Bridging Tourism Theory and Practice – serie

This volume provides a valuable platform for knowledge exchange between different disciplines and for learning from both theory and practice in the context of tourism and climate change. The academic and case-study chapters in this volume provide a contextualization of tourism and climate change science, an examination of issues and actions in different countries and with different tourism consumers, and looks at the supply, adaptation and innovation of tourism products. Subjects examined are as diverse as: the European hotel sector; the North American cruise tourism industry; New Zealand youth hostels and campervans; Australia's tourism industry's GHG footprint; climate forecasts in the Baltic States; heat stress conditions in Spain; the Tourism Earth Lung initiative in Sri Lanka; and online discussions in cybercommunities. The different disciplinary perspectives presented in this volume include anthropology, climatology, climate change studies, economics, environmental sustainability, hospitality, policy and planning, psychology, scenario planning, and transport studies and contributions originate from eight developed countries across three continents.

This book, which has benefited from professional know-why and know-how of its authors in the United Nations World Tourism Organization and several universities, articulates and debates the concept and methodology of tourism-assisted development. The study examines the theoretical bases of contemporary real-case development projects and illustrates the way tourism can effectively and efficiently focus on development issues, while minimizing undesired impacts on the natural and cultural environments. It analyzes the key role of institutions, both in setting the framework for tourism competitiveness and sustainability and in addressing the main strategic concerns of development. Theoretical considerations on the role of tourism as a tool for development-related public and private policies are followed by a methodological framework for tourism policy and governance and application of these in real-world situations. Several chapters offer practical recommendations, particularly in relation to tourism strategic positioning, competitiveness, and sustainability, and case studies exemplify a range of issues raised in tourism-assisted development.

Sixty years after its birth, contemporary tourism is at crossroads. It has grown to become a key element of economic well-being, but it is threatened and threatening. Its enemies are congestion, destruction of natural and cultural environments, and social unrest. However, it also contributes its fair share to these evils. How can tourism really become a fulcrum for development and sustainability in the 21st century? This is a matter of crucial importance for entrepreneurs, governments, and civil society stakeholders, and Knowledge Management in Tourism: Policy and Governance Applications provides these key players with answers and queries, and above all with the strategic tools to understand and act. Knowledge Management in Tourism: Policy and Governance Applications is an indispensable instrument for everyone interested in the theory and practice of this very important human pursuit: the quest for effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of tourism activities in helping build the future of mankind.

"Governance is about managing networks". This quote from political scientist Rod A.W. Rhodes pioneered a whole series of governance studies in different disciplines. Accordingly, destination governance describes the collective management of tourism destinations. Promoting collective action in tourism destinations means dealing with a myriad of different actors and applying various instruments. Probably the most basic requirement is to take into account the peculiarities of every single destination. Therefore, this book approaches the issue of contemporary destination governance from a case study point of view focusing on 16 destinations. In contrast to other publications in the field of destination governance, the book concentrates on the discussion of cases and the peculiarities of destinations which influence the destination governance. It demonstrates how different theories from the fields of organizational studies, strategic management, tourism research and sociology can enlighten our understanding of particular real-world situations. Last but not least the bottom-up approach supports practitioners and students by making otherwise complex theories accessible to a broader audience.

The movement of Asian citizens across continents now occurs on an unprecedented scale, with a surge in Asian tourists now visiting Europe, North America, Africa and Oceania. Tourists from China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Malaysia, and to a lesser extent Korea and Japan are meeting the citizens of cultures they had previously only been able to read about or view from afar. This book seeks to understand the experiences of, and reactions to, Asian tourists travelling out of Asia.Questions about Asian tourist contact with unfamiliar countries and cultures will be addressed. What are the interests of Asian tourists and what drives these interests? What impacts are they having on host communities, both in terms of the provision and co-creation of desired experiences and in the human dimensions of social contact? The volume addresses fresh implications for marketing, planning and policy which these tourist markets pose for good governance. This book confronts the limitations of our understanding of how to manage the tourist experience when that understanding has been built almost entirely on the behaviours and travels of western tourists.

