Destination Regions Research Articles

Flows Reduction Scheme Using Two MPLS Tags in Software-Defined Network

This paper proposes a scheme to reduce the number of flow entries permanently stored in an OpenFlow switch and the number of configuration messages from a controller in a software-defined network (SDN). In an SDN, a flow table in an OpenFlow switch is used to instruct packets. The flow table consists of flow entries decided by the controller. A flow request is sent from the OpenFlow switch to the controller if the incoming packet does not match any flow entry in the flow table. The controller’s central processing unit may be overloaded to handle user requests, since the user requests for different data types have been rapidly increasing. As a result, flow configuration in switches is delayed. Moreover, the control plane may be flooded by configuration messages of those requests. A scheme to permanently keep the flow entries in the switch can reduce the number of requests. However, a large number of permanent flow entries is required. Other switch features may be degraded, since there is not enough memory in the flow table to implement those features. In the proposed scheme, switches in the network are divided into multiple regions. In order to guide packets from sources to destinations, the flow table incorporating the concept of two multiprotocol label switching tags is re-designed. One tag directs a packet from a source switch to an edge switch in the destination region. The other tag directs the packet from that edge switch to another switch in the same region. A mathematical model for the proposed scheme is formulated as an integer linear programming to determine a set of switches in each region so that the total number of permanent flow entries in the network can be minimized. The performance of the proposed scheme is analyzed. Moreover, the proposed scheme is implemented and demonstrated via Japanese Science Information Network 5.

Tourism networking for regional place innovation in Swedish Lapland

The article presents a case study of tourism networking in the regional destination Swedish Lapland, exploring how 'place innovation' can be used as a new scientific and practical concept to study co-innovative development of attractive and sustainable places. Drawing upon previous studies of inclusive innovation, place innovation and tourism destination development, it is distinguished how the networking among the involved entrepreneurs, designers, architects, destination management organisations, business promoters, municipalities, researchers etc., is characterised by negotiations in relation to the main components, target groups and innovation forms of place innovation. These encompass the components of configuration, content and communication, the target groups of visitors, residents and businesses, as well as the innovation forms of service innovation, user-driven innovation and social innovation. The specific set of interacting actors in the studied network made the negotiations result in a prioritisation of the commercial content over the public and civil content, of visitors over residents and businesses, and of service innovation and social innovation over user-driven innovation, affecting the prospects of attaining attractive and sustainable regional destinations.

Modeling the Impacts of Free Trade Agreements on Domestic Transportation Gateways, Corridors, and Ports

Canada has recently made progress with several free trade agreements (FTAs), and although the government has carried out considerable analysis of their potential impact on the Canadian economy, little to no work has been done to assess the potential impact on Canada's transportation system. The objective of the research was to estimate the impacts of recent and forthcoming FTAs on Canada's domestic trade infrastructure. This study extended a typical computable general equilibrium simulation of an FTA by estimating high-level domestic supply chain characteristics (i.e., subnational region of origin or destination, sub-national region of exit or entry, international transportation mode, port of clearance) and by converting the resulting trade flows to freight flows measured in tonnage. The results indicate that the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union (EU) may have had large impacts on Canada's Continental and Atlantic Gateways, especially at the Port of Montreal, Quebec, as a result of trade creation with the EU. CETA also has had impacts on various crossings at the U.S. border as a result of trade diversion with the United States. Simulations, however, suggested that the Canada–Korea Free Trade Agreement has had relatively small impacts, mostly concentrated in the Asia-Pacific Gateway, particularly at the Port of Vancouver, British Columbia. Although the impacts were FTA-specific, this research demonstrated the need to consider FTAs in commodity forecasting and freight transportation planning, because they could make sizable changes to future freight flows on domestic transportation infrastructure.

