Indigenous society and immigrants : tourism and retailing in Lijiang, China, a World Heritage city.

This paper examines the present state of commercial use of historical buildings, details of business categories, and descriptions of items on sale in the shops in the old town of Lijiang, China in order to investigate the problems of cultural-tourism development centered on World Heritage sites. In recent years, the usage of historical buildings built by the Naxis, the indigenous ethnic group of Lijiang, has drastically changed. At present, over 60% of shops are tourist-oriented souvenir shops and restaurants. Furthermore, over 50% of the shopkeepers are temporary residents, with a large majority renting rooms from indigenous owners. These findings suggest that the location of the minority's residence and its culture are rapidly changing as tourism develops. They also imply that a re-evaluation of policy is essential for the development of sustainable tourism

The Determinants of Destination Management System (DMS) and CSFs Evaluation for Madagascar

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has revolutionized the tourism industry. The rapid development of information and communication technology in the distribution and the intermediation of tourism products have a set new competitive environment for the tourism industry. This technological innovation has developed the destination management system.  The DMS is the IT infrastructure used by a destination organization for the collect, the storage, the manipulation and the distribution of all kind of information in all its forms. It is also used for bookings and for other commercial activities.DMS is not yet implemented in Madagascar, but in the near future, the Malagasy tourist offices plan to adopt one. The goal of this study is to define the factors which allow the implementation and to evaluate the strength of each one of them through the CSFs system. The research will take the following three factors in consideration: environment, managerial, and technological. We will examine the influence of each factor according to the situation of the country. The CSFs will determine the interesting sub-factors which might have a significant impact on the success of the implementation of the device while the AHP analysis will evaluate the weight of each factor. The result will give the ranking in importance of the factors, in order to target political strategies. The 22 existing regional offices in Madagascar will be the population of the research; the study will mainly be qualitative and will be conducted through interviews. Besides, the research will suggest a policy on the implementation of the DMS in Madagascar, and the aim is to give a global vision in helping the tourist offices of Madagascar to successfully adopt the DMS. Therefore, this study will provide a new approach in the implementation of the DMS. Keywords: Destination management system (DMS), determinants, Critical success factors (CSFs), Analytical hierarchy process (AHP), Madagasca

Municipal transitions: The social, energy, and spatial dynamics of sociotechnical change in South Tyrol, Italy

With the aim of proposing recommendations on how to use social and territorial specificities as levers for wider achievement of climate and energy targets at local level, this research analyses territories as sociotechnical systems. Defining the territory as a sociotechnical system allows us to underline the interrelations between space, energy and society. Groups of municipalities in a region can be identified with respect to their potential production of renewable energy by means of well-known data-mining approaches. Similar municipalities linking together can share ideas and promote collaborations, supporting clever social planning in the transition towards a new energy system. The methodology is applied to the South Tyrol case study (Italy). Results show eight different spatially-based sociotechnical systems within the coherent cultural and institutional context of South Tyrol. In particular, this paper observes eight different systems in terms of (1) different renewable energy source preferences in semi-urban and rural contexts; (2) different links with other local planning, management, and policy needs; (3) different socio-demographic specificities of individuals and families; (4) presence of different kinds of stakeholders or of (5) different socio-spatial organizations based on land cover. Each energy system has its own specificities and potentialities, including social and spatial dimensions, that can address a more balanced, inclusive, equal, and accelerated energy transition at the local and translocal scale

Mega-clusters as a tool of interregional cooperation in tourists field

In order to diversify the Russian economy, it is necessary to pay great attention to the emerging sectors of the economy; with a systemic approach they are able to reveal their accumulated potential. Authors consider one of such industries to be the sphere of tourism. Russia has its own unique natural-recreational and cultural-historical potential, which is not fully utilized, and it is confirmed with the relevant statistics. The authors propose to accelerate the development of tourism by raising the level of interregional cooperation from the position of using coexisting competition and competitive coexistence in tourist mega-clusters. Due to the lack of financial resources for separate regions for the tourism development, the implementation of this approach is effective, as it allows achieving savings of money due to economies of scale. The phenomena of coexisting competition and competitive coexistence in the tourism sphere presuppose the unification of the different regions authorities’ efforts for the joint implementation of projects. Regions joining forces on the basis of coexisting competition and competitive coexistence within the mega-clusters will allow each administrative-territorial unit to develop and improve its competitive advantage by asking a stimulus to the development of the other participants. This approach makes it possible to obtain other positive effects noted in the study. Thus, findings broaden the knowledge about the phenomena of coexisting competition and competitive coexistence in the regional economy, about mega-clusters as tools for interregional interactions in the tourism sphere

