Thermal range of coastal tourism resort microclimates

With considerable evidence demonstrating the intrinsic importance of weather and climate for tourist decision-making, the projected redistribution of climatic resources as a result of climate change is anticipated to have important consequences for temporal and spatial patterns of tourism demand. Some of the world's leading coastal tourism destinations (Mediterranean and Caribbean) have been identified as becoming ‘too hot’ for tourism. However, the microclimates of coastal tourism areas have not been considered by such assessments. With a focus on thermo-physiologically relevant climatic parameters, this paper examines the adaptive range of microclimatic conditions available in two coastal resort settings in the Caribbean islands of Barbados and Tobago. Recorded weather parameters include air temperature, black globe temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. The microclimatic results, which are presented using the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), show that hourly thermal conditions can range up to 4 °C in different outdoor areas of the resort property (beach, garden, pool, cabana). This is salient in terms of characterizing tourism destinations for climate change assessments, as the results reveal that thermal conditions can vary at the micro-scale of a coastal resort, with the ability for tourists to attain thermally comfortable conditions within a single resort property. When a location becomes thermally uncomfortable (i.e. too hot), tourists can change their location (e.g. move from the pool to the beach), providing an onsite adaptive range between 1 °C and 4 °C. The results also demonstrate that thermo-physiologically relevant climatic parameters provide a more precise estimate of the available range of thermal comfort than is inferred from ambient temperature alone. The findings are discussed in the context of tourists’ climatic preferences and reveal that the microclimatic conditions recorded in this study (UTCI 29–36 °C) are well within tourists’ preferred thermal conditions and do not exceed tourists’ thermal thresholds for coastal tourism.     

Climate change adaptation of the tourism sector in the Bolivian Andes

Over the last 40 years, warmer temperatures have caused a considerable decrease in snow cover on glaciers and high rates of glacial melt, particularly in tropical mountains. In the Bolivian Andes, the Chacaltaya glacier (5400 masl) had been a tourist destination known as the highest ski slope in the world since 1939. As a result of climate change, skiing has not been possible after 1987 and the glacier definitely disappeared in 2009. However, since 2005, the place has become a new attraction for tourists. Travel agencies in La Paz now offer day trips to the Chacaltaya site. In order to understand the present attraction of the site and its potential for reproduction elsewhere, 25 semi-structured interviews were conducted with various categories of stakeholders involved in the tourism industry in La Paz, and archives and images were analysed. Our results show that the multifunctional character of this tourist site, including easy access to a summit, beautiful views, acclimatisation to altitude and opportunity to experience snow, are key factors in its renewed attraction for visitors, together with, to a lesser extent, the incentive of being able to watch a famous and evident full disappearance of a glacier and former ski slope. The stakeholders' groups share general views and perceptions about environmental changes and about the qualities of the site, but they also differ in terms of projects and evaluation of potential attractiveness. In particular, the development of the visibility of climate change impacts on mountain environment is valued by experts or by members of the Andean Club, but not by travel agencies. The example of Chacaltaya shows that multifunctional tourist sites may still be attractive in the future.     

Simulating changes in tourism demand: a case study of two German regions

Travel behaviour is shaped by the complex interaction of a variety of societal, economic, ecological and political drivers that undergo rapid changes. This poses continually new challenges on destinations which need to adapt to altering conditions. Significant changes of influencing factors might lead to shifts in tourism flows in temporal and/or spatial dimensions. This study investigates how German tourists’ destination choices develop under changing framework conditions. It furthermore rates the impact of influencing factors such as socio-demographic and socio-economic aspects on changes in tourism demand using an agent-based model. The interactions among 15 million tourists and 109 European destinations are simulated under three different scenarios. Destinations included in the model develop in different ways in regard to tourist arrivals until 2030. The results indicate that the number of tourist arrivals will develop divergently in the investigated regions until 2030 and that some market segments will undergo changes in seasonality: the model shows a growth in arrivals for many city destinations, cultural as well as sports and active tourism destinations. It indicates a trend towards equalisation in the segments sun and sea tourism, city and cultural tourism with a shift from summer months to spring and autumn towards 2030. They furthermore imply that demographic change dominates altering tourism demand in the source market and that related changes in travel preferences are the most urgent challenge for destinations.     

