Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Tourism behaviour'

While the role of culture as an influence on consumer behaviour and product/service choice has long been acknowledged, the current literature in marketing offers an incomplete understanding of how and why culture plays its influential role (Overby, Woodruff and Gardial 2005). Research suggests that values provide the link between culture and consumer behaviour and values have been the focus of much research in the social sciences. In particular, values have received significant attention in cross-cultural research, being used to characterise the similarities within and differences across cultures. Values are central to the marketing discipline as they determine value, i.e. what activities, interests, and material goods consumers identify with, enjoy, acquire, or consume (Grunert and Muller 1996). Both directly and indirectly, values drive consumption behaviour. Typically, values have been assessed and compared through the use of standard measures such as Rokeach�s Value Survey, the List of Values and Schwartz�s Value Survey. Recent literature highlights growing concern over the application of standard measures across cultures and issues of cross-cultural invariance. There is a need for new research into cross-cultural applications of consumer value measures and theoretical models. This thesis critiques the use of Western conceptual paradigms and imposed etics in value research, and, using a Japanese tourism context, seeks a deeper understanding of how culture and values affect tourism consumption and experience. This thesis offers an empirical test of the cross-cultural applicability of a commonly used values scale in consumer research, the List of Values (Kahle 1983). The findings of this phase of the research extend the literature concerning methodological issues in values research and highlight the limitiations of the LOV as a cross-cultural measure of values. Based on these findings the thesis adopts an alternative, qualitative methodology to investigate the relationship between Japanese culture, values and tourism behaviour in New Zealand. The findings of the second phase of the research contribute to a recent call in the literature for more qualitative research in tourism, and allow the identification and understanding of the key values relevant to Japanese tourism behaviour. The results of Means-End interviews with Japanese visitors reveal the important cultural assumptions informing values and shaping tourism decisions and behaviours for two key groups of Japanese tourists. The theoretical framework presented in this thesis promotes our understanding of the relationship between cultural beliefs, values, and consumer behaviour. The results of the primary research highlight the importance of cultural and physical history, world-view, self-concept, thought patterns and language in the formation and interpretation of values. The thesis presents a holistic attempt at understanding Japanese culture, values and travel behaviour by examining how these concepts cohere in a logical framework. The thesis argues that, given the inherently cultural nature of values, their interpretation within the context of cultural beliefs is highly important in understanding variability in consumer behaviour across cultures.

Online User Experiences (UXs) act as persuasive technology that can nudge users toward making behaviour change. This makes online UX integral to marketing. The tourism industry relies on UX to attract potential customers. Made up of 80% SMEs, the competition is high, hence the SMEs must deliver robust UXs that capture, persuade and convert users into customers. Tourism, despite being an early adopter of technology lags behind in terms of delivering UXs that meet users’ expectations. Furthermore, scholarly works exploring online UX as a persuasive technology within the tourism SMEs, specifically the day-attraction SMEs segment, are lacking. Using the theoretical framework of the Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) model, this research evaluates day attraction SMEs’ online UXs as persuasive technology. The research uses three mixed-methods to present the service providers’ and the users’ perspectives. The first method is a website content analysis that reviews the persuasive architecture of 102-day attraction websites. The second method uses questionnaires to get insights on tourists’ online usage, motivations, opinions and perceptions of online UX delivered by a single day attraction SME (case study). The third method, an eye tracking experiment is an extension to the questionnaires. The outcomes show that the SMEs’ incorporate persuasive UX elements corresponding to usability, visual aesthetics and credibility, but fail at incorporating strategies to support dialogue. The tourists’ suggest that usability, visual aesthetics and credibility UX elements affect their decision to buy, however, certain strategies that enhance dialogue, such as ability to win rewards, are likely to nudge them toward behaviour change. Furthermore, there appears to be a link between visual aesthetics and perceived usability, and their combined effect on persuasiveness. A final outcome establishes tourist’s website reading patterns, emphasising the placement of call-to-actions within an F-shape region. This research contributes through a customised version of the PSD model applicable for tourism SMEs, delivers empirical evidence suggesting additions to the model and, adds to the overall body of knowledge on tourism online UXs and persuasive technology.

Tourism plays an important role in today’s world. More and more people leave all the issues and problems behind, and just travel to relax and experience something unique in their lives. The main research question of this paper has been created:

“Did consumer behaviour affect what services tourism companies provided in Poland between 1990 and 2005?”

The objective of this paper is to fill the lack of knowledge about tourism offerings in Poland. The purpose of this study is to investigate travellers’ preferences for facilities and services in analysed country between 1900 and 2005. This study also investigates if consumer behaviour affects what services tourism companies will provide.

A pesar de que hi ha més de trenta anys d'investigació sobre els temps d'espera, poc es coneix sobre aquells que estan disposats a pagar més per evitar les esperes i sobre aquells que no ho estan, en el context dels parcs temàtics. La present tesi doctoral examina els factors interns i externs que influeixen en la decisió de compra del passi exprés en un entorn real. Variables com el dia de visita al parc, el mètode a través del qual van conèixer aquest tipus de passi, el nombre de persones del grup, la cultura, l'actitud cap al passi exprés, l'actitud cap als temps d'espera, l'experiència prèvia comprant aquests passis, les expectatives sobre l'espera, les percepcions sobre l'espera i la motivació de la visita al parc apareixen com a variables significatives que permeten caracteritzar els dos grups: els que estan disposats a adquirir el passi i els que no. D'aquesta manera, no tots els consumidors interpreten de la mateixa manera els temps d'espera i els sistemes per evitar-los, i per tant han de ser tractats diferent. Entendre com els consumidors actuen permet a les empreses repensar els sistemes de prioritat i les estratègies de màrqueting per gestionar l'espera.
A pesar de más de treinta años de investigación sobre los tiempos de espera, poco se conoce sobre aquellos que están dispuestos a pagar extra para evitar las esperas y sobre aquellos que no lo están, en el contexto de los parques temáticos. La presente tesis examina los factores internos y externos que influyen en la decisión de compra del pase exprés en un entorno real. Variables como el día de visita al parque, el método a través del cual conocieron el pase exprés, el número de personas en el grupo, la cultura, la actitud hacia el pase exprés, la actitud hacia los tiempos de espera, la experiencia previa comprando pases exprés, las expectativas sobre la espera, las percepciones sobre la espera y la motivación de visita al parque aparecen como variables significativas que permiten caracterizar a ambos grupos. De esta manera, no todos los consumidores interpretan de la misma manera los tiempos de espera y los sistemas para evitarlas, y por tanto deben ser abordados de diferente manera. El entender cómo los consumidores actúan permite a las empresas repensar los sistemas prioritarios y las estrategias de marketing para gestionar la espera.
In spite of more than thirty years of research on waiting, little is known about those who are willing to pay extra to avoid waits and those who don’t in a theme park context. This thesis examines factors that influence on the purchase decision of an express pass in a natural setting. The logit model with both internal and external factors shows a better explanatory capacity to classify individuals over other models. Variables such as visit day, how customers find out about the express pass, number of people in the party, culture, attitude toward the express pass, attitude toward waiting times, prior experiences purchasing an express pass, prior experience visiting theme parks, expectation of average waiting time, perception of waits shorter than expected and visit motivation (thrill and leisure) appear as significant variables that allow to characterize both groups. In this manner, not all consumers interpret waiting times and the systems to avoid them in the same way and, consequently, they should be addressed in different ways. Understanding how customers act allow companies to rethink priority systems and marketing strategies to manage waits.

Tourism mitigation is a contentious issue that requires a multifaceted approach to effectively achieve. The need to reduce personal traveling expenditure in order to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions caused by tourism has not suitably been infiltrated within the public consciousness. Furthermore, those travellers who have been exposed to the reality that greenhouse gas emissions from tourism has often disregard that information and continue with their behaviour regardless.  This thesis aimed to investigate the reasons why those who travel the most in society, the hypermobile, choses to travel as much as they do and how this demand for travel could be curbed. It focused on three forms of tourism mitigation; government regulations, increases to the price of air travel and social marketing. The study was conducted with 10 individuals who self-identify as being highly mobile (more than 3 international return trips per year). The results showed that those who no single method of tourism mitigation would be effective in the goal of limiting highly mobile behavioural tendencies. A mixture of all three methods would be required in reaching the goal of lowering the levels of distance air travel consumption.

People with disabilities face a series of constraints when visiting a tourism destination. These constraints have a disproportionate effect on their behaviour compared to those without disabilities. The first article of this thesis aims to study these constraints by providing a measurement scale. In the second article, perceived value of accessibility, satisfaction and loyalty behavioural components are investigated in the context of a religious destination. In the third article, the theoretical model sets out the effects of the most important perceived constraints on the behaviour of tourists with disabilities. Results show tourism constraints have a negative effect on the perceived value of accessibility, and on loyalty. The general contribution of this thesis is the creation of a behavioural model for tourists with disabilities in a destination. Any destination or manager focusing on this market segment must consider all these behavioural factors, and prioritize eliminating, or at least minimising, these constraints
La gent amb discapacitats ha d’afrontar una sèrie de barreres quan visiten una destinació turística. Aquestes barreres afecten desproporcionadament el seu comportament comparat amb aquells sense discapacitats. El primer article d’aquesta tesi té l’objectiu d’investigar aquestes barreres a través d’una escala de mesura. En el segon article, s’exploren el valor percebut d’accessibilitat, la satisfacció i la lleialtat en el context d’una destinació religiosa. En el tercer article, s’exploren els efectes de les barreres percebudes més importants sobre el comportament dels turistes amb discapacitats. Els resultats mostren que existeix un efecte negatiu sobre el valor percebut de l’accessibilitat i la lleialtat. La contribució general d’aquesta tesi és la creació d’un model de comportament dels turistes amb discapacitats en una destinació. Qualsevol agent d’una destinació que se centri en aquest segment de mercat ha de tenir en compte aquests factors de comportament, i ha de prioritzar l’eliminació, o almenys reducció, d’aquestes barreres

