ABSTRACT This study examines how Financial Technology (FinTech), Natural Resource Rent (NTR), Tourism (TOR), and Environmental Sustainability (ENS) interact in emerging economies, focusing on the CAREC region. The study evaluates how these drivers shape environmental outcomes while influencing broader economic development. Using the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR), the analysis captures heterogeneous effects across different levels of environmental sustainability, offering a more complete view of how these relationships vary across the distribution. The findings show a strong positive relationship between GDP, NTR, and CO 2 emissions, indicating that economic expansion tied to resource extraction intensifies environmental degradation. In contrast, FinTech demonstrates a negative association with CO 2 emissions. This suggests that digital financial systems can support greener development by improving efficiency, lowering transaction costs, and reducing dependence on physical infrastructure. Tourism, however, is shown to heighten environmental pressures, particularly in countries with high visitor inflows where resource use, waste generation, and mobility demands strain local ecosystems. The study highlights that scaling up FinTech solutions can help reduce the environmental burden of tourism and promote cleaner development pathways. For CAREC countries, the results underscore the need to integrate digital finance, green technologies, and sustainable tourism strategies to align economic activity with environmental goals. Policymakers are encouraged to redesign sectoral policies so that tourism and resource use contribute to long‐term sustainability rather than environmental decline.

India has made significant strides in fisheries (18.40 million tons; 2nd in aquaculture; 1.12% of national GVA), tourism (5% of GDP; 12.42 lakh direct jobs), start-ups (3rd largest ecosystem; 25% CAGR), eco-tourism (5% of tourism GDP), and agri-tourism (₹60 crore annual revenue in Maharashtra; 0.2% of tourism GDP). Despite this structured growth and progress, aqua-tourism – the intersection of fisheries and tourism—remains underdeveloped and fragmented. Currently, there is no structured model in India to connect fish farmers directly with clients seeking immersive, educational, and leisure-based aqua-tourism experiences. Potential tourists face limited booking options, high transaction costs, and a lack of value-added services. At the same time, many fish farmers are willing to offer but are unequipped due to the lack of expertise, digital access, or marketing channels. Existing centres remain isolated and under-promoted. Tour(F)ism aims to fill this critical gap as India's 1st rural aqua-tourism e-aggregator platform. The initiative moves beyond simple digital aggregation by enhancing the aqua-tourism experience through tourism-focused value additions at fish farms, seamlessly combining education, entertainment, and leisure elements. By reducing transaction costs and eliminating costly intermediaries, the platform empowers fish farmers to diversify their income through tourism. Additionally, it offers clients never-before-authentic, affordable rural aqua-tourism experiences. Thus, by effectively bridging the urban demand with rural supply within the fisheries-tourism interface, this novel platform creates a win-win solution for both fish farmers and clients.

Working Holiday Makers and sustainable Indigenous tourism: A motivational typology approach

Abstract Economic diversification remains a pressing concern for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies that remain heavily dependent on petroleum revenues, which make them vulnerable to commodity price shocks. While gold has been regarded as a safe-haven asset, its possible intervening role in affecting how oil dependence, green energy, innovation, tourism, and economic growth (ECGR) relate to each other has not been thoroughly explored in the literature. This paper bridges the gap by assessing whether gold prices influence the relationship between these drivers of diversification in the GCC. Data for the study were extracted from the OECD and the World Bank from 2000 to 2022, and the ARDL simulation was used for panel data models with heterogeneous cross-sectional dependence. The findings revealed that oil prices (OILPs) have a substantial positive influence on ECGR in the short and long run. Similarly, green energy technologies (GETs) have a substantial negative influence on ECGR in the short run but a positive influence in the long run. However, green innovation (GRIN) has a substantial negative influence on ECGR in the long run. Moreover, an increase in tourism (TOUR) revenues might lead to proportionate growth in the GDP per capita of the GCC countries. It is also revealed that gold prices (GOLP) have a positive influence on OILP and ECGR. Finally, the GOLP partially mediates the nexus between OILP and ECGR. Thus, this study can serve as a reference for diversification strategies of the GCC countries. These results highlight the strategic significance of commodity price volatility to diversification strategy. Thus, GCC policymakers should incorporate gold price volatility into their mainstream macroeconomic diversification strategy, deepen investment in green and innovation economies, and enhance the resilience of tourism to commodity price shocks.

