After over 25 years of accrediting beaches,has Blue Flag contributed to sustainable management?

This paper examines the qualitative, quantitative, and geographical evolution (1987–2012) of the Blue Flag campaign and accreditation process in Spain, a leading coastal tourism destination heading the list of awards. The standard Blue Flag criteria for crowded, developed beaches are now adapting to new demands for natural beaches, but they still fail to capture essential sustainable tourism features, such as limiting user numbers, or preserving and restoring sand ecosystems. Given these shortcomings, some destinations are moving to alternative awards with a higher environmental commitment, such as EMS, ISO14001, and Eco-Management and Audit Schemes (EMAS). A cluster analysis of Blue Flag data for 983 beaches in Spain over 26 years revealed different behaviour patterns: established tourist areas that have always opted for the Blue Flag programme; tourist areas that adopted the Blue Flag early on but replaced it with ISO14001 and EMAS; recently developed destinations applying for the award to boost their tourism promotion; and tourist areas with no well-defined policy that have opted intermittently for Blue Flag. These profiles illustrate the different policies of Spain's Autonomous Regions, and they are useful for tourism managers to verify whether their destination's behaviour pattern contributes to sustainable tourism and matches strategic policies they have designed for them.     

Can tourism be part of the decarbonized global economy? The costs and risks of alternate carbon reduction policy pathways

Global leaders agree on the need to substantially decarbonize the global economy by 2050. This paper compares potential costs associated with different policy pathways to achieve tourism sector emission reduction ambitions (?50% by 2035) and transform the sector to be part of the mid-century decarbonized economy (?70% by 2050). Investment in emissions abatement within the tourism sector, combined with strategic external carbon offsets, was found to be approximately 5% more cost effective over the period 2015–2050 than exclusive reliance on offsetting. The cost to achieve the ?50% target through abatement and strategic offsetting, while significant, represents less than 0.1% of the estimated global tourism economy in 2020 and 3.6% in 2050. Distributed equally among all tourists (international and domestic), the cost of a low-carbon tourism sector is estimated at US$11 per trip, equivalent to many current travel fees or taxes. Exclusive reliance on offsetting would expose the sector to extensive and continued carbon liability costs beyond mid-century and could be perceived as climate inaction, increasing reputational risks and the potential for less efficient regulatory interventions that could hinder sustainable tourism development. Effective tourism sector leadership is needed to develop a strategic tourism policy framework and emission measurement and reporting system.     

mLearning as a softer visitor management approach for sustainable tourism

With increased visitation to protected natural areas over the last four decades, there is a need for implementation of effective visitor management strategies at these sites to mitigate visitor impacts. This study explores the application of mobile learning (mLearning) in environmental interpretation and visitor education within the context of conservation and sustainable tourism. Specifically, it proposes a conceptual framework for mLearning as a visitor management tool for sustainable tourism. Current developments and innovations in mobile broadband networks, smartphone technology, and mobile software applications present opportunities for the utilization of such mobile-driven applications in interpretive programs to encourage free-choice learning and mindful visitor experiences. If effectively implemented, such interpretive programs and mLearning applications can affect visitor perceptions, attitudes, and future intentions toward conservation and environmental protection.     

How training and innovation link to farm performance: a structural equation analysis

The complexity of modern farm management places great demands on the skill, knowledge and capability of farm managers and their families. Keeping abreast of emerging technologies and innovations that can affect each key farm enterprise, and knowing how best to marshal the resources required for profitable farm production, are key tasks of farm management. This study draws on a longitudinal data set of 240 broadacre farmers to compare and analyse their farm performance over a decade. Using structural equation modelling, we examine relationships between the farm family's involvement in training, their human capital, their use of various innovations and ultimately the linkages of these factors to farm financial and productivity performance. Several statistically significant inter‐relationships are found, and some factors are shown to have significant positive links to farm performance. We find that training undertaken by the farm family, the farm family's human capital and their use of innovations, particularly key cropping innovations, have significant beneficial impacts on farm performance. The farmer's skills in time and organisational management, their engagement in business planning and the unique environmental characteristics of the farm also significantly and positively influence farm performance.     

浅谈自然保护区规划与管理——以龙凤自然保护区为例

随着近年来党和国家对自然保护区的建设情况的高度重视,自然保护区的规划与管理成为了工作的重中之重。合理高效的方法将直接切实影响到自然保护区的规划、管理、建设,直接影响自然保护区相关相关工作的进展落实情况。自然保护区以它特有的巨大的生态价值和环境效应成为了国内外重点研究的对象,本文就龙凤自然保护区简析国内自然保护区的规划与管理,针对国内外现状进行分析,找出不足和存在的问题,结合实际情况,提出建议和可行性高的解决方案。     

Crowding standards at Petra Archaeological Park: a comparative study of McKercher's five types of heritage tourists

To achieve sustainability in heritage tourism, tourists should be placed at the heart of the management and planning processes. Indicators and standards-based frameworks were developed in the field of outdoor recreation management to manage and measure crowding and other problematic issues in parks and related areas. Using normative theory and visual research methods, this article aims to examine crowding standards of tourists at Petra Archaeological Park, and compare these standards between the types of heritage tourists suggested by a model developed by Bob McKercher. Results showed that tourists’ acceptability levels go down with an increasing number of tourists, and tourists who are highly motivated to visit heritage sites (i.e. purposeful and sightseeing heritage tourists) had the most restrictive acceptable number of tourists at the park. The normative standards formulated in this article provided a guidance to manage crowding at Petra.     

海洋经济信息资源的共享与保护研究

海洋经济信息资源是海洋资源规划、管理、保护和合理利用的基础信息,是国家重要的基础性、战略性信息资源之一。然而,"共享"与"保护"之间的矛盾性造成了我国海洋经济信息资源管理缺乏协调性、统一性,因此需要开展海洋经济信息资源统一化、标准化管理,加快实施海洋经济信息资源的共享关键技术,建立海洋信息共享机制,建立海洋经济信息资源的安全管理体系,积极参与海洋经济信息资源共享的国际合作。     

基于供应链视角的海产品物流质量管理研究

海产品物流质量的管理贯穿于从"渔船到餐桌"的整个供应。论文以供应链管理为指导,在物流质量管理基本原理的基础上,界定了海产品物流质量管理的内涵,构建了海产品供应链物流质量管理的模式,提出通过供应链外部质量监管体系和市场准入机制加强海产品供应链外部物流质量控制,通过HACCP质量管理体系实现海产品供应链物流质量的自我约束和内部控制。     

Information technology developments of logistics service providers in Hungary

The objective of this research is to examine the role of sector-specific information technology (IT) developments and their significance in terms of the revenue and earnings before tax of Logistics Service Providers (LSPs), as well as the impact of these developments on the flexibility and integration of LSPs. A survey questionnaire was conducted with 284 LSPs participants. The data provided by the 51 responding enterprises provided a representative sample for the analysis of the sample population and the drawing of general and relevant conclusions related to basic population. It can be concluded that their revenue, earnings before tax and degree of integration into the supply chain depend on the sector-specific IT developments carried out by the given enterprise. IT investments will remain important in the future and the introduction and leveraging the best technologies may yield competitive advantages and higher financial rewards for LSPs.