the legacy of Romanticism

Women's travel writing reveals how literary and artistic discourses influence the way we read and write about journeys. This paper considers the way women's travel writing has adapted to, and adopted, the discourse of Romanticism, from its beginnings as a philosophy of political and sexual revolution, individual freedom and escape, to a more diffuse sense which has infiltrated modern attitudes to travel. We consider a classic travel text from the Romantic period, and discuss its legacy. Adopting Buzard's argument [(1993). The Beaten track: European tourism, literature and the ways to ‘Culture’ 1800–1918. Oxford: OUP], we consider how travel changed through the long nineteenth century. We discuss how the twentieth-century Romantic attraction of travel is marketed through the tourist industry as one of the main reasons to get away from it all and discover the ‘authentic’: this desire is reflected in travel texts. Recent writing reflects the influence of Romanticism by celebrating the individual as a wandering free spirit on a self-quest, whose writing is ‘authentic’, spontaneous and confessional: that is, the legacy of sensibility. We conclude that Romanticism has left a dual legacy for travellers, of political commitment and inner journey. Authors discussed include Mary Wollstonecraft, Gertrude Bell, Isabella Bird and Sara Wheeler.     

Coping with ambiguous relationships: sex,tourism, and transformation in Cuba

Relationships between foreign tourists and members of the visited population in Cuba tend to be ridden with ambiguities with regard to their instrumental and commoditized dimensions. In the realm of sexual encounters, these ambiguities become a source of moral controversy, as they call into question notions of ‘sex tourism’ and ‘prostitution’. Focusing on how foreign men travelling to Cuba account for sexual relationships with Cuban women, this article shows how a variety of notions of tourism and of being a tourist are played out to justify people's engagements. From the establishment of continuities between sexual seduction ‘at home’ and ‘on tour’, to the normalization of sex for money exchanges, to the quest for an ‘authentic Cuban sexuality’, different modalities and moralities of travel are actualized in tourists' narratives, alternatively silencing and highlighting transformations in the places, people, and conceptions of tourism. In addressing the question of what counts as ‘transformation’, this article sheds light on the situated and purposeful ways this notion is deployed, the controversies, and struggles it generates, as well as its moral underpinnings, affordances, and limits. Ultimately, this illustrates the interests of investigating change and notions of change in tourism in a reflexive and empirically grounded manner.     

Ethnic tourism in Lao PDR: gendered divisions of labour in community-based tourism for poverty reduction

A simultaneous analysis of gender and ethnicity provides a fuller understanding of how tourism initiatives benefit marginalised groups in developing countries. In this article, the gendered division of labour is analysed as a way to understand the micro-politics of ethnic tourism production aiming at poverty reduction in Laos. The aim is to demonstrate how constructions of gender and ethnicity impact on women's possibilities to benefit from community-based pro-poor tourism initiatives. Socially constructed notions of gendered behaviour influence divisions of tourism labour in specific spatialities, which we argue is crucial knowledge in the implementation of tourism projects aiming at poverty reduction. The assumption that ‘the poor’ constitute a homogenous group might hide an uneven distribution of tourism benefits in local communities. By focusing on factors which marginalise women, the article demonstrates inequalities between men and women in the division of tourism work. A village in northern Laos is used as a case study to examine aspects impacting on gendered divisions of labour in community-based tourism in Laos. Two examples, the Akha people's belief in and worship of spirits, and provision of massage, are used to illuminate reasons behind gendered imbalances in more detail.     

Tourism: a sacred journey? The case of ashram tourism,India

Religious tourism — tourism that is motivated by faith or religious reasons — has been in evidence for centuries. In more recent times, however, it has been suggested that modern tourism has become the functional and symbolic equivalent of more traditional religious practices, such as festivals and pilgrimages. In other words, it is claimed by some that tourism is a sacred journey. To date, however, little work has been undertaken to explore this position; the purpose of this paper, therefore, is to contribute to this debate. Based on an exploratory study, it considers the motivations and experiences of Western tourists visiting the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and the nearby utopian township of Auroville in Pondicherry, south east India. It identifies two principal groups of visitors, namely ‘permanent tourists’ who have immersed themselves indefinitely in a spiritual ‘Other’, and temporary visitors. The latter are categorised into sub‐groups which point to a variety of spiritual and non‐spiritual motives. The paper concludes that there is a continuum of spirituality inherent in tourism, though this is related to tourists' experience rather than initial motivation. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wellness Tourism in China: Resources,Development and Marketing