KOTA TUA BARUS SEBAGAI DAERAH TUJUAN WISATA SEJARAH DI KABUPATEN TAPANULI TENGAH

Barus Old City became one tourist destination for researchers of Islamic archeology, both domestically and abroad, especially in the Lobu Tua. All the existing tourism potential and supported by strategic location for a sightseeing trip make Old Town Barus very suitable to serve as a regional destination (DTW). But the existence of a tourist attraction that is not yet fully got the attention of government and society. It can be seen from the tourist attraction in Barus and a lack of information regarding the existing tourist attraction. Therefore, to make the Old City Barus as a historical tourist destination need for improvement of the tourism institute itself and also the community as a tourism people. Data collected by in-depth interviews and observation. In-depth interviews conducted by referring to the interview guide are explored and defined through preliminary observation / assessment. Some might ask them is what the potential of the old city of Barus addition to in-depth interviews, data collection is also done with the observation well at the sample location or at multiple locations in the surrounding historical attractions. Things were observed among the tourism potential in the history of the Old City of Barus Central Tapanuli. Results of this study showed that the potency owned Old Town Barus is historical attractions such as ancient tombs which are graves of Muslim missionaries of the past that Mahligai Tomb, Tomb of Boards of Appeal, the Tomb of Mr. Syech Machdun. All existing tourism potential and supported by strategic location for sightseeing trips make Old Town Barus very suitable to serve as a tourist destination. Efforts Preservation and Development of tourism potential in the Old City of Barus need any interference from the local community that would care little about the existence of these ancient tombs and also expect the local government to be more open eyes in the dig, as well as rectifying the historical record that the entry of Islam Indonesia through the Old City Barus, because in addition to as evidence of history that should be preserved its existence, the site of ancient tombs can also be used as a historical tourist destination in Central Tapanuli regency especially the old city Barus.

Airline new route selection based on interval type-2 fuzzy MCDM: A case study of new route between Turkey- North American region destinations

Conditions of global competition in the aviation sector force airlines to be internationally-minded instead of competing only in their domestic markets. Thus, airlines are interested in potential international markets instead of domestic markets. This study focuses on the process of new route selection, which has a high impact on the revenue and passenger numbers of airlines. An airline company in Turkey plans to launch a new route at an airport in the North American region. Any suboptimal decision has a huge effect on the outcomes of airlines in the market. Therefore, making an optimal decision, which is compatible with the airline company's goal, is highly important. In this study, a decision analysis is applied in terms of the selection of a new route from five different destinations by using an interval type-2 fuzzy TOPSIS method. A multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method is used in order to identify the aspects of the new route's feasibility. Finally, a real case study is shown to verify the proposed method and to demonstrate its practicality and feasibility. The results show that the MCDM approach is a useful tool for decision-makers in terms of selecting potential airports for route analysis.

Drug Tourism: General Overview, Case Studies and New Perspectives in the Contemporary World

Abstract Several are the motivations and natures of the activities undertaken by tourists, leading to the existence of different types of tourism, which, according to the World Tourism Organization, can be divided into major segments (e.g. Sun & Beach Tourism, Ecotourism and etc.); each one with its own subcategories, as the religious tourism, experience tourism and so on. So, would it be possible to talk about drug tourism? Where, the drug itself would present a significant role as a motivation for travelling. Drug tourism could be seen as the journeys undertaken with the purpose of obtaining or using drugs, which are not available or are illegal in the tourist origin places. The purpose of this article was to provide a general discussion on the subject of drug tourism. In this task, some important examples were cited and the positive and negative impacts on the country or region of destination, the relationships between the different types of drug tourism with the major segments defined by the UNWTO, as well as new perspectives in this field were also discussed. As a case study, were presented information about cannabis tourism in Amsterdam, Netherlands (derived from literature searches and questionnaires in field research). This is a topic discussed only superficially but which is an obvious reality in various tourist destinations. Therefore, it is essential the development of a deeper treatment (deprived of prejudices) about the changes occurring in the contemporary world (concerning the drug politics), which may open new frontiers for this type of tourism.

Effects of the financial crisis on university choice by gender

This study analyses the university choices of male and female students in Italy over the 2003–2012 period and for two sub-periods before (2003–2008) and after (2009–2012) the 2008 financial crisis. The analysis is guided by human capital, signalling and preference theories and implemented through a competing destinations model that controls for the socio-economic features of both the region of origin and destination. The findings show that in the post-crisis period, males became more career-oriented in their university choices due to increasingly constrained and competitive labour markets. The constrained post-crisis labour markets led females to focus more on the educational experience than on future employability prospects. Our results suggest that the financial crisis maintained or even widened gendered social roles as they relate to university choices; specifically, males assumed an even greater career-centred family role, whereas females adopted more adaptive lifestyles that potentially place them at a disadvantage in the labour market and in society in years to come.

Transport of chaotic trajectories from regions distant from or near to structures of regular motion of the Fermi-Ulam model.

The chaotic portion of phase space of the simplified Fermi-Ulam model is studied under the context of transport of trajectories in two scenarios: (i) the trajectories are originated from a region distant from the islands of regular motion and are transported to a region located at a high portion of phase space and (ii) the trajectories are originated from chaotic regions around the islands of regular motion and are transported to other regions around islands of regular motion. The transport is investigated in terms of the observables histogram of transport and survival probability. We show that the histogram curves are scaling invariant and we organize the survival probability curves in four kinds of behavior, namely (a) transition from exponential decay to power law decay, (b) transition from exponential decay to stretched exponential decay, (c) transition from an initial fast exponential decay to a slower exponential decay, and (d) a single exponential decay. We show that, depending on choice of the regions of origin and destination, the transport process is weakly affected by the stickiness of trajectories around islands of regular motion.

Cross-border reproductive care: an Ethics Committee opinion.

Cross-border reproductive care (CBRC) is a growing worldwide phenomenon, raising questions about why assisted reproductive technology (ART) patients travel abroad, what harms and benefits may result, and what duties health-care providers may have in advising and treating patients who travel for reproductive services. Cross-border care offers benefits and poses harms to ART stakeholders, including patients, offspring, providers, gamete donors, gestational carriers, and local populations in destination countries. This document replaces the previous document of the same name, last published in 2013 (Fertil Steril 2013;100:645-50).

Steady tourists’ relationship with a mature destination

This article assesses how the last-visit features and the socio-demographic profile of tourists moderate repeat-visit patterns to Portugal, a mature destination where the persistence of loyal visitors has made its mark on tourism development. The methodology used is a survival analysis to assess the tourists’ repeat patterns. To test the model, a database of 4612 observations was employed, which was obtained from a survey of international tourists. Only repeat visitors with more than two visits over the years were considered for the purpose of the research. The study finds that a combination of socio-demographic characteristics, expectation/satisfaction, trip purpose, pull motivations and regional destination has a positive effect on repeat patterns, confirming that tourists’ willingness to repeat visits to Portugal is far from ceasing. Based on those tourists to Portugal who declared when they started to visit the country, and the number of years of their repeat visits, the article contributes to the literature by introducing new methods of assessing tourists’ repeat patterns for destinations.

The announcement effects of regional tourism industrial policy

Hainan Island has a rich diversity of tourism resources. China’s central government recognized this and announced a national policy to promote Hainan Island as a first-rate international tourist destination on December 31, 2009. The authors explore the effects of the announcement using an event studies approach. The results with and without considering the clustering issue show that, first, the averages of cumulative abnormal returns are not different from 0 prior to the announcement and, second, the cumulative abnormal returns of the Hainan board continuously rose over trading days after the announcement of a regional tourism industrial policy. These findings indicate that regional tourism industrial policy is valuable not only to the tourism industry in the destination region but also to other industries in that region.

Geometry of interest (GOI): spatio-temporal destination extraction and partitioning in GPS trajectory data

Nowadays large amounts of GPS trajectory data is continuously collected by GPS-enabled devices such as vehicles navigation systems and mobile phones. GPS trajectory data is useful for applications such as traffic management, location forecasting, and itinerary planning. Such applications often need to extract the time-stamped sequence of visited locations (SVLs) of the mobile objects. The nearest neighbor query (NNQ) is the most applied method for labeling the visited locations based on the IDs of the points of interests (POIs) in the process of SVL generation. NNQ in some scenarios is not accurate enough. To improve the quality of the extracted SVLs, instead of using NNQ, we label the visited locations as the IDs of the POIs which geometrically intersect with the GPS observations. Intersection operator requires the accurate geometries of the POIs which we refer to them as the geometries of interest (GOIs). In some application domains (e.g. movement trajectories of animals), adequate information about the POIs and their geometries may not be available a priori, or they may not be publicly accessible and, therefore, they need to be derived from GPS trajectory data. In this paper we propose a novel method for estimating the GOIs, which consists of three phases: (1) extracting the geometries of the stay regions; (2) constructing the geometry of destination regions based on the extracted stay regions; and (3) constructing the GOIs based on the geometries of the destination regions. Using the geometric similarity to known GOIs as the major evaluation criterion, the experiments we performed using long-term GPS trajectory data show that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art.

Migración sur-sur: factores relacionales e inserción segmentada de la población boliviana y peruana en la ciudad de Córdoba, Argentina

Como caso de migración sur-sur se analizan las poblaciones de origen boliviano y peruano residentes en la ciudad de Córdoba, con la hipótesis del mayor peso explicativo de factores relacionales respecto de las diferencias de desarrollo entre las regiones de origen y destino.Se comparan la estructura demográfica, la inserción educativa y la distribución espacial de las dos poblaciones entre los censos nacionales de 2001 y 2010. Por razones de disponibilidad de los datos la inserción ocupacional sólo se describe en el censo de 2001, y a través de los antecedentes por medio de encuestas para el periodo siguiente.Se concluye que el atractivo de Córdoba se debe más a los vínculos históricos que estos dos colectivos migrantes han forjado con la ciudad que al nivel de desarrollo económico o social de ésta.

