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This study provides novel insights into the indigenous Jumma peoples' experiences of tourism development in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and their views on its role in fostering post-conflict reconciliation. Through engagements with those directly employed in the industry, this study applies the Community Capitals Framework to identify holistic community changes through tourism development. The findings reveal that tourism has contributed positively to the development of human, social, and cultural capital, and has partially supported reconciliation between some indigenous and non-indigenous groups. However, the absence of political capital continued to serve as a major impediment to progress as many communities remain absent from development discourse. Moreover, the growth in natural capital presented paradoxical issues that amplified local fears surrounding the government's pursuit of indigenous land. Consequently, this study identifies several key issues that must be urgently addressed so that tourism development benefits the Jumma people in a just and inclusive manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article titled "Environmental Education of Tourists for Sustainable Tourism Development" emphasizes the importance of environmental education and training in promoting sustainable tourism. The authors propose the use of a miniguide that encourages tourists to learn about nature, culture, and local customs, while also promoting language skills and active protection of the environment. The article also discusses the benefits of economic prosperity for local communities, the importance of improving the quality of life and housing in a community, the significance of protecting the natural, cultural, and historical potential of a locality, and the correlation between studying tourism and being a responsible traveler. It provides recommendations for responsible travel behavior and highlights the importance of gathering information about a destination, minimizing negative impacts, getting involved in local communities, and promoting environmentally friendly and culturally sensitive tourism. The article also discusses the importance of sustainability education, integrating sustainable principles into education programs, and references related to sustainable tourism and environmental responsibility. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Anuario Turismo y Sociedad is the property of Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Empresas Turísticas y Hoteleras and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Resistance against tourism development has become a key analytical domain among tourism researchers. Yet, little attention has been paid to understanding online resistance against tourism development as a discursive phenomenon. This inquiry provides a discourse analytical study regarding an online petition against a large-scale infrastructure project in the Austrian Alps. Employing an analytical framework of discursive objects, subjects, and concepts, the study investigates the justification strategies of activists, posted on the online petition platform. The study finds that activists' rationales are embedded within an overarching degrowth discourse. The conflict exists between the opposing subjectivities of activists and project initiators with nature as their primary discursive object. Activist rationales were found to criticize the growth imperative of capitalism in broad strokes, rather than directly addressing the project and its proponents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residents' overall well-being and quality-of-life require a deeper understanding of their perceived social impacts of tourism to determine appropriate management strategies to promote behaviours in support of tourism development. Aligning with the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, this paper proposes a new framework for residents' quality-of-life. Bringing together multi-disciplinary evidence from environmental, social and cognitive psychology, political science and tourism, this study critically examines how residents' perceived social impacts of tourism and their interpersonal trust can make them become more place attached and protect their tourism resources. The framework proposes that residents' perceived social impacts of tourism exerts a direct influence on residents' interpersonal trust. It further posits that residents' perceived social impacts of tourism and their interpersonal trust exert a direct influence on residents' place attachment. The proposed model further considers place attachment to exert a direct influence on residents' pro-social and pro-environmental behavioural intentions. Pro-social behaviour is proposed to influence pro-environmental behaviour. Further pro-social and pro-environmental behaviours are proposed to influence residents' support for tourism development. The framework then considers residents' support for tourism development to exert a direct influence on residents' overall quality-of-life. The theoretical contributions, practical implications for sustainable community tourism and sustainable tourism in general and the limitations of the study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study argues that method should work hand-in-hand with theory to be able to generate impactful outcomes. This study provides three methodological, theoretical and practical contributions to the current body of knowledge on tourism development from residents' perspective. First, five analytical approaches—namely, covariance based-structural equation modelling (CB-SEM), partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), multiple regression analysis (MTA), simple regression analysis (SRA), fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), and analysis of necessary conditions (ANC)—are applied to test a model to predict support for tourism development from local residents' perspective. It critically discusses the results of analytical approaches to researching support for tourism development. A guideline for conducting a symmetrical approach is provided. Second, this study presents a classification of theories on residents' support of tourism, which helps to tackle the complexity of this complex social phenomenon by advancing theories and highlighting the importance of a theory-method match in future research. Third, beyond method and theory, there is a need for an informative framework that illustrates the 'pathway to impact' of research on residents' support for sustainable tourism development. Using the theory of change, this study fills this research gap by developing a logical model demonstrating outputs, actor groups, outcomes, and impacts of residents' support for tourism development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pervasive influence of social media on our lives provides new opportunities to study residents' attitudes to tourism. Even though it is now common for residents to express their opinions and read about tourism development on social media, the consequences of this for their attitudes remain to be understood. This article uses the analytical perspectives of the information society and draws from the elaboration likelihood model, the influence of presumed influence model, and the social exchange theory to develop a causal-chain framework that considers the influence of social media on residents' attitudes to tourism. Twenty-five research propositions emanate from the conceptual framework. The framework examines the direct as well as indirect influence of social media tourism messages on residents' attitudes. It also recognizes users as the receivers and expressers of pro- as well as anti-tourism messages on social media. Our framework is theoretically inclusive, providing a reference to scholars and stimulating new ideas for future research on social media and residents' attitudes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that provides the necessary theoretical foundations and a conceptual framework to study residents' attitudes to tourism in an information era intensified by the growth of social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to test the effect of residents' attitudes concerning tourism development on support for future tourism development, and ultimately whether such a relationship explains a sense of solidarity with tourists. To do this, a theoretical model was developed and tested based on the social exchange theory and affect theory of exchange. Residents of Antalya, Turkey (N = 660) comprised the sample from which data were collected. Structural equation modelling results demonstrated that residents' attitudes explained 69% of the variance in support for future tourism development, and in turn, this support explained between 25% and 80% of the variance in factors comprising residents' emotional solidarity with tourists. Findings provide support for the complementary use of the two theories. To round out the paper, implications, limitations and future research are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The natural environment is one of the most important resources for tourism development. Recently, a new type of tourism has emerged, especially based on nature. A group has emerged in Algeria and elsewhere who prefer to spend their holidays in order to escape the noise and crowds of the city and enjoy the beauty and purity of nature and the diversity of the aesthetics of its landscapes. You can also take advantage of everything related to the specificity of the place and local cultures. Algeria is one of the countries that seeks to achieve this trend. It has great mountain tourism potential that can be exploited to advance and upgrade the sector. Hence the mountain region has made a mecca for visitors according to the unique characteristics of each region. Planning is a frequently used term both in tourism and elsewhere. And "has become a feature of the times" (Abboudi, 2013) In this study, we dealt with a topic that aims to identify and limit the most important indicators of mountain tourism in the Jabal Mesaad region using the Delphi technique. This technique was applied through two gradual phases, where the first phase included an open questionnaire question aimed at testing the pulse of experts in determining the indicators they deem appropriate for the development of tourism in mountain areas within the framework of sustainable tourism. After analyzing the various responses received in the questionnaires, we obtained (52) indicators according to the economic, social and psychological dimensions of tourism. (39) indicators that comply with the conditions required in the second phase were selected and accepted, including (19) indicators of the environmental dimension dominating the rest of the indicators, followed directly by the indicators of the economic dimension with (10) indicators, then the indicators of the social dimension with (10) indicators. According to the criteria adopted by the World Tourism Organization, we note that all indicators, both quantitative and qualitative, have the characteristics of à good index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tourism sector is an economic sector that contributes to GRDP (Gross Regional Domestic Product) in East Java. East Java Province with great tourism potential and tourism development patterns that contribute to increasing East Java's economic growth. How the role of the tourism sector in East Java can improve the national economy and contribute to Indonesia's national GDP (Gross Domestic Product). This study aims to analyze the development of the tourism sector in East Java during 2016 to 2020 using the LQ (Location Quotient) method, to produce the tourism sector in the basic or non-basic sector categories. The data used is secondary data and this research is a quantitative research. The results of the calculation of LQ (Location Quotient) can help develop and build the tourism sector which is in the basic or non-basic category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area relies on the basis of the joint development of the three places. It also reflects the new trend of diversified and integrated development. The goal of constructing a world-class tourism destination also becomes the guiding board of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's construction. In this regard, Hengqin not only bears the responsibility of constructing a typical city that is suitable for living, working and sightseeing, but also owns a demonstrative significance for constructing a vital city cluster with international competitiveness and highquality development. In the meantime, Hengqin is one of the first batch of free trade areas in China, as well as China's third international leisure tourism island and the national all-for-one tourism demonstrative area, undertaking the important mission of the interactive development of Macao's tourism industry. This paper will adopt the methods of investigation, literature research, quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis, and rely on two policies of "Hengqin-Guangdong-Macao Deep Cooperation Area" and "the Belt and Road" that jointly establish the tourism cooperation of the district and the country to study the development path of tourism in Hengqin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ship's stability is one among the foremost important and complicated concept regarding ship and navigation's safety and it's governed by maritime law as well as maritime codes. In Albanian bays, there has been considerable maritime tourism development in recent years, which has consequently brought about an increasing demand for passenger ships offering mainly one day cruises. The ships intended for this type of service are of different typologies: tourist vessels built especially for this destination, but there are many vessels which have changed the destination mainly from fishing vessel to tourist vessel. From the field observations along with contacts with the port authorities and Albanian maritime administration, it is revealed that these ships bare problems related to meeting service and security standards that they offer. Considering existence of such problems and the absence of technical data related to the safety of ships, it is required that geometric and stability calculations are performed with the view meeting the norms of stability. In this paper we will be presenting the causes that lead to ship stability failure and their impact on navigation safety. A case study of the calculation of the ship stability is going to be presented, the causes are going to be analysed and the possible ways of stability failures are going to be assessed. Vessel's intact stability is a fundamental component of seaworthiness so it's in the interest of all owners/operators to be aware of this subject and make sure that their vessel has a satisfactory level of stability in order to ensure its safety as well as that of people on board. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnic tourism is a fast-growing niche tourism, especially in developing countries. In addition, ethnic tourism is crucial to support the local or ethnic minority people to preserve and maintain their traditional and cultural values and increase their income by participating in this unique type of tourism. The current study was based on quantitative research with a survey from various ethnic tourism sites in Thailand. The sample size was 400, and the data were collected with the self-administered questionnaire with the online survey. The respondents with experience with ethnic tourism were allowed to participate in the survey. The findings demonstrated that motivational factors and information sources directly affected the revisit intention of the tourists. Practical contributions can be helpful for the destination site managers to focus on sharing interesting information about the ethnic tourism sites and creating new and unique experiences for the tourists to enjoy and encourage them to share positive word-ofmouth and revisit the destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal for Tourism, Archeology & Hospitality (IJTAH) is the property of Beni Suef University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The study of tourism carrying capacity in the municipalities of Tolmin, Kobarid and Komen has shown that the infrastructural and economic carrying capacity is the most problematic, as most indicator limits are already exceeded in the summer season. The most favourable is the spatial-ecological carrying capacity, where none of the studied indicator limits were exceeded. The results of the carrying capacity assessment for tourism in these municipalities should not be used as a tool to restrict tourism development, but rather as expert recommendations to promote more sustainable tourism development. Infrastructure identified as deficient cannot be improved immediately. Improvements require large financial investments that municipalities are not able to ensure quickly. We need a tourism development strategy that, in addition to all the necessary improvements, comprehensively addresses the problems that municipalities face from overtourism, especially during the high season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the research was to construct a model for calculating