Tourist Volume Research Articles

Local Perspectives on the Impact of Tourism on Religious Festivals in Bhutan

The Himalayan nation of Bhutan is known to embrace Gross National Happiness rather than Gross National Product as the measure of its people's well-being. Happiness, spirituality and cultural authenticity are prominent factors in Bhutan's tourism image, and these attributes are most clearly exhibited in the traditional festivals that are among the most popular attractions for many foreign tourists. This paper introduces the cultural practice of religious festivals in Bhutan and investigates how tourism may be affecting these festivals. Within this context, this paper reports on the findings of a survey of Bhutanese monks and lay people, regarding their impressions of the effects of tourists on one particular event – the Tsechu festival. With the Bhutanese government's aim to increase the number of annual tourists more than fourfold to 200,000 by 2018, this research provides a baseline study of the perceived impact of tourism on religious festivals and addresses the issue of whether such an increase in volume of tourists would pose a threat to the integrity and value of these festivals as perceived by Bhutanese people.

Convenience stores and routine activities in a summer tourist destination

In this paper we examine the effects of alcohol outlets, with particular attention to convenience stores, located in an East Coast Tourist City. Tourist City offered an opportunity to observe the interplay between convenience stores and robberies and assaults in the presence of large volumes of summer tourists. Guided by Routine Activities Theory, we focused on the convergence of potential victims, guardianship and offenders in the vicinity of convenience stores. The first part of our paper concerns the effects of convenience stores on assaults and robberies in block groups. Using grocery stores as a comparison to convenience stores, we found that the number of convenience stores was correlated with significantly higher levels of both robberies and assaults. The second part of our investigation employed small circular buffer areas focusing on the immediate area around the convenience stores. This analysis revealed that these small areas were associated with significantly higher assaults in the summer and offseason but robberies only during the offseason. In addition, we found that variation in the number of other alcohol outlets near the convenience stores increases the number of assaults within the buffer areas.

How different are tourists who decide to travel to a mature destination because of the existence of a low-cost carrier route?

There seems little doubt that Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs) have had a substantial impact on the tourism sector, with the generation of volumes of tourists to emerging and mature destinations. However, little is known about how the tourists' profile depends on the influence exercised by an LCC in the decision-making process for visiting a certain destination. This is the focus of this study which main aim is to identify and understand two types of travellers: travellers who visited the destination mainly due to the availability of low-cost flights, and travellers who declare they would have visited the destination anyway using different means. Methodologically, we adopt the Causal Chain Approach to measure the causation link between the availability of low-cost flight routes and tourists' decisions to visit a certain destination. Our empirical case study examines the profile of travellers using a Ryanair route from East Midlands airport (England) to Reus airport (Catalonia).

Urban Tourism in Szczecin and its Impact on the Functioning of the Urban Transport System

Urban tourism becomes one of the main functions of the cities and its importance is still growing. This is the result of, among others, increasing prosperity, as well as improvement of the mobility of societies. The cities offer a number of products aimed at tourists, the quality and attractiveness of which often determine the competitiveness of cities thus determining their development. On the one hand, intensive tourism is a favourable phenomenon associated with the activation of the local economy, but on the other hand, it can interfere with the functioning of the city. High volume of tourist traffic can also cause degradation of tourist values, thereby reducing - in the long term - the tourist attractiveness of the place.This article analyses urban tourism in Szczecin in terms of its impact on the functioning of the city, especially in relation to the functioning of the public transport system and the supply of goods carried out in the urban tourist space.

Forecasting Chinese tourist volume with search engine data

The queries entered into search engines register hundreds of millions of different searches by tourists, not only reflecting the trends of the searchers' preferences for travel products, but also offering a prediction of their future travel behavior. This study used web search query volume to predict visitor numbers for a popular tourist destination in China, and compared the predictive power of the search data of two different search engines, Google and Baidu. The study verified the co-integration relationship between search engine query data and visitor volumes to Hainan Province. Compared to the corresponding auto-regression moving average (ARMA) models, both types of search engine data helped to significantly decrease forecasting errors. However, Baidu data performed better due to its larger market share in China. The study demonstrated the value of search engine data, proposed a method for selecting predictive queries, and showed the locality of the data for forecasting tourism demand.

