Managing heritage tourism in Toraja: strengthening local values and improving tourists’ experiences

Toraja, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, is a tourist destination known best for its ethnicity and was one of the main tourist destinations in Indonesia during the 1990s. Since 2011, the government has again designated Toraja a priority strategic tourism area in its national tourism development plan. This case study describes opportunities for, and issues associated with, heritage tourism in Toraja and explores community perspectives on tourism. The fieldwork data and secondary data were used in preparing the detailed plan for the National Tourism Strategic Area of Toraja (KSPN Toraja). The opportunities for heritage tourism in Toraja include, among others, an emerging Asian market, better transport access to the region, and central government resources and programs to complement those of the local government. The core issues of local community concern include the need to conserve Torajan heritage and to strengthen local values; develop and nurture culture alongside tourism; balance heritage conservation with tourism; and the need for better interpretation to convey local wisdom to enhance the visitor experience.     

美国军事干预主义:一个社会进化的诠释

作者通过社会进化范式,将物质与观念因素有机地纳入一个分析框架,对二战后的美国军事干预主义进行深入解读。二战后美国的军事干预主义(美国精英和民众对美国海外军事干预的支持)是不能单纯用观念或心理因素来解释的。地理环境和被技术优势放大的综合国力是理解美国海外军事干预的两个不可或缺的物质变量。这两个因素强有力地保护了美国精英和民众免受战争蹂躏之苦。与其他大国相比,美国民众和精英对战争的前景排斥较少,因此,美国在二战后要比其他大国更积极地进行海外军事干预。     

The Gandhian model of self-reliance in the Indian economy

While Mahatma Gandhi is known primarily as a freedom-fighter he had also very definite ideas on the appropriate ways of his country's economic and social development which anticipated major elements of the present development strategies of India as well as a number of other developing countries. Dr Gosalia evaluates India's revised economic strategy in order to explore the practical strength of the Gandhian model of self-reliance.     

The precarity of respectable consumption: normalising sexual violence against women

ABSTRACT

Drawing upon feminist scholarship, this study offers insights into how respectable consumption exacerbates precarity and contributes to normalisation of sexual violence in Delhi, India. It helps to uncover androcentricity of respect that has been under-examined in marketing theory. This research identifies androcentric discourse of izzat or respect as a key discursive apparatus that enframes sexual violence against women. In this discourse, women are carriers of family traditions and respect or honour. Moreover, norms of consumption get situated within discourse of izzat and alterity is created from women who do not follow these norms. Such women, labelled as unrespectable, live under conditions of heightened precarity and are blamed for the sexual violence they face. Therefore, this work offers insights into normalisation of sexual violence that have not been understood in marketing theory.     

Heritage Tourism in Rural Areas: Challenges for Improving Socio-economic Impacts

Many developing countries seek to utilize cultural heritage sites as resources for socio-economic development through heritage tourism. When rural area is the context of heritage tourism, effort is needed to establish linkages between tourism and the local economy by addressing the following issues: lack of skilled human resources, capital, access to credits, and other assistance; leakages; and dominance of urban players. This paper examines the impacts of heritage tourism on rural livelihoods using Borobudur in Central Java, Indonesia, as the case study. Further, it proposes rural industry promotion as one of the ways to establishing better linkages to tourism.     

Redefining Rural Tourism in Malaysia: A Conceptual Perspective

There is little consensus on the definition for rural tourism. Researchers from different countries have developed their own definitions based on their unique experiences or contexts. In Malaysia, the current definition for rural tourism is rather vague, narrow and focuses on homestay programmes in rural areas. As rural tourism is an important component of the tourism industry in Malaysia, there is a need to redefine what rural tourism is, so that it encompasses the multiple dimensions and complexities. Hence, this paper proposes to redefine rural tourism in Malaysia. The objective was achieved through a content analysis of the different definitions used in selected developed and developing economies that were available in the published literature. With the clear understanding of what rural tourism should ideally encompass, the findings from the study can be used to guide the Malaysian Government in re-positioning rural tourism as a key niche industry and boost the tourism industry higher up the value chain.     

The Influence of a Hotel Firm's Quality of Service and Image and its Effect on Tourism Customer Loyalty

The aim of this article is to understand the influence of hotel service quality and corporate image on tourism customer loyalty. Data were collected from tourists at several sight-seeing locations in Mauritius. The study sample comprised guests of various hotels in Mauritius who were randomly approached and invited to participate in a survey on the hotel's services. The study findings suggest that it is the quality of service and the corporate image of the hotel that jointly influence tourism customers' loyalty. Although the study findings do not indicate a direct relationship between service quality and loyalty, it is the consistent quality of service that creates and sustains the image of the hotel which, ultimately, results in tourism customer loyalty. This would therefore suggest that tourism customer loyalty is dependent on a hotel's ability to consistently deliver service quality.     

Impact of coopetition in the alliance portfolio and coopetition experience on firm innovation

This paper examines two interrelated questions: to what extent does coopetition in a firm's alliance portfolio impact the firm's innovation performance? And to what extent does a firm's coopetition experience influence the relationship between coopetition in the alliance portfolio and innovation performance? Conceptually, we advance the concepts of balanced coopetition in a firm's alliance portfolio and coopetition experience and suggest that both balanced coopetition and coopetition experience contribute to firm's innovation outcomes. Results based on a longitudinal data of firms from the semiconductor industry show that moderate to high levels of balanced-strong coopetition in a firm's alliance portfolio positively impact the firm's coopetition-based innovation performance. Further, coopetition experience contributes to innovation performance and positively moderates the relationship between balanced-strong coopetition and innovation performance.