ABSTRACT Existing scholarship on Chinese working holiday makers in Australia often overlooks their agency and the affective dimensions of how they interpret lived experience. This paper introduces pre-migration liminality to examine how prior liminal status in China, shaped by internal migration, hukou-based exclusion, educational stratification, and gendered or sexual marginalisation, influences perceptions of racism abroad. Drawing on six months of multi-sited ethnography in Australia and China, including life-story interviews with 45 Chinese youth, the study reveals a paradox: temporary migrants experience both precarity and empowerment simultaneously. Participants often downplayed, normalised, or even justified racism in Australia by comparing it with entrenched stratification in China, a process that fostered empathy toward disadvantaged Australians rather than resentment. These responses were rooted in pre-migration liminality: earlier encounters with inequality and outsider status at home shaped the comparative racial consciousness that informed how participants interpreted exclusion abroad. Furthermore, participants articulated empowerment within precarity. Through comparison, they revalued blue-collar labour, found recognition and situated belonging in multicultural environments, and envisioned a transnational space beyond nation-state limits. By centring pre-migration liminality, this study challenges host-country-centric racial frameworks and enriches debates on racial fluidity, transnational subjectivity, and the interplay of precarity and empowerment across borders.

Research on transnational Chinese youth mobility has largely overlooked the experiences of working holiday makers (WHMs), particularly those from non-elite backgrounds. Drawing on Beck’s theory of triple individualization—disenchantment, disembedding, and reembedding—along with a discussion of the paradox of China’s path to individualization, this study examines how Chinese youth become disillusioned with normative life trajectories and turn to transnational migration as a strategy for remaking their individual biographies. Based on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork and life-story interviews with 30 Chinese WHMs in Australia conducted between May and August 2023, the findings reveal that disenchantment emerges from tensions surrounding common sense in China, particularly in three key areas: collectivism and uniformity, workplace interpersonal relations, and gender norms. In contrast, the working holiday visa offers Chinese youth a temporary space in Australia to redefine identity and pursue autonomy. Their decisions to disembed from China and reembed abroad are shaped by marginalized pre-migration status associated with Hukou, education, gender and sexual orientation. This study deepens our understanding of how non-elite Chinese youth respond to institutional failure in their home country and contributes to broader discussions on transnational youth mobility, individualization in post-Xi Jinping China, and the intersection of migration, precarity, and identity reformation.

This research investigates the gambling landscape in Georgia, focusing on strategic marketing approaches to developing sustainable gambling tourism, particularly in the Adjara region. Georgia's gambling industry, encompassing both traditional land-based venues and an emerging online sector, has become a significant contributor to the national economy. Over the past decade, the gambling sector has grown substantially, playing a vital role in Georgia's financial well-being. This study delves into the importance of land-based gambling establishments, such as casinos, in driving tourism, with Adjara emerging as a key destination. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding the strategic marketing strategies employed by these establishments to attract gambling tourists and contribute to sustainable regional development is crucial. Qualitative research methods, including in-depth interviews and data analysis, were employed to examine the marketing strategies utilized by leading land-based casinos in Georgia. The findings reveal a focus on customer satisfaction, promotional campaigns, and collaborations with “junket” operators. Additionally, challenges such as regulatory constraints and geopolitical instability are identified, along with opportunities like targeting tourists from alternative countries and improving infrastructure. Statistical data further highlight the significant contribution of the gaming sector to the economy of the Adjara region, underlining its pivotal role in driving sustainable economic development and growth.

ABSTRACTAustraliaʼs structured migration pathway for seasonal workers from the Pacific and Timor‐Leste has evolved in many ways since starting as a pilot in mid 2008. These programme changes have not only included different names and managing agencies but also a stricter governance regime for managing risk. The paper explains how the operating context for the programme has shaped the governance changes. This environment has included media and union pressures to address incidents of alleged worker mistreatment. Also important was the rapid growth in worker numbers from Pacific countries during Covid. However, since then the number of seasonal workers working in agriculture has shrunk considerably. This has been due in part to the return of working holiday makers in large numbers. Also important is the decreased employer demand for seasonal workers engaged under stricter risk management requirements set recently by governments.

