Mixed logit modelling of airport choice in multi-airport regions

This paper presents an analysis of the choice of airport by air travellers departing from the San Francisco Bay (SF-B) area. The analysis uses the mixed multinomial logit model, which allows for a random distribution of tastes across decision makers. To our knowledge, this is the first application using this model form in the analysis of airport choice. The results indicate that there is significant heterogeneity in tastes, especially with respect to the sensitivity to access time, characterised by deterministic variations between groups of travellers (business/leisure, residents/visitors) as well as random variations within groups of travellers. The analysis reinforces earlier findings showing that business travellers are far less sensitive to fare increases than leisure travellers, and are willing to pay a higher price for decreases in access time (and generally also increases in frequency) than is the case for leisure travellers. Finally, the results show that the random variation between business travellers in terms of sensitivity to access time is more pronounced than that between leisure travellers, as is the case for visitors when compared to residents

Desire to belong : contesting the view of Irish travellers as Deleuzian and Guattarian nomads

In my thesis I have discussed whether Irish Travellers could be considered to be Nomads in a way that French theorists Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari have developed the concept. Nomads in this context challenge and object the normative order set by the state and the mainstream society. My research is constructed around the concept of ethnicity and namely what Irish Travellers hope to gain with the ethnic status and how this relates to the ways how Travellers are controlled by the state. As a primary material I have used a report made by a Traveller support group which discusses the challenges which Irish Travellers are facing in today’s Ireland and as a method I have used critical discourse analysis. In my thesis I have discussed how physical nomadism plays a key role constructing Traveller identity and how physical nomadism relates to Deleuze's and Guattari's ideas about Nomadism. According to my findings Irish Travellers have a strong desire to be accepted by the mainstream society and to have an access to the resources controlled by the state. Irish Travellers want to be a part of the mainstream society hence keeping their own culture and be a part of the political process of the state. In the main chapters of my thesis I employ also other Deleuzian and Guattarian concepts like Faciality, Minority and Becoming in order to outline Travellers' relationship to Nomadism. The conclusion in my thesis is that Irish Travellers cannot be considered Deleuzian and Guattarian Nomads. I have based this argument on my findings that according to my primary material Travellers have a strong desire to be included to the structures of the state and be respected by the main society. These require that Irish Travellers follow the rules set by the state and the mainstream society. There is however a possibility for Travellers to change the system in the context of becoming; by challenging the normative order by entering the state structures and the mainstream society

Derrington, C. & Kendall, S. (2004). Gypsy traveller students in secondary schools: culture, identity and achievement. Stoke on Trent, UK and Sterling USA: Trentham Books (ISBN 1 85056 320 8) [Book review]

Review of C. Derrington & S. Kendall's 2004 publication, Gypsy Traveller Students in Secondary Schools: Culture, Identity and Achievement. Stoke on Trent, UK and Sterling USA: Trentham Books. (ISBN 1 85056 320 8). The book is concerned with English Gypsy Travellers (although six participants were Irish Travellers), as opposed to fairground or circus people and new age travellers

An analysis of airport-choice behaviour using the Mixed Multinomial Logit model

In this paper, we describe part of an ongoing study of airport choice for passengers departing from the San Francisco Bay area. The aim of the present paper is to test for the prevalence of taste heterogeneity across travellers, using the Mixed Multinomial Logit (MMNL) model. Our results indicate the presence of significant levels of heterogeneity in tastes, especially with respect to the sensitivity to access time, characterised by significant (deterministic) variation between groups of travellers (business/leisure, residents/visitors) as well as random variation within groups of travellers. Our analysis reinforces earlier findings showing that business travellers are far less sensitive to fare increases than leisure travellers, and are willing to pay a higher price for decreases in access time (and generally also increases in frequency) than is the case for leisure travellers. Finally, the results show that the random variation between business travellers in terms of sensitivity to access time is more pronounced than that between leisure travellers, as is the case for visitors when compared to residents.

