Versenyző együttműködés és a turisztikai desztinációk versenyképessége - "Hol volt, hol nem volt...?" (Co-opetition and the competitiveness of touristic destinations - "Where was, where it was not...?")

A versenyző együttműködés (co-opetition) népszerű fogalma számos elméleti alátámasztást nyert a versenyképesség elméleti megközelítéseiben is, így a regionális versenyképesség és a klaszterek elméleti alapvetéseinek területén. Maga a fogalom pedig kifejezetten „divatossá” vált hazánk turizmusában: a közelmúltban kerültek a versenyző együttműködést és a turisztikai versenyképességet szolgáló desztináció-menedzsment szervezetek (Turisztikai Desztináció Menedzsment Szervezetek, TDMSZ a továbbiakban) a turisztikai irányításpolitika és a turisztikai szakma figyelmének középpontjába. Jelen cikkben a szerző célja a versenyző együttműködés és a turisztikai desztinációk versenyképessége közötti elméleti összefüggés feltárása. További cél az elméleti alapvetések primer kutatás során való vizsgálata: az együttműködés mintáinak feltárása a desztinációk szereplői között három (egy hazai és két ausztriai) esettanulmány keretében, a hazai és nemzetközi esetek specifikumainak, valamint a desztinációk fejlettsége miatti kritikus különbségeknek a kimutatása által. / === / The popular term of co-opetition gained theoretical support even in the theoretical approaches of the area of competitiveness, particularly in the field of regional competitiveness and the clusters.The term became rather popular in Hungary: as the tools of destination management and the destination management organizations (DMOs) focusing on the development of co-opetition and competitiveness came to the focus of the Hungarian touristic practice, governmental decisions in the recent past. In this article the author’s aim is to describe the theoretical connections among co-opetition, and the competitiveness of the touristic destinations. Further aim is to analyze the theoretical baselines in primary research, to map the samples of cooperation among the actors of touristic destinations in three case studies (made in one Hungarian, and two Austrian destinations) regarding the topic with regard to Hungarian and international cases, as well as the stage of development.

A desztináció menedzsment szerepe a desztinációs versenyképességben – Hazai és dán tapasztalatok tükrében = The role of destination management in the destinations’ competitiveness – Hungarian and Danish experiences

A desztináció menedzsment valamennyi desztinációs versenyképesség modell középponti eleme, és „csodaszerként” jelenik meg, különösen azokban az országokban, amelyek a desztináció menedzsment eszközrendszerét a közelmúltban vezették be, annak érdekében, hogy a desztinációk lépést tudjanak tartani a versenytársaikkal, mint ahogyan ez hazánkban is történt. Jelen tanulmány alapját a témában írt PhD Értekezésem (Sziva, I. (2010)) adja, amelynek fókuszában a desztinációs versenyképesség értelmezése, az ex ante oldali tényezők feltárása állt. A téziskutatás során feltárt tényezők, és a Bírálóim konstruktív fejlesztési javaslatai a téma továbbkutatására ösztönöztek. Mindezért tartottam elengedhetetlennek, hogy a tézisemben összefoglalt hazai és osztrák kutatások legfontosabb eredményeit további nemzetközi színtéren, ezúttal Dániában vizsgáljam, jelen esetben a fókuszt a desztináció menedzsment tényezőire, és annak kiemelt kontextusaira helyezve. Jelen tanulmány legfontosabb célja az, hogy egyrészt összefoglalást adjon a desztináció menedzsment szerepéről a desztinációs versenyképesség elméleti megközelítéseit tekintve. Továbbá, hogy a hazai tapasztalatok összevetésre kerüljenek a szakértői interjúk során megismert dán tapasztalatokkal és további kutatási irányok kerüljenek meghatározásra. Ezúton szeretném megköszönni dániai kutatásom interjú-alanyainak részvételét és a Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem TÁMOP 4.2.1.B-09/1/KMR-2010-0005 projekt keretében nyújtott támogatását! _________ Destination management is the central element of the model concerning destinations’ competitiveness, and appears as „wonder medicine”, particularly in those countries, where the tools of destination management was introduced in the near past, as it happened in Hungary. The baseline of this study is given by my PhD Dissertation (Sziva, I. (2010)), which was focusing on interpretation and the ex ante factors of destinations’ competitiveness. The factors identified during my thesis research, and the constructive recommendations of my Reviewer gave the motivation for further analysis. That is why was it important to make further researchers based on the results identified in the Hungarian and Austrian cases of my thesis research, and add further international, this time Danish context to the research, by focusing on destination management among the factors of competitiveness. The aim of the article is to give a summary about the theoretical approach of destination management and compare the Hungarian experiences with that of the results of the Danish research based on experts’ interviews. Hereby I would like to thank my interviewees their participation, and the support of Corvinus University Budapest in the framework of TÁMOP 4.2.1.B-09/1/KMR-2010-0005 project.

