ARTICULATING SERVICE CONCEPT TO ENHANCE TOURISM EXPERIENCE DESIGN

ARTICULATING SERVICE CONCEPT TO ENHANCE TOURISM EXPERIENCE DESIGN Identifying the nature of Irish Tourism experience is recognised as being of primary importance in the formulation of tourism policy and in the shaping of an enhanced competitive position for the industry (OECD, 2004), however tourism service managers often have difficulty articulating the true nature of their service concept (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons, 2004). The definition of service concept is a fundamental part of the strategic advantage seeking processes of service design, service development and service innovation (Tax & Stuart, 2004). In response to the competitive imperative for improved tourism product development, this paper will develop a conceptual model of the components of a service concept, an experience concept and the process by which the tourism experience concept can be articulated. There exist varied definitions of the components of a service concept from both service marketing, e.g. Lovelock & Wright (1999) 8 P’s, and service operations perspectives, e.g. Clark, Johnston & Shulver (2000) and there is also considerable literature on the subject of service experience components. Experiences create added value by engaging and connecting with customers in a personal and memorable way (Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, 2004) and progress the economic value of the organisations’ market proposition (Pine & Gilmore (1998)). As services are driven to become more experiential and therefore increasingly intangible, the articulation of service concept invariably becomes more difficult but also more necessary. The objective of this paper is to examine the existing theories and frameworks of the components of services and experiences and to identify areas of commonality and/or divergence. From this understanding of the components of an experience, a preliminary conceptual model of the process service providers should follow in seeking to better define and articulate their tourism experiences will be developed. Pine & Gilmore (1998) assert that developed nations have moved beyond the notion of a service economy to a the idea of an experience economy and that the ability to design effective systems for the creating desired customer experiences has become increasingly important for competitive advantage. Articulating Service concept is a fundamental part of improved Tourism service des

Tapping Environmental History to Recreate America’s Colonial Hydrology

To properly remediate, improve, or predict how hydrological systems behave, it is vital to establish their histories. However, modern-style records, assembled from instrumental data and remote sensing platforms, hardly exist back more than a few decades. As centuries of data is preferable given multidecadal fluxes of both meteorology/climatology and demographics, building such a history requires resources traditionally considered only useful in the social sciences and humanities. In this Feature, Pastore et al. discuss how they have undertaken the synthesis of historical records and modern techniques to understand the hydrology of the Northeastern U.S. from Colonial times to modern day. Such approaches could aid studies in other regions that may require heavier reliance on qualitative narratives. Further, a better insight as to how historical changes unfolded could provide a “past is prologue” methodology to increase the accuracy of predictive environmental models

Comparative genomics reveals diversity among xanthomonads infecting tomato and pepper

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bacterial spot of tomato and pepper is caused by four <it>Xanthomonas </it>species and is a major plant disease in warm humid climates. The four species are distinct from each other based on physiological and molecular characteristics. The genome sequence of strain 85-10, a member of one of the species, <it>Xanthomonas euvesicatoria </it>(<it>Xcv</it>) has been previously reported. To determine the relationship of the four species at the genome level and to investigate the molecular basis of their virulence and differing host ranges, draft genomic sequences of members of the other three species were determined and compared to strain 85-10.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We sequenced the genomes of <it>X. vesicatoria </it>(<it>Xv</it>) strain 1111 (ATCC 35937), <it>X. perforans </it>(<it>Xp</it>) strain 91-118 and <it>X. gardneri </it>(<it>Xg</it>) strain 101 (ATCC 19865). The genomes were compared with each other and with the previously sequenced <it>Xcv </it>strain 85-10. In addition, the molecular features were predicted that may be required for pathogenicity including the type III secretion apparatus, type III effectors, other secretion systems, quorum sensing systems, adhesins, extracellular polysaccharide, and lipopolysaccharide determinants. Several novel type III effectors from <it>Xg </it>strain 101 and <it>Xv </it>strain 1111 genomes were computationally identified and their translocation was validated using a reporter gene assay. A homolog to Ax21, the elicitor of XA21-mediated resistance in rice, and a functional Ax21 sulfation system were identified in <it>Xcv</it>. Genes encoding proteins with functions mediated by type II and type IV secretion systems have also been compared, including enzymes involved in cell wall deconstruction, as contributors to pathogenicity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Comparative genomic analyses revealed considerable diversity among bacterial spot pathogens, providing new insights into differences and similarities that may explain the diverse nature of these strains. Genes specific to pepper pathogens, such as the O-antigen of the lipopolysaccharide cluster, and genes unique to individual strains, such as novel type III effectors and bacteriocin genes, have been identified providing new clues for our understanding of pathogen virulence, aggressiveness, and host preference. These analyses will aid in efforts towards breeding for broad and durable resistance in economically important tomato and pepper cultivars.</p

Crisis Compliance for International Technology Based Risks: Lessons from Fukushima

International Organizations require guidelines for dealing with Technology Based Risk. This paper presents a framework for the role of technology in crises-Crisis Compliance-the use of technology to predict crises, to prevent them from occurring, and to prevail over the ones that do occur and extends it to international organizations and industries. This framework is applied to the disaster at Fukushima and it explores the Japanese government\u27s role in deploying nuclear technology, responding to the immediate crisis, and coordinating the massive ongoing cleanup effort. Five characteristics of the crisis emerge: 1) Design Basis versus Beyond Design Basis Risks-what risks are built-in to nuclear technologies versus those that are outside the box, 2) Deterministic versus Stochastic Risks-risks whose impact is immediately visible versus those risks whose effect are only visible long term, 3) Physical and Geographical Scope-the degree to which the risk can be physically isolated, 4) Contained versus Cascading Disasters-disasters of one particular type versus those that evolve into other forms of disasters, and 5) Internal versus External Locus of Control- industry\u27s ability to regulate itself versus the need for independent regulatory agencies. Application of this framework to other technology based crises provides further examples of how an understanding of these characteristics can provide insight into dealing with international Technology Based Risk in the future

‘Inter-Life’ as a Novel Virtual World Technology to Support the Transition into Higher Education

The ‘Inter-Life’ project has successfully established 3-dimensional virtual world islands to support young people in navigating challenging life transitions. The shape of Higher Education is changing as a result of wider access policies, resulting in increased diversity of the student population and there is a need for those in the Higher Education setting to be ‘future ready.’ Being ‘future ready’ increasingly includes the need to integrate Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) tools in a meaningful way in order to support the transition to university as well as continuity and progression throughout Higher Education. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of the Inter-Life virtual world in supporting a cohort of new students in the initial stages of transition to a University community