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Based on blockchain technology, smart contracts promise to revolutionize the way parties legally agree. Smart contracts could enable tourism service providers to trade directly with customers bypassing some intermediaries. The study aims at identifying the provided services, economic impact, partners, popularity, technical and technological factors of smart contract applications in various tourism areas. It investigates ten popular smart contract applications that cover a wide spectrum of tourism areas such as hotel reservations, airline tickets, car rentals, payment management, reward programmes, traveller identity, luggage tracking, validity of reviews and ratings and more. These applications are analysed with respect to their purpose, business model, economic impact, partners, provided services, popularity, as well as what cryptocurrency and blockchain they use. Smart contracts enable time and transaction cost savings, convenience, flexibility, security, trust, ease verification of personal data and more. Most applications gained popularity mainly during 2018–19. Almost every application uses a different cryptocurrency. Ethereum is the most popular platform followed by Hyperledger Fabric and Stellar. The development of a universal legislation as well as interoperability is a necessity for the wide adoption of smart contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National forest roads allow access to public lands providing connections to natural and cultural heritage. Planning processes that address potential road closures or conversions can be highly contentious. Public participatory GIS (PPGIS) has been used as a tool to gather information for environmental planning and decision-making. Our PPGIS approach in a national forest in Washington (USA) incorporated workshops and online engagement with 1,810 participants to gather public input for sustainable roads planning. We identified the most important forest destinations and developed an analytical framework for assessing forest roads based on the density and diversity of use. In this paper, we summarize our PPGIS process and identify challenges faced in the application of socio-spatial data. A comparative analysis of road planning in other forests further highlights challenges in incorporating public use data. While the PPGIS process was valued for relationship-building, it is less evident how directly the socio-spatial data informed outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We determine the efficiency of a delivery system in which an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) provides service to customers while making return trips to a truck that is itself moving. In other words, a UAV picks up a package from the truck (which continues on its route), and after delivering the package, the UAV returns to the truck to pick up the next package. Although the hardware for such systems already exists, the extent to which such an approach can actually provide a significantly improved quality of service is not yet understood. By combining a theoretical analysis in the Euclidean plane with real-time numerical simulations on a road network, we demonstrate that the improvement in efficiency is proportional to the square root of the ratio of the speeds of the truck and the UAV. The online supplement is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2824. This paper was accepted by Vishal Gaur, operations management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The aim is to understand the framework concerning the market area of competing tourist destinations and the relationship between the shape of the boundary line between markets and the factors that influence tourism to understand what is required to maintain a competitive tourist destination. Design, Methodology and Approach - The classical market area model is used, applying factors that influence the competitiveness of tourist destinations: cost to experience the tourist destination; the disutility/utility at the tourist destination; the strength of the destination's branding; transportation fee; the cost related to travel time; and the disutility/utility from transportation means. Findings - Using the above method, this research confirms how the shape of the boundary line between two competing tourist destinations is affected by these factors. This will enable tourist destinations to further develop its competitiveness by helping identify potential markets not yet captured by the tourist destination. This could assist, local governments, tourist related industries and organizations understand potential areas of investment. Originality of the research - The originality of this paper is applying the classical model of market used in economic theories to the tourism sector to understand the factors that influence competitiveness of a tourist destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This study explores the strategies that hotel customers and managers/representatives use to complain/compliment and respond to complaints/compliments. Design - The study employed both the customer- and manager-generated contents posted on an online travel community as its data. Methodology - The study involved two gay oriented hotels of the Axel Corporation. The data were deductively analysed to understand the discourse strategies underlying Axel hotel customers' complaints/compliments and managers/representatives' complaint/compliment responses. Findings - The outcome suggests that Axel hotel guests' online written compliments and complaints are nearly the perfect reflections of their spoken acts. Together the online hotel guest community can potentially form a powerful market force. Axel hotel managers/representatives, although trying to actively manage guest comments, seem to lag behind in terms of both linguistics and managerial strategies. Originality of the research - Previous studies have examined what customers complain and compliment about, but have neglected the topic of how customers complain and compliment. They have also overlooked the topic of how business managers/representatives respond to customer complaints and compliments. Moreover, no composite attempt has been made to simultaneously investigate these issues using the approaches of both business and linguistics researchers. These theoretical gaps were addressed