Now showing items 1-20 of 59

    • Using the panel cointegration approach to analyse the determinants of tourism demand in South Africa

      Seetanah, Boopen; Durbarry, Ramesh; Ragodoo, J.F. Nicolas (IP Publishing, 2010-09-01)
      Estimating tourism demand has become a challenge among researchers, as identification of key determinants is important for policymakers at a time when tourism has become the world's largest industry. Using a theoretical framework based on the gravity model, this paper models inbound tourism demand for South Africa to estimate price and income sensitivities as well as the impact of other important factors that affect tourist flows, such as the location of markets and socio-political factors. Given the non-stationary but cointegrated nature of the panel data, panel cointegration estimation techniques are employed. The results show that tourists are sensitive to price changes in South Africa and also to tourism price changes in competing destinations. The level of development, tourism infrastructure, distance (or transportation costs), common border and language are also found to affect arrivals. The results also indicate the need to conduct estimation by regional groupings for a better understanding of different markets.
    • Tourism and the green economy: a place for an environmental ethic?

      Holden, Andrew (Taylor & Francis, 2015-01-12)
      Tourism has been recognized by major multilateral world agencies, the World Bank, IMF and United Nations, as a key economic sector for achieving a global transition from a brown to a green economic system. This transition includes an incumbent ethical mission, seeking to improve 'human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities' (UNEP 2011: 1ndash;2). Nevertheless, five key challenges have been identified to tourism playing its part in fulfilling the aims of a green economy, four of which are directly related to its interaction with the natural environment and encompass a strong behavioural component. They are: a consumer trend to travel further for shortening durations of time; a preference for energy-intensive transportation based upon non-renewable fuel usage with an accompanying growth in GHG emissions; excessive water consumption; and damage to marine and terrestrial biodiversity. Simultaneously, the United Nations Environment Programme holds that the driving force of the greening of the tourism industry is consumer demand. The favoured approach from the World Bank and IMF to change environmentally destructive behaviour and reflect the full costs of an increasing ecological scarcity is through price and market correction. Other favoured approaches place a reliance on the greening of technology as a solution to environmental problems. This paper argues that these measures will not be sufficient to deal with the environmental challenges facing the tourism industry and system, and that without a stronger environmental ethic in the market it will be difficult to impose controls on tourists behaviour designed for environmental conservation. It subsequently analyzes the conceptualization of environmental ethics, the rationale for the evolution of an environmental ethic in society and evaluates its relevance to the tourism market.
    • The seductions of “soft power”: the call for multifronted research into the articulative reach of tourism in China

      Hollinshead, Keith; Hou, Chun Xiao (Taylor & Francis, 2012-07)
      In recent years, tourism has been increasingly posited as not just that set of ordinary promotional processes by which destinations are projected to visitors from afar (and by which those holiday-makers/trippers are managed there) but also as that mix of political and aspirational activities through which institutions and interest groups variously collaborate and contend to solidify particular visions of their supposed culture, heritage, and nature for not only distant/external others but for their own proximal/internal selves. Working from these later/broader perspectives, this article calls for a much richer critique of the ways in which China itself is articulated. Drawing particularly from Bell's (2008) scrutiny of Confucian orientations to the world and from Nyíri's (2006) examination of declarative agency of and over tourism, this article calls for deeper and more sustained critique of the conceivable “soft power” normalizations of China through tourism today.
    • The end of tourism? Climate change and societal challenges

      Burns, Peter; Bibbings, Lyn (Taylor & Francis, 2009-02)
      Starting with the assumption that socio-cultural aspects of tourism demand will need to change in response to global warming, this paper identifies business and consumer contradictions that highlight the complexities of dealing with climate change in an industry characterised by fragmented, global supply chains. The paper's approach is to problematise the issues into a series of research questions (related to ethical consumption, sustainability, policies, actions and communication) based on the premise that sustainable tourism is possible and desirable, but mitigation has to acknowledge the anthropogenic causes of climate change and responses should be underpinned by changing norms for any society that considers travel to be the ‘perfect freedom’.
    • The determinants of tourism demand in South Africa using a dynamic panel data approach

      Durbarry, Ramesh; Nicolas, J.F.; Seetanah, Boopen (Cognizant Communication Corporation, 2009-10-01)
      This article models inbound tourism demand for South Africa using a theoretical framework that is based on the gravity model and provides elasticity estimates that are useful for policy purposes. It uses a well-established gravity model following Anderson and van Wincoop's model (2003) to explain tourism flows. The article departs from most of the existing work estimating tourism demand and builds on the recent work of Durbarry, but employs a dynamic panel data setting. The results show that tourists are not too sensitive to changes in the tourism price of South Africa, indicating that it offers a unique product and experience to tourists. In fact, evidence tends to suggest that competing destinations may imploy tourism products that are unique to their destinations in the region. The level of development and tourism infrastructure also affect arrivals. It is also found that distance negatively affects arrivals, but common border and language play an important role. The dynamic model supports the presence of repeat tourism and positive word-of-mouth, particularly from European and American origins.
    • Politics and sustainable tourism development – can they co-exist? Voices from North Cyprus

