2019 TTRA International Conference

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  • Publication
    Empowerment through friendship: A process view of community-based tourism
    (2019) Mayaka, Melphon; Lacey, Gary; Rogerson, Christian M
    This paper explores the ‘alternative’ empowerment roles of catalyst, facilitator and advocate in community-based tourism in the context of community development practice, drawing on findings from four community-based tourism (CBT) ethnographic case studies in Kenya. The paper uncovers the ‘friend’ or ‘neighbour’ relationship as a possible combination of these roles, proposing that the various roles may be points or positions in a continuum, a relationship that develops over time. Arguably, these roles could be realized between a community and an individual from within or outside the community. It is further proposed that understanding the roles and the relationships provides possibilities for community empowerment and sustainable community development within CBT settings. The findings point towards opportunities for the enhancement of empowerment, either driven by deliberate efforts of development practitioners or brought about in non-deliberate, organic manner through collaborative work of a wide range of actors. Research in this area has the potential to contribute towards understanding the processes through which sustainable community development and public social policies affecting communities can achieve global agendas such as poverty alleviation, partnerships and sustainability in what are considered marginal areas.
  • Publication
    Planning for Sustainable Access of Upland Tourism Sites in the Cordillera Region, Philippines
    (2019) Fillone, Alexis M; Nicholas, Jan; Mateo-Babiano, Iderlina; Ganzon, Katrina
    Most of the upland tourism sites in the Cordillera Region are either natural (e.g. waterfalls and caves) or man-made (e.g. rice terraces and hanging coffins). A significant number of tourists, both local and foreign, opt to bring their own private vehicles. With the flexibility afforded by bringing their own cars, tourists tend to disembark as near as possible to the tourist attraction. As a result, nearest town centers experience congestion. Vehicles are also observed to be parked at inappropriate and unsafe places such as open basketball courts, barangay plazas, and by the roadside. This study documents the existing travel characteristics and access behaviour of tourists in the towns of Sagada and Banaue in the Cordillera Region. The motivation of this paper is to propose a sustainable transport and accessibility plan of tourism sites in these towns to reduce the use of motor vehicles and minimize the carbon footprint of tourists.
  • Publication
    “Seriously, shit has to change.” Spatial Constraint Negotiation among Solo Female Travelers
    (2019) Schwab, Keri
    Solo female travelers face many constraints to leisure, such as threats to their physical safety. Much research has examined how women negotiate constraints, and more research is starting to examine how a sense of empowerment and agency shapes action. This study sought to understand how solo female travelers manage risk, such as unwanted male attention and explicit male harassment while traveling solo. Analysis of discussion posts among women on an active solo female social media group revealed strikingly different ways women address and act toward risk. Results indicate that women either adopted an attitude and actions of precaution or a stance of violence and retaliation. A number of women chose to lie, assimilate, or ignore men.
  • Publication
    Using the PhD to train across the diversity of senior tourism careers - not just researchers
    (2019) Hagger, Christina
    The PhD is an expensive process, currently centred on building researcher knowledge and skill. Yet it trains only one element of the professional mix required to shape contemporary, and future, tourism issues. It is timely to extend the model as a networked knowledge exchange hub for all emerging tourism leaders.
  • Publication
    Health benefits of local tourism for people who have retired
    (2019) Hagger, Christina
    Travel can be an important resource for maintaining health and well-being, particularly for people who have retired. However, it does not have to be international, epic or extended to be effective. Research findings suggest that retirees who travel report no significant difference in life satisfaction, irrespective of whether the tourism event occurs at local, national or international levels. The psychological benefits of local travel are outlined. Local, sustainable travel, is a way to maintain life satisfaction and wellbeing in retirement. Indeed, it can be argued that the benefits of tourism can be reflected in savings in health services for an older population. The potential of a modified social tourism model for Australia is canvassed. Greater promotion of local travel can assist also in reducing the impact of the tourism footprint on our fragile earth.