Liminality in nature-based tourism experiences as mediated through social media

Abstract

The intersection between social media, liminality and nature-based tourism experiences hasn’t been the focus of previous tourism research. Such intersection, on the other hand, is illustrative of how social media relate to the constitution and performance of tourism spatialities, tourist identities, storytelling and place-making, and can lead to relevant theoretical contributes. We aim to investigate how liminality is expressed in relation to nature-based experiences by tourists on social media, and what role social media plays in mediating liminality during nature-based tourism experiences. The analysis is based on a participatory netnography of images and text posts, as well as online interviews with users of the popular social media Instagram. Findings show that the expression of tourism experiences in nature is closely related to specific notions of liminal otherness as opposed to the urban life and the everyday, where nature and wilderness are expressed as related to the genuine, the authentic and a true inner self. Creative combinations of pictures, captions and hashtags make it easier for tourists to express the contrast between the natural landscape and the everyday landscape once they returned home. These combinations also relate closely to performances of resistant and alternative selves and communities. At the same time, such performances are mediated and contested between freedom of self-expression, surveillance and social norms, an aspect that makes their liminal nature ambiguous.     

Costs and benefits of environmental change: tourism industry's responses in Arctic Finland

ABSTRACT

Recent research has focused on the impacts of environmental change to tourism. In particular, the perceived costs of climate change have been increasingly studied. However, the relationship between costs and benefits resulting from the changing environmental conditions for the industry has been less examined. This paper identifies the locally observed changes in the natural and socio-economic environments and aims to analyse the financial costs and benefits to tourism businesses in two tourism-dependent communities in northern Finland. The specific focus is on adaptation and adaptive management in a tourist destination scale. Adaption is understood as an investment creating not only implementation costs, but potentially also benefits for tourism operations. Research materials were collected among tourism and tourism-related businesses through 41 semi-structured thematic interviews. Results indicate that the evaluated benefits of environmental change seem to exceed those of costs. This conforms to the on-going discourse of climate change–tourism relations associated with the Arctic region where both awareness and vulnerability to change are considered relatively high but the level of responses, i.e. adaptation, low. These results can help to further identify the most vulnerable sectors in tourism and assist entrepreneurs preparing for environmental and climate change. However, the paper concludes that while global environmental change, with specific adaptive management strategies, may create local short-term direct benefits for the industry, a long-term sustainability of tourism in the Arctic calls for mitigation responses to climate change.     

Tourist motivations in relation to a battlefield: a case study of Kinmen

ABSTRACT

To assess tourist motivations at the battlefield site on Kinmen Island of Taiwan, an empirical investigation was conducted. From a convenience sample, we collected 437 effective responses of respondents including domestic and international tourists with different cultural background in Kinmen. The structure of motivation was first examined via factor analysis. Then ANOVA analysis was applied to address the influence from demographic aspects such as gender, age, and nationality. Our results show that personal, spiritual, experience, physical, and emotional perspectives are five major sources of motivations. More importantly, age and nationality are confirmed to be two major dimensions to segment tourists in the context of battlefield tourism. Tourists with older age have higher motivations toward the battlefield site in comparison with young tourists. In addition, tourists with different cultural background based on different nationalities are significantly motivated by various motivational factors. The example of Kinmen contributes theoretically to a better understanding of the motivational attributes in a battlefield site, and how they represent a basis for increasing tourist perceptions. The motivational mechanisms and factors explored in this case can be incorporated into marketing strategies. Additionally, our results also provide a viable basis for the tourism authorities concerned to reevaluate the essence of its tourism industry in the context of battlefield resources and attractions.     