Tese apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Doutor em Ciências Empresariais
This study aims to contribute to the conceptual development of consumer behaviour in wine tourism area by bringing new discussion and empirical evidences. For this, a literature review of the main concepts was conducted in order to develop and support a conceptual model. This model was subsequently validated and empirically tested, and a hypothetical relationship between constructs was established: involvement (personal involvement and wine product involvement), destination emotions and place attachment (place identity and place dependence). This is, so far, the first study that analyses the combined interaction of all these constructs. This research was undertaken in the framework of wine tourism, namely the measurement of the wine tourist behavior after visiting the Porto wine cellars. Methodologically, the first chapter is a qualitative exploratory study that performed a content analysis on the key constructs (involvement and emotions), allowing a better understanding of how they can be defined, and the main dimensions underlying each one of them. The second chapter consisted of a conceptual approach, which focused on the clarification of the definition of wine tourism, and the wine tourist behaviour in particular. It also explored the possible relations between constructs (involvement, destination emotions, place attachment and behavioural intentions), postulating the key preposition that stems from their interaction. In the third chapter, a quantitative research was used, using a personal intercept survey in the Porto wine cellars to validate and to give empirical evidences about the behaviour of the Porto wine cellar visitor. The multilevel analysis of the proposed structural model was made using the SmartPLS software, allowing the confirmation of all the proposed hypotheses. In the first chapter, the findings provided a theoretical support of the relevance of involvement and emotions constructs in the field of tourism. The content analysis produced insights based on concepts and definitions of these two constructs on a more holistic perspective. In the second chapter, the findings sustain the special interest in consumer behaviour in wine tourism, and it stated a set of five prepositions, where the main constructs are interlinked. In the third chapter, the empirical results indicated that wine tourists’ personal involvement and their wine product involvement have a significant influence (and a direct effect) on destination emotions and place attachment, driving their behavioural intentions. The study had direct implications (analysis and evaluation of the wine tourist travel behaviour and wine tourist profile) for the Porto wine cellars. The results led to practical implications and suggestions for wine tourism managers. Este estudo tem como propósito contribuir para o desenvolvimento conceptual do comportamento do consumidor na área do enoturismo, contribuindo com uma nova discussão e evidências empíricas. Foi realizada uma revisão da literatura sobre os principais construtos, a fim de desenvolver e apoiar um modelo conceptual. Este modelo foi posteriormente validado e testado empiricamente, e foi estabelecida uma relação hipotética entre os construtos: envolvimento (envolvimento pessoal e envolvimento com o produto vinho), as emoções do destino e apego ao lugar (identidade do lugar e dependência do lugar). Até agora, este é o primeiro estudo que analisa a interação combinada de todos estes construtos. Esta pesquisa foi realizada no âmbito do enoturismo, ou seja, a medição do comportamento do enoturista após visitar as caves do vinho do Porto. Relativamente à metodologia aplicada, o primeiro capítulo é um estudo qualitativo exploratório que resultou numa análise de conteúdo sobre os construtos chave (envolvimento e emoções), permitindo uma melhor compreensão de como eles podem ser definidos, e as principais dimensões subjacentes a cada um deles. O segundo capítulo consistiu numa abordagem conceptual que incidiu sobre a clarificação da definição de enoturismo, e o comportamento do enoturista em particular. Este capítulo também explorou as possíveis relações entre os construtos (envolvimento, emoções do destino, apego ao lugar e intenções comportamentais), que determinam a preposição chave que decorre de sua interação. No terceiro capítulo, uma pesquisa quantitativa, foi utilizado um questionário estruturado nas caves do vinho do Porto, para validar e dar evidências empíricas sobre o comportamento do visitante nas caves do vinho do Porto. Foi realizada a análise multivariada do modelo estrutural proposto, utilizando o software SmartPLS, que permitiu a confirmação de todas as hipóteses propostas. No primeiro capítulo, os resultados forneceram um suporte teórico da relevância dos construtos do envolvimento e das emoções na área do turismo. A análise de conteúdo produziu perceções com base em conceitos e definições destes dois construtos, numa perspetiva mais holística. No segundo capítulo, os resultados sustentam o especial interesse no comportamento do consumidor no enoturismo, e foi apresentado um conjunto de 5 preposições, onde os principais construtos são interligados. No terceiro capítulo, os resultados empíricos indicam que o envolvimento pessoal dos enoturistas e o seu envolvimento com o produto vinho têm uma influência significativa (e um efeito direto) sobre as emoções do destino e o apego ao lugar, impulsionando as suas intenções comportamentais. O estudo teve implicações diretas (análise e avaliação do comportamento de viagem do enoturista e perfil do enoturista) para as caves do vinho do Porto. Os resultados levaram a implicações práticas e sugestões para os gestores de enoturismo. Cette étude a pour but contribuer pour le développement conceptuel du comportement du consommateur en oenotourisme, apportant une nouvelle discussion et des évidences empiriques. Il a été faite une révision de la littérature à propos des principaux concepts, a fin de développer et soutenir un modèle conceptuel. Ce modèle a été ensuite validé et testé empiriquement, et il a été établi un rapport hypothétique entre les concepts : engagement (engagement personnel et engagement avec le produit vin), émotions du destin, attachement à l’endroit (identité et dépendance de l’endroit). Celle-ci c’est, jusqu`à présent, la première étude qui analyse l’interaction combinée des tous ces concepts. Cette recherche a été réalisée dans le cadre de l’oenotourisme, ça veut dire le mesurage du comportement de l’oenotouriste après visiter les caves du vin Porto. Méthodologiquement le premier chapitre c’est une étude qualitative exploratoire qui a réalisé une analyse du contenu sur les concepts clé (engagement et émotions), en permettant une meilleure compréhension de la façon dont ils peuvent être définis, ainsi que les dimensions principales inhérentes à chacun d’eux. Le second chapitre a consisté dans une approche conceptuelle qui portait sur la précision de la définition de l’oenotourisme, et le comportement de l’oenotouriste en particulier. Ce chapitre a aussi exploité les éventuels rapports entre les concepts (engagement, émotions du destin, attachement à l’endroit et intentions comportementales) qui postulent la préposition clé qui découle de son interaction. Dans le troisième chapitre, une recherche quantitative, il a été utilisé un questionnaire structuré dans les caves du vin Porto, a fin de valider et de donner des évidences empiriques sur le comportement du visiteur dans les caves du vin Porto. Il a été réalisé l’analyse multifactorielle du modèle structurel proposé, en utilisant le software SmartPLS qui a permis la confirmation de toutes les hypothèses proposées. Dans le premier article, les résultats ont fourni un soutien théorique de la pertinence des concepts de l’engagement et des émotions dans le domaine du tourisme. L’analyse du contenu a produit des perceptions ayant comme base des conceptions et définitions de ces deux concepts, dans un point de vue plus holistique. Dans le second article, les résultats soutiennent le spécial intérêt dans le comportement du consommateur dans l’oenotourisme, et il a été présenté un ensemble de 5 prépositions, où les principales constructions sont interconnectées. Dans le troisième article, les résultats empiriques indiquent que l’engagement avec le produit vin ont une influence significative (et un effet direct) sur les émotions du destin et l’attachement à l’endroit, en poussant ses intentions comportementales. L’étude a eu des implications directes (analyse et évaluation du comportement de voyage de l’oenotouriste et profil de l’oenotouriste) pour les caves du vin Porto. Les résultats ont amené à des implications pratiques et suggestions pour les gestionnaires de l’oenotourisme.

This study aims to explain the incentives and travel patterns for people who have consumed popculture tourism. Pop-culture refers to popular products such as video-games, comic-books, literature, film and t.v-shows. Pop-culture tourism refers to destinations and attractions based on popular culture products such as conventions, events, exhibitions, theme parks and destinations. This study takes on a qualitative approach in order to do so. The results were then analyzed through four different theories; Bourdieu’s theory on different capitals, his theory on habitus, his theory on fields and Lundberg & Lexhagen’s figure: Pop-culture Tourism: A Research Model. The results showed that the respondents social upbringing and (social) media consumption plays a central role in order for individuals to consume and partake in pop-culture tourism. Results did also show that cultural capital and social capitals was prominent for individuals who consume and partake in popculture tourism.
Denna studie har som syfte att belysa individers motiv och val att besöka pop-kultursrelaterade attraktioner och destinationer. Pop-kultur i denna uppsats syftar till populära produkter såsom tvspel, serietidningar, litteratur, film och tv-serier. Pop-kultursturism syftar till destinationer och attraktioner som är baserade på de sistnämnda vilket kan vara konventioner, event, utställningar, temaparker eller destinationer. Till denna studie har en kvalitativ ansats tillämpats för att besvara uppsatsens syfte och frågeställningar genom att utföra semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Intervjuerna analyserades sedan genom fyra olika teorier; Bourdieu’s teorier om kapital, fält och habitus samt Lundberg och Lexhagens modell “Pop-culture Tourism: A Research model”. Resultaten visade att exponering av pop-kultur i respondenternas uppväxt, sociala umgängen och (sociala) mediekonsumtion spelade en central roll i konsumtionen och deltagandet av pop-kultursturism. Resultaten visade även att kulturellt kapital (ett intresse av en viss pop-kulturell produkt) och socialt kapital (individens habitus) var betydande för individer som deltar i pop-kultursturism.

In recent years, the city has become a primary setting for a diversity of tourist activities. However, the nature of the urban experience, from the perspective of tourist-city interactions, has not been examined in detail. In this particular arena, the concepts of place image and the tourist experience are very relevant, as processes of tourist image formation and modification are linked to the formation of tourists' expectations. In tum, expectations can have the potential to influence tourist choices and spatial behaviour patterns, in the event of an actual visit. Certainly, probability of patronage of a tourist attraction would appear to relate directly to how well that location fits into the simplified 'cognitive map' held by the individual. Overall, knowledge of how individual and groups of tourists interact and acquire information about the urban environment has also been under researched. The thesis therefore examines the main interrelationships between tourists' place images, expectations and spatial behaviour. It introduces an approach for examining such relationships from a more holistic, interdisciplinary perspective than has been employed in previous tourism image and behaviour research. Notably, a longitudinal dimension is introduced for the study of image modification, using an innovative, multi-stage approach. By elaborating, critiquing and applying some of the key concepts in tourist imagery and spatial behaviour in the context of tourist-historic cities, the thesis identifies a connection between tourists' images and spatial behaviour. The UK historic cities of Exeter and Bath were used as case studies for the empirical application of the multi-method framework, and primary data were collected via questionnaires, an experimental panel of visitors and semi-structured interviews. As well as contributing new themes to current theoretical and conceptual debates, the empirical findings identify a clear niche for image-behaviour relationships as a highly relevant concept for tourism studies. In particular, tourists' spatial behaviour is shown to influence the content of tourists' urban images, and in tum, tourists' images of the city can predispose them to certain activity choices. Conclusions are also drawn regarding the influences of different 'image formation agents' and direct tourist experience of a city as a strong agent of image modification.

