Showing papers in "Tourism Geographies in 2014"

Scale, change and resilience in community tourism planning

Abstract: Resilience planning has emerged in recent years as an alternative to the sustainable development paradigm to provide new perspectives on community development and socio-ecological adjustments to a rapidly changing world. Tourism scholars have been somewhat slow to adopt the recent conceptual ideas related to community resilience that have been published in other disciplinary areas, though this situation is also changing rapidly. While most resilience research focuses on major disasters and crises, new frameworks that encompass slow change variables provide a more comprehensive view on resilience. A model for tourism resilience considers this rate of change (transitioning from slow to fast), and the scale of tourism interest (scaling from that of the entrepreneur to those that are community-wide). The resulting 2 × 2 matrix presents four contexts with distinct resilience issues, methodologies and measurements, ranging from entrepreneurs managing daily maintenance needs, to community disaster readiness, res...

Using indicators to assess sustainable tourism development: a review

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to examine the role of indicators in the transition to sustainability in tourism development and planning, identifying their main characteristics and summarising the challenges posed by their use in tourism development and in the research field. Indicators today constitute significant elements in sustainability programmes, but their use has been hampered by technical and conceptual difficulties. Furthermore, given that specific socio-spatial contexts and scales are highly influential in their application in the field, there is a need to identify the nature and characteristics of these indicators of sustainable tourism. After the in-depth development of a theoretical and phenomenological framework for indicators in tourism sector based on literature review, some interesting findings were identified. Indicators of sustainability have been widely adopted in tourism planning and management, and the indicator type (set or index) is selected depending on the situation under analysis and...

Typologies of tourists’ time–space consumption: a new approach using GPS data and GIS tools

Abstract: Time geography presents a conceptual framework to describe and understand the tourists’ spatio-temporal behavior, according to which the effective reach of an individual is defined by time–space constraints and the path taken by the individual. In recent years, a growing number of studies within this framework have begun to use geographic information systems (GIS) tools and data gathered with the help of advanced tracking methods. These tools and the framework of time geography have been applied to the study of tourists’ spatio-temporal behavior, mainly on a descriptive level; yet there is a scarcity of suitable tools for the advanced analysis of the high-resolution temporal and spatial data acquired with these new technologies. Driven by this shortage, the approach presented here attempts to shed light on the choices made and strategies implemented by tourists, within the constraints of time and space, by clustering tourists based on time–space allocation measures of their behavior. The feasibility of th...

Measuring tourist activities in cities using geotagged photography

Abstract: Established methods to record tourist activities in urban centres cannot produce quantitative data with precise spatial references. Analysing geographically positioned photography retrieved from image hosting web services combines the accuracy levels of GPS tracking and the quantitative advantages of the large accessible data-sets of internet communities. In this paper the correlation of data-sets obtained from Flickr.com with statistical data, morphological constrains and the attributes of attractions are tested. Correlation between registered bed nights and geotagged tourist photography numbers was calculated analysing 16 European cities. Three tourist-historic cities with similar tourist markets were compared more deeply. The spatial patterns of tourist activity in Vienna, Prague and Budapest showed many similarities and some relevant differences rooted in the morphological constraints and the different level of local and tourist activities at specific sites.

Tourism and the Millennium Development Goals: perspectives beyond 2015

Abstract: As 2015 approaches, debates about the contribution to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (UN MDGs) are growing in momentum. The aim of this review is to interrogate the potential contributions of tourism to the UN MDGs, specifically of poverty alleviation, and of how the relationship between tourism development and the UN MDGs has been framed in existing scholarship. It is argued that whilst the global tourism industry potentially can contribute to economic development goals in destination regions, its impacts are ambivalent so that there is a growing concern surrounding the local benefits of global tourism including support for realisation of the UN MDGs. To avert the risks in the Global South of tourism-led development, the industry needs to be clearly positioned as a potential tool for, not at the end of local, regional, national and global development agendas. Several promising research avenues for interrogating tourism impacts for UN MDGs are identified. Issues relating to greening of to...

The evolution of destinations: towards an evolutionary and relational economic geography approach

Abstract: Analytical approaches from emergent paradigms in economic geography – namely, evolutionary economic geography (EEG) and relational economic geography (REG) – can help to advance and integrate extant research in tourism geography on destinations’ dynamics and organisation. Taking into account concepts such as human agency, contextuality and path dependence, the paper conceptualises local tourism destinations’ evolution as a complex, path- and place-dependent process that is determined by the action and interaction of stakeholders and their ability to adapt or create new paths, as well as to survive in response to local and global changes. Hence, it discusses the bidirectional effects between stakeholder practices and local tourism destinations’ evolutionary performance. Furthermore, it attempts to increase the understanding of how and why destinations change over time, which is valuable for policy formation and to improve local tourism destinations’ competitiveness and sustainability. All in all, the paper...

