Applying Interpretation Principles to a Non-Western (Japanese) Training Context

Interpretive guides play an indispensable role in achieving tourism and sustainability outcomes. Although interpretation theory and best practice principles are supported by literature, they have been primarily developed in Western countries. Little work has been done to evaluate the cross-cultural applicability of using Western-based interpretation in training non-Western interpretive guides. This study evaluates the use of Western-based interpretive competencies in a Japanese training context. The efficacy of the training was assessed using quantitative and qualitative pre- and post-training data from all 42 trainees. Training programs were successful in improving trainees’ perceptions of the importance of links between individual roles and organisational goals, TORE (thematic / organised / relevant / enjoyable) qualities, story development, and reflection. They also improved trainees’ perceptions of their own capacity related to TORE. However, programs did not impact trainees’ ratings of their capacity to use storytelling or to foster reflection in their interpretive tours. These findings suggest that, when informed by the literature and research, Western-based interpretive competencies can successfully equip Japanese interpretive guides to utilise best practice principles to meet interpretive and organisational goals. Improvements, such as practice and reflective opportunities, are suggested for future training. More knowledge and evidence are needed to build a training framework that can help interpretive guides in other non-Western contexts to make use of best practice interpretation in their work

Achieving Conservation Outcomes Through Environmental Interpretation: a Case Study of Zoos Victoria

This paper outlines the methods and findings from phase one of a study examining the relationship between interpretation and the achievement of conservation outcomes in the context of captive wildlife attractions, with particular reference to Zoos Victoria. This study has the potential to contribute to theory construction by extending our understanding of the ways in which zoo interpretation leads to conservation outcomes. Such information is vital if zoos are to be managed as sustainable tourism/leisure sites that have the capacity to contribute to conservation. Phase One of the study examines, through a series of workshops, what is meant by terms such as 'positive action for the environment' and 'contribute to conservation', and identifies particular conservation outcomes that could be considered objectives of the education/interpretation programs at each Zoos Victoria property. Workshop responses were allocated to categories and tallied, resulting in some similarities but also some important differences across the three properties with respect to conservation outcomes that should be priorities for the zoo. The results provide some insight into the perspectives of staff and volunteers and lay the groundwork for the remainder of the study, which seeks to observe and quantify the actual conservation outcomes being achieved by zoo interpretation

Lessons learned from pilot testing an experimental communication intervention: Generation Y and park benefits

This paper reports a series of lessons learned from pilot testing an experimental intervention that aimed to shift Gen Y\u27s perceptions of the cultural and heritage benefits of parks. Designed in collaboration with the Office of Environment and Heritage in NSW and delivered via the OEH website, the intervention took respondents on a controlled virtual tour of two national parks, Ku-ring-gai Chase in the Sydney metropolitan area and Mutawintji in outback NSW, both rich in Australian culture and heritage. Overall, the intervention was viewed as successful in impacting respondents\u27 perceptions of the benefits of parks, and will be used in a subsequent on-line study on a broader sample of NSW respondents. The series of methodological decisions and associated consequences for the interpretation of findings presented in this paper are designed to help foster best practice experimental design in fieldbased tourism research

Visitor Profiles and Motivations for Visiting an Australian Wine Festival

The purpose of this paper is to profile visitors who attended Winter Wine Fest (WWFest) 2003 and their motivations for visiting the festival, as a basis for informing marketing and management recommendations aimed at improving the festival experience of visitors as well as contributing to the literature on special events in the wine tourism industry. The paper also provides a foundation for further research, including replication of this study's methods at other festivals and wine tourism events and suggestions for exploring variables not included in this study. In order to do this the study adopted a cross-sectional survey strategy, using a 35-item on-site self-completing questionnaire. The instrument included slightly adapted versions of existing motivational scales and subscales, as well as measured social group membership and several other socio-demographic variables, many of which were designed to facilitate comparisons with Bureau of Tourism Research data. Based on the 273 respondents to the survey, the paper provides a socio-demographic profile of the average respondent together with frequencies and percentages on a number of variables, with some multivariate analysis of motivational differences based on social group membership. The profile of the 'average' WWFest visitor was found to be female, working full-time, aged between 45 and 64 years old, and living in a household that has an annual income between $78,000 and$103,999. These demographics reflect the profile of the `average' wine enthusiast. The visitor, in all likelihood, is attending the festival for the first time, having decided to visit it only a week out from the event after hearing about it via word-of-mouth recommendations. Travelling from metropolitan Melbourne, the average visitor is primarily attending the festival to gain knowledge and expand his/her intellect about wine (that is, for cultural exploration purposes), and to a lesser extent, to socialise and because of the festival's novel premise. Visitors can be segmented based on the social group within which they visit the festival, the largest proportion visiting with friends (48%), followed by couples (33%), families (15%) and only four percent attending solo. There were significant differences between these segments in the motivations to attend the festival, with family groups more likely to be driven by kinship-related motives (e.g. the opportunity to do something the family could do together) in contrast to those who visited with friends, who were more likely to be express motives associated with known-group socialisation (e.g. to be with others who enjoy similar things). The visitor profile data together with the motivational results suggest that festival organisers should find ways to differentiate their product and improve their marketing to provide themselves with a competitive advantage over the plethora of leisure and recreation activities available to consumers. In order to survive the increasingly competitive tourism industry, festival marketing should be informed by an understanding of the consumer (target market). If a festival organiser can design a festival that targets particular markets based on their distinct differences (for example, targeting the differences between the social groupings of couples versus friendship groups versus families), then they are better positioned to facilitate favourable experiences and repeat visitation amongst its target audiences

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass