Travel Organizations Research Articles

The Importance Of Youth Tourism Market In International Tourism

Youth and student travel is still one of the fastest growing segments of the global travel market and despite the uncertain climate in the industry, all indications point to a continued growth. Demand is continuously rising, competition is growing, the need for diversification and new supply channels is increasing, and the ability to cross over between sectors is now more important than ever. Although the industry has long recognised that the youth travel market is an important generator of tourism and more significantly, offers better than average potential for future growth, measurement of its size and importance has not been easy because of a shortage of supporting statistical data. This is the main reason why the market still tends to be neglected. Estimates from the different organisations and associations involved in the youth tourism business, such as the Federation of International Youth Travel Organisations (FIYTO), have put the size of the youth travel market as high as 20 percent of all international travellers - although this depends, of course, on how the sector is defined.

The Steamboat and Popular Tourism

This article discusses the role of the steamboat and popular tourism. The authors argue that the case of the railway in promoting popular recreational traveling, introducing excursions, and encouraging resort development has been overemphasized and in some instances wrongly credited with a pioneering role. The authors maintain that that role was, in fact, played by the steamboat. The article begins with a description of the features and characteristics of the steamboat that led it to have such an impact on popular passenger traffic. This is followed by a series of regional surveys of steamboat activity that focus on excursions and recreational use (primarily major ports), from 1812 through the end of the century. The authors caution that coverage varies, as primary source material relating to excursions and seasonal services is ephemeral, with a low survival rate. A final section summarizes the steamboat's innovative role in the provision and organization of leisure travel and popular tourism. In addition, in promoting popular travel after 1815, the steamboat set in motion the practice of popular guidebook publishing and use.

THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT TRAVEL MARKET: TRAVELSTYLE, MOTIVATIONS, AND ACTIVITIES

One sign of the growing interest in student travel both from the tourism industry and academic researchers is the global independent travel survey conducted by the International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC) and the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS). The survey, conducted in 2002, covers the profile and travel behavior of 1630 students booking travel from student travel organizations in eight countries. This article reports the initial results of this research. The survey showed that students are frequent travel consumers with extensive previous experience of relatively long trips outside of their own world region. Most students see their travelstyle as that of ``traveler,'' but a significant proportion of the market characterized their travel as ``backpacking.'' Motivations reflecting a desire for experience are prevalent with student travelers, particularly in terms of exploring other cultures. Motivations tend to be differentiated by destination region and travelstyle and are distinct between students and other young travelers. In spite of these differences in motivation, however, the activities actually engaged in showed little differentiation between students and others. The most frequently mentioned activities were visiting historical sites, walking, sitting in cafes and restaurants, and shopping, which were practiced by over 70% of respondents. In this and other respects, the article argues that comparisons of motivation and actual activities indicate a gap between the ideology and practice of travel.

Análisis e impacto de los touroperadores y las agencias de viaje en el transporte turístico: nuevas tendencias en Canarias

The international tourism transport sector is facing profound changes in its structure, particu- larly where tour operators and travel agencies are concerned. New reservation distribution systems (GDS and CRS) and interactive television systems are setting new guidelines for the sector. The worldwide platform of the Internet has created a new context, which is rapidly emerging and becoming ever more dynamic. For this reason, travel organisations should explore the proliferation of management tools that facilitate the establishment of new competitive strategies and positioning in an increasingly volatile area, with new products and forms in both demand and supply. This exploratory study identifies and interprets several questions based on a survey of 82 hotel and travel agency managers in the Canary Islands, who express their views about current and future developments in the sector.

Partnerships in International Travel and Tourism Marketing: A Systems-Oriented Approach Between Australia, New Zealand, Germany and the United Kingdom

Little empirical research has been conducted about international partnerships between travel and tourism organisations, airlines and their intermediaries such as wholesalers and travel agents. Nevertheless, these partnerships are important because tourism is becoming more international and most destinations have to compete at a global level. Moreover, both producers and intermediaries are increasingly using information technology to increase their knowledge and relationship with customers. Thus this research set out to develop and empirically confirm a systemic model of these partnerships and four related research objectives. The methodology involved multiple case studies based on in-depth interviews with key players in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Germany. The first outcome is a confirmation of the systemic model. In addition, the findings show the reasons for engaging in partnerships and the scope for further partnerships among the industry players. As well, the findings show that while ‘disintermediation’ may occur because of the advancement of communication technology, the linkages between travel and tourism organisations, airlines and intermediaries are still significant. Our framework can assist public and private travel and tourism organisations to mutually develop and manage marketing strategies and tactics for overseas markets.

