Tasting Families of Features for Image Classification

Using multiple families of image features is a very efficient strategy to improve performance in object detection or recognition. However, such a strategy induces multiple challenges for machine learning methods, both from a computational and a statistical perspective. The main contribution of this paper is a novel feature sampling procedure dubbed “Tasting” to improve the efficiency of Boosting in such a context. Instead of sampling features in a uniform manner, Tasting continuously estimates the expected loss reduction for each family from a limited set of features sampled prior to the learning, and biases the sampling accordingly. We evaluate the performance of this procedure with tens of families of features on four image classification and object detection data-sets. We show that Tasting, which does not require the tuning of any meta-parameter, outperforms systematically variants of uniform sampling and state-of-the-art approaches based on bandit strategies

Wine tourism experience in Azeitão

Wine tourism is intensively growing all over the world. This sector is essential for the tourism industry of each country and can be a potential strategy to become a pole of interest for industry consumers. The dissertation’s goal is to identify the dimensions of wine tourism and understand how they are organized to potentialize a complete and satisfying experience for wine tourism consumers – wine tourists. By applying Quadri-Felitti and Fiore (2014) model, it became possible to understand the needs of wine tourists and to verify what is most relevant for them while engaging in wine tourism activities, in order to have input that allow wineries to increase their service and experience quality. These objectives were achieved by studying the different dimensions’ influence on the perceived wine tourism quality. To understand this phenomenon, a content analysis was applied with a netnography research on Azeitão wine tourist. The findings revealed that entertaining and educational dimensions are fundamental. And, that other dimensions such as esthetical appearance and the escapist still presented a gap between the needs of consumers and the actual offer presented by the wineries, which can be perceived as opportunities for improvements. The research on wine tourism experiences in Azeitão allowed to extract some valuable input for regional wine companies to improve their offer, making the tourism industry in Portugal to become even more relevant in the world.O Enoturismo encontra-se, atualmente, em crescimento em diversos países no mundo. Trata-se de um sector essencial para a indústria turística pois pode tornar-se num ponto de interesse para turistas que partilhem este gosto. Baseando a análise no modelo de Quadri-Felitti e Fiore (2013), o objetivo da dissertação é a identificação e análise das várias dimensões do Enoturismo, assim como a sua organização para potencializar uma experiência satisfatória para os consumidores, O estudo permitiu tirar conclusões sobre as dimensões mais relevantes aquando das suas participações nas experiências enoturisticas. Consequentemente, os resultados apresentam ser pertinentes para que as empresas vinícolas possam melhorar a qualidade oferecida no serviço e experiência enoturística. Estes resultados foram alcançados pela aplicação do modelo e comparação do peso das diferentes dimensões na experiência enoturistica. Para a elaboração deste estudo, foi aplicada uma análise de conteúdo através de um estudo netnográfico com base na amostra de enoturistas em Azeitão. Os resultados revelam a importância da presença de dimensões tais como entretenimento e educacional nas experiências vividas neste setor. Para além disso, comprovou-se uma lacuna na presença de outras dimensões tais como a estética e a escapista. Consequentemente, estas duas dimensões podem potencializar oportunidades de desenvolvimento para as empresas vinícolas. As conclusões retiradas do estudo permitem à região vinícola de Azeitão retirar oportunidades de melhorar as suas experiências, permitindo colocar a região e Portugal num patamar superior no que toca ao turismo

Exploring the Supply Side of Food and Beverage Festivals in Saudi Arabia

Recently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) announced its intention to begin implementing a tourist visa regime to streamline entry of tourists into the country and, therefore, attract more international visitors. Food and Beverage festivals (F&B) are targeted as a crucial part of the events sector in Saudi Arabia as they align well with agricultural traditions and Middle East culture to attract both domestic and foreign tourist. The aim of this study was to explore the characteristics, management, and goals of F&B festivals in Saudi Arabia. F&B event organizers were utilized to collect data regarding seven established F&B festivals that have been held for least the last 5 years. The results revealed that the size of the festivals ranged from 10,000 to 250,000 in annual attendance. While the length of the festivals averaged from 4 to as many as 35 days in length. Most of the festivals were held during peak vacation periods in Saudi Arabia when students have off from school, which coincided with the seasonal harvest of many of the festival themes. These festivals generally do not charge an entrance fee and attract all social categories of visitors. Some of the main activities provided to visitors are tasting products, viewing performances, and learning about regional agriculture traditions. The goal for these festivals were centered primarily on promoting regional agricultural products, attracting domestic and international tourists, in addition to providing educational programming for farmers and suppliers. In almost all of the festivals the primary organization and management is structured around governmental bodies that include national and regional organizations

