Iconicity and flagshipness of tourist attractions

Major attractions (iconic or flagship) are considered as tools for economic development and as catalysts of urban regeneration, social change, and rebranding in urban and rural settings as they increase local appeal to visitors and quality of life for residents. Their impact has been often defined in the professional jargon as ‘effect’. This research note calls for further studies on the associated issues of definition, management strategies, social and environmental effects, as well as the dynamic process of the creation and loss of iconicity and flagshipness of major tourist attractions

Religious needs in the tourism industry

Similar to other tourism subgroups, e.g. elderly, gay, and disabled tourists, the special desires of religious tourists need not be marginalized. Given that religion and tourism can be competitive by nature, it is plausible to question whether tourists who practise their religion at home do so in a similar way while away from home. It is suggested that the relationship between tourism and religion constitutes a valid and important area of research and that satisfying religious needs in the tourism industry should be taken into consideration in the marketing process

Knowledge-based urban development of cross-border twin cities

Knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) has recently emerged as a central topic of discussion among scholars and practitioners interested in urban development tools and policies. However, what has rarely been discussed before is whether KBUD can be achieved in a cross-border context. This paper sets out to propose an analytical framework for empirical studies on the shared KBUD processes of cross-border twin cities, based on indicators adapted from the literature on cross-border regional innovation systems. The proposed framework was tested with two cases: Helsinki-Tallinn and Copenhagen-Malmö. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the framework, guide potential further studies on KBUD and twin cities and raise relevant suggestions for urban policy-makers in border regions

Cross-border regional innovation system integration: an analytical framework

The importance of inter-regional cooperation and innovation are widely accepted in the development rhetoric of the European Union. The highlighted importance of both themes in the context of borderlands has recently led to the coining of a new concept, cross-border regional innovation system.However, little attention has been given to the empirical analysis of the concept. This paper suggests a framework for empirically validating the concept by examining the levels of integration between cross-border regions. The outcome is a proposed framework can be operationalized by measurable indicators of cross-border cooperation in a regional innovation system setting. The framework was further tested with illustrative empirical cases that demonstrate its feasibility

Cognitive and cultural proximity between service managers and customers in cross border regions: knowledge transfer implications

Knowledge transfer between customers and managers is an important source of new ideas for innovation in the service industries. In cross border regions, inter-cultural interactions engender but also constrain knowledge transfers between actors even when actors share similar economic and technological knowledge bases. This theme is explored through an analysis of cognitive and cultural proximity between service managers and customers from “the other side” in a European cross border region where the constituent regions have broadly similar national cultures: Tornio-Haparanda on the border between Finland and Sweden. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with Swedish and Finnish managers of small and micro businesses serving customers from both sides were undertaken to gauge their perceptions of the impact of cultural and cognitive proximity to customers on learning interactions. The study adds to the emerging literature in this field by identifying seven elements of cognitive and cultural proximity including mentality, ways of solving problems, conservatism, shared language, focus on contextualized details, mentality and use of similar technologies. It is also original for the implications of perceived cultural and cognitive proximity on cross border knowledge transfer between customers and managers

Spatial competition and agglomeration in the visitor attraction sector

This paper provides a theoretical and empirical contribution to understanding spatial competition by examining visitor attractions in two contrasting clusters of lower and higher levels of agglomeration of businesses in Cornwall, the UK. The study found that competition is mainly for customers and labour and is related differently to the levels of agglomeration, spatial proximity and thematic product similarity between visitor attractions at the local compared to the regional scale. Location can be used differently for employing ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ competitive strategies. The study contributes to the knowledge on the spatiality of competition and the locational strategies of service businesses

Authenticity and place attachment of major visitor attractions

This paper aims to explore the relationships between place attachment and perceived authenticity of major visitor attractions. The empirical study was conducted with a sample of international tourists to major visitor attractions in two capital cities, Helsinki, Finland and Jerusalem, Israel. The results indicate a positive correlation between place attachment and authenticity. Major visitor attractions located in places with considerable heritage experience value are considered more authentic, and that authenticity of visitor attractions is influenced by place attachment moderated by iconicity and heritage value of the destination region. These findings provide insight to the ways tourists perceive authenticity of visitor attractions and highlight the importance of the heritage value of tourism destinations for strategic planning and marketing purposes

Die strategischen Antworten Europas

Europa hat zwei Gesichter. Es gab Zeiten, da waren die Europäer vom Wunder der Integration verzaubert. Nach Jahrhunderten leidvoller Erfahrung kriegerischer Gegnerschaften, nach imperialen Verwüstungen, nach nationalistischen Eruptionen hatten die Völker des Kontinents den inneren Hebel gleichsam komplett gewendet. Diese europäische Erfolgsgeschichte setzt sich heute fort. Gleichzeitig aber erscheint die Erfolgsgeschichte Europas gegenwärtig wie die Beschreibung einer entfernten Epoche. Die Rückkehr nationaler Egoismen und eine Erosion der Zustimmung prägen vielfach die Wahrnehmung der Europäischen Union. In dieser Situation ist es hilfreich, das eigentliche Kernproblem der Integration in den Blick zu nehmen: das konzeptionelle Schisma zwischen den Mitgliedstaaten. Unvereinbare Perspektiven über die Zukunft des Kontinents prallen aufeinander. Vordergründig wird um Vertragstexte gestritten, im Kern geht es jedoch um antagonistische Zukunftsfixierungen. Ohne die Verständigung über die künftige politische Ordnung des Kontinents könnte das Europa der 25 und bald mehr Staaten erodieren, möglicherweise sogar zerfallen. Solange dies nicht offen angesprochen wird, kann es keine positive Klärung der Problemlage geben. Die zentrale strategische Frage zur Zukunft der EU bleibt bis heute unbeantwortet: Wozu neue Anstrengungen unternehmen, warum neue Kräfte mobilisieren? Die Antwort auf diese Frage liegt in den neuen Konstellationen und Bedingungen der Weltpolitik: Es geht um die künftige Gestaltungskraft Europas in einer neuen globalen Ordnung. Die Zukunft Europas wird zunehmend durch Entwicklungen außerhalb des alten Kontinents entschieden. Es droht die Gefahr einer schleichenden Marginalisierung Europas. Europa muss nicht nur auf diese Entwicklungen reagieren, es hat vielmehr das Potenzial, die Regeln der neuen ökonomischen und politischen Weltordnung nach seinen Vorstellungen mitzugestalten. Die Gestaltungsfähigkeit Europas und die Zukunft des europäischen Kontinents werden sich an der Frage entscheiden, ob es den Europäern gelingt, die "europäische Antwort" so zu erneuern, dass sie zukunftsfähig wird. Die Neubegründung Europas erfordert, dass sich der Kontinent nach innen sowie nach außen behauptet und sich gegenüber seinen Bürgern erklärt und rechtfertigt

Europe's strategic responses

"Europe has two faces. On the one hand, there was a time when Europeans were enchanted by the miracle of integration. After having experienced bitter centuries of war and enmity, imperial devastation, and outbursts of nationalism, the nations of Europe had begun to move in precisely the opposite direction.Yet, although the European success story continues to this day, it also resembles the description of a distant epoch. Perceptions of the European Union are increasingly characterized by a resurgence of national egoism and declining levels of public approval. In this situation it is helpful to recall the problem at the heart of the issue of integration, which is the conceptual schism among the member states. Contradictory and irreconcilable attitudes toward the future of Europe confront each other. The arguments are ostensibly about treaty texts, though deep down it is a matter of antagonistic views of the shape of things to come. If it proves impossible to reach some kind of agreement about the future political order of the continent, the Europe of 25 and soon more member states may well go into decline, and may possibly even fall apart. This problem cannot be resolved until the issue has been openly discussed. The principal strategic question concerning the future of the EU continues to remain unanswered.Why is there a need to undertake new efforts, why is it necessary to mobilize new powers? The answer to this question is linked to the new constellations and conditions of world politics. It has to do with Europe’s ability to shape developments in a new global order. Europe’s future is increasingly being determined by developments taking place beyond its borders. There is a danger that the old continent will gradually become marginalized. Europe must not only react to these developments, it also has the potential to inject its own ideas into the formulation of the rules governing the new economic and political world order. Both Europe's ability to exert its influence and the fate of the European continent depend on whether the Europeans will be able to renew the 'European answer' in a manner that enables them to respond effectively to future challenges. Providing Europe with a new raison d’être requires the EU to assert itself both internally and externally, and to clearly communicate the reasons for further European integration to citizens." (author's abstract

An evaluation of two commonly used tests of unfamiliar face recognition

Abstract The two standardized tests of face recognition that are widely used suffer from serious shortcomings Keywords: Face recognition; Prosopagnosia; Neuropsychology Face recognition is one of the most intensively studied aspects of human cognition involving scientists from a wide range of related fields. Because of this, it is important that researchers have access to well-designed standardized tests of face recognition. Such tests would provide a means to compare the performance of participants in different laboratories. In addition, they would provide researchers with a ready-made tool so they would not need to create a test and develop norms. Lastly, neuropsychologists and neurologists require additional tests that can contribute to classifying individuals who have face recognition impairments