Poland's international tourism : Long-term growth: breakdown: rapid recovery

This article provides a synthesis of the factors governing Polish international tourism, set against a background of 40 years of post-war development followed by the political and economic crisis of the early 1980s. Tourism fell sharply in the early 1980s but had already begun a rapid recovery by 1983–1984. Official agencies, and cooperative and private-sector enterprises cooperate closely in the provision of tourism services and management. Poland has an “open-door” tourism policy and participates in a variety of international tourist organizations and agreements. This account demonstrates the close relationship between international tourism and the economic, political and social situation of the destination country.     

VOLUNTEER TOURISM—“INVOLVE ME AND I WILL LEARN”?

Voluntourism or volunteer tourism is increasingly available and popular amongst everyday tourists in different parts of the world. Despite its seeming virtue and it often being positioned as a form of “justice” or “goodwill” tourism, critics in the public media have begun to question and criticize the effectiveness or “real” value of volunteer tourism. However, academic work has not yet critiqued volunteer tourism in the same manner. This paper thus provides a critical and timely review of volunteer tourism, using interviews and participant observation with 11 respondents on a volunteer tourism trip to South Africa. This paper reviews volunteer tourists’ motivations (what prompted their participation); performances of the “self” in volunteer tourism; and the tensions and paradoxes surrounding volunteer tourism.     

Decomposing seasonal concentration

The main purpose of this article is to analyze seasonal concentration in tourism demand series in three Spanish Mediterranean destinations by means of the Gini index, decomposing it into inequality between and within seasons. This method is applied to the monthly series of hotel nights, covering the period 1980–2001. The results suggest that the “between” seasons component is the most significant one. In the most mature destination this component is stabilized around 90% of the annual Gini index. In contrast, in the destination with the smallest Gini index, which offers a more diversified tourism product, the between component only rises to the 70% and is still decreasing.     

More than an “industry”: The forgotten power of tourism as a social force

This paper argues that in the current neo-liberal era, the discourse of tourism as an “industry” has overshadowed other conceptualisations of the tourism phenomenon. An argument is developed that this discourse serves the needs and agendas of leaders in the tourism business sector. However, the author desires to revive an earlier understanding of tourism that predates the neoliberal era. Tourism is in fact a powerful social force that can achieve many important ends when its capacities are unfettered from the market fundamentalism of neoliberalism and instead are harnessed to meet human development imperatives and the wider public good. Examining the human rights aspects of tourism, investigating phenomena such as “social tourism”, exploring a few “non-western” perspectives of tourism and outlining some of the tantalising promise that tourism holds, this paper attempts to revive and reinforce a wider vision of tourism's role in societies and the global community. It is argued that it is critical for tourism academics, planners and leaders to support such a vision if tourism is to avoid facing increasing opposition and criticism in a likely future of insecurity and scarcity.     

Rosanzerusu is Los Angeles an anthropological inquiry of Japanese tourists

The popularity of Los Angeles with Japanese tourists prompts the anthropologist to ask what they are seeking there. An ethnography of that tourism discloses a number of “must see” sights for first time tourists. Subsequent tourists may seek more esoteric sites, as disclosed by an examination of tourist guide texts. Tourists progress from “mass” to “elite” status. Against a theoretical perspective of life as “sacred journey”, and of pilgrimage, tourism is seen as a ritual of modernity, amenable to semiotic analysis in the manner of Barthes. Los Angeles' ecumenical tourism reflects the mythology of the movies. Japanese tourists select sites drawn from this mythology which also reflect Japanese preferences (e.g., the Hollywood Bowl). They also emphasize sites where they may purchase souvenir or “marker” goods (e.g., UCLA). They thus attach importance to some sites thought to be quite minor by Angelenos.     

From drifter to gap year tourist: Mainstreaming Backpacker Travel

Long-haul, long-term independent travel—here backpacking—has become increasingly common over the last few decades. Once considered a marginal activity undertaken by society’s drop-outs, it has gradually entered the tourism mainstream. Based on interview and internet material and ethnographic field research, this article considers where this growth in interest has come from, and how transformations in the perception of backpacking have taken place. Focusing on the travel imagination, it examines socioeconomic and cultural “incitements to travel”. As backpacking has become more mainstream its “alternative” standing has diminished, but it continues to be a potentially status-enhancing activity.     