Modeling International Travel Arrangements for Taiwanese Travelers: Potential Fits

This paper presents a choice model of international travel arrangements for potential Taiwanese FIT (Foreign Independent Travel) travelers. Previous studies were based mostly on package vacations, with little attention given to FIT travelers. Recent years have indicated a transition toward FIT. Since this transition is likely to continue, it is important for travel and tourism organizations and for marketers to understand FIT individuals. This study distinguishes potential FIT travelers from non-FIT travelers, identifies variables useful in making this prediction, and provides recommendations to travel and tourism organizations of host countries. The findings indicate that Taiwanese FIT travelers are likely to be younger, male, highly educated, budget conscious, travel with a larger party size for purposes of meeting interesting and friendly local people, stay for longer periods of time, and have taken many trips in the last three years that in volved spending at least four nights away from home.

Legal Aspects of E-commerce in the Air Transport Industry in Belgium – the Belgian Travel Organisation Litigation

Legal Aspects of E-commerce in the Air Transport Industry in Belgium – the Belgian Travel Organisation Litigation

Methodologies for innovation and improvement of services in tourism

Travel organisations, as travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, etc. focus their research too much on measuring service quality level and identifying errors. This strategy results in incremental improvements. This paper will focus more on how to improve the service by using strategies that further both incremental and innovative improvements of service. The paper demonstrates that an importance‐performance survey combined with service blueprinting and benchmarking is a useful strategy to improve and innovate service. To understand this strategy a quality management model that integrates incremental and fundamental (innovative) service improvements is presented.

Providing early clinical experience in primary care.

Undergraduate courses in British medical schools are changing following recommendations from the General Medical Council. Increasing emphasis has been placed on teaching in the community. Nottingham Medical School has pioneered the teaching of basic clinical skills in primary care during the pre-clinical course to help produce an integrated curriculum. This qualitative study evaluated the first two years of the new early clinical experience course at Nottingham by using interviews with 19 students and their GP tutors. Students claimed to have gained confidence in talking to patients, their understanding of the role of the doctor and the importance of the doctor-patient relationship. Students were less confident about examining patients and some reported having had little opportunity to practice examination skills. Half the students thought that the early clinical visits had helped them to understand and be more motivated to learn their basic medical sciences course. The newly recruited GP teachers were highly motivated, very positive about the early clinical teaching and all wanted to continue to teach the pre-clinical students. Difficulties in providing the course included communication with students and staff, organization of student travel and variation in the quality of teaching. However, the Nottingham early clinical experience course has shown that basic clinical skills can be successfully taught to pre-clinical students in primary care.

Linking Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction in the Cruise Industry: Implications for Hospitality and Travel Organizations

Service quality and customer satisfaction are vital concerns in service industries, particularly in the cruise industry. As such, the development of new methods for improving both is essential. A model of attitudes, intentions, and behaviors proposed by Bagozzi and refined by Schmit and Allscheid was tested to determine if employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction were related constructs in the cruise industry. The hypothesized model did not account for the relationship between the measured and latent variables; however, a direct relationship between employee job satisfaction and customer satisfaction was found to exist (R2 = . 30). Implications for hospitality and travel organizations are discussed, and recommendations are made for future research.

Distinguishing the Destination Choices of Pleasure Travelers from Taiwan

This study examined whether the destination choices of Taiwanese outbound travelers could be differentiated by their so-ciodemographics, travel characteristics, and benefits pursued. Using discriminant analysis, the results revealed that the choice of outside of Asia-Pacific region destinations was positively related to income level, education background, length of trip, party size, trip expenditure, inclusive package, and the benefit of ‘Value and Lifestyle’ of a Taiwanese traveler. ‘Safety Net,’ ‘Cost and Experience,’ and ‘Budget Travel’ were benefits pursued by within-Asia travelers. These findings can assist travel and tourism related organizations in developing marketing programs.

International Travelers from Taiwan

Abstract Taiwanese outbound travel market has been continuously growing but little in-depth research has investigated this market. This study uses discriminant analysis to examine Taiwanese outbound travelers whose travel philosophy is strongly oriented toward inclusive package vacations versus those who are not through their sociodemographics, travel characteristics, and benefits pursued variables. The results indicate that philosophy is a useful way to separate groups and that Taiwanese inclusive-package travelers tended to be female, older, with lower incomes, and less well educated. They usually seek a ‘Show and Tell,’ ‘Cost,’ and ‘Environment and Scenery’ benefits, spend more money on trips, and travel in larger groups. These findings can assist travel and tourism related organizations in developing packages and marketing strategies.

Transport and survival strategies in a developing economy: case evidence from Accra, Ghana

This paper reports on a study of the urban poor adapting to their own poverty and to unreliable public transport services by task sharing among extended family units. It draws on material from interviews conducted in two low-income communities in Accra, Ghana. In typically large households, the practice of fostering children, hiring domestic servants and doorstep petty trading by elderly women are three notable strategies for relieving middle-aged adults from transport stress and under-provision, and enabling them to be wage earners. As resources, rather than responsibilities, children fetch and carry, and attend school in shifts. From a transport activity or survival network approach, these elements can be viewed as key strategies in the organization of travel and transport.

Confession-building, long-distance networks, and the organization of Jesuit science.

