State Level Research: Typology and Direction

The increasingly competitive environment for travelers dollars compels state travel offices to review their long term plans. An important part of that planning process is the role research will play in understanding travelers behavior. The types of research states might find most useful is the subject of this paper. Research studies are aggregated into four categories delineated as: Assessment, Monitoring, Product Positioning and Forecasting. Examples of each categorical type are briefly reviewed in terms of function and expected outputs. A strategy for designing an optimum research mix is also suggested

Spontaneous, collective coherence in driven, dissipative cavity arrays

We study an array of dissipative tunnel-coupled cavities, each interacting with an incoherently pumped two-level emitter. For cavities in the lasing regime, we find correlations between the light fields of distant cavities, despite the dissipation and the incoherent nature of the pumping mechanism. These correlations decay exponentially with distance for arrays in any dimension but become increasingly long ranged with increasing photon tunneling between adjacent cavities. The interaction-dominated and the tunneling-dominated regimes show markedly different scaling of the correlation length which always remains finite due to the finite photon trapping time. We propose a series of observables to characterize the spontaneous build-up of collective coherence in the system.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, including supplemental material (with 4 pages, 1 figure). This is a shorter version with some modifications in the supplemental material (a gap in the proof was closed and calculations significantly generalized and improved

Mature Market\u27s International Travel Characteristics and Images of the People\u27s Republic of China

Very little research has been conducted on the mature market (50+ years) with respect to travel. However, the size and economic spending power of this group makes it a significant force in the travel marketplace. The purpose of this article is to profile portions of the mature market predisposed to travel to the People\u27s Republic of China and analyze Before/After touristic images the groups held of the country. Some notable findings were 1) the individuals profiled in this study were frequent international travelers with over one-third traveling internationally three or more times a year, 2) they preferred traveling in family groups, 3) friends and relatives were the most commonly utilized sources for international travel information but the external search process also included other business provided sources, 4) Historical attractions followed closely by a category described as People had the highest attractiveness ratings although there was some evidence to suggest that expectations exceeded reality as most of the attributes contained in the Historical and People categories had lower attractiveness scores for the After visitation group than for the Before visitation group, 5) five of the ten service attributes were rated significantly higher by the After visitation group than for the Before visitation group. The study raises many questions about the mature market and their travel behavior. The need for further research is quite evident to more fully understand this significant group of travelers

Acceleration Noise as a Measure of Effectiveness in the Operation of Traffic Control System

Acceleration Noise measures the disutility associated with successive decelerations and accelerations in a signalized environment. It provides an indication of the smoothness of traffic flow. As such it constitutes a generalization of the number-of-stops concept and is suitable to replace it as an additive measure-of-effectiveness for designing and evaluating the operation of traffic control systems. This report develops models for calculating the acceleration noise incurred by a platoon of vehicles travelling along a signal-controlled traffic link. Several flow patterns are analyzed: discrete arrivals, uniformcontinuous arrivals and variable-continuous arrivals. A computer program and test results are described. The models can be easily extended for use in signal- controlled networks.Research supported by KLD Associates, Inc., in connection with Department of Transportation Contract FH-11-7924

How to Avoid a COVID-19 Research Paper Tsunami? A Tourism System Approach

COVID-19 reaction policies have had the effect of putting the tourism economy into a form of forced hibernation. Currently there is speculation about what will happen as tourism begins to emerge from its dormant state. In this article, we use the concept of a system to analyze the potential research implications of COVID-19 effects on tourism. In doing so, we firmly place tourism within the concept of a system that relies on a steady flow of money from tourists to function. Three scenarios, each with two end states, to cover the array of potential reactions and recovery from the pandemic are presented. An impact grid is constructed to be able to follow the effects of policies and interventions on tourism objects and subjects. Examples of how research may use the grid to uncover impacts are presented. Conclusions reinforce the need for a system approach to guide COVID-19 tourism research

Experimental and theoretical evidence for molecular forces driving surface segregation in photonic colloidal assemblies

