Valuing Residents’ Perceptions of Sport Tourism Development in Taiwan's North Coast and Guanyinshan National Scenic Area

This study aimed to reveal local residents’ perceptions of the impacts of sport tourism development (STD) in Taiwan's North Coast and Guanyinshan National Scenic Area (NCGNSA) and estimated both the monetary values of STD's positive benefits and its negative impact costs to serve as references for Taiwan's government in developing sport tourism policies. Based on the theory of the triple bottom line, the contingent valuation method was employed to ask residents about what prices they were willing to pay to possess and develop the resources of sport tourism and then a Tobit regression was used to implement parameter estimation and value calculation. The results indicated that the estimated total positive benefits for STD in the NCGNSA were approximately US$87.47?million per year and its negative impact costs were approximately US$24.47?million per year.     

Tourism’s lost leaders: Analysing gender and performance

Higher education is increasingly engaged with diversity initiatives, especially those focused on women in academic leadership, whilst there is an evolving literature across the humanities and the social, management and natural sciences, critiquing academia’s gendered hierarchies. In contrast, senior academics in the field of tourism management have largely eluded similar sustained analysis. This paper builds on recent gender-aware studies of tourism’s leading academics with three aims. Firstly, to widen evidence of gendering in tourism’s academic leadership by scrutinizing and contextualizing performance indicators, which make and mark its leaders and shape its knowledge canon. Secondly, since critique alone cannot lead to transformation, the paper seeks to ‘undo’ gender in tourism’s academy. Thirdly the paper presents interventions to accelerate academic gender equity.     

Medical Tourism: Consumers’ Concerns Over Risk and Social Challenges

This paper studies factors that motivate an American’s decision to seek medical care outside the United States. Principal components analysis yielded three factors – risk, social-related, and vacation. We found that the middle-income earners and recipients of Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly, are more motivated by risk-related factors to travel for care, but the middle-aged and older, and the married are more motivated by social-related factors to travel for care. Medical tourism has the potential to ease the strain on the healthcare systems of developed countries. How well it does this will depend on how policy makers address these factors.     

‘What’s on your Bucket List?’: Tourism,identity and imperative experiential discourse

The concept of the Bucket List has achieved rapid and widespread recognition. This article makes an original Critical Discourse Analysis of the Bucket List as a cultural phenomenon that provides important insights into the interrelation between identity and tourism. The Bucket List is used to communicate specific suggestions of desirable tourism experiences and uses what can be termed the experiential imperative discourse, where the language, tone and framing of the text positions the experience described as essential and obligatory. Ultimately, the Bucket List discourse serves to prescribe culturally specific ideas of what constitute ‘good’ tourism experiences and is imposed on individuals who are prompted to desire a constantly renewing range of tourism experiences.     

Potential Mainland Chinese Cruise Travelers’ Expectations,Motivations, and Intentions

The global cruise industry is the fastest growing sector in the entire leisure market. Due to the limited development of the Chinese cruise sector and government controls on outbound travel, the cruise, especially the outbound cruise, is a new concept in China. Few studies have addressed Chinese consumers’ perceptions of cruises. This study aimed to explore the preferences of potential Chinese cruisers and their expectations, motivations, and intentions in relation to taking an outbound cruise. This study also proposed and tested a conceptual framework: the Expectation, Motivation, and Intention (EMI) Model. Data were collected in Beijing and Shanghai; 242 valid responses were received. The results partially supported the proposed model. The theoretical and practical contributions of the study are discussed.     

Tourism firms’ environmental rankings and financial performance: a multidimensional scaling approach

The relationship between firms' environmental initiatives and financial performance continues to generate considerable interest. Despite the progress made in the study of this relationship, there is a paucity of research addressing tourism sector firms’ simultaneous environmental and financial performance. This research sheds light on the link between tourism-related firms’ environmental and financial performance. Results indicate that firms that performed well financially ranked higher on environmental initiatives. This suggests that firms’ financial performance may influence environmental performance since firms with good financial performance are better able to allocate more resources to support environmental initiatives. However, since investments in environmental initiatives require financial and manpower resources, firms should only invest in such initiatives if resources are not diverted from core functions, since such actions could affect overall firm viability. Results also indicated that firms that have adopted green initiatives can be classified into four clearly defined categories: progressive firms, which includes firms that simultaneously excel on green initiatives and financial performance; repressive firms or those that perform poorly on both; aggressive firms or those that perform admirably financially but poorly on environmental initiatives; and green firms or firms that perform admirably on green initiatives but poorly financially.     

Problematising ‘Festival Tourism’: Arts Festivals and Sustainable Development in Ireland

This paper problematises the term ‘festival tourism’. It conceptualises festivals as socially sustaining devices and argues that while they frequently function as tourist attractions, their social significance extends far beyond tourism. Using empirical material gathered in two case study arts festivals in Ireland, the paper demonstrates how festivals can contribute to arts development by inter alia creating demand for the arts, enhancing venue infrastructures, encouraging local creativity and animating local involvement. The paper contends that arts festivals, irrespective of their initial objectives almost inevitably develop tourist profiles over time and it proceeds to examine how changing tourism priorities in the two festivals studied impact upon sustainable festival practices. The findings suggest that tourism emerged as a key force promoting festival growth and expansion. It was found to be associated with increased revenue flows but also with increased arts activity on a year-round basis and with an improved venue infrastructure in both places. However, problems were identified with respect to the quality of the relationship forged between the festivals and local populations in the respective places. The paper concludes by arguing that festivals’ engagement with tourism needs to be carefully managed in the interests of promoting the socially sustaining function of festivals and of encouraging sustainable approaches to tourism development.     