ABSTRACT This study examines how Chinese youth in the U.S. and Australia perceive and respond to racism as temporary migrants, focusing on the influence of pre-migration class positions and host-country contexts. Based on interviews with sixty Chinese students in the U.S. and forty-five working holiday makers in Australia, we find that U.S.-based students, primarily from urban, upper-middle-class backgrounds, experience status shock as they encounter systemic racial hierarchies and institutional barriers, fostering heightened sensitivity to racism and strong racial consciousness. Conversely, working holiday makers, largely from rural or economically disadvantaged areas, experience status uplift and a sense of empowerment. Viewing multiculturalism and mobility opportunities in Australia as an improvement over class-based discrimination in China, they tend to normalize or downplay racism. These contrasting responses are further shaped by each country’s immigration policies and labor markets. This study advances racialization research through a comparative, intersectional approach to Chinese diasporas.

ABSTRACT Drawing upon the distinctive identity attributes of working holiday makers, characterized by their dual identity as hosts and tourists, this study explores the relationship between host-guest interactions, social atmosphere, and subjective well-being by constructing a hypothetical model. The results reveal whether in the role of hosts or tourists, host-guest interactions significantly influence their subjective well-being, and social atmosphere mediates the relationship between host-guest interactions and subjective well-being. Furthermore, host-guest interactions’ effects on subjective well-being vary depending on different identities. Additionally, both emotional and instrumental host-guest interactions manifest diverse effects on social atmosphere across varying identities.

Inspired by Henri Lefebvre’s rhythmanalysis, this article focuses on the complex spatio-temporal dynamics of transnational youth mobility. This study explores the mobility polyrhythms of Chinese working holiday makers (WHMs), shaped by the free yet precarious rhythms of temporary youth labor migration, and the fast-paced, disciplining rhythms of China’s compressed modernity. Through ethnographic observation and interviews with 44 participants, I capture ‘suspension’, ‘fragmentation’, and ‘entanglement’ as important rhythmic transitions in the polyrhythm of Chinese WHMs’ mobilities. This rhythmanalysis reveals how young migrants from a compressed-modernity society navigated between multiple rhythms and socioeconomic patterns to experience and negotiate their uncertain mobile transitions to adulthood in the digital era. By extending rhythmanalysis into migration and mobility contexts, this research contributes a dynamic approach to conceptualising the non-linear and staggered interactions among multiple spaces, temporalities, and social forces in contemporary youth mobility.

Sustainable tourism (TOR) practices are essential for balancing economic growth and environmental conservation, enabling economies to protect natural resources while fostering socio-economic development. In the BIMSTEC region, where tourism is a significant economic driver, understanding the interplay between tourism and renewable energy (RE) is critical for achieving sustainable development. This study examines the influence of TOR and RE on environmental quality, measured through the load capacity factor (LCF), in BIMSTEC countries. It also explores the interaction between TOR and RE to evaluate their combined impact on environmental sustainability. Using panel data from 2000 to 2022, the study employs advanced econometric techniques, including the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) and augmented mean group (AMG) methodologies, to assess long-term relationships and robustness. Wavelet coherence analysis further examines time-frequency correlations between TOR and environmental quality. The results reveal that while TOR alone negatively impacts environmental quality, RE significantly enhances it, with a 1% increase in RE leading to a 0.04% improvement in LCF. The interaction term TOR*RE demonstrates a positive synergy, mitigating the adverse effects of tourism on the environment. The wavelet analysis highlights an inverse relationship between TOR and environmental quality over time, reinforcing the need for sustainable practices in the tourism sector. The findings emphasize the importance of integrating renewable energy into tourism policies to reduce air pollution and climate change impacts. Policymakers in BIMSTEC countries should focus on financial development and establishing sustainable tourism-related industries to address socio-economic and environmental challenges. This study provides actionable insights to promote environmentally sustainable tourism while supporting economic growth in the BIMSTEC region.

