Rural tourism quality of services: fundamental contributive factors from tourists’ perceptions

Despite the importance of quality of services in the rural tourism sector, it is somewhat surprising that little study has been done to delve into the fundamental contributive factors that contribute to quality of services from the tourists’ perceptions. This is the first known study undertaken with a view to understand the fundamental contributive factors (i.e. climate change, carrying capacity, relaxation environment, and community support) from the environmental perspectives that link with quality of services in rural tourism destinations. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed to the tourists who visited four study sites from Borneo Heights, Sarawak, and 215 were returned and used for analysis. To assess the developed model, SmartPLS 2.0 (M3) is applied based on path modelling and then bootstrapping. Interestingly, the findings revealed that tourists are more concerned about the changing of climate and relaxation environment at the destination. They also agreed that community support plays a significant role in the development of quality of services in the rural tourism. This study further discussed on the implications of the findings, limitations, and directions for future research.     

Bundling attractions for rural tourism development

Tourism is often regarded as a viable solution to economic crisis, especially for remote areas without many development options. While many tourism destinations have strong cultural or heritage assets, not all destinations have primary attractions that can bring visitors to the region. Rather than developing special interest “themes”, rural areas that do not have enough of any one type of tourism resource to act as a primary draw may consider bundling different attraction types to increase visitation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the preferences of visitors to secondary heritage sites and explore the relationship between heritage tourism and alternative, non-heritage activities in rural areas. Findings revealed that motivation to visit small-scale heritage sites consisted of two dimensions: learning and recreation. The two motivational dimensions influenced visitors’ interest in different heritage attractions and likelihood of visiting heritage tourism “scenarios”. As for alternative activities, there was a cluster of “popular” activities that were enjoyed by both learning-oriented and recreation-oriented respondents, but recreation-oriented visitors were more interested in nature-based activities and sport-related activities than learning-oriented visitors. Findings can help rural communities improve secondary attractions and diversify their tourism product by bundling heritage attractions with non-heritage activities.     

Application of appreciative inquiry in tourism research in rural communities

Appreciative inquiry is a participatory research method based on positive psychology. Founded upon grounded theory and the social constructivist paradigm, appreciative inquiry is a simple, effective, and epistemologically sound tool to understand the rural population’s knowledge, needs, and priorities without alienating them from research. Based on the study conducted to comprehend the interrelationships among conservation, livelihood, and tourism development in three rural communities located in the vicinity of Chitwan National Park, Nepal, this study argues that appreciative inquiry can be a useful tool for conducting tourism research in rural communities. This study employs five steps, including grounding, discovery, dream, design, and destiny.     

旅游流在区域内聚:从自组织到组织--区域旅游研究的一个理论框架

首次提出并研究"旅游流的区域内聚"现象.根据系统的自组织与组织原理,以江浙沪地区为例,研究在旅游流的区域自组织演化中所形成的旅游中心城市,并研究以这些旅游中心城市作为节点而形成的区域空间结构和基于这种区域形态的区域旅游空间组织.     

Confronting sustainable development in two rural heritage valorization models

Many rural areas have reinvented their territorial development through tourism, turning to vernacular heritage to ensure their future. Various models of heritage preservation and valorization are adopted where small-scale agriculture is no longer viable. Among them, ecomuseums and place-based labelization schemes transform rural heritage into an economic resource while remaining grounded in cultural and architectural preservation and identity transmission to future generations. Both face criticisms, including being decried as fostering the museumification and mythification of the rural, effectively holding back rural areas in an imagined and romanticized past rather than providing a vision for a sustainable future. The Association of the Most Beautiful Villages of France and the Ecomusée d'Alsace illustrate the debate. This investigation analyzes how these two initiatives challenge critics. It unveils their respective understandings of the future of rurality and their approach to promoting sustainable communities through tourism. By highlighting responses to tensions between valorizing the past and forward development in the countryside, findings reveal paradigm shifts from traditional habitat preservation to future-oriented architectural pedagogy in one case, while operational exigencies and normative quality principles mitigate opportunities in the other.     

我国政府审计存在的问题,原因及制度对策

我国现行政府审计体制存在着一些缺陷和弊端,不利于审计机关独立行使审计监督权,应适时建立直接隶属于最高权力机关的政府审计监督系统;实行高级审计管理人员和高级审计人员轮换制度;实行独立于本级政府控制的经费预算。     

Factors influencing applicant willingness to apply for the advertised job opening: the mediational role of credibility,satisfaction and attraction

The present study examined the effects of the information given in a job advertisement on the potential applicants' willingness to apply for the job opening with the mediating roles of credibility of and satisfaction from the information given in the ad and attraction to the organization. One hundred and fifty-four students were randomly assigned to the three different versions of job advertisement. Additionally, a questionnaire package was given to each participant. The results showed that advertisement type affected the willingness of potential applicants to apply for the job and this relationship was mediated by credibility.     

论我国农村纠纷行政调解的制度构建

行政调解在解决新时期农村纠纷中具有明显的优势,但目前行政调解的机构、人员、基本原则、程序、调解协议效力等方面均存在缺失。为此,从健全机构、提高人员业务素质、明确应遵循的基本原则、完善程序、赋予调解协议相应效力等方面提出了行政调解制度构建的具体设想。     

检测机构仪器设备档案管理初探

阐述了检测机构如何根据《实验室资质认定评审准则》要求,确定仪器设备档案的归档范围、归档内容,并通过建立实验室管理系统使仪器设备档案管理实现数字化、网络化,还对仪器设备档案的归档流程等内容进行了探讨。