Holiday Home Owners,a Route to Sustainable Tourism Development? An Economic Analysis of Tourist Expenditure Data

Although sustainable tourism comprises economic, social and environmental aspects, economic analysis has been less evident in the literature. This paper takes an economic perspective to evaluate the contribution of holiday home owners to a local economy. Tourism destinations which are at the mature stages of the tourism lifecycle wish to maximise revenue from tourism while minimising costs such as overcrowding. A prime objective has to be to attract the more economically valuable tourists. In this paper an analysis of North Wexford in Ireland poses questions such as: How does the holiday home owners’ expenditure in the local area compare to that of traditional tourists? Do they purchase different types of goods? What levels of local expenditure do holiday home owners engage in for the upkeep or development of their second properties? What are the implications of these findings? The results show that there are clear economic benefits for an area that people deem attractive enough to build or purchase a holiday home in. This type of tourist has a high annual spend relative to other tourists and much of this expenditure seems to be concentrated in the local area. These findings need to be incorporated into the broader debate regarding the advantages and disadvantages of holiday home owners and the possibility of them comprising a route to sustainable development for local tourist areas.     

Cross-Cultural Differences in Tourism: A Strategy for Tourism Marketers

Abstract

This paper discusses the importance of understanding cultural differences for developing positive tourist-host contact and, consequently, enhancing tourist holiday satisfaction and repeat visitation. The cultural differences between Korean tourists and Australian service providers are identified and dimensions of these differences are determined by principal components analysis. The strength of the relationships between the cultural dimensions and their critical indicators is measured by using structural equation modeling Submodel 1. The results indicate that the most critical dimensions of cultural difference between Australian hosts and Korean tourists are: communication and understanding the tourist, display of feelings, interaction and idealism. Their critical indicators are identified. The implications of the results for tourism industry marketers are presented.     

Spending Behaviors of Event Tourists

Abstract

Assessing the economic impact of a tourism event on a host economy often involves the estimation of average event tourist spending per trip/night. As event and destination marketers become more selective with their promotions, targeting prospective high-value tourists, it is important for them to know the spending characteristics of different types of visitors so that resources can be allocated to reach and influence event tourists who will most benefit the host economy. This study's findings of visitors to the 1999 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta reveal that tourists from communities nearer the host economy typically spend fewer net dollars than those from greater distances. First time event visitors spend considerably more than repeat visitors who have “been there, done that” and may not feel the need to do “that” again.     

Visitors' Perceptions of Holiday Experiences and Service Providers: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

The paper presents and discusses the results of an exploratory, empirical study, which intended to explore links between holiday experiences and the assessment of the tourism offering. Focusing on evaluation as perceived by customers, the author argues for the acknowledgement of their notion of the ‘holiday product.’ Consequently, the central theme of the study is the holiday visitor's narrated experience. It was found that prevalent assessment frameworks were inconsistent with the way visitors described their own holiday evaluation. Instead of a component-based judgement process, visitors seem to evaluate holidays against vague holiday ideals. Based on this finding, an alternative role and assessment model of service providers is proposed.     

Modelling Asian incoming tourism: A shift‐share approach

This paper provides insights into the relative competitive advantage of Asian regions in tourism. The study employs the shift‐share technique which decomposes the growth in tourist arrivals to selected receiving regions from different generating regions of the world over a prescribed time period. Each receiving region's performance will be compared to the overall performance of the area (i.e., aggregated benchmark). As a result of this comparing decomposition, the relative competitive advantage of each receiving region in attracting tourists can be determined. The results could be helpful to Asian decision makers trusted with the development and implementation of tourism strategies.     

Attractiveness Analysis of European Tourist Cities

Starting from the field work in seven European countries, the paper identify Europeans’ attitudes towards and preferences for European cities. The purpose here is to show whether a city’s tourist attraction is linked solely with a given holiday format (city-break; 1-2 night stay; short holiday; 3-4 night stay; long holiday; 8-night stay or longer) or not.

The results helped in the interpretation of contemporary urban tourism flows in Europe, offering a broader vision of such flows and furnishing useful data for city strategic planning to boost competitiveness.     

Japanese Tourists' Experience of the Natural Environments in North QLD Region— Great Barrier Reef Experience

Summary

The North Queensland (QLD) region has been one of the fastest growing tourist destination for the international travel markets and has been recognized as a significant tourism icon in Australia. Surrounded by World Heritage areas such as the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and Wet Tropical Rainforest, the North QLD region offers a range of unique and distinctive natural tourist attractions. Although the North QLD region is being recognized as one of the fast growing tourist destinations for Japanese tourists, few studies have been conducted in terms of understanding Japanese tourists' experiences towards the natural environment.

With a focus on the GBR trip in the North QLD region this study determined the importance of the GBR in Japanese holiday choice and elicited opinions on some reef-related issues. This study also attempted to compare Japanese visitor activities and behavior with a previous sample of English speaking respondents who took part in a similar survey during 1996.

The results indicated that not only do Japanese Tourists see Australia as a great opportunity to experience a unique and different culture, but they also regard Australia as a stimulating destination where they can get involved in some adventurous activities

Focussing on the GBR as a major drawcard for Japanese visitors, it was found that the ‘Experiencing Nature’ in a very natural, unstructured way, was the most important motivational factor for a GBR trip. There is potential to improve the enjoyment levels of Japanese visitors to the GBR by providing more information on day activities of the reef tours, by providing more education and through improvement of service and facilities on the boats.     

The price competitive position of Mediterranean countries in tourism: Evidence from the Thomson brochure

Tourism in the Mediterranean region is highly dependent on the few, large, mass market tour operators situated in the North European tourist originating countries. Price competition is intense both between the tour operators and between the Mediterranean countries themselves. This paper uses the hotel package prices listed in the Thomson summer and winter brochures to develop relative price indexes of each Mediterranean country with respect to the Mediterranean average. Indexes are developed in the 3 star, 4 star, 5 star, 7 nights and 14 nights, half-board holiday packages. The prices in the Thomson brochure can be regarded as a unified, internally consistent, set of price data, compiled by the largest UK tour operator and offered to UK tourists desiring a Thomson summer holiday. The change through time of the competitive relative price ranking of hotels, regions and countries listed in the Thomson brochure, may be regarded as an important competitive indicator by industry operators and national policy makers concerned about tourism development.     

Tourist Local Systems and Territorial Development

Abstract

The spreading of the globalisation process is actually modifying the traditional spatial pattern including tourist field organization. The traditional territorial structure of the tourist region is being remodelled at local level in new systemic, self-creating, self-regulating and self-promoting entities in a constant connection with a supra-regional reality.

In Italy strictly tourist areas are being replaced by new territorial entities which can have the structure of tourist local systems, productive microcosms based on local relational networks involving municipalities, enterprises, tourist associations and other local stakeholders of the territorial system. So the spatial dimension of tourism is now influenced by local organizational models no more based on administrative units or traditional tourist regions but rather on spaces created by relationships among local actors.

Such a self-structured development of local tourist systems is being observed in Sicily too, under the dynamic pressures expressed by the world market of vacations. Public and private organizations are joining forces to promote territorial development in recognition of their organizing abilities and of the sustainable progress perspectives of their spatial aggregation.     

Modeling domestic holiday tourism demand in Australia: Problems and solutions

An econometric model is very useful for understanding the underlying relationship between tourism demand and economic variables such as income and travel prices. However, a long time series horizon of data is essential to run an econometric model that is consistent with economic theory. Although time series data on the number of domestic trips and visitor nights in Australia are available since 1978–79, breaks in the time series in different years have made it difficult to estimate a domestic holiday demand model. It is because the data series in different periods are not directly comparable. In this study, a simple data adjustment technique has been used to obtain comparable data series. Among several econometric demand models, a single equation multivariate time series demand model in a double log linear functional form was found to be the most appropriate and practical model to estimate and analyze the demand parameters of domestic holiday travel in Australia. However, the model with variables in level terms was observed having the “spurious regression problem” which has been corrected using the cointegration and error correction mechanisms. The estimated income and price elasticity of domestic holiday travel demand are consistent with economic theory and therefore can be used for forecasting and other purposes.     

Tourists' strategies: An acculturation approach

Acculturation theory has been widely used to understand and explain migrant and sojourner adaptation. However, it has yet to be examined in a tourist context. We extended the literature by evaluating the applicability of Berry's (1997) bidimensional acculturation model to a sample of 668 recent and prospective international travelers from China (n = 205), Germany (n = 201), and the United States (n = 262). Our results suggested that the acculturation model can be extended to tourist contexts and used for segmentation purposes. Specifically, tourists' acculturation strategies were associated with their preferences for home culture maintenance and host culture immersion, as well as behavioral, holiday, and activity preferences. Ethnocentrism and uncertainty avoidance were also found to vary as a function of tourists' acculturation strategy.     

PARTicipative inquiry for tourist experience

Despite a wealth of research on the tourist experience, empirical evidence remains weak due to difficulties in data collection during people’s holidays. Tourist experience has thus primarily been analysed from a fixed point, such as prior motivations to travel or retrospective accounts. However, this obscures important information on tourists as they transition through the total experience. This paper presents participative inquiry as a novel methodology for the acquisition of data before, during and after the holiday; facilitating ‘prospective’, ‘active’ and ‘reflective’ triangulation (PART). We provide an empirical example of PARTicipative inquiry in practice, highlighting the benefits and challenges of this approach alongside the (otherwise) hidden insights it reveals into the responsible tourist experience.     