The choice behaviour of winter beach vacationers to the Caribbean is modelled with an experimental multiattribute research technique, the discrete choice experiment. Hypothetical destination scenarios are defined using ten variables, each having three levels. The variables refer to the accommodation, its price, its distance from the beach, the airport and various tourist services. These scenarios are located in one of five Caribbean islands.
Distance to beach and price are the most significant variables, and only hotel size is not. Estimates of the relative utility of each of the attributes make the approach relevant for destination planning. Segmentation by socio-demographic characteristics and past vacation behaviour makes the research relevant for destination marketing. Choice probabilities can be estimated for any of the scenarios.
The discrete choice experiment can contribute to narrowing the paradigmatic split between destination-oriented and market-oriented tourism research. It is also attractive to applied tourism research because simulation constitutes a convenient tool for managers and decision-makers.

The South African National Department of Tourism has recently initiated the National Tourism Sector Strategy aimed at developing a sustainable tourism economy, and making the country a Top 20 global tourism destination by 2020.China is one of South Africa’s major non-African sources of tourist arrivals. To ensure a growing share of this booming market, South African tourism scholars and practitioners have to pay close attention to the behaviour of Chinese outbound tourists, particularly their destination choice behaviour. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)– an extension of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)– can serve as a basis for researching destination choice. According to the TPB literature, intention is the most immediate and important determinant of behaviour. Three direct predictors of intention, namely, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived control, are functions of latent behavioural, normative, and control beliefs, respectively. The TPB is parsimonious but open to the inclusion of additional predictors if there is evidence that these predictors may explain a significant proportion of the variance in intention and behaviour after the basic predictors (attitude, subjective norms, and perceived control) have been accounted for. The current research successfully extended the TPB model for predicting potential Chinese tourists’ intentions to visit South Africa by adding two additional variables: travel motivation and travel constraints. The push-pull motivation framework discussed in the study postulates that people travel because they are pushed by internal forces (inner needs) and pulled by external forces (destination attributes). Typical barriers to travel include intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural constraints. The new model makes an important contribution to the literature on destination choice, and provides South Africa’s destination marketers with suggestions for attracting and serving Chinese tourists. In addition, the research shows that both travel motivation and travel constraints can be used as bases for segmenting the outbound Chinese tourist market interested in visiting South Africa. A survey approach and a structured questionnaire distributed electronically to the online panel members of a Chinese market research company were instrumental in collecting the empirical data for the study. The questionnaire was originally written in English and translated into Chinese (Mandarin) via a blind translation-back-translation method. Attitude, subjective norms, perceived control, and visit intention were all operationalised as unidimensional and used scales adapted from previous studies. New scales were developed for travel motivation and travel constraints– both operationalised as multidimensional. Quota sampling, used to identify respondents aged 18 or older and living in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, resulted in 630 usable questionnaires obtained from 1,510 sent invitation e-mails, yielding a response rate of 41.7%. The raw data collected were prepared through the sequential steps of editing, coding, and filing, and then analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive analysis suggested that broadening personal horizons, viewing the natural scenery, and seeing something different were the top motives for visiting South Africa, while language, fear of crime, and lack of travel companions were the top barriers to visiting South Africa. According to the factor analysis, travel motivation had three underlying dimensions – learning, escape, and aesthetics and appreciation, while operational, risk and fear, and social barriers were three underlying dimensions of travel constraints. Regression analysis showed that the proposed extended TPB model had higher predictive power for visit intention than both TRA and TPB models; the basic predictors – attitude, subjective norms, and perceived control – all had a significant impact on visit intention; and in terms of the additional predictors, learning, operational constraints, and social constraints had a significant impact on visit intention. The analysis of variance indicated that travel frequency and age were the most profound background factors with an influence on the extended TPB model. Finally, cluster analysis resulted in two market segments with distinct profiles, that is, High-Motivation/ Low-Constraint (HMLC) tourists and Low-Motivation/High-Constraint (LMHC) tourists. Based on the theoretical and empirical findings of the current research, it is recommended that destination marketers in South Africa: advertise specific benefits of touring South Africa, namely, increasing knowledge, relieving stress, and enjoying high environmental quality, to advance Chinese residents’ perceptions of the country; develop tourism experiences that can be taken in a week or shorter to cater for the unique annual leave and public holiday policy in China; launch a media relations campaign in China to ensure that the facts about South Africa are communicated without distortion; collaborate with other destination stakeholders such as government and businesses, to actively attract and retain Chinese tourists for example by educating the public about Chinese culture and training employees to improve the quality of service; target the HMLC tourists via the Internet (particularly the social media) and by developing holiday packages that include activities related to cultural tourism, rest and relaxation, and nature-based tourism; and target the LMHC tourists by cooperating with local travel agencies and by developing holiday packages that highlight the diversity of tourism activities and offer value-added products/services.

This thesis is based on case studies of two prominent heritage sites in the Greater Manchester area: Wigan Pier and The Museum of Science and Industry. These case studies have involved detailed interviews with and observation of visitors to the sites, interviews with staff, management and associates of the sites, and examination of archival records. The thesis addresses debates about heritage and the changing form and content of museums. In particular, there is an engagement with the work of Bourdieu, Foucault and Urry as the thesis seeks to analyse the construction and consumption of these two sites. Specifically, the complexity and diversity of such locations are highlighted, both in the ways in which such sites are constructed, produced and organised and in the manner in which they are consumed by visitors. Thus, it is argued that it is important to take note of the impact of the modes of operation of specific sites on the consumption patterns, found there. Further, it is maintained that this is a complex relationship, where a focus on the actual consumers enables the full complexity of the narratives they employ to talk about their visit, to emerge. On this basis, the centrality of the concept of the tourist gaze is challenged as the thesis explores the ways in which visitors physically, emotionally and imaginatively map their visit. Moreover, the thesis highlights the distinction of the sites in terms of authenticity. The detailed examination of the idea of cultural capital leads to the argument that this concept needs to be replaced with a theorisation which is better able to incorporate the everyday life and life histories of the visitors. With this aim the thesis seeks to locate visitors' consumption of these particular sites in the context of their general patterns of cultural consumption. Consequently, it is suggested that the notion of the 'cultural omnivore' has some potential in explaining the patterning of cultural consumption found amongst visitors to these two sites.

The purpose of this study is to explore the contemporary social phenomenon of soft ASB in tourism, specifically in Andalucia, Spain. A series of observations, interviews with tourists and hosts and focus groups were conducted during the period of two tourist seasons. The aim was to establish the types of ASB exhibited by UK leisure tourists and to explore the reasons for the ASB exhibited. A qualitative approach to research was adopted and data were analysed and interpreted following the constant comparison method. Findings show that soft ASB exists in Andalucia. However, tourist and host perceptions of ASB were different. For the tourists ASB focused on the drinking culture of the UK leisure tourist. For the host ASB constituted reluctance by the British to embrace Spanish culture demonstrated through, for example, a preference by the tourist to consume British style food rather than Spanish. ASB is notoriously difficult to define and to date has not been defined in tourism. For this study a fresh definition has been created based on the findings of this study. This has taken into account the broader context of ASB and the reasons for ASB. This study has developed a framework that establishes management responses to and management implications of ASB in a cross-cultural tourism context and which suggests a practical and theoretical approach to ASB. Whist the findings are not considered to be generalisable the framework and qualitative research approach could be adopted for investigations into a range of tourist behaviour.

Tourism in Cornwall represents over 24% of Cornwall's annual GDP. It is "the county's largest single industry", providing work for one in five Cornish inhabitants, and is responsible for almost a quarter of the money the county makes each year (Objective One, 2001, p. 10). However, in its current form, this vibrant but carbon-intensive business sector does not contribute to low-carbon development in Cornwall. It remains un-sustainable in a number of environmental, social and economic ways (Cornwall Sustainable Tourism Project, 2011a; 2014b). Thus, there isa recognized need for "sustainable tourism" (Butler, 1999), also defined as "ethical and responsible tourism" (Goodwin et al, 2003), due to the global growth of tourism and its various damaging by-products. According to Moscardo (1996) and Pearce (2005), one of the most effective ways to achieve sustainability in tourism is by influencing the behaviour and attitudes of visitors and tourism operators. Therefore, distinguishing Tourism as a form of consumption, this research project studies tourists as consumers, and aims at encouraging sustainable consumption in order to promote sustainable tourism in Cornwall. Since human behaviour, not technology, lies at the heart of sustainable consumption, this project addresses the challenge of promoting sustainable tourism from a behavioural point of view, not a technical one; understanding and influencing the behaviour of tourists visiting Cornwall towards more environmentally and socially friendly patterns. More specifically, due to the fact that sustainable consumption requires sustainable behaviour not just at the 'point-of-sale' but most importantly during the 'use-phase' of a product/service/system's lifecycle (Pettersen and Boks, 2008, p.119), this project focuses on influencing C02-related Human-Artefact interactions within the context of Cornish accommodation-provision industry, the second largest sector of Tourism that contributes to C02 emissions and climate change (Cohen et al, 2014). In the contemporary framework of sustainable design, many authors argue for the importance of design as a powerful means of furthering behaviour change towards more sustainable practices (Lilley, 2009; Thackara, 2005; Walker, 2006; Bhamra et al. 2008). Thus, this research project addresses social and environmental issues as they pertain to Tourism and aims to demonstrate the importance of Sustainable Design as a medium to change touristic behaviour, lessen its impact and support sustainability in Tourism. As original design research, this thesis draws upon a multi-disciplinary literature review, including the emerging field of 'Design for Sustainable Behaviour' (DfSB), Behavioural Economics (Dolan et al's 'MINDSPACE model'), Environmental and Social Psychology, Social Science (Cialdini's 'Six Universal Laws of Influence'), and Community-based Social Marketing, bringing together their developed understandings on what it takes to communicate and influence human behaviour, along with illustrated examples, into a comprehensive chart called "Elements of Persuasion". In turn, "Elements of Persuasion" creates the basis upon which new knowledge is consolidated in the form of a webtool called "Triggers for Change"; a digital platform, developed and evaluated through an iterative Human-Centred Design process, that aims to become an online resource framework for the Cornish tourism industry, that improves the persuasiveness of their sustainability communications with tourists visiting Cornwall. This would therefore minimise the industry's contribution to C02 emissions and climate change and, thus, further Sustainable Tourism in Cornwall.