High Mountain Adventure Tourism: Trekkers’ Perceptions of Risk and Death in Mt. Everest Region,Nepal

This study examines trekkers' perceptions of risk and death associated with high mountain adventure tourism based on their actual experience during the trek to the Everest Base Camp. The study is based on the authors' fieldwork conducted during April to May 2014. Interview questions focused on trekkers' perceptions of risks associated with their own activities, and the risks taken by professional mountaineers and Sherpa guides. Results show that trekkers realized the differences in risks associated with climbing and trekking, and celebrated the accounts of risk taken by the mountaineers. But when risk was self-experienced during the trek, celebration turned into fear and emotional distress. Trekkers generally held foreign mountaineers with much higher reverence than Sherpa climbers. The study concludes with the suggestion that more research is needed to examine the dynamic emotional state of adventure tourists, commodification of high mountain adventure, and understanding local perspectives of adventure tourists.     

Craft museum visitors’ interactive experiences,benefits and behavioural intentions: perspectives of Chinese parents

ABSTRACT

Family visitors are important audiences for museums. This paper develops a model that examines the influence of Chinese family visitors’ leisure experiences in museums on their behavioural intentions (BI) with their perceived benefits (mindful benefits and non-mindful benefits, MB and NMB) as the mediating variables. Based on the theoretical framework of an interactive experience model, parents’ experiences in museums were divided into experience of existential authenticity (interaction with the exhibits) (EA) and experience of parents-children interaction (PCI). A total of 375 local family visitors at a cluster of craft museums in Hangzhou, China participated in the survey. The PLS-SEM analysis indicates that both EA and PCI have positive effects on perceived benefits. EA, which emphasises the personal interactions between visitors and exhibited objects as well as their intangible meanings, is found to be more powerful than PCI in shaping visitors’ BI. MB and NMB differ in their influence on visitors’ behaviours. Only MB is linked with visitors’ BI. Further, MB partially mediates the relationship between EA and BI, and fully mediates the relationship between PCI and BI. Implications are offered to enhance family visitors’ experiences through appropriate service management strategies.     

Ecotourism in Bako National Park,Borneo: Visitors’ Perspectives on Environmental Impacts and their Management

Ecotourism potentially provides a sustainable approach to development in Malaysia. However, to realise this potential the adverse effects of visitor activity and associated infrastructure on the natural environment and the tourism experience must be identified to guide management actions and thus to sustain the resources on which ecotourism ultimately depends. This study, conducted in Bako National Park on the island of Borneo, reports one of the first efforts to identify the impacts of ecotourism in Malaysia from the perspective of visitors. Environmental conditions of greatest influence on visitors’ experiences included litter and biophysical conditions such as soil erosion and vegetation damage. These conditions were of greater concern to visitors than social conditions, such as the number of people. These results suggest that management efforts can be directed towards indicators of greatest concern such as litter, soil erosion and vegetation damage. The broad support given by those surveyed for a range of management actions provides managers with a choice of strategies to sustain ecotourism in Bako National Park. This study, with its sociopolitical approach, contributes to a greater understanding of the implications of the ecotourist experience for ecotourism management in Malaysia.     

Tourism,hospitality, and DEA: Where do we come from and where do we go?

The primary goal of this paper is to present a literature survey on the application of data envelopment analysis (DEA) in tourism and hospitality studies. The secondary goal is to categorize the studies by tourism products and tourism industries according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The tertiary goal is to identify the gaps and challenges in the field. The paper presents a comprehensive review of 350 tourism-related articles that use DEA methodology and highlights several key issues. The publications were statistically classified by methodological innovation, input-output variables, sources of publications, and several other relevant attributes. The investigation reveals the importance of the DEA methodology in the study of the productivity and efficiency of hospitality and tourism. The results also show a high degree of industrial (hotel sector) and geographical (Europe and Asia) concentration of studies. Cultural aspects, tourism sustainability, as well as the efficiency of tourism destinations, have attracted much interest recently. In addition, the new DEA models are increasingly gaining ground in the literature. Finally, the present review highlights the limitations of existing studies and provides important directions for future research.     

The Impact of Tour Guides’ Physical Attractiveness,Sense of Humor,and Seniority on Guide Attention and Efficiency

In this study, we investigated whether tourists view attractive tour guides as more competent, humorous tour guides as more approachable, and experienced tour guides as more professional, and whether these three factors influence the effectiveness of tour guide interpretation. The results indicated that physical attractiveness and humor had additive effects on interpretation effectiveness when combined. Although some tour guides were not physically attractive, experience provided an additive effect on interpretation effectiveness. Thus, we recommend discarding stereotypes regarding physical attractiveness and improving education and training in humor for tour guides. Experienced tour guides wearing appropriate attire also increases interpretation effectiveness.     

