Spatial Dimensions of the Orlando Destination Region

This article aims to empirically examine the concept of a destination region using a case study approach. Two conflicting hypotheses are considered for the spatial structure of tourism in Orlando\u27s destination region: the bubble pattern vis-à-vis a dispersed pattern. Locational concentration and the industrial mix of Orlando\u27s tourist-related firms are examined by analyzing data revealing their location and business specialization. Findings reveal the concentration of the accommodation and dining firms near the theme parks area in a bubble-like pattern. Conversely, smaller scale attractions, convention services, and visitor and professional services tend to locate in high proportions outside of the core area. Implications are discussed from both theoretical and practical perspectives

Sieving tourism destinations: Decision-making processes and destination choice implications

Purpose: To introduce and define the concept of sieving tourism destinations as an umbrella term representing faster decision-making processes compared to destination choice models, and to demonstrate its usefulness for both sides of consumption and production of tourism attractions. Methods: Fast decision at the consumers’ demand side is demonstrated via an exploratory graphic model. Producers’ supply side sieving is measured by observing data elimination on two public serving internet platforms compared to a baseline taken from special interest group tour operators representing Jewish heritage attractions in Sicily and Thessaloniki. Results: On the demand side, nowadays market conditions enable destination choice decision making in a few simple steps often interpreted as spontaneous, intuitive, or irrational. Quantitative analyses on the supply side provided measurable sieving ratios. They reveal careful partial sieving performed at local level editorship, while much harsher sieving occurs on social media platforms. This is interpreted as a market failure related to niche and special interest groups attractions. Implications: The demand side findings call for targeted marketing distinguishing customers not only by income but also by temperament, mood, and personality. The supply side findings call for careful examination of the conditions for inclusion and exclusion from the list of attractions as well as the need to remedy the concealment of minor attractions from social media platforms

Developing the Jewish Heritage Tourism Product in European Cities

Workshop "Challenges for European City Tourism" The European Forum at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel Workshop for invited participant

Generation of a tourism product : jewish heritage tourism in Spain

This paper aims to study the supply side of an emerging new tourism attraction. Specifically, the research focuses on the transformation of Jewish heritage to a unique tourism product. Actual objectives are to assess the physical elements composing the Jewish heritage product and to examine their diversity in a sample of twenty Spanish towns and cities, members of Red de Juderias de Espanã organization. Affiliation with a central actor raised the question to what extent different localities are affected by the central guidelines so as to generate a homogeneous product of a repetitive nature. A survey of all artifacts related to Jewish heritage tourism in these cities provided the data for the assessment. The results shed light on the process of converting abstract heritage to a tangible tourism product. The Jewish heritage product embraces a set of specific elements listed in descending order of their appearance: Jewish quarter, Jewish museum, a synagogue, a local Jewish persona, other artifacts, square or garden named after a Jewish persona, and Jewish cemetery. Not all places have all elements and elements of the same type are not necessarily at the same level of development. Analysis of the diversity of the product among the towns reveals a tendency towards homogeneity in the visual appearance of the Jewish quarters and the displays exhibited in Jewish museums. Nonetheless, certain elements such as synagogues and their story, local Jewish personas, and other minor artifacts tend to portray greater heterogeneity. In addition, the differences found in the productmix among cities help to increase their diversity. It is recommended to exercise a greater care in preserving differences among cities especially those located in the same geographical cluster. In the way of analogy these findings seem to equally apply to other niche tourism products such as wine tourism, rural tourism, or other religions' tourism of non-monumental nature.Este artículo busca estudiar el sector real de una emergente atracción turística. Específicamente, la investigación se centra en la transformación de la herencia judía en un único producto turístico. Los objetivos actuales son evaluar los elementos físicos que componen el producto de la herencia judía y examinar su diversidad en una muestra de 20 pueblos y ciudades españolas, miembros de la organización de la Red de Juderías de España. La afiliación con un participante central planteó la cuestión de hasta que punto diferentes localidades son afectadas por las directrices centrales con el fin de generar un producto homogéneo de carácter repetitivo. Una encuesta de todos los artefactos relacionados con el turismo de la herencia judía en estas ciudades proveyó los datos para esta evaluación. Los resultados arrojaron luz sobre el proceso de convertir una herencia abstracta en un producto turístico tangible. El producto de la herencia judía abarca un conjunto de elementos listados en orden descendente según su aparición: Barrio judío, museo judío, sinagoga, una persona judía local, otros artefactos, plaza o jardín nombrados a partir de una persona judía y un cementerio judío. No todos lo lugares tienen todos los elementos y elementos del mismo tipo no están necesariamente al mismo nivel de desarrollo. El análisis de la diversidad de el producto entre los pueblos revela una tendencia hacia la homogeneidad en la apariencia visual de las plazas judías y las exposiciones exhibidas en los museos judíos. No obstante, ciertos elementos como las sinagogas y su historia, las personas judías locales y otros artefactos menores tienden a retratar una heterogeneidad mayor. Además, las diferencias encontradas en los productos entre ciudades ayudan a incrementar su diversidad. Es recomendable ejercer un gran cuidado en preservar diferencias entre las ciudades especialmente en aquellas localizadas en el mismo grupo geográfico. En el sentido de la analogía, estos hallazgos parecen aplicarse igualmente a otros productos turísticos como el turismo del vino, el turismo rural, u otras religiones turísticas de naturaleza no monumental