Findings from social tourism research on low-income groups have shown that social tourism holds several psychological benefits for participants (e.g. Minnaert, Maitland, and Miller, 2009; McCabe and Johnson, 2013). On the other hand, the evidence base about any direct linkages between these individual benefits, and social and economic benefits, remains weak, affecting the promotion of social tourism in the UK policy agenda. In line with the recent debate on social tourism in the country (see All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Tourism, 2011), the current socioeconomic trends, and more specifically the high rates of general and long-term unemployment (Eurostat, 2013; ONS, 2013b), and the consequences of unemployment for individuals, their families, and the society, this study sets to explore whether social tourism holds any particular psychological benefits for unemployed individuals in Great Britain, and the extent to which, such benefits have, in turn, positive effects on their job-search behaviour (JSB). Drawing upon findings from social tourism studies on low-income groups, psychology studies on unemployment and job-search behaviour, and social psychology theories with specific reference to Bandura’s (1986, 1997) social cognitive theory, this study examines the psychological benefits of tourism participation within the context of self-efficacy beliefs. Self-efficacy (SE) is the main construct of social cognitive theory, and it has been found to play a central role in unemployed individuals’ JSB. Utilising a mixed methods approach to data collection and analysis, the study incorporates a pre- post-test non-experimental design (n=57) and semi-structured interviews (n=13), with the aim to investigate any such effects over time, and to understand how they are manifested. Access to the rare target population, became possible through the database of the Family Holiday Association, the main provider of social tourism for low-income families in the UK. Results showed that the holiday-break had positive effects on participants’ SE, which, in turn, had positive effects on their JSB. In addition, the holiday-break was found to have direct effects on participants’ JSB, as it was perceived as an incentive towards employment. On the other hand, such positive effects, and especially with regard to JSB, were not universal among unemployed individuals, mainly due to existing restrictions to work, such as caring responsibilities. This non-effect was counterbalanced by identified positive effects of the holiday-break on participants’ behaviours towards alternative paths to employment (BAPE), such as, volunteering. Overall, findings confirmed the central role of enabling environments in positive mental health, and offered some “tangible” evidence about direct linkages between individual psychological benefits that social tourism holds for participants, and socioeconomic benefits, thus, giving a new insight into the debate on social tourism in the UK, and providing important implications for policy. Given that “active” labour market programmes in the UK have largely overlooked job-seekers positive mental health (see Dolton and O’Neil, 2002; Kluve, 2010), it is suggested that social tourism, if properly tailored and positioned, could be embedded into existing unemployment schemes, helping them to increase their effectiveness.

One of the most important research problems in tourism today, and one still to be thoroughly investigated, is the understanding of tourist decision-making processes and the way they are reflected in tourist spatial behaviour. Until very recently, the study of tourist decision-making and that of tourist flows went on independently of one another. Thus, geographers were detecting and describing tourist flows while psychologists and marketing analysts were trying to understand the destination-choice process. The current study merges these two aspects and addresses the following questions: A. What are the most important and frequently assessed destination attributes anticipated and desired by tourists? B. Is destination-choice behaviour (when based on different desired destination attributes) class-differentiated? C. Are spatial patterns of tourist flows also classdifferentiated? D. If class differentiation does exist, is there a causal connection between the manner of destination choice and tourists' consequent spatial behaviour? This study rests on two general assumptions. The first is that the process of selecting from among alternative tourist destinations is a direct outcome of the individual's evaluation of the aggregate value of utilities inherent in destination attributes. The second claims that the general tourist spatial pattern is a product of subpatterns created by different groups of tourists. The derived operational hypotheses suggest that both destination-choice and tourists' spatial behaviour are class-differentiated. Initially, the study involved the detection of the 25 most frequently assessed destination attributes. These were then introduced into a questionnaire examining the destination-choice and spatial behaviour of the North-Vest London Jewish community. Analysis of the data collected using Della Pave's 'Value Stretch' concept shows that destination-choice processes among Barnet's Jewish tourists are significantly class-differentiated. Significantly different tourist behaviour patterns were also found among them. The concept of 'Value Stretch' also revealed the possible causes of different tourist spatial behaviour emerging in the wake of class-differentiated destination-choice patterns.

Energy use associated with tourism has rarely been studied, despite a potentially considerable contribution to global or national energy demand and concomitant greenhouse gas emissions. In New Zealand, tourism constitutes an increasingly important economic sector that is supported by the Government to induce further economic growth. At the same time New Zealand is facing the challenge of reducing currently increasing fossil fuel combustion and carbon dioxide emissions. As a response, this study investigated the contribution tourism makes to energy use in New Zealand. In particular it has examined the role of the three main tourism subsectors (transport, accommodation, and attractions/activities), and different domestic and international 'tourist types'. Seven separate data analyses provided inputs for building a model based on 'tourist types' from which energy use in the New Zealand tourism sector could be estimated. Tourism was found to contribute at least 5.6% to national energy demand, which is larger than its 4.9% contribution to GDP in 2000. Transport, in particular domestic air and car travel, was identified as the dominant energy consumer. Within the accommodation sub-sector, hotels are the largest energy consumers, both in total and on a per visitor-night basis. Of the three sub-sectors, attractions and activities contribute least to energy use, however, activities such as scenic flights or boat cruises were recognised as being energy intensive. As a result of larger visitor volumes, domestic tourists contribute more to energy consumption than international tourists. Domestic and international tourists types differ in their energy consumption patterns, for example measured as energy use per travel day. Tourist types that rely on air travel are the most energy intensive ones, for example the domestic 'long air business' travellers or the international 'coach tourists'. The importance of international tourists' energy use will increase, given current growth rates. There are many options to decrease energy use of the tourism sector, with the most effective ones being within the energy intensive transport sub-sector. Increasing vehicle efficiencies and decreasing travel distances appear to be the most promising measures. This study argues that energy use depends largely on tourists' travel behaviour. Changing behaviour is possible but is postulated to be very difficult, and further research is needed to better understand tourists' motivations, expectations and decision-making. Only then, can strategies be developed and implemented to alter travel behaviours to better balance energy use, other environmental impacts and economic yield. Such a balance is a crucial consideration in the search for more sustainable forms of tourism.

This research examines the interrelationships between tourism, poverty alleviation, and social marketing. It argues that tourism growth is necessary but insufficient by itself to alleviate poverty. Although tourism has often been connected with poverty under the rubric of pro-poor tourism (PPT), limited research has investigated this from the poor’s perspective. Little is also known of various poverty causes, including poor people’s behaviours in affecting poverty. Although tourism may contribute to alleviating poverty, negative poverty-related behaviours (e.g. depletion of natural resources) are still found in some host destinations. Where behaviour change is considered significant for tourism to help alleviate poverty, social marketing may be important given its potential in motivating voluntary behaviour change. This is particularly necessary for a developing country such as Vietnam, where tourism is encouraged for poverty alleviation. The district of Sapa, Vietnam is chosen as a case study area, which has substantial levels of poverty although tourism has developed for years. This research seeks to answer four main questions: What are the barriers to poverty alleviation identified by PPT projects in Vietnam? What are the roles of social marketing in PPT projects in Vietnam? What are the barriers to poverty alleviation identified by PPT projects as perceived by local people and key informants in Sapa? What are the roles of tourism as a means of poverty alleviation as perceived by the locals in Sapa? This research was designed in two stages. The first involved a content analysis of tourism-related projects in Vietnam, where a systematic search for project documents was conducted. Forty-five projects were found and then analysed against a set of six social marketing benchmark criteria. Twenty-one projects were judged to meet all the criteria, most of which were implemented in national parks (NPs) and nature reserves (NRs) that are home to important resources for tourism. Typical project objectives included preventing or mitigating local people’s dependence on natural resources and promoting tourism as an alternative livelihood. The most popular competing factors identified were local people’s poor perception of conservation needs and traditional dependence on natural resources, stakeholder conflicts, and weak policy implementation. This stage suggested that social marketing might help tourism contribute to natural resource conservation and poverty alleviation. The second stage utilised both qualitative and quantitative methods. Interviews were conducted with 47 poor people and key informants in Sapa. A survey was then administered with 187 local people. It identified that local people perceive poverty as a lack of rice and/or income and attribute it to internal and/or external causes. Tourism holds important potential for poverty alleviation in Sapa. However, this potential is substantially reduced by barriers to business development, employment, and thus benefit distribution within the sector. It is also worsened by the exclusion of poor people from development plans, decision-making processes, and project design and implementation. The non-poor and tour operators are perceived as the main beneficiaries of tourism. Local women often follow tourists to sell handicrafts, resulting in discomfort for tourists and conflicts among community members. More local people consider tourism a contributor to poverty alleviation and wish to participate in tourism. The most critical barriers preventing participation include insufficient knowledge, skills, work experience, funds, and poor foreign language proficiency. Limited capital and farming land is the most important obstacle to poverty alleviation overall. This research suggests that to maintain the long-term viability of tourism in Sapa, social marketing can be used to promote behaviour change in handicraft sellers and forest resource dependents. To this end, alternative livelihoods other than tourism are required. There is a need to put in place a policy framework that entitles poor people to more land in the forest so that they can grow more rice and medicinal fruit and protect their own forestland. Social marketing can also promote changes in the self-interested practices of tourism businesses and relevant forest policies. In addition, an appropriate intervention framework should be established to reduce household sizes and thus mitigate land use pressures. From a local perspective, this research helps planners, managers, and policy-makers in Sapa as well as other similar destinations in Vietnam and elsewhere understand more clearly the barriers to poverty alleviation and the obstacles to poor people’s participation in tourism. It also generates greater awareness among academics and the public in Vietnam regarding the potential of social marketing for alleviating poverty through tourism. On a broader scale, this research enriches and deepens tourism scholars and practitioners’ understanding of the various ways social marketing can help alleviate poverty and protect natural resources. Furthermore, given the centrality of poverty alleviation to the sustainable development agenda, the findings of this research contribute to wider social scientific debate, practical development discourse and, as such, to Vietnam’s society as a whole. This research concludes that only by valuing the perspectives of poor people can meaningful approaches to alleviating poverty through tourism become clearer and more likely to succeed.

Background: The tourism industry is one of the largest industries in the world, with annual revenues exceeding US$ 850 billion. Because of the size and nature of the industry, tourism is seen as one of the largest contributors to the negative effects on the environment today. Within the tourism industry, there exist more than 70 eco-labels representing various environmental standards. However, none of them are widely used within the tourism industry.

Purpose: This thesis investigates how the use of the two eco-labels Svanen and Green Globe affect Swedish students’ perception of a package tour marketing campaign. It investigates how students’ perceptions of advertisement differ between advertisement for package tours with and without incorporated eco-labels.

