Tourism Sustainability

Wisdom is at once one of the most elusive and most valued kinds of knowledge. Empirical research shows that, indeed, across cultures, people hope that life experience will eventually make them wiser. The problem is that, to date, the academic study of wisdom and of the processes by which it can be learned has been dominated by psychologists. The first part of the article reviews the state-of-the-art psychological scholarship on wisdom to show how that conceptualization lacks geographical sensitivity and therefore misses some of the crucial geographical mechanisms by which people become wiser. The second part of the article singles out and focuses on one such mechanism, namely, the learning of wisdom through geographical dislocations. By drawing on insights from the study of international migration, exile, and transculturation in postcolonial contexts, the final part of the article suggests specific learning processes that might strengthen the hypothesis that geographical dislocations and the attendant cross-cultural experiences they generate are often conducive to wisdom. La sabiduría es a la vez uno de los tipos de conocimiento más esquivos y más valorados. La investigací on empírica en verdad muestra que en todas las culturas la gente espera que la experiencia de la vida eventualmente los haga más sabios. El problema es que hasta ahora el estudio académico sobre la sabiduría y sobre los procesos por medio de los cualesésta puede alcanzarse ha estado dominado por los psicólogos. La primera parte del artículo revisa el estado del arte de la erudicí on psicoí ogica sobre este particular, para mostrar c ´ omo esa conceptualizací on carece de sensibilidad geográfica y en consecuencia deja de considerar algunos de los mecanismos geográficos cruciales mediante los cuales la gente se hace más sabia. La segunda parte del artículo escoge y se concentra en uno de tales mecanismos, o sea, el aprendizaje de la sabiduría por medio de las dislocaciones geográficas. A partir de la perspicacia del estudio de la migrací on internacional, el exilio y la transculturací on en contextos poscoloniales, la parte final del artículo sugiere procesos de aprendizaje específicos, que podrían fortalecer la hipótesis de que las dislocaciones geográficas y las experiencias culturales de vasto espectro generadas por aquellas a menudo llevan a la sabiduría. Palabras clave: distancia, dislocaciones geográficas, migrací on internacional, aprendizaje visceral, sabiduría.

Social media are gaining prominence as an element of destination marketing organisation (DMO) marketing strategy at a time when public sector cuts in their funding are requiring them to seek greater value in the way marketing budgets are spent. Social media offers DMOs with a tool to reach a global audience with limited resources. The aim of this study is to explore the usage of social media among the DMOs of the top 10 most visited countries by international tourists. The study uses content analysis and semi-structured interviews to examine the usage and impact of social media marketing strategies and identifies a framework of best practice for other national tourism organizations (NTOs) to learn from. The study argues that social media usage among top DMOs is still largely experimental and that strategies vary significantly.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2012.662215

A comparative study on spatial planning and regional development, and territorial restructuring in developing countries shows few general trends mixed in different patterns. Amongst them those on territorial dynamics constitute the focus of this book.
The methodology of the comparison is based on the use of a common set of frameworks by the experts of the different national cases including emerging countries and less developed countries from three continents and several cultural areas. Territorial authorities, institutions, projects, local governments and spatial initiatives with their relative areas and jurisdictions are positioned according to their origins. level  and scales on a set of figures. The figures are used to differentiate territorial objects and stakeholders by levels (from international to local), tier and scales and by nature, origins and functions. Using a model of the relationship and financial links, three spheres of territorial powers are distinguished, each with its own set of dynamics: the sphere of state territories emanating from the central state apparatus and from devolution (local government); the sphere of operational territories driven by private or public sector; and the sphere of emergent territories with area based development projects, ranging from community based to interregional cooperation.
Five main tendencies characterize developing countries in the era of globalization:
devolution, participation, concession, regionalization and autonomization. Those trends are not always represented and are combined in different national configurations.
For instance Morocco and South Africa, two African emergent countries present contrasting patterns with some common trends. Their respective nexus deal with their different historical and political backgrounds and the resulting contrasted approaches to spatial planning and territorial management despite the present common context of devolution and promotion of stakeholders and spaces for civil society and the private sector.