There have been a number of sporadic and disconnected initiatives to improve knowledge transfer between the tourism academia, government and industry. This volume presents and analyses 17 examples of knowledge transfer from countries around the world to identify future directions for business and government managers and academic researchers. Many of the chapters were presented at the first t-Forum global conference. The chapters emphasise the value from academic leadership in developing cohesion and links amongst small business and government, and the importance of a shared innovative vision beyond individual private and public organization objectives. Successful initiatives rely on the personal characteristics of key stakeholders as well as institutional arrangements, emphasising action learning and challenging traditional academic research processes. Best practice knowledge transfer requires government, industry and academia in partnership engaged in open dialogue and debate for project success. Knowledge transfer provides an opportunity to address unprecedented societal, environmental and technological change and disruption.

Tourism is seen as a way of promoting a nation's history or heritage. This is especially resonant for countries such as Iran which is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with its historical and urban settlements dating back to 4000 BC. However, the mere existence of historical and cultural resources is not sufficient to develop a country as an international destination.  Building on comparatively limited tourism and hospitality research on Iran as a destination, and being mindful of recent political, cultural, and social transitions there, Experiencing Persian Heritage: Perspectives and Challenges is developed as an essential reference for destination development in emerging international destinations similar to Iran--rich in history, culture, heritage, and ethnic and natural diversities. These constitute the unique substances for image formulation, marketing, and competitive and global positioning. The topics advanced in this volume summarize a number of relevant challenges and opportunities for practical applications in hospitality and tourism. The book will be of interest to national and international tourism authorities, postgraduate students, and faculty members in tourism, marketing, heritage management, history and anthropology.

This volume presents the latest perspectives and practices on quality services and experiences in hospitality and tourism. It offers conceptual discourse, empirical evidence, application of existing and emerging theories, and considers the implications of practical findings to extend beyond the academic realm of service quality, and examine the quality issues of both services provided and experiences encountered across a wide spectrum of tourism sectors. As such, it provides new intelligence and contributes to the study of new consumers, as well as organizations and destinations that serve and host them.  The book continues the series’ tradition of connecting scholarly works and real-world cases, with a unique mix of geographic representations. The majority of its chapters are drawn from the proceedings of the 2016 conference on Service Quality in Hospitality and Tourism: Experiencing Persian Heritage held in Isfahan, Iran. The regional focus of the conference is augmented in this book with contributions from elsewhere, resulting in a more diverse and global context for the treatment of quality services and experiences in hospitality and tourism.  The volume will appeal to academic scholars and industry professionals interested in exploring new frontiers of knowledge on the subject. Organized in three parts with distinctive themes, the chapters are appropriate course readings, either collectively or selectively, for undergraduate and graduate students in educational programs focusing on global curricula.

Tourism researchers are feeling mounting pressure to answer an increasing number of questions from external agents which challenge the ability of their findings to deliver tangible change. Delivering Tourism Intelligence demonstrates that good academic analysis can deliver quality implications for a range of stakeholders. Contributions from authors across the continents serve to illustrate ways in which academic analysis can, and does, result in action. The chapters in this volume are organised into three parts: governance, planning and sustainability; consumer benefits and experiences; and benefits to entrepreneurs. The chapter authors provide a rich array of examples and cases from Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, all of which reveal that academic studies can play a strong role in fostering positive changes relevant to the needs of varied stakeholders. Key themes revolve around the need for stakeholder trust, the ability of researchers to use tools for insights, the value of identifying new trends and tourism topics, the importance of understanding target markets, the usefulness of universities and researchers for providing training, and an appreciation of the time it takes for some ideas to be implemented. With individual chapters which address hotel management, destination management, markets and community sustainability, as well as public policy topics, this book will appeal to postgraduates studying in these areas as well as those practitioners and policy makers working in applied sectors.