Tourists and troglodytes: Negotiating for Sustainability

This paper contributes to the continuing discussion concerning the paradox that tourism destroys the object of its desire. An analysis is made of tourism relations and hospitality in a Turkish village, and it is argued that in their close interactions with tourists traveling independently of organized tour groups, local people are in a position to negotiate both their own “traditional” identity in the presence of tourists and the latter's quests and experiences in themselves. A dynamic notion of sustainability in cultural tourism is developed, by challenging the assumptions that tourist localities must remain authentically “traditional” to meet with the expectations of tourists.     

A Cautionary Tale of a Resort Destination's Self-Inflicted Crisis

SUMMARY

Rotorua was New Zealand's first tourism destination, rising to prominence a hundred years ago on the back of the central government's vision for a South Pacific spa to rival those of Europe. Government resources were used to develop and support Rotorua's infrastructure and tourism industry, like no other in the British Commonwealth, for the best part of the 20th century. By the 1980s however, Rotorua's tourism industry was in a crisis, and it is posited that the crisis was largely self-inflicted. The paper provides an historical summary of key events leading to the crisis, and subsequent efforts to regain destination competitiveness through a public-private partnership. Written from the perspective of the CEO of the destination's inaugural regional tourism organisation charged with co-ordinating the marketing response to the crisis, the case provides a cautionary tale of how one destination's success as a destination has risen, fallen and risen in line with government intervention.     

PAGES AS STAGES: A Performance Approach to Visitor Books

This article offers a contribution to the fields of tourist performance and language. By exploring a visitor book located at a heritage site in Jerusalem, Israel, it argues that texts produced by tourists can assume the semiotic status of performances. Consequently, tourists’ texts should not be viewed merely as instances of “discourse” or “language”, but also as organic parts of the aesthetic and semiotic aspects of tourism. The article describes four dimensions that establish the visitor book as a particular “stage”, and the texts therein as the tourists’ situated performances. Taken together, these dimensions constitute a model for the analysis of linguistic performance and for the semiotic interrelationship between stage and performance in tourism.     

A facilitated access model and ottoman empire tourism

This paper proposes a “facilitated access” model to describe how local people make and have made use of tourism. Although Western travel accounts of the Arab Middle East have been studied by various disciplines, the Ottoman Empire has not been treated from a tourism studies approach. Travel narratives from 1835 to 1870 are used to reconstruct how, and tentatively why, Ottoman subjects adapted existing tourism services and expertise to the new Western tourists of the era. It is argued that Western tourism in the empire flourished in the foundational period before Cook Company tours began in 1869 because some Ottoman subjects could thus increase their own autonomy.     

Tourists and refugees: Coinciding Sociocultural Impacts

The new millennium holds promise of being both the “Century of Tourism” and the “Century of the Refugee.” Never in history have there been so many refugees and tourists crossing international borders. This paper discusses the ironic similarities of both positive and negative impacts of tourism development and refugee relief on developing countries. Parallels in recommendations for both phenomena are also presented. Although not originally intended, the observations made in the paper are drawn from two different fieldwork projects: a study of refugee camp aid with Operation Lifeline Sudan in northern Kenya in 1994 and an investigation of tourism development in Malaysia in 1992.     

Tourists and retailers' perceptions of services

This paper describes a study which measures tourist and retailers' perceptions of service levels in a tourism destination. A service quality model was used to develop survey items and interpret the results. The service dimensions used to evaluate a tourism experience included reliability, responsive, assurance, and access. The results indicate tourists evaluate tourism services based on “who” delivers as opposed to the nature of the services (as outlined in the Service Quality model). This has implications for those who create and service tourism destinations, such as city planners and leaders, tourism convention and visitor bureaus, and retailers.     

Case studies of Bradford,Bristol, Glasgow and Hamm

Tourism development in four difficult areas (Bradford, Bristol, Glasgow and Hamm) is analysed, and set against the national picture of tourism in the UK and FR Germany. Difficult areas are described as having small visitor receipts, unfavourable social or economic conditions, and a lack of tourism infrastructure. The potential of each area for tourism development is analysed, and strategies maximizing the unique features of each area are suggested. It is concluded that tourism development from a low base is feasible provided a definite target market segment is chosen. The limited resources put into tourism development so far have paid dividends in attracting revenue and creating employment.     