in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessibility is a key metric when assessing the efficiency of an urban public transportation network. This research develops a methodology for evaluating spatial accessibility of a system with multiple transportation modes in an urban area, Shanghai Hongqiao Transportation Hub (SHTH) and its surrounding area. The method measured total traveling time as an accessibility indicator, which summed the time people spent on walking, waiting, transfer and transportation in a journey from the SHTH to destinations. Spatial accessibility was classified into five levels from very high to very low. The evaluation was conducted at a cell-by-cell basis under an overall scenario and three specific scenarios. Evaluation results were presented in a series of maps. The overall accessibility scenario shows a concentric-ring trend decreasing from the SHTH to the fringe of the study area. Areas along the metro lines generally have a much higher accessibility than those along the bus lines with some exceptions where bus routes play a more important role. Metro stations identified as either time-saving or time-consuming points are mainly distributed around the urban center. Some suggestions are proposed for improving accessibility of public transportation network in the study area. The results from this study provide a scientific basis and useful information for supporting decision-making on urban planning, and assisting dwellers to travel in a time-efficient manner. The methodology offers a simple, flexible way to the spatial evaluation, metro station identification and network modification of accessibility of public transportation systems with multiple transportation modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human movement pattern is a research hotspot of social computing and has practical values in various fields, such as traffic planning. Previous studies mainly focus on the travel activities of human beings on the ground rather than those in the air. In this paper, we use the reservation records of air passengers to explore air passengers’ movement characteristics. After analyzing the effect of the route-trip length on the throughput, we find that most passengers eventually return to their original departure city and that the mobility of air passengers is not related to the route length. Based on these characteristics, we present a route city attraction (RCA) model, in which GDP or population is considered for the calculation of the attraction. The sub models of our RCA model show the better prediction performance of throughput than the radiation model and the gravity model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances understanding of the complex and adaptive nature of indigenous Fijian communities involved in tourism. It examines how tourism-related development has set the people of one Fijian village along two separate development pathways, and explores how preferential access to tourism benefits has created disparities within the community. Complex Adaptive Systems theory and Social Capital theory are used to conceptualise how over 40 years of tourism involvement has influenced development within an indigenous Fijian community. The findings argue that indigenous Fijian communities are non-homogeneous entities, which are constantly in transition, responding and adapting integratively to both internal and external changes over time. The findings show that the emergence of new behaviours and ways of life has led to the collapse of the pre-existing systems of social capital. As a response, community members retreated and regrouped, strengthening internal bonds and social capital in their smaller social units, leading to both dependency and opportunity-seeking behaviours among participants. Ultimately, the paper asserts that money alone does not lead to development, but rather tourism and access to a variety of capital do. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the travel motivation of international students in Korea using the theory of travel career pattern (TCP). In particular, latent profile analysis (LPA) was applied to identify latent classes within international students. Based on the results, four latent profiles were derived and named “Core,” “Longing,” “Middle,” and “Veteran.” The results described the travel motivation and patterns across these four profiles to enhance the understanding of international students in the context of tourism. There were significant differences in travel patterns (i.e. travel companion and information sources) among the profiles segmented by motivation. This study has expanded travel motivation research by (a) applying TCP to an understudied population (i.e. international students in a non-English-speaking country); (b) comparing travel careers between the home country, Korea (i.e. a study abroad destination), and the third countries; and (c) highlighting LPA as a clustering tool to understand travel motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Over the past years a substantial amount of studies has indicated that travel satisfaction is affected by a wide range of elements such as trip duration, travel mode choice and travel-related attitudes. However, what is less explored is that this travel satisfaction is not only an outcome of travel-related preferences and choices, but that travel satisfaction can also be a predictor of travel-related components. In this conceptual paper we tend to fill the gaps in the existing − albeit rather fragmented − literature concerning travel satisfaction. We provide an overview of the elements explaining travel satisfaction, and possible outcomes of travel satisfaction, with a focus on (i) subjective well-being, (ii) travel mode choice, (iii) travel-related attitudes, and (iv) the residential location. Furthermore, we suggest a continuous cyclical process including the four above mentioned elements in which travel satisfaction plays an essential role; a process which can result in the formation of travel habits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid expansion of urbanization and the fast pace of life result in abundant choices with little time for people to manage routes. A proper planning route enables us to enjoy life better with fewer time and energy costs. Therefore, route planning becomes too valuable to be ignored. At the same time, with the