Tourism Resource Management Research Articles

Connected at Sea: The Influence of the Internet and Online Communication on the Well-Being and Life Satisfaction of Cruise Ship Employees.

This study aims to elucidate the idiosyncratic effects of the Internet and online communication on the well-being and life satisfaction of cruise ship employees. Cross-sectional surveys and covariance-based structural equation modelling tools were used. In addition, univariate variance analysis was used to address the effects of socio-demographic variables (years of service on a cruise ship, working department on a cruise ship, gender, age, educational level and place of residency) on latent variables of the conceptual model. The conceptual model draws on existing theory and previous research and was empirically tested on a sample of cruise ship employee internet users. Result show that while being onboard a cruise ship, employees experience strong social pressure to be constantly available and they fear of missing out on important information and life events. Thus, relatedness to friends and family needs satisfaction is of paramount importance for cruise ship employees because they are fully aware that they are dispensable and replaceable to cruise ship companies, however to their friends and family, they are indispensable and unique. Moreover, employees who engage in other tasks/activities while taking part in online communication with friends and family exhibit reduced performance, which leads to poor interaction and social dissatisfaction. Lastly, employees experiencing under-reciprocating exchanges show significant negative effects on their well-being. Overall, the results provided several important theoretical and practical implications relevant to cruise tourism and human resource management.

Weight-Constrained Neural Networks in Forecasting Tourist Volumes: A Case Study

Tourism forecasting is a significant tool/attribute in tourist industry in order to provide for careful planning and management of tourism resources. Although accurate tourist volume prediction is a very challenging task, reliable and precise predictions offer the opportunity of gaining major profits. Thus, the development and implementation of more sophisticated and advanced machine learning algorithms can be beneficial for the tourism forecasting industry. In this work, we explore the prediction performance of Weight Constrained Neural Networks (WCNNs) for forecasting tourist arrivals in Greece. WCNNs constitute a new machine learning prediction model that is characterized by the application of box-constraints on the weights of the network. Our experimental results indicate that WCNNs outperform classical neural networks and the state-of-the-art regression models: support vector regression, k-nearest neighbor regression, radial basis function neural network, M5 decision tree and Gaussian processes.

Three-dimensional landscape modeling of Quancheng Square in Jinan city

Nowadays, with the booming of tourism industry and the rapid development of modern urban construction, two-dimensional scene expression is quite far from satisfying people’s requirements for travelling, sightseeing, shopping and other aspects. Compared with the two-dimensional scene expression, three-dimensional scene expression can provide people with more realistic scenes display and more quality services. Therefore, we carried out three-dimensional landscape belt modeling in Quancheng Square for delivering people more vivid scenery and more details of the sights of Quancheng Square. The modeling procedure consists of three major parts, including the iconic objects modeling by SketchUp, the entire three-dimensional scene modeling and three-dimensional spatial analysis by Skyline. People can clearly learn about the landscape of Quancheng Square through the 3D models and obtain more travelling information of the landscape. Thus, it has been widely applied in many fields, such as virtual tourism, tourism resources management, urban planning and the study of dynamic changes in urban environment.

Land Border Tourism Resources in China: Spatial Patterns and Tourism Management

Land border tourism in China serves as a pillar industry in local economic development and is an important sector for international cooperation. This paper aims to fill the gap in the spatial pattern of land border tourism resources in China using geographical information systems (GIS) and spatial statistical methods. The pattern was analyzed from the aspects of numerical features, spatial variance, and spatial association at different spatial scales. The results show that 3341 land border tourism resources in China reveal significant clusters and outliers at both the prefectural and county scales, offering useful information for the management of tourism resources. Physical factors, cultural diversity, regional policies, the relationships between neighboring countries, and public facilities are shown to be the main factors influencing the patterns. It is suggested that the government should adjust its management policies based on the characteristics of local resources, conduct combinatorial development of different types of resources, strengthen the cooperation domestically and internationally, improve public facilities, and protect the local environment and ethnic culture.