Effect of dimensions of place attachment on residents’ word-of-mouth behavior

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the effect of residents’ different dimensions of place attachment on their word-of-mouth (WOM) behavior in two cities: Sydney, Australia and Shanghai, China. A six-dimensional construct of place attachment is proposed based upon a detailed literature review: four attitudinal dimensions (place identity, place dependence, affective attachment, social bonding) and two interactional dimensions (place memory, place expectation) are proposed to reflect different aspects of a resident's attachment to a place. To test the dimensionality of place attachment and relationships between constructs, a survey was completed by 691 residents in the two targeted cities (361 from Sydney and 330 from Shanghai), and a structural equation modeling instrument was applied to analyze the data. The findings of the empirical study statistically support the dimensionality of place attachment proposed, and reveal that, in general, interactional dimensions of place attachment have an...

Thermal range of coastal tourism resort microclimates

Abstract: With considerable evidence demonstrating the intrinsic importance of weather and climate for tourist decision-making, the projected redistribution of climatic resources as a result of climate change is anticipated to have important consequences for temporal and spatial patterns of tourism demand. Some of the world's leading coastal tourism destinations (Mediterranean and Caribbean) have been identified as becoming ‘too hot’ for tourism. However, the microclimates of coastal tourism areas have not been considered by such assessments. With a focus on thermo-physiologically relevant climatic parameters, this paper examines the adaptive range of microclimatic conditions available in two coastal resort settings in the Caribbean islands of Barbados and Tobago. Recorded weather parameters include air temperature, black globe temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. The microclimatic results, which are presented using the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), show that hourly thermal conditions can range...

Perceptions of trekking tourism and social and environmental change in Nepal's Himalayas

Abstract: The Himalayas are among the world's youngest mountain ranges. In addition to the geologic processes of mountain building and erosion, they are also highly vulnerable to human influenced change, occurring at local, national, regional, and international scales. A photo-elicitation methodology is employed to show how residents perceive those changes from historical perspectives, as well as their current conditions and impacts on their daily lives. Nepal's Khumbu region has undergone major social and environmental transformations since the 1960s when international trekking first began to influence the area's economy. The current perceptions of Khumbu residents of these changes are assessed through photo-elicitation interviews. Their responses are placed in the historical context of: (1) institutional and political changes, most of which have been driven by national government policies; (2) social and economic changes, for which the tourism economy has been central; and (3) environmental changes, reflecting th...

Mindful deviation in creating a governance path towards sustainability in resort destinations

Abstract: Drawing on recent work in evolutionary economic geography, we focus on path creation as the framework for understanding how, in a resort destination context, the shift from growth models to ones based on principles of sustainability are evolving. Path creation emphasizes the power of human agency by recognizing the influence of entrepreneurs in shaping their environments. In the case study of the mountain resort of Whistler, British Columbia, we focus on one key aspect of the discourse surrounding the transition in governance from growth towards sustainability – that of affordable housing. The data are drawn from key informant interviews, participant observation and community document sources. The findings demonstrate how, through ‘mindful deviation’ from a growth model approach, Whistler entrepreneurs were able to utilize the collective agency of the community, generated in support of a new governance model based on principles of sustainability, to address the pressing need for affordable employee housin...

Evolutionary economic geography and tourism studies: extant studies and future research directions

Abstract: This paper presents the extant literature on evolutionary economic geography (EEG) and tourism studies and briefly reviews what has been produced thus far. There are two main areas addressed: path dependence (and how to break from a path) and co-evolution (of tourism paths within a given region and of regional paths including tourism). The papers already published on EEG and tourism feature cases from resort communities, mass tourism destinations and rural and peripheral areas with all cases from highly developed countries (Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and Australia). Next, the papers of the special issue are explored and show a broadening of the geographical reach (to include China and Spain) and a move to apply EEG theory as part of a hybrid theoretical framework. Finally, the paper concludes with a call for broader evolutionary approaches in tourism studies beyond strictly business development studies. This ultimately requires the development of EEG measures in line with the goals of sustainable tour...