The Work and Holiday Visa (WHV) program offers young people an opportunity not only to travel but also to engage in temporary overseas employment amid increasing youth mobility in Indonesia. As well as a bilateral agreement between the governments of Indonesia and Australia, the WHV program aims to promote cultural exchange at both national and individual levels. However, participation in the program is far from straightforward. Applicants are required to meet strict eligibility criteria and demonstrate financial readiness to sustain themselves while seeking employment in Australia. These challenges make the WHV experience a significant context for the development and transformation of work values among participants. This study aims to explore the work values of former Indonesian Work and Holiday Makers during their stay in Australia and to understand the values they gained after completing the program and returning to Indonesia. Using a qualitative phenomenological approach, this research seeks to capture the lived experiences and the essence of work values shaped through temporary labor migration. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with four former Indonesian WHV participants who had completed the program and returned to their home country. The findings reveal two overarching themes of work values: (1) values that enhance personal growth, including resilience and self-efficacy, and (2) values related to the pursuit of financial independence. These values contributed to participants’ perceived quality of work life as temporary migrant workers, highlighting the transformative potential of the WHV program beyond economic outcomes

IntroductionThe factors that significantly and negatively impact carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and coastal water quality (CWQ) must be continuously monitored and thoroughly evaluated. Among these, tourism (TR) volume stands out as one of the primary contributors to such effects. In contrast, green fiscal policy (GFP) and fintech (FT) can be considered proactive and modern efforts contributing to the improvement of these environmental indicators. Exploring whether the impacts of these factors exhibit uniformity across quantiles will greatly benefit strategic solutions aimed at avoiding resource waste.MethodsThis paper aims to calibrate procedures to apply the method of moment quantile regression (MMQR) model to address this issue. Firstly, cross-sectional dependence (CSD) among the variables is examined. Next, a stable long-term relationship between the variables is assessed using stationarity analysis. Finally, the MMQR estimation is conducted to thoroughly investigate the impact of independent variables on CWQ and CO2 across different quantiles.ResultsThe results from both the fixed effects (FE-OLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (D-OLS) models reveal stable and significant correlations between the regressors and response variables. The research findings indicate that GFP and FT exert a significant impact on improving both CWQ and reducing CO2. In contrast, the favorable growth of the TR sector contributes negatively to CWQ and CO2.DiscussionThe paper recommends that the government increase spending and investment in green projects utilizing renewable energy, green transportation, blockchain technology, and advanced techniques. It also advocates for a strategic approach to controlling TR, focusing on enhanced waste management, in order to improve CWQ and CO2 indicators across most quantiles.

The article explores the current state, challenges, and prospects for the development of the gambling business as a key factor in shaping and stimulating gambling tourism in Ukraine. The aim of the research is to identify the gambling business as the foundation for the development of gambling tourism in Ukraine. The authors analyze the characteristics of the functioning of the gambling industry in both global and regional contexts, identifying the main socioeconomic and technological factors influencing the increasing popularity of gambling as a form of leisure. It is found that gambling tourism is one of the most dynamic sectors of international tourism, combining elements of entertainment, economic benefit, and tourist appeal. The research findings indicate that there is potential for the development of gambling tourism in Ukraine, provided there is a consistent government policy, investment attraction, positive image formation, and the creation of appropriate infrastructure. Relevant industry issues have been identified – from legalization to social risks and the lack of regional positioning. The integration of the gambling business into the structure of Ukraine’s tourist infrastructure will create new prospects for the development of multifunctional tourism complexes that will combine hotel facilities, gaming establishments, and other forms of entertainment. Such an approach is capable of stimulating the growth of investment attractiveness in the tourism sector, attracting foreign capital, activating the economic dynamics of the regions, and fostering the creation of new jobs. The development of the gambling industry will also positively affect the expansion of the range of tourist services – from the hotel and restaurant business to retail and service, enhancing the competitiveness of the Ukrainian tourism product in the international market.