Method: The study uses a mixed method with a sequential explanatory strategy. The quantitative part consists of a survey and the qualitative part consists of follow up interviews with a number of interviewees who are all respondents in the quantitative part. This thesis primarily focuses on the quantitative part, which consists of three questionnaires, one of which contains an advertisement for Ving, and two which used the same advertisement but which have been manipulated to include Green Globe and Svanen respectively.

Conclusion: The conclusion of the study is that students’ perception of advertisement does not differ between the advertisement not using an eco-label and the ones manipulated to include Green Globe or Svanen. The reasons to why the perception does not differ are explained by eco-labels having failed in communicating what they stand for. Students have limited financial resources, which constrains them from behaving in an environmentally friendly way. In addition, the advertisement including eco-lables is congruent with the students’ perception about the brand Ving as an environmentally friendly company. There is however factors that indicate that eco-labelling in the tourism industry can work as a partial solution for a more sustainable future.

Bakgrund: Turismindustrin är en av de största industrierna i världen, med årliga inkomster på över US$ 850 miljarder. På grund av storleken och dess påverkan, anses turismen vara en av de största orsakerna till den negativa utvecklingen av miljön. Inom turismindustrin existerar mer än 70 miljö märkningar som representerar olika miljöstandarder. Dock har inga av dem sett någon större användning inom turismindustrin.

Syfte: Syftet med denna rapport är att undersöka hur användning av de två miljömärkningarna Green Globe och Svanen påverkar studenters uppfattning av en reklamkampanj för charter resor. Den undersöker hur studenters uppfattning om reklam för charter resor skiljer sig mellan reklam som använder miljömärkning och den som inte gör det.

Metod: Denna studie använder en blandad metod med en sekventiell strategi. Den kvantitativa delen består av enkätundersökningar och för den kvalitativa delen används intervjuer med några deltagare från den kvantitativa delen. Störst fokus ligger på den kvantitativa delen som består av tre olika enkäter, en som innehåller en reklam bild på Ving, och två som manipulerats att innehålla Green Globe respektive Svanen.

Slutsats: Slutsatsen av studien är att studenters uppfattning om annonserna inte skiljer sig mellan annonsen utan miljömärkning och de som manipulerats med Green Globe eller Svanen. Anledning till att uppfattningen inte skiljer sig kan förklaras av att miljö märkningarna har misslyckats med att kommunicera vad dem står för. Studenterna har begränsade ekonomiska resurser och detta begränsar dem att uppföra sig på ett miljövänligt sätt. Dessutom överrensstämmer reklamen som innehöll miljö märkning med studenternas uppfattning om varumärket Ving som ett miljö vänligt företag. Det finns dock faktorer som tyder på att miljömärkning inom turistnäringen kan fungera som en del av lösningen för en mer hållbar framtid.

Nature-based tourism offers significant socio-economic incentives to successfully replace more intrusive land uses but also causes negative environmental impacts. Currently, knowledge is needed about the effectiveness of specific management actions such as the provision of different access modes and tour experiences at minimizing these impacts while maximizing visitor satisfaction. Nature-based tourism activities were studied in the species-rich gorges of the Flinders Ranges in Outback Australia. This study developed a conceptual framework of visitor-environment relationships, constructed a regional visitor profile, assessed visitor monitoring methods to quantify usage intensity in relation to the access mode (roads vs. hiking trails), examined changes in vegetation and bird communities in relation to usage intensity and access mode, tested effects of approach behaviour among driving vs. hiking tourists on kangaroo behaviour, and designed a framework for a night-time wildlife tour. The usage intensity of gorge sections was best determined from visitor numbers stratified by their behaviour, as the access mode fundamentally changed visitor behaviour in gorges. High compared to low usage recreational tracks altered species community composition, decreased total plant cover, increased non-native species cover, increased or decreased plant diversity depending on the track distance, increased soil compaction, and decreased bird numbers and species richness. Vegetation changes had secondary aversive effects on the bird community. The magnitude and spatial extent of these community impacts were greater along roads than trails. Visitor approach towards kangaroos varied with the access mode and necessitated individual recommendations for low-impact behaviour. The optimal night-time observation tour employed night-vision devices and bat detectors and coupled visitor satisfaction with low impact on wildlife. A range of factors (e.g., weather conditions) moderated the susceptibility of the wildlife to tourism disturbance. To protect wildlife and habitat along recreational tracks in arid-lands gorges, it is recommended to (1) monitor usage intensity and the identified impact indicators within their effect zone, (2) curtail gorge usage by restricting vehicle access to sections and regulating high impact activities (e.g., wild camping), (3) base environmental education upon scientifically tested low-impact visitor behaviour, and (4) engage with tourism operators in the design of low-impact, yet satisfying tours based on scientific principles.

The purpose of this study is to investigate medical tourism in Jordan through the international patients‘ perspective. The aim is to contribute to a better understanding of international patients‘ consumption behaviour to seek medical treatment, and while at the destination. And also to better understand the medical tourists‘ perceptions of quality of healthcare services. This research was designed to facilitate the identification of the characteristics of medical tourists, their visit, their sources of information and the main pull/push factors influencing their decision to travel. Moreover, it was designed to identify the level of satisfaction held by medical tourists towards their patient experience and their satisfaction predictors, by translating, adapting and validating a patient-centred quality of care instrument and assessing its psychometric properties amongst them. This research used a mixed-methods case study approach. It was conducted in 7 private hospitals with a primary quantitative research method through 302 interviewer-administered questionnaires and descriptive quantitative statistics, Mann-Whitney U Non-Parametric Significance Tests, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Factor Analysis. As a complement, qualitative research through 20 semi-structured interviews and content analysis was conducted in order to provide further insights into this area of research. The findings suggest that word-of-mouth recommendations and reputation have the utmost role in informing international patients of healthcare options in Jordan. Furthermore, recommendations from family and friends are the second most important after availability of specialized treatments in influencing the 3 international patients‘ decision to seek international healthcare. Moreover, significant differences in these terms exist between first and repeat visitors, which hold important implications for tourism marketers. Further marketing implications also exist as most patients shift in the type of activities they and their companions undertake after the main treatment period is completed. In terms of satisfaction, Factor Analysis suggest that medical tourists satisfaction of quality of services in Jordan‘s hospitals is based on six predictors including nutritional care, nursing care, physician care, room atmosphere, the procedure for incoming patients and other hospital services. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses show that medical tourists are satisfied with the quality of health care services rendered to them. However, minor areas show less satisfaction. The findings raise issues regarding the recruitment of non-Arab speaking nurses. Drawing together these findings presents implications for medical tourism management, international healthcare marketing, policy-making, and continuous improvement of the services they provide.

Ethnicity and culture are increasingly considered in the study of travel behaviour given the global movement of people. Historically during apartheid in South Africa, there was not much leisure travel amongst the Black, Coloured and Indian population groups. This discrepancy became a focus of the National Department of Tourism’s (NDT) domestic policy after 1994 to encourage all South Africans to travel, explore and experience all facets of our beautiful rainbow country in real time. This study focuses on South African Indians (SAI) as there is limited knowledge of the drivers of travel behaviour amongst such minority populations. Pragmatic mixed methods are used to collect qualitative (focus groups) and quantitative (survey) data amongst SAI living in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces. Findings suggest that there is already established domestic travel amongst the population. SAI have strong ethnic and cultural (Indian) identities that form a significant part of their decision-making; though not specifically having bearing on inter-provincial travel decisions. Of note is strong familial bonds extending beyond the nuclear family to their extended family members, influencing their travel behaviour. Other aspects include value for money, cuisine, safety and service. The study provides layered information presenting opportunities for future research. It also presents a profile of the market’s travel behaviour that can be useful for destination marketing authorities and travel trade in efforts to attract the SAI market.
Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
Tourism Management
MSc
Unrestricted

The demand by ecotourism for easily accessible wildlife encounters has increased the need for regulations to minimise negative effects of tourism on towards marine mammals. High levels of human interaction could have serious consequences for recovering populations of New Zealand fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri). By monitoring behavioural shifts in reactions to human disturbance, the aim of this study was to determine how disturbance by tourism is affecting the behaviour of the New Zealand fur seals. Fur seal breeding colonies, haul-outs, and a pup nursery were studied on the South Island to determine the level of disturbance. Data collected in this study can be used towards improving monitoring regimes to mitigate negative effects of anthropogenic disturbance. I first used behavioural observations to assess a seal’s behaviour in response to different types of tourist activities. Next, I examined changes in New Zealand fur seal behaviour as a result of visits to colonies by tourist boats. To quantify the response of fur seals to tourist boats, experimental boat approaches were conducted using a before, during, and after instantaneous scan sampling method at two breeding colonies (one with high vessel traffic and one with none). Impact of noise was also investigated using a loud speaker to mimic local harbour tours. Lastly, behavioural observations on seal pups at a nursery were conducted comparing pup behaviour in the presence and absence of tourism along with variable intensities of tourist behaviour. My observations suggest that seal behaviour was significantly different between sites with and without tourist visits. The type of tourism had a significant effect on the behavioural state of seals, with animals more active when there were people walking in the colonies. There were also signs of habituation in some of the study colonies. Since each colony varied in the type of tourism it experienced, it is possible that it is not only the level of tourism that is important but also the type of tourism that has a significant role in eliciting short-term behavioural shifts. Observations from a tour boat revealed an increase in the percentage of seals reacting when vessels were close to the shore. This distance effect was overridden and reactions were greater, however, when tours included commentary via an external speaker. The effects of both distance and noises were significantly different between colonies with high and low levels of tourist visits. Due to the overlap of peak tourist visits with fur seal breeding season, these animals are at their most vulnerable when companies are in peak operation. Finally, as with adults, pup behaviour was also significantly affected by tourism presence. Periods of inactivity and awareness increased in the presence of tourists, which is indicative of disruption of “play” and movement towards more vigilant behaviour. Despite the significant effects of tourist visits I found in this study, there was large variation in the degree of responses in different populations of the fur seal. This variation is thought to be due, in part, by the level of desensitisation, especially at locations with high or continual tourism pressures. This study also provides evidence that fur seal pups subject to human disturbance will alter their behaviour, shifting from active (when people are not around) to inactive and more aware (with increased disturbance). The results presented suggest such visits are not without consequences and that animals can be disturbed by human interactions. Therefore, measures should be taken at all seal colonies used in tourism ventures to mitigate any negative long-term effect on the fur seal populations.