  • Publication
    A moment in time:Commemorating the Armistice on the Somme in 2018
    (2019) Winter, Caroline
    The Great War of 1914-1918 has been commemorated during a four-year centenary period, with large commemorative events, organized by the governments of nations which fought the war, particularly Belgium, France and Britain. The final ceremonies for the centenary were conducted almost simultaneously at 11.00am on November 11 2018, at sites spread across the old trench lines of France and Belgium. How then, did tourists decide which event, and in which place they would spend this brief ‘moment in time’? Data collected from a sample of tourists in the village of Pozières on the Somme, France, on 10-11 November, 2018, indicate that large national commemorations were given the highest priorities. Afterwards however, people had made plans to visit other sites such as family graves and memorial sites, some extending to the Ieper area in Belgium. The study suggests the importance of large state based events in motivating tourist travel to the battlefields.
  • Publication
    What’s Old is New Again: Instagram as the New Slide Night
    (2019) Gibson, Leah
    As with much ‘new media, Instagram has only recently been explored within tourism research, however it is an area which has garnered significant levels of attention in this short time within popular culture, and wider academic study. The rise of Instagram as leading platform, and a way for travellers to ‘show-off’ has been linked to a range of challenges and opportunities for the tourism industry; from increased overcrowding of popular destinations and decreased visitor dispersal, to the potential for destinations to utilize the concept in destination marketing and planning, and the rise of the ‘influencer’. This conceptual paper explores the notion that although Instagram represents a new form of communication within tourism, it is, in many ways, simply a new technology that allows travellers to do what they have always done – to share and ‘show-off’ travel experiences with a wider audience; it is a new channel for the conspicuous consumption of travel.
  • Publication
    Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in Tourism (DRRM) and the Attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals
    (2019) Solis, Leticia Susan
    The World Tourism Organization is of the position that tourism can play a significant role in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). The subject of Tourism and the attainment of the SDGs has expectedly been the focus of numerous articles and researches. However, while it is noted that Disaster Risk Reduction and Management is a compelling need for the sustainable development of the industry, there is an apparent dearth in literature on the link between DRRM in Tourism and the attainment of the SDG’s. Noting that tourism is an industry that is highly vulnerable to the environment, this conceptual paper highlights the relevance of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in Tourism and proposes a model that can serve as a guideline for stakeholders in order to pursue initiatives and measures that can contribute to the attainment of the SDG’s.
  • Publication
    From Measurement Scale to Sentiment Scale: Examining the Effect of Sensory Experiences on Online Review Rating Behavior
    (2019) Mehraliyev, Fuad; Kirilenko, Andrei P; Choi, Youngjoon
    The importance of sensory dimension of customer experiences has been supported in tourism literature; albeit, there are still several important theoretical and methodological gaps to be bridged. This study showcased a methodological procedure of developing a sentiment scale of sensory experiences. By using big online review data in a restaurant context, this study examined the impact of five sensory experiences (sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch) on rating behavior. Results illustrated the relative importance of different sensory experiences. Based on an experiential paradigm, taste experiences were considered the most important component of restaurant experiences. A negativity bias was also observed. This study found a consistent pattern across five sensory experiences that negative attribute had a stronger effect on customer rating than its positive counterpart. The findings are expected to extend the discussions on ‘otherscapes’ and provide theoretical and methodological grounds to develop sentiment scales to understanding tourist experience and behavior.
  • Publication
    Testing the Link between Competitiveness Indicators and Tourism Demand: A Panel Data Analysis
    (2019) Zhu, Liang
    This working paper investigates the association between indicators of destination competitiveness and tourism demand using panel data models. Previous studies have identified various competitiveness indicators, but fail to examine the contribution of these indicators to tourism demand. Our research bridges the gap and provides empirical evidence to advance knowledge of destination competitiveness. Analyzing the data of 111 countries from 2009 to 2016, we show that the global competitiveness index and the corresponding subindexes are positively associated with international tourism demand. The investigation also reveal that competitiveness indicators can be more general than what have been discussed in the previous studies. Besides theoretical contributions, our study has policy relevance.
  • Publication
    Scenario Invention Task Technique (SITT): a practical innovation for qualitative research in a reef tourism study
    (2019) Pabel, Anja; Naweed, Anjum
    The aim of this paper is to outline the use of a qualitative research method called the Scenario Invention Task Technique (SITT) in the context of a reef tourism study. The study was undertaken to gain a better understanding of the relationship between working time arrangements, sleep and the capacity to perform emotional labour in the reef tourism workforce of Far North Queensland (FNQ). To achieve this, focus groups were conducted with reef tourism workers during which the SITT was applied. This involved asking reef employees to create a challenging/negative customer service scenario to help stimulate insights. Employing a task that required participants to create a challenging customer service situation was considered to promote the acquisition of rich insights in a way that promoted applicability and trustworthiness of findings. The paper starts by describing the SITT and then outlines the research context of the study, followed by a section of how the SITT was applied. The paper concludes by offering reflections on the use of SITT and considers its broader application in tourism research.