旅游演艺产品质量测量量表开发的实证研究

随着旅游业的快速发展,旅游演艺逐渐从旅游目的地的附属产品发展成为重要的旅游吸引物.依据服务营销理论,旅游演艺产品质量对旅游目的地形象以及游客的态度和行为产生显著的影响,因此,本文以旅游演艺为研究对象,从游客感知视角设计开发了旅游演艺产品质量测量量表.研究发现,旅游演艺产品质量包含7个维度,31个测量项目;实证研究结果也表明,旅游演艺产品质量测量量表具有较好的信度和效度,可以用来测量游客对旅游演艺产品质量的感知和评价.     

避暑旅游指数概念模型及评价指标体系构建

气候变暖背景下避暑旅游成为夏季旅游市场的主旋律。地方政府及旅游主管部门在培育避暑旅游目的地时应从何入,手旅游者如何能够准确地做出避暑旅游决策等是一个现实问题。本文在综述国内外相关研究与实践的基础上,认为舒适凉爽的夏季气候条件只是避暑旅游的最基本条件,创新性地提出应侧重从产业发展的角度,引入旅游休闲度、游客满意度和综合风险度等指标。避暑旅游评价指标体系的构建为目的地避暑旅游条件评估提供了理论框架,有助于游客准确地做出避暑旅游决策,同时也为目的地避暑旅游发展与提升提供一个具操作性的管理工具。     

Liminality and difficult heritage in tourism

Abstract

Difficult heritage, rooted in difficult knowledge, is not simply difficult because of traumatic content but also because of the responses it can provoke. These responses can include confusion, anxiety, and empathy for the fear and suffering of others. As such, difficult heritage sites can be problematic in tourism, which is typically characterized by expectations of fun and relaxation. Scholars recognize that the tourist experience is liminal in that tourists occupy a state of limbo outside of their normal places and lives. This article argues that difficult heritage can be a liminal experience within tourism by critically analysing tourist reviews of Bonaire’s slave huts. The Caribbean island of Bonaire attracts cruise tourists and tourists interested in water sports like snorkelling and diving. Yet, these tourists may visit the slave hut sites as a secondary activity during their stay on the island. TripAdvisor reviewers describe feelings of being both out of time and out of place at the slave huts as they imagine the conditions the enslaved would have experienced, and they describe emotional responses ranging from sadness to revulsion. Additionally, reviewers reflect on their visit to the slave huts after ‘resuming’ their vacation, particularly focusing on the contrast between their experiences. The approach of liminality has the potential to better understand tourists’ experiences of difficult heritage.     

旅游网站信息搜寻对旅游者行为决策影响的评价分析

随着互联网的普及和旅游电子商务的发展,旅游网站信息搜寻行为已成为旅游者行为决策研究的重要内容。本文通过对来张家界市旅游游客的实证调查,研究张家界市旅游者信息搜寻的特征和偏好,并进一步采用因子分析法分析了旅游网站信息搜寻对旅游者行为决策的影响。研究发现:张家界市游客对旅游网站的信息搜寻与年龄、职业、知识层次等因素相关;年轻、学历较高的游客访问率更高,而且对网站的依赖程度更大;网络已经成为游客获取旅游信息最重要的渠道;在网络旅游信息有效传播的方式中,百度,Google,综合性门户网站和专门旅游网站优势明显。     

The Mainland Chinese market for nature tourism in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

Nature tourism has been emerged as an ecologically sensitive form of tourism in developed and developing countries. A large influx of tourists would have both benefits and adverse impacts on these destinations. With an increasing influence of Chinese market in many destinations and tourism activities worldwide, it is important to understand the perceptions and preferences of Chinese tourists toward natural attributes so that proper approaches to destination planning and marketing can be derived to better attract these segments of tourists and sustainably manage tourism resources. The results of an empirical study of a sample of Mainland citizens (n = 430) to Hong Kong's nature areas show that (1) they exert a high degree of interest in participating in nature tourism; (2) female and older people are more interested in visiting natural environment; (3) these potential nature tourists from China prefer going to places in association with sea views, and engaging in photo-taking, non-commercial activities and less artificial elements; and (4) the nature tourism attributes form two factors related to aspects of educational needs and relaxation (an experiential factor), and nature-oriented but also convenient (a functional factor). These considerations can lead to the development of ecotourism products that are better suited to meeting the interests of mainland Chinese tourists, while also enriching the host experience.     