The purpose of this study was to determine ways in which the accessibility of leisure and tourism behaviour patterns can be improved to ultimately improve the quality of life of people in rural communities in the North West Province. In order to achieve this it was necessary to indicate the holistic perspective of the tourism industry, with special reference to rural tourism and also the holistic perspective on leisure provision in South Africa. This study is important to address the lack of services in rural communities. The literature study firstly concentrated on the advantages and disadvantages of tourism, including a SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis. Following that the advantages, disadvantages and benefits of leisure were considered, including both leisure and tourism theories, coupled with the leisure SWOT analysis. The SWOT analysis of South Africa’s tourism situation and its leisure provision, as well as the questionnaire (N-675), was used to determine the importance of the factors identified in the literature and the role these factors play in leisure and tourism behavioural patterns. The survey was done in four rural areas in the North West Province, and approximately 800 households were reached. The main results of the study indicated that certain factors are critically important for both tourism and leisure provision: safety, accessibility, affordability, scenery, attractions and accommodation play a determining role in tourism and leisure participation. The weaknesses of South Africa’s leisure and tourism are safety, transport, marketing and tariffs. These factors can be changed into opportunities to ensure that people effectively participate in leisure and tourism. The positive participation of people in leisure and tourism depends on the involvement of all levels of government and integration as well as cooperation agreements with other stakeholders to improve and develop rural communities of the North West Province. The tourism and leisure theories influence people to choose a destination as well as to participate in leisure. There are definite benefits to be gained from participation in leisure and tourism.
Thesis (M.A. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Backpacker tourists frequently express “anti-tourist” attitudes and are confident that they contribute positively to their destinations. Ironically, they are sometimes characterised by stakeholders in destinations in less developed countries as neo-colonial invaders. In spite of their anti-tourist attitudes, in reality, backpacker tourists tend to stay in backpacker enclaves where the cultural and moral values of backpackers are dominant. This happens because they encounter many obstacles to enjoying the backpacking experience in an unfamiliar interregional (intercultural) environment. Given such contradictory phenomena surrounding backpacker tourists in less developed countries, one question is how they manifest their responsible behaviour. Therefore, this research aims to explore the nature and degree of responsible behaviour amongst backpacker tourists in Thailand, which is one of the most popular backpacker destinations in the world. Through mixed method research, this principally explores (1) the frequency levels of backpackers’ behavioural intentions, their actual responsible behaviour, and the gap between them based on a series of items representing responsible behaviour, and (2) their definitions and perceived experiences of responsible behaviour. The research found that whilst backpacker tourists tend to report their frequent responsible behaviour and perceive themselves as “responsible” tourists, in reality, they experience many difficulties in behaving responsibly in an unfamiliar interregional (intercultural) tourism setting in spite of their intention to do so, and while being well aware of the importance of behaving responsibly. There is a propensity among backpacker tourists to exaggerate the importance of small and fleeting experiences of responsible behaviour outside backpacker enclaves (e.g. a moment of demonstrating a respectful attitude towards local people). Also, cultural experiences within backpacker enclaves, which are staged authentic manner (e.g. participation in a cultural or cookery class), tend to be exaggerated in importance and regarded as highly responsible behaviour. Moreover, whilst backpacker tourists appreciate themselves as “responsible” tourists and during their travels they respect others and behave so as not to disturb others which are required to do so regardless of place, culture and custom even in the home in daily life, they represented their reluctance to “engage” in responsible behaviour, especially altruistic and philanthropic activities (i.e., engagement in volunteering work or donating to local communities). These propensities were common to all types of backpacker tourists in this study; even those who reported their own outstandingly frequent intention and actual responsible behaviour (i.e., backpacker tourists who travel extensively with the strong motivation to explore destination countries). The principal conclusion in this research is that, whilst the behaviour reported by the backpacker tourists was never harmfully irresponsible, there are several contradictions between their evaluation of their responsible behaviour and their actual behaviour patterns. Moreover, there is a gap between their behavioural pattern of responsible behaviour and the concept of “responsible tourism” for backpacker tourists. The declared good intentions and instances of actually behaving in a responsible manner by backpacker tourists do not necessarily mean that they behave altruistically and philanthropically that the concept of responsible tourism aims to engender.

Tackling climate change and other associated environmental problems has become a significant global issue. In order to tackle these challenges governments have introduced policy frameworks, legislation and laws to help mitigate their effects. The Scottish Government have invested in numerous programmes and initiatives to create and enhance a low carbon rural economy, and in order to do so successfully understanding behaviour is a vital component in achieving the aims of such policies and legislation. Rural businesses can play an important role in encouraging the uptake of pro-environmental behaviour and energy saving practices. However individuals within rural SME’s (small and medium sized enterprises) often encounter barriers which may prevent reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental objectives from being achieved. Therefore it is important to understand the influences associated with pro-environmental behaviour within the workplace, specific to the rural economy. This thesis aims to investigate the role of the physical, social and individual context in influencing individuals’ workplace pro-environmental behaviour. The thesis also aims to research the barriers, facilitators and motivations individuals experience during decision-making and action taken relating to issues such as recycling, waste management, energy efficiency, transport and procurement. Different employee levels within a variety of rural tourism businesses have been studied (e.g. employees, management, and business owners) utilising a mixed methodology consisting of focus groups and a questionnaire survey in order to enhance and validate the research. By doing so this study has managed to increase understanding of the views of employees, managers and business owners, who are crucial to the uptake of pro-environmental behaviour within the rural economy. A range of antecedents were identified from existing literature as having potential effects on pro-environmental behaviour, therefore a variety of these were thoroughly investigated. The results of the studies carried out herein show the importance of understanding workplace pro-environmental behaviour from the perspective of different contexts (physical, social and individual). With respect to the physical context, antecedents influencing individuals’ workplace pro-environmental behaviours include building infrastructure, business size and building location. Individuals expressed their businesses inability to be energy efficient due to poor building infrastructure, e.g. operating from an old rural building with inefficient roof and wall insulation, to no double glazing due to being in a listed building, thus letting heat escape. Furthermore, individuals discussed renting premises for their business, therefore have no control over structural decisions which affect energy efficiency. Business size was also mentioned as an important influence of behaviour in relation to the physical context, e.g. smaller businesses produce less turnover, and therefore are not in a financial position to upgrade heating systems, or utilise clean efficient technologies and materials which are perceived to be more expensive. With regard to business location, a high proportion of participants highlighted this as a barrier to undertaking pro-environmental behaviour, e.g. lack of public transport, recycling facilities and pick-ups for particular business materials, as well as not being able to procure goods for the workplace locally due to lack of availability. In terms of the social context, antecedents influencing individuals’ workplace pro-environmental behaviour included social norms. Individuals cite being influenced by professional relationships, e.g. neighbouring businesses, colleagues, customers and higher management (industry compliance), in addition to personal social relationships e.g. friends and family. Many business owners stated feeling responsible to behave pro-environmentally and were motivated to try and set a good example to other members of their workforce in order to increase participation and awareness. The study also highlighted the importance to strengthen an individual’s identification with their workplace, as results illustrated the more an individual strongly identified with their work, the more likely they were to engage in pro-environmental behaviour. Lastly with respect to the individual context, this refers to one’s personal circumstances, outlooks and attitudes specific to them as an individual. The thesis provides support that environmental identity and level of environmental activity (contingent to the workplace) were both influences of workplace pro-environmental behaviour. The study’s findings highlighted the more an individual strongly identified with the environment, the more likely they were to engage in pro-environmental behaviour at work. With respect to the level of environmental activity as an influence of workplace behaviour, results provided evidence that the more an individual was active (e.g. in green marketing, joining green schemes, holding/attending environmental meetings etc.), the more likely they were to engage in pro-environmental behaviour at work, thus illustrating the value of these practices. In conclusion, results from this research demonstrate the relationship between the physical, social and individual context when investigating the influences of workplace pro-environmental behaviour, and furthermore identify individuals’ personal motivations, barriers and facilitators. By doing so the thesis has been able to highlight what actions and procedures could potentially be implemented to increase sustainable tourism business practices in the transition to a low carbon rural economy. It is important to recognise individuals will perceive different barriers and retain motivations personal to them, therefore when business owners apply new environmental initiatives and goals, employees’ individual needs must be acknowledged to facilitate greater engagement. Workplace pro-environmental behaviour is complex and fairly under researched in comparison to investigating home-based pro-environmental behaviours. Therefore this study has added to the body of literature by highlighting the importance of different contexts (physical, social and individual) and has increased the understanding of what influences workplace pro-environmental behaviour specific to the rural tourism industry, which is vital to Scotland’s economy.

This thesis explores the impact of volunteer tourism on the international tourist engaging in volunteer work in South Africa. A staged methodological design is adopted in this research. The first stage provides conceptual clarification of the term volunteer tourism, using grounded theory. Then a quasi-experimental study was carried out to collect data from volunteer tourists undertaking community and wildlife (including conservation) projects in South Africa. It consists of a standardised web-based personality inventory (IPIP-NEO) completed prior to, post, and one to two years following the volunteer vacation to measure personality changes in 15 core traits. A control group was used to enhance the validity of the scientific method. Thereafter, personal interviews were conducted to gain insight into the volunteering experience and any resulting changes in the volunteers’ day-to-day lives. This study’s findings point to significant changes in seven traits; some of these traits have not been previously identified by the literature and therefore broaden our understanding of the impact on the tourist. Additionally, while confirming some of the changes found in other studies, the findings of this study also point to some significant contrasts. Many of the changes identified were evident in the volunteer’s daily lives through their ‘personal circumstances’, ‘behaviour’, ‘emotions’, ‘confidence’, ‘values’, ‘knowledge or skills’ and ‘attitudes’. The experiences which the volunteers attributed to their changes were: active, involved, responsible, participatory, immersive and interactive, and whether they met volunteers’ expectations; influenced by: age, gender, project type and length of stay. The findings address a number of shortcomings in the volunteer tourism literature by providing statistical evidence of change; a better understanding of how change appears in participants’ everyday lives; and identifies some additional elements that influence change in the visitor, adding to knowledge of Engagement Theory. These findings can therefore contribute theoretically; and practically to tourism marketing, program design and volunteer satisfaction.