Poverty and Prosperity: Tourism in Rural China focuses on tourism and rural community development in the light of Confucianism and Taoism. Drawing from ethnographic field research in Southern China, the authors present an evolutionary as well as a horizontal view of tourism and rural community development through an illustrative case. Narratives from villagers involved in (or affected by) tourism development in the case study village are highly embedded in, and culturally informative of, rural community development with Chinese characteristics. A valuable source of reference and an addition to the pro-poor tourism knowledge, this book offers an epistemologically unique and much needed perspective on researching and practicing tourism for poverty alleviation and rural revitalization.

Theory and Practice in Hospitality and Tourism Research: An ASEAN Context bridges theory and practice through empirical and conceptual studies, presenting a curated collection of empirical and conceptual studies, that examine diverse facets of hospitality and tourism development across ASEAN destinations. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) stands as a pivotal intergovernmental organisation, fostering economic, political, social, and cultural collaboration among its ten member states. Within this dynamic regional context, hospitality and tourism research demands a nuanced approach that bridges robust theoretical frameworks with practical, actionable insights. This volume addresses the critical need for such integration by presenting a curated collection of empirical and conceptual studies that examine diverse facets of hospitality and tourism development, management, marketing, education, and sustainability across ASEAN destinations.As part of a dedicated series advancing hospitality and tourism education, research, and professionalism in Southeast Asia, this timely work champions a collaborative ethos among scholars, educators, industry practitioners, policymakers, and students. By encouraging co-authored chapters and fostering dialogue between academia and industry, the volume ensures that research not only informs practice but is also shaped by real-world challenges and opportunities.

Tourism and hospitality managers around the world study tourism destination development and management. Topics such as land-use planning and strategy, transportation, law, and residents’ attitudes to development, are important but have been under-studied until now.Managing Destinations: From Theories to Practices discusses both the theory and current issues of destination management and provides examples of current practice. The authors include papers submitted to the t-Forum conference (2020) on the theme of destination management.Topics covered include policy, planning and strategy, stakeholders, new markets, infrastructure, transport and research and knowledge transfer with contributions from countries as diverse as Brazil, Croatia, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Spain.

Tourism microentrepreneurship is defined as the process of launching a new, or adding value to an existing, enterprise with no more than five employees, providing tourism experiences, food, lodging or transportation, with the aim to support the owner’s livelihood and desired lifestyle. Volume 12 of Bridging Tourism Theory and Practice provides an overview of emerging scholarship and best practices on the development and integration of tourism microentrepreneurship in destination stewardship. Tourists have been breaking out of staged tourism enclaves for many decades, but only recently have information technologies empowered: a) tourists with information about destinations and supply, and b) entrepreneurial hosts with marketplaces. Tourism microentrepreneurs’ business activity is often informal and fluid, therefore, they have only recently become a visible and increasingly influential stakeholder group. As a result, they are not yet well studied, and practitioners struggle to support and integrate them into destination stewardship. Nevertheless, emerging evidence suggests that fuelling tourism microentrepreneurship and its integration in destination systems can generate added benefits to the host populations while making the destination more competitive and unique. Conversely, there is evidence that when left unbridled, tourism microentrepreneurship can erode the local character of neighborhoods and hurt the image of an entire destination. Tourism Microentrepreneurship shares scholarship and best practices to educate practitioners and to encourage more research on the development of microentrepreneurship and its impact on destination communities.

Academic studies have predominantly treated destination branding as a marketing phenomenon that happens to involve tourists as customers in a marketplace. "Tourism Branding: Communities in Action", the first volume in a new and exciting book series, considers a traditional marketing subject from multidisciplinary perspectives. Refreshingly this book attempts to free branding research and practice in tourism fields from the shackles of marketing that are dominated by the conventional approach of product, price, place, and promotion. Considering tourism branding as a community affair, this collection is distinguished from other publications by adopting a global and more multidisciplinary approach, and brings the subject of tourism branding outside of the conventional domains of marketing and destination. Special attention is given to the role and expectations of main tourism stakeholders, particularly residents, business, and government in the hosting community. Built on theoretical foundations with both empirical findings and practical cases, this book brings together different perspectives and offers an intellectual and open dialogue among academics and practitioners of the field.