The Sustainable Tourism for the Europe of the Third Millennium

Il contributo fornisce molte immagini e grafic

Tourism as a driver of economic growth and development in the EU-­27 and ASEAN regions. EU Centre in Singapore Research Brief December 2013

Tourism is a significant driver of economic and social development.  It stimulates economic growth by generating income, employment, investment and exports. It also generates valuable spin-­off benefits, including preservation of cultural heritage, improved infrastructure and local community facilities (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2013).  But, tourism can have positive or negative impacts depending on planning, development and management.        The  purpose  of  this  research  brief  is  to  demonstrate  the  economic  importance  of  tourism,   its  challenges  and  plans  for  tourism  development  in  the  EU-­‐‑271  and  ASEAN2  regions.  It   brings  together  data  from  several  sources  including  the  United  Nations  World  Tourism   Organization  (UNWTO)  and  the  World  Travel  and  Tourism  Council  (WTTC).     This  brief  is  divided  into  three  parts:      Part One describes performance of tourism sector in the  EU-­27 and ASEAN regions in terms of international tourist arrivals and receipts, contribution of tourism to GDP, employment, exports and investment.         Part Two outlines the EU-­27 and ASEAN plans for supporting tourism development while highlighting relevant initiatives.         Part three discusses some of the key challenges that accompany tourism development. It also outlines goals that policy makers should follow in making tourism more sustainable.

Regional tourist destinations - the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in collaboration amongst tourism providers

The tourism industry can be seen as one of the first business sectors where business functions are almost exclusively using information and communications technologies (ICT). This has impacted on the way in which regional tourism destinations are promoted. The method of promoting regions via the development of regional tourist destination websites or portals using Internet technologies is increasingly being adopted both in Australia and around the world. This paper investigates whether this approach is the most effective to achieve increased awareness and subsequent visitation of a region. Are there other ways to achieve a similar outcome? One such alternative is via a bottom up approach achieved through co-opetition or collaboration established within the group of local tourism industry operators. This cooperative networking is made possible via the use of ICT to facilitate the establishment of virtual business networks amongst tourism operators in a local community, cascading into an informal secondary tourism network within that region. In many Australian regional areas the tourism bureau has been the key node for local tourism, but this structure has been fraught with many problems. Little is known about their effectiveness in delivering services to local small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs). The role of tourism bureaus in local tourism networks is changing and a study of this dynamic is provided here as an example of the interaction between top down and bottom up approaches. Published case studies from around the world are considered demonstrating alternative approaches to using ICT to promote a region and communicate with potential visitors. Future empirical research is required to more fully understand the effectiveness of the different approaches

Modeling nature-based and cultural recreation preferences in mediterranean regions as opportunities for smart tourism and diversification

The tourism and recreational o er of Mediterranean destinations involves, essentially, the promotion of mass tourism, based on the appeal of the sun and beach, and the quality of its coastal assets. Alongside the impacts of climate change, poor tourism diversification represents a threat to the resilience of the territory. Thus, heterogenization of noncoastal tourism products presents an opportunity to strengthen regional resilience to present and future challenges, hence the need to study, comparatively, the complementary preferences of tourists and residents of these regions in order to unveil their willingness to diversify their recreational experience, not only in coastal spaces, but also—and especially—in interior territories with low urban density. Consequently, this strategic option may represent a way of strengthening resilience and sustainability through diversification. In this context, a survey was conducted among 400 beach tourists and 400 residents of a case study—namely, three municipalities of the Algarve region in southern Portugal—in order to analyze their degree of preference for activities besides the sun and beach, such as nature-based and cultural tourism activities, and to probe the enhancement potential of each tourism and recreational activity through the various landscape units considered by experts, stakeholders, and tour operators. The respective degree of preference and enhancement potential were indexed to the area of each landscape unit. Subsequently, respecting the existing recreational structure and constraints, a suitability map for territory enhancement and the implementation of smart tourism practices for each tourism activity and landscape unit is presented. Results show a significant preference for noncoastal outdoor recreational activities.FCT- Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia: SFRH/BD/102328/2014; PTDC/GES-URB/31928/2017info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio