Lifestyle entrepreneurs and their identity construction: A study of the tourism industry

The present study takes issue with the uniform conceptualization of lifestyle entrepreneurs in previous research by drawing on identity theory and life-story interviews with lifestyle entrepreneurs in Norway. This article aims to show how lifestyle entrepreneurs create their entrepreneurial identity and how this identity informs both their entrepreneurial actions in different ways and how they manage the enterprise. On the basis of a narrative understanding of identity this article differentiates between two dimensions of identity construction: (1) socially and culturally embedded versus independent, and (2) flexible versus stable. The main contribution of this study is that embedded or independent and also flexible or stable identity constructions dominate the identity-construction process for individual lifestyle entrepreneurs. On the basis of the latter this article reports four narrative types of lifestyle-entrepreneur identity construction: (1) the modern, (2) the loyal, (3) the freedom-seeking, (4) and the post-modern lifestyle entrepreneur.     

Boat-based tourism and bottlenose dolphins in Doubtful Sound,New Zealand: The role of management in decreasing dolphin-boat interactions

Indirect non-lethal effects of wildlife tourism have the potential to compromise the long-term health of animal populations. While appropriate management of impacts is clearly necessary, such management is rarely reported to be effective. Doubtful Sound (New Zealand) has boat-based scenic cruises running year-round. This fjord is also home to an endangered population of bottlenose dolphins, a natural asset for the local tourism industry. A voluntary code of management (COM) was implemented in 2008 to alleviate vessel impacts, establishing guidelines to leave dolphin encounters to chance and restricting vessel traffic in areas of critical habitat. The frequency and duration of interactions decreased substantially since the implementation of the COM. This evidence shows that a science-based voluntary agreement has the potential to mitigate tourism impacts. Nevertheless, due to the small size of the population and its history of low calf survival, a precautionary approach is necessary to further reduce current anthropogenic impacts.     

A two-way causal chain between tourism development and quality of life in a small island destination: an empirical analysis

This study postulates that tourism development (TD) and residents' quality of life (QoL) may have an intrinsically reciprocal relationship. The possible connection between TD and QoL is investigated in the island of Aruba, with economic development as a mediating variable. This investigation contributes to the literature by emphasizing the active role of QoL in the relationship with TD through a subjective well-being approach, and by expanding our understanding of the development concept. The study also advances the scope of tourism theory by presenting new propositions. The methodology consists of applying exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses combined with structural equations modeling. The results suggest that TD has a direct and indirect impact on QoL, and that QoL has an indirect effect on TD, via economic development. These findings provide new insights on the dimensions that shape the link between TD and QoL.     

情感乡村模式与璧山县乡村旅游实践研究

＂快乐经济＂、＂幸福经济＂等可统称为＂情感经济＂,它为我们提供了＂可触摸＂情感的思维。在对情感经济回顾和＂情感乡村＂概念界定基础上,认为情感经济可用于乡村旅游实践。在璧山县＂情感乡村＂旅游发展实践中,通过挖掘＂情感乡村＂旅游元素、分析＂情感乡村＂旅游市场,提出快乐乡村、幸福乡村、浪漫乡村以及和谐乡村的乡村旅游项目设计理念,得出＂情感旅游＂是乡村旅游发展重要方向的结论。     

Web users’ behavioural patterns of tourism information search: From online to offline

This paper presents a conceptual framework of Web users’ engagement in tourism information search for a comprehensive understanding of their integrated online and offline search behaviour. The information search experiences are characterised as a process constituting some common elements: prior knowledge and searching experiences, online searching strategies, processing and recording information, barriers to online searching, reasons for ending an online search, summarising information, exchanging information and searching for more information through other sources. Such behaviour goes beyond the scope of information searching and captures the other activities, including information processing, utilising and disseminating. The grounded theory research method is employed as an inductive investigative process in which the authors construct the framework by systematically collecting and analysing data. The aim of this research method is to build a theory. The data sets consist of both semi-structured in-depth interviews with subjects and their field observations based on online searching. A theoretical model incorporating 10 propositions is proposed for future testing.     