The present study aims to outline the growing importance of culture in the field of tourism. More specifically, it highlights culture as a moderating variable in pre-visit tourist destination image formation, through the information sources utilized by the tourist in the selection of a holiday destination (that is, travel agencies alone vs. travel agencies together with the Internet). For this purpose primary research used a multicultural sample of 371 tourists from different European countries. The results show that the formation of a destination's pre-visit image amongst tourists, based on the information sources they use, is moderated by the level of uncertainty-avoidance of their national cultures.

Over the last decade various tourism destinations, particularly cities, have been witnessing growing symptoms of tourism saturation with criticism often led by social movements. From the second half of the last century onwards, the excessive spread of tourism in urban neighbourhoods and centres has led to a situation that is known as overtourism. Although the Spanish media has coined the term tourismphobia (turismofobia) to describe the phenomenon, this issue is far more complex than it may appear at first. This report aims to address some of the core issues associated with this phenomenon based on the analysis of specific cases.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze a new path for tourism development – public-private partnership, and to expose the advantages deriving from this type of collaboration. As a consequence of global crisis UE promotes PPP’s for regional development, Romania also has changed the law on this partnership, being rather an update of the 2004 law, harmonized with EU directives.
In tourism industry PPP’s are common for infrastructure development, for mega-events like winter olympics, European and world championship in different sports. The types of PPP’s can be developed in a various way in this industry – public-private strategies, up growing business, joint proposals of regulations etc.
This paper aims to identify needs of the private economic agents and local authorities in the Prahova Valley to the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival to be held in 2013, and how they can be integrated in a project based on public-private partnership. The article is based on a questionnaire addressed to the main economic agents in Sinaia, but the local authority

This special issue is a reflection by tourism scholars on the initial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world, with travel and tourism being among the most significant areas to bear those impacts. However, instead of an analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 on tourism places and sectors, as is the emphasis for many other journal special issues this year, the papers in this issue focus on visions of how the pandemic
events of 2020 are contributing to a possibly substantial, meaningful and positive transformation of the planet in general, and tourism specifically. This is not a return to a ‘normal’ that existed before – but is instead a vision of how the world is changing, evolving, and transforming into something different from what it was before the 2020 global pandemic experience. Comments from the guest editors for this special issue
are individually identified in this introduction editorial.

Cite this article: Raszkowski, A., Bartniczak, B. Towards Sustainable Regional Development: Economy, Society, Environment, Good Governance Based on the Example of Polish Regions. Transformations in Business & Economics, 2018, Vol. 17, No 2 (44), pp.225-245.The presented study discusses problems referring to the concept of sustainable development at regional level, based on the example of Polish regions in the period 2005-2011. The first part presents theoretical aspects of sustainable regional development, raises the problems of primary phenomena hindering such development, sustainable development definitions, the role of creativity, the importance of NGOs, good governance of regional space. The next part of the article provides the characteristics of sustainable development indicators selected for the analysis in accordance with the approach adopted by the Central Statistical Office in Poland towards measuring the level of sustainable regional development. The synthetic measure of development (SMD) represents the applied research method, which offered the basis for constructing the ranking and identifying the position of particular Polish regions. The research results remain the core of the study since they illustrate the indicator values in the years under analysis. Within the framework of the final remarks and conclusions it was emphasized that in none of the studied regions, in terms of implementing sustainable development standards, the situation can be assessed as favourable or very favourable and the reasons for such state of the matter were provided. In spite of the relatively unfavourable results, a gradual improvement of the situation was observed over the years. It was pointed out that one of the fundamental barriers to the implementation of sustainable development standards is the absence of awareness and understanding of the discussed development concept.