Tourism destination zoning in mountain regions: a consumer-based approach

Abstract: This paper puts into question the conventional way of delineating tourism destination borders in terms of taken-for-granted administrative boundaries. Despite the fact that the literature on destination boundaries advocates for conceptual frameworks where customers’ consumption patterns play a more fundamental role, instances of actual attempts of structuring tourism geographies into ‘new tourism areas’ are scant, and instances of zoning on the basis of visitors’ consumption patterns are absent. A method for identifying alternative and more effective consumption-based tourism zones that combines geographical information system and hierarchical cluster analysis techniques, and that relies on time distances between attractions, is thus proposed, and implemented in the case of the Pyrenees mountain region. As a result the region is restructured into nine new tourism zones, which, compared to the original destinations, are more uniform in size and have a higher correlation index between attractiveness and acc...

Tourism and toponymy: commodifying and consuming place names

Abstract: Academic geographers have a long history of studying both tourism and place names, but have rarely made linkages between the two. Within critical toponymic studies there is increasing debate about the commodification of place names, but to date the role of tourism in this process has been almost completely overlooked. In some circumstances, toponyms can become tourist sights based on their extraordinary properties, their broader associations within popular culture, or their role as metanyms for some other aspect of a place. Place names may be sights in their own right or ‘markers’ of a sight and, in some cases, the marker may be more significant than the sight to which it refers. The appropriation of place names through tourism also includes the production and consumption of a broad range of souvenirs based on reproductions or replicas of the material signage that denote place names. Place names as attractions are also associated with a range of performances by tourists, and in some cases visiting a place...

Community perceptions to place attachment and tourism development in Finnish Lapland

Abstract: Tourism in the Arctic is increasing rapidly and affecting local communities through land development pressures. In addition to providing economic opportunities, this development trend is affecting more intangible areas of life such as place attachment. The aim of this paper is to examine place attachment in tourism-dependent communities in the Arctic through place dependence and place identity. This is done through mapping sites with personal meanings and locally valued tourist sites in two communities in Finnish Lapland. The attachment is expressed in two different ways: currently, the economic activities are manifested almost exclusively through tourism development in Kilpisjarvi and Saariselka, of which the most important sites are located in the natural landscape. As a result, the communities’ dependency on the natural surroundings is evident. The attachment also occurs through non-economic activities and is present through consumption-related actions, (e.g. fishing) as well as through less tangible i...

Linking tourism, retirement migration and social capital

Abstract: A general trend in the study of international retirement migration has been the increased attention paid to the social contacts and network connections of the migrants in both the destination and the origin areas These studies have examined the extent to which migrants build social relationships with their neighbours and the host society while also maintaining social links with their countries of origin, addressing the central role that leisure travel plays in sustaining increasingly dispersed social networks and maintaining the social capital of these networks and of the individuals involved in them Using a case study approach to examine British retirement migration to Spain, we explore the relevance of transnational social networks in the context of international retirement migration, particularly the intensity of bidirectional visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism flows and the migrants’ social contacts with friends and/or family back in their home country Building on the concept of social ca

Understanding local innovation systems in peripheral tourism destinations

Abstract: Tourism destinations in peripheral areas are often large regions established by centralised government agencies to encourage collaboration between dispersed communities and foster innovation. Relat ...

Path dependence and tourism area development: the case of Guilin, China

Abstract: In recent years, tourism geographers have paid increasing attention to the concepts of ‘path dependence’, ‘path creation’ and ‘lock-in’ as key ingredients in constructing an evolutionary approach to tourism studies. The path dependence model of tourism area evolution discussed in this paper is used to explain the emergence, rise and decline of a tourism area, especially to figure out specific path dependence and lock-in of dominant tourism products and sectors. The model is tested by using it to explain the last 40 years of tourism area development in Guilin, China. It is found that the emergence of the Guilin tourism area was not only influenced by contingent events, but also basically rooted in its initial conditions. The findings show that over time Guilin experienced path preformation, path creation and development, path as a dynamic process, and a new path creation and development phase. Moreover, the general path-dependent process of evolution of the Guilin tourism area is embedded in the resource-b...

Evolutionary Economic Geography : A New Path for Tourism Studies?

Abstract: Evolutionary economic geography (EEG) is an emerging theoretical framework whichattempts to better understand long-term economic change and why it differs betweenregions. Tourism geographers are sh ...

Hotel characteristics and location decisions in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Abstract: This study identified and assessed the differences in the extent to which location factors were considered by hotel owners based on certain characteristics of their hotels in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. The behavioural thought on industrial location decisions was used as a framework to identify and assess hotel owners’ location decisions. Data on hotel location decisions were collected from 153 hotel owners in the Kumasi Metropolis and analysed with the chi-square test of independence. It was found that the extent to which location factors such as economic, neighbourhood characteristics, physical site characteristics, laws and regulations, socio-cultural and transport factors considered by hotel owners differed by hotel location, hotel category, ownership, age of hotel and the number of rooms in a hotel. Hotel location factors are considered differently based on hotel characteristics.

Climate change perceptions and responses in Scotland's ski industry

Abstract: The negative impacts of climate change for the ski industry have been well documented. However, research has largely focused on key ski markets in North America and Continental Europe. The study presented in this paper addresses climate change perceptions and responses in the more marginal ski destination of Scotland. Using a qualitative, interpretivist methodology, this paper contributes through a local-scale, single-site study of a ski area where technical adaptations are not utilised and which therefore relies on business responses to climate change. Findings suggest that while local weather is perceived to be a large and unmanageable risk to the industry, and a downward trend is identified in terms of snow reliability, these risks are not perceived to be connected to the wider anthropogenic climate change discourse. Waiting for knowledge to increase before taking adaptive action appears to be the most popular business strategy; however, autonomous adaptation is taking place in the form of business div...

Towards an economic-geographical approach to the globalisation of the hotel industry

Abstract: In the field of economic geography, the hotel industry is largely under-researched. Meanwhile, its worldwide development has reached the level whereby it can no longer be neglected by economic geographers if the tourism production system and, more generally, the globalisation of services are to be understood. The argument of this paper is twofold. First, it is contended that an economic-geographical approach to the hotel industry can significantly enhance our understanding of this important sub-sector of tourism. Although the paper recognises the useful insights into the internationalisation/globalisation of the hotel industry elaborated within management and business studies, it argues that they fall short of exploring the globalisation of the hotel sector in three important respects: the multi-actor nature of the hotel industry, the territorial embeddedness of hotel groups in host markets and the influence of expanding hotel groups on economic development. Given that these gaps are geographical in natur...

Understanding tourist encounters with nature: a thematic framework

Abstract: This chapter presents a thematic framework that simplifies and explains the complexity of tourist encounters with nature. The research combines qualitative data, derived from questionnaire surveys, in-depth interviews, field journals and personal observations, of wildlife encounters in Spain and Mexico and encounters with tropical forest in Australia. The data reveal that embodied tourists encounter nature in a multi-sensory manner, although they privilege visual perceptions of the natural world. There are clear differences in the emotional significance of encounters, with visitors negotiating individual yet diverse relations with their surrounding environment, mediated by in situ social interactions. Wildlife tourists often perform ritualised roles, directed by tour guides, causing some to question the collective performances of prescribed mobilities. Rainforest tourists, by contrast, are more unbounded in their performances. It is suggested that visitors on guided tours should be given time to experience the wonders of the environment at their own pace, facilitating the achievement of ‘higher order’ needs. The theoretical framework presented in the paper facilitates an exploration of the diversity of connections between people and nature and the myriad ways in which such relationships are formed, interpreted and afforded relevance. The framework is not definitive, but context-specific, serving to inform future understanding.

Social representations and community attitudes towards spring breakers

Abstract: Social representation theory has been adopted for explaining tourism impacts and local attitudes. However, its usefulness in segmenting local population in terms of their attitudes towards specific types of tourists has not been tested. This study identifies the attitudes of local people towards spring break, a North American young tourist phenomenon in the context of the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco. Although residents perceive an increase in alcohol consumption, drug use, noise and litter during the spring break season, they largely recognise economic benefits and are thus generally supportive for the phenomenon. Based on these attitudes, three clusters were identified: spring break supporters (identified by their high appreciation of spring break benefits), ambivalents (who are uncertain about both benefits and costs) and realistics (characterised by recognising both benefits and costs). The main contribution of this study lies in the confirmation of the usefulness of social representation theory i...

Tourism-conservation enterprises as a land-use strategy in Kenya

Abstract: Since the early 1990s, nature conservation organizations in Eastern and Southern Africa have increasingly attempted to integrate their objectives with those of international development organizations, the land-use objectives of local communities and the commercial objectives of tourism businesses, in order to find new solutions for the protection of nature and wildlife outside state-protected areas. The increased inclusion of the market in conservation initiatives has led to diverse institutional arrangements involving various societal actors, such as private game reserves, conservancies and conservation enterprises. The Koija Starbeds ecolodge in Kenya – a partnership between communities, private investors and a non-governmental organization – serves as a case study for emerging institutional arrangements aimed at enabling value creation for communities from nature conservation. Based on a content analysis of data from individual semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews, as well as a documen...

What's political ecology got to do with tourism?

