The Construction of Destination Images in Jordan: Modelling Tour Guide and Tourist Inputs, Interactions and Consequences

Destination image is recognised and extensively researched as a key factor in tourism development. However, the construction of destination image during the tourist consumption experience has suffered from a paucity of theorisation, not only in regard to patterns of destination image as perceived by tourists during a visit, but also in regard to patterns as projected by tour guides. This exploratory research aims therefore to provide in-depth understanding of patterns of destination image as actually constructed by tourists and tour guides during the consumption experience. The research adopted an interpretivist qualitative paradigm of empirical ‘Straussian’ grounded theory to investigate the phenomenon of destination image construction in Jordan. Thirty five tour guides were interviewed, followed by participant observation of a group of twenty USA tourists undertaking a guided tour of Jordan. Twelve of these USA tourists were then interviewed, along with their designated guide. Findings demonstrated that destination image was constructed at regional, national and site levels, specifically the Middle East, Jordan and local Jordanian sites such as Petra. A variety of tour guide impressions were identified and categorised thematically into a number of different types of constructed image such as ‘official’, ‘personal’, ‘dressed up’, ‘distorted’, ‘poignant’ and ‘relatively realistic’ images. Similarly, pattern analysis of the tourists’ perceptions in regard to visited destinations uncovered a further range of themed categories, to include ‘fuzzy’, ‘relatively realistic’, ‘dynamic’, ‘static’, ‘peculiar’ and ‘deteriorated’ images. This research contributes to methodology by demonstrating the efficacy of participant observation in revealing the complexity of destination image. It also advances theoretical knowledge around issues related to tour guiding and destination image. Finally, valuable implications are provided for strategic image management and marketing, as well as for enhancing tour guides professionalism

Tourist skills

This study extends the theoretical debate on skills as an important element of tourism as a practice. Analysing qualitative data on train and canal boating tourism in the UK, we discuss how some tourism practices require both specialist and commonplace skills, while others only need the latter. Moreover, every tourism practice is skilled, and all skills are learned and portable from the context in which they were acquired to new situations and practices in tourism. Any tourism practice requires a skill-kit: a complex of skills that emerges to facilitate a given tourism practice. Therefore, the tourist skills make tourism practices largely effortless and enjoyable, allowing tourists to respond creatively and with confidence to the variations of the surrounding environment

Wildlife tourism: tourist expectations, experiences and management implications.

