Exploring Well-being as a Tourism Product Resource

This study employs a qualitative research approach where focus groups (n ¼ 11) with key stakeholders were used to understand how tourism investors view the concept of well-being in relation to tourism and the potential to use it as a tourism product resource. Findings validated by a wider group (n ¼ 50) exposed the barriers and enablers of implementing well-being in this way. The potential for businesses and policymakers to transform these barriers into enablers was also identified. In addition, study findings were mapped onto a robust model extracted from the public health sector and applied in a tourism context using a systems theory approach. This further highlighted the potential offered to the fields of public health and tourism in the concept of well-being, and demonstrated the well-being value of tourism. Data from this research will aid tourism business practice and development by embedding a well-being philosophy for tourism destinations' strategies

External agents of change: a 10-year trend study of garden visitor behaviour in England.

Changes in people’s behaviour over time can be understood through three distinct elements: their age, a period of time and their birth cohort. Age is a key demographic in many leisure studies but less frequently a period of years is used in longitudinal studies. Changes to a birth cohort (a term often used synonymously with a generation) are rarely examined. This study adopts all three measures to demonstrate the complexity of change over time and also offers a greater understanding of change in people’s leisure behaviour, specifically those who visit gardens in England. A trend study consisting of two cross-sectional studies, 10 years apart, was undertaken through resident surveys (n = 341 and 392). These examined factors external to the individual which might influence their behaviour. The results demonstrate that changes in environmental, social and technological factors such as the weather, family and friends and the Internet have impacts that are complex and which are sometimes concealed within different age groups and cohorts over the decade. Notably, no single factor was identified where there was change across the period, all the age groups and all five cohorts, confirming that any change in people’s behaviour is not universal

Implementing sustainable tourism: a multi-stakeholder involvement management framework

Within the extensive body of literature on sustainable tourism (ST), its successful implementation is an emerging and important theme. The lack of or ineffective stakeholder participation is a major obstacle to ST realisation and there is little clarity as to how best to resolve this problem. This paper presents the findings of a purposive UK-based case study that evaluated stakeholder involvement in the implementation of ST. Using over fifty stakeholders’ accounts drawn from eight primary stakeholder groups, a ‘multi-stakeholder involvement management’ (MSIM) framework was developed. The MSIM framework consists of three strategic levels: attraction, integration and management of stakeholder involvement. Six stages are embedded within the three levels: scene-setting, recognition of stakeholder involvement capacity, stakeholder relationship management, pursuit of achievable objectives, influencing implementation capacity and monitoring stakeholder involvement. These are supported by the overarching notion of ‘hand-holding’ and key actions [e.g. managing stakeholder adaptability] that enhance stakeholder involvement in ST. Key words: Implementation, Sustainable Tourism, Stakeholder Involvement, Stakeholder framewor

Food Consumption When Travelling Abroad: Young Chinese Sojourners’ Food Consumption in the UK

This qualitative study investigates the everyday food choices of 21 Chinese sojourners living in two different localities in the UK. Findings from a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews reveal how participants adopt a food consumption pattern, negotiating between ordinary and extraordinary food choices, including home-made Chinese food, Chinese restaurant food, global brands, British food, to “foods of the world”. Their zooming in and out of different food consumption choices reflects the transformative identity of the sojourners, between their student role during the week and becoming tourists at the weekends, meshing work and tourism during their sojourning in the UK. Theoretically this paper extends the limited understanding of sojourners, showing how their complex food choices reflect their swift transformative identity. Findings also illustrate how consumption patterns adopted by sojourners living in rural areas differ from the ones living in an urban setting

Sports mega-events as part of a nation's soft power strategy: The cases of Germany (2006) and the UK (2012)

The potential positive impact on a nation's image has moved from being a welcome consequence to a significant justification for investing in hosting sports mega-events. Mobilising Joseph Nye's concept of 'soft power' we empirically investigate Germany's strategic use of a sports 'mega' (the 2006 FIFA World Cup) to successfully alter their image among 'foreign publics'. We then analyse the example of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games for Britain's international prestige. For both cases we draw on and analyse official government documents and newspaper sources written before and after the Games. The findings reveal the stark contrast between Germany's and Britain's sport and 'soft power' strategies: the former undertook a long-term, well-planned and resourced approach to altering its poor international image; the latter appeared far less concerned about capitalising on the Olympics to enhance Britain's (seemingly robust) international image

The UK tourist Statistics 2002

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:9082. 668795(2002) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

A Perceptual Dialect Map of North East England

This study presents perceptual dialect maps derived from a questionnaire completed by almost 1,600 people across North East England. Respondents were given the names of fifty-one locations and asked to provide numerical judgments on the “similarity” or “difference” of the dialect of speakers from these locations compared to speakers from the respondents’ hometowns. The questionnaire also invited respondents to comment on accents and dialects in the region. The numerical data are mapped, revealing a perceptual landscape consisting of three broad areas further subdivided into smaller perceptual zones. These perceptual areas are described and discussed in relation to salient geographical, social, and cultural factors. The article concludes by placing this research in the context of dialectological and variationist studies of English in the North East

Repeat tourists and familiar place formation: Conversion, inheritance and discovery

Familiar tourists, associated with repeat tourism, demonstrate both behavioural and affective commitment to their special, or familiar, places. Yet they remain overlooked in favour of volume measurements of generic repeat tourists. This interpretive study provides a more holistic understanding of the relationship between tourists demonstrating loyalty and attachment to place (familiar tourists) and the place commanding such behaviour (familiar place). It also evaluates ways in which familiar places enter and evolve in the lives of individuals (familiar place formation). The preparatory phase of the research used focus groups with informants who self-identified as familiar tourists. The main fieldwork was conducted concurrently in two tourist destinations in Wales, UK, namely Gower and Mawddach. It comprised field interviews with familiar tourists, interviews with tourism providers, and a self-completion written instrument for other (non-interviewed) familiar tourists. Overall, the two research phases captured the familiar tourism experiences of 289 informants. The findings showed familiar place relationships as spanning decades and even generations. An original, evidence-based typology of familiar place formation: namely conversion, inheritance (heirloom or genealogy) and discovery (other-led or self-led) is offered. Subsequently, these five types of familiar place formation are interpreted as five corresponding strategic and creative themes for practical marketing campaigns