Natural soundscapes and tourist loyalty to nature-based tourism destinations: the mediating effect of tourist satisfaction

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of natural soundscapes on tourist behaviors in a nature-based tourism destination. A behavioral model depicting the relationship among tourist attitudes to natural soundscapes, natural soundscape image, tourist satisfaction, and loyalty is examined using structural equation model and bootstrapping analysis. Results indicate that tourist attitudes directly affect natural soundscape image but do not affect tourist satisfaction and loyalty. The natural soundscape image directly affects tourist satisfaction and indirectly affects tourist loyalty when mediated by tourist satisfaction. Positioning natural soundscapes as a novel tourism attractor, theoretical and managerial implications are presented.     

Who are they? Visitors to Louisiana's River Road plantations

ABSTRACT

This article examines the responses of 448 tourists to an exit survey at four Louisiana River Road tourist plantations. We investigate and discuss the relationships between the demographics of the tourists and their interests as they relate to tourist plantations. Cluster analysis of the visitors' interests indicates that visitors typically fall into one of four interest clusters: “Everything is great!”; “Culture and the Enslaved”; Culture without the Enslaved”; or “Everything is just Okay”. Several plantation managerial and theoretical implications are discussed, as well as suggestions for future research directions.     

Different Jerusalems for Different Tourists

Abstract

National capital cities are rich in heritage sites that mean different things to different people. Some of these sites are directly related to the heritage of the nation's citizens or, alternatively, to the heritage of other nations and cultures. In this study tourist motivations to visit the specific sites as well as the nature of the interpretation provided while touring the city were investigated in relation to tourist perceptions of Jerusalem as part of their personal heritage. The study involved a sample of 213 tourists interviewed in different locations in Jerusalem. The findings indicate that multi-heritage site cities, such as capital cities, are visited by different tourists with different preferences regarding the tourist experience sought. Implications arising from this study for marketers and heritage site operators are highlighted.     

Whitewashing Plantations

Summary

This article begins with a brief explanation of personal experiences on plantation tours. It follows with an empirical examination of tourist brochures from over 100 plantations and a textual analysis of their data. A frequency count of keywords is created, serving to highlight that “slavery,” “slaves” and “slave cabins” occur less often than such expressions as “owners,” “landscapes” and “furnishings.” Reasons for this imbalance are sought. More specifically, the investigation asks why plantation owners and their operations under-emphasize slavery and what this situation means for the contemporary tourist. In so doing, the inquiry attempts to answer the question as to whether or not such mar-ginalization of slavery is a legitimate concern now and in the future.     

A Snapshot into the Past: The Utility of Volunteer-Employed Photography in Planning and Managing Heritage Tourism

Visual imagery is a critical constituent in the production and consumption of heritage tourism; yet researchers have been relatively slow to capitalise on the potential of visual data analysis techniques to assist its effective planning and management. While there is some research that uses industry generated images found in holiday brochures and on postcards, few studies have made use of photographic data that has been collected by tourists themselves in a self-directed manner. This technique, generally known as volunteer-employed photography (VEP), can be seen to hold a number of potential advantages over more traditional methods of visual data analysis; yet at the same time there are a number of potential drawbacks with the approach. This paper reviews the VEP technique and sets out its major strengths and potential weaknesses. A case study of resident and tourist perceptions of the image of a Welsh seaside town is then presented in order to illustrate the potential for VEP in the planning and management of tourism in the built-historic environment. The paper then presents some suggestions for potential applications of the technique in the planning and management of heritage tourism.     

我国中小型湖泊旅游度假区开发现状分析

我国130多个省级以上的旅游度假区，其中1/3为湖泊型的。经过11年的发展，大部分湖泊旅游度假区现已处于停滞阶段，少部分仍处于良性发展阶段。为什么会形成这样的现状?为什么我国湖泊的度假旅游难于发展呢?本文结合国内外的4个案例对此进行分析，指出了我国湖泊观光旅游的7个影响因素以及度假旅游发展的一些制约条件。     

Tourist attitudes towards an accommodation tax earmarked for environmental protection: A survey in the Algarve

Tourist taxes have become increasingly popular worldwide in addressing environmental problems associated with tourism. This paper studies tourist attitudes towards an accommodation tax earmarked for environmental protection in the Algarve, the most important Portuguese tourism destination. A Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detecting Algorithm (CHAID) is used to segment tourists according to their willingness to pay. This method allowed us to divide respondents into six segments. The dominant one, labelled “typical sun and beach tourists”, shows a low willingness to pay the earmarked accommodation tax. In contrast, the receptivity to this measure is above average in three segments, termed according to their main characteristics as “environmental steward tourists”, “nature oriented tourists” and “frugal tourists”.     

Kelo

Abstract

Cities spend billions of dollars to build or expand convention centers (Sanders, 2005). To cities with ailing downtowns, the lure of the convention business has long been something coveted by local politicians as a means to rejuvenate these markets. Now local governments wishing to expand their convention business by rejuvinating an ailing downtown market, and thus making their citiy more attractive to convention planners, may have another weapon in their arsenal in the form of “public use” under government's eminent domain power.