The amount of research on service innovation rapidly increased since the start of the third millennium, likely due to the continuous diversification of manufacturing companies into the service sector and the decline of manufacturing in the traditional industrial western countries compared to the World’s emerging economies. Service innovation, furthermore, has received significant attention from academics and practitioners alike and has been increasingly perceived as a means of creating competitive advantage. Arguably, this is due to the growing competition between service companies to reach unconventional levels which led to higher customer expectations of continuous improvement of services. This study investigated the nature and impact of service employees’ innovative behaviour leading to initiating innovation within the sub-sector of personal-interactive services, where the hotel sector was investigated respectively. In doing so, the study also critically reviewed the established literature relevant to service innovation and added further insight to previous research underpinning service employees’ role in initiating innovation. A qualitative case-study research strategy, which compared between three cases, was applied to achieve the objectives of the study. The application of qualitative case-study research allowed closer assessment and observation while the researcher was directly present within the service delivery environment. The combining of qualitative research methods, such as semi-structured interviews, focus groups and direct observation, was applied to congregate evidence of employees’ innovative behaviour patterns from multiple perspectives. The expected limitations of the applied research methods are classically associated with qualitative case-study research such as access barriers, high volume of data outcome and also the complications associated with data collection and analysis. The research findings contributed to the general body of knowledge by highlighting the nature and impact of service employees’ innovative behaviour. A novel classification of six innovative behaviour patterns was established under the three main categories of mandatory, quasi-mandatory and voluntary conduct. The research findings further revealed the significant impact of service employees’ innovative behaviour in initiating innovation, where 49 out of 70 innovative ideas were realised as innovations through employees’ innovative behaviour. The research also added further insight by identifying management procedures and motivation as contextual determinants that enable or inhibit service employees’ innovative behaviour.

Thesis (PhD (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African tourism industry has undergone transformation with numerous “windows of opportunity” having been opened for tourism entrepreneurs. The South African small, micro and medium tourism enterprises (SMMTE) sector, however, faces numerous challenges. To ensure long-term sustainability, according to Whittle (2000: 8), the owners of SMMTEs need to make efficient and effective business decisions about the internal and external threats and challenges their businesses face. This will ensure that they have sufficient strategic information on which to base decisions in order to maintain their competitive advantage in the tourism industry. Motivation/problem statement: Small business planning behaviour is described as unstructured, irregular and incomprehensive. This characterises SMMTE strategising as incremental, sporadic and reactive. A clear need for strategic planning and management coordination of SMMTEs is identified in the light of increasing competition in the tourism industry and the dominance of large international companies in most sectors of the tourism industry (Cooper & Buhalis, 1996: 101). This study examines determinants of strategic behaviour through a sample frame of formally registered SMMTEs in South Africa. Because of the importance of the issue for a developing economy such as South Africa, the study contributes toward an improved understanding of strategic determinants of sustainable business performance at SMMTE level. It is against this background that the study examines the extent to which linkages or relationships can be established between the characteristics or attributes that are unique to SMMTE owners and manifestations of strategic behaviour. The overall research question in this study is: Do relationships exist between the attributes of SMMTE owners and strategic behaviour? Methods/procedure/approach: The research design for the proposed study primarily involves descriptive and explanatory research. The purpose of using this methodology is to determine predictors of strategic behaviour of SMMTEs in South Africa. Primary and secondary data gathering methods are used in this study. The target-sampling frame is the formally registered SMMTEs in South Africa, and the research sample is determined through using a systematic random sampling method, stratified by province. The study focuses on two elements, namely profile attributes of the SMMTE owner and preferred strategic behaviour that has manifested within the SMMTE. The possible preferred relationship between these two elements is addressed from a theoretical perspective with the basic premise that some of the manifestations of the SMMTE owners’ strategic behaviour have a better likelihood of success. On the basis of this conceptual framework, the development of a suitable data-gathering instrument is discussed and developed to determine the degree of SMMTE strategic behaviour in the ventures. Results/findings/product: The descriptive statistical aspect of the research is discussed in detail. The business characteristics, profiles of the typical attributes or traits of the SMMTE owners, as well as their demographic profiles are discussed in detail. This study further investigates a possible relationship between strategic behaviour (the dependent variable) and entrepreneurial attributes (independent variables) using inferential statistics. The relationships and constructs, as depicted in the a priori model, are empirically tested by means of various statistical techniques: • Reliability testing of the data set is conducted (ref. Section 7.5); • The validity of the research instrument is determined (ref. Section 7.6); • The reliability of the new constructs after exploratory factor analysis is determined (ref. Section 7.6.2); • The relationships between the selected variables are investigated through Spearman’s rho and ANOVA (ref. Section 7.7); and • The relationships between the selected variables of the hypothesis are further investigated (ref. Section 7.7.2) through regression analysis. The research results support an overall statistically significant association between the independent and dependent variables, and the acceptance of the alternative hypothesis (and the rejection of the null hypothesis), namely that there is an association between certain attributes of the owners of the SMMTEs (which is characterised by locus of control, reasons for starting a business, holistic capabilities, formal management education and prior experience) and preferred strategic behaviour. However, the research findings do not support an overall statistically significant association between the risk propensity independent variable and strategic behaviour dependent variables. Consequently the following null sub-hypothesis (ref. Section 7.2.2) is accepted: There is no relationship between risk propensity and strategic behaviour. Conclusion/implications: The study makes various recommendations for further research (ref. Section 8.5.1) and explains the practical implications (ref. Section 8.5.2) thereof. The findings of this study have identified entrepreneurial attributes that have a significant association with strategic behaviour and have made a contribution toward the largely underresearched subject of the role of strategy in entrepreneurship. The study has further applied this to a largely under-researched economic sector in South Africa, namely tourism. The results in this study have produced a foundation for further analysis of the attributes of SMMTE entrepreneurs and the manifestation of strategic behaviour in SMMTEs.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die Suid-Afrikaanse toerismebedryf is getransformeer en dit het talle geleenthede vir toerisme-entrepreneurs in dié bedryf laat ontstaan. Die sektor vir klein, mikro- en middelgrootte toerismeondernemings (KMMTO’s) in Suid-Afrika staan egter voor talle uitdagings. Om volhoubaarheid op lang termyn te verseker, moet die eienaars van KMMTO’s volgens Whittle (2000: 8) doeltreffende en doelmatige sakebesluite neem oor die interne en eksterne bedreigings en uitdagings waarvoor hul ondernemings te staan kom. Dit sal verseker dat hulle oor voldoende strategiese inligting beskik waarop hulle besluite kan grond sodat hulle 'n mededingende voordeel in die toerismebedryf kan volhou. Motivering/probleemstelling: Die beplanningsgedrag van klein ondernemings word as ongestruktureerd, onreëlmatig en onvolledig beskryf. Dit tipeer die strategiese beplanning van KMMTO’s as inkrementeel, sporadies en reaktief. 'n Duidelike behoefte aan strategiese beplanning en bestuurskoördinering word by KMMTO’s geïdentifiseer in die lig van groter mededinging in die toerismebedryf en die oorheersing van groot internasionale maatskappye in die meeste sektore van die toerismebedryf (Cooper & Buhalis, 1996: 101). Hierdie studie ondersoek die bepalers van strategiese gedrag deur middel van 'n steekproefraamwerk van formeel geregistreerde KMMTO’s in Suid-Afrika. Omdat hierdie kwessie vir 'n ontwikkelende ekonomie soos dié van Suid-Afrika belangrik is, dra die studie by tot 'n beter begrip van die strategiese bepalers van volhoubare sakeprestasie op KMMTO-vlak. Dit is die agtergrond wat die studie gebruik om vas te stel tot watter mate daar verwantskappe of verhoudings bestaan tussen die kenmerke of eienskappe wat uniek aan KMMTO-eienaars is en die manifestering van strategiese gedrag. Die oorkoepelende navorsingsvraag in hierdie studie is: Bestaan daar verwantskappe tussen die kenmerke van KMMTO-eienaars en strategiese gedrag? Metodes/prosedure/benadering: Die navorsingsontwerp vir die voorgestelde studie behels hoofsaaklik beskrywende en verduidelikende navorsing. Die doel van die gebruik van hierdie metodologie is om die voorspellers van strategiese gedrag van KMMTO’s in Suid-Afrika te bepaal. Primêre en sekondêre metodes van datainsameling is in die studie gebruik. Die steekproefraamwerk bestaan uit formeel geregistreerde KMMTO’s in Suid- Afrika en die navorsingsteekproef is bepaal deur 'n sistematies ewekansige steekproefmetode te gebruik wat volgens provinsie gestratifiseer is. Die studie lê klem op twee elemente, naamlik die profielkenmerke van KMMTO-eienaars en die voorkeur strategiese gedrag wat in die KMMTO manifesteer. Die moontlike voorkeurverhouding tussen hierdie twee elemente word vanuit 'n teoretiese perspektief beskou met die basiese uitgangspunt dat sommige manifestasies van die KMMTO-eienaars se strategiese gedrag 'n beter kans op sukses het. Die ontwikkeling van 'n toepaslike datainsamelingsinstrument word op grond van hierdie konseptuele raamwerk bespreek en ontwikkel om die graad van strategiese gedrag in die ondernemings te bepaal. Resultate/bevindings/produk: Die beskrywende statistiese aspek van die navorsing word breedvoerig bespreek. Die besigheidskenmerke, profiele van die tipiese kenmerke of eienskappe van die KMMTO-eienaars sowel as die demografiese profiele van die KMMTO eienaars word ook breedvoerig bespreek. Hierdie studie ondersoek ook 'n moontlike verwantskap tussen strategiese gedrag (die afhanklike veranderlike) en entrepreneurskenmerke (onafhanklike veranderlikes) met behulp van inferensiële statistiek. Die verhoudings en konstrukte, soos in die a priori-model uitgebeeld, word empiries deur middel van verskeie statistiese tegnieke getoets: • Betroubaarheidstoetsing van die datastel word uitgevoer (verw. Afdeling 7.5); • Die geldigheid van die navorsingsinstrument word bepaal (verw. Afdeling 7.6); • Die betroubaarheid van die nuwe konstrukte word ná verkennende faktorontleding bepaal (verw. Afdeling 7.6.2); • Die verhoudings tussen die geselekteerde veranderlikes van die hipotese word met Spearman se rho en ANOVA (verw. Afdeling 7.7) getoets; en • Die verhoudings tussen die geselekteerde veranderlikes van die hipotese word verder (verw. Afdeling 7.7.2) deur regressieontleding getoets. Die navorsingsresultate ondersteun 'n oorkoepelende en statisties beduidende verband tussen die onafhanklike en afhanklike veranderlikes, en die aanvaarding van die alternatiewe hipotese (en die verwerping van die nulhipotese), naamlik dat daar 'n verband is tussen sekere van die eienskappe van die KMMTO-eienaars (wat gekenmerk word deur lokus van beheer, redes vir die vestiging van 'n besigheid, konseptuele/perseptuele vermoëns, formele bestuursopleiding en vorige ondervinding) en voorkeur strategiese gedrag. Die navorsingsbevindinge ondersteun egter nie 'n oorkoepelende statisties beduidende verband tussen risikogeneigdheid as onafhanklike veranderlike en strategiese gedrag as afhanklike veranderlikes nie. Die volgende nulsubhipotese (verw. Afdeling 7.2.2) word dus aanvaar: Daar is geen verwantskap tussen risikogeneigdheid en strategiese gedrag nie. Gevolgtrekking/implikasies: Die studie maak verskeie aanbevelings vir verdere navorsing (verw. Afdeling 8.5.1) en verduidelik die praktiese implikasies hiervan (verw. Afdeling 8.5.2). Die bevindinge van hierdie studie identifiseer die entrepreneurskenmerke wat 'n beduidende verband met strategiese gedrag toon en wat 'n bydrae lewer tot die rol van strategie in entrepreneurskap – 'n onderwerp wat nie voldoende nagevors is nie. Die studie pas dit ook toe op toerisme – 'n ekonomiese sektor in Suid-Afrika wat ook nie voldoende nagevors is nie. Die resultate van hierdie studie vorm 'n grondslag vir die verdere ontleding van die eienskappe van KMMTO-entrepreneurs en die manifestering van strategiese gedrag in KMMTO’s.