“Namastey London”: Bollywood Movies and Their Impact on how Indians Perceive European Destinations

The aim of this study is to analyze the perception of European destinations through the eyes of Indian Bollywood film viewers to determine how perception is influenced by what is viewed in films. Researchers surveyed Indian consumers and collected 670 usable surveys. European destinations were divided into top five and bottom five destinations for Indian tourists, and data was then compared to world tourism statistics. Results indicate differences in destination preference among Bollywood viewers and worldwide tourist trends. Findings indicate that prominently featuring a landscape within Bollywood films can significantly impact Indians’ perception on the destinations’ image. European countries frequently portrayed in films have higher marks on multiple perception categories than those not featured in blockbuster Bollywood films.

Using kernel density estimation to understand the influence of neighbourhood destinations on BMI

OBJECTIVES: Little is known about how the distribution of destinations in the local neighbourhood is related to body mass index (BMI). Kernel density estimation (KDE) is a spatial analysis technique that accounts for the location of features relative to each other. Using KDE, this study investigated whether individuals living near destinations (shops and service facilities) that are more intensely distributed rather than dispersed, have lower BMIs.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional study of 2349 residents of 50 urban areas in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia.

METHODS: Destinations were geocoded, and kernel density estimates of destination intensity were created using kernels of 400, 800 and 1200 m. Using multilevel linear regression, the association between destination intensity (classified in quintiles Q1(least)-Q5(most)) and BMI was estimated in models that adjusted for the following confounders: age, sex, country of birth, education, dominant household occupation, household type, disability/injury and area disadvantage. Separate models included a physical activity variable.

RESULTS: For kernels of 800 and 1200 m, there was an inverse relationship between BMI and more intensely distributed destinations (compared to areas with least destination intensity). Effects were significant at 1200 m: Q4, β -0.86, 95% CI -1.58 to -0.13, p=0.022; Q5, β -1.03 95% CI -1.65 to -0.41, p=0.001. Inclusion of physical activity in the models attenuated effects, although effects remained marginally significant for Q5 at 1200 m: β -0.77 95% CI -1.52, -0.02, p=0.045.

CONCLUSIONS: This study conducted within urban Melbourne, Australia, found that participants living in areas of greater destination intensity within 1200 m of home had lower BMIs. Effects were partly explained by physical activity. The results suggest that increasing the intensity of destination distribution could reduce BMI levels by encouraging higher levels of physical activity.

Visitor Relationship Management (VRM) - Repeat Visitation Opportunities for Destination Marketing Organisations

In competitive tourism markets the consumer-traveller is spoilt by choice of available destinations. Successfully differentiating a destination and getting noticed at decision time is arguably the focus of activities by destination marketing organisations (DMOs). In pursuit of differentiation, three emergent themes in the marketing literature during the past decade have been branding, integrated marketing communications (IMC), and customer relationship management (CRM) a fundamental goal of each being stimulating customer loyalty. However there has been little attention given to destination loyalty in the tourism literature. The purpose of this paper is to report an exploratory investigation of visitor relationship management (VRM) by DMOs. Based on interviews with the management of 11 regional tourism organisations (RTO) in Queensland, Australia, the opportunities for, and immediate challenges of, VRM are discussed. While each RTO recognised the potential for VRM, none had yet been able to develop a formal approach to engage in meaningful dialogue with previous visitors from their largest market.

Tourism Destination Preferences: A Longitudinal Analysis of Consumer Decision Sets

There have only been a small number of applications of consumer decision set theory to holiday destination choice, and these studies have tended to rely on a single cross sectional snapshot of research participants’ stated preferences. Very little has been reported on the relationship between stated destination preferences and actual travel, or changes in decision set composition over time. The paper presents a rare longitudinal examination of destination decision sets, in the context of short break holidays by car in Queensland, Australia. Two questionnaires were administered, three months apart. The first identified destination preferences while the second examined actual travel and revisited destination preferences. In relation to the conference theme, there was very little change in consumer preferences towards the competitive set of destinations over the three month period. A key implication for the destination of interest, which, in an attempt to change market perceptions, launched a new brand campaign during the period of the project, is that a long term investment in a consistent brand message will be required to change market perceptions. The results go some way to support the proposition that the positioning of a destination into a consumer’s decision set represents a source of competitive advantage.

Waterfalls : resources for tourism

While very few waterfalls may be regarded as tourism destinations, many are attractions. This paper discusses waterfalls within the theoretical frameworks developed by economists and geographers in the field of recreation and tourism. Examples are drawn from various parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, with Jamaica examined as a case study. Here, as in many tourism areas, although visitors usually choose their destinations for reasons other than the appeal of waterfalls, these landscape features play important roles as attractions. Often associated with ecotourism, waterfalls help to diversify the tourism product and spread the benefits as well as some of the associated problems of tourism to less developed areas.