Tea Tourism Development in China entering Experience Economy Era under the Strategic Background of Rural Revitalization: a case study of West Lake Longjing t ea area and Damushan tea garden area in Zhejiang Province

[eng] Rural revitalization has been paid great attention in China in recent years, and officially established as a national strategy since 2018. Based on practical evidence and relevant literature, rural tourism is considered as a therapy to correct urban and rural imbalance and offer an alternative way of in place urbanization in rural areas. Meanwhile the rapid socio-economic development has driven evolution of Chinese tourists’ needs and travel behaviors, entering the experience economy, the existing low-end homogeneous rural tourism products couldn’t meet their growing needs. This research aims to propose tea tourism, as a form of special-interest rural gastronomic tourism, if could contribute to regional revitalization and meanwhile satisfying tourists’ upgrading needs with diversified experiential activities, as China has rich tea resources and authentic tea culture. To achieve the research goals, a mixed method approach is adopted, in the field work of two chosen study areas of diffident development conditions, West Lake Longjing tea area and Damushan tea garden area, through in-depth interviews and observation to the main actor groups, public sectors and individual practitioners, and questionnaire survey to both domestic on-site tourists and international potential tourists. The main findings are, first of all, based on the significance of tea tourism from theoretical perspective, the actual tea tourism practice in case areas is shaped by its development conditions and operating capability. West Lake Longjing tea area is a revitalized case, benefiting from its favorable conditions such as reputed tea resources, good accessibility and tourism infrastructure. Damushan tea garden area is a to be revitalized case, the degree of individual participation and their understanding of tea tourism is lower, ‘government incentives and subsidy’ is a key motive, while practitioners in West Lake Longjing tea area mentioned ‘lifestyle pursuit and self-interest’ as main motive. Individual tea practitioners in both regions, together with local public sector, integrated tea resources in tourism activities, but mainly as adding value products instead of main selling points, in other words, the potential of tea resources haven’t been fully discovered. Several factors such as origin, relevant working - 2 - experience, education level and internet skills impact on practitioners’ personal capability. Despite of different development conditions, both areas have benefited from tea tourism development on household and village levels, especially in the emerging case, tea tourism becomes a channel to facilitate construction of infrastructure and turned the situation of rural residents’ outflow to inflow, achieved various aspects of rural revitalization. Both domestic on-site tourists and international potential tourists are interested in experiential activities of tea tourism, a certain part of domestic tourists are repeat visitors with high level satisfaction. Domestic tourists show a higher profile than mass tourists, three segmentations were identified, ‘tea knowledge and skill learners’, ‘leisure enjoyers’ and ‘enthusiastic experiencers’ with their characteristics respectively. Then two factors of destination attributes, basic conditions, environment related factors were statistically verified to positively impact on tourist loyalty fully mediated by tourists’ overall satisfaction. Tea related destination factors, and tourists’ personal tea preference positively influence tourist loyalty with tourist satisfaction playing a partial intermediary role. As for international potential tourists, whether they’ve been in China greatly influence their perception. Three factors of destination attributes, general destination conditions, tea-related resources, personal interaction, and two factors of personal features, perceived authenticity and recognition of tea destination image were discovered as contributive factors to their behavior intention of tea tourism in China. Finally, implications and suggestions were demonstrated respectively, the results could supplement the limited existing literature on tea tourism, offer important evidence and enlightenments to regional tea tourism practice that contributing to rural revitalization and rural tourism updates.