  • Publication
    Rough road to the stars: A route development framework for Astro Tourism in the Karoo arid region
    (2019) Jacobs, Laeticia; Du Preez, Elizabeth; Fairer-Wessels, Felicite
    The purpose of this paper is to understand the potential of niche market-based tourism routes to facilitate sustainable development in a rural destination context. Using Astro Tourism as the focal niche, a proposed framework depicts the stakeholder linkages eminent in an integrated process of product development. Towns in the Karoo arid region of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa, were selected as a region with limited resources and extreme poverty, yet housing two world-class astronomy projects (the South African Large Telescope (SALT) and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The study framework highlights the importance of establishing a coordinating forum through which the tourism offering can be conceptualised as both a developmental and promotional initiative plan undertaken collectively.
  • Publication
    Risk perception, Olympic Host Image, and Destination Visit Intention: Applying Both Symmetric and Asymmetric Approaches
    (2019) Choe, Yeongbae; Kim, Hany
    Tourist risk perception has been studied extensively in tourism literature and considered an important factor influencing destination choice. However, earlier studies using mostly symmetric approach (e.g., regression, or SEM) cannot accurately analyze the constrain case – i.e., a case having a negative perception but a high visit intention. Therefore, this study utilized both symmetric and asymmetric approaches to understand the relationships among destination-related risk perception (i.e. safety and disease), Olympic host image, attitude, individual characteristics, and visit intention. Results from the two methods are inconsistency. Based on SEM, while attitude, safety, Olympic host city image, past experience, and age were statistically significant, ZIKA perception was not statistically significant. However, in fsQCA results, it influences both the high and low score of visit intention. This study contributes to the existing knowledge of risk perception by applying complexity theory and confirming the diverse effects of safety and disease perception on future behavior intention.
  • Publication
    Legacies and Benefits of mega-events from the perspective of volunteer co-creators: A Case Study on 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic
    (2019) Kim, Hany; Kim, Jeongmi (Jamie); Choe, Yeongbae; Yilmaz, Semih S
    This study examines the outcome of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics from multiple perspectives. Tourism and sport researchers have focused on the legacy of mega-events because of the opportunity to transform the city positively including the development of tourism industry. However, outcomes are not always positive, and the effect differs for every event. Additionally, the outcome effects are perceived to be different by each stakeholder of any events. While the roles of volunteers are critical for the events’ success, their perspectives of the event outcomes were relatively overlooked. Therefore, this study aims to explore the legacy of the 2018 Winter Olympics as the most recent and unique Olympics (also known as Peace Olympic) by expanding and building on the previous studies of the Olympic outcome from the perspective of the co-creator, volunteers.
  • Publication
    The Climate Change Paradox: Small to Medium Tourism Enterprise and Climate Change on the Great Lakes
    (2019) Chin, Natalie
    Climate change will have significant impacts on the tourism system and tourism businesses will need to adapt to the changing environment. Climate change and its impact on tourism is an emerging field but, with the exception of the ski industry, there has been little examination of the responses of Small to Medium Tourism Enterprises (SMTE) to climate change. This article examines the responses of SMTE in two destinations on Lake Michigan. It finds that while SMTEs acknowledge the impact of weather on their performance, they are largely unconcerned about climate change and have confidence they can adapt to changes over time. The study highlights the paradox between the existential threat of climate change and the relative small-scale tactical adaptions planned by SMTEs. The study highlights the need to explore indirect impacts of climate change to better understand the challenges facing businesses.