Hotel Managers Perspective of Managerial Competency among Graduating Students of Hotel Management Programme

The tourism potential of India, especially in a global context, remains far from being realized. Towards realization of this potential, the Ministry of Tourism envisages a target of 12% growth rate in inbound as well as domestic tourists for the 12th Five Year Plan period. Therefore, in response to the needs of the industry, training providers have established a number of hotel, leisure, travel and tourism degrees. But past references have identified that hotel courses lack the rigor to provide quality manpower. Hotel management students seem to rate the value of their degrees higher than do employees in the. As such there always seem to be a bridge between what the hotel management students and the assumption of the hotel Industry. The Indian hotel Industry is likely to witness only a marginal revenue growth of about 7% in 2012-13 with uncertain economy impacting demand, according to a study by rating agency ICRA. Visibility on the immediate term growth remains clouded with an uncertain economy impacting demand even as lumpy supply additions occur. ICRA revises downwards the revenue growth estimates to 5-7%, with a seasonally stronger second-half partly compensating for the low operating margins in the first half. The hotel Industry hit new lows during the second quarter of 2012-13 with falling revenue per available room (RevPARs) and escalating power costs eroding the operating margins, which coupled with increase in fixed costs (interest and depreciation) resulted in many players posting net losses. World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) projects a moderate 2-4% growth in international tourist volumes this year in view of the continued global uncertainties in Europe. In the present economic scenario, this study will benchmark effective teaching techniques to empower students to be managers in the Hotel Industry on successful graduation in a very competitive but stifled recruitment policy. This study will identify: (1) industry perception; (2) managerial employment competency components; and (3) managerial employability opportunities.

UK medical tourists in Thailand: they are not who you think they are

BackgroundTravel for medical treatment is an aspect of globalization and health that is comparatively less understood. Little is known about volume, characteristic and motivation of medical tourists, limiting understanding of effects on health systems and patients. Thailand is amongst a handful of countries that have positioned themselves as medical tourism destination. This paper examines in unprecedented detail volume and characteristics of medical tourists who travel from the UK to Thailand for treatment.MethodsAs part of a wider medical tourism study, authors gained access to over 4000 patient records from the five largest private hospitals in Thailand. These included information on country of origin, gender, age, arrival month, hospitalization, diagnosis, procedures, length of stay, medical expenditure and type of payment. Patient records were analysed to understand who travels and findings were triangulated with data from the UK International Passenger Survey (IPS).Results104,830 medical tourists visited these hospitals in Thailand in 2010. While patients originate all over the world, UK medical tourists represent the largest group amongst Europeans. The majority UK medical tourists (60%) have comparatively small, elective procedures, costing less than USD 500. A significant minority of patients travel for more serious orthopedic and cardiothoracic procedures. Data of individual patient records from Thailand shows a higher number of UK patients traveled to Thailand than indicated by the IPS.ConclusionsThailand is attracting a large number of medical tourists including larger numbers of UK patients than previously estimated. However, as many patients travel for comparatively minor procedures treatment may not be their primary motivation for travel. The small but significant proportion of older UK residents traveling for complex procedures may point to challenges within the NHS.

관광유형다변화에 따른 문화해설사양성에 대한 제언

21세기 관광과 문화의 중심지로 부상되고 있는 아시아 지역은 서구인들의 눈에 신비와 호기심의 대상이다. 오천년 이상의 역사를 간직하고 있는 한반도는 어디를 가나 역사와 문화가 숨쉬고 있다. 이러한 역사와 문화가 서구인에게 노출되면서, 단순히 눈의 즐거움을 제공할 뿐 아니라 지적 호기심을 충족시킬 수 있는 대안 마련이 시급하다. 정부에서도 관광객의 높아진 수준과 지적요구를 충족시키기 위해 다양한 문화 관광상품을 기획하고 있으며, 더불어 문화해설사를 제도적으로 도입하여 국내수요를 중심으로 확산시키고 있다. 본 연구는 문화유적지에서 해설사의 역할과 관광지 언어전문가인 가이드의 관계를 Cohen의 가이드 역할틀을 중심으로 확장된 가이드 커뮤니케이션틀 (이승재 2011)에 근거하여 살펴보고, 다양화 전문화되고 있는 외래관광객의 성향변화를 외래어 문화해설사 역할로 수렴하여 이를 가이드 역할전문화의 일환으로서 설명하고자 한다. 또한 전통문화유산을 전승하고 발전시키기 위해 문화해설사 및 외국어 문화해설사의 전문적인 양성을 제언하면서, 이를 위해 국내에 체류하는 다문화가정과 외국인 유학생을 외래어 문화해설사로 양성하여 한국문화의 전령사로 적극적으로 활용할 것을 제안하고자 한다. This paper concerns the cultural tourism and the importance of cultural interpreters. Globalization has become a key word of 21st century, so the volume of tourists has been increasing. Furthermore, as the Korean wave has expanded to the world, more people are interested in Korea and Korean culture, and we observed the obvious increase of tourists. International tourists visit Korea with a variety of purposes, and their travel types are also diversified. This paper analyzes tourists' behavior based on the data provided by KNTO and briefly examines the cultural interpreters in 5 major organizations. Then considering the specific roles of the guides based on the Cohen (1985) and Lee (2011), I propose that the government should give more focus on the professional foreign language speaking interpreters for culture. As for an alternative to the present volunteering system for foreign languages, I strongly suggest multi-culture families or international students staying in Korea, for the wiser use of their abilities, their easy adaptation to the new world, and the peaceful coexistence.