红色旅游产品特点和发展模式研究

红色旅游不同于一般的旅游活动,它是由有组织的爱国主义教育和革命传统教育活动孕育衍化而成,并在近年迅速发展起来的一种特殊的旅游产品类型,具有与众不同的特点和发展模式。相对于其它的旅游活动,红色旅游更多是以参观游览红色景观为主要内容,以接受思想教育为主要目的的旅游活动。它具有游客市场较为固定,以公费旅游为主,产品捆绑式销售等特点。借助良好的政策环境和高品位的红色旅游资源,实现产品的多样化、综合化,走政府主导加市场化运作的道路是目前国内已经成功开发的主要红色旅游地的发展模式。     

澳大利亚旅游网站信息流对旅游人流的导引:过程、强度和机理问题

这篇文章以澳大利亚旅游网站为对象,研究旅游网站信息流导引旅游人流的若干问题,旨在证实虚拟流动对现实流动的作用性。文章首先分析了旅游信息流因素的变化;而后透视了基于旅游网站功能性与服务性的信息流对旅游人流导引的过程;再后给出了旅游网站信息流对不同类型旅游人流导引的强度,最后从旅游网站使用比和旅游网站信息比两个方面揭示了旅游网站对旅游人流导引的机理。     

旅游气候研究进展与启示

气候是旅游发展的重要因子。近年来,局部地区恶劣气候频繁出现,旅游业发展受到影响。总结国内外旅游气候研究进展,国外研究主要集中于旅游目的地气候条件对旅游业发展、旅游者行为的影响和人类旅游活动对气候的现实和潜在的影响;国内研究则集中在气候旅游资源和旅游地气候舒适度两方面。总的看来,国内外旅游气候研究的中心议题都围绕着气候是旅游业的影响要素,主要贡献有气候是包括自然旅游资源在内的资源形成背景;特殊的气象景观和优良的气候条件是旅游地重要吸引物,进而影响到旅游者决策行为,因此气候调查和分析应视为旅游规划的前提。     

京津冀地区旅游业的碳排放测算与比较研究

本文借鉴"旅游消费剥离系数"概念构建了京津冀地区旅游业碳排放量的计算方法,并对京津冀三省份的旅游碳排放指标进行了比较分析。研究表明:2010-2012年京津冀地区的旅游碳排放总量持续攀升,从591.018万吨增加到696.3万吨,而旅游者的人均碳排放总量持续递减;2010-2012年北京市旅游业碳排放总量均排名首位,河北省始终最低,但是增长势头迅猛;从人均总量对比情况看,2010-2012年河北旅游业碳排放人均总量在京津冀中最低,同时,北京人均总量却是最高的,2010-2012年京津冀地区中只有北京的人均总量逐年下降,天津旅游业碳排放量人均总量呈现倒U型变化特征,而河北呈现持续上升特征。未来京津冀地区需要从节能减排行动纲要制定、企业节能技术创新等方面推进旅游节能减排工作。     

Coastal resident perceptions of nature-based adaptation options in Nova Scotia

Climate change risks to coastal communities may overwhelm current management strategies. The emergence of nature-based solutions could provide alternative approaches for climate adaptation; however, studies on their public acceptability are limited. This research focuses on the human dimensions of nature-based coastal adaptation solutions. The research sought to understand the kind of environmental changes participants were experiencing in their coastal communities of Nova Scotia and what management responses they observed being taken, if any. Online focus groups were held with coastal property owners in Nova Scotia to understand how they assess coastal risks and four approaches to nature-based coastal adaptation: living shorelines, accommodation, retreat, and dyke realignment to make space for wetland restoration. Results revealed ongoing trust in traditional hard-line approaches, but also interest in knowing more about nature-based options. There was general support for living shorelines, albeit with scepticism; a concern that accommodation is just a “band-aid” approach; resistance to retreat, despite general recognition of its future utility; and a lack of understanding of dyke realignment. The successful implementation of nature-based coastal adaptation approaches will require more evidence of their viability, better options for financing them, and engagement with communities around the best-fit alternatives for them.     