Surface segregation in binary colloidal mixtures offers a simple way to control both surface and bulk properties without affecting their bulk composition. Here, we combine experiments and coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CG-MD) simulations to delineate the effects of particle chemistry and size on surface segregation in photonic colloidal assemblies from binary mixtures of melanin and silica particles of size ratio (Dlarge/Dsmall) ranging from 1.0 to similar to 2.2. We find that melanin and/or smaller particles segregate at the surface of micrometer-sized colloidal assemblies (supraballs) prepared by an emulsion process. Conversely, no such surface segregation occurs in films prepared by evaporative assembly. CG-MD simulations explain the experimental observations by showing that particles with the larger contact angle (melanin) are enriched at the supraball surface regardless of the relative strength of particle-interface interactions, a result with implications for the broad understanding and design of colloidal particle assemblies

Development of an Approach for the Holistic Assessment of Innovation Projects in Manufacturing Including Potential, Effort, and Risk Using a Systematic Literature Review and Expert Interviews

Manufacturing companies face severe challenges from rapid technological developments. Industry 5.0 indicates the need for a sustainable, human-centered, and resilient industry. In striving for transformation, innovation becomes critical. However, a careful allocation of resources implies the evaluation of innovation projects. Moreover, diverse types of innovation and limited amounts of information represent a significant challenge. Therefore, this contribution presents an approach for holistically assessing innovation in manufacturing. First, a systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to frame the current research state and identify assessment criteria. Second, a multiple-attribute decision-making method (MADM) was developed using the findings of the SLR and expert interviews. Finally, the criteria and the assessment approach were verified and validated by expert interviews, a workshop, and an industrial use case application. As the main findings, three criteria groups were derived and detailed: potentials, efforts, and risks. These criteria groups were used in a MADM approach incorporating Fuzzy set theory within a hybrid technique, combining the Analytical Hierarchical Process with the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solutions. In conclusion, an enhancement of innovation assessment in manufacturing was achieved through the integration of different criteria and the balance between complexity and industrial applicability

An Integrated Tourism Development Project: The Central Region of Ghana

The Republic of Ghana is located in West Africa approximately 750 kilometers north of the equator. As a country it has gone through a series of economic cycles but due to numerous coups, misguided economic policies, and the vagaries of international markets for export goods most growth has been short lived. Since 1990 economic growth has accelerated and the country is currently governed by an elected President and Parliament. One of the main economic development strategies in the last five years has been tourism

EXAMINING THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TOURISM: WHO GETS TO CLAIM THE GOLD?

Korištenje metodologije ekonomskog utjecaja za procjenu važnosti turističkih atrakcija može biti problematično. Prvi problem povezan je s načinom uporabe te tehnike, konkretnije s utvrđivanjem onoga što se zaista mjeri tom tehnikom. Drugi je problem u tome kako se dobiveni podaci koriste. Ovaj rad analizira jedno istraživanje procjene ekonomskog utjecaja vinske industrije u saveznoj državi Iowa u Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama. Poznato je, naime, da se mnoge vinarije smatraju primarnim turističkim atrakcijama te je stoga važno razumjeti njihovu važnost za lokalna gospodarstva kako bi se počele donositi učinkovite politike razvoja. Korištenjem različitih pristupa za procjenu gospodarskog utjecaja u radu se pokazuje i raspon raznih vrijednosti koje mogu biti predmet procjene. S tim u vezi propitujemo i korištenje netočnih podataka, što je važno s obzirom da netočne i precijenjene ocjene ekonomskog utjecaja mogu dovesti do pogrešno usmjerenih politika kod ostalih primarnih turističkih atrakcija koje se ne prepoznaju kao one koje dodaju vrijednost nekom odredištu.The use of economic impact methodology to assess the importance of tourist attractions can be problematic. The fi rst issue is how the technique is utilized and what actually gets counted. The second issue is how the derived information is utilized. This paper discusses a study to estimate the economic impact of the winery industry in the state of Iowa in the United States. Many wineries are viewed as primary tourist attractions and it is important to understand their importance to local economies in order for effective development policy to be enacted. Using different approaches to measuring economic impact we show the range of values that can be estimated. From this we pose several concerns about the use of inaccurate. The use of inaccurate and overestimated economic impact assessments can lead to misdirected policy with other primary attractions not recognized as providing any value to a destination

A longitudinal study of the bi-directional relationship between tobacco smoking and psychological distress in a community sample of young Australian women

Background. Tobacco smoking and poor mental health are both prevalent and detrimental health problems in young women. The temporal relationship between the two variables is unclear. We investigated the prospective bidirectional relationship between smoking and mental health over 13 years