Book Review: Tourism in China: Exotic Land Revealed

There is no better way to lean about tourism in China than from renowned expert in the field. Alan Lew. PhD. and professor at Northern Arizona University, Lawrence Yu, Ph.D. and associate professor in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at George Washington University. John Ap, Ph.D. and associate professor in tourism management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Zhang Guangrui, director of the Tourism Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, China, have contributed to and edited a collection of writings detailing the development of tourism in this fascinating and exotic land.

Issues for Managing Tourism Information

The need for a high quality tourism database is well known. For example, planners and managers need high quality data for budgeting, forecasting, planning marketing and advertising strategies, and staffing. Thus the concepts of quality and need are intertwined to pose a problem to the tourism professional, be they private sector or public sector employees. One could argue that collaboration by public and private sector tourism professionals could provide the best sources and uses of high quality tourism data. This discussion proposes just such a collaboration and a detailed methodology for operationalizing this arrangement.

South Beach Wine and Food Festival - Why Participate?

This paper studies why restaurants, wineries, and other exhibiters participate in Wine & Food festivals. We hypothesized [hat the purpose was to acquire new customers thru promotional involvement in the festival. A secondary outcome was to ascertain if there were differences in motivation between the three groups. A survey was conducted of participating companies in one of the largest Food & Wine festivals. We found differences in what motivated winery participants from restaurants or other exhibitors. A discussion of these differences and how festival organizers may aid participants in achieving their goals is presented.

Concessions in National Parks: Responsible Tourism

Concession operations in natural areas have always been a source of controversy. The objectives of profit and preservation are seen by many to be incompatible. The author will examine the relationship of national park concessions and the environments in which they operate, focusing on concession selection and operation, using responsible tourism concepts as a guide

Disability Tourism Dollars in Western Australia Hotels

As the Western Australian hotel sector continues to look for new opportunities, people with disabilities are being acknowledged as a consumer group with considerable revenue earning potential. The authors report on findings from the initial stages of a three- part methodology aimed at investigating current awareness of and provision for the disability issue within the Western Australian hotel sector.

Travel Marketing: Industry Relationships and Benefits

In the discussion - Travel Marketing: Industry Relationships and Benefits - by Andrew Vladimir, Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Hospitality Management at Florida International University, the author initially states: “A symbiotic relationship exists among the various segments of the travel and tourism industry. The author has solicited the thinking of 37experts and leaders in the field in a book dealing with these relationships and how they can be developed to benefit the industry. This article provides some salient points from those contributors.” This article could be considered a primer on networking for the hospitality industry. It has everything to do with marketing and the relationships between varied systems in the field of travel and tourism. Vladimir points to instances of success and failure in marketing for the industry at large. And there are points of view from thirty-seven contributing sources here. “Miami Beach remains a fitting example of a leisure product that has been unable to get its act together,” Vladimir shares a view. “There are some first class hotels, a few good restaurants, alluring beaches, and a splendid convention center, but there is no synergism between them, no real affinity, and so while visitors admire the Fontainebleau Hilton and enjoy the food at Joe's Stone Crabs, the reputation of Miami Beach as a resort remains sullied,” the author makes a point. In describing cohesiveness between exclusive systems, Vladimir says, “If each system can get a better understanding of the inner workings of neighboring related systems, each will ultimately be more successful in achieving its goals.” The article is suggesting that exclusive systems aren’t really exclusive at all; or at least they shouldn’t be. In a word – competition – drives the market, and in order for a property to stay afloat, aggressive marketing integrated with all attendant resources is crucial. “Tisch [Preston Robert Tisch, currently – at the time of this writing - the Postmaster General of the United States and formerly president of Lowe’s Hotels and the New York Visitors and Convention Bureau], in talking about the need for aggressive marketing says: “Never...ever...take anything for granted. Never...not for a moment...think that any product or any place will survive strictly on its own merits.” Vladimir not only sources several knowledgeable representatives in the field of hospitality and tourism, but he also links elements as disparate as real estate, car rental, cruise and airlines, travel agencies and traveler profiles to illustrate his points on marketing integration. In closing, Vladimir quotes the Honorable Donna Tuttle, Undersecretary of Commerce for Travel and Tourism, “Uniting the components of this industry in an effective marketing coalition that can compete on an equal footing with often publicly-owned foreign tourism conglomerates and multi-national consortia must be a high priority as the United States struggles to maintain and expand its share of a rapidly changing global market.”