Dark tourism and moral disengagement in liminal spaces

Abstract

Dark tourism, which deploys taboo subjects and commercially exploits the macabre, has always raised moral conflicts at a collective and individual level while providing new spaces in which morality is communicated, reconfigured and revitalized. Although earlier studies in dark tourism have focused upon the collective notions of morality with a considerable amount of discussion on the comprehension and the manner in which the history and information of dark tourist attractions are presented for tourist consumption, the individual differences of tourist morality and how tourists morally engage with death and its various forms of representation, has been neglected. In order to understand morally transgressive behavior displayed by tourists at emotionally sensitive or controversial sites and the various ways they justify their actions, the narratives of international tourists who are interested in death-related rituals at a cremation ground in India were collected and analyzed. Drawing upon a socio-cognitive theory, the moral mechanisms involved in tourist judgment towards photography of death-related rituals are discussed. It was observed that the cremation ground offers a liminal space for tourists to exercise their moral agency in an inhibitive form, as well as proactive form and that transgressive behavior among tourists is likely if they disengage from processes related to moral conduct using various moral disengagement mechanisms. This behavior arises due to an obscuring and fragmentation of human agency during moral disengagement thereby making it possible for tourists to not take ownership of the consequences of their actions.     

广州海外游客低消费问题探析

本文针对广州海外游客多,但旅游外汇收入少的现象,引入人均旅游外汇收入这一概念,探析了海外游客消费的影响因素,指出广州海外旅游市场不合理的客源结构、较低的非基本旅游消费、景点与厕所的服务质量差、过夜游客比重少、旅游部门的削价竞争是影响海外游客低消费的主要原因,从而提出今后广州市应主要在开拓外国客源市场、增加旅游商品的特色、增加过夜游客的比重、开发有特色的旅游资源和旅游项目、提高景点的服务质量和加强旅游市场的管理上下功夫,以解决海外旅游人数和旅游外汇收入之间错位的问题,实现旅游外汇收入的大增长。     

基于入境游客感知的中国旅游服务质量演进特征和影响机制

入境游客感知的旅游服务质量是影响入境旅游规模、衡量我国国际旅游竞争力的重要因素。本研究利用历史统计资料、问卷调查数据和结构方程模型方法分析了基于入境游客感知的中国旅游服务质量演进特征和影响机制。研究发现:1990-2012年入境游客对中国旅游服务质量的评价呈现"初步改善-大幅提升-提升趋缓"的趋势,旅游服务质量仍滞后于入境游客不断增长的需求,交通业、旅行社业、旅游公共服务等行业服务质量不高是主要制约因素。从内在影响机制看,入境游客对旅游服务质量比国内游客更为敏感,对入境游客满意度影响最大的因素是各行业服务和旅游公共服务,此外,旅游地形象对于入境游客的感知质量也有很大影响,旅游地形象、游客感知质量和游客满意度最终将影响入境游客的忠诚度,但旅游价格并不是影响入境游客满意度和忠诚度的主要因素。     

旅行的意义:大众旅游者自我发展的视角

旅游已成为个体寻求自我发展的一种手段。本文以大众旅游者个体为研究对象,探索旅游对旅游者自我发展的影响及其作用机制。研究运用扎根理论研究方法,对所搜集的资料逐级编码、概念化和范畴化,发现大众旅游者自我认知的变化具有普遍性,构建了旅游者情境自我发展过程的框架,最终得到核心范畴——旅游者自我发展。研究发现,旅游者在旅游过程中或结束后对自我的内省能够促进自我发展;影响旅游者内省行为的两条路径分别是情绪过程和意志过程;情绪过程受到旅游者对旅游情境因素的知觉和出游动机的双重影响;意志过程主要受旅游者出游动机的影响。