Restoring tourist flows and regenerating city's image: the case of Belgrade

The aim of this research is to examine the effects of the post-1990 transition on the relocation of tourism and changes in the structure of tourism over the last 20 years in Belgrade. Economic and social development altered spatial relations of tourist factors and elements. Apart from the old city core, new tourist zones and directions appeared. Tourist flows and economic challenges influenced the rationalisation of doing business and relocating the hotels outside the central city municipalities. Belgrade has been acknowledged as a low-cost destination of fun and nightlife and the city's new image has attracted more foreign tourists. Both the volume of foreign tourists and their countries of origin have changed significantly over the last several years. However, there have been negligible economic effects on the city's economy, despite this increase in the number of foreign tourists. In conclusion, we examine the implications of new directions in tourism development for the future position of Belgrade as a tourist destination in a competitive European market.

A Comparison of Long-Haul and Short-Haul Business Tourists of Hong Kong

A number of studies have demonstrated the impact of distance on the volume, profile and behavior of pleasure tourists. To date, none has examined the effect of distance on business tourists, even though they represent a significant share of all travel. Distance exerts two inter-related effects on travel. The decaying effect on demand with increased distance is well established. Distance also acts as a “filter”, advantaging some groups for short-haul travel and effectively excluding others from long-haul travel. This filtering effect results in substantially different observed behavior between short and long-haul pleasure markets. This study examines the filtering effect of distance on tourist profile and subsequent behavior of business travelers who visited Hong Kong. The sample includes eight short-haul and six long-haul markets. Substantial differences are observed in the profile and resultant behaviors of the two cohorts, although the differences are more subtle among business tourists than pleasure tourists.

Psychological, physiological and behavioural responses of tourists to interactions with rhesus macaques at Zhangjiajie, China

We compared gait, pulse, blood pressure and speech volume of tourists before and after encounters with rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta, in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China, relative to the same parameters after the same tourists had visited a control site without macaques. We tested 600 tourists from 38 groups, stratified by age and gender. We also compared the length of stay and number of photographs at each site and elicited tourists' views and emotions through a questionnaire. Behavioural, physiological and psychological indicators all showed positive responses to interactions with macaques. Few previous studies of wildlife tourism have measured human responses in this way.