popularity of mobile devices, location sensing, and Web 2.0 technologies, location-based social networks (e.g., Facebook Palaces and Foursquare) have attracted millions of users to share their visited locations and other information, which generates large amounts of user check-in data. These data can be used to mine users’ preferences and time information for recommending routes. In this paper, we propose FineRoute, a personalized and time-sensitive route recommendation system. We take three factors users’ preferences, proper visiting time, and transition time into consideration for the route generation. First, we infer users’ preferences by constructing a three-dimensional tensor, with three dimensions representing users, locations, and time, respectively. Second, we obtain the proper visiting time for certain locations, as well as the transition time between two locations from the check-in dataset. Moreover, we adopt Kullback–Leibler divergence in order to measure the quality of a route in terms of the proper visiting month and the proper visiting hour. Finally, we propose a route generation algorithm by extending the classic longest path algorithm. We conduct experiments on a real-world check-in dataset and the results demonstrate the effectiveness of our scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Information technology-supported tourism services and platforms have made it easier for individual travelers to plan and manage their trips. But with smart tourism, a number of human-computer interaction issues, such as the decision support in the context of tourists' information processing, have surfaced. This study investigates the impact of the important smart tourism technology (STT) characteristics on travel decision support satisfaction and the moderating effects of self-efficacy on the main relationships. We adopted the elaboration likelihood model as an overarching theory to develop our hypotheses that revolve around both the central route and peripheral routes in the elaborated process, and tested the model with survey data collected from South Korea. The findings illustrate that STT characteristics of information quality, source credibility, interactivity, and accessibility have a positive influence on travel decision support satisfaction. Self-efficacy toward STT use was found to have a positive moderating impact on a hypothesized central route but negative moderating influence on three peripheral routes. Theoretical contributions and managerial implications of this study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of food consumption emotions on tourist’s memories of a trip, place attachment, and behavioural intentions. A web-based post-holiday survey was conducted among tourists to Rovaniemi, Finland, and a valid sample of 241 tourists was used for data analysis. Structural equation modelling was applied and all the proposed hypotheses were supported. The findings demonstrate the role of food consumption emotions on the formation of memories that further influence behavioural intentions and place attachment. Memories also mediate in both of the relationships (i.e. between “food consumption emotions” and “place attachment” and between “food consumption emotions” and “behavioural intentions”. The managerial implications include that restaurant managers should formulate a local food quality evaluation system and programme to enable tourists to gain sensual enjoyment. They should also ensure food safety to avoid negative feelings among tourists. Finally, they should focus on the servicescape and storytelling, as well as offer food souvenirs that appeal to tourists’ emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article investigates personal safety conditions in the São Paulo metro, the largest rapid transit system in Brazil. The study looks at all types of crimes, but devotes special attention to the nature and spatio-temporal dynamics of sexual crimes against women while in transit. The methodology combines Geographical Information System and crime records with data collected using Google Street View and other secondary data into a set of regression models. Findings show that sexual violence is concentrated at the busiest central stations; it often takes place during the morning and afternoon rush hours, and at stations that also attract all sorts of violence and events of public disorder. The study finalises with an analysis of the metro's current prevention practices targeting women's sexual victimisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shopping is an indispensable part of a group package tour and an activity that substantially affects the travel experience and quality. However, few studies have focused on shopping-spot types and arrangements. This study examined the effects of shopping-spot types and arrangements in trip itineraries on consumer prepurchase perceptions. Survey data were collected from 282 outbound tourists in Taiwan. A 2 × 2 mixed factorial design was employed to test the hypotheses. Our main results demonstrate that a process-oriented shopping spot combined with an official tour itinerary was preferred by consumers. By contrast, a product-oriented shopping spot combined with a tourist shopping habitat was less preferred by consumers. The findings suggest strategic directions for travel managers to design package tour itineraries and conduct marketing planning. Managerial implications of this study and future research directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty about possible train delays has an impact on train trips, as the exact arrival time is unknown during trip planning. Delays can lead to missing a connecting train at the transfer station, or to coming too late to an appointment at the destination. Facing this uncertainty, the traveler may wish to use an earlier train or a different connection arriving well before the appointment. Currently, train trip planning is based on scheduled times of connections between two stations. Information about approximate delays is only available shortly before train departure. Although several visualization approaches can show temporal uncertainty, we are not aware of any visual design specifically supporting trip planning, which can show delay uncertainty and its impact on the connections. We propose and evaluate a visual design which extends train trip planning with delay uncertainty. It