The Sustainable Tourism Development in Hong Kong: An Analysis of Hong Kong Residents’ Attitude Towards Mainland Chinese Tourist

This study examines the local residents’ attitudes towards the Mainland Chinese tourists visiting Hong Kong and identifies both the extrinsic and intrinsic factors influencing these attitudes. Results showed that Hong Kong residents perceive Mainland Chinese tourists very positively due to their important role in Hong Kong’s economic development. However, it is undeniable that their negative and dissatisfactory attitudes are also very apparent. Based on the findings, Hong Kong residents can be defined as “ambivalent supporters,” and the negative impact of this attitude on tourism development in Hong Kong is becoming very influential. In the long run, how to change local residents from “ambivalent supporters to “ardent supporters” needs to be addressed in order to ensure the healthy development of Hong Kong inbound tourism.     

World Heritage: Exploring the Tension Between the National and the ‘Universal’

The complex issues of conservation, politics, tourism management and ownership have emerged as critical issues within the World Heritage debate and specifically within heritage tourism research. Within this context, this paper focuses on issues of ownership and belonging and argues that there exists a link between the conceptual inconsistencies inherent in the World Heritage idea and the tensions between the national and the ‘universal’ evident at a number of World Heritage Sites. That is, heritage sites that are deemed to be of ‘outstanding universal value’ and are bestowed with the World Heritage accolade are consequently no longer expected to be perceived as symbols of particular national identities, but as heritage belonging to all humankind. This, of course, provokes a series of debates over the issues of ownership and belonging of such heritage, namely between the national and the ‘universal’ suggesting that it is possible to perceive World Heritage as synonymous with contested heritage. The paper explores these issues of ownership and focuses on the Acropolis, symbol of the World Heritage idea, as a case study utilising an exploratory semiotic analysis of the promotional material released by the Greek National Tourism Organisation over the last five years.     

Tourism,Heritage and Pilgrimage: The Case of Haifa's Bahá'í Gardens

This paper examines the tourist experience within the context of the Bahá'í Gardens in Haifa, Israel. Using Cohen's (1979) typology and Smith's (1992) continuum model, we differentiate between visitors and perceptions of the same site. The study employs a mixed methodological approach that includes participant-observation, archival documents and short-informal and unstructured interviews with Bahá'í volunteers, tourists and guides, as well as empirical observations concerning the material landscape and the observed practices of pilgrims and tourists. As a result of the garden's dual-purpose nature (secular-religious), two very different experiences co-exist: those that relate to the ‘secular’ and those that relate to the ‘religious’ tourist. The contemporary nature of the garden makes the case of the Bahá'í Gardens and its cultural and economic context both more distinct – but also somewhat ambiguous as the perceived boundaries are unclear.     

Connecting Visitors to People and Place: Visitors’ Perceptions of Authenticity at Canyon de Chelly National Monument,Arizona

This study examines the effect of visitors’ characteristics, motivations and sense of place attachment on perceptions of authenticity at a cultural heritage site. Data were collected in summer and fall 2006 through an on-site survey questionnaire administered to a random sample of visitors to Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona ( n = 379; 76% response rate). The most important motives for visiting were ‘To enjoy nature’ and ‘To experience Navajo culture’. Additionally, visitors perceived a strong sense of place identity but a weaker sense of place dependence. Preservation of the archaeological resources was the most important contributor towards an authentic experience, followed by learning about customs and values of local people, meeting local people and visiting with an authorised Navajo guide. Attending interpretive programmes contributed the least. Results show that motivation to experience Navajo culture, the place identity dimension of place attachment, educational attainment, age and past experience at the monument had significant effects on the perception of an authentic experience at the monument. Place identity emerged as the strongest predictor of perceptions of authenticity, suggesting that a strong emotional bond is an important factor in visitors perceiving a site to be authentic. As visitor motivations for learning about the Navajo culture increased, so did perceptions of authenticity. Higher age also led to increased feelings of authenticity. As education levels and prior experience increased, perceptions of authenticity decreased.     

Wine: Intrinsic attributes and consumers’ drinking frequency,experience, and involvement

This study developed and tested a model that links the perceived importance of sensory attributes of wine with drinking frequency and experience, and in turn links all these factors with product involvement as the central framework. Results from 493 survey responses collected in the North-western U.S. region employing path analysis and moderated regression analysis revealed that consumer drinking frequency significantly and positively influenced wine involvement while years of drinking moderated this relationship. Furthermore, involvement significantly and positively influenced the perceived importance of wine appearance and bouquet—but not wine taste. As such, highly involved consumers were more interested in ancillary product attributes, which in this case entailed appearance and bouquet. Moreover, the survey results suggest that consumers perceived the importance of intrinsic wine attributes in the same way as they would evaluate the attributes in formal wine-tasting events. Specifically, the perceived importance of appearance of wine significantly influenced perceived importance of bouquet and taste, and perceived importance of bouquet influenced perceived importance of taste.