Assessing perceived destination image and brand equity through web 2.0

Social media technologies of Web 2.0 play an increasingly important role in destination brand management practice and the consumer selection of destinations. Consumers freely discuss their travel stories, travel recommendations, travel experiences and attitudes through blogs, forums and social media. This material is read and added to by millions of people and the content has a role in determining the image of a travel destination. Therefore it is critical that destination brand managers understand what is being discussed and written about their destination. What is the content of the Web 2.0 discussions? What are the attributes, associations, experiences, connotations, connections, contexts and ramifications?

Linking attitudes and demographics in a tourist segmentation model : a two-stage approach

Segmentation has been widely studied in tourism research e.g. Dolnicar (2004). Dawley (2006) points that commonly used segmentation variables such as demographics lead to identifiable segments which are not actionable while other useful approaches e.g. psychographics, are actionable but not identifiable. The objective of this paper is to develop a two-stage linkage approach to segmentation whereby cluster analysis using psychographic variables is conducted within demographic group. Demographic groups are selected based on propensity to travel. This research utilizes data generated from a cross-sectional self-completed survey of 49,105 Australian respondents on travel and tourism. The managerial usefulness of this segmentation is assessed. Clearly segments can be directly linked both demographically and psychographically.

Global education, travel and new imaginaries for teachers' work

This study investigated how teachers‘ knowledge and identities are influenced through their experience of travel. Understanding how teachers make meaning from and respond to travel revealed aspects of knowledge creation and identity formation. Set within contexts of globalisation, the study also investigated global education through analysis of changing definitions and meanings by taking an historical stance.
Through qualitative methodology semi-structured interviews were conducted with two teachers who had recently been on a study tour. The other form of data collection included a collection of four ‗travel‘ stories written by the researcher. The social imaginary was the concept employed to explain and analyse the impact of travel on teachers work and lives.

This small case study of three participants provided a depth of responses to the following three research questions.
1. What is global education?
2. How does the experience of travel shape teachers‘ work and identities?
3. How does teachers‘ work reconfigure global education?
The findings from this study revealed that global education has shifted from a position of marginality in curriculum and teaching practices to a more central location in education policies. The analysis of participants‘ responses to travel as a feature of globalisation, revealed new knowledge, additional teaching pedagogies and greater awareness of stereotypes both held and disclosed from students. The practices and thinking described by participants were consistent with calls for greater cosmopolitan teaching.

This study contributed understanding about how teachers embed global imaginaries in their teaching. This in turn builds understanding around how globalisation is reshaping local contexts and individuals‘ thinking and being. The findings challenge global education as a discrete framework and suggest teachers‘ experiences as influential on education now in a global world. The study confirms that globalisation is reshaping educators‘ work and lives towards a global education.

Global education : travel and new imaginaries for teachers' work

This workshop reports on Learning across Latitude - a trans-national collaborative project that joined teacher education students from Australia, Denmark and Malaysia. The project offered a unique opportunity for students to explore concepts and dialogue with their teacher education peers in three countries. Over a two week period, 116 students in 13 forums posted 365 messages into a forum space hosted by Deakin University. 
During week 1, students introduced themselves to each other and discussed their reasons to become teachers, qualities of a good teacher and the issues facing teaching in their country. Because many students life experiences are local in experience such a project expands notions of being a teacher in a global world. Student’s responses to qualities of a good teacher were analysed to build knowledge of global teacher identities.
During week 2 students discussed what it means to be a good citizen in their country. How is citizenship as a concept explained across three countries? In the virtual discussions for Malaysian and Danish students, English was a second language. These forums opened new awareness for all students of the challenges of conversing with English as second language students.
This project illustrated that the changing contexts of education and globalisation means new opportunities and challenges for teacher education at local and global levels. Implications from Learning across Latitudes suggest possibilities for teacher education to build global citizenship, and teacher identities as technology enables such possibilities.

Value relevance of accounting information in China pre- and post-2001 accounting reforms

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate whether the accounting reform in China has improved the relevance of China's accounting information. It seeks to investigate the association between earnings and book value of equity to share returns before and after the introduction of the Accounting System for Business Enterprises (ASBE) in 2001 for A- and A&B-share firms.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs the return regression model. The pre-ASBE period is designated as 1997 through to 2000, and the post-ASBE period is designated as 2002 through to 2004. All firms listed on the Chinese stock market during the investigation period constitute the sample.

Findings – It is found that accounting information better explains share returns for both A-share firms and A&B-share firms in the post-ASBE period. The paper also finds that the book value of equity for A&B-share firms is incrementally value relevant to that of A-share firms in the post-ASBE period.

Research limitations/implications – Further studies will contribute to understanding how governance mechanisms and liquidity influence the association between accounting information and share returns in the Chinese A-share market.

Practical implications – The findings provide empirical evidence regarding the relevance of accounting information in emerging markets.

Originality/value – The paper contributes to the extant value relevance literature by investigating time periods surrounding the issue of ASBE in 2001 in the Chinese stock market.