the Tourism Development Index (TDI) at the local level. TDI is based on ten indicators: total number of beds, total number of beds per 100 residents, number of beds in hotels and similar establishments, number of beds in hotels and similar establishments per 100 residents, number of tourist arrivals, number of tourist arrivals per capita, number of overnight stays, number of overnight stays per capita, number of employed in tourism and hospitality and share of employed in tourism and hospitality in total employment. Based on TDI, 556 cities/towns and municipalities were categorised into five classes. Due to the usage of both absolute and relative values, TDI recognises the tourism development better than the previously used indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Military tourism is one of the forms of tourism that is not sufficiently researched throughout Poland. It is only in recent years, after the period of political transformation, that interest in this phenomenon has been growing every year. This research has aimed to indicate the possibilities of military tourism development in northern and northeastern Poland. It includes an analysis of data concerning the Naval Museum in Gdynia, the "Wolf's Lair" Fortress in Gierloz and an example of a military event - an air show, which took place on the premises of the 44th Airborne Museum in Gdynia. Results of the analysis of the military tourism development in northern and northeastern Poland indicate that military sites and military-themed events attract considerable tourist traffic and play an important role in the overall development of tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic & Regional Studies/Studia Ekonomiczne i Regionalne is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents the assessment results of the tourism function development in Tunisian governorates. The evaluation was carried out with the index method based on two groups of function indicators - tourist traffic intensity and tourism development indices. Additionally, the tourism function was analyzed taking into account the average length of tourist stays. The results indicate a varied degree of the tourism function development in the governorates - from a highly developed tourism function in the coastal governorates (Sousse, Nabeul, Monastir) to the initial stage in the mountain regions (Sidi Bouzid, Siliana, Zaghouan). In terms of the average length of stays, Tunisia turns out to be a short-term destination, in contrast to the general misconception. The so-called weekend stays prevail in 13 out of the 24 governorates. Medium-term stays are most common in the northern part of the country (Nabeul, Bizerte, Manouba), whereas long-term stays dominate only on the east coast (Ben Arous, Susa, Monastir, Mahdia, and Medenine). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hotel & Tourism Management is the property of Faculty of Hotel Management & Tourism in Vrnjacka Banja and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Jerusalem has been attracting believers of the three great monotheistic religions for centuries. It has been built over the centuries as the main sacred city for a large percentage of the world's population. It currently attracts hundreds of thousands of international tourists whose main motivation is religious tourism and the visit of sacred places. However, it is a destination that is very exposed to the controversy as a result of the Palestinian- Israeli conflict for more than 70 years, and that continues to affect the image and competitiveness of the destination within the international scene. In this article, we analyze the causes of why Jerusalem is considered the capital of religious tourism worldwide, as well as the possibilities that tourism offers as a strategic argument to impose a specific historical narrative and an adequate climate of coexistence between Palestinian communities and Israelis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article studies the transformation of a Kyrgyz coal-mining village into a tourism destination. By combining political ecology research approaches with concepts borrowed from Actor Network Theory (ANT), I attempt to show how nature-based tourism development contributes to a reordering of nature in certain ways rather than others. Supported by my empirical material, I suggest that this reordering of nature makes certain realities emerge, while others submerge. However, while some orderings of natures appear to be representing reality, it does not necessarily rule out multiple understandings of how nature "ought to look" or be used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent decade, the event tourism has emerged as an important sector of tourism strategies and leisure behaviour globally. The importance of transport consists not only in the function they have in the development of the national socio-economic complex, but also in the important role exercised over the amplification of the relations between states. Transport through its role of movement of goods and people, decisively influences the other branches of the world economy, including international tourism. Without transportation there won't be the travel and tourism industry, people won't have means to reach another places that they desire to see. Therefore, the development on transportation is linked to the development of tourism, if international tourism grows, international transportation also grows. To reach their destinations tourists have to choose between four main types of transportation, depending on many factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, the role of tourism has been recognized as an instrument of endogenous development and, therefore, so has its potential to generate wealth and employment, provided the right circumstances