Cultural tourism between local and transnational identities: Jewish heritage in Syracuse, Italy

This article focuses on the management of heritage and cultural tourism related to the complex identity of minority groups, where different components tend to produce different visions and practices It highlights the impacts of globalized transnational networks and influences on political, cultural and religious identities and affiliations over long distances. In fact, diverse views, approaches, perceptions and representations may lead to disagreement and conflicts even within apparently compact ethnic or religious communities.The issues related to dissonant heritage management strategies and the related authorized heritage discourse, in terms of unbalanced power relations and diverging narratives, are considered. The theme of Jewish heritage tourism (J.H.T) is analysed, with a focus on the case of Syracuse, Italy. This historically cosmopolitan and multicultural city specializes in cultural tourism and tends to develop niche products, including J.H.T, in order to strengthen and diversify its international cultural destination status. Different components of the Jewish world, as well as non-Jewish stakeholders, practice different approaches to heritage tourism. Actors, discourses and reasons behind Jewish culture management and promotion will be highlighted and the reactions, perceptions and suggestions by the various stakeholders and groups involved will be portrayed, with the aim of contributing to the discussion about the complexity of niche heritage tourism processes in a multi-ethnic site

Cultural tourism between local and transnational identities: Jewish heritage in Syracuse, Italy

This article focuses on the management of heritage and cultural tourism related to the complex identity of minority groups, where different components tend to produce different visions and practices. It highlights the impacts of globalized transnational networks and influences on political, cultural and religious identities and affiliations over long distances. In fact, diverse views, approaches, perceptions and representations may lead to disagreement and conflicts even within apparently compact ethnic or religious communities. The issues related to dissonant heritage management strategies and the related authorized heritage discourse, in terms of unbalanced power relations and diverging narratives, are considered. The theme of Jewish heritage tourism (J.H.T) is analysed, with a focus on the case of Syracuse, Italy. This historically cosmopolitan and multicultural city specializes in cultural tourism and tends to develop niche products, including J.H.T, in order to strengthen and diversify its international cultural destination status. Different components of the Jewish world, as well as non-Jewish stakeholders, practice different approaches to heritage tourism. Actors, discourses and reasons behind Jewish culture management and promotion will be highlighted and the reactions, perceptions and suggestions by the various stakeholders and groups involved will be portrayed, with the aim of contributing to the discussion about the complexity of niche heritage tourism processes in a multi-ethnic site