China's natural and cultural resources are the foremost offerings of the country's wellness tourism sector. Although wellness tourism in China is in its infancy, it can offer new opportunities in, and strengthen the overall competitiveness of, China's tourism industry. To achieve this, the assessment and development of wellness tourism resources in China are required. This study examines the potential for wellness tourism development in terms of resources and promotion from the point of view of wellness tourism experts. It surveys professionals working in tourism, health and education in China. The results reveal that environmental assets, including fresh air, clean water and natural features, are considered the most important attributes for the development of wellness tourism in China and that the promotion of wellness tourism can best be achieved through advertising in mass media, governmental support and organizing new regional events. The study implications and future research directions are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rural tourism development in China

This paper provides an overview and brief evaluation of China's rural tourism. Beginning with the form of poverty alleviation through tourism, China's rural tourism has undergone over 20 years of development and exhibited some unique features in its development pattern, scale and business operational models in accordance with China's political, social and economic systems. Government plays a decisive role in developing rural tourism in China. However, rural tourism has been valued mainly as an economic means for rural development during the country's modernisation process. Overlooking rurality as an essential issue in rural tourism may lead development to a wrong direction, which could jeopardise the sustainability of the industry. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tourism as public culture: Horne's ideological commentary on the legerdemain of tourism

In 1992 Donald Horne–respected Australian author of The Lucky Country, The Great Museum… and The Public Culture…–produced an entertaining but enlightening work (The Intelligent Tourist) on the role and function of tourism as the modern form of secular pilgrimage. In this text, Horne perceptively explored tourism as public culture –the fashions by which governments and interested parties capture national capitals, towns, villages, museums, art galleries, ancient temples, monuments, festivals and other interpreted performances in order to project the celebrated narratives and/or the ordinary vistas of a given people, its places, and its pasts. In 1994, King reviewed Horne's examination of the makebelieve of public culture in tourism, but appears to have overlooked much of the subtle insight with which Horne examined the objectifications and inspected the commodifications of contemporary tourism, and the exteriority of various tourism presentations. Horne's powerful scrutiny of intelligence-making in the articulations of tourism warrants fuller critique; this current paper therefore recrystallises Horne's work to highlight not only the skilled legerdemain of tourism practitioners in manufacturing preferred versions of public culture, but also the rich and acerbic insight that Horne himself brings to analyses of the ideological ‘power’ of invented presentation in tourism. Thereby, the paper attempts to distill a number of large issues on evocative material symbolism that Horne insists are central to the normalisations at work today in the projected public culture of post-modern ‘nationalist’ tourism, where that representation of tourism serves as a coding machine in the interests of certain or various priviliged groups.Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mobilising tourism research in emerging world regions: contributions and advances

This commentary reflects on the empirical richness and theoretical possibilities of tourism research from the emerging world. In ‘A mobilities approach to tourism from emerging world regions' Cohen and Cohen [2014. Current Issues in Tourism. doi:10.1080/13683500.2014.898617] spare no effort in sketching a comprehensive portrait of non-Western tourism from and within Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. Using a modified mobilities approach to interpret the extant literature, the authors enrich our understanding of tourism mobilities and the fundamental differences between Western and non-Western forms of travel, as well as variations from within the non-Western world. This commentary critiques Cohen and Cohen's contributions and explores how knowledge on emerging world tourism might be better advanced through the mobilities paradigm and its modified form as proposed by the authors.     

Tourists' perceptions of heritage tourism development in Danish‐Osu,Ghana

This paper examines the tourist perceptions at Danish, Osu‐Ghana within the dark tourism or slavery heritage contexts. Using Cohen's (1979) typology of tourist experience, we differentiate between tourist knowledge of a heritage site relative to socio‐demographic indices. The results indicate that tourists' perception of Danish‐Osu reflect their knowledge of the site in relation to its cultural heritage attributes. In addition, it was found that tourists have dual experiences of the site: those that relate to recreational pursuits of heritage sites and those that ascribe meanings based on their background. The contemporary nature and use of Transatlantic Slave Trade relics for tourism development makes the case of the Danish‐Osu more delicate considering the ethical implications of interpreting the community's past to tourists as the borderlines are unclear. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Towards tourism: a Laotian perspective