      Yasarata, Muhammet; Altinay, Levent; Burns, Peter; Okumus, Fevzi; Cyprus Premier Holidays Ltd; Oxford Brookes University; University of Brighton; University of Central Florida (Elsevier, 2010-06)
      This paper investigates ways in which political obstacles inhibit the formulation and implementation of sustainable tourism development in small-island developing states through the example of North Cyprus. The methodology draws on in-depth interviews and participant observation of significant actors in the tourism sector. The research findings suggest that understanding the intricate political system and power structure in a society is the key to understanding sustainable tourism policy development, planning and implementation. In the case of North Cyprus, policy development was found to be a product of political influence (referred to as ego-driven politics in the text), specifically the use of public resources as an instrument for political power, retention and that the politicisation of the public sector is the underlying cause of the weakened progress in sustainable tourism development. It is therefore essential to have a clear understanding of political issues, key political actors’ interests and how to mitigate personal interests to facilitate and maintain sustainable tourism development in such small states.
    • Peer-to-peer capacity-building in tourism: values and experiences of field-based education

      Novelli, Marina; Burns, Peter (Taylor & Francis, 2010-12)
      Taking tourism as a metaphor for the complex and unequal relationship between the Majority World and the more affluent tourist-generating countries, this paper reports research into ways in which educational tourism can facilitate mutually beneficial exchanges between ‘hosts and guests’. The empirical work is based on data collected as part of an innovative field-based education project on international tourism development and management with field-based activities conducted in The Gambia. The paper aimed to show that if the exchange, both culturally and pragmatically, was to benefit not only the visiting students but also the host country, then values, cross-cultural interaction, innovation and knowledge exchange would have to play key roles to ensure that this peer-to-peer capacity-building opportunity though educational tourism would contribute to sustainable (tourism) development in the chosen locality.
    • Measuring the effect of subsidization on tourism demand and destination competitiveness through the AIDS model: an evidence-based approach to tourism policymaking

      Mangion, Marie -Louise; Cooper, Chris; Cortés-Jiménez, Isabel; Durbarry, Ramesh (IP Publishing, 2012-12-01)
      There is increasing recognition of the need for improved policymaking in tourism and the consequent evaluation of tourism public policies. This paper demonstrates the usefulness of econometric modelling for tourism policy analysis, showing that crucial information is generated from such econometric policy analysis. A dynamic Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) model is used to quantify the impact on demand elasticity of Malta's policy of supporting British inclusive tour holidays. Such analysis can contribute to improved policymaking as the policymaker is informed about how and to what extent the market has responded to previous policies – thus promoting an evidence-based approach to tourism policymaking.
    • Estimation of outbound Italian tourism demand: a monthly dynamic EC-LAIDS model

      Cortés-Jiménez, Isabel; Durbarry, Ramesh; Pulina, Manuela (IP Publishing, 2009-09-01)
      An almost ideal demand system with monthly frequency, in both long-run and dynamic forms, is used to quantify the responsiveness of Italian tourism demand to changes in relative prices, exchange rates, expenditure and unexpected one-off events in four main European destinations. Short-term elasticities, which are crucial for policies regarding own price, as well as cross prices and expenditure elasticities are derived from the dynamic model. It is also found that the dynamic model outperforms the long-run model in forecasting accuracy. This paper provides useful information for policymakers to maintain high market shares of Italian tourism demand.
    • (Re)viewing Cannibal Tours: lost in translation

      Burns, Peter; Zafiri, Konstantina (Inderscience, 2012)
      The film Cannibal Tours powerfully portrays the impact of tourism in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea through an array of host-guest encounters. Using text from the film as data, the present paper reveals new insights through a close analysis of the English subtitles given as translation for the Italian and German tourists. The subtitles are examined at three levels of equivalence to establish translation strategy and impact. The whole text is also be submitted to analysis using the critical discourse analysis (CDA) method. The findings have far-reaching implications on several levels. First, they are insightful for the study of tourism in developing destinations. Second, they confirm the significance of using visual data for research in the social sciences. Third, they demonstrate that translation in films can impact heavily on film meaning-making and viewer perception.
    • Are relatives friends? disaggregating VFR Travel 1994-2014

      Seaton, Tony; Tie, Caroline; University of Bedfordshire (Channel View Publications, 2015-06-01)
    • A ‘reality of return’: the case of the Sarawakian-Chinese visiting China

      Tie, Caroline; Holden, Andrew; Park, Hyung yu; University of Bedfordshire; Middlesex University (Elsevier, 2015)
      Using an interpretive ethnographic framework, this paper focuses on how travel to the homeland informs the identity of the Sarawakian-Chinese, a diaspora that contains a composite of subcultures. The data collection is based upon 35 semi-structured interviews and participant observation of a SarawakianChinese tour group to China. Whilst emotional connections with China are universally significant in constructing the diaspora's ethnic identity, the strength of association is influenced by characteristics of education, religion and language, as identity becomes re-defined and plural. The findings suggest that the influence of tourism to the homeland may not necessarily be significant in enhancing emotional and cultural connections with China. Instead, ambivalent connections to homeland become established during tourism experiences. Visits to the homeland could play a significant role in forging new and hybrid identities of ethnic communities outside the homeland, thereby bringing a new vital dimension to identity formation and communication of the Sarawakian-Chinese in the future.
    • Research themes for tourism

      Petrova, Petia (Taylor and Francis, 2011)
    • Scholarship of teaching and learning: what role can writing retreats play?

      Petrova, Petia; Coughlin, Annika (University of Bedfordshire, 2010)
    • To embed or not to embed? the embedding of PDP in the curriculum

      Ujma, Dorota; Atlay, Mark; Petrova, Petia (Threshold Press Ltd, 2009)
    • Students' awareness of the importance of transferable skills for employability

      Petrova, Petia; Ujma, Dorota (Threshold Press Ltd, 2006)
    • Using structured writing retreats to support novice researchers

      Petrova, Petia; Coughlin, Annika (Emerald, 2012)