Money Allocation to Out-of-Home Leisure Activities and the Organization of These Activities in Time and Space

Monetary budgets influence activity participation and related travel as they demarcate limits on how people organize their activities in time and space. In this paper, we are interested in money allocation to out-of-home leisure activities and how this is affected by duration, sociodemographics, and time-location variables. Analyses were carried out by applying a seemingly unrelated regression model to a leisure activity data set. The analyses revealed that expenditures for out-of-home leisure activities are influenced by the variables mentioned above. Moreover, the results indicate that there is a substitution between expenditure of each activity.     

基于多源数据的环长株潭城市群县市区活跃度测度与分析

了解一个城市群内各县(市)区的活跃度可以为该城市群服务设施的配置及等级结构的优化提供依据。基于环长株潭城市群夜间灯光数据、客流量数据以及新浪微博签到数据,利用数理统计分析,对环长株潭城市群内64个县(市)区的活跃度进行测度,并对经济活跃度和人口活跃度的组合状况进行分类分析。结果显示:长沙市内五区的活跃度居前五位,而距离各中心城区较远的县市区活跃度较低,总体上呈中心-外围的圈层分布,且具有沿轴向扩展与多极点并存的空间分布格局;核心区的经济活跃度与人口活跃度基本一致,而外围区则不一致;从经济活跃度和人口活跃度的组合关系来看,表现出高-高、高-低、低-高及低-低等4种类型。     

Does Multinationality Affect the Propensity to Innovate? An Analysis of the Third UK Community Innovation Survey

The paper is developed at the interface between internationalization and innovation studies. It utilizes data on innovation from the UK Community Innovation Surveys 3 and 2 (CIS3 and CIS2) to assess whether multinationality affects the innovation propensity of surveyed enterprises. The indicators of innovation propensity—our dependent variables—are taken from the following CIS sets of variables: innovation outputs; innovation inputs; innovation outcomes (patent applications); innovation continuity/sustainability. The latter element is considered to be the ability of the enterprise to sustain innovation over a long period of time and the relevant variable is derived from both CIS3 and 2 data. This allows the paper to introduce dynamic elements into the analysis. Four hypotheses are developed and tested. Our main hypothesis states that multinationality per se (i.e. being part of a multinational company network) affects the propensity to innovate. We also test for three sub‐hypotheses related to characteristics of multinationality: belonging to a group vs being independent; degree of multinationality; being part of a foreign vs domestic multinational. The results show that all those CIS enterprises that belong to a multinational corporation—whether UK or foreign—are more likely to exhibit innovation propensity; they are also more likely to engage in innovation activities on a continuous basis.     

Lebanon: From cataclysm to opportunity—Crisis management lessons for MNCs in the tourism sector of the Middle East

Lebanon is a complex country of extraordinary promise; often thrust into crisis, including recent military assaults, terrorist attacks and bombings. The authors share findings from a longitudinal field-study of the evolving political and business climate of Lebanon, emphasizing a particular MNC that is thriving amidst social, ideological and political conflicts. A synthesis of primary and secondary data revealed the InterContinental Phoenicia hotel as a model institution in the face of extreme crisis. Key managerial insights that can be helpful to investors, MNCs and managers in the Middle East and other places subjected to similarly extreme conditions are shared.     

基于人类学视角对“旅游体验”的新思考

“体验经济”概念提出后,很快成为全球热点。受其影响,我国旅游学术界和业界也开始了对“旅游体验”的关注。但由于长期受“经济产业”思路的局限,我国的“旅游体验”研究还缺乏系统性和较深层次的思考。旅游作为人类社会的一种精神文化活动,从本质上决定了文化因素是“旅游体验”成败的关键,而文化往往是通过一些符号或物质载体体现出来的,这就涉及到“真实性”的问题。因此。“旅游体验”问题还应结合人类学相关理论从“文化真实”及“主客关系”等方面进行深入分析。“旅游体验”的研究还需把握真实性、社区参与及文化涵化三个重要概念。同时,旅游体验的“虚拟真实性”应作为一个全新的概念被提出和界定。