Attributes that influence resort attractiveness: a case study of selected Kimberley resorts

Published ArticleResorts have grown to dominate the accommodation sector of the world’s tourism industry and are known as the key building blocks of tourism due to the impact the latter has on local and international economies. Resorts, as a component of the destination offer a unique combination of resources, attractions, and facilities; they also have unique physical environments, ecological conditions, and socio-cultural specifics. The attractiveness of a resort plays a role in a tourist’s destination of choice, expectations of satisfaction, intentions to revisit, perceptions of benefits and motivations, positive perception of opinion leaders, the amount of money spent, and the duration of the stay. In order for a resort to be successful, sustainable and viable, it is important to identify the attributes that lead tourists to choose one destination over another. Despite this, a lack of research has been carried out to determine the underlying dimensions of resort attractiveness in South Africa. The aim of this research was to determine the attractiveness of selected Kimberley resorts in the Northern Cape, South Africa. These resorts have experienced low visitation and profit levels in the past. This leads to question whether visitors find the resorts attractive. In order to collect data a questionnaire was used to conduct interviews with visitors at the resorts. The results suggest that attributes of selected Kimberley resorts are perceived as being of average to poor quality

Green golf tourism: the golfer’s perspective

Published ArticleThe beautiful settings found on a golf course hide the true impact it have on the environment. It was important to establish whether golf tourists prefer a golf course and destination that sustain the environment over those that did not and whether they were willing to sacrifice some aspects of the game that traditionally made golf enjoyable in order to protect the environment. The population of this study was the members of and visitors to George Golf Club and Pinnacle Point in Mossel Bay. A questionnaire was used to personally interview 277 respondents by means of the simple random sampling approach. Results indicated that respondents’ considered price an important factor when choosing a golf course and destination. Unfortunately, no conscious decision was made to select a golf course and destination that was environmentally friendly. Respondents clearly indicated that a golf course should be designed to conserve the environment, but they would not pay more to play on an eco-friendly golf course. The results implied that “green” golf is misrepresented and misunderstood in South Africa. Respondents associated “green” as an expensive lifestyle that only a few could afford. Golf tourists should know that “green” golf tourism could lead to a sustainable and responsible lifestyle

Monitoring natural organic matter and disinfection by-products at different stages in two South African water treatment plants

Natural organic matter (NOM) is a complex organic material present in natural surface water. NOM can cause problems during water treatment . most notably the formation of toxic disinfection by-products. This study was undertaken in order to assess the effectiveness of some of the water treatment techniques employed by selected water supply companies in South Africa in dealing with NOM. Total organic carbon (TOC) and ultra violet (UV) absorbance at wavelength of 254 nm were measured andused to calculate specific ultra violet absorbance (SUVA), which was used to determine the changes in NOM concentration throughout the water treatment train. Other parameters measured include pH, turbidity, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and conductivity. Water samples were collected from two water treatment plants in South Africa, namely Sedibeng (Balkfontein) and Midvaal. The overall TOC reduction after the water treatment processes was 33% and 30% at Midvaal and Sedibeng, respectively. SUVA values were generally low (<2 ..mg-1.m-1) indicating the presence of aliphatic compounds and less earomaticityf in NOM of the water samples. Water insoluble ƒÀ-cyclodextrin (ƒÀ-CD) polyurethanes were then applied to the water to compare TOC reduction in addition to enormalf water treatment processes, and were found to provide up to 19% additional TOC decrease, and UV absorbance reduction was up to 78%. Results obtained using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis after chlorination, revealed that the water had the potential to form halomethane compounds with chloroform being the most dominant. Again, water-insoluble ƒÀ-CD polyurethanes were applied to the water as a treatment to remove trihalomethanes (THMs) and were found to efficiently remove up to 95% of THMs formed during the disinfection step. The treatment processes studied have limited ability in dealing with NOM and are not individually effective in NOM removal. Results obtained indicate that the application of ƒÀ-CD polyurethanes in addition to the water treatment processes may enhance NOM removal in water and significantly reduce the THMs formed

Practical guidelines for enhanced coagulation using UV254

Abstract The negative effects of natural organic matter (NOM) in drinking water are well known and, where necessary, its removal is crucial. This is enforced by the increasingly stringent water regulations around the world. In South Africa, this regulation targets NOM in the form of total organic carbon (TOC), at a maximum of 10 mg/L. Enhanced coagulation (EC), a multiple objective chemical dosing strategy, offers a viable method of NOM removal, and this study explored its use for typical South African raw waters. A consistent and reproducible jar test procedure was developed and applied to 19 widely different raw water samples collected from different locations and at different times of a year long period. These samples consisted of a wide range of alkalinity, UV254 and turbidity values. Three criteria were developed and applied to determine the best EC dosage for the optimal removal of UV254 without compromising residual dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and turbidity. DOC was measured, prior to and after batch tests, to confirm removal similarities with UV254 and compliance with national standards. The resultant percentage removals of UV254 and DOC ranged between 56 to 96 % and 45 to 94 % respectively, irrespective of water source, period and coagulation dosage. The settled water residual turbidity values were less than 1.5 NTU. The costs for EC were found to be comparable to those for conventional coagulation in all cases

Natural organic matter in drinking water sources: its characterisation and treatability