ТЕОРЕТИЧНІ ЗАСАДИ ФОРМУВАННЯ КОНЦЕПЦІЇ “ЗЕЛЕНОЇ” ЕКОНОМІКИ ЯК ПАРАДИГМИ СТАЛОГО РОЗВИТКУ УКРАЇНИ

This paper traces the origins of the green economy concept, providing the context for its current traction globally. The idea of green economy declared by UNEP in 2009 in its “Global Green New Deal” report is winning ever greater public attention. Its essence as the dominant paradigm at the present stage of social development is the ability to use the available free goods more effectively on the principles of interregional cooperation and mutual compensation of damages. The green economy concept promises to provide a concrete roadmap to the implementation of sustainable development while delivering significant social and economic benefits and reduced environmental risks. However, the concept of a green economy is still being debated and the emerging discourse has yet to be fully interpreted within the industrial, institutional and socioeconomic realities of many countries, including particularly emerging and developing nations. That is why it is highly important to understand its potential influence on economic development of Ukraine. Promoting green growth in Ukraine requires well-designed institutions and environmental policy instruments that are effective in achieving their environmental objectives without imposing excessive burdens on the economy. Generally, the green economy concept emphasizes all aspects of the sustainable development framework. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) defines the green economy concept as an economic paradigm that improves welfare, social equity, and environmental degradation. The economy concept will not replace the sustainable development framework. Sustainable development is the main goal in the long-run, whereas the green economy concept is the actions that should be taken in order to achieve sustainability. Several requirements are needed to apply the green economy concept. At national level, government needs to change their fiscal policies, introduce several environmentally friendly regulation, and reform their subsidy policies (for instance from fossil fuel subsidy to renewable energy subsidy). Moreover, government should also increase the public investment on the selected “green’’ sectors (UNEP 2011). It must be admitted that under globalization of environmental challenges there is a necessity for forming green economy fundamentals, i.e. system of economic activities related to the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services that would improve human welfare in the long-term without exposing future generations to significant environmental risks, resource and environmental scarcity. Therefore, the development of green economy doctrine in the context of establishing national strategy for sustainable development can be considered as a major landmark and basis of public policy, when Ukraine can both demonstrate its commitment to approaches of environmentally safe development within joint environmental and economic space, and clearly identify main trends of its sustainable development for the near future. The main goal of green economy is to achieve sustainable development, which includes three aspects, namely economic, environmental, and social. But implementation of a green economy concept needs additional aspects, such as public supports, policy reforms, and regulation adjustment. Moreover, green economy can be implemented differently across countries or regions, depending on the strength and weaknesses of a country or region. World practice shows that the development of green economy takes the form of sectoral model. UNEP strategy in this field foresees a switch of some key economic sectors such as agriculture, heating and lighting of buildings, energy, fishery, forestry, industry, tourism, transport, waste management and water resources management to the green track. It is to be admitted that today there is no “universal” formula for implementing green growth strategies. The transition to green economy depends on a number of political and institutional conditions, the level of economic development and other factors.

PENGEMBANGAN OBYEK WISATA BERBASIS COMMUNITY BASED TOURISM (CBT) DI HUTAN PAYAU, CILACAP

Payau Forest is one of the potential areas of tourism in Cilacap Regency. This is because the natural beauty of the Payau Forest and supported by trend of tourism that leads to nature tourism with attention to the sustainability. The management of the Payau Forest is done by the local community who are members of the community, namely Pokdarwis Maspayau and LMDH (Lembaga Desa Desa Hutan). The purpose of this research is to know (1) the development of Community-Based Tourism object (CBT) in Payau Forest Cilacap and (2) how the local community role in the management and development of tourism Payau Forest of Cilacap. The research method used is qualitative method. Primary data collection is done by interview, observation and literature study. The results of the research shows that the management of Payau Forest tourism in Cilacap implemented through the management of tourism resources, management of tourism marketing, human resource management, and crisis management. By implementing Community Based Tourism (CBT) in the management of Payau Forest can be seen from the active participation of the community in every tourism activity and the nature and cultural preservation. In addition, it is concluded that the level of community participation in the environment of Payau Forest is at the level of citizen control, meaning that people become controllers in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation process in tourism management.
 Keywords: Community Based Tourism, CBT, Payau Forest, nature tourism, citizen control

A measure of tourist experience quality: the case of inland tourism in Malaga

Although Malaga is a major tourist destination, research focused on the coastal area. However, the interior of the province has a growing tourism industry, so this tourism industry needs to be studied. The goal of this study was to analyse the attractiveness of this destination through the perceived quality of tourists’ experiences, measuring the effect of each agent involved in tourists’ overall assessment of the destination. Using a two-step factorial analysis of data gathered with 660 valid questionnaires collected through an on-the-ground survey, the composition structure and relationships of satisfaction factors in the destination were identified. Subsequently, the relationships between each agent with tourists’ overall assessment of the destination were extracted. The results suggest that tourism businesses are primarily responsible for the final quality of this destination, followed by organisations responsible of the management of tourism resources. Further, the results also show that there is room for improvement in quality. The worst ratings were given for the quality of leisure facilities and restaurants, while the aspects most valued by users have a low capacity for differentiation (i.e. climate, courtesy and value for money). Therefore, this tourist destination would benefit from implementing a system of integrated quality management.