KAUNO REGIONO GYVENTOJŲ TURIZMO PRODUKTŲ PASIRINKIMĄ LEMIANTYS VEIKSNIAI

The article analyses the factors that determine the population of Kaunas region to choose tourism products. The business of travel is quite new in Lithuania. It started developing in 1991 when the country first joined the travel and recreation industry of Europe and the world. This business in Europe is developing rapidly. It attracts large sums of money; therefore, the development of recreation not only creates a lot of interest among people, but it also makes countries involved in it more attractive to travellers. Europeans are especially fond of travelling in the continent and that should make Lithuania more attractive destination in this sector in the future. The potential of travel and recreation in the EU is enormous. Every country in the EU wants to become desirable and attract the biggest possible flows of travellers. Europe boasts of two thirds of all worlds’ travel business and it is hoped that in several decades the volumes of tourists would double there. Today the countries that attract most tourists are: France, Spain, USA, Italy and China. It is interesting to note that according to the income, generated from the business, are as follows, number one: USA with 80 billion Euros per year, second: Spain with 37 billion Euros per year with France, Italy and China to follow. According to Luigi Cabrini (WTO representative), 58% of all worlds tourists go to Europe. This number varies, because of new spots always opening to tourists; an example can be Asian destinations. However, it does not mean that there are less tourists headed to Europe. Travel business is not only one of main income generating fields, but it also creates jobs, promotes social development, distributes income and reduces poverty. Development of travel presents some challenges to the cities, for example preserving of nature, cultural heritage, preserving social infrastructure and also making sure cultural values are sustained. Therefore competitive advantages in today's travel industry become important segments of the business in managing the flow of tourists and the whole travel industry. The quality of tourism products can determine the competitiveness of enterprises of this sector and the results of their activity. In summarizing the results of the research, which are based on questionnaire, it can be said that the population of Kaunas region mostly travels to get to know nature, culture, traditions and to experience adventures and emotional impressions. The population of Kaunas region face difficulties in choosing these tourism products: transport, accommodation, museums, recreation and entertainment. The most popular tourist attractions among women in the region of Kaunas are cultural educational, recreational tourism and among men - mountain hiking, adventure and recreational tourism. The decision to travel on one's spare time (between males and females) is determined by financial factors in general, also by what experiences can be incurred. Men make their travel decisions based on the level of quality of the trip. Women choose tours based on price- service- quality ratio. After analysing the factors that determine tourism products, it can be said, that they have a big influence on the competitiveness of companies that provide same services. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.em.17.3.2118

Effects of parking and cordon charge policies on tourist's modal shift in central business district of Mashhad city, Iran

The second largest holy city of the world, Mashhad, attracts high volumes of tourists and pilgrims every year. Most visitors travel by private car and are a source of considerable funds for the local economy. Among road users, tourists as one of the major traveller categories in Mashhad city behave differently due to the particular trip purpose. The aim of this research is to model tourist's shifting modes of travel behaviour when policy measures, such as the parking and cordon fares, are implemented. The tourists’ preferences were examined using binary logit analysis when different options of travel cost and time scenarios were provided. Results indicate that travel time, parking cost, cordon cost, education level and vehicle price influence tourist's modal choice. In addition, the finding shows that congestion pricing will be more effective than a parking pricing strategy in encouraging switching of modes.

Effects of Total Quality Management implementation on business performance in service institutions: A case of Kenya Wildlife Services

The service sector is getting competitive every day. In order to be successful Quality Management (QM) practices ought to be the integral part of any organization’s strategic management. Kenya’s national parks form the pillar of the country’s tourism industry. Over one million international tourists visit Kenya annually to partake in wildlife safari and other forms of nature-based tourism. However, Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) is being faced by some challenges which they are trying to manage. These include; decline in the volume of international tourists visiting the national parks, human wildlife conflict, encroachment and poaching, and poor infrastructure. The purpose of this study is to establish how Total Quality Management (TQM) practices are employed while addressing these challenges by examining whether there are any gaps or discrepancies (positive or negative) between the service quality management offered by KWS and the actual TQM practices by (KEBS, 2008). The study was guided by the following objectives: To determine the TQM principles used, to obtain the effects of TQM implementation on organizational business performance, to determine challenges in the implementation of TQM.

Closing the ecotourism-conservation loop in the Peruvian Amazon

SUMMARYAnnual revenue flow to developing countries for ecotourism could be as large as US$ 29 billion, providing an enormous financial incentive against habitat loss and exploitation. However, surprisingly little quantitative evidence exists on the profitability of the rainforest ecotourism sector, which determines the incentive and capacity of the sector to engage in conservation. A Peruvian rainforest ecotourism cluster generated US$ 11.6 million in 2005. The after-tax profit margin was at least 14% and has increased with tourist volume. High profitability, coupled with new legislation, has allowed operators to put 54 358 ha of rainforest near the new Interoceánica Sur highway under private management and to engage in conservation actions. A previously published microeconomic contract model of protected-areas management identifies two key features of rainforest tourism that link ecotourism to conservation: (1) tourists demand an immersive experience, which incentivizes the acquisition of large amounts of forest cover, and (2) institutional reforms have increased the expected effectiveness of conservation actions. In Peru, these conditions appear to be met, so that profits from ecotourism can combine with new land tenure rights to create a governance structure within which the industry can act as an independently financed partner to the conservation community.