are in place. One of the essential circumstances is governance, that is, coordination, collaboration and/or cooperation between the different players involved in the tourism development process, in a way that ensures the multiplier effect of tourism on the local economy. One of the great challenges facing policymakers and destination managers is the measurement of the progress achieved in tourism destinations in the field of governance and the adoption of the measures required to encourage the implementation of good governance in those destinations. This paper presents a system of indicators which can be adapted to the characteristics of any tourism destination and which allows the implementation of governance to be measured. This system has been generated from a questionnaire given to a group of governance experts and its application will be very useful in order to improve the management of tourism destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the time-varying causal nexus between tourism development and economic growth for the top 10 tourist destinations in the world, namely China, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Spain, Turkey, the UK and the United States of America, over the period 1990-2015. To that end, a bootstrap rolling window Granger causality approach based on the modified Granger causality test is used. A new index for tourism activity which combines via principal component analysis the commonly used tourism indicators is also employed. The results of the bootstrap rolling window causality tests reveal that the causal relations between tourism and economic growth vary substantially over time and across countries in terms of both magnitude and direction. It is shown that the causal linkages tend to be more pronounced for a large group of countries following the global financial crisis of 2008. Additionally, Germany, France and China clearly stand out as the countries with the weakest causal nexus, while the UK, Italy and Mexico emerge as the countries that have the strongest causal links. These results have particularly important implications for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Vistula Scientific Quarterly / Kwartalnik Naukowy Uczelni Vistula is the property of Vistula University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Within a new political and economic context, Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) across England are expected to facilitate a more holistic and inclusive approach to destination management and provide core leadership functions, rather than being solely responsible for the marketing and development of destinations. Destination Management Plans (DMPs) are an expression of a government-mandated, current policy-driven approach to guiding the work of private-led DMOs. These DMOs are being challenged to achieve a more sustainable level of performance in times of decreasing state funding. Building on the scarce literature surrounding this new approach to managing destinations, this paper looks into how an emerging destination has approached the development of such a plan in practice. The paper examines the case of Milton Keynes and its local destination management structure, the collaborative approach to policy development and the resultant DMP. The paper concludes by discussing the importance of the key aims of the plan and their relevance to comparable emerging destinations, which are developing DMPs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As a result of the growing ageing, senior tourists will become a powerful group in the near tourism future. According to this statement, our research asses that the silver tourism could represent, in the next years, a real instrument for the regional development. The aim of our study is to highlight the opportunity of capitalizing the aging phenomenon by the administrative institutions and local tour operators that might regenerate economically the southeast Romanian region. Methodologically, we used a survey based on two questionnaires. The first one was applied to a group of seniors enrolled at the University of Third Age Galati city. For now, this type of structure is unique in Romania. It provides a valuable dimension of touristic perspective because their relevant demographic characteristics - 156 respondents aged between 55 and 85 years. The questionnaire applied was the same as the one adopted by the National Institute for Research-Development in Tourism, as part of the European project consortium EUROSEN. The second questionnaire containing a single question was applied to four categories of actors possible to be responsible and/or involved in the developing regional tourism process. The results reveals the connections existing between the main options of elderly and the forms of tourism developed at regional level, one the one hand, and the very minor attention paid by the local factors to it, on the other hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism development around protected areas is perceived a major development opportunity for rural sub-Saharan Africa. This study was conducted in South Africa to investigate how local communities living around a nature reserve, uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park (a World Heritage Site) in KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa, evaluate the effectiveness of nature conservation and tourism development towards their local economy. Quantitative data were collected using a structured respondent-completed questionnaire from simple-randomly selected respondents. Descriptive and bivariate data analyses yielded information used to address research objective. Local community members who were surveyed declare that the 'development strategy' seems to be the main issue adversely affecting community participation