  • Publication
    An examination of the relationship between VFR Travel and Family Violence
    (2019) Backer, Elisa
    Family violence is one of the most serious problems plaguing society at present and is regarded as both a public health problem and a major threat to human rights. Despite the growing public discussions and awareness campaigns concerned with family violence, the problem persists. Research into family violence exists in many disciplines; however, to date, not a single paper in any tourism journal mentions family violence. And yet, family violence does not take a holiday. Therefore, family violence does exist in tourism. If a family lives with violence and goes on a holiday, the violence comes too. It doesn’t stay behind. This paper provides a particular focus on the relationship between family violence and VFR travel and postulates that VFR travel may be a beneficial form of support to victims of family violence when they decide to separate from a perpetrator. This paper provides a number of key directions to inform tourism researchers to potentially offer significant benefits to an urgent and important area of study.
  • Publication
    Are things just too hot in the kitchen? Chefs’ mental health and wellbeing
    (2019) Robinson, Richard N.S.
    There is growing public awareness of the pervasiveness of the individual, community, societal and economic costs of mental health and wellbeing. The workplace is a domain of stress triggering mental health and wellbeing risks. Tourism fundamentally depends on chefs and cooks to both produce sustenance and create experiences for destination visitors, yet nearly every developed economy reports sustained skills shortages in this vital tourism occupation. While the Orwellian themes of poor working conditions, low pay and unsociable hours are routinely rehearsed, in the exploratory study this paper reports we ask is there evidence of these factors being the antecedents to mental health and wellbeing risks. We find, in a serious of astonishingly candid interviews with 16 experienced professional chefs that indeed these factors threatened their state of mind and wellbeing. More than this they reported resorting to destructive coping mechanisms. The paper concludes by proposing pathways forward, to address industrial and occupational cultures that apparently perpetuate mental health and wellbeing risks.
  • Publication
    Take me back…but to where? A content analysis of how country of origin impacts on the authenticity of souvenirs
    (2019) Backer, Elisa; Zaveri, Moulik
    Souvenirs are a popular commodity for purchase by tourists. Souvenirs can serve as an emotional connection for people to bring back fond memories of touristic experiences. They can also be gifts for friends and relatives to showcase and share touristic events when the tourist returns back home. In recent years, research has been undertaken on the importance of souvenirs and the aspect of authenticity. However, the relationship between country of origin, more specifically the ‘Made in...’ labels, and souvenirs has attracted little research interest. Importantly, despite the importance of souvenirs to tourism, a content analysis has not been undertaken. Such research seems important in order to guide future research and hold important implications for tourism practitioners. Accordingly, this research involves a content analysis of the relationship between authenticity and souvenirs. Key themes are highlighted and future research identified.
  • Publication
    Conceptualizing the Impacts of Short-Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs) Across the Urban Landscape
    (2019) Yeager, Emily; Boley, Bynum; Goetcheus, Cari
    Conceptualizing the Impacts of Short-Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs) Across the Urban Landscape Despite the growing importance of urban centers and their ability to provide the scale, proximity, amenities, and specializations to incubate disruptive innovations such as short-term vacation rentals (STVRs), little tourism research has conceptualized the potential positive and negative impacts STVRs have across the urban landscape. With this gap in mind, this paper conceptualizes and unpacks the potential impacts of STVRs using an interdisciplinary framework that pulls from geographical perspectives on place-making within the tourism-residential landscape and a systems perspective which views destination development as a cycle with an apogee at which STVRs might most affect the trajectory of urban development. These perspectives are joined with a discussion of community resiliency to discuss the positive and negative implications for urban landscapes which are increasingly in the crosshairs of this type of entrepreneurial disruption.
  • Publication
    Translation Method in terms of Audience Involvement within the Context of Film Tourism
    (2019) iskender, ali
    The prospective study investigates the role of translation method in foreign movies on audience involvement and audience involvement on behavioral intentions toward destination. Audience involvement is considered one of the predictors of behavioral intentions toward a destination featured in a movie within film tourism concept. It is aimed to identify if translation method may be considered one of the antecedent elements of film tourism phenomenon, in particular, while investigating it in a foreign movie with a foreign destination. The prospective study has experimental research design. The movie “Hukumet Kadin” will be watched by two groups of people with either dubbing or subtitling. Exploratory factor analysis, either ANOVA or MANOVA, and multiple regression will be used as the statistical method. It is anticipated that one of the translation methods (either dubbing or subtitling) will result in statistically different audience involvement, which influence behavioral intentions toward the destination portrayed in the movie. Keywords: Translation method, audience involvement, film tourism, dubbing, subtitling