MASTER OF ARTS IN TOURISM DESTINATION MANAGEMENT|master-tdm@buas.nl

International Tourism Context

22 01, 2013

Consequences of Peak Oil on Global Tourism Demand

By |January 22nd, 2013|Climate change, International Tourism Context, Publication|0 Comments

As part of their master in Tourism Destination Management study program, the students have written literature reviews in the domain of “International Tourism Context”. In this second of six literature reviews Maria Klampfl discusses the consequences of peak oil on global tourism demand.
Introduction
Oil is a finite resource. Though, the global trends in energy supply and consumption are environmentally, economically and socially unsustainable (Matutinovic, 2011, p.1131; 1129). Experts are increasingly warning about the rising energy challenge, the Western civilization and the world as a whole will have to face within the next decade (Matutinovic, 2011, p.1131; 1129; Nell & Cooper, 2008, p.1096). The consequences of less affordable oil on society are inherently complex (Becken, 2010, p.373). In fact, the diminishing oil reserves will put a “definite constrain on economic growth, global distribution of life- styles and the level of integration of global economy” (Matutinovic, 2011, p.1131). It will, furthermore, affect tourism and the way in which it is operating today.

The demand for oil is constantly escalating and it is alarming that while in the past “new oil reserves were discovered at a greater rate than consumption”, at present it is the opposite – new oil fields are detected at a lower rate than consumption (Becken, 2008, p.696). The oil price is influenced by multiple factors. Nevertheless on a long-term perspective, oil prices are “driven by world oil demand and supply, which is ultimately limited by resources” (Becken & Lennox, 2011, p.133). Scare supply of energy is inevitably leading to dramatically increasing oil prices. This will have significant effects on the transport and airline industry and will consequential affect the whole tourism industry (Leigh, 2011, p.165; 167; 169).

Becken claimed, yet there is only little “awareness of energy security and peak production of oil” within the tourism industry (2008, p.695). Furthermore tourism research has largely left out the issue of energy consumption in relation to a long term future of tourism. Accordingly this paper aims to increase the awareness of a possible oil scarcity and investigates the potential consequences of peak oil on the future global tourism development.
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22 01, 2013

The Influence of Terrorist Attacks and Political Instability on Tourism

By |January 22nd, 2013|International Tourism Context, Publication, Regional developments|0 Comments

As part of their master in Tourism Destination Management study program, the students have written literature reviews in the domain of “International Tourism Context”. In this first of six literature reviews Lin Reimann discusses the influence of terrorist attacks and political instability on tourism.

Introduction
In today’s globalizing environment, terrorism has been an issue we hear […]

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22 12, 2011

Customer satisfaction – a big step towards company profitability?

By |December 22nd, 2011|International Tourism Context, literature review|1 Comment

This literature review is written by Bernd-Niklas Bierbaum as part of his NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.

In their paper, Hesket et al. (1994) introduce the concept of the service profit chain.  “The S-PC postulates that operations contribute to the profits of a service firm via the following chain of logical deduction (Yee et al. 2009, p.617):”

Profitability and growth are primarily stimulated by customer loyalty.
Loyalty is influenced by customer satisfaction.
Satisfaction is influenced by the service values provided.
Value is created by loyal productive and satisfied employees.
Employee satisfaction results from support services and policies that enable employees to deliver high quality services. (Heskett et al. 1994)

This paper will focus on the question whether it is enough for a company to simply „satisfy“ their customers in order to achieve loyalty and finally profitability. In the following, the question will be raised and discussed whether there might be more to the concept of profitability than simply being able to satisfy a customer. Therefore, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, the relationship between loyalty and profitability and finally the importance of the “moment of truth” and the service encounter will be evaluated and highlighted from different standpoints.

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25 11, 2011

Limitations and incentives for sustainable tourism development

By |November 25th, 2011|International Tourism Context, literature review, Master in Tourism Destination Management, sustainable tourism|1 Comment

This literature review is written by Ruta Dambyte as part of her NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.

