Adding Psychological Value to Heritage Tourism Experiences

This study employed an under-utilized methodology known as the Hierarchical Value Map (HVM) technique to explore the underlying motives and needs of visitors to a heritage site. Drawing from a small sample of visitors to a preserved 18th century plantation, the analysis revealed that most respondents were looking for a satisfying leisure experience where pleasure and learning are complementary. In addition the results support the notion that there is a specialized tourist segment (e.g., heritage tourists) that as a group has unique motives and needs. Implications for both optimizing the visitors experience as well as projecting an effective image and marketing communications are discussed

Justifications of national gambling policies in France and Finland

AIMS - The principles of free trade and free circulation of services within the European Union have created pressures to make the strictly controlled European gambling markets more open. According to the Court of Justice of the European Union, restrictions on gambling are only allowed if they are justified in admissible terms of consumer protection, prevention of criminal activity and protection of public order. This study compares the gambling laws of two European societies, France and Finland, to analyse how their legal frames of gambling have been adjusted to these principles. DESIGN - The data consists of up-to-date legislation on gambling in Finland and France. A qualitative analysis was conducted to study whether new ways of justifying have been included in legislative texts and if these are substantiated by measures related to consumer protection or crime prevention. RESULTS - France has mainly justified its restrictive policies on gambling in terms of preventing criminal activities while the Finnish legislation highlights the charitable causes funded by gambling proceeds, a claim not accepted by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Consumer protection is increasingly stressed in both countries, and the range of rationales has also grown notably since 2007. CONCLUSION - While the vocabularies of justification accepted by the CJEU have expanded since 2007, these have not been substantiated by many new legislative measures. This is not attributed to political ill will but rather to the difficulty of changing existing legislative traditions.Peer reviewe

Tourism Partnerships in Protected Areas: Exploring Contributions to Sustainability

Partnerships between natural-area managers and the tourism industry have been suggested to contribute to sustainability in protected areas. This article explores how important sustainability outcomes of partnerships are to their members, how well they are realised and the features of partnerships leading to their achievement. In 21 case studies in Australia, interviews (n = 97) and surveys (n = 100) showed that of 14 sustainability outcomes, improved understanding of protected areas values and improved biodiversity conservation were the most important. Other highly ranked outcomes were greater respect for culture, heritage, and/or traditions; improved quality of environmental conditions; social benefits to local communities; and improved economic viability of the protected area. Scores for satisfaction with outcomes were, like those for importance, all high but were less than those for importance for the majority, with improvement in quality of environmental conditions showing the largest gap. The satisfaction score exceeded that for importance only for increased competitiveness of the protected area as a tourist destination. “Brown” aspects of sustainability, i.e., decreased waste or energy use, were among the lowest-scoring outcomes for both importance and satisfaction. The most important factor enabling sustainability outcomes was provision of benefits to partnership members. Others were increased financial support, inclusiveness, supportive organisational and administrative arrangements, direct involvement of decision makers, partnership maturity, creation of new relationships, decreased conflict, and stimulation of innovation. Improving sustainability outcomes, therefore, requires maintaining these partnership attributes and also increasing emphasis on reducing waste and resource use

Micromechanical Properties of Injection-Molded Starch–Wood Particle Composites

The micromechanical properties of injection molded starch–wood particle composites were investigated as a function of particle content and humidity conditions. The composite materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction methods. The microhardness of the composites was shown to increase notably with the concentration of the wood particles. In addition,creep behavior under the indenter and temperature dependence were evaluated in terms of the independent contribution of the starch matrix and the wood microparticles to the hardness value. The influence of drying time on the density and weight uptake of the injection-molded composites was highlighted. The results revealed the role of the mechanism of water evaporation, showing that the dependence of water uptake and temperature was greater for the starch–wood composites than for the pure starch sample. Experiments performed during the drying process at 70°C indicated that the wood in the starch composites did not prevent water loss from the samples.Peer reviewe

Fluid inclusion evidence for an early, marine-sourced oil charge prior to gas-condensate migration, Bayu-1, Timor Sea, Australia

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Chemical changes of fluid inclusion oil trapped during the evolution of an oil reservoir : Jabiru-1A case study (Timor Sea, Australia)

This study of the Jabiru oil field, Timor Sea (Australia), shows how the variability of visual properties of fluid inclusions in palaeo-oil zones can be mapped to identify internal structures that result from fluid interactions in the reservoir. Variability in the attributes of oil inclusion assemblages (OIAs) is greater within an inferred palaeo-gas cap (Zone 1) and current residual zone (Zone 3) and less within the current oil zone (Zone 2). In Zone 3, where water imbibed, a higher proportion of OIAs with visual white fluorescing oil inclusions correlates with less mono-aromatic compounds and a higher abundance of polar compounds determined on a bulk extract of inclusion oil using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The CH₂/CH₃ ratios and water contents, determined by Fourier Transform-Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), are higher. In Zone 1, where gas drained, there is a higher proportion of OIAs with visual yellow fluorescing oil inclusions, and these correlate with low HPLC mono-aromatic and moderate polar contents, and low FT-IR CH₂/CH₃ ratios and water contents. Interpretation of the grains with oil inclusions (GOI™) and pressure–volume–temperature-composition (PVTx) fluid inclusion data suggests that a gas-saturated blue fluorescing palaeo-oil was present in the three zones at the same Pressure–Temperature fluid inclusion forming event PT₁. Lighter gas-saturated blue fluorescing oil was present in Zone 2, but was rarer in Zones 1 and 3 at the later fluid inclusion forming event PT₂. The yellow and white inclusion oils, trapped in Zones 1 and 3 respectively, are gas-depleted and interpreted to result from the interaction between non-movable residual oil around grains with the surrounding gas and water, respectively. Comparison between the PVTx data and the published burial curve suggests that most of the fluid inclusions were trapped during two different hot fluid flow events. The full oil column is interpreted to have been present during Early–Mid Tertiary. The palaeo-oil column was reduced during the Late Miocene by imbibition of water in the present residual zone and drainage of gas at the top of the reservoir.22 page(s

Evidence for an early, marine-sourced oil charge prior to gas-condensate migration, Bayu-1, Timor Sea

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Oil migration in the Vulcan Sub-basin, Timor Sea, investigated using GOI and FIS Data

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Use of the distribution and geochemistry of oil-bearing fluid inclusions to unravel petroleum charge histories : an example from offshore Brazil

Oil-bearing fluid inclusions offer a unique opportunity to learn about the distribution and composition of petroleum in the geologic past. While the composition and distribution of free petroleum is often the result of a complex charge history with multiple charge, mixing, biodegradation and leakage events, the composition of petroleum in inclusions tends to be the result of a discrete, commonly early charge event. We here report on the distribution and geochemistry of oil-bearing fluid inclusions in a stacked petroleum reservoir and provide an example how these data can be used to constrain the fill history of reservoirs with variably preserved and/or degraded oil occurrences.3 page(s