The ability of the Society of Jesus to engage in a broad and enduring tradition of scientific activity is here addressed in terms of its programmatic commitment to the consolidation and extension of the Catholic confession (i.e., to a multipronged program of confession-building) and its mastery of the administrative apparatus necessary to operate long-distance networks. The Society's early move into two major apostolates, one in education and the other in the overseas missions, brought Jesuits into regular contact with the educated elites of Europe and at the same time placed the society's missionaries in remote parts of the natural world. The modes of organization of travel and communication required by the Society's long-distance networks (i.e., the training and deployment of reliable agents willing to work under direction in remote locations and capable of providing trustworthy reports and observations to their superiors through regular exchange of correspondence) not only facilitated scientific communication and collaboration within the order, it also provided Jesuits with the resources they needed to engage successfully in 'ministries among the learned'. Evidence of a sustained attempt by Jesuit authors to assume the role of Kulturträger is found in the several genres of scientific publications that dominate the society's scientific corpus. Thus the society's early recognition of the "apostolic value" of scientific publications in recruiting friends and allies among Europe's intellectual elites, I argue, allowed a robust interest in natural knowledge to emerge as a legitimate part of the Jesuit vocation.

TRAVEL AND TOURISM ORGANIZATIONS ETC Annual Report 1994. European Travel Commission, 2, rue Linois, 75015 Paris, France. April 1995. 36p

TRAVEL AND TOURISM ORGANIZATIONS ETC Annual Report 1994. European Travel Commission, 2, rue Linois, 75015 Paris, France. April 1995. 36p

Effects of household structure and selected travel characteristics on trip chaining

This paper analyzes trip chaining, focusing on how households organize non-work travel. A trip chaining typology is developed using household survey data from Portland, Oregon. Households are organized according to demographic structure, allowing analysis of trip chaining differences among household types. A logit model of the propensity to link non-work trips to the work commute is estimated. A more general model of household allocation of non-work travel among three alternative chain types — work commutes, multi-stop non-work journeys, and unlinked trips — is also developed and estimated. Empirical results indicate that the likelihood of linking work and non-work travel, and the more general organization of non-work travel, varies with respect to household structure and other factors which previous studies have found to be important. The effects of two congestion indicators on trip chaining were mixed: workers who commuted in peak periods were found to have lower propensity to form work/non-work chains, while a more general congestion indicator had no effect on the allocation of non-work trips among alternative chains.

Intranational tourist flows in Malaysia

This article examines intranational travel flows in Malaysia. Several parameters of travel patterns are identified and analyzed. This indicates that tourists are concentrated on the West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, thus reinforcing existing regional inequalities. The travel pattern is disaggregated by using variables such as purpose of visit, travel organization, country of residence, and number of overnight destinations. This reveals significant differences among the diverse market segments with respect to their intranational travel behavior in Malaysia. On the basis of these differences, it is possible to identify market segments that are more likely to contribute to the reduction of regional disparities.

The Development An.d Organization Of Travel services In China

This article analyzes the recent growth in travel to China. It also analyzes the develop ment of Chinese travel organizations, including the evolution of a national tourism administration for the country, and examines the effects of changing government policies in decentralizing the management of travel services. The negative effects of decentraliza tion include confusion created by the proliferation of travel organizations, increased dif ficulty in coordinating tourism planning and development for the country as a whole, and emergence of negative social impacts upon Chinese personnel. In the face of declining growth in visitor arrivals, the positive effects of decentralization are not as evident. Thus, the efforts toward rapid tourism development seem to have been accomplished with the trade-off of inadequate planning and negative social impacts.

Cultural tourism in the USA

Market segmentation coupled with target marketing Is on the increase and cultural tourism could prove a worthwhile sector. Research carried out in the USA by both arts and travel organizations has demonstrated the significance of the arts - tourism relationship. Audiences have been defined in terms of lifestyle descriptive variables with levels of educational attainment and income being among the more important indicators. Economic impact studies have shown that the financial contribution of the cultural tourist may be significantly greater than that of the local attendee. Arts festivals have great tourism-generating power and may even be worth publicizing abroad.

Route planning in cats, in relation to the visibility of the goal

In these experiments, eight cats had to choose between two paths leading to a baited feeding-bowl. Transparent or opaque screens were interposed between the starting-point and the goal; their arrangement was devised so as to manipulate the length and the angular deviation or detour amplitude of the paths. The results showed that cats exhibited a preference for one of the routes in most of the situations, although both were always rewarded. When the goal was visible (transparent screens), their choice of paths depended almost exclusively on the initial direction of the path with respect to a straight line to the goal: they chose the less divergent path even if this was the longer one. However, when the goal was hidden (opaque screens), cats took account both of the length and the angular deviation of each path; they chose the most appropriate route, with respect first to its length, then to its angular deviation. These results suggest that two kinds of mechanisms underlie the selection of paths in these spatial situations. Our conclusions fit with O'Keefe & Nadel's (1978) hypothesis concerning the existence of two orientation systems, the ‘taxon’ and the ‘locale’ systems, involved in the organization of travel.