The implementation of sustainable practices in tourism related companies is an object of discussions by many academics. There are various researches made about incentives and obstacles while switching towards sustainable business model (Le & Hollenhorst, 2005; La Lopa & Day, 2011). The scholars question if sustainability is a trend, a way to gain more profit (Higgins-Desbiolles, 2009) or moral duty (Jarvis, Simcock, Weeden, 2010). Moreover, the doubts are being expressed towards the existence of sustainability in tourism while being a very complex industry (Vukonovic, n.d.). Therefore, this literature review reefers to the main reasons limiting tourism related companies to implement sustainability, as well as the incentives to switch towards different business approach.

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25 11, 2011

Authenticity and commodification in changing tourism trends

By |November 25th, 2011|International Tourism Context, literature review, Master in Tourism Destination Management|3 Comments

This literature review is written by Claire Bougot as part of her NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.
The issues ofauthenticity in relation to the commodification of culture are present in many sectors of the tourism industry (e.g. heritage tourism, ethnic tourism) and are relevant to most destinations worldwide, in the developing as well as the Western world (Chhabra et al., 2003; Gjerald, 2005; McIntosh and Prentice, 1999; Silver, 1993; Van den Berghe, 1995). This review will however focus on developing world destinations in order to highlight the power imbalance created by western defined criteria of authenticity in tourism and its subsequent staging. Since cross-cultural encounters have been designated as one of the drivers of the commodification of culture in host societies (Shepherd, 2002),the global context in which such encounters take place highlights the relevance of the debate on authenticity for tourism studies. Indeed, many host-guest encounters occur as a result of the tourists’ quest for authenticity as described by MacCannell (1973). Many authors have contributed to the debate on authenticity and the commodification of culture in the academic literature since MacCannell’s (1973) work. The debate starts around the definition of authenticity, a wide and complex concept used by academic writers with different meanings. This review will start by clarifying some of the uses of the term in the academic literature with regard to object, staged and emergent authenticity, but will be centredon the concept of the quest for authenticity. Once the concepts of authenticity used in this context have been clarified, the review will move on to consider the positive and negative impacts of culture commodification and staging authenticity, as well as the use of staged authenticity as a resistance tool by host communities. It will attempt to highlight the shortcomings of the literature in considering the impacts of culture commodification on locals existing outside the tourism industry and the need to update the debate on authenticity and culture commodification in the light of new tourism trends such as poverty tourism. The review will focus mainly on the perspective of the host (including both locals existing within and outside the tourism industry) to consider these impacts.
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25 11, 2011

Thanatourism and Dark Tourists: Why they Walk in the Shadows

By |November 25th, 2011|dark tourism, International Tourism Context, literature review, Master in Tourism Destination Management|2 Comments

This literature review is written by Akshara Walia as part of her NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.

 

Dark tourism- also known as ‘Thanatourism’- is a thriving phenomenon which has generated considerable interest within the tourism industry. The term was first coined by Foley and Lennon (Stone Sharpley, 2008), and has been generally described as “tourism involving locations associated with death and great suffering” (Gibson, 2006: pg. 47). This literature review will attempt to understand and analyse the various motivations and perceptions of tourists visiting these dark sites.

The fundamental motive for visiting dark sites is being explored in modern research. According to Stone and Sharpley, “visitors are seen to be driven by differing intensities of interest or fascination in death” (Stone Sharpley, 2008: pg 6). Hence, it can be perceived that visitor motivations are not homogenous.

The motivations of visitors can be further explored through the differentiation in degrees of dark tourism. Due to the varied and uniquely different nature of dark tourism products, the term dark tourism itself is vague and ambiguous (Stone, 2006).

The existing literature on the motivations for dark tourism is fragmented (Stone, 2011). To bridge the gaps in existing literature, a deeper insight is required relating to the definition of dark tourism itself.