This opinion piece examines Weaver’s thesis that sustainable tourism’s current expanding
engagement with climate change may not necessarily be conducive to the interests
of tourism sustainability. It critically examines and responds to the seven interrelated
issues presented by Weaver to support that opinion. This paper dispels some common
climate science myths that continue to hamper scientific progress and obfuscate
debate over climate change policy responses and specifically refutes recent claims of
compromised and inaccurate research findings. It is argued that climate change studies
reveal a deficiency in past conceptualizations of sustainable tourism that focused almost
exclusively on destination scale issues and highlight the need to properly account
for the environmental and social impacts of tourism’s travel phase. Addressing climate
change is considered a prerequisite to sustainable development and therefore germane
to advancing sustainable tourism research. Tourism is currently considered among the
economic sectors least prepared for the risks and opportunities posed by climate change
and is only now developing the capacity to advance knowledge necessary to inform
business, communities and government about the issues and potential ways forward.
Any retreat from engagement with climate change issues by the tourism industry or its
researchers would be to their substantial detriment.

Dimitrios Buhalis and Ramona Wagner, (2013), E-destinations: Global best practice in tourism technologies and applications , In Cantoni, L. and Xiang, Z. (Eds.), Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2013, Vienna, Austria: Springer Verlag, pp. 119-130

E-destinations: Global best practice in tourism technologies and applications.

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis and Ramona Wagner
eTourism Lab, Bournemouth University, United Kingdom

dbuhalis@bournemouth.ac.uk
bramona.wagner89@web.de

Abstract

The emergence of ICT enables consumers to search for destinations worldwide more easily, making it necessary to constantly improve the web presence and social media used by destinations. This study firstly aims to benchmark global destinations with regards to their level of implementation of technologies and applications. Secondly, global best practices for e-destinations will be identified with the help of a detailed content analysis of destinations’ website presence and social media applications. At the same time, the industry perspective about e-destinations will be taken into consideration in order to get an insight into the future and vision for destination management systems and website presence. By this means, a variety of factors will be analysed that can facilitate the consumers´ search on the destination’s websites before, during and after a holiday. The study contains best practice recommendations for destinations’ web presence that should be implemented in order to sustain their future online success and competitiveness.

Keywords: Tourism technologies and applications, DMO, destination marketing, best practice, benchmark and e-destinations

As the tourist industry becomes increasingly important to communities around the world, the need to develop tourism in a sustainable manner has also become a primary concern. This impressive collection of international case studies addresses this crucial issue by asking what local communities can contribute to sustainable tourism, and what sustainability can offer these local communities in return. The role of the community in environmental, cultural and economic sustainability is highlighted in an extraordinary variety of contexts, ranging from inner-city Edinburgh to rural northern Portugal and the beaches of Indonesia.

Individually, the investigations in this text present a wealth of original research and source material, while collectively, they illuminate and clarify the term 'community' - the meaning of which, it is argued, is vital to understanding how sustainable tourism development can be implemented in practice.

Infrastructure threatens to lock-in societies to fossil fuels, unless something is done about it now. This is because infrastructure lasts for such a long-time, meaning that any infrastructure built or rebuilt now will last well into the 21st century – even until the end of the century in some cases. Consequently, there is a need to integrate climate change, especially adaptation, into infrastructure now or societies will be left with infrastructure designed around an unsustainable socio-technical system (e.g. combustion engines, roads, suburbanization, etc.). Such change is conceptualized in the literature as a sustainability transition. However, any attempts at such transitions have to address the materialities of infrastructure systems (e.g. physical form, environmental context, etc.). In this paper I develop the concept of socio-material systems and apply it to transport infrastructure in Ontario, Canada.