shows the scheduled train connections together with their expected train delays as well as their impacts on both the arrival time, and the potential of missing a transfer. The visualization also includes information about alternative connections in case of these critical transfers. In this way the user is able to judge which train connection is suitable for a trip. We conducted a user study with 76 participants to evaluate our design. We compared it to two alternative presentations that are prominent in Germany. The study showed that our design performs comparably well for tasks concerning train schedules. The additional uncertainty display as well as the visualization of alternative connections was appreciated and well understood. The participants were able to estimate when they would likely arrive at their destination despite possible train delays while they were unable to estimate this with existing presentations. The users would prefer to use the new design for their trip planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to document the contribution of alternative forms of tourism in the eco-development of mountain areas with rich natural and cultural environment.Design/methodology/approach The paper follows two methods: first, bibliographical research and second, personal fieldwork and study which included interviews with the local body and citizens; collection of information from public agencies; research of the particular characteristics of the natural and cultural environment and registration of socioeconomic activities; visits in the villages, photographing of landscapes and traditional houses and data from the author’s participation in the research program “Possibilities of a self-reliant local development, respecting the environment“, which refers to the mountainous region of Xanthi Prefecture District and with the involvement of Greek and German scientists.Findings The utilization of the existing tourism resources of the region with ecological perception, combined with the excellent management of the two national parks, will contribute to eco-agritourism in the eco-development of the area. The ecological center in Drymia, with its completion and expansion to a European Ecological Centre, in direct connection with the national parks, will contribute significantly to the attraction of Greek and European researchers and eco-agritourists.Originality/value The scientific community has not thoroughly studied the region of Drymia, which presents unique ecological interest in Greece and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tourism Tribune / Lvyou Xuekan is the property of Tourism Institute of Beijing Union 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 article discusses the author's experience as a portfolio executive for administrative programs during the failure of implementation of the automated travel management system, which raised concerns of unauthorized access to organization's financial information.

Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a way of representing complex systems of autonomous agents or actors, and of simulating the multiple potential outcomes of these agents’ behaviors and interactions in the form of a range of alternatives or futures. Despite the complexity of the tourism system, and the power and flexibility of ABM to overcome the assumptions such as homogeneity, linearity, equilibrium, and rationality typical of traditional modeling techniques, ABM has received little attention from tourism researchers and practitioners. The purpose of this paper is to introduce ABM to a wider tourism audience. Specifically, the appropriateness of tourism as a phenomenon to be subjected to ABM is established; the power and benefits of ABM as an alternative scientific mechanism are illuminated; the few existing applications of ABM in the tourism arena are summarized; and, a range of potential applications in the areas of tourism planning, development, marketing and management is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different approaches to the analysis of tourism destinations as the basic units of research in tourism, are reviewed in this paper. Traditional geographical and economic perspectives are presented as the bases for more modern system and networking approaches. Network analysis is discussed as the most useful current approach to understand cooperation and coopetition processes taking place in destinations. This approach, developed in general management theory, however, if implicated directly in tourism, is not free from major problems and may lead to misleading conclusions. Among such problems, spatial embeddedness and the non-voluntary character of membership in a network, the crucial role of free goods in product creation, the predominance of SMEs in a destination network, differences between particular destinations and the difficulty in setting clear borders between networks, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper wishes to investigate the perspective of Digital Natives (DNs), described in literature as 'informal experts', in respect of digital strategies' implementation of destination management organizations (DMOs). In particular, focus groups of students and workers in the tourism field were asked to browse and discuss the website and social media presence of an Italian regional DMO (i.e. PromoTurismoFVG). Comments were collected and analyzed with the GABEK/Winrelan method for qualitative analysis. Results confirmed the DMO's adoption of a digital format but with limited social and consumer-generated-contents (CGC). DNs recognized the implementation of a Web 2.0 destination site in a rather traditional marketing mix strategy. Furthermore DMO websites and social media (SM) (i.e., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube) content analysis showed that the DMO lacks products and offers for the young market segment. The combination of limited social content and the weak attention to youth market makes the current digital DMO not attractive enough to the digital natives. The work highlights the importance on focusing on DN 'informal expertise' in the planning and development of digital strategies, DMO websites and SM presence. Their proved social media knowledge and digital competences have to be considered as a key opportunity for DMOs and for the improvement of the destination marketing strategies. This