A qualitative study of the health experience of gypsy travellers in the UK with a focus on terminal illness

Aim To understand the experience of terminal care and health care access for Gypsy Travellers, to inform palliative and primary care service provision. Background Little contemporary research of UK English Romany Gypsy Travellers is available. This ethnic group is often overlooked in ethnic minority health research. Methods Access to Gypsy Traveller communities was through non-health care channels and required the development of trust through repeated contact over time. English Romany Gypsy Travellers at two Traveller sites participated in face-to-face contacts. Data collection was through field observation and seven semistructured interviews with Gypsy Traveller women who had experience of caring for relatives who were dying. In addition, data were collected over two years through discussion in a members-only Gypsy and Traveller interest e-mail forum. Findings The culture of Gypsy Travellers is distinct but diverse. Hygiene is important as is discretion and sensitivity to the information requirements of the patient and family. Gypsy Travellers are aware that their mobility (voluntary or enforced) can negatively impact on health care. Home care for the terminally ill is often preferred to hospital care often due to poor understanding of their cultural and personal needs by health care professionals and due to an aversion to ‘bricks and mortar’. Care may be provided by the extended family. Palliative care provision should consider the needs of Gypsy Travellers including respect for their culture and support for caring at home

Chasing a myth? Searching for ‘self’ through lifestyle travel.

This paper problematises the concept of searching for self in the context of lifestyle travellers – individuals for whom extended leisure travel is a preferred lifestyle that they return to repeatedly. Qualitative findings on the search for self from in-depth semi-structured interviews with lifestyle travellers in northern India and southern Thailand are considered in light of opposing academic perspectives on self. The study reveals a theoretical tension that exists between lifestyle travellers who may seek a unified sense of self underpinned by the essentialist position that one’s ‘true self’ exists and contrasting academic viewpoints that conceptualise embodied selves as processual, situational and in flux

‘Doing research’ with gypsy-travellers in England: reflections on experience and practice

In order to bring the lives of Gypsy–Travellers in line with the sustainable communities’ agenda, there is now a duty for local planning authorities in England to assess the accommodation and related needs of Gypsy–Travellers. As such, there has been an increase in research, which aims to ‘find out’ more about these communities. This article explores some of the issues that researchers should consider when carrying out research with Gypsy– Travellers. It focuses specifically on issues around identifying and engaging with members of the Gypsy and Traveller communities, offering some strategies and solutions based on the experiences of the authors and other researchers

The use and perceived usefulness of information sources among Japanese overseas tourists

This investigation into the use and perceived usefulness of information among Japanese outbound travellers reports on the findings of a survey conducted with over 1,200 Japanese travellers. The research examines information use by travellers about a range of travel components including restaurants, attractionsand accommodation at both the before and during travel phases. It was found that travel guidebooks were the most heavily used source of information and their usefulness was evaluated as one of the highest during both phases. Using correspondence analysis, it is shown that while travel guidebooks were used heavily for finding out about most travel components, the only component that did not show significant reliance on information from travel guidebooks at either the prior to or during travel phases was accommodatio

Commercials, careers and culture: travelling salesmen in Britain 1890s-1930s

Within the lower middle-class, British commercial travellers established a strong fraternal culture before 1914. This article examines their interwar experiences in terms of income, careers, and associational culture. It demonstrates how internal labour markets operated, identifies the ways in which commercial travellers interpreted their role, and explores their social and political attitudes

Travellers’ Types

This paper uses subjects’ self-reported justifications to explain discrepancies between observed heterogeneous behavior and the unique equilibrium prediction in a one-shot traveler’s dilemma experiment (TD). Principal components (PC) analysis suggests that iterative reasoning, aspiration levels, competitive behavior, attitudes towards risk and penalties and focal points may be behind different choices. Such reasons are coherent with same subjects’ behavior in other tests and experiments in which these particular issues are prominent. Overall, we identify types of subjects whose motivations are consistent across tasks.traveler?s dilemma, self-reports, principal components, experiments