Indigenous tourism development

Through colonial intervention, several South Pacific countries were catapulted from a decentralized village-based society to a centralized state in which the metropolitan power imposed its own legislation in a comprehensive way. Little account was taken of prevailing traditional values and practices as the Island countries leapfrogged much of the pioneer stage of development. The direction of change was prescribed by imported models imposed from above. Today, the participation of indigenous communities in tourism may be strongly supported by government policy but inhibited in practice by long standing legislative requirements. The concept of “pioneer space” is advanced to bridge the “implementation gap” between tourism policy and effective result, with Solomon Islands as a case study.     

Integrated rural tourism:: Concepts and Practice

A model of integrated rural tourism, which took account of the various resources (cultural, social, environmental, economic), their use, and the role of pertinent stakeholders, was developed to explore effective methods of promoting tourism as part of a rural development strategy. “Strategic fit” was used to assess the effectiveness of the model in adding value locally in the context of an established tourism area in western Ireland. The model reveals considerable robustness in identifying features that promote the adding of value in a holistic way and in identifying the pertinent stakeholders and issues that require attention to meet objectives more effectively.     

Tourism and social change reply to Romsa

While most state socialist societies attempt to attract large scale foreign tourism, the Albanians continue to constrain the numbers and movements of foreign tourists permitted onto their soil. Within the framework of three “contexts”—the organizational, the environmental, and the perceptual—this paper briefly looks at the individuality of the Albanian approach to foreign tourism: implicitly, as a possible model for other small, less developed societies. Finally, questions are raised as to the future of tourism in Albania given an imminent change —after forty years—in the country's dogmatic leadership.     

Human resources in tourism: Still waiting for change

This paper reviews key themes that impact on the role and management of human resources in tourism (primarily relating to work and employment) and assesses whether the past 20 years provides evidence of significant change within the sector. The paper considers the status of work in tourism and reflects upon the impact that key environmental developments have had upon employment—the practice of human resource management in contemporary tourism; the impact of global and social forces on perceptions of work and careers; the impact of ICT on work and employment in tourism; changing interpretations of skills within tourism; and the increasingly diverse nature of the tourism workforce in developed countries. Conclusions are drawn which point to a “hung jury” in considering whether change in the tourism workplace, over the review timeframe, has been ephemeral or more fundamental.     

UK tourism development: A 10-year review

This article traces the rapid development of tourism in the UK through the 1970s and 1980s. Technological and social changes have given rise to increased tourism demand and provision. Competition from continental Europe has been intense and the past 10 years have been a mixture of success and disappointment, progress and decline. Ways in which tourism organization and planning might be improved are discussed. Marketing especially needs to be updated in many areas - not least in the complacent resorts - in order to take advantage of the substantial unexploited domestic market which otherwise may opt for travel abroad.     

Tourism employment during economic transition

This study examines labor mobility into tourism employment during economic transition. Working from the proposition that the industry serves as a refuge, it discusses the inward mobility patterns from other economic sectors, assesses the impact of the change, and measures the motivations for taking up such occupations. The study found that workers came from an unusually wide range of industries, which supports the idea of upheaval in the labor market. While there is little indication it is causing widespread personal suffering, evidence for the “refuge” role of tourism was found. Employment in this industry emerges as being attractive and accessible for people with various stock of human capital.     

Tourism dependence and resident attitudes

Many rural communities view tourism as a major vehicle for addressing rural economic decline, but several empirical studies suggest that its growth can bring negative social impacts. One group of studies suggests a direct relationship between the level of tourism development in a community and the presence of negative resident attitudes toward it. This “tourism dependence” hypothesis is evaluated using survey data from four rural communities in the United States Rocky Mountain West. Results support the hypothesis with some important qualifications, and suggest a typology of rural communities experiencing tourism growth that includes tourism-saturated, tourism-realized, and tourism-hungry community types.

Résumé

La dépendance envers le tourisme et les attitudes des habitants. Les communautés rurales voient le tourisme comme un véhicule important pour aborder le probème du déclin économique, mais plusieurs études empiriques suggèrent que la crossance du tourisme entraîne des impacts sociaux négatifs. Certaines études suggèrent un rapport direct entre de développement du tourisme dans une communauté et la présence d'attitudes négatives de la part des habitants. On évalue cette hypothèse de “dépendance de tourisme” en utilisant des données d'enquêtes de quatre communautés rurales dans les montagnes Rocheuses de l'ouest des États-Unis. Les résultats appuient l'hypothèse avec quelques réserves importantes et suggèrent une typologie des communautés qui font l'expérience de la crossance du tourisme, comprenant les types de communautés saturées, réalisées et affamées de tourisme.