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Place branding of seaports in the Middle East

This paper analyses seaports’ brand personalities as a means of understanding similarities and differences of these important locations and their relationship with their host place image. Drawing upon Aaker’s (J Mark Res 34:347–356, 1997) brand personality construct, the study presents lexical analysis from the websites of nine seaports in the Middle East. Each seaport’s website is content analysed, and the brand personality is measured using Aaker’s (1997) framework and Opoku’s (Licentiate Thesis, Lulea University of Technology, ISSN, 1402-1757, 2005) dictionary of synonyms. Findings show that seaports have developed a level of isomorphism upon particular dimensions of brand image; however, the findings also show the most distinctive seaports were linking their seaport to their place brand. In particular, the findings show only the Port of Jebel Ali has a clear and distinctive brand personality and to a lesser extent the Ports of Sohar, Shahid Rajee and Khor Fakkan. The research has important management implications of branding for public diplomacy and demonstrates seaport brand positioning in relation to place branding, used to inform public communication and marketing

Diversities, affinities and diasporas: a southern lens and methodology for understanding multilingualisms

We frame multilingualisms through a growing interest in a linguistics and sociology of the ‘south’ and acknowledge earlier contributions of linguists in Africa, the Américas and Asia who have engaged with human mobility, linguistic contact and consequential ecologies that alter over time and space. Recently, conversations of multilingualism have drifted in two directions. Southern conversations have become intertwined with ‘decolonial theory’, and with ‘southern’ theory, thinking and epistemologies. In these, ‘southern’ is regarded as a metaphor for marginality, coloniality and entanglements of the geopolitical north and south. Northern debates that receive traction appear to focus on recent ‘re-awakenings’ in Europe and North America that mis-remember southern experiences of linguistic diversity. We provide a contextual backdrop for articles in this issue that illustrate intelligences of multilingualisms and the linguistic citizenship of southern people. In these, southern multilingualisms are revealed as phenomena, rather than as a phenomenon defined usually in English. The intention is to suggest a third direction of mutual advantage in rethinking the social imaginary in relation to communality, entanglements and interconnectivities of both South and North

Chapitre 14: Phytopathogènes et stratégies de contrôle en aquaponie

peer reviewedAmong the diversity of plant diseases occurring in aquaponics, soil-borne pathogens, such as Fusarium spp., Phytophthora spp. and Pythium spp., are the most problematic due to their preference for humid/aquatic environment conditions. Phytophthora spp. and Pythium spp. which belong to the Oomycetes pseudo-fungi require special attention because of their mobile form of dispersion, the so-called zoospores that can move freely and actively in liquid water. In coupled aquaponics, curative methods are still limited because of the possible toxicity of pesticides and chemical agents for fish and beneficial bacteria (e.g. nitrifying bacteria of the biofilter). Furthermore, the development of biocontrol agents for aquaponic use is still at its beginning. Consequently, ways to control the initial infection and the progression of a disease are mainly based on preventive actions and water physical treatments. However, suppressive action (suppression) could happen in aquaponic environment considering recent papers and the suppressive activity already highlighted in hydroponics. In addition, aquaponic water contains organic matter that could promote establishment and growth of heterotrophic bacteria in the system or even improve plant growth and viability directly. With regards to organic hydroponics (i.e. use of organic fertilisation and organic plant media), these bacteria could act as antagonist agents or as plant defence elicitors to protect plants from diseases. In the future, research on the disease suppressive ability of the aquaponic biotope must be increased, as well as isolation, characterisation and formulation of microbial plant pathogen antagonists. Finally, a good knowledge in the rapid identification of pathogens, combined with control methods and diseases monitoring, as recommended in integrated plant pest management, is the key to an efficient control of plant diseases in aquaponics.Cos

Investigation of low resolution point clouds for illumination correction in pushbroom hyperspectral images : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Machatronics at Massey University, Turitea Campus, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Figures 2.2 & 4.11 have been removed for copyright reasons, but may be accessed via the source listed in the Bibliography.Global food demand is predicted to double between 2015 and 2050. Current agricultural production is unable to facilitate this growth. Consequently, plant breeding must be accelerated to breed improved cultivars that can meet this demand. While technologies such as genomics are suitable for accelerating plant breeding, phenotyping lags behind and is currently considered the bottleneck. Consequently, imaging and remote sensing technologies are being used to provide quantitative, reliable phenotype information. One such technology; hyperspectral imaging can provide physiological, biophysical, and biochemical phenotypic information. While hyperspectral imaging has reached a substantial level of maturity in aerial and satellite based remote sensing applications, it is still underdeveloped in the close-range lab-based phenotyping scenario. In particular is the effect of illumination and complex plant geometry which affects the measured signal and is even more pronounced in the close range hyperspectral imaging. Methods for correction of illumination/geometry effects developed for aerial, and satellite-based imaging are unsuitable for close range hyperspectral imaging. Recently there has been an interest in fusing hyperspectral images with point clouds captured by 3D imaging devices to provide more comprehensive high dimensional phenotype information. However, one study focusses on the possibility of using 3D geometry of the plant to correct for the effects of illumination in hyperspectral images. This study investigates the use of low resolution point clouds captured with low cost devices for use in illumination modelling and correction of hyperspectral images acquired in close range lab-based scenario