Improving environmental performance in the tourism accommodation sector

While environmental legislation in Australia regulates tourism development, it is less effective in operational areas because of the dependency of tourism on environmental resources that are not managed by operators, and the small but incremental nature of operational impacts. The absence of functional environmental standards for tourism means that little guidance exists: a problem compounded by variability in the diversity of operation types and receiving environments, as well as the accessibility of information by a non-technical audience. While legislation and economic considerations may provide impetus to adopt environmental practices, it is proposed that an environmental philosophy is necessary for tourism businesses to seek out and maintain alternative sustainable modes of operation. Review of the environmental audit process used by a Queensland resort suggests commitment to continual improvement in environmental performance is attributable to individual and corporate ethics. While the case is an ecotourism operation, the literature indicates that these factors have relevance to tourism generally. Although client satisfaction and return on investment objectives are constraints, environmental auditing can provide impetus for practical expression of environmental objectives. Facilitation of ethically-motivated voluntary action may be more effective in achieving tourism's environmental objectives than codifying standards in static legislation.

Developing New Tourism Services: Dinosaurs a New Drive Tourism Resource for Remote Areas

This paper examines issues encountered when developing new tourism services generally, and specific aspects relating to the development of remote area dinosaur fossil fields for tourism. It studies two sites, one in the USA and one in Australia. Access to both sites is by minor roads, and both sites are characterised by long drives separating the sites from small communities that offer limited infrastructure and few other attractions for visitors. In both areas, however, tourism is seen as one of the few possible ways to sustain existing communities in the face of declining primary-industry-based employment. In general, tourists visiting these areas are on touring holidays of two weeks’ duration or more where the attraction is the general attributes of the region as well as to a lesser extent their interest in dinosaur fossils. These provide a potential resource for remote-region economic development through commodification as a new tourism attraction. Development of dinosaur fossil finds as a tourism resource is conceptualised here as new service development. Developing new tourism services, especially in remote regions, is challenging and has not been well examined in the tourism literature. The new service development process used in this case study first examines the characteristics of the existing tourists travelling through the region. The characteristics of a number of potential market segments currently interested in dinosaur fossils were then examined and contrasted with the existing market. This is conceptualised on a specialist-generalist spectrum of interest in fossils. A study of the tourist service features associated with dinosaur fossil tourism in remote regions of the USA was conducted, leading to the identification of a number of possible incremental development opportunities. The paper then takes a strategic approach to examining potential new tourism service development related to dinosaur fossils in remote regions of Queensland, Australia. In particular, it describes use of information about existing services in similar regions as the basis for ideas about development as well as comparison between existing and potential markets.

Do open-cycle hatcheries relying on tourism conserve sea turtles? Sri Lankan developments and economic-ecological considerations

By combining economic analysis of markets with ecological parameters, this article considers the role that tourism-based sea turtle hatcheries (of an open-cycle type) can play in conserving populations of sea turtles. Background is provided on the nature and development of such hatcheries in Sri Lanka. The modeling facilitates the assessment of the impacts of turtle hatcheries on the conservation of sea turtles and enables the economic and ecological consequences of tourism, based on such hatcheries, to be better appreciated. The results demonstrate that sea turtle hatcheries serving tourists can make a positive contribution to sea turtle conservation, but that their conservation effectiveness depends on the way they are managed. Possible negative effects are also identified. Economic market models are combined with turtle population survival relationships to predict the conservation impact of turtle hatcheries and their consequence for the total economic value obtained from sea turtle populations.

Effects of tourism development on the local poor people - Case study in Taibai Region China

In China, protected areas are one of the main destinations attracting tourists and homeland for many poor people living in and around them. Based on a case study, the paper focuses on correlation between tourism and poverty alleviation by tracing the cash flows to the local poor. It also reviews the social and environmental effects of tourism on local area. The case study is conducted in a group of protected areas in Qinling Mountain Region in Shaanxi, a western province in China. Qinling Mountain is one of the most important distribution zones for Giant Panda and some other endangered wildlife such as Golden Takin and Golden Monkey. The tourism development in the region is happening. Research indicates that there is 29.33%, of tourist expenditure is going to local households, directly or indirectly. Tourist spends US$7.11 (13.67%) in food and beverage, and US$6.39 (12.23%) in accommodation service, which are the greatest contributors to local households in terms of tourism benefits. Local households can get US$8.15 from food/beverage and accommodation sectors, taking 56.64% of total income from tourism. Generally, tourism development benefits all stakeholders. However, poor people get less benefit. The paper analyses the barriers for the poor to be involved in tourism development, and discusses the government roles, major issues in implementation of Sustainable Tourism-Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short-Term Perturbations and Tourism Effects: The case of SARS in China

