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.     

海滨旅游度假区发展模式比较研究——三亚亚龙湾和北海银滩度假区案例

三亚亚龙湾和北海银滩是我国海滨度假区发展的典型案例。在大量田野调查和对关键信息提供者深度访谈基础上,从度假区地方政府介入程度及方式、土地管理、招商引资、开发水平和绩效等方面进行了比较研究。研究发现,亚龙湾度假区是企业主导下市场化发展模式,而银滩度假区则是地方政府主导发展模式。以后者为代表的过度行政化治理结构是我国现阶段海滨度假区发展的制度特征。新时期海滨度假区需要探索政府和市场分工明确、责权清晰、优势互补、科学合理的治理结构,使得度假区在市场机制的引导下良性健康稳步发展。     

中国南方十一座旅游名城避寒疗养气候旅游资源评估

文章对人体健康与气候环境作了分析,阐明寒冷气候与呼吸道系统、心血管系统、消化道系统疾病发病率、死亡率的对应关系。运用生理气候舒适度指数,对中国南方11座旅游名城的避寒气候作了横向分析比较,得出中国最佳避寒疗养地的区域格局,为开展中国冬季避寒疗养旅游提供了发展基础。     

Books Received

In this article, I discuss the role of the three Scandinavian central banks in the establishment of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in 1930, and in the international lender of last resort operation towards Austria in 1931. I argue that small central banks were reluctant supporters in the establishment of the BIS and free riders in the Austrian crisis, even though there were marked differences in their attitude to international cooperation. These results run counter to the views of those International Political Economy (IPE) theorists who argue that small states should be in favour of international cooperation. On the other hand, the evidence seems to confirm Kindleberger's hypothesis that small countries were free riding during the international financial crisis of 1931, and that therefore there is a need for some coordinating mechanism, or a hegemon, in such crises.     

Portuguese West Coast tourism resorts: an unfinished landscape of territorial liabilities

The research focuses on Portuguese West Coast tourism resorts and addresses the problem of unfinished estates as territorial liabilities left by the Global Financial Crisis on residential tourism and tourism-driven urbanization. After a significant expansion during the golden age, resorts have suffered drastic consequences under the crisis, financial imbalance and stagnation of the real estate market. This situation brings additional problems to land management and adequate responses have not been provided yet. Focusing on the municipality of Óbidos, this paper aims to describe the territorial changes induced by the development of resorts, criss-crossing a morphological analysis with the understanding of the context of the Global Financial Crisis and the assessment of the regulatory framework.     

Resilience and Non-Linear Change in Island Tourism

Abstract

Perhentian Kecil, located off the east coast of peninsular Malaysia, is predominantly a small-scale tourism destination, specifically for backpackers and independent travellers. Against the context of an aggressive drive by the state government to remove small-scale tourism development in favour of formal and high-end resorts, this paper examines the local responses to the exogenous factors that had threatened the equilibrium, and hence sustainability, of the tourism systems on the island. The paper draws upon a longitudinal study with multiple visits over an extended period since the mid-1990s. Using insights from Resilience Theory, the paper argues that this island destination is an example of non-linear change rather than conventional resort evolution. The paper also discusses how the authors – as researchers – had to realign their research framework and approach to take into consideration the growing complexities of tourism development in small island destinations.     

The beach at the end of the world: Eilat in Israeli popular culture

Located on the southernmost tip of Israel, at the meeting point of the Negev desert and the Red Sea, Eilat was occupied in March 1949 in the last military operation of Israel's War of Independence. Notwithstanding official notions of Eilat as a strategic asset and efforts to sustain Israeli presence there in the form of a permanent settlement, in Israeli popular culture Eilat, which later evolved into a thriving tourist resort, has had from the outset the reputation of being ‘different, special, distinct’. This article explores the unique position of Eilat in Israeli popular culture. The underlying argument is that this unique position of Eilat both evinced and reflected a dynamic interplay of liminal conditions and phenomena that rendered Eilat an exceptional experience. Furthermore, being situated at the southernmost tip of Israel, the location of Eilat at the geographical margin of Israel was productive of its image as an extraordinary place and sustained its prominence in popular imagination. The article charts and analyses a variety of liminal phenomena in their social and cultural contexts in different periods of Eilat's history.     

从传统乡村聚落到现代滨海旅游度假区——过去20年大连金石滩旅游度假区土地利用动态演变

旅游城镇化是中国新型城镇化进程中的重要类型之一。本文以大连金石滩为案例区,从土地利用变化视角,综合采用参与式乡村评估(PRA),GIS和遥感影像分析等方法分析了过去20年金石滩旅游度假区从传统乡村聚落转变为现代旅游度假区的城镇化过程。研究发现,过去20年,金石滩地区经历了从传统乡村聚落到现代滨海旅游度假区的转变。在此期间,农业用地和乡村聚落用地基本消亡,旅游设施用地和第二居所用地等商业设施用地呈现由海滩到内陆波浪式推进和立体集约性扩展。这种转换过程是以旅游持续增长为基本动力,以土地资本化进程为根本原因,以利益主导者转变为主要推手,在各种正式和非正式制度调节下共同作用的结果。     

基于环境认知的生态旅游者对景区管理方式的态度测量

根据不同环境认知属性的游客类型对于景区管理方式的态度差异,来寻求景区管理中的不足,有助于完善景区管理方案。本文以芦芽山自然保护区为例,首先运用双向指示种分析方法,将游客划分为严格环保型、一般环保型、偶尔环保型和自然享受型四类。其次利用ANOVA方差分析法,测量了不同游客类型对景区管理方式的态度。结果发现:游客在保护区目前的管理方式、步行道管理、游客活动范围的限制、牲畜管理等方面,有明显的不同反映;在分区管理、处罚措施、解说系统和环境教育方面,则表现出较为一致的态度。     

中国旅游度假区治理结构及变迁

本文系统分析了中国度假区治理结构及其类型,并从制度变迁的角度揭示了度假区治理结构的适应性调整过程.研究表明,中国度假区发展是地方性行政经济的产物,地方政府是我国度假区发展中最重要的行政权利主体,度假区治理结构的类型和构成则是地方政府内部不同行政利益主体博弈的均衡结果.十多年来,我国度假区治理结构变迁的路径主要表现在管委会实际受权变化和管委会制度逐步向传统行政管理制度复归,这是我国度假区对发展环境不适应,进而在制度层面进行适应性调整的结果.