Abstract: Despite of so many unique and natural beauties the North-eastern region of India is still place of least visited in India. Though the Government of India has been providing the financial assistance for development of tourist Infrastructure and promotion and marketing, the performances and development of the tourism in states is totally different. In this context, the present paper examines the tourism in North-eastern states of India. Major findings are the inflows of tourists are higher in Assam state and lower in Nagaland. Tourism sectors share in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) is high in Assam. As for the growth rate of tourists’ influx is concerned, the growth rate in Arunachal Pradesh is much higher with 55 percent compared to other states. Further, the Density of Tourist Population (DTP) and The Percapita Tourist arrival (PCT) is high in Sikkim with 101.57 and 1.19 respectively and lowest in Nagaland with 1.35 and 0.01. The major constraints of North-east tourism development and uneven performance among states are insufficient funds, lack of infrastructure, transportation, lack of alternatives means of transport, Marketing, boundary issues, terror effect and permit period. Steps should be taken to wipe-out the constraints for tourism development. Keywords: Tourism, North-east India, tourism development, Tourists’ influx,

This paper extends the Ritchie, Crouch (2000) model on destination competitiveness by introducing a set of sustainability indicators and testing their role in explaining the competitiveness of a tourism destination. The model is tested on a unique dataset of small Italian “Destinations of Excellence”, i.e., outstanding tourist destinations recognized by prestigious national and international awards. Both a principal component analysis and a regression analysis are applied to test the empirical validity of the model. Empirical results show that factors directly referring to sustainability have a positive impact on all the competitiveness indicators used as dependent variables. Furthermore, the impact of sustainability variables is larger in value than other variables, thus confirming the role of sustainability as a crucial determinant of the competitiveness of a tourist destination.

Questo contributo considera il viaggio lento come una pratica innovativa di loisir e la lentezza come la quintessenza della sostenibilità turistica, poiché collocata in una cornice spazio-temporale che, se per un verso stimola a visitare il territorio in modo attento e responsabile (dal punto di vista ambientale, culturale e sociale), per un altro sensibilizza le comunità residenti verso una più completa attivazione delle risorse locali. L’approccio riflessivo e la letteratura interpretativa sono il tramite teorico attraverso cui la lentezza si configura come modalità thick di fare turismo, come dimensione “umanistica” posta al convergere di diversi criteri di fruibilità dello spazio, che comprendono non solo il ricorso alla mobilità dolce, ma anche la predisposizione a cogliere la geografia intima delle destinazioni, nel rispetto di una identità territoriale che trova espressione proprio nel rapporto ecologico tra natura e società. Tutto ciò spesso richiede nuove strategie di organizzazione dell’offerta in grado di trasferire in modo più efficace il valore specifico dei paesaggi e delle identità locali nei servizi e nei prodotti del territorio. La progettazione partecipata e l’adozione di tecniche interpretative possono rivelarsi come metodi particolarmente inclini a favorire questo processo, e a richiamare in causa la cooperazione tra gli attori locali come unico viatico in grado di traghettare il senso dei patrimoni verso modelli integrati di sostenibilità territoriale.

Technology as a Catalyst of Change:Enablers and Barriers of the Tourist Experience and Their Consequences

Barbara Neuhofer, Dimitrios Buhalis, and Adele Ladkin

Neuhofer, B., Buhalis, D., Ladkin, A., 2015, Technology as a Catalyst of Change: Enablers and Barriers of the Tourist Experience and their Consequences, in Tussyadiah, I., and Inversini, A., (eds), ENTER 2015 Proceedings, Lugano, Springer-Verlag, Wien, ISBN:9783319143422, pp.789-802.

Abstract Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have had a major impact on the way people experience travel. Tourism research and management have been increasingly interested in exploring the role of ICTs as a potential catalyst of change that enhances tourist experiences. While generic technology adoption barriers are known, there is little knowledge about the specific technological enablers and barriers that determine the potential enhancement of tourist experiences. This paper thus addresses a timely matter as it identifies the key enablers and barriers as well as their implied consequences that shape the enhancement of tourist experiences. Through an exploratory qualitative approach, this study contributes by developing a two-factor model of experience enablers and barriers. Theoretical implications are discussed and strategic implications for tourism management and policy are provided on what actions need to be taken to convert existing ICTs insufficiencies into potential experience enablers.

Keywords Tourist experience • ICTs • Enablers • Barriers • Experience management and policy

The dynamics of trust and distrust are central to understanding modern society, social relations, and development processes. However, numerous studies suggest that societal trust and citizen’s trust in government and its institutions are on the decline, challenging the legitimacy of government and leading to an undemocratic and unsustainable form of development. Recognizing its importance, the authors for the first time situate trust within the context of tourism development and planning.  This volume discusses trust in tourism from different yet intrinsically connected perspectives. Chapters review how diminishing societal trust may have adversely affected tourism planning systems, the role of trust in good tourism governance and sustainable tourism, how trust can be used as a facilitator of participatory tourism planning, political trust in tourism institutions, power and how tourism development can be a basis for trust creation among society members by using social capital theory. In addition, a final section on ‘Researching Trust in Tourism Development’ means that readers are not only provided a thorough theoretical framework on trust and an understanding of its importance for sustainable tourism and good governance of the sector, but also methodological aspects of research on trust in the context of tourism development and planning.  This significant volume is valuable reading for students, academics and researchers interested in tourism development and planning.

Resumen: El artículo comparte algunas reflexiones sustraídas de los debates que recientemente han irrumpido en la propaganda política, las agendas de los medios de comunicación, las reivindicaciones de los movimientos sociales y las asociaciones vecinales. En primer lugar, se hace una reflexión partiendo de la hipótesis que el llamado overtourism también sinónimo de masificación, saturación o presión turística, no es un fenómeno ni tan novedoso ni tan reciente. En segundo lugar, se observan algunos elementos que han despertado el malestar social y que han desencadenado el efecto amplificador de estos debates en diversos entornos turísticos. Por último, se observan algunas estrategias que se denominan como 5D (desestacionalización, descongestión, descentralización, diversificación, deluxe tourism) que son promocionadas como potenciales soluciones para enfrentar la problemática analizada. Estas reflexiones nacen en el marco de una investigación en la ciudad de Barcelona, que se alimenta prevalentemente de la etnografía y el análisis cuantitativo.

Abstract: The paper shares some reflections of the debates emerging from the political propaganda, social movements and neighborhood associations complaints. The paper takes into account the impact that overtourism, social unrest and tourismphobia have had on the media agenda. These insights are based on the hypothesis that these developments are neither a new nor recent phenomena. Beyond that, the research focuses on elements that have awakened social unrest and triggered the amplification of these debates. Finally, the paper analyzes some strategies referred to as the 5D (deseasonalization, decongestion, decentralization, diversification, deluxe tourism), which are being promoted as an analytical tool to unpack the complexities and current developments unfolding overtourism. Ethnographic and quantitative research conducted in the city of Barcelona informs this study.

Diversity and vertical distribution of vascular epiphytes in the Mocagua island was evaluated trough the comparison between 45 canopy trees located in different environments present in the island. From of total of 65 vascular epiphytes, 18 species are Pteridophytes and 47 species Angiosperms. Richness and abundance of epiphytes is related to the local environment. Dry land forest are richest in epiphytes species while transitional forests have lesser amount of species and flood land forest are the poorest in species. For abundance of epiphytes transicional forests have the biggest population follow by dry land forests, and with the less abundance flood land forests. A great heterogeneity in the environmental elements of the island has favored development of several microhabitats in island. There are 8 microhabitats that were identified: the root o lower part of the trunk for shadow-growing species, the trunk with species that either establish there, or grow ascending, the internal canopy with a major number of epiphytes species that have preference for this habitats, the external canopy with xeromorphic species. Transicional and dry land forest develop this microhabitat succession. However, flood land forest do not present the lowermost habitat, that is root part of the trunk, because this part of the forest is under the mean water level year around. Differences in the species of epiphytes seem to be related with physical conditions, such as humidity and luminosity, and with specific factors of the host tree.