The literature demonstrates that wildlife tourism, which can incorporate anything from insects (dragonflies, butterflies, glow-worms), flowers, mammals and birds, has become a potentially lucrative activity which is attracting attention from tourists and destinations. There are both positive and negative impacts associated with wildlife tourism. It can contribute to the conservation of threatened habitats / species, provide economic benefit to local communities attract new types of tourists to remote and economically peripheral areas, and provide environmental education and psychological benefits to tourists. Less desired outcomes of wildlife tourism imply that as places and their wildlife become more popular, tourist numbers and infrastructure increases and so too do incidences of disturbance which directly impact upon the well-being and sustainability of the focal wildlife populations such as the disruption of daily behaviour including feeding, breeding, and resting. Whether the positives outweigh the benefits has yet to be tried or tested and may well depend upon how the resource and visitors are managed which in turn depends upon understanding the expectations, the behaviour and the experiential benefits sought by tourists. Given the spectrum of tourist-wildlife opportunities, it follows that wildlife tourists are by no means an homogenous market, there are significant variations in typologies, from the 'serious' to the 'casual' and from the 'specialist' to the 'generalist'. Therefore planning and management become more difficult as the behaviour and needs of each segment differ enormously. Up until now, the human dimensions of watching wildlife have been rather overlooked in the tourism literature; and particularly the experiential and psychological benefits of wildlife tourism have not been adequately explored or applied to the management and marketing of destinations. Using a sample of British tourists, the aim of this research was, therefore, to explore the culture of wildlife tourism in order to contribute a better understanding of what it means to enjoy wildlife experiences, the content of what exactly is enjoyed, the process through which people attend to and perceive wildlife and the emotional responses it provokes. Inherent in this thesis is the discussion of the human dimensions of wildlife, namely how wildlife tourists perceive the natural world, whether they have eco, anthropocentric or anthropomorphic views of the animal kingdom, and whether the application of biophilia, our supposed inherent desire to connect with other, non-human, living things, can be applied to wildlife tourism. In addition the author explored the field skills involved in wildlife watching with regards to identification and photography, what constitutes a memorable experience, and finally the expectations and benefits of travelling on an organised wildlife holiday. In order to satisfy this aim, an ethnographic approach to data generation was employed in two distinct stages. First in-depth interviews were carried out with British tour operators to investigate the business of wildlife tour operating, to discover who the main operators are, the types of products that they offer, the profile of the clients that they attract as well as the management and delivery of their tours. This showed that the wildlife tourism market can be divided into different typologies, for example, birders, `listers' and general naturalists. Secondly, the author joined two tour groups within the general naturalist market, one birdwatching tour to Andalucia to watch the Autumn migration and one whale and bird-watching tour on the Sea of Cortez, Baja California. Whilst on tour, field journals were kept to record the days' events, participants emotional responses to wildlife, and her own observations of tour leading. These journals were coupled with in-depth interviews of tour participants whilst on tour and later in-depth interviews with people who regularly take dedicated wildlife holidays. This ethnographic study of these dedicated general naturalists reveals a number of important themes which may be of use for future studies such as: how interest in wildlife began, how wildlife watching is part of everyday life not just a holiday activity, the fascination with how wildlife adapts to human / urban environments and the relationship with regular wildlife visitors in their garden. In addition it highlights how wildlife tourism is used as a symbol of self presentation, how it is important to develop skills such as identification of species and photography, and how spontaneity, close proximity to wildlife, high numbers and first sightings all make for memorable experiences. There are a number of profound and psychological benefits which the nature of this study allowed to come to the fore, and that was the wonderment and sense of awe at the beauty and diversity of the natural world, of really feeling alive and in 'flow' when watching wildlife and how being in 'flow' distorts time. Linked to this is the spiritual fulfilment and sustenance provided by nature. The physical attributes of the wildlife holiday highlight the important role of the tour leader, their knowledge of species and of where to see them as well as the demonstration of responsible wildlife watching behaviour. Participants voiced their desire for relaxation, for meeting like-minded people and for sharing experiences with others. Finally participants appeared to be aware of potential negative impacts and liked to see responsible tour operating. The thesis ends by discussing the practical implications of these findings for industry and for wider society, and concludes by suggesting areas for future research. "An honest experience of nature would find that the natural world is an arena of endurance, tragedy and sacrifice as much as joy and uplift. It is about the struggle against the weather, the perils of migration, the ceaseless vigilance against predators, the loss of whole families and the brevity of existence. The natural world is like a theatre, a stage beyond our own, in which the dramas that are an irreducible part of being alive are played out without hatred or envy or hypocrisy. No wonder they tell us so much about ourselves and our own frailties" (Mabey 2006: 13).

(Re)membering England: a disclosure analysis of the governance of diversity

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of LutonStudies on the representation of 'local' populations, in and through tourism, have tended to focus on 'traditional' peoples in 'developing' countries. In this study of the representation of ethno-cultural diversity in the discourse of Official Tourism Organisations (OTOs), by contrast, I focus on a 'developed' West European country: England. This study was carried out in order critically to inspect the representation/signification of 'minority' ethnic populations in the text and talk of OTOs in England within the period 2000-2003. The study is framed within an anti foundational dialogue of social constructionism. In analysing OTO discursive practices I use Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to explore the representation of ethno-cultural diversity in a number of 'interview', 'operational' and 'promotional' texts. The CDA framework employed is designed to reveal patterns of discourse in the text as well as to provide a basis for understanding the micro context (for 'operational' and 'promotional' texts) of text production and distribution. Also, the framework facilitates a consideration of the macro institutional context within which OTOs in England operate. From the analysis of OTO texts carried out in this study I propose a number of interpretative findings, including 'discourses' of denial, equality and otherness. Overall, the 'interpretative findings' suggest that OTO texts are produced and circulated within a discourse of silence on matters of ethno-cultural diversity in England. I conclude this study by suggesting a number of transforrnative actions for the development by OTOs in England of an ethical 'politics of articulation'. In addition I identify a number of problematic arenas within which tourism studies scholars might pursue future research agendas and to that end I propose some potentially useful points of entry into the broader social science literature

Developing Saaremaa as a slow movement destination

https://www.ester.ee/record=b5168422*es

THE IMPACT OF PUSH & PULL FACTORS AND POLITICAL STABILITY ON DESTINATION IMAGE, TOURIST SATISFACTION AND THE INTENTION TO RE-VISIT: THE CASE OF ABU DHABI IN THE UAE

Taking into consideration Abu Dhabi 2030 vision, the tourism sector is considered to be a significant sector in its contribution to the long-term economic growth of the UAE. Abu Dhabi has many of the push and pulls factors that attract tourists. By illuminating tourists’ behaviors, the results of this study will enable decision-makers to understand why tourists choose Abu Dhabi over other destinations, what type of experience they are looking for, and the variety of activities that they want. Meanwhile, taking into account the political stability of the UAE in general and Abu Dhabi in particular, insufficient attention has hitherto been given to the political issues that may significantly guide people in forming a destination image. No studies of the factor of political stability with others, such as push and pull factors in raising the intention to re-visit exist in the literature on tourism, at least not in the UAE context. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to identify the motivational push & pull factors that can affect the formulation of the destination image. Moreover, this study examines the relationship between push & pull factors, political stability, destination image, tourist satisfaction, and intention to re-visit to develop and test a conceptual model of the antecedents and consequences of destination image in the Abu Dhabi context. This study adopts the positivist research philosophy with a quantitative approach to empirically validate the fourteen hypotheses. To gather the primary data the questionnaire was distributed among international tourists above 18 years old in seven different attractive locations in Abu Dhabi. The suggested hypotheses were tested through a sample of 406 tourists visiting Abu Dhabi. The results show that tourists’ evaluations of the push and pull factors and political stability act as antecedents of a perceived attractive destination image. Furthermore, political stability and destination image have a strong positive impact on tourist satisfaction and the intention to re-visit. The proposed model in this study enhances existing theorization by exploring the value of political stability in the model of tourists’ intentions to re-visit. While from the practical perspective, it will also provide a recommendation to the policy and decision-maker in the tourism sector

Ecotourism development and local community participation: case studies of Batu Puteh and Sukau village in Lower Kinabatangan area of Sabah, Malaysia

The issues of ecotourism development in Malaysia, which could benefit the local communities in remote areas, were rarely mentioned in the federal government’s tourism policies. The issues that were mentioned are often limited to factors such as supplementing income in (eco)tourism activities which was regarded as a priority, but never beyond that. This was the dilemma in the early phase of the implementation in the 1990s of sustainable (eco)tourism development in Malaysia, particularly in the state of Sabah. This is a qualitative research approach or specifically case study approach based on the critical theory paradigm or perspectives. Two villages were observed in this research: namely Batu Puteh village and Sukau village. These villages are located in the floodplain of Lower Kinabatangan River. This area is an extremely important site for ecotourism in Sabah and/or Malaysia: especially through ecotourists activities such as river boating, jungle trekking and wildlife viewing. The local people generally known as “orang sungai” (the river people) have recently participated in many aspects of ecotourism activities such as tourist guides, conservation volunteers, tourist lodges workers, homestay providers etc. Thus the main issues for these villages are: to what extent does ecotourism development in Batu Puteh and/or Sukau village have positive and negative impacts on the socio-cultural life of the local community? How and why are the local communities involved directly or indirectly in ecotourism development? To what extent has ecotourism development increased the level of participation, and improved the standard of living of the local community? To what extent can ecotourism be considered a potential instrument for rural economic development and/or environmental conservation to achieve sustainable development in the destination areas? These issues will be explored thoroughly in this research