Social media use in pre-trip planning by tourists visiting a small regional leisure destination

The aim of this study is to develop a better understanding of the use of social media in tourism pre-trip information search patterns for small regional leisure destinations. Only limited research has previously focused on how small regional destinations use and adopt social media strategies. This study addresses this gap in the literature by developing a better understanding of the challenges faced by small regional destinations. The results based on a visitor survey of 986 tourists found that social media was important for 27.9% of respondents when searching for information about their upcoming trip. Surprisingly, only a small number of respondents (15.6%) reported using apps to assist them make travel decisions. The growth in the use of social media allied with increasing ownership levels of smartphones indicates that destination marketing organizations of small regional destinations need to pay greater attention to social media and its delivery systems including smartphones. Implications are discussed for managers and stakeholders of small regional destinations, who may find this study valuable in guiding their future social media marketing efforts.

Satisfying service needs without compromising culture

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the preparedness of regional destinations for new and developing markets (NDMs) focusing on service provision and cultural considerations. Design/methodology/approach In-depth interviews using semi-structured questions and quantitative and qualitative analyses were undertaken with regional tourism-related stakeholders to investigate NDMs, levels of preparedness for these markets, perceptions on service quality and host and visitor culture. Findings Regional tourism operators and organisations within the case study were not well prepared for NDMs such as China and India. There was a strong desire to present a local experience with services that reflect the Australian culture, rather than replicate the visitors’ culture. Levels of awareness for the services preferred by NDMs and the intention to cater specifically to these preferences was found to be inconsistent. Key challenges include market diversity, staff training, limited resources and inadequate infrastructure. Resource allocation to address these challenges may not be a high priority, impacting NDMs’ preparedness and regional tourism growth. Originality/value Globally, tourism organisations are directing marketing efforts towards NDMs. However, ill-preparedness for these markets can lead to low levels of tourist satisfaction, reduced re-visitation and fewer positive word-of-mouth recommendations, all of which negatively impact tourism growth and development. Limited research has been undertaken in this area; thus, this study aids in identifying areas of focus for regional preparedness, service provision and resource allocation for existing markets and NDMs.

The rally experience: Exploring motivation patterns of Australian Grey Nomads

Senior tourists are key figures in the world's drive tourism market. This study focusses on the 'Grey Nomads' in Australia, the core aim being to understand the tourists' motivations patterns for attending recreational vehicle (RV) rallies. At a typical RV rally in a key regional destination, 170 questionnaire-based surveys were collected. Building on the theoretical analysis of travel motivation studies, factor analysis of the combined internal and destination feature motivational attributes suggested five key motivations with three hierarchical levels of influence. The leading motivational influences were destination attractiveness and the appeal of the rally itself, while the desire to enhance one's relationship and socialisation were a powerful part of the total pattern. Escape and achievement, and knowledge enhancement, were important but significantly less prominent in the overall arrangement of the motivating forces. An analysis of the rally goers' activities on site and in the region reinforces the hierarchical nature of the RV participants' motivation. This work helps to better understand the forces shaping senior RV tourists' travel choices and also offers implications for regional destinations that are seeking to attract the large, nationally important and mobile tourism community.

Domestic Travel and Regional Migration for Parathyroid Surgery Among Patients Receiving Care at Academic Medical Centers in the United States, 2012-2014.