旅行者主導型コンテンツツーリズムにおける観光資源マネジメント : らき☆すた聖地「鷲宮」とけいおん!聖地「豊郷」の比較から( 情報社会における地域デザイン)

旅行者主導型コンテンツツーリズムにおける観光資源マネジメント : らき☆すた聖地「鷲宮」とけいおん!聖地「豊郷」の比較から( 情報社会における地域デザイン)

On the role of cultural participation in tourism destination performance: an assessment using robust conditional efficiency approach

The relationship between culture and tourism has been widely investigated from different perspectives. A large strand of literature studies the role of cultural heritage to attract tourists, while a rich bulk of studies on cultural participation investigates the impact of tourism flows on the demand for culture. Another aspect worth investigating relates to the link between cultural participation and the performance of tourism destinations (TDs), as a higher cultural participation in an area could boost the performance in the management of tourism resources. However, so far, this issue has been disregarded in the literature, and this paper aims at filling this gap. Specifically, it studies the effect of cultural participation on TDs’ performance using a conditional efficiency approach that ensures robust inference on the role of environmental factors. We employ data on the Italian regions for the period 2004–2010, and we explore the role of cultural participation for tourism by using several indicators. Our findings offer empirical support to the positive role of cultural participation and, thus, suggest that public cultural policies might also boost the efficiency of the tourism sector.

Turismo na Serra da Estrela. Planeamento da atividade turística e desenvolvimento

A atividade do turismo apresenta-se, hoje, por todo o mundo, como uma atividade em franco crescimento, capaz de gerar fluxos económicos significativos e novas oportunidades de desenvolvimento. Portugal e a região da Serra da Estrela, no contexto de uma economia aberta e globalizada, não se encontram à margem deste fenómeno.Falar de turismo e de planeamento implica, forçosamente, falar de recursos, da sua gestão e do desenvolvimento económico que proporcionam a cada território. A maior ou menor atratividade que um destino turístico apresenta depende do modo como os recursos, qualitativamente representativos, se inter-relacionam.É nesta simbiose que a prática do planeamento em turismo assume a sua verdadeira importância nos termos da atual abordagem ao fenómeno turístico.Nesse sentido, coloca-se em evidência o potencial turístico intrínseco à região da Serra da Estrela, designadamente a partir dos seus recursos mais atrativos, avaliando o impacto que o planeamento e uma correta gestão dos recursos turísticos podem ter no processo de transformação económica e social da região.https://doi.org/10.14195/0871-1623_35_2

Managers' perceptions of the impact of the immigrant workforce: The case of the hotel industry on Lanzarote, Canary Islands

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this research was to analyze managers' perceptions of the positive and negative impacts that an immigrant labor force has on a hotel's outcomes. Specifically, the study explores the case of 19 hotels on the island of Lanzarote. Lanzarote is a clear example of a region that has undergone a change in its environment, especially in the composition of the population, over a very short period of time. The findings show the likelihood that certain nationalities will be employed in certain departments and that recruitment and selection managers are not aware of the importance of diversity for hotel outcomes. The lack of research on this topic in the tourism and human resource management related literature renders this study relevant for gaining a better understanding of the reality of such a social and economic phenomenon and for developing new lines of research.

English

This paper seeks to explore the role of tourism entrepreneurship in producing destination tourism spirit in Nigeria. Nigeria is a land richly endowed with natural and cultural resources. Concerted attempts have been made in the past five decades to build a viable tourism industry by government and a small number of operators, but not much has been achieved. The country has not been able to harness the abundant resources into attractive tourist products with high visitor-drawing power. Many reasons have been given for this ugly situation. The paper therefore conceptualized that, the possession of a resource base can only give absolute advantage, but does not produce the desired level of industry spirit necessary to sell the destination. What matters most is the resource conversion rate of entrepreneurs. Nigeria does not currently have a tourism model capable of achieving 80% of tourism resource conversion rate. This paper therefore proposes a tourism sector development model that posits tourism entrepreneurship as the potential driver of the tourism industry. It also highlights specific entrepreneurial tourism operations that are necessary to optimize the country’s tourism goals. The proposed tourism destination development model (TDDM) has the following four components: invention of tourism entrepreneurial programmes, harnessing the potential of existing hospitality enterprises in creating a tourism value chain, promoting community based tourism (CBT) in tourism resource management and creating effective tourism regulatory framework and infrastructural base. Key words: Tourism entrepreneurship, tourism development, tourism industry, tourism business plan, community based tourism, tourism development model.

