Abstract
Abstract A Qualitative Study on Responsible Tour Operators’ Perception and Operation Status Kyung-Hee Kim·Sung-Jin Kang National Academy of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration, 166, Nongsaengmyeong-ro, Iseo-myeon, Wanju-gun, Jeollabuk-do 565-851, Republic of KoreaJournal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development, Vol. 22 No. 1(March 2015), 15-24ISSN 1976-3107 http://dx.doi.org/10.12653/jecd.2015.22.1.0015© 2015 Society of Agricultural Extension and Community Development www.extension.or.kr Responsible tourism attracting worldwide attention has supported local economy and community development as a type of alternative tourism. This study explored the perception toward fairness in tourism and operation status of responsible tour operators in South Korea by conducting in-dep th interviews with probe questions. Ten responsible tour operators were interviewed with a semi-structured interview questionnaire for one upto two hours. From the interview data, six themes were identified as difficulties of responsible tour operators: lack of manpower, advertising and promotion, absence of marketing strategy, regulation, lack of budget and lack of recognition of responsible tourism. As government support identified through the interviews, there are the followings seven themes: a low entry barrier market, investment in human resources, resource utilization, community-based policies, connection with local produce, community support and connection system of responsible travel agencies with intermediate support organizations at a local level, The findings of this paper implicate the underlying subject of responsible tourism from a tour operators’ perspective.
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