In China, protected areas are one of the main destinations attracting tourists and homeland for many poor people living in and around them. Based on a case study, the paper focuses on correlation between tourism and poverty alleviation by tracing the cash flows to the local poor. It also reviews the social and environmental effects of tourism on local area. The case study is conducted in a group of protected areas in Qinling Mountain Region in Shaanxi, a western province in China. Qinling Mountain is one of the most important distribution zones for Giant Panda and some other endangered wildlife such as Golden Takin and Golden Monkey. The tourism development in the region is happening. Research indicates that there is 29.33%, of tourist expenditure is going to local households, directly or indirectly. Tourist spends US$7.11 (13.67%) in food and beverage, and US$6.39 (12.23%) in accommodation service, which are the greatest contributors to local households in terms of tourism benefits. Local households can get US$8.15 from food/beverage and accommodation sectors, taking 56.64% of total income from tourism. Generally, tourism development benefits all stakeholders. However, poor people get less benefit. The paper analyses the barriers for the poor to be involved in tourism development, and discusses the government roles, major issues in implementation of Sustainable Tourism-Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) model.

Conceptualizing special interest tourism - frameworks for analysis

To advance understanding of Special Interest Tourism (SIT), this paper will explore the complexities of this phenomenon in the early 21st century. First, a look at what is out there, both from a supply and demand perspective, will serve to paint a broad picture at macro-level. The paper will present a discussion of the SIT phenomenon at the macro-level within a triangular relationship of supply, demand and media. Then, a more specific look at SIT attempts to clarify the ambiguity of the term. Finally, a look at micro-level from the consumer's perspective will introduce the concepts of enduring and situational involvement, and the nature of the product. Proposed frameworks are presented to provide structure and possible directions for future research and as a means of progressing conceptual development. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tourists and beach safety in Queensland, Australia

Surf Life Saving Queensland (SLSQ) is a leading authority on beach safety, providing patrol, education, and rescue services to both tourists and local residents along the coast of Queensland, Australia. SLSQ recognizes that tourists are a target group requiring special attention due to their unfamiliarity with ocean beaches and surfing activities, and in some cases having the additional challenge of poor swimming skills, language barriers, and disorientation in a foreign vacation environment. This article describes SLSQ initiatives to provide beach safety for tourists through a focus on service delivery and partnerships with the tourism industry and relevant government agencies. The positive involvement of SLSQ in tourism is a model for other coastal destinations, given that drowning is the second most frequent cause of injury death among international travelers.

Tourism crisis and disasters: Enhancing understanding of system effects

This paper examines the definitions and conceptual foundations of crises and distinguishes between crises and disasters. It takes a systems view of these concepts and uses the perspective of systems as organizational networks to examine implications for tourism managers. A tourism destination is perceived as consisting of a network of interacting organizations. This perspective questions the boundaries that should be used to study crisis and disasters. The paper also discusses the possibility of a crisis having a positive outcome for a destination.

Achieving key dimensions of sustainability: Strategic visioning as a tourism destination planning tool

Tourism has had, and is continuing to have, a profound impact upon destinations, economically, environmentally and socially. The negative impacts of tourism have been attributed, among other things, to inadequate or non-existent planning frameworks for tourism development, and it has therefore been advocated that tourism planning is vital to offset some of these negative impacts. While several different approaches have been supported over the years, tourism planning based on the philosophies of sustainability has emerged as one ofthe most comprehensive approaches. However, two critical concepts have been identified as precursors to sustainable development: a strategic Qrientation towards tourism planning and enhanced levels of multiple stakeholder participation in the tourism planning process (Simpson 2001 ). While both strategic tourism planning and stakeholder participation and collaboration, have received considerable attention in the academic literature, there has been relatively little written about its practical application. However, the somewhat recent emergence of the strategic visioning concept as a destination planning tool may provide the necessary practical framework for incorporating stakeholder collaboration into destination strategic planning and management. This paper will provide a synthesis of the stakeholder collaboration, strategic planning and strategic visioning literatures, before conceptually examining the potential applicability._ of the strategic visioning process in achieving meaningful stakeholder participation and collaboration in destination planning.