Editorial

Atna, Journal of Tourism Studies (AJTS) has offered a platform for the publication of quality articles on research and learning in tourism over the years, thus reading out to researchers and professionals in the field. The Journal has continued to make serious inroads to understand the varied aspects and issues related to the study of tourism. Scholars, with the submission of excellent articles and reviewers through their critical feedback have helped to enhance the quality of the articles published. We are grateful to all authors and reviewers for helping AJTS to build a quality journal among the travel and tourism community in our country. The scholarly contributions featured in the current issue range across such wide areas, as Tourism Development, Local Community and Tourism, Coastal Tourism, Human Resource Management in Tourism, Tourism Management and Heritage Tourism. “A Study on Creation and Development of Wine Tourism Circuits in Maharashtra, by Anupama Kotur Kaddi examines the most important considerations for the creation of wine tourism circuits and analyses the opinions of wine tourism service providers on the creation and development of wine tourism circuits in the wine regions of Maharashtra. Local Community Involvement in Tourism: A Content Analysis of Websites of Wildlife Resorts, by Nagarjuna G reports on the various activities and practices adopted by wildlife resorts for the development of the local community. “Sustainable Coastal Tourism: A Community Perspective,” by Joseph P D and Pakkeerappa P examines the indicators of coastal sustainability from the perspective of the local community along the selected beaches of Dakshina Kannada. Cheryl Venan Dias and Venan Bonaventure Dias try to identify the human resource issues which are prevalent in the micro, small and medium travel, tourism and hospitality enterprises in their article “A Shift from Work-Life Balance to Work-Life Choices: A Study on Tourism Professionals in Goa”.

Development and Management of Tourism Resources in Zhejiang Province from the Perspective of Sustainable Development

Zhejiang province owns abundant tourism resources which help make it one of China’s most developed provinces in tourism. However, many tourism resources are partly or completely destroyed due to aimless development and utilization. It is suggested in this paper that the quality of tourism activity be promoted, scientific estimation system for bearing capacity be established, the order of nature and pristine state of tourism resources be attached more importance than economic development so that the sustainable development of tourism resource and tourism economy can be guaranteed.

A Sustainable Tourism Paradigm: Opportunities and Limits for Forest Landscape Planning

The promotion of sustainable tourism models has been widely debated; many pages have been devoted to the attempt to provide the subject with a strong theoretical base and coherent structure. This said, it is still the case that, although such frameworks are crucial for the development of appropriate planning and policy instruments, their actual implementation continue to be fraught with difficulties. These problems are exacerbated when sustainable tourism entails development opportunities which require the support of the local community and the management of natural resources which are typically common goods. Under these circumstances, new management structures, which can both satisfy the needs of the local community and ensure the appropriate stewardship of the natural resources, must be created. Management solutions are not always easy to define and often need to be considered within a general framework, based on which individual cases are then formulated. This study analyses the connections between models of sustainable tourism and natural resource management considering the forest landscape case. This relationship is first examined from a theoretical perspective and then within a case study, in order to highlight the dual approach—both general and within a specific context.

The Study on Strategy of Sustainable Development in Coastal Tourism Resources from the Global Change Perspective

Global change is induced by human activities and these changes impact tourism development. The transportation system especially aviation consumed by tourists and accommodation facilities in coastal destinations release massive greenhouse gases and contribute to global change. The ocean is very important to the society and the economy, and coastal tourism is one of the main human activities in the coastal zone. Coastal tourism resources are rich in China, and coastal tourism plays a decisive role in the marine economy. Here, we analyze problems and challenges during the development of coastal tourism resources from the global change perspective, and identify key factors for the future and ecologically friendly coastal tourism resource development and management under the framework of sustainable development. Based on our findings we recommend changing the pattern and products of coastal tourism to develop low carbon coastal tourism based on the idea of “green thinking”; more attention on developments of creative tourism products such as ecotourism and alternative tourism; changes to coastal tourism resource utilization by developing low carbon coastal tourism, advocating carbon emission reduction, promoting carbon compensation and carbon economy, and encouraging new energy saving technology application. Stakeholders also need to be considered. All these measures should be implemented and optimized during the process of planning-management-monitoring-evaluation in the dynamic model. Due to limited data on coastal tourism resource development and management in the global change perspective, part of our reference data is from whole tourism research results and this is a shortcoming of our approach.