research contributes to the academic discussion on SM/Web 2.0 implementation in destination management, by presenting an exploratory study on DNs' informal expert perspective supported by the use of GABEK/Winrelan as an innovative method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how the younger generation conceptualise cultural tourism attractions associated with modern history in contemporary South Korea. Particular attention in this study is given to heritage attractions built in the Japanese colonising past. By analysing data obtained through a Multiple Sorting Procedure, this study identifies the underlying facets of heritage attractions the younger generation consider to be important when appreciating the heritage attractions. This study examines the socio-psychological properties and meanings that the heritage attractions communicate with respect to young Koreans’ sense of national identity. This study found that a range of constructs emerged in understanding heritage attractions. Social and political meanings embedded in the heritage attractions become a key determinant in appreciating heritage attractions with respect to a sense of national identity. These findings from South Korea suggest invaluable messages that can inform our understanding of, and planning regenerating negative-natured heritage attractions for tourism in contemporary society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applications of dynamic network equilibrium models have, mostly, considered the unit of traffic demand either as one-way trip, or as multiple independent trips. However, individuals' travel patterns typically follow a sequence of trips chained together. In this study we aim at developing a general simulation-based dynamic network equilibrium algorithm for assignment of activity-trip chain demand. The trip chain of each individual trip maker is defined by the departure time at origin, sequence of activity destination locations, including the location of their intermediate destinations and their final destination, and activity duration at each of the intermediate destinations. Spatial and temporal dependency of subsequent trips on each other necessitate time and memory consuming calculations and storage of node-to-node time-dependent least generalized cost path trees, which is not practical for very large metropolitan area networks. We first propose a reformulation of the trip-based demand gap function formulation for the variational inequality formulation of the Bi-criterion Dynamic User Equilibrium (BDUE) problem. Next, we propose a solution algorithm for solving the BDUE problem with daily chain of activity-trips. Implementation of the algorithm for very large networks circumvents the need to store memory-intensive node-to-node time-dependent shortest path trees by implementing a destination-based time-dependent least generalized cost path finding algorithm, while maintaining the spatial and temporal dependency of subsequent trips. Numerical results for a real-world large scale network suggest that recognizing the dependency of multiple trips of a chain, and maintaining the departure time consistency of subsequent trips provide sharper drops in gap values, hence, the convergence could be achieved faster (compared to when trips are considered independent of each other). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates travel behavior determinants based on a multiday travel survey conducted in the region of Ghent, Belgium. Due to the limited data reliability of the data sample and the influence of outliers exerted on classical principal component analysis, robust principal component analysis (ROBPCA) is employed in order to reveal the explanatory variables responsible for most of the variability. Interpretation of the results is eased by utilizing ROSPCA. The application of ROSPCA reveals six distinct principal components where each is determined by a few variables. Among others, our results suggest a key role of variable categories such as journey purpose-related impedance and journey inherent constraints. Surprisingly, the variables associated with journey timing turn out to be less important. Finally, our findings reveal the critical role of outliers in travel behavior analysis. This suggests that a systematic understanding of how outliers contribute to observed mobility behavior patterns, as derived from travel surveys, is needed. In this regard, the proposed methods serve for processing raw data typically used in activity-based modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we demonstrate the use of an inexpensive and easy-to-collect long-term dataset to address the problems caused by basing activity space studies off short-term data. In total, we use 63,114 geo-tagged tweets from 116 unique users to create individuals' activity spaces based on minimum bounding geometry (convex hull). By using polygon density maps of activity space, we found clear differences between weekday and weekend activity spaces, and were able to observe the growth trajectory of activity space over 17 weeks. In order to reflect the heterogeneous nature of spatial behavior and tweeting habits, we used Latent Class Analysis twice. First, to identify five unique patterns of location-based activity spaces that are different in shape and anchoring. Second, we identify three unique growth trajectories. The comparison among these latent growth trajectories shows that in order to capture the extent of activity spaces we need long time periods for some individuals and shorter periods of observation for others. We also show that past studies using a single digit number of weeks may not be sufficient to capture individuals' activity space. The major activity locations identified using a multilevel latent class model, do not appear to be statistically related to the growth patterns of Twitter users activity spaces. The evidence here shows Twitter data can be a valuable complementary source of information for heterogeneity analysis in activity-based modeling and simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Activity conflict resolution as the core of scheduling process in activity-based modeling is a challenging step because the activity diary databases mostly report the outcome of the scheduling decisions and often fail to capture key factors influencing the resolution process itself. Consequently, most activity-based