Resumen: Esta ponencia, forma parte de un proyecto de investigación desarrollado en el marco de la Unidad de Docencia e Investigación en Desarrollo Turístico (UDIDET) de la Universidad Nacional de Lanús. La ponencia aborda la creación del turismo internacional como factor de desarrollo para los países subdesarrollados.

The number of cultural parks and heritage areas is increasing in Europe and the United States. Those are spreading over other areas where the economic sectors related to tourism and leisure gain weight. Heritage areas or parks are heterogeneous initiatives that place cultural heritage at the heart of spatial planning policy and economic development, aiming at the reinvention of large territories and local community participation in planning. Their relevance stems from their potential influence on the territorial configuration of broad regions and their impact upon the articulation of traditional protected areas. Notwithstanding this, they have attracted scant academic attention so far.

This article examines the growth of Community-Based Tourism within the broader discipline of tourism. New topics in the field have emerged such as responsible tourism, pro-poor tourism, sports tourism and moral impacts of tourism. This phenomenon also reflects the multi-disciplinarity of tourism. In this article, using the Title, Abstract and Keywords (TAK) for instances in which the words (Community-based Tourism, Community Tourism and Community-Based Eco-Tourism) to subsume Community-Based Tourism (CBT), a search was made in various databases and found that CBT as a sub-specialty of tourism started to emerge in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The number of articles published specifically on CBT has been growing phenomenally. The major contribution of this article is that we now know the evolution of CBT and we also now know its trajectory of growth which has been upward. While the number of articles on CBT is growing, there is no journal dedicated solely to CBT.

"Buhalis, Dimitrios and Michopoulou, Eleni (2011) 'Information-enabled tourism destination marketing: addressing the accessibility market', Current Issues in Tourism,, 14(2) pp145-168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13683501003653361

Information-enabled tourism destination marketing:
addressing the accessibility market

Dimitrios Buhalis (a∗) and Eleni Michopoulou (b)
a)International Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Research (ICTHR), Bournemouth University,
Bournemouth, UK; b) School of Management, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

(Received 3 July 2009; final version received 25 January 2010)

This paper demonstrates that the accessibility market is not homogenous, but it entails different sub-segments with distinct needs and requirements. Ultimately each person is unique in his/her abilities and preferences and this is more evident in this market. Secondary research revealed the size of the accessibility market in Europe to be 127 million people. Extensive qualitative research through 16 focus groups has demonstrated that the main requirements of these segments focus on three interlinked elements, namely accessible built environment, information regarding accessibility and accessible information online. Traditional segmentation contradicts the central concept of participation, as directed by the social model of disability, and it entails assumptions regarding the requirements of the market segments. Information communication technologies (ICTs) can assist destinations to effectively address the particular requirements of these market segments through the use of profiling and personalisation
features, which will allow users themselves to specify their requirements. Through the use of ICTs, users are enabled to declare their needs and requirements. Destinations can then offer suitable products and services according to the particular needs of each traveller, encourage participation, congruent with the social model of disability.


Keywords: destination marketing; market requirements; market segmentation;
accessible tourism; disability; information communication technology"

Objectives. Previous studies on agritourism entrepreneurship have identified a variety of economic and non-economic motivations driving farm operators to start the agritourism activity. Nonetheless, local heritage preservation and enhancement have been completely overlooked. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether " heritage preservation and enhancement " (in its three facets related to: tangible rural heritage; agrifood heritage; rural way of life heritage) is a specific non-economic motivation for agritourism entrepreneurship. Methodology. A survey on a sample of 226 Italian agritourism operators was conducted in March 2015. Data were first analysed through a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and then through the importance-performance analysis (IPA). Findings. The results show that there are 5 different groups of motivations to start the agritourism business, namely: i) economic motivations; ii) personal and family-related motivations; iii) tangible rural heritage preservation and enhancement; iv) agrifood heritage preservation and enhancement; v) rural way of life heritage preservation and enhancement. Hence " heritage preservation and enhancement " (in its three facets) has a pivotal role and it is more important than economic motivations. Similarly operators are more satisfied for having contributed to heritage preservation than for having obtained economic benefits from the agritourism activity. Research limits. Caution should be paid before extending these results to countries other than Italy (where, for example, agrifood heritage has a strong and peculiar tradition and connection with the territory). Practical implications. Operators are well aware of their contribution to the preservation and enhancement of local heritage but also perceive that tourists are not always able to appreciate the value of this contribution and have misconceptions about the essence of agritourism. This may be the result also of the use of the label " agritourism " to indicate offerings (such as agri-spas or basic accommodation services) which do not primarily focus on the link with local heritage. Therefore, it is important that " authentic agritourism " operators that focus on heritage (in its three facets) are able to share the efforts to make potential guests aware about the uniqueness of their offering, emphasizing the strong link with the local heritage. Originality of the study. This is the first study in the literature stream about agritourism entrepreneurship to demonstrate that locale heritage preservation and enhancement is a distinct, key motivation for agritourism operators.

