Dr Jackie Clarke

Familiar tourists, associated with repeat tourism, demonstrate both behavioural and affective commitment to their special, or familiar, places. Yet they remain overlooked in favour of volume measurements of generic repeat tourists. This interpretive study provides a more holistic understanding of the relationship between tourists demonstrating loyalty and attachment to place (familiar tourists) and the place commanding such behaviour (familiar place). It also evaluates ways in which familiar places enter and evolve in the lives of individuals (familiar place formation). The preparatory phase of the research used focus groups with informants who self-identified as familiar tourists. The main fieldwork was conducted concurrently in two tourist destinations in Wales, UK, namely Gower and Mawddach. It comprised field interviews with familiar tourists, interviews with tourism providers, and a self-completion written instrument for other (non-interviewed) familiar tourists. Overall, the two research phases captured the familiar tourism experiences of 289 informants. The findings showed familiar place relationships as spanning decades and even generations. An original, evidence-based typology of familiar place formation: namely conversion, inheritance (heirloom or genealogy) and discovery (other-led or self-led) is offered. Subsequently, these five types of familiar place formation are interpreted as five corresponding strategic and creative themes for practical marketing campaigns.

The significance of  involving stakeholders in sustainable tourism (ST) initiatives  is increasingly acknowledged and recommended within both academia and practice. This appreciation stems from the nature of tourism destinations as networks of interdependent  stakeholders (Cooper et al.,  2009 and d'Angella and Go, 2009) and emerging ST practices that rely on stakeholder partnerships (Gossling, Hall, & Weaver, 2009). However, there are reports of failures of ST strategies associated with ineffective stakeholder involvement (e.g. Dodds and Butler, 2010, Getz and Timur, 2005 and  Ryan, 2002) and of  scepticism in the capability of some stakeholders to contribute meaningfully to tourism processes ( Hamilton & Alexander, 2013). Through the Traffic Light Routes Framework (TLRF), this research note shows how stakeholders can be better involved in ST. The TLRF emerged from case study data on the Cornwall Sustainable (CoaST) Project, located in South West England, UK.

This paper addresses how consumers make use of fantasy, feelings, and fun when deciding, giving and consuming gifts of tourism and leisure.  Despite little industry awareness, consumers are engaging with such behaviour because tourism gifts offer considerable scope for the creative expression of donor-recipient relationships.  This UK-based interpretive qualitative study captured data from donors, recipients and tourism and leisure providers.  The feelings (emotions), fantasies (imagination and dreaming) and fun (playfulness) were interrogated through the behavioural phases of gift decision making, gift exchange, post-exchange and gift consumption.  A range of emotions were displayed by donors and recipients and at different stages in the gift giving process; donor decision making in groups for created gifts was particularly charged.  Fantasies were evident both for donors planning gifts and for recipients.  As an intangible gift, means of exchange allowed for creative mechanisms beyond the classic wrapping strategies associated with physical gifts.  The ‘decoy’ strategy stimulated the recipient’s imagination to conjure fantastical scenarios.  Fun or playfulness was built into many of the gifts and often related to an element of ‘surprise’, an attribute of the perfect gift (eg Belk, 1996) in Western societies.

Keywords

tourism gifts, hedonic gifts, experiential consumption 

Within the extensive body of literature on sustainable tourism (ST), its successful implementation is anemerging and important theme. The lack of or ineffective stakeholder participation is a major obstacle toST realisation and there is little clarity as to how best to resolve this problem. This paper presents thefindings of a purposive UK-based case study that evaluated stakeholder involvement in the implementationof ST. Using over fifty stakeholders' accounts drawn from eight primary stakeholder groups,a ‘multi-stakeholder involvement management' (MSIM) framework was developed. The MSIM frameworkconsists of three strategic levels: attraction, integration and management of stakeholder involvement.Six stages are embedded within the three levels: scene-setting, recognition of stakeholderinvolvement capacity, stakeholder relationship management, pursuit of achievable objectives, influencingimplementation capacity and monitoring stakeholder involvement. These are supported by theoverarching notion of ‘hand-holding' and key actions [e.g. managing stakeholder adaptability] thatenhance stakeholder involvement in ST.

Now that the novelty factor of visiting the former communist countries of Eastern and Central Europe is over, the focus must be on product quality, professional service and value for money if an internationally competitive tourism product is to emerge. The natural assets of the Slovak Republic point towards an unfulfilled potential for rural tourism. This paper critiques the results from a British Know How Fund three-year project to build the rural tourism offer for Roznava Okres, a declining mining area in the Slovak Republic. The four key activities were the creation of a three-year marketing plan, the establishment of a Tourist Information Centre, the formation of a local tourism association, and the delivery of training courses. The main international target markets were identified as Hungary and the Czech Republic, with Germany, Poland and the Netherlands forming secondary segments. Results from the TIC tracking studies indicated that France, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands could merit future attention for market development. Lessons from this project could be applied to rural tourism areas in other former Eastern bloc countries.

Previous research into farm tourism and promotion has focused on the individual farm and on a limited number of communication tools. Acknowledging the importance of cooperation for small tourism businesses, this paper examines primary research into communication as conducted by the three levels of a consortium for  farm accommodation in the United Kingdom. The findings show that different communication techniques are used by different levels in the consortium, thus capitalizing on existing skills and strengths.∗ Insights are offered for other small tourism businesses in a similar position of apparent isolation.

∗

A comparative case study was carried out on communication and farm accommodation in New Zealand using the equivalent organization, the New Zealand Association of Farm and Home Hosts. The results are presented in Clarke, J ‘The effective marketing of small-scale tourism enterprises through national structures: lessons from a two-way comparative study of  farm tourist accommodation in the United Kingdom and New Zealand’ J Vacation Marketing 1995 1 (2) 137–153.