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This paper explores variation in motives among outbound holidaymakers traveling to typical summer season destination areas in Greece and Spain. The study reveals differences in self-reported motives between visitors to the two countries and also some differences in relation to their gender, level of education and previous experience of these destinations. Four holiday interest structures are identified: 1) place experience and contemplation; 2) family togetherness, romance and relaxation; 3) beach life and pleasant climate; and 4) nightlife and new acquaintances. The data are derived from a national year-long survey of international charter flights from Norway. By way of conclusion, the paper suggests some alternative perspectives on popular summer holiday trips from Northern to Southern Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between the sub-dimensions of consumer confidence (financial situation, general economic situation, unemployment expectations and savings) and the various categories of outgoing tourist expenditures (accommodation, entertainment, excursion, food, shopping and travel within the country) across 22 European countries. Due to the low frequency of national time series data, the panel data regressions are used to estimate the relationships between the variables. The findings show a positive association between consumer confidence and outgoing tourist expenditures. More specifically, we find that tourists with low levels of confidence in their employment are likely to spend less on excursion and shopping activities, while tourists with higher levels of confidence in their future savings spend more on entertainment, excursions and shopping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Established methods to record tourist activities in urban centres cannot produce quantitative data with precise spatial references. Analysing geographically positioned photography retrieved from image hosting web services combines the accuracy levels of GPS tracking and the quantitative advantages of the large accessible data-sets of internet communities. In this paper the correlation of data-sets obtained from Flickr.com with statistical data, morphological constrains and the attributes of attractions are tested. Correlation between registered bed nights and geotagged tourist photography numbers was calculated analysing 16 European cities. Three tourist-historic cities with similar tourist markets were compared more deeply. The spatial patterns of tourist activity in Vienna, Prague and Budapest showed many similarities and some relevant differences rooted in the morphological constraints and the different level of local and tourist activities at specific sites. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Travel and tourism are among the most important economic contributors to most, if not all, countries. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), the number of international arrivals showed remarkable growth, from 25 million international arrivals in 1950 to 699 million in 2000. This indicates an average annual growth rate of 7%. In the same period, tourism receipts recorded an average annual growth rate of 11%. In 2002, international tourism generated worldwide receipts of US$474 billion, corresponding to US$1.3 billion a day or US$675 per tourist arrival. In view of the important role that international tourism plays in the global economy, this research applied four time-series forecasting techniques to project the trend of US air travelers, a major source market, to Europe, Caribbean and Asia, the three leading outbound markets (second to Canada and Mexico) from the US in the period 2003–2005. Experimental outcomes reveal declining trends. This paper discusses the underlying factors for such trends. Lastly, this paper ends with a detailed discussion on policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a time series method called 'transfer function', this paper examines the effect of terrorism on tourism in Turkey. The results indicate that there exists a negative but small impact of terrorism, which is observed within approximately one year. However, terrorist attacks in Turkey have accounted for a reduction of six million foreign tourists over the last nine years. Moreover, the economic cost of terrorism in the tourism industry was more than $700 million in 2006. However, terrorist attacks in continental Europe and America, and an active war involving a neighboring country, had no effects on tourism in Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a brief review of issues in contemporary heritage tourism in Asian Pacific destinations and discusses the approaches being taken in light of tourism in ancient Europe. It appears that many of the issues, which confront contemporary managers and heritage tourists, would be recognised by our Egyptian and Greek predecessors from as long ago as three and a half millennia. Two further issues, the management of visitor experiences and the impacts of tourism on the areas' cultures and residents, although recognised previously, are identified as apparently being of recent concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of the demand for tourism, the results of which have appeared in economics journals, are still few in number. The reasons for this are twofold: the special nature of tourism demand and the lack of adequate data.
There are several reasons why tourism represents an unusual form of demand (see Schulmeister, 1979). First, it is a demand for a 'bundle' of goods and services: as such, no production sector 'tourism' actually exists, which casts doubt for some on the existence of tourism as a concrete economic entity. Second, as tourism is conventionally defined (United Nations, 1978), demand for it is of two types: tourism as private consumption (demand of private households) and tourism as part of production (business trips). These components could be subject to different influences and/or the same influences but to differing degrees, yet very often it is impossible to examine each component in isolation. Third, tourism goods and services are not transported to their users, but rather the consumers are transported to the goods and services. As a result, transport costs and facilities assume an importance for tourism which far exceeds that for merchandise trade and, also, tourist flows are far more susceptible to noneconomic influences such as political instability, sporting events and other special influences.
The purpose of this paper is to extend this work: first, by analysing by means of a system of demand equations the share of each European country in total US tourist expenditure in Europe between 1964 and 1981 and, second, by formalizing the link with economic theory more fully than was done in previous studies. Market shares of US tourist expenditure in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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