frameworks ignore modeling this process by using either predefined set of activity patterns or priority-based assumptions to schedule daily activities and prevent conflict occasions. ADAPTS is one of the few activity-based models that attempts to simulate the process of activity scheduling and resolve the conflicts as they occur. This paper advances the current rule-based conflict resolution model of ADAPTS by implementing an advanced and flexible non-linear optimization model. A set of linear optimization sub-models is then proposed that together perform the same task as the non-linear model, however they are much easier to implement and maintain, while fast to run and flexible to extend. The proposed approach defines an objective function, which aims to minimize the extent of changes in timing and duration of conflicting activities, while fitting them in the schedule. Comparing performance of the proposed model with TASHA scheduler and former resolution module of ADAPTS using CHASE scheduling process data reveals significant improvement in fitting the newly planned activities in the schedules with the minimal modifications in the timing and duration of activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this research encompass an investigative study on the alternative tourism concepts, issues and management in Thailand. The research examines the participative process of local community in home-stay tourism management, the obstacles and factors contributing to the management problems alleviation, the host's perception and awareness of tourism impacts on social, economic, cultural and environment dimensions. Attempts have been made to analyze related issues, i.e. visitors' motivation, travel patterns and decision making procedure. In addition, sustainability in managing home-stay tourism has been taken into consideration and discussed. The roles and responsibility of the tourism stakeholders, i.e., government, private sectors, the visitors, especially the local community are also covered. The research methodology employed includes an overview of a current tourism policy and planning of Samut Songkram province, visitor attitude survey, participative observation, content analysis of in-depth interview and focus group to accomplish a triangulation approach. Questionnaires were randomly distributed to 400 visitors at Plai Pong Pang Home-stay to find out the effectiveness of alternative tourism management. The research findings revealed that despite the positive attitude of visitors to Plai Pong Pang Home-stay, conflict of interests among the local community does exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central research topic in tourism management concerns tourists’ choice of specific destinations. The present article reviews and advances the extant literature on destination image. From this review, we suggest that individuals have a multitude of destination associations, the total imagery that relates to the destination, and label this concept destination imagery. Individuals also hold an overall image used as a heuristic or a mental shortcut, which is labeled destination image. The concepts of destination imagery and destination image are distinct, yet they have often been conflated within the literature. The article further provides an extensive review of the literature with regard to the definitions, dimensionality, antecedents, and outcomes of the focal concepts as well as geographical scope of destination imagery and image studies and methodologies. This review has led to a novel understanding and delimitation of the focal concepts within the imagery–image duality model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incorporation of paper instruments, also known as volvelles, into astronomical and cosmographical texts is a well-known facet of sixteenth-century printing. However, the impact that these instruments had on the reading public has yet to be determined. This paper argues that the inclusion of paper instruments in Peter Apian's Cosmographia transforms the text into a book-instrument hybrid. The instruments and accompanying text in Cosmographia enabled readers to make their own measurements and calculations of both the heavens and the earth. Through the experience of manipulating the instruments, the readers became participants in sixteenth century mathematical culture, and thus mathematical amateurs. I conclude that the presence of these mathematical amateurs contributed to a much broader social base for the cultural shift towards an empirical understanding of nature from 1500 to 1700. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the linkages among protected areas, tourism and community livelihoods in a rural setting. The Chobe National Park and Chobe Enclave Community Trust, Botswana, provide the context for this study. Data were collected through a community asset mapping exercise, semi-structured interviews, and published and unpublished data sources. Data were analyzed and interpreted using the community capital framework (CCF) that provided a comprehensive approach. The study identified that protected areas, tourism and community livelihoods linkages have many inter-dependent community capitals relationships. The enhancement of community capitals was facilitated by a shift from government-controlled to multi-level governance arrangements that recognize community wildlife-based tourism potential co-exist with protected areas, have influence on community livelihoods and nurture positive linkages. Results also indicate that linkages are dependent on community capitals transformation or lack thereof; the linkages have an influential effect on the whole ecosystem on which protected areas, tourism and community livelihoods operate. The study provides a new methodological approach in understanding the changing relationships among tourism, conservation and community development by expanding community capitals framework. This study's findings also inform planners, managers, and policy makers to critically evaluate the processes of change and devise interventions accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes toward VolunTourism of students of Humber College, Toronto, Canada, who had engaged in VolunTourism excursions within the context of study abroad programmes or were about to embark on such a programme. The paper attempts to make a connection between altruistic