Tourism in Tropical Africa A review of literature in English and research agenda

Literature on tourism in tropical Africa is reviewed to indicate the current and future roles of tourism in tropical African countries. Attention is then directed to research issues whose investigation may lead to the development of guidelines for the extension, regulation, and management of tourism. These issues are arranged under the following headings: inventory, demand, types of tourism, economic impacts, socio-cultural impacts, environmental impacts, infrastructure, regional patterns, international cooperation, and tourism futures.     

Individual and Institutional Concentration of Leisure Research in North America

The purpose of this article is to identify key characteristics of the community of leisure scholars in North America and to use patterns derived from data about publication activity as a platform for discussing the nature and implications of concentration in leisure research at the individual and institutional levels. The study uses cluster analysis to detect patterns of research and publication activity among 1785 people who were associated with leisure research in North America in the 1990s, concentrating on the slightly smaller number of people (1631) whose names were listed as authors on at least one publication in all editions of 6 research journals and 14 conference proceedings from 1990 to 1999 inclusive. The results demonstrate that leisure research in North America is concentrated at both the individual scholar and institutional levels. For example, at the individual level, less than one-fifth of authors accounted for more than two-thirds of journal articles and conference papers. The implications of these findings are discussed with reference to issues such as the critical mass of scholars and problems of disciplinary isolation detected by previous researchers.     

Does ecotourism contribute to sustainable destination development,or is it just a marketing hoax? Analyzing twenty-five years contested journey of ecotourism through a meta-analysis of tourism journal publications

ABSTRACT

Conducting a periodical systematic review on a given field of study enables to comprehend the conceptual development of a discipline. A decade has passed since the last in-depth systematic review on contemporary ecotourism research has been published. This study is, therefore, executed to systematically analyze ecotourism research articles published in the previous twenty-five years and thereby to reassess the past, understand the present and envisage the future of ecotourism development. 470 articles published in nine top-tier tourism journals are screened and analyzed. Thematic and summative content analyses are employed to examine the contents of each publication. The findings highlight that over the years, researchers have examined myriads of ecotourism research themes. Despite fluctuations over the years, the overall publication trend shows growth. Most ecotourism studies are conducted in developing countries, with Asia taking the lead followed by Africa and Latin America. However, in terms of researchers’ domicile, the USA becomes the first followed by Australia, the UK, and Canada. Despite modest successes, overall, the contribution of ecotourism towards sustainable destination development remains indiscernible. The current study provides up-to-date insight into the ecotourism literature by highlighting the main themes and trends of ecotourism research over the last twenty-five years. Research findings also enhance our understanding of the evolution of ecotourism research and ignite further study in ecotourism by suggesting issues that merit rigorous investigation.     

Spending Behaviors of Event Tourists

Abstract

Assessing the economic impact of a tourism event on a host economy often involves the estimation of average event tourist spending per trip/night. As event and destination marketers become more selective with their promotions, targeting prospective high-value tourists, it is important for them to know the spending characteristics of different types of visitors so that resources can be allocated to reach and influence event tourists who will most benefit the host economy. This study's findings of visitors to the 1999 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta reveal that tourists from communities nearer the host economy typically spend fewer net dollars than those from greater distances. First time event visitors spend considerably more than repeat visitors who have “been there, done that” and may not feel the need to do “that” again.     

Overlooked encounters: young tourists' experiences at dark sites

This research note reviews the existing literature comprised of dark tourism articles and chapters mentioning children. Publications meeting the search criteria were few. Accordingly, we offer possible reasons for the scarcity of research on children in dark tourism, including the legal constraints when researching with minors, the academic risk in undertaking a new field of research, and the substantial expertise needed to engage children in studies. We conclude with the compelling reasons to undertake such research: to inform interpretation of emotionally provocative sites for children, to understand and mitigate children's psychological distress at dark sites, and to advance theoretical work on children as tourists.     

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.     

创建中国旅游人类学学科刍议

简介国外旅游人类学发展概况 ,总结中国旅游人类学教学、科研的历程和得失 ,指出开展中国旅游人类学系统研究的必要性和可行性 ,介绍广州大学关于旅游人类学学科建设的探索和思考 ,并提出《中国旅游人类学》一书的内容结构框架。     

从缺失到凸显:社区参与旅游发展研究脉络

国内外的研究者目前都逐渐把社区及其居民作为旅游发展的主体,社区参与也因之成为旅游可持续发展的关键要素.本文在对社区参与研究脉络和走向进行分析的基础上,揭示出社区参与理论共识的达成经历了"从缺失到凸显"的过程.在对社区参与的关注方面,中国和西方的研究具有各不相同的历程.     

定性旅游研究：表达规范与反思--基于2000-2013年《旅游学刊》载文分析

鉴于学科分野的原因,不同学科有着不同的定性研究表达传统,在学科内部的交流并不会形成交流障碍或批评焦点。而旅游研究是一个多学科交叉领域,定性研究方法及其成果表达常会形成分歧。文章在总结定性研究评价相关研究的基础上,以《旅游学刊》2000—2013年定性研究论文为分析对象,从定性旅游研究的表达规范与表达逻辑等几个方面对57篇样本文献进行元分析（meta-analysis）,发现目前定性研究表达主要存在的问题是对研究问题的概念关系与理论框架、研究策略与研究方法过程介绍不充分,对研究问题与研究方法、研究材料与研究结论的逻辑一致性关注不够,对研究结论的可信度影响因素未进行充分说明。在此基础上,作者反思了旅游定性研究的发展趋势与关注重点。