Abstract: This paper provides an overview of the conceptual framework of political ecology, with an emphasis on theoretical constructs stemming from poststructuralism and Marxism. I argue that the resulting power structures produced and reproduced in the context of sustainable tourism and tourism more broadly are largely a product of people's nuanced material and conceptual understandings of nature and society. As such, this paper provides a brief review of two seminal theoretical lenses within political ecology – the social construction of nature and the production of nature – that take the broader political, economic, social, and ecological context into consideration. Taking a contextual approach rooted in political ecology, I argue that an analysis of people's material and discursive productions of nature provides a situated method for unpacking the problems and potentials of sustainable tourism in the context of people, nature, and power.

Hurricane impacts on southeastern United States coastal national park visitation

Abstract: As a major contributor to local economies, the tourism industry has been greatly impacted by natural disasters. This study demonstrates the association between tourism economies and impacts of hurricanes in the southeastern United States containing coastal national parks, known for attracting a large number of tourists and having experienced hurricanes. In keeping with two longitudinal data methods (i.e. panel logit model and autoregressive integrated moving average), this study focused on the relationship between the (1) duration, intensity, and damage of hurricanes; (2) existing climate conditions; and (3) tourism demand on park visitation during hurricane and tourism seasons. As a whole, the impacts of hurricanes and climate conditions (precipitation, temperature) were found to have a negative effect on tourism demands (park visitation). With regard to the response of tourism economies to natural disaster damage, parks that experienced stronger natural disasters may be closed for a longer period in ord...

Tourism Images and British Media Representations of South Africa

Abstract: The South African government expected 500,000 international visitors for the 2010 FIFA football world cup These numbers were significantly reduced, with reports indicating that the global recession, overpricing of tickets and hospitality packages, and increased costs within South Africa's tourist industry were contributory factors The destination image of South Africa as presented within the British media was also identified by FIFA and the Local Organising Committee as deterring potential visitors, with newspaper hype surrounding fear and uncertainty over safety and security in South Africa noted as a key deterrent for many potential travellers Discourse analysis of print media coverage of South Africa in four British newspapers—The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Star—between January and July 2010 demonstrates how Afro-essentialist, Afro-pessimist and neocolonial representations of the host country and continent promoted images of fear, insecurity and moral panic These rep

Rethinking authenticity in the implementation of China's heritage conservation: the case of Hongcun Village

Abstract: Authenticity is a constructive concept and the core principle for protection of cultural heritage, but it is also a controversial issue, along with its practice in different geographical and cultural contexts. Both the heritage management system and its authenticity principles are not indigenous, but were developed in western society and exported from western countries. As a result, conflicts arise with its implementation and therefore often lead to counterintuitive behaviors. This paper examines the heritage conservation process in the case of Hongcun by applying the social constructionism theory. The paper attempts to point out that both the heritage and the authenticity principles are socially constructed concepts and that the construction process is very much influenced by the power relationships involved. Authenticity in Hongcun is an implementation of the principle of material, static, and superficial style understandings, while less attention is paid to the non-material cultural heritage protection...

An investigation of factors determining cycling experience and frequency

Abstract: A bicycle tourism destination is composed of complexes of different attributes that are crucial for the determination of tourist satisfaction levels. However, the relative impact of sector-specific destination attributes on bicycle touring and leisure cycling experience and frequency has been both poorly understood and studied. This study is an attempt to fill this literature gap by exploring a demand-side perspective on the important contributors of overall satisfaction with cycling experience and the key determinants of cycling frequency. The 28 sector-specific destination attributes were drawn from the relevant literature, and then modified by a panel of industry experts. Using exploratory factor analysis, three destination-specific attribute-level satisfaction factors were identified in descending order of satisfaction degree: ‘provision of signage services,’ ‘provision of safety and emergency services,’ and ‘quality of bicycle routes.’ Among these factors, ‘provision of safety and security services’ ...

Tourism development, rights consciousness and the empowerment of Chinese historical village communities

Abstract: In recent years, China's tourism researchers have started to pay attention to the empowerment of rural communities. Current theoretical research and social practices reflect that tourism needs to seek localized empowerment with respect to different types of tourism destinations. This paper, taking Furong Historical Village in Zhejiang Province as a case study, examines a special kind of Chinese historical village community in which the villagers’ consciousness of their rights is weak and tourism development is only in its initial stages. Based on the field surveys, this paper points out four roots of such a community's disempowerment: (1) the failure of political institutions to ensure the community's public interest; (2) accusations of historical villages ‘damaging protection’; (3) information asymmetry in the relationship between rural leaders and villagers; and (4) a sense of powerlessness in the daily lives of rural residents. Based on these findings, this paper suggests several empowerment paths: (1)...