Both tourism destination marketing and the characteristics of holiday travellers have recently undergone radical changes driven by the rapid progress of computer technology. In particular, the advent of the Internet has had a great impact on holiday travellers as well as on the development of tourism promotion and distribution channel strategies. While holiday travellers benefit from the characteristics of Internet use, for example, unlimited information retrieval, flexible accessibility, and direct interactivity with destination marketing organizations (DMOs), the Internet provides DMOs with the critical factor of an increase in operational costs incurred by running all possible online promotional activities and online distribution channels. This paper attempted to discover which Internet functions are popularly used by existing/potential online travellers or which ones are not by testing the Canberra Tourism & Event Corporation (CTEC) web site. As a result, this research intends to provide CTEC with a way to operate its website cost-effectively, which can also lead to increasing the usage satisfaction of CTEC web visitors. Online travellers visiting the CTEC website were surveyed through non-probability self-selected web survey by using segmentation procedure; two key online travel groups: direct and indirect online access groups. Based on the research methodology, this study has discovered several findings. Firstly, CTEC web visitors preferred to use the CTEC website for the purpose of gathering travel information rather than that of online booking or reservations for travel products on the CTEC website. Secondly, comprehensive travel information tailor-made to online individuals was found to be desirable through interactive online activities, while the multimedia, booking, and comparability function were not significant in helping the CTEC online visitors choose the travel destination. Based on their preferences for particular Internet functions, it is evident that web visitors wish to have comprehensive and tailormade online travel information and interaction with the CTEC. Finally, it was revealed that the demographics of the CTEC web visitors were very similar to Internet users identified by previous researchers. Therefore, this study provides insights into website development strategies.

This research investigates the potential incentives have on driving behaviour change towards the adoption of sustainable business practices by rural tourism operators in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Even though operators in rural BC have recognized the importance of making their business practices sustainable so that future generations are able to enjoy living and visiting these communities, they claim there is a lack of incentives from the industry. To support the BC rural tourism industry in attaining its aspiration to enhance the social/cultural, environmental and economic well being of the province, a model and corresponding recommendations on how to better support operators through strategic incentives was developed. Using the lens of strategic sustainable development, understanding the mechanisms of behaviour change and the role of operators as early adopters of sustainable practices, this research takes a whole systems perspective to identify in what ways sustainability can be encouraged by the tourism industry through the use of incentives in the context of rural BC.

Responsible tourism is tourism which aims at minimizing negative environmental, social, and economic impacts, and benefits the local community. One crucial aspect is being neglected in the context of responsible tourism – the environmental impacts of food consumption. The impacts on the environment may vary depending on the dietary lifestyle. According to research, a vegan diet is generally less taxing on the environment than for example vegetarian or omnivorous ones. In this quantitative study, 161 participants, who consider themselves responsible tourists, were asked about their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour regarding the environmental benefits of veganism. The data were analysed using linear regressions within the mediation model and two-sample t- tests. I found that attitudes partly mediate the relationship between knowledge and behaviour. Vegans are more knowledgeable about the environmental benefits of veganism than omnivores. Besides, vegans showed the most pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour, followed by vegetarians and omnivores. Less than half of the sample perceive veganism as a part of responsible tourism. Those respondents who perceive it so are mainly vegans and vegetarians. A campaign that would raise awareness of the environmental benefits of veganism in the context of responsible travel needs to be implemented. A qualitative study should follow, and further research needs to be done among additional samples, such as typical mass tourists.

Following the loss of heavy, manufacturing industry in many industrial areas in the 1970s and 1980s, tourism has featured extensively in urban and wateriront regeneration policy because of its ability to generate substantial economic benefits to destination communities. There is now an extensive literature covering urban tourism and dockland regeneration, but visitors' perceptions of urban waterfront destinations and their on-site behaviour and d experience remain largely unexplored. Additionally, whilst there is now a substantial body of literature relating to tourism's economic impact at the macro level, less is known about tourism expenditure at destination and sub-destination levels.

Tourism is one of the most rapidly developing industries in the world. The study of spatio-temporal movement models of tourists are undertaken in variety of disciplines such as tourism, geography, mathematics, economics and artificial intelligence. Knowledge from these different fields has been difficult to integrate because tourist movement research has been conducted at different spatial and temporal scales. This thesis establishes a methodology for modelling the spatial-temporal movement of tourists and defines the spatial-temporal movement of tourists at both the macro and micro level. At the macro level, the sequence of tourist movements is modelled and the trend for tourist movements is predicted based on Markov Chain theory (MC). Log-linear models are then adopted to test the significance of the movement patterns of tourists. Tourism market segmentation based on the significant movement patterns of tourists is implemented using the EM (Expectation-Maximisation) algorithm. At the micro level, this thesis investigates the wayfinding decision-making processes of tourists. Four wayfinding models are developed and the relationships between the roles of landmarks and wayfinding decision-making are also discussed for each type of the wayfinding processes. The transition of a tourist movement between the macro and micro levels was examined based on the spatio-temporal zooming theory. A case study of Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia is undertaken to implement and evaluate the tourist movement models established in this thesis. Two surveys were conducted on Phillip Island to collect the macro and micro level movement data of tourists. As results show particular groups of tourists travelling with the same movement patterns have unique characteristics such as age and travel behaviours such as mode of transport. Effective tour packages can be designed based on significant movement patterns and the corresponding target markets. Tourists with various age groups, residency, gender and different levels of familiarity with physical environment have different wayfinding behaviours. The results of this study have been applied to tourism management on Phillip Island and the novel methods developed in this thesis have proved to be useful in improving park facilities and services provided to tourists, in designing tour packages for tourism market promotion and in understanding tourist wayfinding behaviours.

Over the last decade, film location tourism has been established as a niche segment in the tourism industry. While this niche has attracted attention from both researchers and marketers alike, not much knowledge has been accumulated about the tourist encounter itself. It is the main purpose of this thesis to research on-site behavioural and experiential aspects of the film location encounter. For the overall research design, an inductive, comparative case-study approach was implemented. Three cases were selected for this research: The Lord of the Rings locations in New Zealand, The Sound of Music locations in Austria and Star Wars locations in Tunisia. The applied methods are participant observation, image-based data and semi-structured interviews. The data collection was conducted while participating in organised film location tows in order to secure access to the informants. The first fundamental outcome of this research is that there is no 'film location tourist' as such. People who travel to film locations come from different socio-economic backgrounds, comprise all age groups and possess varying degrees of fandom. The majority of film location tourists, however, have one thing in common, regardless of the underlying movie genre: the longing to connect with the imaginary world of the film by visiting the physical and thus 'real' location places. These places are consumed in two ways: as places of spectacle and as sacred places. The nature of the location consumption is dependent on a number of factors, including the degree of fandom of the consumers, the attractiveness of the encountered locations, the consistency of the interpretive community, the amount and nature of external distortions and, if applicable, the structure of the location tour. Means of consumption of film locations as spectacle are formal posing, sight recordings and shot re-creations. When experiencing film locations as sacred places, shot re-creations, mental simulations and filmic re-enactments occur. The latter form of consumption can result in a symbiosis between the imaginary and the real place component: the gazing subject becomes the previously (photographed) object. Regardless of the degree of experiential satisfaction, film location tourists want to bring some of the magic back home. This is achieved not only via mental pictures and physical photographs, but also through souvenirs. These can be off- or on-site. Regarding the latter, these souvenirs are almost holy relics, brought home from a successful pilgrimage and subsequently framed and displayed in an altar-like fashion. The benefits from this are not only self-pride and satisfaction, but also the distinction to other movie fans who have not been able to do the journey themselves. Thus, the person in possession of such a relic gains privileged status amongst peers which in turn raises the satisfaction with the location encounter. The film location experience cycle comes to a full closure by re-watching the movie. This procedure involves a renewed connection to both the imaginary filmic places as well as the real locations visited. The filmic gaze is extended, as the movie scenes are now seen as part of a real place which extends beyond the filmic sight. Keywords: Film location tourism - multiple, comparative on-site case study inquiry - film locations as spatial and temporal constructs - the film location tourist encounter - behavioural and experiential interactions with place.

Background:              The environmental impacts of tourism have recently become a high-profile topic due to the increasing amount of attention devoted to issues such as climate change. The harmful effects of aviation, in particular, have led airline companies to adopt proactive sustainability agendas. In light of this, this study seeks to explore the extent of environmental awareness amongst consumers as well as the effects that corporate sustainability measures have on the decision-making process of air travelers. Purpose:                     The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether or not consumers value environmental responsibility within the airline industry and to determine the factors that influence the consumer decision-making process. Method:                      This thesis utilizes a mixed-method approach, with both quantitative and qualitative methods employed. Quantitative data was collected through a survey distributed online and to travelers at Göteborg Landvetter airport, with a total of 95 respondents. Additionally, an in-depth interview was conducted with Stefan Gössling, a prominent researcher within the field of tourism. Findings:                    The results of this thesis reveal relatively low awareness amongst consumers with regard to the environmental actions of airlines. Although consumers appear to have a general knowledge of the negative impacts of air travel, they are reluctant to alter their own flying behavior. Additionally, the results of the survey reveal that consumers are not yet familiar with the concept of eco-friendly flights or the sustainable options that are available to them when purchasing flight tickets.  Ultimately, when buying from airline companies, consumers place greater emphasis on other factors such as costs, services and the availability of desired routes.