An exploratory study of creating dementia-friendly businesses in the visitor economy : Evidence from the UK

© 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.Many governments have promoted the development of a civil society to encourage citizen involvement in addressing many of the grand social challenges such as the growing prevalence of dementia, as ageing becomes a major trend in developed societies. One outcome has been the development of Dementia Friendly Communities, created via Dementia Action Alliances (DAAs) in England, to enhance awareness, care and the experience of people with dementia in accessing services and facilities. These initiatives are based on engaging the business community and yet no research studies have examined this theme to date. Given the growing significance of leisure and tourism activities that people with dementia and family members engage in, this study examines the experience of business engagement with DAAs in the visitor economy in England. The notion of shared value articulated by Porter and Kramer (2011) is used as a basis for understanding the type of business engagement.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Garden tourism

PublishedReviewNOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Tourism Management. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Tourism Management, Volume 50, October 2015, Pages 71–72 doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2015.01.023Review of Garden Tourism by R.W. Benfield

Scaling out impacts: A study of three methods for introducing forage technologies to villages in Lao PDR

Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

A critical analysis of gardens as a resource for tourism and recreation in the UK

Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/765 on 07.20.2017 by CS (TIS)Garden visiting has become a popular leisure pursuit in recent years. Within a tourism and recreation context, scant research exists on the subject of gardens as recreational resources and the manner in which they are presented to and consumed by the public. This thesis explores the scope and nature of gardens as tourism and recreation resources in the UK. The thesis examines the conceptual foundations of the garden, in order to establish what reasons explain predisposition towards garden visiting, and why gardens provide a desirable environment in which people want to spend leisure time. The activity of garden visiting is analysed using a two-dimensional approach, which takes into account the supply of gardens open to the public and the demand for garden visits. In this respect, the supply-side relates to the perceptions of garden owners/mangers, while the demand aspect is linked with the outlook of garden visitors. Uniting these two perspectives yields an intriguing area of research, that of the visitor experience, how that experience is perceived and managed, and which elements are crucial in its formation. Understanding the visitor experience is a critical for operators of garden attractions, in line with all attractions. This thesis presents the results of two surveys, one of garden owners/managers (n=546) and one of garden visitors (n=593). Data analysis provides a source of information on the range and characteristics of gardens open to the public, approaches to managing the visitor experience and issues for owners/managers in relation, to operating a garden visitor attraction as well as visitors characteristics, motivations; behaviour and perceptions of the garden experience. The data generated allows the identification of a range of themes and implications for the operators of garden attractions, in particular those issues that will influence future development

An influenza pandemic : what it could mean for Scottish tourism

There is a growing unease among World Health Organisation (WHO) officials and other global disease surveillance organisations that Avian Flu will mutate into a human influenza pandemic. Such is the concern that the Scottish Executive asked public bodies to prepare business continuity plans based upon the National Health Service Scotland‘s contingency plan and scenarios, and this briefing paper is a consequence of that request

Exploring the Spatial Patterns of Car-based Tourist Travel in Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, Scotland

Car transport is a vital element in tourism yet there is a surprising neglect of the role of the car on tourism travel patterns, behaviour and activities. This exploratory paper focuses on the use of itinerary mapping as a useful methodology to identify how aggregate travel flow as well as more detailed individual itineraries can be mapped and understood using a Geographical Information System (GIS). The focus of this exploratory research is the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Scotland first National Park established in 2002, where a variety of itinerary patterns are revealed through a map-based questionnaire of visitors using National Park roads (n=749). The implications for planning and policy initiatives are discussed

The Scottish Highland Games: Evolution, Development and Role as a Community Event

This article provides an in-depth review of the Highland Games as an event that has achieved worldwide recognition, staged not just in Scotland but across the globe where Scottish Diasporas exist although the focus here is on Scotland. Highland Games events are complex to categorise and conceptualise considering their multi-layered nature and scope, encompassing a multitude of activities each based on diverse local histories and traditions. The article commences with a detailed historical analysis of the Highland Games in Scotland to illustrate the distinctiveness and uniqueness of this type of event. A review of the event literature follows to illustrate the complexities and problems that conventional event typologies pose for seeking to classify or categorise the Highland Games, emphasising the community basis of such events as a starting point for understanding this phenomenon. The article reports the results of an empirical study of Highland Games events in Scotland and addresses a number of the current concerns and debates associated with the staging of Highland Games, including the challenges that non-profit Games organisations face in continuing the community tradition of event hosting. One particular issue that features is an acknowledgement of the dangers posed by the more commercial priorities of contemporary event management to the rich cultural heritage that underpins the Highland Games which could easily become neglected or even eradicated through more professional organisation

Film tourism: evolution, progress and prospects

PublishedArticleNOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Tourism Management. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Tourism Management, Volume 33, Issue 5, October 2012, Pages 1007–1029 doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2012.02.008Film tourism has emerged as a major growth sector for research in tourism and it is widely recognised as a driver of tourism development for many destinations. To date, there has been a relatively substantial literature on the subject, little of which has sought to synthesise and engage with the wider social science paradigm of culture, film and media research. The aim of this Progress Review is to critically evaluate film tourism as a subject of cross-disciplinary academic study, highlighting the major research themes, issues and contributing conceptual frameworks, critiquing existing and developing perspectives and addressing critical gaps in knowledge. This review is particularly timely as the literature on film tourism has not been synthesised from a cross-disciplinary perspective. Accordingly, this paper seeks to provide a road map of the exponential growth in social science literature associated with the cognate areas that study, or contribute to, film tourism

Towards sustainable tourism planning in New Zealand: monitoring local government planning under the Resource Management Act

In the light of the increasing pace and scale of tourism activity in New Zealand, the concept of sustainable tourism has become a key ingredient in the nation's tourism strategy. This paper explores sustainable tourism planning in New Zealand at the level of local government, and in particular, focuses on the implementation of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) as a mechanism for achieving sustainable tourism. Using the findings of a survey of Regional Councils and Territorial Local Authorities, the paper explores public sector planning responses to tourism impacts and sustainability concerns in New Zealand. The paper extends the earlier work of Page and Thorn (1997; 2002), which identified major issues of concern at local council level with regard to tourism impacts and argued the need for a national vision for tourism to ensure that the RMA achieved its original goals. Since then, a national tourism strategy has been published and changes in legislation have further empowered local authorities to further progress the sustainability agenda. This paper examines these developments and the ensuing implications, concluding that significant progress has been made in developing tourism policies at the local level, but that a number of constraints and issues limit the development of New Zealand as a sustainable destination

Accelerating the Impacts of Participatory Research and Extension: Lessons from Laos

The role of participatory research and extension in stimulating farmer uptake and adaptation of beneficial technologies has been demonstrated over the last two decades in both developed and developing countries. The challenge is to move beyond simply trialling new technologies with farmers on a small scale to enabling significant livelihood impacts across larger numbers of households, villages and districts. This paper presents results of a project in Lao PDR exploring ways to accelerate and spread localised impacts in complex upland farming systems