Land Use & Public Transport Accessibility Index (LUPTAI) tool : the development and pilot application of LUPTAI for the Gold Coast

LUPTAI is a decision-aiding tool to enable local and state governments to optimise land use and transport integration. In contrast to mobility between land uses (typically via road), accessibility represents opportunity and choice to reach common land use destinations by public transport and/or walking. LUPTAI uses a GIS-based methodology to quantify and map accessibility to common land use destinations by walking and/or public transport. The tool can be applied to small or large study areas. It can be applied to the current situation in a study area or to future scenarios (such as scenarios involving changes to public transport services, public transport corridors or stations, population density or land use). The tool has been piloted on the Gold Coast and the results are encouraging. This paper outlines the GIS-based methodology and the findings related to this pilot study. The paper demonstrates benefits and possible application of LUPTAI to other urbanised local government areas in Queensland. It also discusses how this accessibility indexing approach could be developed into a decision-support tool to assist local and state government agencies in a range of transport and land-use planning activities.

Water sensitive urban design : landscape planning and design to improve water quality in Shijiazhaung and Yueyang

Water quality issues are heavily dependent on land development and management decisions within river and lake catchments or watersheds. Economic benefits of urbanisation may be short‐ lived without cleaner environmental outcomes. However, whole‐of‐catchment thinking is not, as yet, as frequent a consideration in urban planning and development in China as it is in many other countries. Water is predominantly seen as a resource to be ‘owned’ by different jurisdictions and allocated to numerous users, both within a catchment and between catchments. An alternative to this approach is to think of water in the same way as other commodities that must be kept moving through a complex transport system. Water must ultimately arrive at particular destinations in the biosphere, although it travels across a broad landscape and may be held up temporarily at certain places along the way. While water extraction can be heavily controlled, water pollution is far more difficult to regulate. Both have significant impacts on water availability and flows both now and in the future. As Chinese cities strive to improve economic conditions for their citizens, new centres are being rebuilt and environmental valued

Why do poor people perceive poor neighbourhoods? : the role of objective neighbourhood features and psychosocial factors

Compared to people with a high socioeconomic status, those with a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to perceive their neighbourhood as unattractive and unsafe, which is associated with their lower levels of physical activity. Agreement between objective and perceived environmental factors is often found to be moderate or low, so it is questionable to what extent ‘creating supportive neighbourhoods’ would change neighbourhood perceptions. This study among residents (N=814) of fourteen neighbourhoods in the city of Eindhoven (the Netherlands), investigated to what extent socioeconomic differences in perceived neighbourhood safety and perceived neighbourhood attractiveness can be explained by five domains of objective neighbourhood features (i.e. design, traffic safety, social safety, aesthetics, and destinations), and to what extent other factors may play a role. Unfavourable neighbourhood perceptions of low socioeconomic groups partly reflected their actual less aesthetic and less safe neighbourhoods, and partly their perceptions of low social neighbourhood cohesion and adverse psychosocial circumstances.

Resembling Florida : transpacific transfer of ideas from one Gold Coast to another

Despite different political structures and planning systems, striking physical similarities exist between the tourist destinations of the Gold Coasts of Queensland and Florida. Both have been fast developing sub-tropical coastal areas, subject to massive land booms, speculation, and entrepreneurs’ grand visions throughout their history. As a result, both have become tourist destinations of international renown. Drawing on historical sources, the present research seeks to investigate the extent to which these similarities result from taking American cities as a model for newer development in Australia; in this case from transferring planning and marketing ideas from one Gold Coast to another, with the development of the Florida Gold Coast setting precedent for the development of the Queensland Gold Coast.

The relationship of boat movements to environmental management at some Queensland marinas

Marinas currently exist primarily to service recreational boats, and these vessels are a potential cause of both problems and opportunities in environmental management. Thus, on the one hand, destructive fuel and other pollutants may be expelled, boat wakes can cause littoral soil erosion, physical damage results from collisions with marine life, and litter and noise pollution occur in otherwise pristine habitat. Boats also provide access to otherwise inaccessible natural environments for educational and other management reasons. In this study, boat traffic at three large marinas located along the Queensland coastline has been field surveyed for introductory information. No attempt was made at this juncture to survey the behaviour of the boat crews and passengers (concerning actual destinations, activities on board, etc. or to survey the recreational boat industry. Such studies rely on boat registration records and personal questionnaires. Some other surveys relating to fishing draw on boat ramp surveys and direct submissions by recreational fishers; these provide some data on daily usage of boat ramps, but without particular attention to boats. We believe field observations of overall boat activities in the water are necessary for environmental management purposes. The aim of the survey was to provide information to help prioritize the potential impacts that boats’ activities have on the surrounding natural environment. Any impact by boats will be a product of their numbers, size, frequency of movement, carrying capacity and routes/destinations. The severity of impacts will dictate the appropriate management action.