Segmenting special interest visitors to a destination region based on the volume of their expenditures: an application to rail-trail users

Various general tourist markets have been successfully segmented based on the volume of tourists’ expenditures in destination areas. However, the approach has been rarely employed in more narrowly defined ‘special interest’ tourist markets. This study tested the viability of expenditure-based segmentation in the case of a special interest market comprised of visitors to a rail-trail in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA. Nonresident visitors were classified as light, medium, and heavy spenders based on their total expenditures in the region. Although heavy spenders comprised only 33% of the Trail’s market, their spending accounted for 65% of the expenditures of the market as a whole. Compared to their counterparts, heavy spenders were more likely to have been mountain biking aficionados, to have had higher incomes, and to have had longer lengths of stay and greater involvement with recreation in the study region. Findings suggest how heavy spenders can be successfully reached, attracted, and served.

The local politics of the global countryside: boosterism, aspirational ruralism and the contested reconstitution of Queenstown, New Zealand

This paper examines the local politics through which the reconstitution of rural localities under globalization is advanced and contested, with particular reference to the impact of international amenity migration. It contends that as globalization proceeds not by domination but by hybridization and negotiation, local politics is critical as the sphere in which the outcomes of globalization processes are interpreted and contested. The paper examines the case study of Queenstown Lakes district in South Island, New Zealand, as a locality that has experienced significant transformation through engagement with globalization processes. These include high levels of international amenity in-migration, substantial overseas investment in property, commerce and construction projects, and an increasing volume of international tourists. Collectively, these processes have contributed to rapid population growth and intensive pressure for the development of rural land in the area. As detailed in the paper, land use planning became the dominant issue in local politics, with conflict between groups informed by ‘boosterist’ and ‘environmentalist’ stand-points, as well as the ‘aspirational ruralism’ of amenity in-migrants. Although locally-grounded, the conflict engaged trans-local actors and networks and transgressed space and scale, thus becoming itself an expression of globalization.

Vietnam in 2008: A Dynamic Course Encountering Setbacks and Challenges

Viet Nam in 2008 continued to display a broad dynamic picture of economic development, political and social stability, cultural vitality, and active diplomacy but experienced high inflation and a slowdown in economic growth. While anti-inflation policy brought some relief, high prices remained the largest challenge for social stability and economic development. Despite the setbacks, Viet Nam continued to do well in attracting increasing volumes of foreign tourists and direct investment.

The Implicit Effect of Distance on Tourist Behavior: a Comparison of Short and Long Haul Pleasure Tourists to Hong Kong

The impact of distance on demand is widely accepted in tourism geography, with a number of studies demonstrating that absolute volumes of tourists decline exponentially with distance. This article extends the field of research by examining the effect of distance on the profile of pleasure tourists who visit a destination, what they do, and different roles ascribed to the destination. Twenty‐three markets attracted to Hong Kong, including 8 short haul and 15 long haul markets are analyzed. Substantial differences are found in the profile and resultant behavior of these two cohorts of visitors. The study concludes that the decline in tourist volumes over distance is a function of the virtual disappearance of certain segments rather than a general decline of demand across all segments. While distance may not be an explicit barrier to travel, it is an implicit barrier that represents the critical points where the combined effects of a number of other deterministic variables reach a stage beyond which the destination becomes unattractive to different segments.

Jiuzhaigou ecotourism areal system: Temporal evolution of entropic change

The temporal evolution of entropy of Jiuzhaigou ecotourism areal system has been quantitatively analyzed by using equation of system entropy V = k lnM − k lnC. The computed entropy for Jiuzhaigou ecotourism areal system for 20 years indicates a negative value during 1986–1996, which implies that the system had remained a healthy state during this period. The system entropy value, however, showed a constant increase since 1996 until it turned to be positive in 2000 when the system became chaotic. After 2000 the entropy value declined until 2003 when it escalated once again. By analyzing the causes and process of entropy change of the system, it is argued that fluctuation of entropy value is due to the overloading of tourist service capacity by tourism activities. It is desired to curb the flow of tourist volume and reinforce conservation efforts as well as, so that an ideal balance between conservation and development could be maintained.