This study aims to analyze the relationship among virtual reality experiences, virtual reality experiential outcomes, destination awareness, and intention to visit a destination. It is also investigated rega rding the mediating role of the virtual reality experiences and destination awareness on intention to visit. This study used a questionnaire to collect data from tou rist experiences using a virtual reality application. The 115 data collected were analysed by Partial Least Square (PLS) analysis. The finding indicates that the virtual reality experience does not significantly influence intention to visit. Furthermore, t he results of the virtual reality experience also proved not to significantly influence intention to visit, so the virtual reality experiential outcomes were not able to become an important factor as an indirect relationship between virtual reality experiences and intention to visit a destination. However, the virtual reality experience still has an influence on destination awareness and has an indirect effect on intention to visit destinations through mediation from destination awareness. Therefore, tourism managers must be able to utilize VR as an information medium related to the destinations offered, so that tourists will get a lot of useful information to be more familiar with these destinations which will ultimately influence the intention to visit a destination. The limitations of the study and future research agenda are also highlighted.

With the deepening of the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port and the accelerated development of international tou rism and consumption destination, Hainan’s tourism industry has ushered in unprecedented development opportunities. As an important component of the tourism industry, starred hotels undertake the important mission of providing high-quality services and showcasing local cultural characteristics. However, under the rapidly growing business demands and high-intensity work pressure, the physical and mental health issues of hotel staff have become increasingly prominent, becoming a key factor restricting the sustainable development of hotels. To this end, hotels should promote innovation in physical and mental health management for hotel staff, by strengthening organizational support, building a diversified physical and mental health service system, and enhancing staff’ awareness and ability of self-health management, the common development of hotels and staff can be promoted.

This commentary explains how backpacker research has been developed within and beyond tourism geography in the past 25 years. Based on a selective review of the backpacker literature, it identifies three enduring issues to form the basis for a future research agenda. Firstly, the question of how to define backpackers. Secondly, the methods used to understand backpacking. Thirdly, the debate regarding whether or not backpackers and working holiday makers are synonymous. The paper argues the lack of a shared definition of backpackers distorts perceptions of their impacts, particularly around the question of economic benefits. There are implications here for the tourism industry, the agriculture industry, the academy, and all who depend upon backpackers and/or working holiday makers for their livelihoods.

Several studies have proven that visual content uploaded on Instagram is a factor in forming destination images. On the other hand, tourists and local tourism authorities are two elements that form a destination image. This research aims to identify the image formation projected by local authorities and the image perceived by tourists through visual content uploaded to their official Instagram accounts in two time periods (before and after the COVID-19 pandemic). All visual content uploaded to their Instagram accounts was collected and analyzed using qualitative content analysis techniques to identify differences and similarities in the images formed by these elements in the two highlighted periods. This research found several things. First, various themes are exploited by these two elements in the production of visual content to be uploaded to their Instagram accounts, including natural attractions (AA), cultural attractions (AB), historical and religious buildings (BSK), tourist activities (TA), culinary and restaurant activities (CR), transportation and accommodation (AT), and local people (LP). Second, AA, TA, and AT are the dominant themes in the two periods (pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic). Third, in the post-pandemic period, there was a significant decline in the population of visual content uploaded to the Genpi-Bintan account compared to the pre-pandemic period. On the other hand, local authority accounts saw an increase in the population of visual content in the post-COVID-19 pandemic period compared to the period before the pandemic. Theoretical and practical implications and several recommendations are presented at the end of this article.

The boundaries between tourism and migration are blurry. This blurring has been beneficial for the governments of wealthy countries enabling them to import a large and flexible temporary workforce that can be directed toward regions and industries where there are labour shortages. Such is the case with the Australian Working Holiday Program (AWHP); a historically tourism-focused cultural exchange program that began in 1975. Since the 1990s, the Australian Government has leveraged the AWHP to support several of Australia’s critical industries. This has been achieved through the tweaking of mobility infrastructures that link Working Holiday Makers’ (WHMs) ability to stay in Australia to employment conditions. Such conditions increase precarity among WHMs, directing them towards remote regions and industries where there are evident labour shortages. While these mobility infrastructures significantly benefit Australia’s economy, they result in WHMs being highly vulnerable to exploitation. Such vulnerability is layered with WHMs from less wealthy, non-English-speaking countries facing the highest levels of vulnerability. This study investigates the way mobility infrastructures in the AWHP influence WHMs’ mobilities, as well as how such mobilities are experienced in uneven and unjust ways. There is urgency to interrogate the role that such programs play in contributing to unjust mobilities, and to query the attendant implications for sustainability.