To improve outcomes after parathyroidectomy, several organizations advocate for selective referral of patients to high-volume academic medical centers with dedicated endocrine surgery programs. The major factors that influence whether patients travel away from their local community and support system for perceived better care remain elusive. To assess how race/ethnicity and insurance status influence domestic travel patterns and selection of high- vs low-volume hospitals in different regions of the United States for parathyroid surgery. A retrospective study was conducted of 36 750 inpatients and outpatients discharged after undergoing parathyroidectomy identified in the University HealthSystem Consortium database from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2014 (12 quarters total). Each US region (Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, Central Plains, Southeast, Gulf Coast, and West) contained 20 or more low-volume hospitals (1-49 cases annually), 5 or more mid-volume hospitals (50-99 cases annually), and multiple high-volume hospitals (≥100 cases annually). Domestic medical travelers were defined as patients who underwent parathyroidectomy at a hospital in a different US region from which they resided and traveled more than 150 miles to the hospital. Distance traveled, regional destination, and relative use of high- vs low-volume hospitals. A total of 23 268 of the 36 750 patients (63.3%) had parathyroidectomy performed at high-volume hospitals. The mean (SD) age of the study cohort was 71.5 (16.2) years (95% CI, 71.4-71.7 years). The female to male ratio was 3:1. Throughout the study period, mean (SD) distance traveled was directly proportional to hospital volume (high-volume hospitals, 208.4 [455.1] miles; medium-volume hospitals, 50.5 [168.4] miles; low-volume hospitals, 27.7 [89.5] miles; P < .001). From 2012 to 2014, the annual volume of domestic medical travelers increased by 15.0% (from 961 to 1105), while overall volume increased by 4.9% (from 11 681 to 12 252; P = .03). Nearly all (2982 of 3113 [95.8%]) domestic medical travelers had surgery at high-volume hospitals, and most of these patients (2595 of 3113 [83.4%]) migrated to hospitals in the Southeast. Domestic medical travelers were significantly more likely to be white (2888 of 3113 [92.8%]; P < .001) and have private insurance (1934 of 3113 [62.1%]; P < .001). Most patients with private insurance (12 137 of 17 822 [68.1%]) and Medicare (9433 of 15 121 [62.4%]) had surgery at high-volume hospitals, while the largest proportion of patients with Medicaid and those who were uninsured had surgery at low-volume hospitals (1059 of 2715 [39.0%]). Centralization of parathyroid surgery is a reality in the United States. Significant disparities based on race and insurance coverage exist and may hamper access to the highest-volume surgeons and hospitals. Academic medical centers with dedicated endocrine surgery programs should consider strategic initiatives to reduce disparities within their respective regions.

Sami tourism in destination development: conflict and collaboration

ABSTRACTIndigenous tourism has become an important component of the tourism industry. Previous indigenous tourism research has indicated three conflict areas that can have an impact on destination development: internal conflicts over indigenous identity, the use of indigenous culture in destination marketing, and land-use conflicts. To varying degrees these areas of conflict have been found to impact local and regional destination development in northern Europe. This paper draws on case studies to understand how conflicts in Sami tourism in local and regional destination development are addressed through stakeholder collaboration in Jokkmokk, Sweden and Kautokeino, Norway. The study indicates that collaboration between destination marketing organizations and Sami stakeholders has been initiated and has improved destination marketing. Conflicts relating to indigenous identity and land-use are more challenging to address through collaboration due to the history of colonization by nation states. Such prevailing conflicts place certain requirements on the facilitator of collaboration processes in tourism destination development.

The spatial autocorrelation problem in spatial interaction modelling: a comparison of two common solutions

Spatial interaction models of the gravity type are widely used to describe origin-destination flows. They draw attention to three types of variables to explain variation in spatial interactions across geographic space: variables that characterize the origin region of interaction, variables that characterize the destination region of interaction, and variables that measure the separation between origin and destination regions. A violation of standard minimal assumptions for least squares estimation may be associated with two problems: spatial autocorrelation within the residuals, and spatial autocorrelation within explanatory variables. This paper compares a spatial econometric solution with the spatial statistical Moran eigenvector spatial filtering solution to accounting for spatial autocorrelation within model residuals. An example using patent citation data that capture knowledge flows across 257 European regions serves to illustrate the application of the two approaches.

Examining the hierarchy of destination brands and the chain of effects between brand equity dimensions

Abstract This paper focuses on the customer-based brand equity for a tourist destination, and develops a model including the dimensions of this construct (i.e. awareness, image, perceived quality and loyalty). Accordingly, loyalty is considered the main dependent variable in the model developed here. A major contribution of this paper is that it takes into account the hierarchy of destination brands and analyzes not only the chain of effects between the dimensions of brand equity for a regional destination but also the influence of the country destination image (i.e. the country is considered to be an umbrella brand) on the perceived image of one of its regional destinations. Another significant contribution is made by examining the moderating effect of country familiarity on the relationship with both types of image. The empirical evidence obtained from a sample of 253 international tourists visiting a regional destination in Spain supports the hypothesis that loyalty towards a destination is positively influenced by the perceived quality of the destination, which in turn is directly influenced by the image and awareness of that destination. Additionally, the results support the idea that perceptions of a regional destination are positively influenced by the perceptions of the country destination in which the region is located. However, a moderating effect of country familiarity on the relationship with either type of image was not supported in this research. This could be because in a country where there are a lot of destination brands, being more familiar with the country does not necessarily imply a more accurate knowledge of its regional destinations.