Host tourism aspirations as a point of departure for the sustainable livelihoods approach

The sustainable livelihoods (SL) approach offers a holistic framework and a practical toolkit to analyze tourism's impacts and interactions within a community. This study argues that the usefulness of the SL approach in tourism can be enhanced by ensuring that the approach is built on a genuine people-centered starting point. The exploration of the local community's representations of, and aspirations for, their roles in tourism as a future livelihood choice meets this need. To verify the value of this approach empirically, this study examined the case of Lhasa, Tibet, and local youth as the research respondents. The findings suggest that the young hosts in Lhasa urban area were heterogeneous in their responses to tourism as a future livelihood choice. They fell into four subgroups: in-betweeners, ambivalent supporters, alternative supporters, and lovers. Further, this study examined the profiles of these four subgroups and explored their responses. The study enhances the SL approach by taking tourism as an example and clearly defining the departure point for its adoption within the context of broader livelihoods portfolios. Additionally, it suggests some potential directions for tailored management strategies to meet youth and community perspectives.     

欠发达地区农村青年突破知识分工“低端锁定”的路径选择——基于湛江农村青年学习心理需求的调查

新农村青年是未来社会主义新农村建设的主力军,其学习需求是新农村建设的知识动力。针对经济欠发达的湛江市农村青年学习需求心理状况进行专题调查,通过对问卷的整理和分析,掌握了湛江农村青年的生存现状,在深入分析湛江农村青年学习、就业现状与心理需求情况下,由点及面地推导当前农村青年对学习、就业的需求,对教育的渴求趋势,提出"依托成人职业教育培训机构发展农村教育、建立健全就业信息服务网络、构建学习型新农村"的发展路径,以推动新农村建设,同时助力农村青年继续教育事业的发展。     

Young people with intellectual disabilities and sport as a leisure activity: notions from the Finnish welfare society

Although disability sports have recently received positive attention, little concern has been directed towards them in youth research. In this article, we discuss the free-time sports in which youth with intellectual disabilities engage as a part of their leisure and their association with their peers. We maintain that every young person has a principal right to leisure and question what kinds of access youth with intellectual disabilities have to local sports communities in the Finnish context. Our empirical data consist of notes collected during sports training; interviews with young sports participants, their supervisors, and their parents; and online survey responses. Almost all sports are equally accessible to everyone; however, practical engagement in sports is not equally easy for everyone because long distances, lack of transportation, unsuitable sporting occasions and teams, or incapable coaches limit individuals’ participation possibilities. Furthermore, symbolic structures, such as neglectful attitudes, restrict the visibility of youth with intellectual disabilities in leisure sports. In many ways, supporting networks become significant when access to sport is under scrutiny. The most important enabling and restricting factors are families’ symbolic and material capital, as well as the unequal, poorly guided, and occasional leisure possibilities in different localities.     

Interpretive structural modeling of quality factors in both medical and hospitality services in the medical tourism industry

This study aims to theoretically integrate quality factors of both medical and hospitality services in medical tourism. Medical tourism comprises both medicine and tourism. Although the core product in medical tourism is medical treatment, attractive hospitality and travel options are also essential. Despite the dual nature of medical tourism, the two aspects of this concept have not been integrated in a unique framework. This study attempts to fill this gap using interpretive structural modeling (ISM). According to ISM, although factors of medical services and hospitality services are independent from each other, these factors have vital impacts on perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty.     

Emerging youth tourism: fostering young travelers’ conservation intentions

Greening is one of the most important issues faced by the tourism industry today. Nevertheless, theoretical and empirical research on young travelers’ sustainable behaviors is scarce. This study developed a conceptual framework involving biospheric value, environmental concern, environmental awareness, ascribed responsibility, and moral norm in order to better explain young travelers’ pro-environmental decision-making process. A total of seven hypotheses were proposed and tested using structural equation modeling. Results revealed that the postulated theoretical model satisfactorily accounted for three dimensions of young tourists’ environmentally responsible intentions; the study variables are all significantly related; and the mediating impact of moral norm and environmental concern was evident. Moreover, the prominent role of moral norm in forming intentions was noteworthy. Our findings from the invariance test further indicated that environmental awareness and ascribed responsibility acted as moderators. The implications of these results are discussed.     