travel motivations and the applicability of VolunTourism experiences on resumes in pursuit of differentiation in the job market.Design/methodology/approach The sample frame for this paper consisted of two groups of students who, at the time of the study, had participated in a curriculum-based study-abroad programme featuring VolunTourism components in the past five years (post-study) or were confirmed to embark on a trip shortly thereafter (pre-study). The surveys comprised a mixed-method approach. Quantitative and qualitative information was gathered through anonymous online surveys and personal interviews.Findings The responses obtained in personal interviews reflect the results obtained in the online surveys. Students who sat down for a personal interview were enthusiastic and supportive of VolunTourism. Three-quarters of the interviewees were 25 and younger. None of them had previously participated in study abroad programme, but they did have previous volunteering experience through high school curriculum or personal engagement. Besides their enthusiasm for doing good, students believed VolunTourism to enhance their image and increase their competitive advantage in the job market.Research limitations/implications The surveys do not explore the impact of short-term VolunTourism opportunities in general but are focused on specific curriculum-based programmes. The bulk of participants came from the Tourism Management programme, whose familiarity with Niche, Eco and VolunTourism products could potentially have created a bias towards their experience and the usefulness of such excursions with respect to their career aspirations. Participants had travelled to a variety of destinations, influencing the comparability of the impressions.Practical implications Commercial tour operators can direct their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts at giving back to its key profit generators, thereby offsetting the negative impacts that such vacation models entail. Students have pointed to the availability of many willing hands that populate the beaches of All-Inclusive Resorts, and it appears that they would happily participate, were pre-organized VolunTourism excursions readily available. The obligation for tour operators is clearly to maintain authenticity and integrity and not to capitalize on this new opportunity for pure revenue generation.Social implications Travellers are obligated to treat VolunTourism opportunities with respect and sincerity, to combat the negative stigma of careless self-gratification and self-promotion attributed to this type of travel. VolunTourists must be vigilant, demand transparency from VolunTourism providers and not fall prey to “green washing” strategies, allowing monies to subtly flow out of destinations and into the pockets of corporations.Originality/value This paper explores the complexities surrounding short-term VolunTourism experiences and their impact on students and young professionals. It narrowed in on the co-existence of altruistic motives in serving destination communities, and the expectation of acquiring skills to further expand resume credentials. The paper was inspired by recent market developments, wherein high-end tourism services providers were seen to be offering one-day volunteering excursions to their clientele. The question that presented itself was to investigate if there is an emerging trend towards personal social responsibility, whereby students and young professionals emulate behaviours modelled by industry leaders, and it appears that this is the case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the acceptability of the implementation of a High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane in the north of Bogota (Colombia), a strategy that is compatible with the policies of the mobility master plan of the city. Although the idea of using HOV lanes dates back to the 70's, it is still a valid alternative which is widely documented that produces positive impacts on travel times, accident rates, greenhouse emissions, among others. The study is based on discrete choice survey experiments which allowed calibrating a multinomial logit model. The calibrated model indicated that the acceptability of the HOV lane is very sensitive to travel times experienced by current car users. The model also identified the segment of the population with the highest acceptability for the proposal, which would consist of women over 31 years old, who travel for purposes related to work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to analyze the island tourists, their tourism information sources, perceived the destinations trip quality satisfaction, and the behavioral intention. In this study, from Taiwan tourists as objects that visit Jibei Islet and take part in ocean recreation activities, convenient sampling method was used, and 514 effective questionnaires were collected. After statistical analysis, the findings of this study are as follows: 1. tourists travel information sources in tourism magazines as the highest; 2. demographic variables will affect the tourist's trip quality satisfaction; 3. destination quality of "amenity", "hospitality" and "friendly" have predict power for tourists of behavioral intention. According to the above findings, this study for destination business and for future research is gives forward specific proposals and reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism has been studied and researched in higher education for more than 40 years and in many ways it has now established itself as a significant part of the academy. However, at a time of change and rationalization in higher education, tourism, along with other areas of study, needs to be able to justify its position. Increasingly, academic managers are seeking such justifications, often using readily available metrics. The purpose of this study is to examine the position of tourism using these same metrics, for teaching, research, and impact and for three different countries, Australia, China, and the United Kingdom. In doing so, it highlights tourism’s strengths and weaknesses from a managerial perspective but at the same time it exposes the relative narrowness of this managerial gaze. It points to the need for the tourism community to strengthen its provision and broaden the gaze of the decision makers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]