The Japanese beer industry : driven by innovation

The Japanese beer market is an oligopoly dominated by two major players, Asahi and Kirin, who account for 75 per cent of the domestic market. Despite their market dominance, a range of demographic and other factors such as stagnant domestic demand, rising health consciousness and a declining population undermine their prospects for sustained growth. In this climate, the major brewers have introduced a wave of innovative products in recent times. While the major global brewers have focused on their core competencies, Japan’s brewers have instead opted for diversification. This paper offers an overview of the Japanese beer market, with a focus on the innovative products developed, the main features of market competition among the Big Four brewers, and a summary of their strategic directions

Rejoinder: The rhetoric and reality of yield at the destination level

The author comments on the paper by Larry Dwyer, Peter Forsyth, Liz Fredline, Marg Deery, Leo Jago and Sven Lundie, ‘Yield measure for special-interest Australian inbound tourism markets’, published in Tourism Economics, Vol 13, No 3, September 2007, pp 421–440. This rejoinder is followed by a response from Larry Dwyer

Towards a conceptualization of unethical marketing practices in tourism: A case-study of Australia's inbound Chinese travel market

This paper has a twofold purpose: to identify the types and impacts of unethical practices in an international travel market and to offer a generic model to enhance our understanding of the causes and consequences of such practices. The Chinese outbound market is used as a case study. The choice of China is timely and appropriate, given that the country is forecast to be one of the world’s major outbound markets by 2010 with over 100 million leaving mainland China (World Tourism Organization [WTO], 2006). The research setting is the Chinese inbound tourism market to Australia where the Chinese market has grown substantially since Approved Destination Status (ADS) was granted in 1999. The implications of this research for European and North American tourism operators are significant, given the 2005 agreement between the European Commission and the Chinese authorities that allows group travel from China into Europe. Using the long-interview technique with industry participants in Australia and China a conceptual framework of the environment in which unethical practices occur is provided. A model illustrating antecedents, impacts, and outcomes of unethical practices is offered. Key managerial findings include the unhealthy consolidation of channel power in the Chinese market and the influence of ethnic networks across borders. Several key issues requiring further research are highlighted

Testing theory of planned versus realized tourism behavior

This article probes how well one’s plans for doing, buying, and consuming discretionary tourism services relate to what is actually done. Using group level data, it includes an empirical study of hypotheses comparing planned and actual consumption behaviors. The main propositions tested are that realized consumption behaviors are greater in number than planned and that the level of matching between planned and realized actions varies as a function of contingency factors of composition of the tourist group, product experience, and motivations. Data from two large-scale surveys serve to examine the theory. The findings support the hypotheses partially and provide guidance for planning survey research and marketing management strategies

Conceptual tools for evaluating tourism partnerships

Network and stakeholder analyses in tourism studies typically offer schema, typologies, and frameworks that contribute to the conceptual development of the subject area. What has been lacking is the managerial application of network research in tourism. This paper offers a method for investigating and conceptualising network relationships in a regional tourism district. The fieldwork was undertaken in the Australian wine region of the Hunter Valley. The findings are analysed using four different approaches to the conceptualisation and classification of interorganisational relationships in a tourism region: (1) the application of a value net to the region’s stakeholders, (2) the generation of a partnership-activities matrix, (3) an ecological approach using Budowski’s (Budowski, G., 1976. Tourism and conservation: conflict, coexistence or symbiosis. Environmental Conservation, 3(1), 27–31.) typology and (4) by identifying the competition for scarce resources among tourism stakeholders. Managerial implications for each approach are described

Customer empowerment in tourism through consumer centric marketing (CCM)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain consumer centric marketing (CCM) and adopt this new technique to travel context. The paper seeks to outline the benefits and disadvantages of the CCM together with warnings of typical caveats. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides an exploration of the CCM concept and demonstrates several applications in the tourism, travel and hospitality industries. Findings – CCM will be expected as the norm in the travel industry by customers of the future, yet it is only the innovators who gain real tangible benefits from this development. Practical implications – The paper offers tangible examples for the travel industry on how to utilise this new technology. The technology is already available and the information communication technologies (ICT) companies are keen to establish ways as to how consumers can utilise it, i.e. by providing “content” for these ICT products the travel industry can fully gain from these developments and also enhance consumers’ gains from it. This can result in more satisfied customers for the travel (as well as ICT) companies thus truly adopting the basic philosophy of marketing. Originality/value – The paper outlines current and future opportunities to truly place customers at the centre and provide organisations with some real savings/gains through the use of ICT

Analysing the impact of the 2011 natural disasters on the Central Queensland tourism industry

The past decade has been particularly difficult for the tourism industry worldwide, and in Asia/Australasia in particular, as crises have followed in rapid succession, starting with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Severe flooding in Central Queensland in early 2011, was followed soon after by Cyclone Yasi, again revealing the vulnerability of communities to the forces of nature. The tourism industry, due to the discretionary nature of the consumption activity, is particularly vulnerable to crises and the fragmented nature of the industry can make it difficult to prepare for and quickly respond to crises. This paper investigates the impacts of the 2011 flooding and Cyclone Yasi on Central Queensland tourism operators and the degree of implementation and effectiveness of the Tourism Queensland Crisis Management Plan Template to prepare regional tourism organisations and businesses for crises such as these. This research has found that whilst only a small number of Central Queensland tourism operators were directly affected by Cyclone Yasi and the flooding, the impacts and outcomes appear very similar for both those directly and indirectly affected: (i) loss of business revenue, downsizing the operation due to the decrease in the number of tourists; (ii) medium term impacts due toongoing negative media coverage; and (iii) lack of compensation from insurance companies and the Queensland Government. All these have led to a very slow recovery for the tourism industry within Central Queensland