Divided we stand: institutional collaboration in tourism planning and development in the Central Region of Ghana

This research is an exploratory study that examines collaboration at the institutional level in the tourism sector of the Central Region, Ghana. The research begins with a review of the key issues related to collaboration in tourism planning and development followed by an extensive exploration of three main issues related to institutional collaboration in tourism in the Central Region. The three main issues are the vision of tourism development shared among stakeholders, collaboration and coordination within the public sector and between the public and private sectors and the factors that constrain and facilitate collaboration and coordination. Using extensive interviews with key stakeholders and reviewing policy documents, the research indicates low levels of collaboration between tourism institutions both within the public sector and across the public?private sectors. This is notwithstanding a shared awareness of the benefits of collaboration among all actors. The research thus contributes interesting insights into the politics of collaboration in tourism destinations. Given tourism's contribution to the Ghanaian economy, it is imperative that efforts are made towards improving the levels of collaboration and coordination between tourism agencies and institutions

Travel Preferences of Overseas Destinations by Mainland Chinese Online Users

Despite the financial crisis in the second half of 2008 together with the global outbreak of Influenza A H1N1 in 2009, Mainland China’s (hereafter known as China) outbound tourism continued to grow steadily. The rapid development of the Chinese economy is the major force propelling the development of sustainable outbound tourism. Other factors, such as a consistent policy about the expansion of outbound destinations and on-going improvement in living standards have provided good motivations for the growth of the Chinese outbound tourism. Therefore, understanding the travel preferences of Chinese travellers is regarded as one of the important issues in tourism businesses worldwide. Along with the rapid development of Internet applications in China, the Internet is a new way for Chinese travellers to search and share travel information. Due to the growing size of Chinese online users, the Internet becomes the most resourceful medium to understand consumers from this huge market. This paper presents the findings of a study that investigates the travel preferences of Chinese online users by collecting data from Elong.com and Ctrip.com, representing the major and the most popular travel websites in China. Research findings are expected to make a meaningful contribution to better understand what Chinese online users like to visit.School of Hotel and Tourism Managemen

Tourism and health, risks and challenges

Whilst the entry ‘tourism, health and well-being’ articulates the consensus that tourism experiences can have health benefits for individuals and societies, there are also health risks involved when it comes to international travel. Tourists and tourism organisations need to be aware of and to manage such risks in order to mitigate the potentially far reaching health consequences. By its nature, tourism involves the movement of people from place to place and as such increases the unplanned exposure of tourism stakeholders to a variety of health related risks. This entry takes a tourism, tourist and community perspective rather than a health or medical practitioner stance, in order to highlight some of the risks and challenges that may emerge in the context of tourism and health

Concepts and tools for comprehensive sustainability assessments for tourism destinations: a comparative review

This paper reviews a wide range of tools for comprehensive sustainability assessments at whole tourism destinations, covering socio-cultural, economic and environmental issues. It considers their strengths, weaknesses and site specific applicability. It is intended to facilitate their selection (and combination where necessary). Tools covered include Sustainability Indicators, Environmental Impact Assessment, Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Audits, Ecological Footprints, Multi-Criteria Analysis and Adaptive Environmental Assessment. Guidelines for evaluating their suitability for specific sites and situations are given as well as examples of their use