Preserving cultural assets of others: Jewish heritage sites in Macedonian cities

Issues arise when trying to understand the motivation of policymakers to preserve the assets of cultures that do not belong to the mainstream population. Tunbridge and Ashworth’s seminal study on ‘Dissonant Heritage’ and Bennett’s developmental model of intercultural sensitivity (DMIS model) provide a basis to evaluate both the motivations and the existence of a cultural dissonance. As there is a growing worldwide trend towards preserving and developing Jewish heritage tourism (JHT) this study examines Jewish heritage sites in three Macedonian cities endowed with rich Jewish history. Unlike previous studies concentrating on the notion of dissonant heritage this research focuses on the motivation for preserving such sites, an issue hardly tackled before. Previous studies suggested the prevalence of six possible motives: guilt, facing harsh history, emphasis on dark tourism, revival of a harmonious past, respect, and economic benefits. Data were obtained via face-to-face interviews conducted with policy-makers from central and local governments. The interviews were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively in order to determine the leading motives for preservation. The findings indicate that by establishing and maintaining Jewish heritage sites, stakeholders reflect sentiments of respect and admiration for the perished Jewish community and a longing for the revival of an elusive harmonious past. The potential economic benefits and dark tourism surfaced only as minor motives. Practically, JH preservation is used to revive dialogue with a forgotten past that may also contribute to urban tourism development in the future. Conceptually, the interviews did not reveal any indication of heritage dissonance, a finding that stands in sharp contrast to the dissonant heritage theory

Investigating motives for preservation of Jewish heritage sites: the case of Macedonia

The study investigates the main motives for preservation of sites of Jewish heritage tourism (JHT) by studying three locations in Macedonia: Skopje (the capital), Štip (the largest city in the east part of Macedonia) and Bitola (the largest city in the southwest part of Macedonia). The article assesses the presence of several motivations, like: (i) Guilt; (ii) Interest in national history; (iii) Revival of a glorious Past; (iv) Economic benefits; (v) Display of sympathy; and (vi) Dark tourism development. The analysis is based on a qualitative research method and incorporates: (a) Qualitative data analysis, by conducting interviews in June 2016 with key stakeholders from central and local governments as the main policy makers; and (b) Analysis of secondary data sources, achieved by reviewing literature, historical, and statistical data related to Jewish history in Macedonia. Generally, the results point to the presence of strong iconic connection among Macedonians and the Jews that lived in Macedonia. The general findings indicate that by establishing and maintaining JH sites, stakeholders reflect sentiments of sympathy and even admiration to the perished Jewish community and a strong desire to revive a glorious past. Only in the case of Bitola, the potential economic benefits were surfaced as the main motive for initiating activities and investments in JH sites. Finally, the study recommends design and development of JHT product and tailor-made tourist packages as key elements that may boost tourism development in Macedonia alongside with commemoration of the Jews and their ties with the Macedonian people

Destination Marketing: Competition, Cooperation or Coopetition?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the business relationships among the tourism industry stakeholders in conducting collaborative destination marketing activities. Design/methodology/approach – This research takes a case study approach by focusing on the investigation of the business relationships among tourism industry stakeholders in Elkhart County, Indiana. Interviews with five staff members from the Elkhart County Convention and Visitors Bureau as well as 32 tourism industry representatives were conducted in order to answer the research questions. Findings – The interview results indicate that different relationships of cooperation, competition and coopetition coexist among the tourism stakeholders. Four cooperative relationships with various degrees of formalization, integration, and structural complexity are involved. In addition, four factors have been identified as affecting this relationship configuration. The perceived relationship between cooperation and competition was also found to be vital with reference to the marketing of a destination. Research limitations/implications – Given the exploratory nature and case study approach of the research, caution is required in interpreting the results of the study, particularly in generalizing the study results to other destinations. Originality/value – The paper provides practical implications to tourism businesses in their efforts to collectively market their destination, particularly in relation to how they balance the relationship between cooperation and competition, individual benefits and common benefits in order to achieve success for both the destination and their individual businesses