This article explores the workings of nostalgia as a major driving force in heritage-making. Based on my fieldwork in Luang Prabang, an ancient royal town of northern Laos which became a UNESCO Listed World Heritage Site in 1995, I propose that it is necessary to disentangle the multiple nostalgic attachments which lie behind the often-mentioned label ‘nostalgia’ from those which are not necessarily nostalgic. I explore the various engagements of diverse actors with nostalgia, and how these engagements, rooted in personal experiences, intersect with specific postures towards time, history, heritage, development, and culture. Secondly, my aim is to highlight the performative aspects of nostalgia in the fabric of heritage. I argue that, by attempting to preserve spaces, practices, and objects, UNESCO experts and national civil servants effectively transform them. Far from stopping transmission and culture mechanisms, patrimonial recognition creates aesthetic forms, historical narratives, politics of transmission, and, more generally, social configurations. I delve into the processes through which Luang Prabang has been turned into a heritage scene and a tourist attraction, and I contend that such transformation is rendered possible by the concatenation of UNESCO projects, cosmopolitan gentrification, tourism development, and state programmes.

Competitiveness has been identified in the tourism literature as a critical factor for the success of tourism destinations. Many studies focus on the main factors affecting destination competitiveness. Nevertheless, there is still no evidence of a significant impact of these factors on the performance of a destination. This study aims at filling this gap, by adapting and extending the Richie & Crouch’s model and applying it on a unique dataset of 610 small and medium Italian Destinations of Excellence. To reduce the large set of variables, a principal component analysis (PCA) has been performed. The dependency between the performance scores and the explanatory variables has been then analysed by an ordinary least square and a partial least square regression. The empirical findings show that a sustainable tourism policy and management is not only good for preserving the ecologic balance and for minimizing negative cultural and social impacts, but has a great importance for improving the competitiveness of a tourism destination. The model has also been applied to measure the competitiveness of two leading tourism destinations in Latin America: Rio de Janeiro and Salvador de Bahia. Despite Brazil will hosts both the FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Olympic Games 2016, the competitiveness of Brazilian tourism destinations is still not adequately studied. Primary quantitative data were collected through experts’ judgement: 277 usable responses were received in the case of Rio de Janeiro, 164 in the case of Salvador. The evidences provide tourism policy makers and stakeholders with a valuable and accurate body of data on which to base their future destination management strategies.

Community-based tourism (CBT) offers both opportunities and challenges in the quest
for holistic community development. The evolution and development of CBT projects
can follow different trajectories. This conceptual paper’s main contribution is the
formulation of a comprehensive model of the development of CBT. The model
suggests that CBT projects can be initiated from within and outside the community by
the private, public and non-governmental sectors or a combination of these using a topdown
or bottom-up approach. It also posits that CBT projects can take a formal or
informal character depending on the conditions leading to their initiation. The paper
highlights the benefits and constraints to the scaling up or down of operations linked to
informality. It supports further research in analyzing the various aspects associated
with the shift from formality to the informality of CBT projects and vice versa

Barcelona presents an ideal-typical case of the development of creative tourism. The city has become a leading player in creative tourism development for a number of reasons, including:

 the current model of mass tourism development has begun to falter, stimulating a search for alternative models that articulate with everyday life and local creativity
 the relatively closed nature of the cultural sector in the city has positioned creative tourism as a potential avenue for networking and knowledge exchange
 Frequent repeat visits have stimulated tourists to seek out new areas of the city and new ways of experiencing the city. This has also been a source of contact between locals and tourists, which has been an important factor in introducing local creativity to visitors.

This paper analyses the development of cultural and creative tourism in Barcelona, particularly emphasising the crisis caused by the success of the original cultural tourism model. The emergence of creative tourism is analysed as a movement stimulated by, and positioned in opposition to, the traditional tourism model and established tourism regime.

The development of cultural and creative tourism over time has not only extended the ‘reach’ of tourism into new areas of the city, but has also created new relationships between locals and visitors. This evolution can been seen as a shift from experience based models of tourism, which Onni (2012) characterises as being non-relational and temporally limited, to relational modes of creative tourism, which are based on informal networks, weak ties and shared interests.

The paper also considers the further implications of the emergence of alternative informal circuits of tourism in the city, especially as these imply different concepts of value, and the development of relational capital in addition to or in place of economic capital.

This study developed a comprehensive model of residents’ trust in government actors and political support for tourism based on social exchange theory, institutional theory of political trust, and cultural theory of political trust.  The model was tested on a sample of 391 residents of Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada, using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.  Findings suggested that residents’ perceptions of the benefits and costs of tourism and their trust in government actors were significant determinants of political support.  Their perceptions of the political and economic performance of government actors significantly predicted trust in government actors.  Interpersonal trust, perceived costs of tourism, and perceived power in tourism decision-making were insignificant determinants of trust.  The study found partial support for social exchange theory.  Cultural theory of political trust was not found to be relevant, while strong support was found for institutional theory of political trust.

This paper is based on the Guide that was elaborated in the context of the European INTERREG IVC programme CHARTS (Culture and Heritage Added Value to Regional Policies for Tourism Sustainability) project by the Laboratory for Tourism Planning, Research and Policy (University of Thessaly).
The Guide examines the Accessibility to Heritage for all people by defining three moments: a) physical accessibility: the visitor to / receiver of a cultural good uses his/her body structure and functions in order to move inside the product in its original material manifestation or experience sensorially its tangible or intangible reproductions, b) perceptual accessibility: the moment of understanding culture/heritage and it has to do with the perceptiveness of the receiver and is closely linked to the receiver’s educational background, way of living and habitual mode of intellectual operation and finally c) appropriational accessibility: the apex of accessibility is the combination of the two previously acquired moments and it happens when the visitor/receiver may consider culture/heritage as part of himself/herself (familiarization) and use the adopted experience to intertwine his/her own story (narrational production).
The Guide supports the idea of a sustainable management of culture, heritage, tourism and it is inspired by the principles of Universal Design: all people should enjoy in the same way same benefits and high quality services offered. The Guide tries to clarify the misunderstandings connected to the notion of accessibility, proposes policies for achieving accessibility to all cultural activity and gives planning principles for the strategic management of accessibility to heritage.

Cultural tourism behaviour and destination preference was analysed for 19 European capital cities, utilising the level of participation in cultural activities (participation) and the level of enjoyment of those cultural activities (attractiveness). A latent class model with three classes described the association in the data satisfactorily. Class 1 was labeled “low participation and high attractiveness”, Class 2 was labeled “high participation and high attractiveness”, and Class 3 was labeled “high participation and low attractiveness”. The Class 2 respondents with high participation and attractiveness had the highest cultural capital, and could be considered ‘specific cultural tourists’, whereas the Class 3 respondents could be considered ‘general cultural tourists’. Class 1 respondents, with relatively infrequent participation but high enjoyment, are potentially most interesting in marketing terms.