This paper reports the findings of a study of the attitudes of residents towards tourism in the District of Viengxay, Lao People's Democratic Republic, where tourism is in its infancy. Based on focus group interviews, the paper analyses the societal and individual attitudes of the residents towards tourists, tourism development and employment in the tourism field. It was found that locals have little understanding of the motivations of tourists for visiting their villages. Villagers look forward to tourism development to bring more communication and fame to their village, as well as to tourism's contribution to the local economy. Community‐mindedness, control and organisation, cultural exchange, understanding and cultural awareness are prime motivators in forming local attitudes towards tourism. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Naked and dirty: rethinking (not) attending festivals

This article draws together critical tourism studies and events tourism literature offering insights into the diverse motivations for, and barriers to, attending the predominantly lesbian and separatist feminist festival, Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. Augmenting the literature on lesbian tourism, the article deploys a conceptualisation of festivals, such as gay pride, that seeks to contest dominant codes and norms as parties with politics. Using the data gathered from 222 qualitative questions, 10 interviews and 1 focus group, it explores the intertwining of music, feminist politics and temporality in understanding womyn's motivations in attending a separatist festival. Distinctively, it demonstrates how barriers to, and motivations for, attending festivals can be paradoxically mutually formative. In this way, it becomes possible both to question tick-box motivational frameworks and to explore festival times and spaces as (re)making tourist encounters. Thus, the article opens up considerations and theorisations of festival attendee' motivations looking to the complexities of experiences, motivations and time–space interactions.     

Gente di Roma: an exercise of dérive by Ettore Scola

This article seeks to contribute to the understanding of the city film Gente di Roma by Ettore Scola [Roma Cinematografica (Production), & Scola, E. (Director). (2003). Gente di Roma [Motion picture]. Italy: Istituto Luce] through a combined focus which mingles tourism studies and cultural studies, in particular through theories on psychogeography formulated by the Situationist International, Erving Goffman's idea on front and back regions and Rojek and Urry's process of indexing and dragging. In the movie, the representation of travel aims at depicting the identity of Rome through an exercise in ‘dérive’ and a long journey by bus. This is aimed at exploring the identity of the metropolis, which here is considered in its postmodern version, revealing its fluidity and mutability. The changes that are affecting Rome have to do with the contribution of immigrants, suggesting how the mobility of people is currently provoking mobility in identity too.     

Rural Residents' Perceptions Toward Tourism Development: a Study from Iran

This paper focuses on the identification and explanation of rural residents' perceptions toward the impacts of tourism development and their grouping with respect to these attitudes. Data from 262 households are used in the empirical analysis. Because of emerging stages of tourism development in the study area, most residents expressed a quite strong support for tourism development, although some social and environmental concern was expressed. The results revealed that respondents most value economic objectives, but the community was not homogeneous in its views. Education, gender, age, income, employment and a high degree of community attachment were found to be the major factors affecting the attitudes of residents. Findings of this study indicate that local people value the tourism in ways consistent with the social exchange theory. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tourism in Trinidad and Tobago: carving a niche in a petroleum‐based economy

Trinidad and Tobago lies within one of the world's most tourism‐intensive regions, the Caribbean. Yet, unlike its neighbours, it has not relied heavily on income from travel and tourism since its economy is dominated by the energy sector. The energy sector is the mainstay of the economy contributing approximately 34.1% to the country's GDP, 85.5% to merchandise exports and 37.1% to Government revenues in 2004 (Ministry of Energy, 2006). The Government, in its aim for developed nation status by 2020, recognizes that the energy sector is unable to provide the sustainable jobs needed to achieve this. Thus, the Government's policy strategy, Vision 2020, identifies tourism as one of five (5) sectors that should be developed to contribute to the country's economic development. The tourism industry currently represents 13.8% of total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Trinidad and Tobago and is expected to increase its share by nearly three percentage points to 16.5% by 2015. It accounts for 16.7% of total employment, and this is forecasted to rise to 19.2% (WTTC, 2005). Several challenges are evident, that continue to limit the industry's full potential for growth in the country. It is against this background that this paper seeks to identify and analyse the strategies that can be adopted to maximize the contribution of the hospitality and tourism industry to economic development in Trinidad and Tobago. The three main strategies proposed are a greater focus on local entrepreneurship; the re‐orientation of the role of the local financial mechanisms in tourism development and; the development of competitive tourism investment incentives for potential investors in the hospitality and tourism industry. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.