Tourism in the Egyptian Red Sea Area: A Responsible Development Approach

Egypt has always been a world-renowned tourism destination of antiquity. A government policy of product diversification attempts to disperse tourists more evenly in the country. The Egyptian Red Sea coast is therefore targeted as a new tourism development zone. The author identifies the new development patterns in the Egyptian Red Sea area and discusses the potential tourism impact on the coastal environment. It is recommended that a responsible development approach be adopted for coastal and marine tourism in the Egyptian Red Sea area

Dive Tourism: Evaluating Service Quality

Through the application of importance- performance analysis (/PA), the author investigated the conceptualization and measurement of service quality for tour operators in the scuba diving industry Findings from a study of consumer perceptions of service quality as they relate to a dive tour operator in Western Australia revealed the core service quality dimensions hat need to be improved for the operator and demonstrated the values and relative simplicity of the importance-performance analyses for dive tour operators generally

The Role of Theme Parks in Tourism

Although the theme park has been a major tourism destination in the United States, little research has been done in this industry. The growing economic significance and competition of the theme park industry ensure that the study of theme parks will emerge as a more popular research topic in the years to come. The authors review related articles and identify potential research topics in the theme park industry.

Tourism: Who Needs It?

Is tourism economically beneficial? If so, who benefits? How much of the money generated through tourism can be channeled into other projects so desperately needed by the community without harming the local tour market? Will tourism continue to grow forever, or is there an end in sight? The authors discuss how tourism will change in approaching the next century: and how people will change if tourism is to remain such an important economic facto

Standards for Tourism Management Success: U.S. National Park Managers

National park managers are the subjects in the fifth segment of a study examining the skills and abilities needed to be successful tourism managers. The authors discuss these skills and their impact on successful tourism management.

Tourism Professionals Profile: Theme Park Managers

Theme park managers are a unique group of tourism managers. Their perspectives on effective tourism management skills and abilities differ from some public sector tourism managers. The authors present the results of a study focusing on theme park managers and compare these results with those of other tourism manager groups

Hotel Guest e-questionnaires: Implications for Feedback and Relationships

This paper examines the reliability and efficacy of hotel guest e-mail questionnaire compared to the paper questionnaire in the Asian Pacific context. Conducted inPerth,SingaporeandPenang, cities with mature hospitality and tourism industries and a representation of chain and independent deluxe hotels, this exploratory qualitative study examines hotelier views of e-mail guest communication derived from content analysis of guest questionnaires format and content and in-depth interviews with senior hoteliers. The findings indicated that e-questionnaires manifested as e-mails, as a direct replacement of the paper questionnaire, appear to be premature given divergent hotelier views and shortcomings in e-mail response administration. If properly executed, e-mail can play an increasingly important adjunct role to the paper guest questionnaire as a part of a multi-channel approach. The balance/relationship between ‘high tech’ and ‘high touch’ needs to be maintained: the latter can enhance the latter but should not undermine it.

A Study of Satisfaction Level of Hong Kong Tourists with Hot Springs Hotels and Resorts in Guangdong, China

The research reported here aimed at examining Hong Kong tourists’ level of satisfaction with hot springs hotels and resorts in Guangdong, China. Primary data were collected and service quality and tourist satisfaction levels were measured using the SERVQUAL model. The empirical findings indicate that most tourists are satisfied with the service quality of these hotels and resorts. Among the different dimensions of service quality, empathy receives the highest score. Overall satisfaction receives a score only slightly better than average. The results also reveal significant relationships among customer satisfaction level, loyalty, and recommendation.

Growth of U.S. Ecotourism and Its Future in the 1990s

Ecotourism, a new term for low-impact nature travel, is receiving increasing attention. The author has researched the development of the U.S. ecotourism market from 1980-1989 in order to obtain data on the growth of this market segment. Factors involved in the growth of the U.S. ecotourism market are then examined in order to project the growth of this maeket during the 1990's.