[spa] La revitalización rural ha merecido gran atención en China en los últimos años, y se ha establecido oficialmente como una estrategia nacional desde 2018. Sobre la base de la evidencia práctica y la literatura pertinente, el turismo rural se considera una terapia para corregir el desequilibrio urbano y rural y ofrecer en las zonas rurales una forma alternativa a la urbanización. Mientras tanto, el rápido desarrollo socioeconómico ha impulsado la evolución de las necesidades y los comportamientos de viaje de los turistas chinos, entrando en la economía de la experiencia. Los productos de turismo rural homogéneos, de gama baja, existentes, no podían satisfacer sus crecientes necesidades. El objetivo de esta investigación es proponer el turismo del té, como una forma de turismo gastronómico rural de interés especial, que podría contribuir a la revitalización de la región y, al mismo tiempo, satisfacer las necesidades de mejora de los turistas con actividades experienciales diversificadas, ya que China cuenta con muchos recursos relacionados con el té y una auténtica cultura del té. Para lograr los objetivos de la investigación, se adopta un enfoque de método mixto en el trabajo de campo, en dos áreas de estudio elegidas, con situaciones de desarrollo diferentes: la zona de té de Longjing Lago Oeste y la zona de los jardines de té de Damushan; mediante entrevistas en profundidad y la observación de los principales grupos de actors: sector público y profesionales individuales; y una encuesta, tanto a los turistas nacionales, in situ, como a los turistas potenciales internacionales. Las principales resultados son, en primer lugar, que, basándonos en la importancia del turismo del té desde el punto de vista teórico, la práctica real del turismo del té en las zonas analizadas está condicionada por cada una de sus condiciones de desarrollo y su capacidad operativa. La zona de té de Longjing Lago Oeste, es un caso ya maduro, que se beneficia de sus condiciones favorables, como los reputados recursos de té, la buena accesibilidad y la infraestructura turística. La zona de los jardines de té de Damushan es un caso aún por desarrollar, el grado de participación individual y de su comprensión del turismo del té es menor, mientras que los "incentivos y subvenciones del gobierno" son un motivo clave para desarrollar este turismo, mientras que los que - 4 - lo practican en la zona de té de Longjing Lago Oeste mencionaron como motivación principal la "mejora del modo de vida y el interés propio" como motivo principal. Los profesionales del té de ambas regiones, junto con el sector público local, integraron los recursos del té en las actividades turísticas, pero principalmente como productos de valor añadido en lugar de puntos de venta principales, es decir, el potencial de los recursos del té no se ha explotado del todo. Varios factores, como el origen, la experiencia laboral pertinente, el nivel educativo y los conocimientos de Internet, influyen en la capacidad personal de los profesionales para desarrollar este turismo. A pesar de las diferentes condiciones de desarrollo, ambas zonas se beneficiaron del desarrollo del turismo del té a nivel de las familias y de los pueblos, especialmente en el caso emergente de Damushan, el turismo del té se convierte en un canal para facilitar la construcción de infraestructuras y cambió la situación de emigración de los residentes rurales en inmigración, logrando así varios objetivos de la revitalización rural. Tanto los turistas nacionales como los potenciales turistas internacionales están interesados en las actividades turísticas vivenciales, y una parte de los turistas nacionales son visitantes repetitivos con un alto nivel de satisfacción. Los turistas nacionales muestran un perfil de nivel más alto que los turistas de masas. Se identificaron tres segmentos: “aprendices de los conocimientos y habilidades del té”, “los turistas de puro ocio” y “los experimentados entusiastas de esta actividad”, con sus características respectivas. A continuación, se verificó estadísticamente qué son dos factores de los atributos del destino: las condiciones básicas y los factores relacionados con el entorno, los que influyen positivamente en la fidelidad de los turistas, mediante la satisfacción general de éstos. Los factores del destino relacionados con el té y la preferencia personal de los turistas por el té influyen positivamente en la fidelidad del turista, mientras que la satisfacción del turista desempeña un papel intermedio parcial. En cuanto a los turistas potenciales internacionales, el hecho de haber estado en China influye mucho en su percepción. Se descubrieron tres factores de atributos del destino: las condiciones generales del destino, los recursos relacionados con el té y la interacción personal; y dos factores de características personales, la autenticidad percibida y el - 5 - reconocimiento de la imagen del destino del té, como factores que contribuyen a la intencionalidad del comportamiento del turismo del té en China. Por último, se demostraron las implicaciones del turismo del té y se expusieron las sugerencias, respectivamente. Los resultados podrían complementar la limitada literatura existente sobre el turismo del té, ofrecer importantes pruebas y aclaraciones en la práctica regional del turismo del té, contribuyendo así a la revitalización rural y a las actualizaciones del turismo rural.