Lost in Hanoi : disorientation, travel, and urban space

Using a 2010 trip to Hanoi, Vietnam, this article looks at the ways that disorientation is used as a  trope within the urban environment and to create the traveling subject. Suggesting that travel is a form of deliberate disorientation/ orientation, the article focuses on ideas of disorientation within the urban environment and the ways they have been portrayed in Western cultural forms (the flâneur; the dérive) while suggesting these forms are not sufficient to understand the dynamics of travel. Moreover, the article focuses on two forms of travel as disorientation derived from John Zilcosky—the trope of being “lost and found” and that of  “the return.” Finally, the article suggests that Marcus Auge’s idea of non-place is not only a sufficient way of conceptualizing contemporary notions of travel, but is also an indicator of something beyond its scope—that of globalization.

The rise of ancient China : fragmentation and amalgamation

This book examines the source of Chinese civilization, foundations of traditional Chinese society and early patterns of power transition. It engages readers in a search for a broad understanding of China's traditional culture and the enduring legacies of the past-in-the-present. It questions the conventional view about China's past, be that of a Confucian, a Communist or a Western ethnocentric historiographer. Most theories concerning the history of China postulate a central culture based on the Yellow River valley and radiating out into the vast areas of what we know as China. Informed by the latest archaeological discoveries, the author points out an alternative view on formation and development of Chinese civilization. Exploring the social and political upheavals that characterized the continuous disintegration and annexation in the 1st millennium BC, the author offers a unique account of the process of periodic fragmentation and amalgamation. Though presented for specialists in the field, virtually every page of this book is intelligible to the lay person, opening a window for anyone interested in the subject to look at this ancient culture from a new angle.

Efficiency, cointegration and contagion in equity markets : evidence from China, Japan and South Korea

This paper empirically examines whether three East Asian stock markets, namely, those of China, Japan and South Korea, are individually and/or jointly efficient, and whether contagion exists between the cointegrated markets. While individual market efficiency is examined through testing for the random walk hypothesis, joint market efficiency is examined through testing for cointegration and contagion. The present study finds that the hypothesis of individual market efficiency is strongly rejected for the Chinese stock market, but not for the Japanese and the South Korean stock markets. However, when testing for cointegration, market efficiency is strongly rejected for all these markets. We take a simple case of contagion and find that although there is a long-term relationship among the three markets, the contagion hypothesis cannot be rejected only between Japanese and South Korean stock markets, indicating short-run portfolio diversification benefits from these two markets.

Change in active travel and changes in recreational and total physical activity in adults : longitudinal findings from the iConnect study

Background : To better understand the health benefits of promoting active travel, it is important to understand the relationship between a change in active travel and changes in recreational and total physical activity.

Methods : These analyses, carried out in April 2012, use longitudinal data from 1628 adult respondents (mean age 54 years; 47% male) in the UK-based iConnect study. Travel and recreational physical activity were measured using detailed seven-day recall instruments. Adjusted linear regression models were fitted with change in active travel defined as ‘decreased’ (<−15 min/week), ‘maintained’ (±15 min/week) or ‘increased’ (>15 min/week) as the primary exposure variable and changes in (a) recreational and (b) total physical activity (min/week) as the primary outcome variables.

Results : Active travel increased in 32% (n=529), was maintained in 33% (n=534) and decreased in 35% (n=565) of respondents. Recreational physical activity decreased in all groups but this decrease was not greater in those whose active travel increased. Conversely, changes in active travel were associated with commensurate changes in total physical activity. Compared with those whose active travel remained unchanged, total physical activity decreased by 176.9 min/week in those whose active travel had decreased (adjusted regression coefficient −154.9, 95% CI −195.3 to −114.5) and was 112.2 min/week greater among those whose active travel had increased (adjusted regression coefficient 135.1, 95% CI 94.3 to 175.9).

Conclusion : An increase in active travel was associated with a commensurate increase in total physical activity and not a decrease in recreational physical activity.

Global education: travel and new imaginaries for teachers' work

This book confirms that globalisation is reshaping educators’ work and lives towards a more global education. Understanding how teachers make meaning from and respond to travel revealed aspects of knowledge creation and identity formation. Set within contexts of globalisation, the study investigated global education through analysis of changing definitions and meanings by taking an historical stance. Teachers revealed that their study tour created new knowledge, teaching pedagogies and greater awareness of stereotypes both held and disclosed from students. The practices and thinking described by participants were consistent with calls for greater cosmopolitan teaching. A collection of ‘travel’ stories written by the author are included. The book sheds light on how teachers embed global imaginaries in their teaching. This in turn builds understanding around how globalisation is reshaping local contexts and individuals’ thinking and being. The findings challenge global education as a discrete framework and suggest teachers’ experiences as influential on education now in a global world.

A comparative study of content settings of mathematics curriculum standards from China, Australia, and Finland

The study investigated the mathematics curricula standards set by the governments in China, Australia(Victoria) and Finland in the aspects of the amount of content statements, the structure of content areas, level of details, level of requirement, the distribution of content, and the changes of content areas. The results show that China's mathematics standard has the biggest amount of and the most detailed content statements; that of Australia is in the second place; and Finnish standard has the least amount of content statements that are very general. The standards in all three countries emphasize numbers and operation and geometry.However,China's standards present a dynamic change, with different focus for different grades; Australian standards have similar proportion of each part of content for different grades and the amount of each part increases with grade; there is no fixed setting and proportion of content in Finnish standard, which is not confined by any mode.