in conservation practices and tourism development around uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park. It is therefore recommended that nature conservation and tourism development strategies in rural South Africa align with the sustainable rural development critical success factors outlined in this paper. This will support optimising local economic development successes, especially in rural sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In tourism management, the combination of short-term actions (foreseeing challenges) allows to have higher capacity of response to the opportunities and threats this sector should face in future scenarios. In Cuba, it is a priority to make the tourism activity grow rapidly, based on an efficient development program. For such reason, considering the results of the diagnosis of the situation of the sector in the destination Holguin, the Tourism Development Program 2012-2020 was designed, which starts from an average perspective scenario, and expects to reach more than three hundred thousand visitors at the end of period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on literature review and statistics of National Tourism Administration of China and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) Tourism Bureau, this article examines the trends of inbound tourism development in the region. The results show that the inbound tourists in the XUAR are only a tiny portion of the Chinese, and the regional total which mainly is made up of domestic tourism originated from the coastal areas. Among the Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan has become the largest inbound tourism market of the XUAR. The article further suggests that it is worth to investigate whether the inbound tourism development of the region is affected by the geopolitical and geo-economic situations and the national strategic interests of respective neighboring countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surfing tourism has the potential to provide significant economic income and employment opportunities. However, the development of surfing tourism in the Mentawai Islands, Indonesia, has raised important questions regarding its impacts and sustainability. Economic leakages, increased pressure on the environment and resources, and adverse effects on local communities have been shown as the major barriers to sustainable development. This article provides insights into how surfing tourism operators perceive the development and impacts of the Mentawai Islands surfing tourism industry. This research project uses an interpretive qualitative approach and follows a case study methodology utilising semi-structured interviews with resort and charter boat surfing tourism operators. The study also investigated possible future directions for creating a more sustainable surfing tourism industry in the Mentawai Islands. Findings from the research showed that charter boat operators and resort operators had differing views as to how surfing tourism had developed: resort operators believed it to be sustainable, while charter boat operators felt it was unsustainable. A key finding of this study was that operators felt that surfing tourism had dramatically altered the traditional Mentawai village of Katiet and was producing adverse socio-cultural impacts on the local community. It is recommended that future research explore the issue of the impacts of surfing tourism development on other remote locations in Indonesia and other surfing tourism destinations around the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rockfalls are known as detachment, fall, rolling, and bouncing of rock fragments and represent a hazardous geomorphic process widely spread in mountain ranges, coastal cliffs, volcanoes, riverbanks, etc., some of them occurring in geomorphosite areas visited by tourists. Related or not to climate change, rockfalls negatively impact tourists and local communities of the affected areas. Taking into consideration the importance of natural risk in tourism development, several research surveys were made by academics and practitioners to mitigate and manage rockfall hazards and associated risks. The risk derived from rockfalls became a subject in the contemporary research in geomorphology and tourism analysis, and these studies, besides the theoretical approach, have been focused on infrastructure and elements into and towards tourist destinations with historical buildings or natural attractions flanked by cliffs that generate rockfalls. Various research methods, techniques and instruments are employed for rockfall monitoring, e.g., terrestrial laser scanning, LiDAR, total station survey, rock joint sensors, and other remote sensing imagery or photogrammetry. Most of these studies were focused on the present stage of the critical areas, but for a better understanding of the geomorphic hazard history and a better prediction, the dendrogeomorphic method was used in the past decades. So far, little research has been done on the frequency and magnitude of the rockfalls. Dendrogeomorphic reconstruction of rockfall activity was used to investigate and model different geomorphosites in the Alps. In the Carpathians, despite the presence of various active rockfall sites, the dendrogeomorphic investigations were not applied to assess rockfall hazards. In this study, we tested the potential of growth rings of Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) trees to record past rockfall activity. The Detunata Goală active geomorphosite (Apuseni Mts., Romania) was chosen as a study site to test the dendrogeomorphic methods to reconstruct rockfall activity. Trees with visible disturbances related to the mechanical impact produced by rockfalls, e.g., apex loss, stem wounding and tilting, have been sampled. Additionally, undisturbed