The role of Internal Marketing (IM) in sustainable destination management: A case study of Grand Bay, Mauritius

This paper investigates about internal marketing (IM) at a tourism destination. Research reveals considerable work in the area, but, it is observed that the concept has always been examined within a confined setting. Tourists experience a medley of services at a destination so that satisfaction is measured through the evaluation of each service element separately. As such, marketing a tourist destination is a challenging task as many stakeholders are involved. The absence of IM in the overall marketing program at a destination confirms the gap in literature and calls for a re-examination of the concept. The host community, as a co-creator of the tourism offer has always been overlooked in the process of marketing. Therein lies the contribution of this paper. The study therefore seeks to address two gaps in literature – first to provide a renewed definition of IM at a tourism destination and second, it gauges into IM implications in the sustainability context. Using semi-structured interviews to cover all segments at the destination, the findings reveal that all the stakeholders know about marketing, but most people do not understand the term IM. The lack of communication between destination stakeholders and the loose connection that exist in the motives of individual co-creators of the tourism product confirms a missing IM in the overall marketing program which in turn impedes in sustaining the tourism destination

The R2R3-MYB Transcription Factor Gene Family in Maize

MYB proteins comprise a large family of plant transcription factors, members of which perform a variety of functions in plant biological processes. To date, no genome-wide characterization of this gene family has been conducted in maize (Zea mays). In the present study, we performed a comprehensive computational analysis, to yield a complete overview of the R2R3-MYB gene family in maize, including the phylogeny, expression patterns, and also its structural and functional characteristics. The MYB gene structure in maize and Arabidopsis were highly conserved, indicating that they were originally compact in size. Subgroup-specific conserved motifs outside the MYB domain may reflect functional conservation. The genome distribution strongly supports the hypothesis that segmental and tandem duplication contribute to the expansion of maize MYB genes. We also performed an updated and comprehensive classification of the R2R3-MYB gene families in maize and other plant species. The result revealed that the functions were conserved between maize MYB genes and their putative orthologs, demonstrating the origin and evolutionary diversification of plant MYB genes. Species-specific groups/subgroups may evolve or be lost during evolution, resulting in functional divergence. Expression profile study indicated that maize R2R3-MYB genes exhibit a variety of expression patterns, suggesting diverse functions. Furthermore, computational prediction potential targets of maize microRNAs (miRNAs) revealed that miR159, miR319, and miR160 may be implicated in regulating maize R2R3-MYB genes, suggesting roles of these miRNAs in post-transcriptional regulation and transcription networks. Our comparative analysis of R2R3-MYB genes in maize confirm and extend the sequence and functional characteristics of this gene family, and will facilitate future functional analysis of the MYB gene family in maize

Should Easier Access to International Credit Replace Foreign Aid?

We examine the interaction between foreign aid and binding borrowing constraint for a recipient country. We also analyze how these two instruments affect economic growth via non-linear relationships. First of all, we develop a two-country, two-period trade-theoretic model to develop testable hypotheses and then we use dynamic panel analysis to test those hypotheses empirically. Our main findings are that: (i) better access to international credit for a recipient country reduces the amount of foreign aid it receives, and (ii) there is a critical level of international financial transfer, and the marginal effect of foreign aid is larger than that of loans if and only if the transfer (loans or foreign aid) is below this critical level

A Further Step into the ELGH and TLGH for Spain and Italy

Nowadays many developing countries focus on economic policies for promoting international tourism and exports expansion as a potential source of economic growth of the country. However, the understanding of the relationship between exports and economic growth is still ongoing. When treating the relationship between tourism and economic growth, considering tourism as a non-traditional export few studies have been published to date. This paper has the objective to assess if exports and tourism have really promoted growth by means of the export-led growth hypothesis (ELGH) and the tourism-led growth hypothesis (TLGH). The cases under analysis are Spain and Italy, two of the most important countries worldwide regarding the expansion of tourism. Cointegration techniques and the multivariate Granger causality test are applied. Results reveal that exports cause economic growth in the long-term for both countries, whilst only for Spain tourism appears as a factor which influences economic growth in the lon-run

The impact of foreign aid on growth and savings in developing countries

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN018194 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

The Environmental Impacts of Tourism at the Casela Nature and Leisure Park, Mauritius

The purpose of this study is to analyze the environmental impacts resulting from tourist activities at the Casela Nature and Leisure Park, an important tourist attraction in the island of Mauritius. The study adopts a qualitative approach to understand the environmental impacts resulting from the behaviour of visitors. In general, the results reveal that tourism is having some positive impacts on the park such as the preservation of many rare plants and animals. Visitor activities however, are also having negative consequences on the environment of the park. During weekends and during morning times, the carrying capacity of the park seems to be exceeded. Noise pollution and litter were some of the most severe impacts resulting from tourist activities. Overcrowding was also another impact noted by the manager of the park which was confirmed by the observation of the authors. The noise pollution caused by activities of the tourists was found to be disturbing to the environment of the park and to animals nearby. Based on the findings, the authors have recommended the implementation of certain visitor management strategies such as displaying a code of conduct for visitors, managing visitor flows and having trained guides for visiting purposes

Tourism expenditure in the UK Analysis of competitiveness using a gravity-based model

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:3597.12575(2000/1) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo