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。     

Creating sustainable value in the hospitality industry: a (critical) multi-stakeholder study in the Dominican Republic

This paper identifies sustainable initiatives reported by “sustainability-champion” hotels in the Dominican Republic, while contrasting them against the views of key stakeholders. We adapt and apply Hart and Milstein's Sustainable Value Framework, and complement it with a Critical Management Studies approach. Our analysis relies on a mixed-methods approach (non-hierarchical k-means cluster analysis, as well as thematic and content analysis). Findings indicate that most hotels are engaging more actively in present-oriented strategies such as pollution prevention (especially, the international hotels) and in product/service stewardship. However, in the future-oriented strategies, hotels owned by local investors show higher commitment to both clean technology and innovation, and to the sustainability vision (as the firm's growth path). In addition, although the views of multiple stakeholders show a clear acknowledgment of the hospitality industry's sustainability efforts (particularly regarding education and environmental protection), they also offer differing views about the ultimate impact and value of those efforts for them and for the broader society. Our study offers a new theoretical lens to explore multi-stakeholder approaches and offers practical implications for the Dominican Republic's National Strategy for Development 2010–2030, as well as implications that may be of use for other tourism-dependent countries.     

中国旅游研究的国际影响力分析——基于对2001～2012年国内外旅游类核心期刊论文的统计

文章通过对2001～2012年间中国两岸四地作者旅游类国际期刊论文的检索和统计,分析发现：（1）中国作者发表的论文总量呈增长趋势,且大陆的增幅尤为明显;（2）中国大陆作者独立发表的论文数量、大陆学术机构的贡献度及论文被引频次较低;（3）通过对不同时期两岸四地论文的关键词分析提取出的研究热点和研究方向发现,中国作者的旅游研究总体从宏观转向微观,由预测、规划转向动机、满意度研究,其中,大陆和港澳台的研究各偏重于不同的方向。文章还从《旅游学刊》文章被国际期刊论文引用的角度进行分析,研究发现,大陆学者正在以学术交流和学生联合培养的方式合作发表论文并引用中文旅游学术期刊文章,从而使之产生一定国际影响力。通过对国内外核心期刊的分析,研究近10年中国旅游研究的国际影响力变化趋势及其影响因素,为旅游学术共同体尤其是大陆学者提升其学术成果的国际影响力提供方向参考。     

遗产责任:概念、特征与研究议题

为回应学术界关于旅游研究范式转型中提出的旅游研究应更关注的公平与权利、道德与责任问题,根据遗产旅游的现实发展需要,研究以国际宪章与法规关于遗产责任的表述为出发点,根据遗产与遗产旅游的本质属性特征,借鉴企业社会责任和负责任旅游的概念界定方式,提出"遗产责任"的学术概念,并根据遗产与遗产旅游的内涵对遗产责任的特征进行了讨论。在此基础上,根据遗产旅游研究的核心问题提出了遗产责任研究的"什么是遗产责任""谁的遗产责任""不同的遗产责任行动对遗产价值再现和遗产旅游可持续发展产生什么影响"3大核心研究议题。