Special issue: Journal impact factors. [editorial]

C. Ryan and S. Page, "Special Issue: Journal impact factors", Tourism Management, Vol. 51:298-299, December 2015. Available online at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.05.014As many readers will be aware, Tourism Management has not hosted Special Issues since 2000 when it ran a feature on the Competitive Destination and the recent Virtual Special Issue that collated the Progress in Tourism Management: The first six years 2007-2013 review papers. Our decision to suspend Special Issues reflects the huge growth in submission and the volume of papers the Journal now publishes. In 1996 the journal was publishing around 60 papers a year from about 250 to 300 submissions. In 2014 this will have grown to over 900 submissions and approximately 130 papers published with acceptance rates of around 15–18%. This exponential growth in the journal's popularity means that space for Special Issues has been at a premium while the prime consideration has been the timely publication of cutting edge scholarly papers. Accompanying these changes has been a rise in the interdisciplinary content of much of the work now being published in the journal. An important ethos of the journal which the Editors espouse is that Tourism Management remains a broad-based journal that embraces that interdisciplinarity and encourages scholarly debate on papers that occurs from time to time in Rejoinders we publish while additionally encouraging the publication of novel and controversial topics.Peer reviewe

Air Passenger Duty and Outbound Tourism Demand from the United Kingdom

On November 1, 1994 an Air Passenger Duty (APD) was introduced in the United Kingdom, and since, this tax continues to be controversial. This article examines the effect of the ADP on UK outbound tourism demand for 10 international destinations. An autoregressive distributed lag model is developed and income, price, and tax elasticities are estimated. The income and price elasticities obtained, ranged between 0.36 and 4.11 and −0.05 and −2.02, respectively. The estimated tax elasticities suggest that the implementation of APD had a negative effect on UK outbound travel for five destinations and the demand is inelastic to changes in taxes although the magnitudes vary across destinations. The general message is that although the stated objective of APD is to reduce travel and associated carbon emissions, the effectiveness of APD, however, has been marginal; travelers are prepared to pay more in the main to maintain their demand

Maritime tourism and terrorism: Customer perceptions of the potential terrorist threat to cruise shipping

Maritime terrorism is a neglected area of research in tourism, particularly the use of scenario planning to understand potential threats to the cruise industry. Since the events of 9/11, terrorism, and the threat of terrorism, has become a major concern within the tourism industry. This article analyses tourist perception of perceived terrorist threats given that many ships are American owned. Using the scenario analysis presented by Greenberg, Chalk, Willis, Khilko, and Ortiz, this study suggests that an attack on a cruise ship is a distinct possibility. Indeed, 44% of respondents questioned perceived the possibility of a terrorist attack on a cruise ship to be likely despite the fact that safety and security is seen by the industry as a 'hallmark' of cruising. Differences in attitude among potential passengers revealed a high level of confidence in the cruise ship companies. This finding is particularly marked among more experienced cruise ship passengers. However, this did not necessarily preclude the possibility of security measures being improved. All passengers appeared generally resigned to the fact that risk is associated with travel in the twenty-first century and welcomed any efforts by cruise shipping companies to improve safety and security. © 2012 © 2012 Taylor & Francis

Social media as a destination marketing tool: Its use by national tourism organisations

Social media are gaining prominence as an element of destination marketing organisation (DMO) marketing strategy at a time when public sector cuts in their funding are requiring them to seek greater value in the way marketing budgets are spent. Social media offers DMOs with a tool to reach a global audience with limited resources. The aim of this study is to explore the usage of social media among the DMOs of the top 10 most visited countries by international tourists. The study uses content analysis and semistructured interviews to examine the usage and impact of social media marketing strategies and identifies a framework of best practice for other national tourism organizations (NTOs) to learn from. The study argues that social media usage among top DMOs is still largely experimental and that strategies vary significantly. © 2013 Taylor & Francis

Vagal leptin signalling: A double agent in energy homeostasis?

This commentary refers to “Deletion of leptin signaling in vagal afferent neurons results in hyperphagia and obesity by De Lartique et al.”, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. molmet.2014.06.003.Amanda J. Page, Stephen J. Kentis

Economics of Tourism and Transport: An Introduction

No abstrac

Progress in tourism and destination wellbeing research

A proliferation of research in recent years has revealed a myriad of relationships between tourism and the concept of wellbeing. These include health benefits of visiting tourist destinations, a product focus on wellness and maintaining good health. Broader interpretations emphasize the complex ways in which tourism can influence the emotional, psychological, cognitive and spiritual dimensions of wellbeing, both for tourists and for destination communities. This study reflects an emerging paradigm shift that incorporates a deeper appreciation of the benefits derived at the destination level from a focus on health and wellbeing. The study highlights three key perspectives, namely the tourist, the destination community and the destination itself. The study concludes that research in this area is critical to the future development, management and marketing of sustainable and competitive destinations with the wellbeing of tourists, their destination host communities, and the overall destination experience, critical to their ultimate success

Understanding the nature of Project Management Capacity in Sri Lankan Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs): A Resource Based Perspective

Abstract Project Management (PM) capacity can be defined as PM resources and capabilities that are supporting for effective project operations. Using the Resource Based Perspective, the paper aims to explore the nature of PM capacity in NGOs and develops a framework for PM capacity in NGOs. A case study approach and qualitative methods have been applied for this study. For this study, the literature on PM resources and Organizational capacity was reviewed and a theoretical framework was created. This theoretical framework was then explored using four case studies conducted at Local and International NGOs in Sri Lanka. The study identified three levels of PM Capacity: Team PM Capacity, Organizational PM Capacity and Collaborative Social PM Capacity, a Capacity that has not yet been identified in the literature which supports adaptation to the complex, uncertain environments in which some NGOs operat

Business engagement in a civil society: Transitioning towards a dementia-friendly visitor economy

Dementia is a growing global health condition primarily, though not exclusively, associated with ageing populations. This paper examines dementia awareness and the perspectives of businesses and organisations in the visitor economy, given that people with the early stages of dementia remain consumers of leisure and tourism experiences. It adopts the concept of the civil society where people are treated in a fair and equitable manner irrespective of their abilities and state of health to promote equality of opportunity. As an exploratory study, it evaluates the awareness, perception and experience of businesses in developing a dementia-friendly visitor economy. It focuses on dementia as a ‘hidden condition’ with a focus on the attractions sector to develop a greater understanding of how to embrace dementia as part of a civil society. The research highlights the implications for the wider visitor economy with dementia set to grow globally in scale and significance