Reaching Out to Occupational Therapists

Accessible tourism is a growing area of tourism research. The belief that all tourism facilities, products, and services should be accessible to those with disabilities drives research in tourism ethics and sustainability. However, a key voice is being ignored. Occupational therapists play a critical role in enabling people with disabilities to participate in the activities of daily life, including leisure. Dr. Alan Fyall believes it is time for interdisciplinary research with occupational therapists to properly understand accessible tourism

Vulnerability and Resilience in a Tourism Destination

In an industry that is critically vulnerable to hazards, some destinations are hit harder than others by the same or similar events. UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management researchers, Dr. Sergio Alvarez and Dr. Alan Fyall, have developed a conceptual model that sees the destination\u27s vulnerability as the sum of its physical, social-cultural, economic, ecological/environmental, and institutional vulnerabilities, nestled within its level of exposure to different hazards. Their framework offers to better equip destination management organizations (DMOs) by identifying vulnerabilities and facilitating more effective planning and decision making

Collaborative destination marketing at the local level:Benefits bundling and the changing role of the local tourism association

In a number of countries, local tourism associations (LTAs) are being expected to adopt the destination marketing role formerly attributed to regional-level destination marketing organisations (DMOs), which are presently either being actively dissolved or targeted for closure. Destination marketing can, however, be understood to be a public good (or, more precisely, a public service), which would generally prevent its provision by a subscription-based organisation such as an LTA. This is due to the presence of a strong ‘free-rider’ incentive for non-subscribers. The findings of this study show that LTAs in the UK have been able to overcome this ‘free rider’ effect by creating bundles of private and public benefits, the former being the benefits offered by the LTA in its traditional role as a trade representative body and the latter being the benefits associated with its newly acquired role as a local DMO. A qualitative–interpretive approach is adopted, using data gathered from LTA websites. While the conclusions are based on the UK policy context, it can be argued that the UK is a good analogue for other contexts. As such, the efforts of LTAs based in the UK to adapt to their new role are instructive for LTAs more generally

Promoting Accessible Tourism at Mega-Events: Bridging the Disability-attitude Gap

UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management\u27s Associate Professor Michael B. Duignan and Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, Alan Fyall collaborated with a team of fellow researchers to examine Tokyo 2020\u27s potential to challenge ableist norms. Highlighting Japan\u27s efforts to promote inclusive tourism for Persons with Disabilities (PwD), their collaborative study highlights the tourism sector\u27s ongoing gaps. They argue that mega-events like the Olympics can be pivotal in driving inclusivity, addressing both physical and social barriers. Dive into this revealing examination of the interplay between tourism, events, and societal change

Sport Mega-Events And Nation Branding: Unique Characteristics Of The 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa

Background & purpose – Sport mega-events have received much criticism of late. However, there has been increasing awareness of the brand-related benefits from hosting a sport mega event, with their hosting being a deliberate policy for many nations, most notably among emerging nations. One such nation is South Africa, which explicitly stated its nation branding ambitions through the staging of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Through this single case, this paper identifies the unique characteristics of the sport mega-event that were leveraged for benefits of nation branding. Design/methodology/approach – An interpretivist, qualitative study explored the insights of nation brand stakeholders and experts, elicited using in-depth, semi-structured interviews (n=27) undertaken two-to-three years after the staging of the event. Findings – Three characteristics of the 2010 sport mega-event were deemed by stakeholders to be unique in creating nation branding opportunities, namely: i) the scale of the event that created opportunities for transformational development; ii) the global appeal, connection and attachment of the event; and iii) the symbolic status of the event that was leveraged for internal brand building and public diplomacy. The paper proposes that while sport mega events provide nation branding opportunities, the extent of these benefits may vary according to the context of the nation brand with lesser-known, troubled or emerging brands seemingly having the most to gain. Originality/value - While acknowledging the critique of mega-events, this paper highlights a pertinent example of an emerging nation that leveraged the potential of a sport mega-event for nation branding gains. It extends the understanding of sport mega-events and their potential for nation branding

Founding Father: Dr. Abraham Pizam in Conversation with Dr. Robertico Croes and Dr. Alan Fyall

Fifty years ago, Dr. Abraham Pizam, founding Dean of the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, defended his dissertation entitled Bringing something new into existence or use, through an industrial suggestion system. To honor Dr. Abraham Pizam, the Rosen College Dean\u27s Distinguished Lecture Series centers on examining the evolution of the hospitality and tourism industry through the eyes of some of the pioneers in this field of education. We took advantage of this occasion to talk to Dean Pizam about his evolution as a scholar

Adventure or amusement? Image and identity challenges for the aerial adventure industry and implications for positioning and policy

This paper seeks to address the changing image and identity of the aerial adventure industry as it becomes increasingly commercialized, which has led to uncertainty over its positioning within either adventure tourism or amusement rides. Such a positioning is critical in order to mitigate the problems caused by an inappropriate identification and image that contributes to poor inspections, poor procedures and policies, and ultimately, poor perceived risks and safety. In an industry where one serious injury impacts all operators, it is essential for all stakeholders to have collective “buy in” to effective policies that are standardized across the entire industry. The current identity confusion has merely led to misconceptions from public stakeholders. Through a qualitative case-study, this paper finds that aerial adventure parks share characteristics with adventure tourism and amusement rides and so resembles a hybrid. This is largely due to the presence of inherent risk and the role of the participant, both of which are less present on amusement rides. The paper therefore calls for state agencies to identify the activity as a stand-alone activity and for the subsequent regulations and policies to reflect this hybrid status

Participation, Commitment, and Loyalty Towards Youth Tennis: Player and Parent Perceptions

Sports, in general and tennis specifically, offer diverse benefits for youth in social, physical, psychological, and mental dimensions. These benefits are known to influence commitment and loyalty towards sports. Nonetheless, the influence of perceived benefits on youth commitments and loyalty to tennis has been a void in the literature. Assuming the parental influence on youth participation in sport in general and in tennis specifically, this study measured and compared the youth tennis players’ and their parents’ perceived benefits of tennis. The study depicted physical well-being, life skills, and fun as the highly-rated perceived benefits by both players and parents/guardians. Life skills also contributed to commitment to tennis while physical well-being contributed to the loyalty towards tennis from players’ perspectives

Providing a Clear Foundation for Smart Destinations

Smart destinations are a nascent and growing category in destination marketing but suffer from a lack of clarity. What is a \u27smart destination\u27? UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management\u27s Dr. Youcheng Wang and Dr. Alan Fyall led an international team of hospitality management specialists tasked with providing a clear foundation for smart destination researchers and practitioners. Their study, published in the Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, provides significant insight and stokes the fire beneath destination marketing organizations

The Emergence of Green Drive Tourism: A Comparative Study of Existing Drive Tourism Routes

This study evaluates the sustainability of a number of existing drive-tourism routes and determines how likely each are to impact on future changes to drive tourism, drive tourism destinations and the drive tourist. Exploratory in nature, the study builds upon an existing framework by Fjelstul and Fyall (2015) with usage of a qualitative approach to interpret and compare data gleaned from a content analysis of various web sites connected to notable drive tourism routes across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia/New Zealand. The study concludes that green infrastructure is beginning to surface as a reality rather than an utopian ideal with a number of destinations beginning to recognize the growing number of fully-electric vehicles on the road and the infrastructure necessary to support them