trees growing outside the area reached by fallen rocks have also been sampled, and their growth chronologies served to build a local reference chronology. Growth anomalies (scars and traumatic resin ducts, compression wood and growth suppression sequences) found within the annual rings of disturbed trees were used to reconstruct rockfall events' time and spatial extent. Despite some inherent limitations of dendrogeomorphic methods, tree rings proved to be a reliable source of information on rockfall activity, clearly revealing the existence of the rockfall hazard within the geomorphosite area. Regarding hazard management, this information on past rockfall activity may further be helpful for decision-maker policies oriented to reduce the rockfall hazard exposure of tourists in the active geomorphosite investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that indigenous culture is considered a significant tourist attraction, limited attention has been given to the relationship between indigenous communities, tourism development and poverty alleviation in the context of developing nations. Two case studies from Bangladesh demonstrate that indigenous communities are marginalized economically, physically, culturally, socially and politically and remain in extreme poverty. This article acknowledges that the coordinated effort of the stakeholders, such as government organizations, non-governmental organizations, the national tourism organization, private tourism organizations, international aid agencies and indigenous communities, is essential in order to protect the indigenous communities from various forms of marginalization and help to alleviate extreme poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the concept of sustainability, with a critical look of its incongruities in time and its relationship with the development of tourism. In this paper, a tour of this concept is made since its inception in 1987, and criteria about its dimensions are proposed. The article calls the debate on tourism development and sustainability, showing international and national examples that have caused significant impacts. The authors suggest that tourism development should be based on integrated, participatory and strategic planning, articulated in political terms. It should also use rationally and responsibly the environmental resources and the historical and cultural heritage as well, making it possible its conservation and preservation. It should promote both an improvement in the living conditions of resident populations and the satisfaction of tourists' expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of the Internet and other technological innovations has transformed the structure of the tourism industry as well as affected how tourism destinations are perceived and consumed. The 3D virtual world provides opportunities for destination marketing organizations to communicate with targeted markets by offering a rich environment for potential visitors to explore tourism destinations. However, as of yet, there is little understanding about how to effectively market tourism destinations to virtual world participants who are technology users as well as potential consumers. The purpose of the present study is to develop a research framework that integrates the technology acceptance model (TAM) and self-determination theory to understand how tourists use a 3D virtual world. Primary data were obtained for this study through self-administered Web questionnaires. The data were conducted in a laboratory setting with 186 participants. This study contributes to the empirical TAM literature by applying the model to a 3D virtual tourism site. Additionally, this study provides a research framework to capture the entertainment nature of a 3D virtual world by extending the TAM to incorporate psychological elements of self-determination theory to understand consumer experience. From the perspective of tourism professionals, this study contributes to an understanding of how best to construct informative and interactive tourist destinations in 3D virtual worlds to attract potential online and real-world tourists. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding residents' perceptions of tourism impacts and their level of support for its development is considered vital for the sustainable development of tourism. Despite the plethora of factors examined as determinants of residents' attitudes toward tourism, the role of residents' place image has been under-examined. This study developed a model examining the relationships between residents' place image dimensions, perceived tourism impacts and support for development. Findings suggest that two (physical appearance, social environment) out of the four place image dimensions identified in this study exercise a significant effect on residents' attitudes toward tourism. The theoretical and practical implications to the formation of planning and development programs for tourism are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the growing number of hotel brands, improving consumer experience has become an increasingly important area of interest to industry practitioners. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between hotel guests' brand experience, knowledge and loyalty to name-brand hotels. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling with the incorporation of a second-order factor analysis were employed to achieve the research goals. The findings indicate that brand experience was represented as a holistic concept with sensory, affective, behavioral and intellectual aspects. While brand experience influences brand loyalty, its impact is partially mediated by brand knowledge. This is a pioneer study that combines consumer experience with branding in the hospitality industry and offers practical suggestions to facilitate hotel managers in their development of effective branding strategies. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflict and post-conflict areas often suffer several challenges regarding tourism development owing to poor infrastructure, low investment, a lack of appropriate tourism management planning, and poor implementation mechanisms. Much research has been undertaken regarding cultural tourism management issues, challenges and sustainability, yet there is a lack of knowledge on how post-conflict issues affect cultural tourism planning and management. The aim of this paper is to understand the challenges posed in post-conflict regions, for cultural tourism development and to propose solutions and recommendations for successful, competitive and sustainable cultural tourism sectors. The context for the research is the Kurdistan Federal Region (KFR) in Iraq. The study revealed several challenges facing cultural tourism in KFR. The paper reports data from a series of focus groups conducted with residents and tourists, and a number of in-depth interviews with tourism policymakers and experts in KFR. (141 words). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent years, there has been a growing focus on tourism innovation and its importance in destination development. Tourism development at the national level would evidently require the involvement of the national government as the facilitator. However, the role of the government in such process is yet to be explored with empirical evidence. As such, this article focuses on identifying the specific roles that the national government play as a facilitator in fostering destination level innovation, and to examine those factors that inhibit national governments in facilitating destination level innovation. Using Norway as a case study, the results reveal that although there is no perceived lack of political will and emphasis on tourism innovation by the policymakers, the effectiveness of many government efforts are questioned. Government efforts to facilitate innovation are identified to include financial supports, consultancy services, skills development programmes, and R&D schemes. The national government also possibly inhibits tourism innovation indirectly mainly through the challenges in defining innovation, lack of knowledge from the government's side that possibly also leads to its resistance to change and unwillingness to adapt to certain situations, and policies and regulations which is related to conflict of interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between the level of tourism development and resident attitudes. The tourism area life cycle (TALC) is discussed to understand differences between destinations. Since local residents are not a homogeneous group, cluster analysis is applied to divide local residents into groups with differing perceptions. Three destinations in West Sweden are empirically studied. A four-cluster solution is used, dividing residents intodevelopment supporters, prudent developers, ambivalent/cautiousandskeptics. Comparisons between the three destinations show that cluster groups are significantly different in size and attitudes toward future tourism developments. Findings show that it is not possible, as argued in previous research, to use perceived tourism impacts as an indication of destination decline. Instead, findings indicate that negative impacts of tourism development are perceived by a larger share of the population at destinations with lower levels of tourism development. The influence of the altruistic surplus phenomenon, a continuous upward movement of thresholds for carrying capacity and the existence of cognitive lock-ins are discussed in the analysis. The linearity of the TALC, in line with previous research, is questioned. The life cycle of destinations is suggested to be more complex, chaotic and dependent on the specific context of the destination. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The online travel communities and tourism agencies have favored the emergence of global assessment alternatives of accommodation units included in the visitors' travel options. This article analyzes the online assessment of the accommodation units from Braşov county and which are the differences between the comfort category of accommodation units according to the national classification system of the accommodation units and the online assessments found on two of the most well known online communities in the field, namely TripAdvisor and Booking.com. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, tourism economy has a crucial role as one of the main principles of commercial economy in global economy. Present study tries to answer to the question that regarding economic indicators of this industry what is Iran`s position compared to other middle-east countries? In addition, Iran`s position is investigated during economic development plans. To study Iran`s position, totally nine indicators are selected: 1) indicator of total participation of tourism industry in GDP, 2) total participation of tourism industry in jobs created, 3) internal travel and tourism expenses, 4) government expenses, 5) tourist export, 6) domestic consumption of tourist, 7) travel, tourism and commercial expenses, 8) holiday travel and tourism expenses and finally, 9) investment indicator in tourism sector. TOPSIS method is used to compose said indicators. Results show that during economic development plans, Iran has gained these ratings respectively: 6th rating in 1989, 6th rating in 1996, 4th rating in 2000, 5th rating in 2005, 5th rating in 2011, and 5th rating in 2013 among middle-east countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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