Cross-cultural comparison of the image of Guam perceived by Korean and Japanese leisure travelers: Importance–performance analysis

As international tourism becomes a global phenomenon and its volume increases rapidly, understanding cultural differences and similarities provides destination marketers in a host country with a strategic platform upon which any planning and marketing efforts should be grounded. Based on the theory of cultural value orientation, the current study focuses on a cross-cultural comparison between the two markets most important to Guam tourism: Japanese and Korean leisure travelers. Using Importance–performance analysis, the evaluative image of Guam perceived by Korean travelers is compared with that perceived by Japanese travelers to uncover any differences between these two nationality groups. The results clearly indicate a contrast between the two groups in terms of destination evaluations and behavioral patterns.     

Debt problems,home‐leaving,and boomeranging: A register‐based perspective on economic consequences of moving away from parental home

This article analyses the development of financial problems after leaving one's parental home, and considers how financial problems are associated with likelihood of boomeranging (i.e., adult children returning to parental home). The 9‐year follow‐up study focused on a nationally representative sample of Finnish young people between the ages of 15 and 25 who moved out from their parental home between 2006 and 2009 (n = 9,196). The measure of debt problems was based on monthly data on debt enforcement, a legal matter which may bring serious consequences for the debtors. The primary within‐individual, longitudinal analyses showed that debt problems increased directly after leaving parental home. Education and family background were significant predictors of debt problems in the four years after leaving parental home. Early leavers had significantly more debt problems than later leavers. Debt problems were associated with a higher likelihood of moving back to parental home. The results imply that it is important to support economic decision‐making during early adulthood.     

The Essential Role of Sense of Community in a Youth Sport Program

This multiphased study identifies the salient benefits that parents seek for their families from a youth sport program. Phase 1, a preseason focus group study of parents of swimmers in three clubs (N = 15), indicated parents seek a sense of community for their children and themselves, and sense of community is linked to their desire for children to learn sport and life skills. Phase 2, a postseason survey of parents in the same three clubs (N = 129), tested the relationships among coaching quality, friendships, organizational communication, sport and life skills, sense of community, parents' satisfaction, and their repeat purchase intention. Using path analysis, sense of community was identified as the key driver of satisfaction and repeat purchase intention, with swimming improvement also having a significant effect on satisfaction. These findings highlight the central role sense of community plays for participants and their families in youth sport contexts.     

深入学习实践科学发展观推动高职院校团学工作上水平

深入学习实践科学发展观，是解放思想、深化改革、解决新时期学院团学工作所面临问题的必然要求，是推动学院团学工作上水平的重大举措。文章就开展学习实践科学发展观活动的重大意义、现实紧迫性以及如何结合实际努力践行科学发展观进行探讨。     

旅游者碳补偿支付意愿及碳补偿模式研究——以杭州西湖风景区为例

随着全球气候变化逐渐成为人们热议的话题,低碳也走进了我们的生活。因此,旅游者的碳补偿作为低碳旅游中不可获缺的一部分,尤其在闻名遐迩的杭州西湖风景区,更有着其调研的意义。本文以在杭州西湖风景区的岳庙、曲院风荷、苏堤、孤山、断桥等近十个景点,近六百份的问卷调查数据为基础,从旅游者对全球气候变化的了解程度以及碳补偿的支付意愿和原因几个方面入手,分析总结目前旅游者对于低碳旅游的认知和碳补偿支付意愿,从而从政府、企业、游客方面提出更为可行且环境友好的旅游者碳补偿模式。