Relating to this perspective, seven suppliers of dark tourism have been identified ranging from ‘light’ to ‘dark’ dark tourism (Stone, 2006). These were described as a “spectrum of supply outlined with a subsequent seven type categorisation of dark tourism suppliers” (Stone, 2006: Pg. 157). They include dark fun factories, dark exhibitions, dark dungeons, dark resting places, dark shrines, dark conflict sites and dark genocide camps. Thus a range of tourist experiences has been created from the lightest shades (haunted houses at amusement parks) to the darkest (Auschwitz). This sub categorization of dark tourism enables a broader perspective into the motivations of visitors depending on the ‘degree of darkness’. For example, the motivations of a tourist on a Jack the Ripper tour in London will differ from those of a tourist at the Killing Fields in Cambodia.

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25 11, 2011

Code of conduct in tourism and impacts on sustainable tourism

By |November 25th, 2011|International Tourism Context, Master in Tourism Destination Management, sustainable tourism|0 Comments

This literature review is written by Soutchay Khounlabvisaed Akhom as part of his NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.
Tourism is a global phenomenon with its characteristic as a large and complex business industry. Therefore, planning, developing and managing the tourism industry for a long-term success is a very difficult task. In order to achieve […]

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25 11, 2011

Impacts of Bhutan’s controlled tourism policy

By |November 25th, 2011|Bhutan, International Tourism Context, Master in Tourism Destination Management|3 Comments

This literature review is written by Mink Sasiwan as part of her NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.

Introduction
Bhutan is a small land-locked kingdom situating in the Himalayan Mountains between India and China. This tiny country has enjoyed the reputation as one of the most pristine and exclusive travel destinations in the world – the […]

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25 11, 2011

Impacts of diving: To dive or not to dive?

By |November 25th, 2011|dive tourism, International Tourism Context, Master in Tourism Destination Management|0 Comments

This literature review is written by Jessica Peelen as part of her NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.

Diving is becoming more popular. It started as a recreational activity and diving is now developing into a booming sector of travel industry all over the world. The Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) measure the increasing participation in diving activity, from 2.5 million certified divers in 1988 to 17.5 million in 2008 (PADI Diver Statistics, 2008). One the world’s most popular diving destination is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Actually it’s not possible to leave Australia without diving here, or at least snorkel. But also new diving destinations as Myanmar and Mozambique will be developed and this stimulates the development of diving tourism worldwide. More new tour operators and travel agencies specialized in diving holidays are started the last years (T.F. Ong and G. Musa, 2011).

It’s useful to find out what influence diving has on the environment and if divers’ attitude can make a difference.

Diving is often related with damaging and fracturing of coral. This will be examined from different perspectives with case studies of three dive destinations as Malaysia Sipadan, Cayman Island in the Caribbean and a Marine National Park inThailand, called Surin.
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25 11, 2011

Give me a Job and I will Volunteer!

By |November 25th, 2011|International Tourism Context|0 Comments

This literature review is written by Mariska Kleintjes as part of her NHTV Master in Tourism Destination Management.

Volunteer tourism is a sector that can benefit both tourists and host communities (e.g. Wearing, 2001, 2002; Broad, 2003, Brown and Morrison, 2003, McGehee and Santos, 2005). However, existing research has primarily focused on the positive effects of volunteer tourism and the motivations of volunteers. Volunteer tourism is in general recognized as a form of alternative tourism (e.g. Wearing, 2001; Brown, 2005; Callanan and Thomas, 2005; McIntosh and Zahra, 2008; Matthews, 2008).

According to McGehee and Santos (2005, p. 760) volunteer tourism is “utilizing discretionary time and income to travel out of the sphere of regular activity to assist other in need.” Volunteer tourism is growing rapidly (Callanan & Thomas, 2005). However, it is not transparent what the effects of volunteer tourism are. According to Wearing (2001, p. 1) volunteer tourist are involved in “aiding or alleviating the material poverty of some groups in society, the restoration of certain environments, or research into aspects of society or environment.” In this way it is possible that volunteer tourists, take over the jobs and income of local people. This outcome has not been researched.

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