[cat] La revitalització rural ha merescut gran atenció a la Xina en els últims anys, i s'ha establert oficialment com una estratègia nacional des de 2018. Basant-se en l'evidència pràctica i la literatura pertinent, el turisme rural es considera una solució per a corregir el desequilibri urbà i rural i oferir una forma alternativa a la urbanització, a les zones rurals. Mentrestant, el ràpid desenvolupament socioeconòmic ha impulsat l'evolució de les necessitats i els comportaments de viatge dels turistes xinesos, entrant en l'economia de l'experiència. Els productes de turisme rural homogenis, de gamma baixa, existents, no podien satisfer les seves creixents necessitats. L'objectiu d'aquesta recerca és proposar el turisme del te, com una forma de turisme gastronòmic rural d'interès especial, que podria contribuir a la revitalització de la regió i, al mateix temps, satisfer les necessitats de satisfacció dels turistes amb activitats experiencials diversificades, ja que la Xina compta amb molts recursos de te i una autèntica cultura del te. Per a aconseguir els objectius de la recerca, s'adopta un enfocament de mètode mixt en el treball de camp, de dues àrees d'estudi triades, amb condicions de desenvolupament diferents: la zona de te de Longjing Llac Oest i la zona dels jardins de te de Damushan; mitjançant entrevistes en profunditat i l'observació dels principals grups d'actors, sector públic i professionals individuals, i una enquesta, tant als turistes nacionals, in situ, com als turistes potencials internacionals. Les principals resultats són, en primer lloc, que, basant-nos en la importància del turisme del te des del punt de vista teòric, la pràctica real del turisme del te en les zones analitzades està condicionada per cadascuna de les seves condicions de desenvolupament i la seva capacitat operativa. La zona de te de Longjing Llac Oest, és un cas ja revitalitzat, que es beneficia de les seves condicions favorables, com els prestigiosos recursos de te, la bona accessibilitat i la infraestructura turística. La zona dels jardins de te de Damushan és un cas encara per revitalitzar, el grau de participació individual i de la seva comprensió del turisme del te és menor, mentre que els "incentius i subvencions del govern" són un motiu clau per a desenvolupar aquest turisme, mentre que els que el practiquen en la zona de te de Longjing Llac Oest van esmentar com a motivació la "millora de la manera de vida i l'interès propi" com a motiu principal. Els professionals del te de les dues regions, juntament amb el sector públic local, van integrar els recursos del te en les activitats turístiques, però principalment com a productes de valor afegit en lloc de punts de venda principals, és a dir, el potencial dels recursos del te no s'ha explotat del tot. Diversos factors, com l'origen, l'experiència laboral pertinent, el nivell educatiu i els coneixements d'Internet, influeixen en la capacitat personal dels professionals per a desenvolupar aquest turisme. Malgrat les diferents condicions de desenvolupament, totes dues zones es van beneficiar del desenvolupament del turisme del te a nivell de les famílies i dels pobles, especialment en el cas emergent de Damushan, el turisme del te es converteix en un canal per a facilitar la construcció d'infraestructures i va canviar la situació d'emigració dels residents rurals en immigració, aconseguint així diversos objectius de la revitalització rural. Tant els turistes nacionals com els potencials turistes internacionals estan interessats en les activitats turístiques vivencials, i una part dels turistes nacionals són visitants repetitius amb un alt nivell de satisfacció. Els turistes nacionals mostren un perfil més alt que els turistes de masses. Es van identificar tres segments: “aprenents dels coneixements i habilitats del te”, “els turistes de pur oci” i “els experimentats entusiastes d'aquesta activitat”, amb les seves característiques respectives. A continuació, es va verificar estadísticament quin dos factors dels atributs del destí: les condicions bàsiques i els factors relacionats amb l'entorn, influeixen positivament en la fidelitat dels turistes, mitjançant la satisfacció general d'aquests. Els factors del destí relacionats amb el te i la preferència personal dels turistes pel te influeixen positivament en la fidelitat del turista, mentre que la satisfacció del turista exerceix un paper intermedi parcial. Quant als turistes potencials internacionals, el fet d'haver estat a la Xina influeix molt en la seva percepció. Es van descobrir tres factors d'atributs del destí: les condicions generals del destí, els recursos relacionats amb el te i la interacció personal; i dos factors de característiques personals, l'autenticitat percebuda i el reconeixement de la imatge del destí del te, com a factors que contribueixen a la intencionalitat del comportament del turisme del te a la Xina. Finalment, es van demostrar les implicacions i els suggeriments, respectivament. Els resultats podrien complementar la limitada literatura existent sobre el turisme del te, oferir importants proves i aclariments en la pràctica regional del turisme del te, contribuint així a la revitalització rural i a les actualitzacions del turisme rural