Community Based Natural Resource Management, Tourism and Poverty Alleviation in Southern Africa: What Works and What Doesn’t Work

Community based natural resource management (CBNRM) is perhaps the most important tool for driving community and rural development in southern Africa. The paper therefore analyses the CBNRM framework as a strategy for implementing sustainable tourism and poverty alleviation initiatives in Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia. The article specifically underscores the importance of local-level participatory management and utilisation of natural resources in the region. Paying special attention to the previous researches that have been conducted in Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia, the methodological approach employed in the paper centres on critical discourse analysis and review of literatures to highlight the interface existing between CBNRM and rural (tourism) development. The analytical framework of the paper is thus rooted in the Common Property Resource (CPR) theory. Overall, the authors argue that tourism, poverty alleviation, rural development, and sustainable natural resource use are linked and interrelated in the process of enhancing community well-being. Findings indicate that CBNRM initiatives have had a significant and positive impact in achieving sustainable tourism, rural development, poverty alleviation, and natural resource management. Specifically, findings show that the CBNRM has contributed to the reduction in wildlife poaching. While other pertinent issues remain, national governments in the three southern African economies need to fully appropriate the benefits that CBNRM offers and improve on them for better implementation of developmental programs.

An extended VRIO model as a framework for sustainable tourism planning: a review.

The management of resources by a tourism destination is of crucial importance for sustainable tourism development. The Resource-based View, a relevant school of strategic thought, offers a conceptual model for the analysis of organizational resources. This paper proposes to extend this model to the sustainability of tourist destinations. That is, assuming the VRIO model, and recognizing its usefulness as a tool for resource analysis, we introduce the sustainability dimension. The VRIO(S) model proposed here is intended as a starting point for discussion about the management of tourism resources in the context of sustainable development and competitive advantage to be undertaken

The Application of GIS Technology in Tourism Resources Management

The establishment of Tourism Resource Management Information System is the first attempt. Therefore, there exist some inadequacies in the design process of the system. In order to make the system serve the tourism industry in better, it is necessary to strengthen the feedback system after put the system into practice. The related functions and data can be revised according to the feedback information. Tourism Resource Management Information System can be maximized its role and becomes a really practical system only by this way. Tourism resources are the material foundation and prerequisite for tourism development. Only by the scientific and effective management, the reasonable development, planning and utilization can be realized. Tourism Resource Management Information System is a technical system which collects, store, analyze and manage with the support of both hardware and software. It implements the effective management of the tourism resources' scientification, standardization and modernization .. The present study analyzes and discusses the objectives, database design, content, system structure and its functional characteristics.

Capacity Building and Human Resource Development Initiatives: Community Based Tourism Development in Nepal

Community Based Tourism (CBT) in Nepal is considered one of the important industries for sustainable development and empowerment. The government is apprehensive on promoting this industry with higher priority. With a view, it being an employment-oriented industry there is a notion that it could solve the socio-economic discrepancies, if expanded to many areas of the country. Taking these facts into consideration, it has been initiated to develop community-based tourism with wider objectives. It is also argued that the impacts on livelihoods and not just income need to be assessed along with the variety of positive and negative effects. There is a strong belief that CBT capacitates and empowers local people as actors in tourism planning, development and management. There is a perception among the local stakeholders that CBT helps them understand how tourism could contribute to their well-being and take active roles to minimize the negative impacts of tourism. It is intended that the management, development and ownership of local tourism resources and products should be carried out by the local communities themselves to ensure maximum tourism benefits to the local stakeholders, making them more responsible. Despite the fact that there are numerous training courses being run particularly focused on the tourism development in Nepal, there is still a deficiency of more CBT related training manuals. Effective teaching and learning process, sharing knowledge and experiences amongst the trainers, participants as well as other stakeholders are still in high demand. Furthermore, proper monitoring and follow-up practices of executed training events are preferred to be ensured. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ntdr.v1i1.7373 Nepal Tourism and Development Review Vol.1(1) 2011 83-101