Planting tradition and harvesting innovation : a case study of how a Portuguese family winery achieved international reputation

Although small family-owned businesses populate the wine industry, they encounter greater barriers when trying to promote their wines, especially at an international level. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how small wineries can stand out from competitors. The level of rivalry in the market is lessened when producers can differentiate their products. While an innovation strategy is crucial for wine producers to compete, research on how they approach such practices is scarce. This work seeks to complement the existing literature by illustrating the analysis with a case study of Ervideira, a Portuguese family-run winery. The company’s international success relies on the production of high-end wines and innovation both in the production methods applied and the services provided. The company has invested in promoting the wines through direct contact with clients via the wine club, its stores, and its website, as well as attempting to attract potential customers through wine tourism and trade fair participation. I conclude that small wineries can differentiate themselves in the market by managing innovation and quality while nurturing tradition and adjusting to global consumer trends.Embora os pequenos produtores familiares sejam comuns no setor vinícola, enfrentam maiores obstáculos ao tentar promover os seus vinhos, especialmente ao nível internacional. O objetivo desta tese é investigar como é que eles se podem demarcar dos seus concorrentes. O nível de competitividade no mercado é minorado quando os produtores conseguem diferenciar os seus produtos. Embora uma estratégia assente na inovação seja crucial para os produtores de vinho competirem no mercado, a pesquisa existente explora pouco sobre como eles abordam estas práticas. Este trabalho procura complementar a literatura existente ao ilustrar a análise com um estudo de caso da Ervideira, uma empresa vitivinícola portuguesa. O sucesso internacional da empresa passa pela produção de vinhos de alta qualidade e pela inovação tanto nos métodos de produção aplicados como nos serviços prestados. A empresa tem apostado na promoção dos vinhos através do contacto direto com os clientes por meio do clube de vinhos, das suas lojas e do seu website, bem como na procura de potenciais clientes através do enoturismo e da participação em feiras. Concluo que os pequenos produtores de vinhos podem diferenciar-se no mercado aliando inovação à qualidade, enquanto cultivam a tradição e se adaptam às tendências de consumo globais

Adaptive Sampling for Large Scale Boosting

Classical Boosting algorithms, such as AdaBoost, build a strong classifier without concern for the computational cost. Some applications, in particular in computer vision, may involve millions of training examples and very large feature spaces. In such contexts, the training time of off-the-shelf Boosting algorithms may become prohibitive. Several methods exist to accelerate training, typically either by sampling the features or the examples used to train the weak learners. Even if some of these methods provide a guaranteed speed improvement, they offer no insurance of being more efficient than any other, given the same amount of time. The contributions of this paper are twofold: (1) a strategy to better deal with the increasingly common case where features come from multiple sources (eg. color, shape, texture, etc. in the case of images) and therefore can be partitioned into meaningful subsets; (2) new algorithms which balance at every Boosting iteration the number of weak learners and the number of training examples to look at in order to maximize the expected loss reduction. Experiments in image classification and object recognition on four standard computer vision data-sets show that the adaptive methods we propose outperform basic sampling and state-of-the-art bandit methods